However, Qi Li, under the watchful eyes of those around her, seemed to treat them as if they were invisible. She simply took out two wrapped gifts from her bag, stood up, and placed one in front of each of the two girls.
"Boss Qi..." The assistants surrounding Qi Li were slightly stunned as they gazed at the two boxes.
While others didn't know what the gifts were, she knew exactly what they contained. The two gifts were not only valuable but also custom-made. In fact, they were unique; there were only these two in the world.
The assistant had initially thought that Qi Li had prepared the gifts for her mother. However, it now seemed they were meant for the two girls.
At this moment, not only the assistant but also Jiang Hai, were perplexed.
He wanted to ask this woman what she meant. Was she playing tricks?
But it was hard for him to ask such a question, especially with outsiders present.
So, he simply looked at Darlene and Marianne. The two girls, too, were a bit confused. They didn't understand what was going on. Why had a mother suddenly appeared? They knew about Jiang Hai's relationship with Qi Li in China but were unaware of the details. It seemed that the mother from China had shown up.
"Take it..." Though he was confused, uncertain, and somewhat unhappy, Jiang Hai nodded.
After all, with children and strangers present, he couldn't say too much. At his words, Darlene and Marianne opened the gift boxes in front of them. This, too, was a cultural difference between foreigners and Chinese.
In China, it is customary not to open gifts immediately, but to wait until one is home and behind closed doors. Whether or not a person has more or less money is hard to gauge, as everyone tries to save face.
But in the United States, people are accustomed to opening gifts right away and expressing their delight, giving the gift giver a chance to show off. Of course, if the gift isn't great, the show-off could quickly turn into a source of embarrassment.
Clearly, Qi Li, who had been in the U.S. for so long, understood this and was confident in her gift.
When the gift boxes were opened, two diamond bracelets appeared before the girls.
"Wow, they're so beautiful!" Selena, the star, was the first to exclaim. As a celebrity with a good income, her eyes were trained to recognize fine jewelry. The bracelets were clearly designed by a renowned designer, likely limited editions. The base was platinum, with ten diamonds set into it. The main diamond was about one carat, while the other nine were smaller, totaling more than 50 points. The diamonds alone were worth around $10,000. Including the design and platinum, each bracelet was valued at approximately $20,000. It was the most expensive gift.
"This is a bit too much," Jiang Hai said, hesitating as he looked at the two bracelets. While he didn't know exactly how much they cost, he knew that such gleaming, extravagant items couldn't come cheap.
"Is it for you? For the children. Since you've accepted them, it has nothing to do with you. Don't look at them yet. Take a look later when you're in your room." Qi Li responded, her tone gentle as she pushed back. Seeing Jiang Hai's speechless expression, she quickly shifted gears and adopted a sweet, wife-like demeanor, addressing the two girls in front of her.
The girls exchanged glances before nodding, gesturing their thanks, and carefully placing the gift boxes behind their chairs, treating them with the utmost care.
Although Jiang Hai had always raised these two girls with wealth, showering them with gifts and privileges—everything from clothes, toys, and gadgets to game consoles and mobile devices—he had never bought them such expensive jewelry.
"Well, let's eat." Seeing that the moment seemed to have passed, Jiang Hai sighed helplessly and motioned for everyone to begin their meal. As for the assistant, who hadn't been introduced—well, who cared about her?
As Jiang Hai picked up his knife and fork, the others followed suit. Jiang Hai cut into his beef, while Darlene, Marianne, and Selena Gomez each took a piece of fish. Compared to beef, Darlene and Marianne preferred fish, as they had often eaten it while traveling before. Fish was far cheaper than beef, so they had become accustomed to it. As for Selena Gomez, she was here strictly to maintain her figure. Pra Walton, on the other hand, was after the beef, so she naturally cut a piece of it. Qi Li's assistant, upon seeing the lobster and abalone on the table, couldn't take her eyes off them. As soon as the meal began, without a word, she grabbed an abalone to eat. This wild abalone, raised in cold water for who knows how many years, naturally tasted much better than domestically farmed varieties.
Cold-water seafood grows much slower than those in temperate and tropical zones, and the cold environment results in firmer, sweeter meat. In terms of taste, cold-water seafood is superior to its tropical counterparts.
As the assistant dug into the abalone, her eyes lit up in delight.
Qi Li, on the other hand, had initially intended to eat vegetable salad. But seeing how much her assistant was enjoying the food, she decided to try the cheese lobster instead. The lobster meat, torn into pieces and covered with mozzarella cheese, sent a rich, cheesy aroma wafting through the air. This only made the assistant, who hadn't even finished the abalone, swallow harder.
Qi Li forked a piece of lobster and brought it to her mouth. As she bit into it, her eyes instantly lit up. "Hmm, delicious."
The lobster's texture was similar to shrimp, but a hundred times firmer and dozens of times more flavorful. Its meat was fresh and tough. If you tried to tear it with your teeth, it took some effort, but the taste was worth it. Now, with the cheese on top, it didn't overwhelm the original flavor but instead enhanced the lobster's fresh, tough, and rich taste with a stronger cheesy and milky fragrance, leaving everyone around her drooling.
"This lobster is amazing, but it's still far inferior to Jiang Hai's steak," Selena Gomez said with a smile after taking a bite.
"Hmm?" Hearing her words, the two girls, who were fighting for abalone and lobster, looked at the steak in front of them, somewhat puzzled. To be honest, they had noticed the steak right away, but its appearance... well, Jiang Hai hadn't exactly put much thought into the presentation. The steak was nearly well-done, with a slightly charred top, which, when combined with the black pepper sauce, could be mistaken for a piece of charcoal. When compared to the perfectly presented seafood, it wasn't much to look at.
Chinese cuisine emphasizes color, fragrance, and taste, with the first priority being color. If food doesn't look good, how can you enjoy it?
If it had only been Selena Gomez speaking, the girls might have hesitated.
But when Qi Li saw that Pra Walton had already finished her steak, she knew there must be something special about it, or the woman wouldn't have been so eager.
Temporarily setting aside her other food, Qi Li focused on Jiang Hai's steak. She picked up her knife and fork, cutting a piece of the steak. As she bit into it, the marbled fat, wrapped in thick lean meat, released a burst of juices, instantly filling her mouth.
The beef was firm and tender, constantly pleasing her taste buds and teeth. This steak, once you took a bite, was hard to stop eating. Her eyes began to glaze over with pleasure.
In that moment, she seemed to travel back more than ten years, to when her family had followed her father to the capital. She remembered that her father had brought home a girl, and Qi Li had been extremely displeased. To appease his eldest daughter, her father had taken her on a trip to the island country. In Hyogo Prefecture, he had invited her to taste their beef, and it had tasted exactly like the beef she was eating now.
"Is this... 5A-grade beef?" Qi Li asked in disbelief, staring at the almost-charred steak in front of her.
"Well, sort of. To be precise, it's special-grade beef. After all, we're not in the island country, but I'm confident it's just as good as theirs," Jiang Hai replied with a smile. He was proud of his steak. Meanwhile, Pra Walton had finished her piece of steak.
"I think it's time for us to discuss our cooperation," she said seriously, putting down her knife and fork.
(To be continued...)