He was about to respond when Yu Zhizhi interrupted him.
She frowned and said, “Forget it, I’d rather just buy it outside. That’s more cost-effective.”
Seeing Yu Zhizhi preparing to leave the private room, Manager Luo hurriedly asked, “What do you need charcoal for? If you’re planning to do something foolish, I won’t rent you the private room!”
Hearing this, Yu Zhizhi couldn’t help but laugh.
She really hadn’t expected Manager Luo’s imagination to be so wild—he actually thought she was going to commit suicide.
“Don’t worry. I value my life very much.”
Manager Luo forced out a smile, but his expression was clearly still doubtful.
He continued asking, “Then what exactly are you buying charcoal for?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Do you need some tea or wine later? I guarantee I won’t rip you off!”
Yu Zhizhi replied without hesitation, “No need, I’ll bring my own.”
Whether in ancient or modern times, the tea and alcohol provided in restaurants were always relatively expensive.
And Yu Zhizhi was currently very poor, so naturally she didn’t want to waste money.
Besides, this time she was already spending quite a bit to host the Sixth Prince for hotpot, so she decided to just buy some cheap drinks outside.
Just something symbolic would do.
Manager Luo watched Yu Zhizhi tightly clutching her purse like an iron rooster, and felt bitter inside.
He had originally hoped to earn more money from her, but she turned out to be so sharp—there was no way to take advantage of her at all.
It seemed that cheating her in the future would be extremely difficult.
After paying 100 wen, Yu Zhizhi returned to the Yun residence and began preparing the ingredients.
Hotpot naturally required meatballs. She asked Ping’an to help mince fish and pork into paste, making fish balls and mushroom pork balls.
She also prepared garlic oil dipping sauce and sesame paste sauce.
Everything was ready, and it was almost noon mealtime. Yu Zhizhi and He Ping’an moved the ingredients onto a carriage.
This time, when they went to Fújù Restaurant, they used the back entrance.
The front entrance was too crowded. Yu Zhizhi didn’t want to be disturbed, nor did she want people to discover that she came to apologize to the Sixth Prince.
Fortunately, with the help of the strong and capable He Ping’an, they only made two trips to move everything into the second-floor private room.
After helping place all the ingredients on the table with Yu Zhizhi, He Ping’an left Fújù Restaurant.
Leaving Yu Zhizhi alone to wait for the arrival of the Sixth Prince, Zhao Yunjin.
At this time, Sixth Prince’s residence.
Zhao Yunjin was having lunch, and across from him sat Qi Yize, a lively guest who loved joining in for food and fun.
Biting into a chicken leg, Qi Yize said with a grin, “I really want to see what Yu Zhizhi looks like when she’s been stood up by you until she loses her temper.”
At that moment, guard Zhao Wu quickly entered the dining hall to report: “My lord, from my investigation, Yu Zhizhi is already waiting for you at Fújù Restaurant.”
“What’s strange is that she only rented a private room and didn’t order any dishes. Instead, she brought an unfamiliar stove-like device split into two sides, with white and red broth respectively. Also, the table is filled with vegetables and meat—but all of them are raw.”
He didn’t dare say that he had even seen pig brain and pig blood, offal even dogs wouldn’t eat.
Zhao Yunjin nodded.
It seemed Yu Zhizhi wasn’t lying—she really was cooking personally.
But what was going on with all those raw ingredients?
Qi Yize slammed the table in anger: “Yu Zhizhi is going too far! She has absolutely no sincerity at all! She’s actually making you eat raw food—does that even make sense?”
“If you don’t have money, don’t pretend! She invited you to Fújù Restaurant, yet she’s so stingy! I’m going to go there and scold her properly for you!”
With that, Qi Yize stood up aggressively, ready to go settle the score on behalf of his friend.
However, Zhao Yunjin calmly said, “Sit down and finish your meal. Otherwise, don’t come here to mooch food next time.”
Qi Yize widened his eyes. “Aren’t you angry? That woman is treating you like this…”
Zhao Yunjin slightly curved his lips and shook his head lightly. “Why would I be angry? I never intended to go in the first place.”
However, his curiosity had been piqued by her actions. He didn’t think she would prepare raw ingredients just to host someone she was apologizing to.
Only renting a private room, not ordering dishes.
Bringing her own ingredients.
Only Yu Zhizhi could come up with such an unusual idea.
What exactly was she planning to cook for him?
Qi Yize pressed on, “You’re really not going to check it out?”
Zhao Yunjin ignored him and continued eating lunch, though the food didn’t really suit his appetite, so he was only eating perfunctorily.
Yu Zhizhi sat in the private room waiting and waiting.
An hour passed.
The lunch period had already ended.
Manager Luo, who had been secretly observing her, was also very curious about what she was doing inside the room.
For more than an hour, no one had gone in, and there was no smell of cooking food.
Of course there wasn’t.
Because Yu Zhizhi hadn’t even lit the charcoal fire.
She planned to wait until the Sixth Prince arrived before lighting the fire and heating the hotpot broth.
Otherwise, with the Sixth Prince’s turtle-like speed, the broth might boil dry before he even showed up.
At this moment, hungry and sleepy, Yu Zhizhi decided to wait a little longer.
Maybe the Sixth Prince was truly delayed by something.
And not standing her up!
But this time, she decided to wait while half-asleep.
In the study, Zhao Yunjin was seriously handling official matters when Zhao Wu came again with a report.
“My lord, Yu Zhizhi has been waiting for you for a long time. She eventually fell asleep on the table—and she fell asleep instantly!”
As he spoke, Zhao Wu recalled the scene and was deeply shocked.
Qi Yize, who hadn’t left yet, questioned in disbelief, “How do you know she fell asleep instantly?”
Zhao Wu scratched his head and explained, “I heard her snoring just now. It wasn’t very loud, but it sounded like a pig—very brainwashing.”
“Hahaha!”
Qi Yize couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
At that moment, Yu Zhizhi was sleeping soundly when she was suddenly woken up by the system.
Still not fully awake, she angrily cursed, “Who dares disturb this young lady’s sleep!”
She had just been dreaming—dreaming of a handsome man feeding her hotpot!
The handsome man was even gently wiping the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, and then…
“Host, it’s me, Little Winter Melon…” the system said weakly.
“Bad winter melon! Give me back my handsome man!”
Why was she calling it “bad winter melon” again?
Little Winter Melon looked at her with grievance and said pitifully, “Host, dreams aren’t real. If you want a handsome man, you could consider targeting the Sixth Prince. Once the scar on his face is healed, he’ll be quite the catch!”
Upon hearing this, Yu Zhizhi immediately pictured the Sixth Prince’s cold, expressionless face in her mind and felt a chill run down her spine.