AGN -Chapter 258 Luo Jun’s New Year Gift

After hearing Zheng Siyuan’s explanation, Qin Huai suddenly became very curious about Boss Su.

To be honest, Qin Huai still didn’t even know Boss Su’s full name. He only knew that his surname was Su, that he was the owner of Zhiweiju, and that he had a daughter. Zheng Da had always wanted Zheng Siyuan to go on a blind date with her, though it seemed the results had been less than ideal.

As for anything else…

Well, Qin Huai not only knew very little about Boss Su, he also didn’t know much about Zhiweiju itself. He only knew that their most famous master chef had the surname Zhou. As for his full name, he had no idea. He didn’t even know the surnames of the other master chefs.

But this really wasn’t entirely Qin Huai’s fault. Everything he knew about Zhiweiju came secondhand. Dong Shi, Huang Ji’s biggest gossip, was a pure hot-kitchen chef and not particularly knowledgeable about the gossip of pastry chefs. Tan Weian, on the other hand, knew all the juicy details about Zhiweiju—but he always assumed Qin Huai already knew everyone involved, so he would jump straight into the story without ever introducing the people first.

When you really thought about it, this was mostly Tan Weian’s fault.

Qin Huai asked Zheng Siyuan to send him Boss Su’s WeChat contact. That way, when Boss Su inevitably posted angry complaints about him after the New Year, Qin Huai would be able to see them immediately.

Zheng Siyuan didn’t understand why, but he forwarded the contact anyway.

Boss Su’s WeChat name was simply his real name: Su Qi.

After adding him, Qin Huai explained his purpose. He mentioned that after the New Year, he might once again need to borrow Gu Li and some of the others from Zhiweiju for exchanges at Yunzhong Cafeteria. After sending the message, Qin Huai felt extremely nervous. Given Boss Su’s fiery temper, he was certain he’d either get a scolding directly or, at the very least, become the subject of a rant on Boss Su’s Moments feed.

Instead, Boss Su replied with two stickers and enthusiastically said:

“Of course! Borrow whoever you like. What Zhiweiju has in abundance are hardworking young chefs. They’re all more than willing to travel to outstanding restaurants in other cities for learning and exchange.”

Boss Su’s warmth completely caught Qin Huai off guard. To make sure he hadn’t added the wrong person, he quickly checked Su Qi’s Moments and confirmed that he had indeed posted three separate complaints about Zheng Da just this month.

Satisfied that it was definitely the right person, Qin Huai decided to send him some extra Four-Joy Tangyuan as a thank-you gift.

Speaking of which, Luo Jun still hadn’t tasted the successful version of the Four-Joy Tangyuan.

Chen Huihong started a group video call every day, and Qin Huai often joined in before bed. Since he saw Luo Jun so frequently on these calls, he had almost forgotten that Luo Jun had actually stayed in Shanshi the whole time and never came over.

He had also forgotten that Four-Joy Tangyuan still wasn’t on the menu yet, so Luo Jun couldn’t order it even through a delivery service.

That evening, after another round of taste testing, Qin Huai joined the latest video call while reviewing the survey responses.

Today, everyone was present: Chen Huihong, Luo Jun, and Qu Jing.

Qu Jing had just finished writing her thesis and was in the kitchen making rice cake soup. Luo Jun was sitting on the sofa watching TV. The volume was quite loud; judging by the audio, it sounded like one of those recently popular xianxia dramas.

As for Chen Huihong, she was already at home happily cracking sunflower seeds.

“Sister Hong, is Huihui asleep yet?” Qin Huai first asked about Chen Huihui.

“She is. Kids get sleepy fast. I’d only just taken her home, and she fell asleep not long after,” Chen Huihong replied cheerfully. Then she turned to Qu Jing. “Jingjing, making rice cake soup? Honestly, you should just move in here. Old Liu, Big Mouth Ma, and Li Cuiping have all gone home for the New Year, so several rooms are empty now. I can help talk to everyone—you could move right in, no problem.”

“It’d save you some money too. Has your hospital paid out the year-end bonus yet? Don’t go donating all your savings again like last time. Keep some money for yourself. Things are expensive during New Year. Vegetables at the market always go up in price—bok choy is selling for more than meat these days.”

Qu Jing had her phone propped up on a kitchen stand, the camera angled down from above. She looked up and smiled at the screen.

“Sister Hong, I kept some money this time.”

“Besides, I don’t really celebrate the New Year anyway. Every year, I spend it at the orphanage, so I don’t really spend much.”

Chen Huihong nodded. “Right, you mentioned that before. So this year, you’re still spending New Year at the orphanage?”

“Yes, I’ve already made arrangements with Mother Qu. I’ll be celebrating with them again this year.”

“When are you heading back to Shanshi?” Qin Huai asked.

“On the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month.”

Qin Huai nodded in understanding. What a coincidence—Qu Jing would be leaving on the same day he was.

“If you have time before you go, stop by my place,” Qin Huai said. “I’ll make some extra tangyuan for you to take to the orphanage. It’ll be perfect for cooking for the children there.”

Then he glanced at Luo Jun, who was so absorbed in his TV show that he hadn’t spared the camera even a single extra glance.

“And please bring Mr. Luo’s portion to him as well.”

Hearing his name, Luo Jun glanced at the phone.

“I don’t like tangyuan.”

