Jiang Zhenguo was slightly baffled. The family had simply prepared some ordinary home-cooked meals; how had it turned into a surprise?
"Little Chen, this is my friend Master Zhou, the most renowned antique collector in Qingcheng. His private collection of rare antiques, calligraphy, and paintings outnumbers even that of a museum."
Zhou Tao was the president of the Long Province Antique Association, with countless talented subordinates under his command and an extremely high status. He was a master-level figure in both the antique and archaeological circles.
"Don't say that. It's not nearly as exaggerated as you make it sound. I just had some free time and mess around with a few things. The way you talk, you're practically lifting me up to the heavens." Zhou Tao laughed and patted Chen Nuo on the shoulder.
Chen Nuo gave a polite greeting.
Soon, all the dishes were served. At the dining table, Li Xiumei spoke up, "Mr. Zhou, try not to eat too much of this braised pork. We really didn't have any regular liquor left at home, so we had to use some subpar stuff. The result is just average, so you might want to try the other dishes instead."
However, ignoring her advice, Zhou Tao picked up a piece of brightly colored braised pork and popped it into his mouth.
"This..."
Hearing Zhou Tao's words, everyone present except Chen Nuo instantly grew tense.
Li Xiumei hurriedly said, "Please don't be angry, Mr. Zhou. This braised pork indeed wasn't made well. Please forgive us, please forgive us."
Jiang Zhenguo also looked a bit awkward. "I'm sorry, Mr. Zhou. Our hospitality has fallen short."
With a puzzled look on his face, Zhou Tao glanced at the others, then picked up another piece of braised pork, put it in his mouth to savor it, and closed his eyes with an expression of pure enjoyment.
"Soft, waxy, and sweet. Fat yet not greasy when it enters the mouth, refreshing and crisp."
"Good, truly wonderful! I actually managed to taste the flavor of specially supplied state liquor in this braised pork. Old Jiang, what on earth did you use to replace the special liquor in this pork? This flavor has aged for at least seventy or eighty years."
Jiang Zhenguo scratched his head. "This was indeed made with specially supplied liquor."
Zhou Tao abruptly stood up. "Specially supplied liquor?! You old rascal, are you out of your mind? Using specially supplied liquor to make braised pork?! Using special liquor just to remove the gamey smell? Do you have gold hidden under your floorboards?!"
Jiang Zhenguo went to the kitchen, brought out the remaining portion of the liquor, and handed it to Zhou Tao.
Zhou Tao took the bottle, gave it a sniff, and immediately burst into a look of deep regret. "Such a heavenly waste! Old Jiang, are you people out of your minds? Do you have any idea that this is seventy-year-old specially supplied liquor? Just the bottle alone is worth millions, and the liquor inside is virtually impossible to find even if you search for a thousand miles!"
Li Xiumei blinked in disbelief and asked, "Is this really specially supplied liquor?"
Zhou Tao narrowed his eyes and said, "I am approaching fifty, and I grew up swimming in wine vats. Could I possibly not recognize this smell? Are you doubting me?"
"No, no, no, how would I dare doubt a master? I'm just a bit hard pressed to believe it," Li Xiumei hurriedly explained.
She truly never expected that an unknown beggar who walked straight out of the mountain forests would actually bring specially supplied liquor as a gift for visiting!
Li Xiumei only felt it was surreal and unimaginable.
With tears welling in his eyes, Zhou Tao said, "Even people at my father's level couldn't drink this kind of liquor. To think that I would actually have a day where I get to drink such top-tier supplied fine wine—I have no regrets in this life."
At this moment, Huo Xiaoyu and Jiang Yurou were also clicking their tongues in astonishment. Neither of them had expected that the inconspicuous liquor Chen Nuo brought was genuinely specially supplied liquor, and furthermore, of such top-notch quality that it completely astounded a master like Zhou Tao.
Clutching the jar of liquor tightly, Zhou Tao said, "Old Jiang, how about this? If you give this wine to me, I'll gift you a piece of calligraphy and painting from five hundred years ago another day. What do you say?"
"That's certainly not a problem at all. But Mr. Zhou, if you want to drink it, can't you just drink it right here? There's no need to take it back with you," Jiang Zhenguo said.
Zhou Tao shook his head. "No, no, no. Such fine wine has already transcended the category of food. I'm taking it back to keep as a family heirloom to pass down to my descendants."
