Chapter 249: Chapter 254: Ulterior Motives Chapter 249: Chapter 254: Ulterior Motives The ladies from the Song and Dance Troupe were dumbstruck.

It was Zhang Hongmei’s first time seeing such leaders, especially Su Hai; she knew about him. He was the director of the Inspection Department–it was said that even Yang Wenying had to obediently listen to him.

In front of Su Hai, she was so nervous that she didn’t know where to place her hands or feet.

Wu Youli was also very nervous, holding her chopsticks and not knowing where to look.

Lu Dabao’s movements were faster than his brain’s reactions; seeing the beef he liked being touched, he quickly nabbed a piece. After biting into it, it tasted so good that he wanted to swallow his tongue.

The others didn’t delay either and quickly started eating. The two old masters didn’t even care to drink their wine, they decided to eat the delicious food first.

Apart from Zhang Hongmei and Wu Youli, who were rather restrained, everyone else was moving their chopsticks so quickly that they didn’t bother to speak.

Eventually, Wu Youli and Zhang Hongmei gradually forgot their nervousness and quietly kept their heads down to eat without uttering a word.

Sheng Ning, seeing everyone enjoying the food, slightly curved up the corners of his mouth.

For the chef, the greatest praise was seeing everyone liking the food.

Su Hai was the fastest to finish eating, smart as he was, being the first to start. He leisurely put down his chopsticks and served himself a bowl of West Lake beef soup, took a sip, and found the taste pretty good!

“This is Huaiyang cuisine, right? People from the North can rarely make this.”

Sheng Ning had no appetite, saw that Su Hai had finished eating, and also put down her chopsticks. “Yes,” she nodded, not deigning to add another word.

Su Hai forced a smile with a hooked corner of his mouth.

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The dinner ended faster than expected due to the presence of many leaders. Zhang Hongmei and Wu Youli felt the psychological pressure, and Sheng Ning was clearly not feeling right. Everyone didn’t linger and directly said their goodbyes after eating.

Originally planned to clean up the pots and pans, Chen Huaying said that a maid would clean them up tomorrow and only washed them briefly.

When leaving, Old Master Chen and Mr. Su earnestly instructed their grandson to see them out. Chen Yingjie felt obligated–he was now fully treating Sheng Ning as his sister-in-law.

Su Huai’an pursed his lips, silently put on Su Hai’s coat, and grabbed an umbrella ready to see the guests out.

“No need!” Sheng Ning refused.

Liu Yilan glanced at Sheng Ning and smiled, “We can go back on our own, we’d rather not trouble Captain Chen and Professor Su.”

“What Professor Su and Captain Chen? You are Yingzi’s friends, so they are your brothers.”

“Forget it! We’ll go back on our own.” Lu Dabao, simple-minded as he was, was still oblivious. She just naively thought that being followed by a madman and a teacher made her nervous.

Feeling the psychological burden, Lu Dabao, who was not good at studying when she was young, feared teachers the most.

To this day, she kept naively believing that Su Huai’an was just a schoolteacher.

“Grandfather, you’re really biased, every time I come back, I’ve never seen you send anyone to see me off. Yet this time, you’ve actually asked my brother to personally escort, do you have an ulterior motive?” Chen Huaying made a face.

“Hehehe… mainly because we want Comrade Sheng Ning to come more often.” Old Master Chen laughed, his motive exposed by his granddaughter.

Mr. Su stared at Sheng Ning, speechless.

Everyone insisted, and ultimately Chen Yingjie and Su Huai’an didn’t personally escort them. Another reason was that having the young masters from both the Su and Chen families escort someone was a courtesy usually reserved for old leaders.

It was a privilege not enjoyed by ordinary folks.

Considering the young ladies, the old masters didn’t persist in the end.

Mainly, they were afraid of causing unpleasant rumors or attracting prying eyes.