Chapter 162: Aunt's Inner monologue

Chapter 162: Aunt's Inner monologue

Ye Tiandong, with one arm around Li Li, smiled and introduced her to Bai Zhi and Lu Ye, then said to Li Li, "Lili, this is my niece, and this gentleman next to her is Xiao Lu, who is engaged to her and is in the army."

Li Li looked extremely uncomfortable in front of Bai Zhi. She tried her best to keep her composure, forced a smile, and greeted her warmly, "So you are Bai Zhi. I've often heard my brother Dong mention you. He said you are the daughter of his sister who died many years ago. I was very curious about you. Now that I see you, you are indeed a beauty."

Bai Zhi's gaze fell on her protruding belly, and she smiled indifferently, "Auntie still retains her charm."

"She must be almost five months pregnant by now; it's getting hard to hide."

Perhaps because she felt guilty, Li Li always felt that Bai Zhi's words had a hidden meaning.

Ye Tiandong was completely immersed in the joy of seeing his niece. He smiled and said, "Let's go in first."

As soon as they entered the grand restaurant, Ye Tiandong enthusiastically introduced the restaurant's scale to Bai Zhi and Lu Ye.

"This restaurant was formerly the Bincheng State-owned Restaurant. A few years ago, the state-owned restaurant was in a slump and faced closure. I was under tremendous pressure at the time and took over the state-owned restaurant. It was quite difficult at the beginning. There was a large gap in funding and other aspects, as well as problems with the menu and staff..." Ye Tiandong invited them up to the second floor and continued, "Fortunately, the problems were solved later, and the state-owned restaurant was successfully transformed into the Bincheng Grand Restaurant. The usual customer flow is still quite good."

Upon hearing Ye Tiandong's introduction, Bai Zhi gave him a thumbs up, "Uncle, you are really amazing, you have such a good business sense! This restaurant is simply too grand, it must be the most luxurious and high-end restaurant in Bincheng, right?"

Ye Tiandong smiled, not being overly modest, "Anyway, if our Bincheng Grand Restaurant claims to be second, no one would dare to claim to be first."

Lu Ye also toured the restaurant very seriously, and to be honest, he was also impressed.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen restaurants of higher quality than this; rather, after listening to Ye Tiandong recount the restaurant's origins and how it gradually grew into a large and powerful business, he developed a deep respect for Ye Tiandong.

Ye Tiandong led them to a private room on the second floor.

He smiled and poured them tea.

"Xiao Zhi, I asked you to come to Bincheng a long time ago, but you've been dragging it out for so long."

Bai Zhi explained, "Uncle, I went to Yunwu Mountain to pick up my maternal grandfather, which delayed me for a few days."

"Oh." Ye Tiandong clearly didn't want to mention Ye Rufeng. He responded lightly and said to the waiter who came in, "Bring the menu over so my niece and Xiao Lu can order."

As soon as the menu was handed over, Ye Tiandong gave it to Bai Zhi, saying, "Xiao Zhi, take a look and see what you want to eat. Don't be shy, this is our own restaurant, order whatever you want."

Bai Zhi was a worldly person, and she was not at all awkward or pretentious in such a situation.

Since her uncle asked her to order, she didn't refuse and wasted everyone's time, and generously ordered two dishes.

One dish is sweet and sour pork, and the other is stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts.

After she ordered, she gave the menu to Lu Ye.

Lu Ye ordered a cold dish of pork head and then gave the menu to Ye Tiandong.

"Lili, what would you like to eat? I'll order for you."

Li Li was unhappy because Ye Tiandong had given the menu to Bai Zhi from the beginning, letting her order first. She pouted and said sarcastically, "Brother Dong, it doesn't matter what other people eat, the important thing is what your son wants to eat."

"Then I'll order whatever I think is best." Seeing that Bai Zhi and the others had ordered home-style dishes, Ye Tiandong ordered a more substantial dish: a chicken.

Then they added a soup.

Then give the menu to Li Li and ask her if she wants anything else.

Li Li looked clearly displeased. "We've already ordered so many dishes, that's enough for the few of us. There's no need to order anymore. I don't care."

Ye Tiandong seemed to be a straight man and didn't seem to understand Li Li's implied meaning. He said, "If that's the case, then that's enough. We can talk about it later if it's not enough."

He owns a restaurant, so he knows exactly how many people will eat and how many meals will be served.

The restaurant serves so much food, four dishes and a soup for four people and they still can't finish it all.

As the boss, he has always taken the lead in being thrifty and avoiding waste.

Li Li was surprised that Ye Tiandong really didn't let her order. She bit her lip, looking aggrieved.

But Ye Tiandong's attention was entirely focused on reuniting with his niece, and he didn't notice Li Li's emotional changes at all.

"Xiao Lu, why are you still on vacation? I heard you were hospitalized last time, is it alright?"

Lu Ye replied in a calm and serious tone, "Uncle, it's nothing serious. I accidentally strained my leg during training. I'm resting in the hospital for a while now and I'm basically recovered. I'll take some more leave and then go back to my unit."

Ye Tiandong nodded, "I see."

"You must be extra careful in your daily life and try your best to avoid injury."

Lu Ye expressed his gratitude, "Okay, thank you, Uncle. I will be careful."

"What's the situation between you two now?" Ye Tiandong looked at Bai Zhi, then at Lu Ye, and asked Bai Zhi with a smile, "Are you planning to settle down?"

Bai Zhi said, "Uncle, not yet, we're still in the 'getting to know' stage."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye promptly corrected himself, "I'll be officially promoted soon; it won't be long before it's finalized."

“I’m very pleased that you two have developed feelings for each other. But I’ll say it again: my niece is still young and has a wide range of choices. If you feel it’s not right, you don’t have to force it. You can break off the engagement and we’ll introduce her to someone else.”

Ye Tiandong looked at Bai Zhi with eyes full of doting and tenderness, "Or, it's fine if she doesn't want to find a partner. As her uncle, I have the ability to support her and spoil her."

When Ye Tiandong appeared, a look of fear flashed across the face of the woman sitting next to him.

What? Ye Tiandong actually wants to break up their marriage and keep this woman as his own?

Her intuition told her that this woman was a fraud.

She might not be Ye Tiandong's sister's daughter at all.

She only knew that Ye Tiandong had an older sister who died of a severe cold in the countryside when she was twenty.

At that time, Ye Tiandong clearly stated that his sister had died out of wedlock.

How come a niece suddenly appears out of nowhere?

In addition, Bai Zhi mentioned Li Bin in her last phone call with Ye Tiandong.

She actually knew Li Bin.

Because of this incident, Li Li has been unable to sleep at night and has lost her appetite recently.

I was in a state of anxiety.

Of course, it wasn't surprising that Ye Tiandong's niece knew Li Bin.

After all, he was her half-brother.

What made her uneasy was the meaningful, seemingly threatening tone Bai Zhi used when she mentioned Li Bin.

She always felt that this woman was not simple.

She definitely didn't mention Li Bin for no reason.

But later she also tentatively asked Ye Tiandong if Bai Zhi had any contact with him before, only with his father.

She guessed that even if Bai Zhi knew about Li Bin, she must have only heard about him from others.

She knew that Li Bin was always pestering her for money.

She couldn't possibly know anything else.

Besides, if she had known something beforehand, she wouldn't have remained inactive until now.

Thinking of this, Li Li suddenly felt a little more at ease.

She took a deep breath.

You must relax.

She herself must not lose her composure.