Translator: 549690339
“Honey, I’m home. Are you working late tonight?”
A chill washed over her heart, but at this moment, Olivia Jenkins still managed a sweet smile on her face, speaking gently on the phone with Daniel Marshall as if nothing was amiss.
“No overtime! Honey, I am about to have dinner with Benjamin Johnson, Valerie Howard is also here, do you want to come join us?”
In a split second, the color drained from Daniel’s face, his hawk-like eyes piercing with an intense coldness.
Before Daniel could express his thoughts, Olivia already heard Jay Bennett’s voice over the phone, he wanted to have spicy hot pot.
Olivia’s gaze remained steady, the sweetness of her smile unchanged. However, her heart felt as if it had been slashed by a sharp knife, the pain seemingly permeating every cell in her body.
With his sensuous lips barely parting, Daniel’s voice deepened. “Honey, you all go ahead. I won’t join. I was on the same flight back with Jay, I’ll have dinner with her.”
“Okay, see you tonight, bye!”
As if nothing had happened, Olivia hung up the phone and continued chatting with Benjamin as they walked.
Olivia didn’t like spicy food, so she ordered a grilled fish with a garlic flavor.
With an apologetic look on her face, Olivia quipped, “If you guys want spicy, could you please get a separate dipping sauce? I can’t eat spicy food because I’m slightly allergic to chili. This type of hot and spicy flavor would make my throat and mouth swell up. Imagine what a sausage mouth would look like, I definitely don’t want that!”
With a gentle smile gracing his lips, Benjamin Johnson reassured, “No problem, I can do without spicy too.”
Valerie chimed in, “Me too, garlic flavor is also very tasty, plus, it’s been a long time since I ate grilled fish, I’m so craving it no matter the flavor.”
Just as if chatting with friends, her melancholy subsided a bit and Olivia’s mood lightened up, “Are you brave enough to eat bullfrog?”
Benjamin nonchalantly shrugged, “Fried bullfrog, delicious!”
Valerie laughed roguishly, “If it’s eatable, I’ll eat it.”
While pouring a drink, Olivia said, “Next time, we’ll have fried bullfrog. If we chance upon each other again, we can have grilled meat, grilled duck… The weather is getting cooler now, eating mutton is a great way to strengthen the body.”
Valerie also added, “And there’s barbecued lamb chops, grilled mutton, grilled lamb shanks, hand-grabbed mutton… just thinking about it makes me drool.”
“Next time, I’ll treat you guys to dinner, you can order whatever you want.”
Olivia looked at Benjamin and joked, “We really can eat a lot, don’t judge us when we eat too much.”
Benjamin shrugged casually and smiled, “I don’t mind, it feels good to have dinner with you, I don’t have many friends in Serene City, having company for dinner makes me feel lucky. But I have one condition, if you get fat from all the eating, don’t blame me!”
“Worst comes to worst, we all go running together!”
Benjamin spoke earnestly, “Night runs are really effective for losing weight. I often go for runs when I’m abroad.”
The grilled fish with garlic flavor was served, Olivia stopped talking and rubbed her hands in preparation to dig in. The aroma was so tantalizing that it made her salivate.
Every now and then, Benjamin would glance at Olivia.
As if influenced by Olivia’s outgoing personality, Benjamin began to look forward to life a little more.
The hot pot was too spicy. Jay drank a lot of cola, but still ended up with a bad coughing fit.
Daniel’s brows furrowed. He pulled out a tissue and handed it to her.
Daniel asked the waiter to change the hotpot to a beef soup base.
After a while of coughing, Jay finally started to feel better.
Daniel stared at Jay, “You usually don’t like spicy hot pot. Why the sudden craving tonight?”