127: Chicken tastes like chicken, fish tastes like fish

Seeing that her mother didn't even look at her much when she returned home, only knowing to greet Ye Su, Li Mengyao puffed up her cheeks in anger behind them, but she still quickly followed and called out to the middle-aged man in the living room:

"Dad."

Ye Su understood the situation and said, "Hello, Uncle."

At the same time, he placed the bag on the table: "I brought some health supplements for you. I'm not sure if they'll be suitable."

"Haha, they'll definitely be suitable."

Li Shanhai wore a smile, but his eyes swept over Ye Su like a razor, scrutinizing him sharply.

If one were to describe the look in Wang Lijuan's eyes when she saw Ye Su at the living room entrance earlier, it was the gentle affection an elder has for a liked junior.

But Li Shanhai's eyes right now were like a general inspecting a new recruit, wanting to see right through him at a glance.

Ye Su had never seen this kind of battle before. He immediately felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, as if his back was pricked by thorns, and felt a lump in his throat. He truly felt the nervousness of a son-in-law meeting his father-in-law for the first time.

But thinking about his future, he knew he would inevitably have to deal with people who had spent half their lives hustling in the business world, and he absolutely could not let them overwhelm him with their aura.

Ye Su quietly took another deep breath, straightened his back, and accepted Li Shanhai's scrutiny with poise.

"Hmm—"

Seeing this reaction from Ye Su, Li Shanhai nodded inwardly, feeling reasonably satisfied with his first impression of him.

Having done business for decades, he had seen plenty of people, both saints and devils.

The first impression Ye Su gave him was, at the very least, that he wasn't one of those scammers who only wanted to get close to Li Mengyao for her status or family fortune to swindle her out of money and affection.

"Why are you standing there? Sit down quickly. Just make yourself at home."

It was Wang Lijuan who, seeing that Li Shanhai had seen enough, spoke up at the right moment to relieve the pressure on Ye Su.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from Guying, Auntie."

"Oh, Jiaji Ren."

"Haha, it seems the first phrase of Guying dialect that people from other places learn is always 'Jiaji Ren'."

"Isn't it because everyone from your parts says that when they go out? By the way, how long have you and Mengyao known each other?"

"It's been a while."

"You've known each other so long, and you haven't come to visit us at home earlier."

After everyone sat down, Wang Lijuan acted like a warm elder, chatting kindly with Ye Su about trivial family matters.

Gradually, Ye Su lost his initial restraint. It was just like chatting with elders during the holidays, talking with Wang Lijuan according to the background role he had prepared.

Li Shanhai would occasionally interject, but most of the time he was still observing Ye Su.

Fortunately, Ye Su's words were half-true and half-false, and he spoke fluently and naturally, so Li Shanhai didn't spot any flaws.

"We've been chatting for so long, you must be hungry. Shall we go eat?"

"Okay, Auntie."

Following behind Li Shanhai and his wife, Ye Su entered the dining room and saw a spread of meat and vegetable dishes on the table, a total of six dishes and one soup.

He didn't know if they had cooked extra dishes to welcome him, or if this was how they lived every day.

"I didn't know what you'd like to eat, so I had the kitchen prepare a bit of everything. Try them and see which ones suit your taste; next time you come over, I'll have the kitchen make those dishes."

"There's no need for such trouble. It's the same at my home; I eat whatever is cooked, I'm not picky."

"Haha, eat up, the food will get cold soon."

"Okay."

Food at a rich family's house really is good; the chicken tasted like chicken, the fish tasted like fish, making Ye Su unable to resist taking a few extra bites of every dish.

Fortunately, he remembered to mind his image, so he didn't just eat to his heart's content like he did when dining with Chen Xinyi.

Eating at Li Mengyao's house, Ye Su even pretended to be refined while drinking soup, picking up the bowl and drinking it little by little with a spoon.

"How is it? Is the food to your taste?"

After all, this was the first time his daughter had brought a boyfriend home, so Li Shanhai had to be a bit cautious, observing Ye Su subtly even while eating.

From all appearances, Ye Su seemed to be just an ordinary young man, at most as handsome as he himself was when he was young.

But Li Shanhai always felt there was something special about Ye Su that made him different from other young men.

When facing him and his wife, the respect Ye Su showed was genuine, but the confidence that seeped from his bones was also real.

It seemed his own wealth and social status hadn't brought about any sense of class difference or oppression for him.

Li Shanhai was confident that he wouldn't misjudge a young man, but he couldn't figure out why Ye Su had a level of confidence completely inconsistent with his age.

"It's very much to my taste; the chicken tasted like chicken, the fish tasted like fish." Ye Su rubbed his stomach sheepishly: "I feel even fuller than usual."

"That's good. I have slightly high blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol, so I eat a bit blandly; I was worried you wouldn't be used to it."

After finishing the meal, the four of them returned to the living room. Li Shanhai set up the tea set and chatted with Ye Su while drinking tea.

Seeing that the time was about right, Li Shanhai stood up: "You chat with your Auntie for a bit; I'm going to get something."

Ye Su guessed that Li Shanhai was going to get that painting mentioned in the intelligence: "Okay."

In a little while, Li Shanhai came out with a painting:

"Mengyao said you work in antiques. It just so happens I have a painting here. Someone owed me some money and wanted to use this painting to settle the debt.

Why don't you help me take a look and see if there are any issues with this painting? If there are no issues, how much should it be valued for the debt?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Ye Su didn't have much of a reaction, but Li Mengyao's heart immediately jumped into her throat.

No wonder they had chatted for so long without really bringing up antiques; it turned out Old Li had prepared a painting, intending to directly test Ye Su's level.

Regarding Ye Su's level in antique appraisal, Li Mengyao could be said to know nothing; all her understanding came entirely from Wan Yuanliang's evaluation of Ye Su.

At this moment, Li Mengyao could only give Ye Su a nervous look, praying inwardly that the painting Old Li brought out would be easy to identify, so that nothing would go wrong.

"With my limited level, how can I talk about 'taking a look'?" Feeling confident of victory, Ye Su acted very humble: "If I see anything wrong, Uncle, please don't laugh at me."

"Eh, I don't know much about antiques either. Collecting these paintings and porcelains is just to have something to discuss with old friends, and as a form of investment. I have no qualifications to laugh at you."

"We're at home now, so you two shouldn't be so polite. Let Ye Su take a good look at the painting."

Wang Lijuan was also very curious if Ye Su, being so young, really had the level of antique appraisal skill that Li Mengyao claimed.

After all, he was her daughter's boyfriend. It didn't matter if he came from an ordinary family, and it didn't matter if he was starting from scratch now, but he at least needed to have some real ability so that if she wanted to help him in the future, she would know how to do so.

Her daughter's boyfriend couldn't just be handsome and have good character without any other merits, right?

"Alright."

Ye Su wiped his hands clean with a tissue before unrolling the scroll.

No one knew that as he unrolled the scroll, Ye Su silently muttered a phrase in his heart, summoning the system, switching to the intelligence page, and opening the details of the hidden easter egg.