Siwan, with her deep dimples, rubbed the child's hat—"Sorry, sorry."
Ah Heng laughed, "Then what should we call it?"
Meanwhile, Yan Xida started stabbing him.
"Avone's beer!"
"seine's lobster"
"avone!"
"Seine!"
"Spleen wine!"
"lobster!"
"beer!"
"lobster"
"lobster!"
"beer!"
"Okay, beer!" Yan hope slammed his hand on the table, his cheeks flushed with a rosy glow, a smug smile on his face.
"Yan hope!!!" Xin Dayi knew she had been coaxed, and tears welled up in her eyes like a crayfish about to fly away.
"Alright, alright, what's all the fuss about!" Siwan puffed out her chest, displaying both boldness and composure—"Let's get some Avone beer and eat lobster at Seine!"
Yan hope shrugged, and peach blossoms scattered.
Aheng's face twitched. Why did she feel that Yan hope didn't actually want to drink beer as much as he claimed, but rather had a perverse sense of humor and wanted to tease Dayi?
The group arrived at Avone a little before mealtime, and there weren't many customers yet.
Avone's design is no different from that of a typical Western restaurant: bright floor-to-ceiling windows, walls adorned with exaggerated, colorful oil paintings, elegant dining tables, silver cutlery, dark napkins folded into swan shapes, and fresh, dewy roses on each table.
However, Ah Heng felt that there was something out of place in the whole restaurant. Oh, right, there were no oil paintings on the wall opposite the bar where there were no dining tables.
"Ah, it's Young Master Yan, Young Master Wen, Young Master Xin." A middle-aged foreign man with chestnut hair and brown eyes, wearing a tuxedo, walked over. He spoke fluent Chinese, but his tone was still somewhat stiff.
“Liszt,” Si Wanbin replied politely.
Yan hope simply nodded, while Da Yi, his face flushed, managed to utter a single, "hello."
Lister laughed – “Young Master Xin, I am German.”
Ah Heng chuckled to himself.
The little shrimp stared intently at Liszt with bright, sparkling eyes. He always had a keen interest in unfamiliar things and people.
"You gentlemen have graced us with your presence this time..." Lister asked in his tone.
"Pick a few beers." Yan hope picked up the plastic gloves from the bar, gently placed them on her slender fingers, and smiled calmly.
Liszt approached solicitously, walked to the wall where no paintings were hung, hooked the latch on the wall with his foot, and slowly pushed it open. On the other side, rows of exquisitely packaged, attractively colored bottles of beer came into view.
Ah Heng felt a sudden light up in his eyes.
These bottles, even if not used for wine, can be collected as works of art. They feature smooth curves and a perfectly warm sheen.
Yan hope walked to the center of the beer wall, pondered for a moment, then reached out his gloved hand, took out a beer from the right-hand side, and gently shook it. The original clear water color instantly turned into flowing gold, dazzling and bright.
“Fleeting time, Lister, you’ve been hiding for so long, but I still found you.” Yan hope spoke faster, raising an eyebrow, her voice filled with excitement and surprise.
Lister was surprised and hesitated for a long time before finally speaking, "Young Master Yan, this wine has already been reserved."
"Who?" Yan hope raised an eyebrow.
“Our little boss,” Lister said, looking troubled.
"No, I was the one who found it first." The boy tightened his grip on the wine bottle, glaring at Lister with a childlike expression.
“Lister, we can pay double the price,” Siwan stepped forward at the opportune moment and spoke in a gentle and polite manner.
“Young Master Yan has asked me for it a few times before, and I’ve always been in a dilemma. It’s not that I’m being deliberately mysterious; it’s just that this wine is a treasured possession of our young boss, and there’s only one bottle,” Lister explained.
"Where is your little boss?" Siwan frowned.
He is currently studying abroad.
"Can we call him and explain?" Siwan asked again, unwilling to give up.
“This…” Lister hesitated for a moment, then said somewhat reluctantly, “I’ll give it a try.”
Seeing Lister walk aside to answer the phone, Xin Dayi cursed, "Damn it! What kind of small boss is he? He's got more influence than me! Siwan, what are you doing arguing with this foreigner? My dads at home can call anytime, and I can't even get a drink. Instead, I'm stuck here, having to put up with this damn small boss's attitude! Damn it!"
Si Wan smiled bitterly.
If Yan hope hadn't wanted to drink, he wouldn't have...
The boy holding the bottle remained silent, only gently stroking the bottle with his fingers, squinting as he watched the golden liquid gradually clear again.
When Lister returned, he apologized profusely—"I'm sorry, our young boss said that fleeting time is his favorite thing, something he wants to give to the person he cherishes most, so, regarding Young Master Yan's request, we're afraid..."
Yan hope stared blankly at the wine bottle, then looked up, handed it to Lister, and smiled faintly—"I suddenly don't want to drink anymore, here you go."
Liszt finally realized that this was inappropriate and that he couldn't afford to offend the three people in front of him, so he picked out a few bottles of fine beer and gave them to Yan hope as an apology.
However, Yan hope lost interest and refused.
Xin Dayi hooked Yan hope's chin and chuckled, "Beauty, it's okay. As long as you follow me, even if there's no 'that' kind of welfare, we still have Qingdao. Support domestic products, oh yeah!"
Yan hope smiled radiantly, grabbed Da Yi's hand, licked her lips lightly, her eyes gleaming, and said in a malicious, high-pitched voice, "You rascal!"
