“You’re holding the book upside down.”
Enrico, with one hand in his trouser pocket and the other holding Paige, looked over with a stern expression.
“…”
Gabriel weakly glanced at him and then at the book in his hands. Sure enough, it was upside down.
He licked his lips and read the book seriously.
“Why don’t you start reading from the last word and work your way back?” Enrico snorted.
“… still can’t.”
Gabriel silently put down the book, this time being honest, “Daddy, you punish me.”
He didn’t study hard again.
“Before noon tomorrow, recite the entire Three Character Classic, without making a single mistake,” Enrico punished him happily.
Gabriel’s vision went dark, and he collapsed limply into Beinice’s arms, humming, “Dear uncle, where is there a place where you don’t study?”
“…”
Beinice quickly caught it, and he was so touched that his heart melted.
How could there be such a cute child? He didn’t want to go back.
He looked at Paige and changed the subject for Gabriel, “That’s good, their food is almost ready, let’s eat.”
Their?
Paige was stunned. Wasn’t Olivia cooking alone?
The dining room and kitchen were connected. As soon as she entered the dining room, Paige saw Olivia, Blanca, Brangelina, and Alonso standing in the kitchen. The Rose Estate kitchen was not small, but it looked especially crowded when viewed from this angle.
The four of them were each busy with their own tasks.
The smoke was unable to escape in time, and it swam out of the kitchen, carrying a strong aroma.
This in turn made Jaden and Nick, who were sitting in the dining room, look like they had nothing to do.
When Enrico and Paige arrived, Jaden and Nick stood up, bowed, and then stood to one side.
They had something important to report, otherwise they wouldn’t have been in the way, but the problem was that as soon as Enrico and Paige arrived upstairs, it was already evening, and they didn’t have a chance…
Paige also knew that they had something important to report, but she didn’t care, and she just let go of Enrico’s hand and walked step by step towards the kitchen.
Her eyes fell on Blanca first.
Sure enough, Blanca was making soup. The pot was boiling, bubbling and sizzling, and she was spooning up a mouthful of the soup without waiting for it to cool down, before asking Brangelina, “Why doesn’t it smell as good as it used to at home?”
It already smells good.
Paige leaned against the door and thought to herself, while Brangelina leaned over and looked at the authentic-tasting soup, “It’s already very good.”
“Throw in a couple of bay leaves to season it.”
Alonso was busy with his own dishes with his back to Blanca, and he spoke up after hearing their conversation.
This soup is still the one he taught her before, and she made it for the Folsom family. Now she went to ask Brangelina.
“…”
Blanca’s hand holding the spoon froze for a moment, then she took two bay leaves and carefully put them in the pot. She covered the pot and just waited.
Paige then looked at Alonso, who was cutting up a plate of freshly roasted duck. The duck skin was shiny and oily, with a strong aroma. He had a grimace on his face and chopped down hard with the cleaver.
“Bang…”
The sound was loud.
Anyone who didn’t know would think he had a grudge against the duck.
Then he pressed his shoulder, probably because of the gunshot wound. Paige thought he would stop, but he raised the cleaver and chopped down even harder, sending the meat flying.
Did the duck bite him when it was alive?
Enrico walked over to Paige and glanced inside. His gaze fell on Alonso’s sinister face, and his lips tightened into a line.
It was him.
“Miss, you’re here?” Olivia turned her head and saw Paige, smiling, “Good, we can eat. It’s been a long time since the house was so lively.”
It had been a long time.
She and Enrico were both people with few family ties, and had never imagined that one day the kitchen would be so crowded with so many elders cooking.
“Mm,”
Paige nodded.
The dining room was brightly lit. Tableware with roses printed on it was set on the table, and the dishes were arranged on the table in a dazzling array.
However, with so many people, such a long table was not enough to seat everyone.
When it was time to eat, everyone looked at each other except Enrico.
“I still have an injury and can’t eat seafood, so you guys eat,” Blanca said first, and Alonso nodded in agreement, “me too.”
“I’m just a servant, I’m not eating at the table, you guys sit,” Olivia quickly said.
“Well, I’ll leave after reporting the news,” Jaden and Nick almost said in unison.
Then, there was silence in the dining room.
Paige looked at them and said, “Sit together.”
“…”
Enrico, who was already sitting, leaned on the back of the chair with one hand, turned his head to look at her, raised his eyebrows, and asked him to squeeze in with someone?
Paige pulled a chair over and sat right next to Enrico, indicating that she wanted to squeeze in.
“…”
Enrico didn’t say anything, which was considered tacit consent.
Everyone then took their seats, barely enough for the next table. Gabriel was still sitting in Paige’s lap, “Mommy, I want to eat that… ah!”
He cried out, and was already carried over by Enrico.
Enrico placed the little one on his lap, and Gabriel immediately stopped being impudent, picking up a small spoon and silently scraping rice into his mouth.
Everyone watched silently.
Paige was already used to this scene, picked up her chopsticks and reached for the hot pot of soup, picking up a piece of beef from inside and taking a bite with a low head. It was stewed very tender and flavorful.
Watching her eat the beef, Blanca smiled and picked up some rice to start eating as well.
“Bang.”
A soft sound.
Alonso got up and placed a plate of roast duck in front of Paige.
Paige looked up. Alonso’s expression was still not overly happy, but he spoke very gently to her, “I’m afraid you can’t pick it up.”
“…”
Paige didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded.
After Blanca’s previous experience, she didn’t take such an extreme approach with Alonso, but Alonso’s completely different attitude towards her before and after was much more abrupt than Blanca’s, and it was a little overwhelming for her.
The atmosphere was strange as such a group of people got together for dinner, and everyone could feel it. So they all focused their attention on Gabriel and kept on serving him food.
“Gabriel, eat the fish. Fish makes children smart,” said Nick, who was dining at Rose Estate for the first time.
“Gabriel, eat the meat. Meat makes children grow tall,” said Beinice.
“Gabriel, eat some vegetables,”
said Blanca, also serving food.
“And some fruit, to get your vitamin C,” said Brangelina.
Jaden thought that was a bit much, but in order not to stand out, he quietly added two prawns to Gabriel’s plate. ‘Here, Gabriel, eat the prawns.”
Only Alonso was different. He added two meatballs to Gabriel’s plate. ‘For your mummy.”
“…”
Soon, the small plate in front of Gabriel was piled high.
Enrico almost wanted to throw up his hands in despair.
Gabriel was more pitiful, as he struggled to eat, his cheeks puffed out.
Looking at the pairs of eyes staring at him, his voice was plaintive and indistinct, “Can’t you just pass the food to each other? You’re all giving it to me, and I can’t eat it all.”