Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1345: Luo Jun Side Story (2)

"That’s really... too kind of you." Zhang Shumei quickly stepped aside to welcome everyone in, signaling with her eyes for her son to hurry and serve tea, and to lay out the fruit platter, remembering to cut the fruits nicely and arrange them on the plate beautifully before serving.

Zhang Shumei’s son rushed into the kitchen.

Qin Huai surreptitiously glanced at Zhang Shumei’s son.

At Luo Jun’s funeral before, Zhang Shumei’s son and daughter-in-law also came to help, but Qin Huai didn’t really notice them at the time. Now that they have become Luo Jun’s parents in this life, Qin Huai felt it was necessary to observe the couple carefully to determine whether Luo Jun would grow up to be an ordinary person or a handsome man.

Hmm, an ordinary person.

Chen Huihong chatted briefly with Zhang Shumei before getting straight to the point: "Is the baby in the room? Can we see him now? Is he afraid of strangers? Is he easy to care for?"

At the mention of her grandson, Zhang Shumei couldn’t help but smile: "Of course, Junjun just woke up and is playing in the room. This child, he didn’t cry much in the first few days, it scared his mom and me, we thought maybe he was not bright, but we were relieved after the checkup."

"Yan Yan doesn’t have much breast milk, and at first, we worried that Junjun wouldn’t drink formula, but it turned out he’s quite sensible and drinks formula just fine."

"The only problem is, he doesn’t like sleeping at night. No matter how the nanny sings to him or tries to coax him, he just won’t sleep. But even if he doesn’t sleep, he doesn’t cry much, just has a bit of a temper and likes to hit people. His dad teased him this morning, and not long after, Junjun swung his little arm with some force as if to slap him across the face."

Chen Huihong listened with shining eyes. A baby that doesn’t sleep well at night, has a temper, and hardly cries could only be Luo Jun, excluding the possibility of the protagonist of another novel reincarnating here!

"Which room is the baby in?" Chen Huihong had already taken out her phone, ready to capture the wonderful moment of meeting Luo Jun for the first time.

"The innermost room."

Chen Huihong dashed towards the room, her action of pulling out her phone seemed normal to Zhang Shumei, considering it would be strange not to take photos after bringing so many gifts. Not bringing a camera must have been because the community camera was broken.

In the room, the nursemaid was trying to entertain the child with an extremely ugly, colorful doll, which was bound to look hideous in the eyes of a normal person but was likely adored by young children.

In theory, a 10-day-old baby shouldn’t even comprehend toys. But Luo Jun was no ordinary child, as he seemed not very curious about the world either, despite not sleeping or crying a lot. The nursemaid had to try different ways to amuse him.

When Chen Huihong entered the room, the child lying on the bed swathed in thick baby clothes, only capable of waving his little hands and feet about, turned his head and glanced at her.

I must say, he was quite fair-skinned, and his hair had grown considerably.

In one look, everyone concluded that this child was definitely Luo Jun.

The look in his eyes wasn’t exactly mocking or indifferent or casual, but there was certainly 70% of "Chen Huihong, what’s your problem," and 30% of "I’ve only been born for 10 days, and you’ve already found me."

A normal baby could never have such expression. Everyone knew it.

Seeing someone had come, Luo Jun was no longer interested in playing along with the nursemaid, showing an artificial interest in the ugly doll. In his discontent, he gave the doll a hard punch to demonstrate his dislike for it.

The nursemaid asked with a smile: "Junjun, are you hungry?"

Once again, Luo Jun swung his tiny fist in displeasure, expressing discontent with the nickname and then let out a few men’s cries, pretending to be hungry.

The nursemaid hurriedly went to prepare the formula.

Zhang Shumei quickly took over, picked up Luo Jun, and when she saw her grandson showed no signs of dissatisfaction, she smiled and asked everyone if they wanted to hold the baby.

No one wanted to miss out on such an opportunity; they eagerly expressed they absolutely had to experience it for themselves.

Not only did they want to experience it, but they also wanted to take pictures.

Thus, everyone got a photograph with baby Luo Jun, who was powerless to resist, giving each one of them a couple of punches, and eventually, grew too tired to even manage that, wearing a blank expression, his eyes full of annoyance, and murderously hinting that once awakened, he’d blow fire to scorch them all to ashes.