“If you’ve got time, make me some guo’er instead. What kind of ridiculous rule does your Huang Ji Restaurant have? Why can guo’er only be purchased for dine-in, and only one per person? Why can’t I get takeout? If I hired twenty delivery runners to line up and each buy one for me, why wouldn’t that work?”

Qin Huai: …

Is this really how rich people buy pastries?

“Mr. Luo, if you want to eat guo’er, just tell me directly. I can make some and mail them to you—it’s the same thing,” Qin Huai said kindly.

“No need. I already have a dedicated errand runner who goes to Huang Ji every day, dines in, and then packs up guo’er to bring back for me.”

Qin Huai: …?

Luo Jun paused the TV, picked up his phone, looked straight at the three of them, and launched into full machine-gun mode.

“How much longer are each of you planning to stay in Gusu? It’s almost New Year already. Is Gusu really that irresistible? And I’m especially talking to you, Chen Huihong. Aren’t you from Shanshi? Aren’t you supposed to be going home for the New Year? Could you please tell your neighborhood committee to stop messaging me every year, inviting me to those community senior New Year gatherings? Let me repeat myself: I am not an empty-nest senior citizen. I do not require home visits or special concern.”

Chen Huihong kept cracking sunflower seeds. “Honestly, in our whole neighborhood, you’re the one who best fits the profile of an empty-nest senior. Besides, you don’t have anything to do over New Year anyway, and now that you’re finally willing to go out, why not cooperate with the neighborhood committee a little?”

“If you attended one of our events, we could write at least five newsletter articles about it.”

Luo Jun: ?

He had discovered that ever since Chen Huihong woke up, she had become increasingly thick-skinned and impossible to argue with. His verbal barrages used to have some effect, but now every shot simply bounced right off.

Are all plant spirits this shameless?

“Not a chance,” Luo Jun said through gritted teeth. “Qin Huai and Qu Jing are leaving on the twenty-ninth. What about you, Chen Huihong?”

“I can’t stay that late.” Chen Huihong sighed. “My mom has already made buckwheat steamed buns and is waiting for Huihui and me to come home and eat them. I’ll probably have to leave around Little New Year. There’s still some neighborhood committee work I need to handle back home. Oh, by the way, did you add the fruit shop I recommended to you on WeChat?”

“They seem to have gotten a new batch of fruit gift boxes this year—cherries, melons, kiwis, navel oranges, apples, dried persimmons, fragrant pears, nectarines, the whole lot. The photos looked especially good.”

Without saying a word, Luo Jun stood up with his phone and walked into his home theater.

His home theater was enormous. The curtains were usually kept drawn year-round, blocking out all sunlight. In the center of the room had always been a large beanbag chair where he could recline while watching movies.

Now, however, the curtains were open. The beanbag chair was gone. Even the tea table in front of it had disappeared.

In their place was an entire room filled with fruit gift boxes.

Pointing the camera at the mountain of boxes, Luo Jun asked calmly, “Which one were you referring to?”

Qin Huai, Chen Huihong, and Qu Jing were all stunned. Chen Huihong stared at the roomful of fruit boxes for a long moment, speechless.

Luo Jun had previously only seemed like someone who owned a fruit shop.

Now he looked like he had moved straight into wholesale distribution.

After a long silence, Qu Jing was the first to speak.

“Th-that’s so much fruit… Mr. Luo, can you really eat all of it by yourself?”

“The fruit shop delivered some orders to the wrong address,” Luo Jun explained as he walked back out of the theater. “One batch was supposed to go to the orphanage but ended up at my house. Another batch was supposed to be shipped to Qin Huai’s hometown, and that also got delivered here. The courier will pick everything up tomorrow.”

“Chen Huihong, if you want any fruit, say so now. I’ll have Zhang Shumei sort some out and leave it for you.”

“There’s a shipment for my home too?” Qin Huai exclaimed in shock, which quickly turned into delight.

This was fantastic. He needed to message his grandfather back in the countryside immediately and tell all the relatives that this year, no one needed to bring fruit when visiting for New Year.

Public-spirited Citizen Mr. Luo had already single-handedly covered the Qin family’s entire fruit supply for the holiday!

“I accidentally bought too much. It would be wasteful to keep it all, so I figured I might as well send some to your family,” Luo Jun said. “The address your father gave me was Qin Family Village, Long Township, Qiu County. Correct?”

“Correct, absolutely correct,” Qin Huai replied repeatedly.

Who would have thought? Before he had even seen the red envelopes from Huang Shengli, Zheng Da, or Gong Liang, Luo Jun’s New Year gift had already arrived ahead of everyone else.

“Mr. Luo, is there any pastry you’ve been craving lately?” Qin Huai asked, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. “Four-Joy Tangyuan? Three-Diced Steamed Buns? Glutinous Rice New Year Cake? Dream-Fulfillment Sesame Flatbread? Donkey Rolls? Crab Shell Pastries? Or maybe Five-Diced Steamed Buns?”

“Make whatever you like.” Luo Jun showed little interest in any of the options Qin Huai listed. “But enough joking around. I have something important to say.”

Hearing this, all three of them immediately sat up straight and listened attentively.

Under normal circumstances, when Luo Jun said he had something important to say, it was genuinely important.

“Qu Jing, do you remember asking me to contact a private investigator to find your parents from your previous life?”

“He found them.”

Qu Jing froze.