Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 1172 - 562: The Gift of the Three-legged Golden Toad

Qin Huai gladly accepted Lin Juan's invitation and they simply agreed on the time, setting it for dinner at Lin Juan's house tomorrow night.

At that time, Qin Huai would go a few hours early to make some snacks. Since Lin Juan needed to prepare ingredients in advance, Qin Huai also added Lin Juan's WeChat. Lin Juan felt a little embarrassed; she was the one to invite Qin Huai over as a guest, yet it was Qin Huai who ended up cooking. But she was also quite happy.

After all, the snacks of a chef who made it to the "Taste" column are not something you can easily try.

Since Lin Juan had arrived, Qin Huai and the other two naturally felt it was not right to stay long. They planned to leave after some small talk, but Lin Qi was unwilling.

Lin Qi had finally met his reincarnated boss but hadn't had a chance to chat much, and he wasn't about to stop just because of a woman hired by the boss who was suspected of trying to rob him of his gold bar. If An Youyou hadn't just advised Lin Qi not to sneak out from the nursing home and not to speak harshly to strangers visiting him, Lin Qi would have already shown a sour face to Lin Juan.

Lin Qi could only pitifully look at An Youyou, hinting with his eyes for the boss not to leave, while at the same time being very annoyed, not looking at Lin Juan, nor eating the buns she brought.

In the end, if it weren't for Qin Huai suggesting they go play Mahjong in the activity room, who knows what would have happened.

Lin Qi, an ordinary old man who spent most of his life farming in a village, had excellent Mahjong skills.

Shi Dadan, living a carefree life and going fishing at sea when bored, also had decent Mahjong skills and could play the Shanghai style.

Lin Juan, being a full-time housewife, was naturally skilled at Mahjong.

Qin Huai did not know how to play Mahjong. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

An Youyou knew a little, but not much, just enough to join the game, and faced a brutal beating by the three experts. Even with Lin Juan going easy, Shi Dadan zoning out, and Lin Qi frantically trying to help An Youyou, she still lost everything. If Qin Huai hadn't said the boss would reimburse Mahjong losses, An Youyou's half-month salary would go down the drain.

The Mahjong table is a great place for conversation; in such a wonderful environment, everyone couldn't help but chat freely, spilling some juicy gossip.

Lin Juan was naturally unguarded with the three, thinking An Youyou really was the granddaughter of Lin Qi's old friend, and was happy to share stories about her grandfather over the years, and while talking, she even spoke about her own family.

Earlier, when Lin Juan introduced herself, she mentioned her husband Jiang Yong was the editor-in-chief of "Taste," earning a decent salary, though his job was busy, often requiring overtime.

She's a full-time housewife, and they have a son named Jiang Xiaoran who is studying computer science at a university in Shanghai. His coursework is quite busy, so he doesn't have much time to leave campus, which is why even though he studies locally, he has to wait until winter break to visit Lin Qi at the nursing home.

Lin Juan is Lin Qi's granddaughter. Her father's name is Lin Da, who just retired last year, and her aunt called Lin Er has two sons. Although the Lin family is a resettled household, their life isn't particularly wealthy, just an average family, and Lin Juan has more free time, so she visits the nursing home most frequently.

Listening to Lin Juan explain the Lin family situation, Qin Huai wanted to suggest they hold a family dinner tomorrow, so everyone could gather and enjoy the snacks he made. After all, this fraud gang just swindled her grandfather out of three gold bars, but Qin Huai couldn't find an excuse at the moment, so he had to let Lin Juan's family eat first.

This intense Mahjong game continued until lunchtime, leaving An Youyou looking like a wreck, and as they wrapped up, Lin Qi even comforted An Youyou, saying it was his fault for not helping her enough.

Lin Qi pledged right there that from today, he would diligently perfect his ability to assist, playing Mahjong for more than four hours each day, so that next time, An Youyou wouldn't lose.

An Youyou thought there wouldn't be a next time. If she came again, Qin Huai might not reimburse the Mahjong losses. She hadn't hit it big yet and couldn't afford such an expensive Mahjong game.

As they left, Qin Huai tentatively asked Lin Juan if she noticed Lin Qi treating the three of them exceptionally well.

Lin Juan smiled cheerfully and said she noticed, suggesting that An Youyou's grandmother must have had a great relationship with her grandfather. Her grandfather had been quite muddled in recent years, sometimes lucid and sometimes not. She guessed An Youyou resembled her grandmother too much, and Lin Qi got them confused.

In a way, Lin Juan had guessed close to the truth.

After leaving the nursing home, Qin Huai and the others returned to the hotel, each busy with their own tasks.

Shi Dadan went looking for good restaurants nearby, Qin Huai negotiated with the hotel, asking if he could use the kitchen because he wanted to make breakfast in the morning, and An Youyou was studying the route map and checking for surveillance, preparing to dig up the gold bar in the village overnight.

Indeed, the Three legged Golden Toad was that proactive about this matter.

Qin Huai asked An Youyou if she planned to take the bus and then switch to a shared bike or take a cab. An Youyou said neither was needed; she knew Shanghai like the back of her hand. Back when she was begging, she had measured almost the entire city with her own feet, so walking this distance was fine.

The outcome was that An Youyou set out at 8 PM and didn't return until 5 AM, looking disheveled and breathless, she seemed more like she'd been robbed than having committed a theft.

By this time, Qin Huai was already awake, not because he needed to get up to make breakfast, but purely because he couldn't sleep and naturally woke up. Yesterday, Qin Huai had negotiated with the hotel for two hours, but maybe because Qin Huai's status and spending weren't high enough, the hotel declined his request to use the kitchen, citing the inability to ensure kitchen safety.