Gao Shang's words choked back everything Su Yuntao had been about to say.
As a man, how could he not understand Gao Shang's intentions?
Su Yuntao first shot Gao Shang a grateful look, then immediately put on a smug expression, picked up the gauze dress, and held it out to Sisi.
"This... is for me?"
Sisi froze.
She did like this gauze dress very much, but since she had already agreed to be with Su Yuntao, she had to rein in her old ways.
Spending a little money now and then was one thing, but this dress looked expensive at a glance.
Although they were both Spirit Hall deacons with steady incomes, their fixed salaries clearly weren't enough to let them buy luxuries like this on a whim.
She instinctively looked at Gao Shang, wanting to ask whether the dress could be returned.
Gao Shang silently turned to look out the window.
He had already gone this far with the assist. He couldn't be bothered with what came next.
"Sisi, take it."
Su Yuntao smiled at her, his voice gentle.
"I prepared this for our wedding. I want you to be the most beautiful bride."
At those words, Sisi's eyes immediately reddened.
She clutched the gauze dress tightly and looked at Su Yuntao, deeply moved.
Even Sun Meng couldn't help casting an envious glance their way.
"Yuntao..."
"Sisi..."
Watching the two gaze into each other's eyes, Gao Shang broke out in goosebumps beside them, utterly dumbstruck by Su Yuntao's on-the-spot response.
Good grief. Brother Tao, with those thick brows and big eyes, who would've thought you were such a flirt?
I treated you as a brother, and you fed me dog food?
Just as Gao Shang was considering whether to separate these two, whose gazes were practically drawing silken threads between them, a sudden knock interrupted the steadily warming atmosphere in the private room.
"My lord, the dishes are ready. Would you like them served now?"
"Ahem... serve them."
Su Yuntao coughed lightly. He had accidentally gotten so caught up in the act that he had nearly forgotten there were other people in the room.
Fortunately, he hadn't done anything out of line in front of Gao Shang, or he really might have been suspected of setting a bad example for a child.
At that thought, Su Yuntao looked at Gao Shang with a guilty conscience, only to receive a look of undisguised contempt.
Four people: one guilty, one moved, one envious, and one who wanted to flip the table.
The meal began amid this complicated, peculiar atmosphere.
Compared with the relatively harmonious atmosphere in the private room, the Fortune and Prosperity Pavilion's kitchen had already descended into chaos.
Among the ingredients Gao Shang had brought, the Stalactite Cabbage was fairly normal. Once boiled, the cabbage had a faint, refreshing sweetness, with nothing particularly unusual about it.
But the Polar Ice Phosphorus Shrimp and Fire Heart Vegetable had put the cooks through absolute hell.
First came the Polar Ice Phosphorus Shrimp. As a creature born possessing Ultimate Ice, even a dead Ten-Year Soul Beast retained cold Qi that ordinary people couldn't easily touch.
The cook responsible for cutting it had barely split open the shell when the cold Qi gushing out frostbit his fingers.
Fortunately, although the cold Qi was freezing, there was very little of it. It left only a thin layer of frost on his fingertips and caused no irreversible injury.
In the end, the restaurant's Soul Master head chef had to step in personally to finish slicing the shrimp meat.
But just as the shrimp meat was dealt with, trouble struck with the Fire Heart Vegetable.
A rich fragrance that rushed straight into the mind suddenly spread from the stove.
The cook handling the stir-fry inhaled it and became utterly intoxicated on the spot. His body swayed, and he nearly plunged headfirst into the wok.
At the critical moment, the head chef reacted first. He rushed over, grabbed him, and tossed him aside before taking up the spatula himself.
"Which bastard brought these ingredients?"
The head chef couldn't help cursing as he stir-fried.
"Didn't they know to give us a warning about something this dangerous?"
It was only thanks to his strong professional ethics that he didn't spit into the dishes a couple of times.
After a long stretch of work, all three dishes were finally finished.
The head chef personally picked up the serving tray, ready to deliver it to the private room and see just who had brought these dangerous ingredients.
But as soon as he reached the dining hall, a crowd of customers blocked his way.
"What dish is that? Why does it smell so good? I want an order too!"
"Where's the manager? Where did the manager go? Why didn't anyone recommend this dish when I ordered? Do you think I can't afford it?"
"You there, cook, don't leave! Your Fortune and Prosperity Pavilion owes me an explanation today!"
Looking at the clamoring crowd before him, the head chef felt his head swell to twice its size.
Didn't these people stop to think? If the Fortune and Prosperity Pavilion really had food like this, word would have spread throughout Nuoding City long ago. Why would it have taken until now?
But with the dishes still in his hands, he couldn't very well force his way through. He could only raise his voice to explain.
"Honored guests, these aren't dishes from our menu. A customer brought the ingredients, and we're only preparing them!"
"Ingredients brought by a customer? I don't believe it! Not unless you bring that customer out!"
"I don't believe it either, unless you let me taste a bite first!"
He glanced speechlessly at the person asking for a taste. The beads of that calculating abacus were practically flying into his face. Did the man really take him for a fool?
Just as the head chef was at a loss over what to do, the Fortune and Prosperity Pavilion's manager finally hurried over.
"Quiet! Everyone, please quiet down!"
Once the manager spoke, the noise in the hall subsided somewhat.
"I've learned what happened. These ingredients were indeed brought by several Lord Soul Masters. Our establishment cannot supply them."
At the words "Lord Soul Masters," the customers immediately lowered their voices.
The manager sighed in relief at the sight and hurried to continue soothing them.
"To express our apologies, everyone here today will receive ten percent off their bill. Please do us this favor and return to your seats."
"How generous, Manager. Since Lord Soul Masters are dining here, we naturally wouldn't dare disturb them."
"Yes, yes, I'll go back right away."
"Can I help clear away the leftovers?"
Every gaze in the room turned in unison toward the last speaker, and the head chef's mouth twitched.
You again. Just how greedy for food are you?
The manager's mustache quivered with anger too, but business called for harmony to bring wealth. In the end, he pretended not to hear and continued ushering the other customers back to their seats.
With no one blocking his way, the head chef finally made it upstairs and knocked on the door of Gao Shang's private room.
"Come in."
Hearing the reply from inside, the head chef took a deep breath and suppressed his anger before pushing open the door and entering.
He first set out the three dishes one by one, then turned toward the seat of honor.
But once he saw the face of the person sitting there, the head chef felt he looked rather familiar.
He asked tentatively:
"Are you Deacon Su Yuntao of Spirit Hall?"
Su Yuntao hadn't expected a cook to recognize him.
However, he could sense fluctuations of Soul Power from the man, so he didn't put on a Soul Master's airs.
"Yes, that's me. Is there something you need?"
"Uh..."
The head chef was momentarily at a loss for words.
Any other Soul Master would have been one thing. They were inside the city, after all. Even if he offered a few words of criticism, they might not dare attack him on the spot.
But Su Yuntao belonged to Spirit Hall. If he offended him, the identity he had worked so hard to conceal might even be uncovered.
Left with no choice, he could only give a truthful account of what had happened in the dining hall.
"Well, it's like this. These dishes..."