Release that Man

An Zining was thus lectured on the phone by the elder from the An family. An Zining didn’t think anyone would be able to hear the content of the phone, so she didn’t turn and hide. Unable to help it, Ye Shuang was forced to listen to the whole lecture. After the phone was hung up, Ye Shuang came to one conclusion—such an event was a common occurrence in the An family.

The elder on the phone was understandably angered, but the words of reprehension flowed out naturally as if rehearsed. An Zining nodded along obediently with the ease of someone who had been through this more than once already.

After the elder had gone through the motions of scolding An Zining, she hung up the phone. They just so happened to have stopped before a restaurant. “This shop serves quite a good breakfast and brunch selection; they’re famous for their Hong Kong style dim-sum. What do you think? Shall we eat here‽”

Wait, did I just imagine that phone call‽

Ye Shuang almost knelt on the floor, impressed by An Zining’s nonchalance after facing the endless berating on the phone. It was as if she had achieved the state of such serenity that the moment the words entered her left ear, they exited her right. Just how many times did one have to be scolded in their life to achieve such a zen-like mastery?

Regardless of everything, one thing was for sure: this An Zining had great taste when it came to food. Ye Shuang came from a common family; in her twenty years of living, she had never stepped foot into such a high-expense location, so she couldn’t really tell whether the supposed Hong Kong style dim-sum was authentic Hong Kong style or not.

However, based on her improved sense of taste, she could ascertain that taste of the place did match the price of the menu. The prawn dumpling was sweet and supple; the half-transparent skin was as white as snow and as thin as paper. The prawn filling shimmered within it as if it could burst out at any moment. The siu-mei’s skin was as thin as a wavering leaf, the filling bursting with juices. The char-siew bun was baked to a golden perfection, the outer layer was crisp to the touch, and the meat filling was tender and bounced heavenly on one’s tongue.

Ever since the DNA inheritance, Ye Shuang’s appetite had dropped tremendously. It was not that she had suddenly become picky with food, but once her taste buds became optimized, all the weakness that had escaped notice until then surfaced.

For example, the Ye family liked to visit a barbeque stall that was near their house. The place served spicy lamb kebabs at a very cheap price, making it a local favorite. However, after the optimization, when Ye Shuang visited the place again, she realized the meat was overly soft like it had been chemically treated, the spicy sauce had a moldy smell, and the overall unsanitary condition of the food served…

Therefore, after she tipped the rest of the Ye family to the info, the family of four stopped patronizing the place.

In today’s society, where almost all food had some sort of chemical in it, Ye Shuang practically had nothing to eat. Even though the food at home might be simple, it was at least fresh. It was so difficult to find an outside eatery that could match her taste. Before her plan had been spoiled by An Zining, Ye Shuang planned to buy a bowl of plain porridge and call it a day. Of course, porridge that had no artificial thickener…

Looks like it was true what they say, one shan’t skimp on food. The place Fang Mo had treated her at last time was nice, and the shop An Zining introduced this time was quite good as well. In other words, for the sake of her stomach, she would have to figure out a way to find money or focus on improving her cooking level. Either way, based on the current optimized state of her body, neither should be too difficult…

Ye Shuang was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t realize the whole table had been staring at her, well, more precisely at her and the mountain of empty plates before her—even though dim-sum was served in small portions, this kind of appetite was also quite abnormal.

Even An Zining was shocked. However, she quickly laughed and said, “Looks like all martial experts need plenty of food to replenish their energy!”

Martial expert… Ye Shuang coughed drily. She thought to herself, Perhaps there’s still time to change An Zining’s impression of me?

“Sister An sure likes to kid. I do know a bit of martial arts, but that barely makes me an expert.” Ye Shuang smiled awkwardly, trying her best to salvage her womanly image. She wouldn’t want to be known as a wuxia lady from then on…

“Of course, of course, one of the practiced tenets of martial experts is humility. Don’t worry, I understand,” An Zining said with a guffaw.

No, I’m pretty sure you don’t understand.

It wasn’t Ye Shuang’s plan to be close friends with An Zining. It was not that An Zining was a horrible person or Ye Shuang was so uncouth to drop her after gaining some benefits, but because their positions in life were simply too different. It was a coincidence that Ye Shuang had helped An Zining, but the former couldn’t possibly leverage that over the latter for life. Furthermore, one had to consider An Zining’s rash and irascible personality.

For example, she was easily entrapped by a sentence from her little brother. That might not cause An Zining much harm, but what if, one day, that person who had a way into An Zining’s ear turned hostile against Ye Shuang‽

The biggest difference between Fang Mo and An Zining was that the former had the matured faculty of thought and was more tolerant of others. Even if they did part ways in the future, Fang Mo wouldn’t be impassioned by emotions or other rumors to turn against her. That was why Ye Shuang felt safe being his friend.

After the luxurious brunch, Ye Shuang received a call from Fang Mo. With his aid, the transfer had gone without a hitch. The apartment was now officially under Ye Shuang’s name.

After paying the bills, An Zining’s phone rang. Ye Shuang heard a male voice through the phone saying, “Sis, Grandpa just…”

As An Zining answered the phone, she waved goodbye to Ye Shuang. Ye Shuang did the same and left without comment.

The world of the rich wasn’t one she could just mix in with.