“Why did she lock the door?”

Liu Fang pulled hard a few times but couldn’t open the door from inside.

Being mysteriously locked in a room made Liu Fang panic. In her mind, Xia Xiaolan was full of schemes – that night she had first used sewage water, then punctured a bag of chicken blood, scaring her and Liang Bing’an half to death. Those tricks had been played before – surely she wouldn’t repeat them today?

Liang Bing’an coughed dryly. “This is the Municipal Party Committee Guest House. No one would dare cause trouble here. Why are you worried? Perhaps our niece is just playing a joke.”

Aunt Li’s face darkened. How could someone joke during a family meeting?

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know what was important. The marriage had been arranged too hastily – she had only met her twice and thought Xia Xiaolan seemed gracious in speech and manner. Now it appeared that was just a facade.

“Let’s all sit down. Comrade Bing’an is right. This is the Municipal Party Committee Guest House – who would dare imprison us here?”

If they had agreed to meet in some remote location, Fan Zhenchuan might have considered it differently. He valued his own life – what if her boyfriend fought him to the death? But the Municipal Party Committee Guest House was different. If even he had reservations about this place, who would dare cause trouble?

His driver could take on ten ordinary men.

Fan Zhenchuan had his mother sit in the main seat before taking his own.

“Comrade Bing’an, come sit beside me.”

Liang Bing’an was flattered. If only this were a pre-wedding meeting! If Xia Xiaolan would happily marry Fan Zhenchuan, he would become Fan Zhenchuan’s “uncle-in-law.” Sitting next to him would be nothing compared to his prospects!

Liang Bing’an couldn’t understand what game Xia Xiaolan was playing.

Everyone stared at the table full of elaborate dishes. A round clock hung on the wall, its ticking becoming irritating after a while.

The female server’s heart was pounding.

She had never locked guests in a room before. She ran downstairs and handed the key to Xia Xiaolan.

“I won’t admit to this later! I already regret agreeing to help!”

Xia Xiaolan smiled. “What are you worried about? You’re not wearing a name tag, and no one will recognize you. Just wash your face and pretend nothing happened. Those in the room are my relatives. I’m just playing a joke on them and will open the door soon.”

The server touched her face – indeed, with this makeup, she looked quite different from usual.

She had agreed to help Xia Xiaolan because they had met during Blue Phoenix’s opening. She was the server who had accepted a pair of stockings instead of 20 yuan per day. Xia Xiaolan had given her ten pairs of stockings and a card supposedly offering 20% off at “Blue Phoenix.” In return, she had agreed to lead Fan Zhenchuan’s group to the designated room and lock them in.

Of course, once she handed the key to Xia Xiaolan, their “transaction” was complete, and the server quickly slipped away.

Hu Yongcai wished he could cover his ears.

“Did you have to discuss this in front of me? Xiaolan, we go way back, but what you’re doing might cost me my job…”

“Then I’ll be responsible for finding you a new job with at least triple your current salary, though without official status. Interested?”

Hu Yongcai choked.

What would he do with a job without official status?

Still, triple the salary was tempting.

Hu Yongcai wasn’t stupid. He dared to help Xia Xiaolan with something that could cost him his job because he had seen how she brought down the Zhu family without suffering any consequences. Ding Aizhen was sentenced, and the Zhu family hadn’t made a move. Hu Yongcai figured they had completely surrendered. If the Zhu family couldn’t handle her, how could Hedong County’s local tyrant?

Though Hu Yongcai was just a procurement officer, he worked for the Municipal Party Committee Guest House, which hosted numerous officials daily. The guest house treated county-level officials with indifference.

At worst, if he lost this job, someone like Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t abandon him.

Old Hu was gambling with his future but acted like a martyr ready to die. Xia Xiaolan’s acting skills were far inferior to the seasoned Hu Yongcai. She ignored his performance and said to Li Dongliang and Ge Jian: “Please, help yourselves. Eat and drink well – Manager Hu is treating.”

A table full of dishes waited in the private room, but why didn’t Xia Xiaolan go up? She feared she wouldn’t be able to control herself once inside and would end up overturning all the dishes, no matter how good they were.

She had Hu Yongcai prepare another table first. The head chef at the Municipal Party Committee Guest House was incredibly skilled. Usually, when people came for meetings, the food allowance was one yuan per person per day. But did that mean the head chef only knew how to make steamed buns and porridge? The guest house’s head chef was extraordinarily talented – the one-yuan standard meals were prepared by others, while he handled the grand banquets.

Sometimes circumstances required it – when hosting visiting officials, didn’t they need the head chef to personally prepare the meals?

Today, thanks to Hu Yongcai, Xia Xiaolan got to taste the head chef’s cooking.

Though Henan cuisine isn’t among the eight major Chinese cuisines, that doesn’t mean it isn’t delicious. The Central Plains’ regional cuisine is Henan cuisine, and today’s Yellow River carp prepared by the head chef was a prime example. Genuine Yellow River carp could only be found around 1984; later, water pollution and hybridization made it rare. Even with money to buy fresh fish from Hokkaido, finding an authentic Yellow River carp wasn’t easy.

Li Dongliang and Ge Jian ate silently.

They might need to fight soon – how could they do that on empty stomachs?

In their two days in Shangdu, they had eaten well. First treated by Zhou Cheng, now by Xia Xiaolan. Being Xia Xiaolan’s bodyguards might not sound prestigious, but the benefits were real! Their stomachs were well-fed, plus they got paid – not bad for people without education or skills.

Hu Yongcai also began eating heartily.

Overthinking wouldn’t help. Having been dragged into this, he could only hope Xia Xiaolan would win.

He wasn’t wrong – beautiful women could have a second chance at life through marriage. But he hadn’t expected Xia Xiaolan to already have found her target, with others trying to interfere. Power did make people brazen – Fan Zhenchuan dared to force marriage despite being 20 years older.

Zhou Cheng was handsome with a good background and age-appropriate for Xia Xiaolan. There was no reason to reject Zhou Cheng and agree to marry the older Fan Zhenchuan. It wasn’t that Fan Zhenchuan’s conditions were poor, but compared to Zhou Cheng, Hu Yongcai thought Fan Zhenchuan’s chances were tragic.

While Xia Xiaolan’s group enjoyed their private meal, those in the room could smell the food and felt their stomachs growling.

In front of Liang Huan sat her favorite steamed fish, prepared with ginger and scallions, steamed just right with excess water removed and soy sauce drizzled on top. Hot oil was poured over it, bringing out the fragrance of the scallions and minced ginger. The fish was tender without any fishy smell… It was a dish best eaten hot – overcooked fish falls apart at a touch, and dead fish always has a fishy taste, with flesh losing its firmness.

Only the freshest fish and perfect timing could make a good steamed fish.

Liang Huan watched helplessly as her favorite steamed fish grew cold, its fragrance turning fishy, with still no sign of anyone eating. Where was Xia Xiaolan? Had she gone mad? What was the point of locking everyone in the room?

Fan Zhenchuan seemed tired of waiting.

“Let’s start eating, no need to wait-“

Someone turned the key in the lock, and Xia Xiaolan’s voice came through before she appeared:

“If you start eating before I arrive, I won’t pay for this meal.”