Unexpected Second Chance at Love

Dinner was set on the table as Yue Ling and Lu Tian were joined by Liu Shan, Lin Hui and Nie Chen. The couple had prepared a large dinner due to the number of guests they have.

On one side of the table were the plates of food Yue Ling prepared. Fried tofu with stir-fry vegetables, fried mashi, steamed dumplings and congee. On the other side were Lu Tian’s dishes, stir-fry noodles and eggplant with garlic sauce.

"Eat as much as you want."

Yue Ling’s voice sound in a cheerful tone. She scoops up a spoonful of the warm congee into each person’s bowl then herself. When she finished, she picks up her chopsticks and grab a piece of each dish for Lu Tian then some for herself.

However, just when she was about to take a bite on a piece of fried tofu, her brows slightly furrow, and she looks up at the three men sitting across from her and Lu Tian.

"What is it? I thought you three were hungry, why aren’t any of you eating?"

None of them had picked up their chopsticks or move their hands.

She looks at each person one by one then back to the first person. Setting her chopsticks down, she leans back on the chair.

"Well?"

Liu Shan sat right across from Yue Ling. He didn’t dare to lift his head to look at her. His eyes remain on the many food on the table, but he would often glance to his left to look at the other two men.

However, each time his eyes met Lin Hui and Nie Chen’s eyes, both men were giving him a look as if telling him to answer their boss’s question in their stead too.

"..."

Left with no other choice, Liu Shan could only cry on the inside like a winner. Even if he wanted to cry on the outside, he can’t find it in him to shed any tears.

"Boss, it’s not that we aren’t hungry and that the food you spent so hard to cook is not appealing. Its..."

He swallow his saliva with great difficulty and glance at each dish on the table again.

"Well, the thing is..."

His lips purse out and he looks up at Yue Ling. Lifting his left hand, he points at the food.

"Are you monk? There’s no meat."

Yue Ling was struck flabbergasted by his sense of humor. She rolls her eyes at him and points with one hand to the steamed dumplings.

"There is enough meat in here to fill up your stomach."

Picking up her chopsticks again, she starts to eat.

"If you don’t want to be a ’monk’ with Tian and I, you three can eat the delicious meal Nie Chen made. There’s still plenty in the pot."

Lu Tian hadn’t even taken a bite of the food. A smile curl on his face as he was too busy observing his wife’s sudden motherly demeanor. She looked like a mother who was teaching her three children not to be picky when it comes to eating.

Just as he thought this, he was quickly dumbfounded. He looks away from his wife and turn to look at the three men sitting across the table.

His face scrunch in disbelief as he could not believe that he actually imagine Liu Shan, Lin Hui and Nie Chen as their children in his head.

Quickly shaking the crazy and hilarious thought away, he picks up his chopsticks and distracts himself with the food.

Unaware of the man’s extremely enthusiastic thought, the three men stare in utter disbelief at the only woman sitting at the table.

In one smooth motion, all three men stares down at the ’monk’ food on the table then to the pot of death on the stove.

Liu Shan and Lin Hui didn’t need to think twice and grab their chopsticks.

Liu Shan: "What meat? Unlike Nie Chen’s pot of death, these vegetables are healthier for my body."

Lin Hui: "I’m already a monk. I don’t need to always eat meat."

Nie Chen: "..."

Seated on the far left of the two men, Nie Chen stare at them with his mouth hung open. He swore his cooking isn’t that bad. Why are they making it seem like they would die from eating it?

Thinking this, he lightly slams his palms on the table and scoots his chair back to stand up.

"What pot of death? My cooking is just as good as boss’s."

He gives the two men a deadly glare then walks away towards the stove.

"Since you two idiots don’t want to eat my cooking, I’ll eat it by myself."

His words fell and he glance back at Liu Shan and Lin Hui. He honestly thought that since they’ve eaten his food in the past, once they hear his words, they would feel bad and eat with him.

However, the moment his landed on them, neither cared about anything he had said. It had only been less than a minute and both men were already stuffing their mouth with the food on the table.

"..."

Nie Chen scoffs with a womanly attitude and flicks his long silky hair to his back. Without giving them another glance, he picks up his bowl and walks over to the stove.

"How dare they call my food a pot of death? My cooking is a pot of gold."

He mumbles annoyingly to himself then stops in front of the stove and set his bowl down on the kitchen counter. Opening the lid, he reach for the ladle to scoop up a spoonful of the food. However, glancing at the green food identical to slime, he couldn’t help but struggle a hard gulp.

He could even feel sweat starting to form on his forehead from just looking at it.

Hesitation quickly dawn on him and he thinks back to the food on the table. Despite it being mostly vegetables, it was still more pleasing to the eyes than the green slimy food he made.

A plan came to his mind and he picks up the pot.

"Aiya, look at how delicious this meal looks. I can eat all this by myself."

He turns away from the stove and carries it back to the table. However, like something had suddenly tripped him, he stumbles in his steps.

"Who dares to trip this noble lord?"

Each step he took, he would wobble from side to side like a drunk person, but anyone can see how steady he is as the pot in his hand did not move with his body.

"Aiya! Aiya! Aiya!"

He falls down onto one knee and tilts the pot. He didn’t throw it anywhere, but carefully pour the food into the sink.

"Oh no! My precious pot of gold!"

He made sure nothing was left inside before placing the pot inside the sink. Grabbing his bowl on the counter, he walks back to the table and sits down.

"Well, seems like I’ll have to be a monk too."

"..."

Yue Ling, Liu Shan, and Lin Hui stares at Nie Chen like he was the most shameless person in the world, while Lu Tian continues to eat without a care for the man.

As the shameless person at the table, Nie Chen didn’t care about the look the three people were giving him. He starts to eat and act as if he were the only person at the table.

*Ding Dong! Ding Dong!!

Suddenly, the doorbell rings as if someone were frantically pressing the bell in panic.

All five people stop what they were doing and turn to look at the open wall space as if they were looking directly at the front door.