Fearless of death, Chen Huihong insisted on Zhang Shumei filming a video for her, claiming she lacked materials.

Everyone left Zhang Shumei’s house satisfied.

After leaving Zhang Shumei’s home, Chen Huihong even spent extravagantly to hire a private detective to investigate Zhang Shumei’s son and daughter-in-law. There wasn’t much to investigate, really, but Chen Huihong just wanted it done regardless.

They seemed like a very ordinary couple. Zhang Shumei’s husband had passed away many years ago due to illness, leaving behind substantial medical debts, which is why Zhang Shumei chose to become a live-in maid. She managed to pay off the debts while working at Luo Jun’s house, and her son Chen Tao became very independent due to growing up poor and worked hard to get into a famous university and secure a job.

Chen Tao’s wife Wang Yan was his university classmate. They originally weren’t working in Shan City, but moved here entirely because Luo Jun gifted Zhang Shumei a house in Yunzhong District, which is in a school district.

Due to Luo Jun’s gift of property, Zhang Shumei’s family didn’t lack money. She continued working as a nanny in Yunzhong District simply because she couldn’t stay idle. Meanwhile, her son and daughter-in-law didn’t have plans to rely on her financially; Chen Tao quickly found a busy and well-paid job in Shan City, and Wang Yan planned to return to work once the child turned two.

The above information was found by the private detective, who perhaps felt the information about Chen Tao and his wife was too easily available, hence compensated by even investigating what baby products they prepared during the pregnancy.

It was all meticulously prepared, showcasing the couple’s hopes and love for the future child.

Once everyone had read the report from the private detective, they all exclaimed about how Luo Jun had been fortunate enough to be born into such a good family this time around.

The golden nannies and childcare workers recommended by Zhang Shumei’s employer were also very responsible. The nanny took excellent care of the mother and child in the first 45 days, and after she handed over the reigns, the childcare worker tended to Luo Jun with dedication, often pushing a stroller around Yunzhong District to take him for walks.

Qin Huai and others frequently acted as though they enjoyed afternoon strolls, taking the chance to bump into the childcare worker and Luo Jun for a chance encounter in the neighborhood.

Soon enough, the old and new patrons of Yunzhong Restaurant knew that Master Qin had picked up a new habit: going out for a walk at exactly 3 PM every afternoon, only to return at 4 PM to make the last batch of snacks.

Eventually, this habit somehow made its way to Tan Wei’an, who sent a message, inquiring if Qin Huai had stumbled upon a marvellous epiphany. If success was guaranteed, Tan Wei’an also wanted to apply to go on a stroll from 3 PM to 4 PM every day at Zhiwei Restaurant.

Qin Huai responded that he couldn’t guarantee enlightenment, but such a habit would surely lead to encountering Luo Jun.

Then he could pinch his nose, and together with the equally frequent stroller, Chen Huihong, Qu Jing during her breaks, Shi Dadan who somehow also grew fond of this activity, the lively An Youyou who loved being part of the excitement, Wang Gen Sheng who enjoyed exchanging child-rearing insights with the childcare worker, and occasionally Cheng Gong who would specially take leave to fly into Shan City purposely for these encounters, they would all be there, pinching their noses, using a standard child’s entertaining exaggerated tone to say to Luo Jun:

"Oh my, Junjun is out for a walk again!"

"Junjun is so adorable."

"Junjun, when will you start talking?"

"Junjun, your clothes are beautiful today!"

"Junjun swung his fist again, what a strong punch!"

And recording videos simultaneously.

Initially, no one intended to record, but with Chen Huihong leading the charge, no one could resist the urge to capture a couple videos on their phones.

Chen Huihong even created a QQ group where she uploaded these videos to the group files with the name "Junjun is just too cute."

Eventually, Chen Huihong would even bring her daughter Chen Huixi during her breaks to join these encounters.

When Chen Huixi mimicked everyone and pinched her voice to tell Luo Jun from her heart that Junjun really was too cute, she successfully received two punches from Luo Jun.

Everyone then heard Chen Huixi’s delighted voice: "Wow, Mom, you were right, Junjun really packs a punch, it actually hurt a bit just now."

"Junjun, can you give me two more punches?"

Luo Jun: ...