Chapter 62
“Of course.”
Gu Chen’s demeanor was calm and composed. “Otherwise, why do you think I’d be here, Xiao Heng?”
Lu Heng looked down at the omega in his arms and asked softly, “I was thinking Uncle was…”
“Mr.”
Although An Le didn’t like Gu Chen, he wasn’t sure if it really was him, and Lu Heng had said that he had a good relationship with Gu Chen.
Lu Heng no longer had his parents to love him; he only had one uncle. Therefore, before he was sure, he didn’t want to cause a rift between them because of him.
He clutched Lu Heng’s clothes, tiptoed, and whispered in Lu Heng’s ear, “An Qiang called just now and said… said that person… doesn’t have time to come and told me to go back.”
Lu Heng looked at Gu Chen uncertainly. Gu Chen’s eyes held a questioning look, waiting for Lu Heng’s next words.
Lu Heng’s face was still grim, but he didn’t say anything else.
Gu Chen smiled. “Alright, although I don’t know what’s up with Xiao Heng, since we’ve met here, let’s have dinner together.”
An Le didn’t want to have dinner with Gu Chen. He instinctively looked at Lu Heng; he thought Lu Heng would refuse, but unexpectedly, he nodded. “Okay.”
Lu Heng agreed.
An Le had no choice but to follow Lu Heng.
Gu Chen walked in front, asking as they walked, “Did you book a hotel in advance? I made an appointment to discuss business here, but they stood me up, and I haven’t had a chance to cancel the room. If you…”
“Okay.”
Lu Heng agreed again. “Thank you, Uncle.”
An Le didn’t understand why Lu Heng agreed to Gu Chen’s suggestion but still nodded, indicating that he was okay with it too.
After all, Lu Heng’s guidance had never been wrong; he trusted Lu Heng.
As an elder, Gu Chen was very thoughtful. When ordering, he ordered Lu Heng’s favorite dishes. After ordering, he glanced at An Le and handed the menu to Lu Heng with a helpless smile. “I know what Xiao Heng likes to eat, but I don’t know about An Le. Xiao Heng, you order for him.”
Lu Heng took the menu, ordered a few of An Le’s favorite dishes, handed the menu to the waiter, and then asked, “Who did Uncle make an appointment with today? They’re really inconsiderate; they didn’t even give you face.”
“No, no, no.”
Gu Chen shook his head with a laugh. “It’s not that they didn’t give me face, but that old Lan Long, after being disappointed with his son some time ago, increasingly felt that his son didn’t resemble him. He secretly did a paternity test and discovered today that his son isn’t his. So he’s rushing home to settle accounts with his wife.”
Gu Chen said this while picking up the tea the waiter had poured for him, taking a sip, and laughing. “Don’t you think it’s funny?”
It was the Lan family.
Lu Heng understood. Lan Long did have the power to stand up to Gu Chen, but discovering after twenty years of raising his son that he wasn’t his own child was indeed urgent.
Lu Heng laughed. “Uncle Lan is so flirtatious, I didn’t expect him to encounter this kind of thing.”
Gu Chen: “Yeah, he has his slip-ups too.”
An Le secretly held the milk Lu Heng gave him, listening to the two gossip and drinking milk.
Because of Lu Heng, and because of their conversation, the atmosphere gradually relaxed, and An Le’s vigilance lessened.
Until the dishes arrived, An Le, unable to join the conversation, could only eat silently.
After taking a bite of the grilled steak, Lu Heng looked uncomfortable. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and said to An Le, “I’ll go to the restroom.”
An Le nodded. “Mmm.”
But strangely, Lu Heng didn’t go to the restroom in the private room; he went out and walked very quickly, as if something was chasing him.
An Le looked at Lu Heng’s back with some unease, wanting to follow him to see what was going on.
Gu Chen: “Le Le, can I call you that?”
An Le came back to his senses. He didn’t really want to agree to the address, so he lowered his head and continued eating without speaking.
“Alright then.”
Gu Chen also cut a piece of steak and put it in his mouth. Then he froze, spat it out, and frowned helplessly. “Although I don’t know where I offended you, making you dislike me, but please, help me taste Xiao Heng’s food and see if it’s too salty.”
Too salty?
Remembering that Lu Heng liked bland food, and remembering Lu Heng’s expression just now, even though An Le didn’t like steak, he quickly cut a piece and took a bite.
As soon as the meat entered his mouth, An Le frowned at the saltiness.
“Salty, extremely salty.”
An Le didn’t understand. “How could it be this salty?”
Gu Chen’s face instantly changed. “Xiao Heng can’t eat salty food at all. Quickly go and see him, give him some water, and I’ll call the waiter over to deal with this.”
Hearing this, An Le quickly poured a glass of water and chased after Lu Heng.
When he got to the restroom, he found Lu Heng pale and leaning against the sink, vomiting.
“Mr.!”
This scared An Le. Since the day he met Lu Heng, Lu Heng had always been so strong and intimidating; when had he ever been so weak?
He ran over, supporting Lu Heng with one hand and handing him the glass of water with the other, his eyes red. “Mr., drink some water.”
Lu Heng looked up, saw An Le, and originally didn’t want An Le to see him like this, but he’d been discovered. He smiled slightly, took the glass, and drank the water to rinse his mouth.
After finishing the water, Lu Heng handed the cup to An Le and whispered, “Get me another cup.”
“Okay.”
