Chapter 94

After returning to the house, Xia Hou Zhongying looked at Jin Taeyeon and Huang Meiying and asked with a smile, "Do you want to eat Chinese food made by Aunt He, or Korean food? If it's Korean food, you'll have to make it yourselves."

"I'll cook it myself, Brother Zhongying," Jin Taeyeon said with a smile.

To win a man's heart, one must first win his stomach. This saying holds true in any time and place. Jin Taeyeon wanted to touch Xia Hou Zhongying's heart, and being able to cook was naturally an important factor. If she could make Xia Hou Zhongying like her cooking, her chances would naturally be much greater.

"Alright, that's fine," Xia Hou Zhongying said indifferently. He was used to both Chinese and Korean food, so if Jin Taeyeon wanted to cook, he would let her.

"I'll go cook then." Seeing that it was already late in the day and the sky was getting dark, Jin Taeyeon stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

Although Aunt He had been in Korea for several months, due to her age and lack of education, she hadn't learned Korean and didn't understand what Xia Hou Zhongying and Jin Taeyeon were saying. When she saw Jin Taeyeon heading to the kitchen, she was a bit surprised. After asking Xia Hou Zhongying what was going on, she couldn't help but chuckle, gave the two a knowing look, and followed Jin Taeyeon to help her.

In Aunt He's mind, if a woman offered to cook for a man, it meant she was interested in him. Perhaps Jin Taeyeon would become the future young mistress, so she couldn't let her do it alone.

"I'll help too," Huang Meiying also stood up.

"Pan Yi, are you still not done throwing plates?" Xia Hou Zhongying was both amused and exasperated.

"Hehe, Brother Zhongying, I just want to learn how to cook. How can I learn if I don't try?" Huang Meiying said with a grin.

"Go ahead," Xia Hou Zhongying said, speechless.

"Master, these two girls are quite nice, and very pretty," Uncle Ge said softly to Xia Hou Zhongying after Jin Taeyeon and Huang Meiying went into the kitchen.

"Uncle Ge, they are just my friends. Don't overthink it," Xia Hou Zhongying said, both amused and exasperated. When did Uncle Ge start being so gossipy?

Uncle Ge chuckled a couple of times and didn't say anything more.

Jin Taeyeon spent over an hour preparing a Korean-style meal. After setting the dishes on the table, she looked at Xia Hou Zhongying expectantly and said, "Brother Zhongying, try it."

"Sure, no rush," Xia Hou Zhongying smiled, stood up, and took a bottle of red wine from the wine cabinet. "Do you want some?"

"Sure, I do," Huang Meiying was delighted and nodded vigorously.

Huang Meiying had grown up in the United States, where, like in Korea, it was illegal for minors to drink alcohol. She had never had a drink before. Now, with the chance to try the legendary alcohol, she was overjoyed.

"Brother Zhongying, we're not old enough to drink," Jin Taeyeon hesitated and said.

"Alright, then I'll drink with Pan Yi, and you can have a drink, Taeyeon," Xia Hou Zhongying said, taking a can of drink from the fridge for Jin Taeyeon.

Xia Hou Zhongying took two glasses, opened the wine bottle, poured the wine, and handed one glass to Huang Meiying and kept one for himself. "Happy New Year, cheers."

"Cheers." The three clinked their glasses and took a sip. Jin Taeyeon then remembered that Uncle Ge and Aunt He were not at the table and couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhongying, shouldn't we call Uncle Ge and Aunt He to join us?"

"Uncle Ge and Aunt He have their own dining area," Xia Hou Zhongying explained. In the Xia Hou family, it was a rule that servants could not eat at the same table as the masters, a rule set by his late mother. Even in China, the same rule applied.

After Xia Hou Zhongying's mother passed away, Xia Hou Shang had once wanted to have Uncle Ge and Aunt He eat with them, but the two refused, saying it was a rule set by the mistress and could not be broken. So, the rule continued, and there was another dining area in the villa for Uncle Ge and the two Korean servants.

"Brother, I'm here," Zheng Xiujing suddenly ran in from the door while they were eating.

Xia Hou Zhongying was taken aback, stood up, and greeted her, "Xiujing, why are you here?"

After Jin's father left, Xia Hou Zhongying had called his godmother to tell her he had returned to Seoul. He mentioned that he had two friends with him and couldn't visit the Zheng family today, but would come the next evening. It seemed his return to Seoul was revealed to Zheng Xiujing by her mother, so she came over.

"Not just me, my sister is here too," Zheng Xiujing said with a chuckle.