With a smile, Chen Nuo said, "If Mr. Zhou wants to drink more, I can just have someone send a couple of more bottles over. There's no need to take the remaining half-bottle back."
"Young man, what do you mean by that? Are you saying you can still get your hands on this kind of specially supplied liquor?" Zhou Tao asked excitedly.
At that moment, Jiang Zhenguo interjected, "Mr. Zhou, you might not know this, but these two bottles of specially supplied liquor were actually brought by my son-in-law, Chen Nuo."
Zhou Tao: "I have been utterly disrespectful! Young man, how many more bottles of this wine can you acquire? I can pay to buy them."
Chen Nuo waved his hand and said, "It's fine. Since the old gentleman is a connoisseur of wine, I don't mind giving it away for free. Just leave me an address, and I'll have it sent over to you tomorrow."
As a master, Zhou Tao was now admiring him to the utmost degree. To be able to casually give away specially supplied liquor as a gift—how could someone like this possibly have a low status?!
Looking at Li Xiumei, Zhou Tao said, "Little Chen, the two of us share a bond of fate, which is why I was able to drink your wine. But don't mind it if some people don't know a good thing and make you feel wronged. Some foolish people are simply self-righteous, completely unaware that certain people could crush them out of existence with just a flick of a finger."
As he spoke these words, Zhou Tao's gaze never left Li Xiumei. It was blatantly obvious that these words were meant for her, even though he didn't explicitly point it out.
Li Xiumei let out an awkward laugh. "Well, there are still dishes in the kitchen, so I'll go dish some up. You guys chat, you guys chat."
Upon entering the kitchen, Li Xiumei clenched her fists so tightly that her fingernails dug deep into her palms. Gritting her teeth, she stared fixedly at Chen Nuo with a venomous glare.
"Just you wait, brat! As long as you stay in the Jiang Family, I will never let you have an easy time!"
After three rounds of drinks and five courses of food, Zhou Tao became thoroughly intoxicated, completely dead to the world, and was eventually picked up and taken home by someone.
Jiang Zhenguo grinned from ear to ear. "Xiao Chen, you really are my good son-in-law! You've truly saved my face. Yurou, your husband has had quite a bit to drink, hurry up and send him home."
Though she wore a look of reluctance on her face, Jiang Yurou nevertheless reached out to support Chen Nuo's arm.
Once the two of them stepped outside together, Chen Nuo pulled his arm away from Jiang Yurou's side.
His face was a mask of cold indifference.
"Go back. It's so late, there's no need to walk me."
Chen Nuo turned around and walked away directly from the Jiang Family. Although he and Jiang Yurou supposedly lived together on paper, in reality, she hadn't even let him step through her main door.
Since he wasn't welcome, Chen Nuo naturally felt no need to stay.
Watching Chen Nuo's departing figure, Jiang Yurou felt a sudden, uncomfortable pang in her chest.
As soon as he returned to the Century Palace, Chen Nuo planned to get a good night's sleep.
However, a gust of wind swept by, and a figure quietly materialized behind Chen Nuo.
"Chen Nuo, twenty-three years old, male, elementary school education. I truly don't understand why someone like you is even worth me coming to kill?"
The woman possessed a seductive figure, clad in a tight-fitting black bodysuit with two long sabers strapped to her back.
Chen Nuo turned back to give her a once-over. "Black Widow, ranked seventh on the Assassin Ranking List, likes to kill from the shadows, proficient in explosives and poison, with top-tier disguise skills."
Frowning, Black Widow asked, "How do you know who I am?"
Chen Nuo shrugged. "Does it matter?"
Black Widow flashed a benign smile as she drew the two long sabers from her back. "It truly doesn't matter. You're going to die anyway, so there's no point in talking too much with you."
With a fierce stomp of her foot, Black Widow instantly kicked up a gust of wind beneath her, but the very next second, a soft sword pierced straight through her chest.
Before she could even react, her neck was snapped.
At that moment, a cute girl with twin tails appeared directly behind Black Widow's fallen body.
"Zhao Rui, didn't I tell you to control your strength when killing, to prevent the blood from splashing too far and making it difficult to clean up?" Chen Nuo reprimanded.
The twin-tailed little girl, called Xiao Rui, aggrievedly replied, "I know, Pluto big brother, I won't do it next time."
Helplessly, Chen Nuo said, "Clean up the scene, and don't follow me."