"Ah, a meal from THE Qin Jiran himself. How lucky are we, Qian?" Li Meili took a seat on the stool next to the kitchen counter as Qin Jiran taught Tang Moyu how to hold the knife properly, making it easier for her to cut the fruits for the little buns. "Don't you think they look good together?" She whispered to Lin Qianrou.

  Lin Qianrou gave Tang Moyu and Qin Jiran a good look before slowly nodding her head in agreement. Since the kitchen was large enough, it was highly unlikely for Qin Jiran and Tang Moyu to hear what they were talking about. As for his other two guests, they were lounging on the couch lazily, away from the gossipping girls.

  "Yeah, but I think both of them aren't interested in each other," she replied.

  Li Meili cupped her chin and continued to watch the two.

  "Nah, her little buns think otherwise. They're already set to pair them together. It will take time, but we'll see them together more often from now on."

  Since the little buns took the matter into their hands to set up their own mother to get a daddy, Li Meili was excited to be watching from the sidelines, whether they succeeded or not.

  Actually, she was a bit surprised that the man had started to treat Moyu differently compared to the last time Li Meili saw them together.

  What could have transpired between the two that caused the invisible wall between them to vanish? Li Meli had never seen her friend being comfortable with men, aside from their mutual friend, Jiang Yunan, and Moyu's younger brother, Tang Beixuan.

  So for her, seeing Tang Moyu talking to Qin Jiran without being guarded was something new. It must be noted that her friend's love experience was practically zero. If Li Meili was already a game master in the maze called love, Tang Moyu was no better than a novice!

  "What are you up to?" Tang Moyu's cold words brought Li Meili back from her trance.

  "Nothing you should be worrying about." Li Meili replied, but Tang Moyu didn't believe her one bit.

  In her mind, she thought about how Tang Moyu was treading the game of love on the hard mode level without knowing about it, especially since she had no idea how to deal with emotional entanglement.

  The empress's eyes narrowed on her friend. Today, she was wearing a light white dress shirt and a high waist black pencil cut skirt with a pair of flat shoes on her feet as she moved around the kitchen with Qin Jiran. Her long black hair was tied into a high ponytail behind her head.

  "Moyu, do you mind preparing the table? This will be done in ten minutes." Qin Jiran called after Tang Moyu.

  "No problem, I'm sure Meili wouldn't mind extending a hand to help." She gave Li Meili a pointed look.

  Moments later, the air was filled with the scent of herbs, tomatoes, and cheese, making Lin Qianrou's stomach grumble in hunger as Tang Moyu and Li Meili served the dishes, one by one, on the dining table large enough for the six adults and two little buns to use.

  "Italian dishes for lunch? Moyu hit the jackpot by inviting Qin Jiran to move here." Li Meili commented as she placed a bowl of salad on the table. The table was already set with dinnerware and a vase filled with fresh white roses Auntie Lu had placed earlier.

  The three men joined them at the table and the two buns, who sat in between their mother and Daddy Ji once lunch was served, started to eat their meal heartily.

  He Lianchen took the honor of opening a bottle of merlot, but as soon as Feng Tianyi saw it, he reminded his right-hand man not to give Tang Moyu any of it.

  "Tang Moyu is not allowed to have any alcoholic drinks and go to parties for a month according to our Young Master here," he pointed at Xiao Bao who was eyeing the big glass of merlot their Uncle Number two slid towards their Daddy Ji.

  Hours later, when the little buns were finally knocked out for their afternoon nap, Tang Moyu and Qin Jiran bid their guests goodbye. Lin Qianrou made a promise to visit them again in the future as she was leaving, after Song Fengyan and He Lianchen had already left.

  "Do you think Madam Xu will be okay?" Feng Tianyi asked, regarding the impending meeting Lin Qianrou had arranged with her husband. He wheeled himself back to the guest house with Tang Moyu, who'd been taking a slow stroll beside him.

  Tang Moyu shrugged. She could already see the guest house from where they were.

  "It depends on how willing her husband is to make their marriage work. I'm glad that I'm not married. It saves me from a lot of trouble."

  "So how come you aren't married yet?" Feng Tianyi asked curiously.

  "I just think it's not for me and even if I want to, my children are rather strict about it." She let out a chuckle. "What about you? Why don't you have a wife yet?"

  Considering that Qin Jiran was loaded with money from his books and had a good-looking face, Tang Moyu thought women would still be attracted to him.

  "Because your children are too strict." Feng Tianyi said nonchalantly.

  Tang Moyu halted her steps and stared at him with wide eyes. She didn't need to experience love to know that Qin Jiran was hitting on her.