Ah Heng shook off a goosebump.
Da Yi's face flushed red, and she stammered, "Yan hope, you you you..."
Yan hope smiled, instantly throwing a flirtatious wink, innocent yet cunning. When it came to teasing others, he was never at a disadvantage.
Siwan smiled faintly, squeezed in, and quietly separated the two.
"Stop fooling around, the little shrimp is hungry. Isn't that right, little shrimp?"
It seems so. The child touched his belly and nodded blankly.
Ah Heng smiled faintly.
She must place herself in a detached position in order to conceal her confusion.
Upon arriving at Avone, the owner was extremely welcoming, as if they had known each other for a long time. It seemed that the three of them were regular customers.
"Boss Chen, pick a few fresh lobsters. The largest ones are frozen and sliced thinly, with a few drizzles of wasabi red wine sauce. The smaller ones are baked with Hollandaise cream." Xin Dayi skillfully flipped through the menu.
"Yes, yes." The other party said eagerly, "Old Xin's health has improved recently. His chronic illness is most likely to flare up in the spring."
Xin Dayi gazed at him intently, then smiled and said, "The old man is in such good health that he could go up the mountain to fight a tiger. It's just that the group of caregivers and guards are being very cautious, which makes me seem very unfilial."
This statement, while not entirely inappropriate, was perfectly chosen in its wording and style, and it was not the Xin Dayi that Aheng was familiar with.
Ah Heng looked up and saw Si Wan and Yan hope's familiar faces.
"And who is this young lady?" Mr. Chen asked with a smile, seeing that Ah Heng was a stranger.
"My younger sister." Siwan smiled slightly.
"Oh, it's Miss Wen. No wonder you're so beautiful, you look just like Old Madam Wen." The other person praised with a smile, but in their heart, they had already made up their minds—this girl was the real Miss Wen who had just been found.
Siwan's eyes dimmed, and she nodded reluctantly.
Yan Xi smiled, his warm eyes turning icy cold – “Mr. Chen has a good memory. You said the same thing when Grandma Wen brought Si’er here before.”
The middle-aged man blushed instantly, speechless with embarrassment. He made up an excuse and hurriedly left.
The atmosphere was a bit cold.
After a long pause, Ah Heng smiled gently, his expression shifting like the flowing water—"Grandma, she'll be cursing him from underground."
"Why?" Da Yi scratched his head.
"Grandma said—'You're clumsy with words, you don't sound right.'" Ah Heng deliberately stuttered to make everyone laugh.
This provided a way out, and everyone rode downhill on their donkeys, changing the subject and gradually warming up the atmosphere, creating a friendly and harmonious scene.
Ah Heng grew up in the south and had eaten many lobsters, but the largest ones he had ever seen were only about two hands' width in size. The ones in front of him were a completely different species and a different weight than the ones he had been used to growing up.
With its long whiskers, enormous body, split open hard shell, soft white shrimp meat, ice-filled base, and several layers of spices emitting a strange aroma, it was truly a rare and tempting sight.
The little shrimp were overjoyed and pounced on their kind, stuffing their mouths full without a word.
Siwan smiled, picked up a piece of shrimp, dipped it in the sauce, and placed it on Aheng's plate.
He has always been a good older brother and a good man, which is beyond reproach.
Xin Dayi seemed extremely hungry, her voice trembling with hunger. Aheng already found the shrimp delicious, and seeing everyone enjoying their meal made it taste even better.
However, no feast is complete without wine. This was the kind of education Siwan received from a young age, so she ordered a few bottles of Carlsberg beer to accompany her dishes.
When they were half full, someone called, and Siwan answered the phone. In 1999, the weight of cell phones was really not a good thing, but at the time, they were considered rare items. Siwan and his friends were quite interested in them, so they asked the university to pick out a few from the duty-free export goods to play with.
When answering the phone, Siwan was all smiles and gentleness, but when she hung up, her face turned ashen, and she grabbed a beer from the table and chugged it down.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Even Xiaoxia obediently put down his chopsticks and stared at Siwan without daring to breathe.
"Siwan, what's wrong?" Dayi asked him, frowning, unable to contain herself.
The boy didn't answer, opened another bottle of beer, and downed it in an instant before Dayi could snatch it.
When it comes to Carlsberg, its alcohol content is at most that of beer, but the worst thing you can do when drinking is to chug it down without any method. Sure enough, Siwan's cheeks are already burning.
The boy's bright eyes held suppressed anger as he looked at Aheng without any attempt to hide it.
When he reached for the third bottle of wine, Yan hope snatched it away with lightning speed, her anger barely contained—"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
He smiled, staring straight at Aheng, and hot tears instantly streamed down his face, catching everyone off guard.
"Aheng, do you hate Er'er that much? Can't you tolerate her? What has she done to you? What has she done that makes you treat her like this?"
Ah Heng opened her mouth and moved it, but couldn't utter a sound. So, she tried her best to smile at him, her expression sad and uneasy.
"Why did you lie to Er'er and say you were waiting for her in Mao'er Hutong? You said you would definitely take her home and then pretend nothing had happened, but Er'er..." Siwan's voice was already choked up—"She waited for you in Mao'er Hutong for a whole day and night. Do you know what she said to me?"
What? What did you say? Ah Heng's body cooled down, but she still smiled weakly with kindness, though her throat was painfully dry.
“She said—Brother, when is Ah Heng going to take me home? I really want to go home…” Siwan almost shouted it out, her voice trembling with unbearable pain.