An Le quickly took the cup and ran back to the private room. When he entered, the manager was apologizing to Gu Chen with the waiters and chefs.
Gu Chen: “It’s not just me who should receive the apology, but also… Le Le, how is Xiao Heng?”
An Le’s eyes were red. While pouring water, he said, “Mr. feels very uncomfortable.”
Gu Chen: “Then quickly go take care of him.”
An Le turned and ran, and as soon as he went out, he saw Lu Heng coming back. He quickly handed him the water.
Lu Heng took the water and drank it in one gulp. Looking at An Le’s teary eyes, he smiled. “Don’t cry, I’m fine.”
An Le didn’t speak, just lowered his head.
Lu Heng pulled him inside, and the manager immediately ran over. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Lu. The chef who fried the steak today was new, and the lid of the sea salt bottle broke while he was frying the steak, but he didn’t dare to say anything, so that’s why this happened.”
“Mr. Lu, can we get you another one?”
Lu Heng didn’t speak, pulling An Le to sit down, looking at the covered rice in An Le’s plate, and asked softly, “Is yours salty?”
An Le shook his head. “Mine isn’t salty, but Uncle’s was also salty.”
Lu Heng looked up at Gu Chen, and Gu Chen said helplessly, “Xiao Heng can decide how to handle this.”
Hearing this, the manager was sweating profusely.
Lu Heng also owned shares in this resort. While everything else was fine, he was extremely strict about the food. If there was a problem, not only would the chefs be in trouble, but the hall manager and waiters would also have to pack up and leave.
Manager: “Mr. Lu, we really didn’t do it on purpose, please forgive us.”
Lu Heng frowned, but before he could speak…
An Le suddenly said, “If you do something wrong, you have to accept the punishment.”
You can’t be let off just because it wasn’t intentional. If every industry was like this, wouldn’t the company owners go bankrupt?
Moreover, Lu Heng had been so uncomfortable just now; could a simple apology solve it?
Their compensation and apology couldn’t alleviate Lu Heng’s suffering, so what was the point?
Hearing this, Lu Heng smiled. “Le Le is right. If you do something wrong, you have to be punished; no one is exempt.”
The manager was almost in tears; he never thought he would offend this great god one day.
An Le poured another cup of water for Lu Heng and whispered, “Mr., let’s… let’s eat somewhere else.”
Lu Heng took the water and took a sip, whispering, “No hurry. Le Le, what do you think we should do to punish them?”
How to punish them?
An Le froze. He didn’t know how to punish them either. After thinking for a while, he said, “Report them and deduct… deduct three days’ wages.”
Hearing An Le’s words, Gu Chen chuckled softly.
Manager: ???
Chef: ???
Waiter: ??
Lu Heng lovingly touched An Le’s head. “Okay, let’s deduct their pay.”
After saying that, he pulled An Le up and said, “Uncle, let’s go to another restaurant.”
Gu Chen: “Okay.”
Although An Le only deducted three days’ wages, a small punishment, Gu Chen knew that those people would still be fired.
They changed restaurants. As soon as Lu Heng’s food was served, An Le tugged on his sleeve and whispered, “Mr., can… can I try yours?”
Lu Heng froze, and it took him a while to understand why An Le wanted to eat his food.
For the first time in so many years, he felt a pang of emotion in his nose and cut a piece of beef to feed to An Le.
The taste was fine; it wasn’t salty.
An Le nodded happily. “Delicious, Mr., you eat.”
Lu Heng didn’t speak, but the smile in his eyes never disappeared.
Gu Chen’s gaze was somewhat deep. After silently finishing the meal, Lu Heng suddenly received a call, said something to An Le, and went to the restroom.
An Le tilted his head, staring at the closed restroom door.
Suddenly, Gu Chen spoke. “Le Le, do you want to know why Xiao Heng can’t eat salty food?”
An Le turned his head, looking at Gu Chen questioningly.
But Gu Chen just smiled without answering.
An Le had no choice but to ask softly, “Uncle, can you tell me?”
Gu Chen: “Of course. Xiao Heng is a child who makes people feel sorry for him. Since you’re married to him, you have to take good care of him in the future.”
An Le nodded. “Mmm.”
Gu Chen: “He can’t eat salty food because when he was a child, his mother…”
Gu Chen stopped mid-sentence as Lu Heng opened the restroom door and came out.
Gu Chen immediately swallowed the rest of his words.
An Le looked at Gu Chen anxiously, but Gu Chen shook his head and said nothing more.
An Le lowered his head in disappointment.
“What’s wrong?”
Lu Heng pulled An Le and asked as they walked, “Unhappy?”
“No.”
An Le shook his head. “It’s just that today… felt… unlucky.”
He didn’t see that person, and Lu Heng suffered because of it.
“It’s okay.”
Lu Heng finished, turning to look at Gu Chen.
Gu Chen didn’t speak, only smiled.
It was still early, and the three of them planned to walk around the resort, but for some reason today, Lu Heng’s phone kept ringing.
Less than half an hour after leaving the restaurant, Lu Heng’s phone rang again. Lu Heng’s expression was very bad; he turned his head with his phone.
An Le looked over worriedly, but unexpectedly, Gu Chen leaned over and whispered, “Xiao Heng doesn’t like it when we talk about his childhood. If you want to know, you have to secretly ask me without him knowing. Otherwise, he will get angry with Uncle, understand?”