"Really, Xiuyan is here too?" Xia Hou Zhongying looked at the door and saw Zheng Xiuyan enter. He smiled and waved at her, "Xiuyan, have you eaten? We're eating now, come join us."

"Hmph." Zheng Xiuyan huffed, didn't respond to Xia Hou Zhongying, and went to the wine cabinet to get a glass.

"Brother, I want to drink too," Zheng Xiujing sometimes came to the Xia Hou family to sneak drinks. She couldn't get alcohol elsewhere because her parents kept track of the alcohol at home. If any was missing, they would be in trouble.

Xia Hou Shang, however, didn't care much about underage drinking and didn't stop Zheng Xiujing and her sister. He only advised them to drink less. So, even though Zheng Xiujing was only 11, she had a good tolerance for alcohol, thanks to her frequent visits to the Xia Hou family.

"Xiujing, you're so young, how can you drink?" Jin Taeyeon was surprised and asked.

"Sister Taeyeon, it's fine, it's really good," Zheng Xiujing said, taking a wine glass from the cabinet. "And Uncle said that girls drinking red wine is good for beauty and health."

"Is that true?" Jin Taeyeon asked, feeling a bit envious as she was the only one drinking a non-alcoholic beverage.

"Of course, of course," Zheng Xiujing nodded vigorously, wanting to drink and treating Xia Hou Shang's words as gospel.

"Then, I'll try a little too," Jin Taeyeon looked at Xia Hou Zhongying, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to try.

Xia Hou Zhongying naturally had no problem with it, stood up, and got a wine glass for Jin Taeyeon, then poured wine for the three of them. He didn't care about the Korean underage drinking laws.

"Cheers, Happy New Year," Xia Hou Zhongying raised his glass.

"Cheers," the four girls also raised their glasses.

Jin Taeyeon, mimicking Xia Hou Zhongying, took a small sip of the red wine and couldn't help but frown, finding the taste a bit unfamiliar.

"Sister Taeyeon, how is it?" Zheng Xiujing asked.

"The taste is strange, hard to describe. It's a bit sweet and sour, and a bit astringent," Jin Taeyeon said, smacking her lips.

"The first time is always like that. I didn't like it much the first time either, but after drinking more, I started to enjoy it," Zheng Xiujing said with a grin, taking another small sip.

"Xiujing, do you drink often?" Jin Taeyeon asked, surprised. "Do your parents let you?"

"Of course not, they are very strict," Zheng Xiujing said with a grin. "When I want to drink, I can only come to Brother's place. Uncle doesn't mind us drinking, but he doesn't let us drink too much and only lets us have red wine, not spirits."

"Ah," Jin Taeyeon nodded, knowing from Xia Hou Zhongying's behavior that Xia Hou Shang was quite irresponsible, not even caring about his own son, let alone others.

"By the way, Brother, I thought you would come back tomorrow, but you're here today. Was Sister Taeyeon's house fun?" Zheng Xiujing asked after taking a bite of food.

"Heh, it was okay," Xia Hou Zhongying said awkwardly, thinking about the morning when he had to kneel to a bunch of people, which was particularly frustrating, especially to a child. He didn't want Zheng Xiuyan and her sister to know about such an embarrassing incident, so he just brushed it off.

"Xiujing, today is the first day of the New Year. Don't you need to spend it with Uncle and your godmother?" Xia Hou Zhongying changed the subject, not wanting to talk about his trip to Jeonju. The more he talked, the more likely he was to reveal something embarrassing.

"I told my mom, and she didn't object. That's why my sister and I came over," Zheng Xiujing said.

"Alright," Xia Hou Zhongying responded, continuing to chat casually while they ate. After the meal, Jin Taeyeon took the initiative to clean up. Huang Meiying and Zheng Xiuyan, seeing that only Jin Taeyeon was doing the work, felt embarrassed and also stood up to help.

Zheng Xiujing went to the computer and started playing a game. Xia Hou Zhongying turned on the large wall-mounted TV and searched for a Chinese TV channel via satellite, showing the New Year's Eve gala. He then started making tea and, once the three girls were done cleaning, he smiled and waved them over to watch the gala while drinking tea.

In Korea, apart from Chinese expatriates and students, few people watched Chinese TV programs. The three girls had never seen one before and were very curious about the gala, finding it quite different from Korean ones.

Korean galas were mostly singing and dancing, with more artists participating. In contrast, Chinese galas had a wide variety of performances, including crosstalk, skits, singing, dancing, acrobatics, and traditional opera, all on a grand stage. Although the three girls couldn't understand Chinese, they were still very engaged and occasionally commented on the performances.