Chapter 1545: Picking a Fight

Soon it was time to eat, and the table was filled with delicacies from land and sea.

Gu Zhihao's culinary skills were beyond reproach; everyone knew how hard he had worked, so the first glass of wine was offered to him to acknowledge his labor.

But Ji Yingjie was not happy.

She thought that since she was the birthday girl today, why should everyone toast a cook first?

To tell the truth, she simply did not hold Gu Zhihao in high regard, nor did she consider him part of the family.

When a person's psychological state is unbalanced, they want to pick a fight.

Ji Yingjie put on an act, raised her glass, and said to Gu Zhihao, "Come, I'll toast you. You made all these dishes; thank you for your hard work."

Gu Zhihao was flattered and hurriedly raised his glass as well: "It's no trouble, we're all family, it's only right."

Ji Yingjie: "I'd like to ask, besides cooking, what else can you do? Just now they said I was picking a fight, so I reflected on it and felt that you must have some skills I don't know about that you haven't shown, and I wronged you."

"Don't be modest, tell me, what else can you do?"

Shi Yuke's expression immediately turned unpleasant again.

Shi Youxuan only felt a headache; her little aunt really could never be idle, and she couldn't live without stirring up trouble.

She took the initiative to stand up for Gu Zhihao: "My brother-in-law has many skills; whatever you can do, my brother-in-law can do, and whatever you can't do, my brother-in-law can also do."

"Speaking of which, my brother-in-law is of the same rank as you. You are the Ji Family Clan Leader, and my brother-in-law is the Village Chief of Chen Family Village; the authority is the same."

Ji Yingjie never knew how to "stop while ahead"; she only knew how to pursue relentlessly.

"Oh, since we are of the same rank, then what other skills does he have? Tell me about them."

Shi Youxuan said: "Let me tell you, this dish must be eaten while it's hot; it won't taste good once it's cold." As she spoke, she picked up a chopstick of shredded pork with garlic sauce and stuffed it into her little aunt's mouth.

Hurry up and eat, and stop talking.

If she wanted to make her little aunt shut up, food alone was probably not enough.

Shi Youxuan continued: "Older people shouldn't eat too many cold things, nor should they eat hard things; things that are too cold or too hard are not easy to digest..." She spoke with a double meaning.

Ji Yingjie knew she couldn't get the upper hand with her niece, so she turned to "chat" with Shi Yuke; under the guise of chatting, she was mainly looking to pick a fight.

Shi Yuke didn't lose the upper hand either, not yielding a single word, tit for tat.

Ji Yingjie suddenly said: "Hey, how about you come be my General Manager?"

"What did you say?"

Shi Yuke suspected she had misheard; could you even get a job title out of an argument?

So Ji Yingjie said it again: "Come be my General Manager. It's not a nominal position, not temporary; it's the kind with shares and real power."

Back when the company was being prepared, Shi Yuke had temporarily served as the General Manager of Eagle Heaven for a while.

That was still in the preparation stage, and Ji Yingjie hadn't come over yet; Shi Yuke was just helping Nianyin. Calling it General Manager was actually about the same as doing odd jobs, or in other words, managing the people who did odd jobs!

Later, after Ji Yingjie arrived in Jiangzhou, she went home.

Now, after a year of vigorous development, Eagle Heaven had already gone public. As the head of a listed company, the annual dividends alone would be enough to live on for a lifetime.

But Shi Yuke still refused: "I'm not going."

"Why?"

Ji Yingjie said: "Let me tell you, it's only because you are Yu Cheng's daughter that I'm letting you be that General Manager. Otherwise, this position wouldn't fall to you no matter what; others would break their heads trying to snatch it. What are you thinking about?"

"Whoever wants to go can go, whoever wants to break their head can break it, but I am not going to be your General Manager."

Shi Yuke was very firm: "My family has enough money to spend, and the salary my cook husband earns is enough to support me!" She had seen through it now; it didn't matter if there was more or less money, as long as it was enough.

If your ambition is too big, your life is easily put at risk.

"Ungrateful."

"I am ungrateful, so what? We're going home, so we don't have to be disliked or targeted here." Shi Yuke grabbed her husband's hand and left.

Ji Yingjie was very angry and said to Shi Yucheng: "Why is your daughter so ungrateful?"

Her husband said to her: "I think it's your fault. How could you have that kind of attitude? One moment cold, one moment hot; if it were me, I wouldn't dare work for you either. Do you think you're amazing just because you have money?"

"Fine, fine, fine, your family members are all high and mighty, I'm just looking for trouble, is that it?"

Ji Yingjie really had a strange temper; she would pull back when led and retreat when pushed.

Shi Yuke ignored her, but she took the initiative to approach her.

The next day, she dragged her husband to the countryside.

"Why are you here?" Shi Yuke saw Ji Yingjie and didn't give her a good look.

"Not welcome?"

"Right, not welcome."

"I know you don't welcome me, but you don't welcome your father either?"

Shi Yuke:...

She was provoked; how was she supposed to answer?

Tell the truth.

"Of course I welcome my father. If you don't stir up trouble, our family won't be short of a pair of chopsticks or a room for you to stay in."

"Fine, I'll restrain myself."

She agreed, but she agreed too readily; it was so ready it didn't seem real.

Ji Yingjie performed quite well when she first arrived, but by the third day, she couldn't stand it anymore.

She liked a lively life and liked being busy; this pastoral life of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, seeing the southern mountains in leisure" did not suit her.

There was a big market in town, and Ji Yingjie insisted on going along, but she ended up spraining her ankle and was sent to the hospital.

She wouldn't lie still in the hospital either, and demanded that Shi Youxuan come to the hospital to visit her!

When Shi Youxuan arrived, Ji Yingjie made a huge fuss and wailed: "If my foot can't walk anymore, I'll have to move into your house in the future."

"Sure, no problem, I'll cook for you."

Ji Yingjie hesitated: "I'm not going, I was just joking with you."

Good grief, eating the food she makes is life-threatening!

Shi Youxuan urged her aunt not to keep tossing about; at her age, it would be better to retire early and stay home to tend to flowers and plants.

One can have a youthful mindset, but one cannot be too youthful; who could stand someone constantly jumping around?

Ji Yingjie did not like hearing this and chased her away.

Sheng Hanyu returned home from work with a grave expression, sitting on the sofa without saying a word.

His eyes were fixed on the coffee table, not moving for a long time; when Shi Youxuan asked him what was wrong, he did not answer.

"Are you alright?" She touched her husband's forehead: "You don't have a fever."

"I'm fine." He got up and went to the bedroom, not even eating dinner.

It did not look like he was fine.

Usually, the first thing her husband did upon returning home was go to the Study, as he often brought work from the company home to do.

Even if there was no work, he would find something to do, like reading books; there had never been a time as strange as today.

Shi Youxuan followed him and pushed open the bedroom door: "Are you really alright?"

Sheng Hanyu lay on the bed fully clothed, his eyes staring fixedly at the ceiling.

"I'm fine, don't worry." Sheng Hanyu forced a smile and pushed his wife out of the room: "The children will be back soon, don't tire yourself out too much."

Huh?

Something was definitely wrong.

The children are coming back soon; wasn't he supposed to be reminded to take good care of the children? What did he mean by "don't tire yourself out"?