"It's fine. We just came out to shop, not to buy anything!" Evie said with a smile, patting Em's shoulder to comfort her.
"Alright, let's keep eating!" Em took a deep breath and declared.
"Still eating?" Evie's eyes went wide.
"There are grilled oysters too. I heard they're delicious. Let's try them!" Em urged.
So, Evie followed Em to eat grilled oysters.
While eating, Em said, "I heard these are an aphrodisiac!"
After the oysters, the two of them truly couldn't eat another bite.
They slumped back in their chairs, almost collapsing.
"Evie, what do you think our purpose in life is?" Em sighed.
"Eat well, sleep well, and take things as they come," Evie replied.
"Haha, that's very Zen," Em said with a laugh.
The two of them leaned against each other, joking around.
When dusk fell, they headed back.
They had work tomorrow, so they couldn't stay out too late.
When Evie returned to Sterling Manor, it was rare to see Gray hadn't gone out.
"You didn't go out this afternoon?" Evie went to the empty seat beside him and sat down.
"No. How was it?" Gray turned to her and asked.
"Ate a lot of things!" Evie laughed.
"You go shopping just to eat?"
"Yeah, there was nothing to buy, so we just went to eat! Next time, we'll go to Elmwood Lane. There are tons of delicious snacks there!" Evie said with a smile.
"Okay," Gray replied.
"What do you want for dinner? I'll cook it."
"Can you still eat?" Gray said with a smile.
"I can't, but you haven't eaten yet, have you?"
"I'll cook later. I'm not hungry." Gray turned his head to look out the window and asked, "It's a nice day. Want to take a walk in the garden?"
"Sure!" Evie nodded.
The two of them walked out of Sterling Manor and went for a stroll.
The weather was really nice today. It wasn't too hot or too cold, and the sunset was beautiful.
They talked as they walked.
Later, Gray asked, "Do you want to have dinner at Rose Garden Villa tonight?"
"Huh?" Evie was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at him.
She wasn't sure if Gray was serious or just joking with her.
"Do you like the dishes my sister-in-law cooks?" Gray asked again.
"Yes, I do!" Evie nodded.
"Then let's go for dinner tonight. I haven't been there in a while," Gray said with a smile.
Evie smiled, thinking that Gray could really be like a child sometimes.
They walked hand in hand towards Rose Garden Villa.
"Sister-in-law—"
Evie called out as they reached the door.
"It's the fourth young master and the young lady!" Hattie came over and saw it was Gray and Evie. She greeted them, then turned and shouted into the house, "Madam, it's the fourth young master and the young lady!"
Evie followed Gray inside. Rose had just stopped her embroidery and got up to come out. She saw them with a gentle smile.
"Evie, Gray, you're here! Sit down!"
Then she turned and told Hattie to make tea.
"We were just out for a walk and ended up here. We didn't mean to disturb you," Evie said with a smile.
"No disturbance at all. I'm happy you came! Have you had dinner? Why don't you eat here tonight?" Rose replied with a smile.
"Okay!" Evie nodded.
Rose was very happy to hear they were staying for dinner. She asked Hattie to prepare things first, then went back to stir-fry.
While Rose was cooking in the kitchen, Evie didn't stay idle. She went to the kitchen to help.
Rose kept saying no, telling Evie and Gray to just drink tea in the living room.
Evie said she wanted to learn how to cook a couple of dishes from her sister-in-law.
Rose had no choice but to let Evie stay.
The two of them went into the kitchen. Violet had already prepared the vegetables. Rose started stir-frying, and Evie watched and learned from the side, chatting with Rose as she did.
"I heard from Violet that you started working?"
"I just started my internship a month ago," Evie answered truthfully.
"Are you getting used to it?"
"It's very good!"
"Are you with Gray?"
"Yes, I'm interning at Sterling Group." Evie breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that at least her sister-in-law didn't call Gray by his brother's name this time. Otherwise, it would have been awkward again.
"Sterling Group is good. Thomas works there too!" Rose said with emotion.
Evie almost blurted out, "Who is Thomas?" before she suddenly remembered that Thomas was Gray's older brother, Rose's husband.
Rose cooked and talked about Thomas's work.
She said he often had to work overtime, and sometimes it was hard for him to have dinner at home. So she often made soup for him and sent it to the company.
Evie could only respond with "Mm-hmm" and "Okay."
A chill ran down her spine.
"Thomas's favorite dish is my stir-fried water chestnuts with fungus. He always says it's crispy and delicious," Rose said softly. "But I haven't made it in a long time."
With that sentence, Rose seemed lost in thought. She didn't say anything more, and her cooking action stopped.
Evie didn't want to disturb her sister-in-law's memories, but the dish was about to burn!
She had to awkwardly say to her sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, can I stir-fry it?"
"Okay!" Rose came back to herself and handed the spatula to Evie with a smile.
Evie took it quickly and stir-fried it a few times.
Rose stood aside and continued, "Gray and Thomas are very picky people. If the food isn't fried well, they won't move their chopsticks for another bite. I studied hard for a while just to get the cooking right!" Rose sighed.
Evie was a little surprised. She turned to her sister-in-law and said with a smile, "Really?"
How was that different from the Gray she knew!
Even though she thought he was picky about the environment, hygiene, freshness, and taste, he seemed to support her cooking.
Even when she thought her cooking skills were mediocre!
"Gray is a bit chubby now, but he used to be very thin. Then he grew tall. He looked like a bamboo pole!" Rose said with a smile.
Evie burst out laughing.
Even though she didn't know what Gray looked like when he was as thin as a bamboo pole, it was funny to imagine.
"It's good that Gray has you now. I think he's gained weight today! He looks more handsome!"
"Sister-in-law, am I fat? Is Gray fat?" Evie turned her head and asked with a smile.
"You're not fat. You're still very thin. Gray is the one who's fat!" Rose emphasized.
"Maybe I see him every day, so I don't notice," Evie had to answer.
"You take good care of Gray!" Rose said happily.
"We take care of each other!" Evie blurted out.
The next second, she felt that sentence wasn't right, especially in front of her sister-in-law.
Just as she was feeling embarrassed, she heard her sister-in-law continue, "Husband and wife should take care of each other. That's good!"
Evie just nodded awkwardly, then put the dish on the plate, changed the subject, and asked, "Sister-in-law, what's the next dish to fry?"