And as it turned out, things were exactly as Luo Ming had guessed.
Lin Shuwen’s relationship with her cousin was about the same as that of an ordinary friend—and in some ways, even less than that.
There’s an old saying: a close neighbor is better than a distant relative.
Lin Shuwen’s father and Lin Shuyue’s father were indeed biological brothers, but their families lived too far apart. They couldn’t really help each other out when something came up, and over time, the relationship between the two families naturally grew distant.
Later, when Lin Shuyue came to the imperial capital for college, Lin Shuwen’s father would invite her over for meals every now and then, which helped improve the relationship between the two families a bit. But every time Lin Shuyue visited, Lin Shuwen would end up being compared to her—and because of that, Lin Shuwen never really liked her cousin all that much.
Lin Shuyue could also tell that her presence made her cousin uncomfortable, so she started consciously cutting back on visits to her uncle’s house. It wasn’t until Lin Shuwen went off to college in Shanghai that Lin Shuyue’s visits picked up again.
The two sisters had never really spent much time together growing up, and with those earlier frictions, their relationship ended up being one that only looked good on the surface.
This time, Lin Shuyue came to pick up Lin Shuwen mainly because Lin Shuwen’s parents had gone to Japan for a seminar. She didn’t want her cousin, who’d finally made it back home after so long, to be stuck at home all alone—or worse, stuck in some hotel. So she decided to come get her.
What Lin Shuyue didn’t expect, though, was that Lin Shuwen seemed to have changed a lot after spending over a year navigating the entertainment industry. At the very least, Lin Shuyue no longer sensed that wall between them.
“Wenwen, you’ve changed a lot.”
“Huh? Have I?”
“Yeah. Before, you would never have spoken your mind like that in front of me.”
Luo Ming’s expression stiffened slightly at her words. Had he been acting too natural in front of Lin Shuyue?
Lin Shuyue glanced at “Lin Shuwen’s” expression and smiled. “Wenwen, compared to how guarded you used to be with me, I actually like this version of you a lot more. You can be more natural around me—we’re sisters, after all. Blood is thicker than water.”
Luo Ming had no idea how to respond to that, so he just forced out a quiet “Mm.”
Half an hour later, Lin Shuyue’s car pulled up at the entrance of a narrow, old-looking alley.
“We’re here. Let’s get out.”
“But there aren’t any restaurants around here!” Luo Ming said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
“The best old-school Beijing hotpot isn’t something you’ll find in a regular restaurant.”
Luo Ming followed Lin Shuyue into the alley.
At the very end of the alley stood a modest little eatery, and above its entrance hung a wooden sign that read—Copper Pot Hotpot.
The two stepped inside and found a table in the corner. Luo Ming looked around curiously and asked, “So this is the real deal? Authentic old Beijing hotpot?”
“Exactly. The old Beijing lamb hotpot you’re thinking of actually dates back to the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty was founded by nomadic peoples, and their approach to cooking and eating meat was quite different from ours. The flavor of old Beijing hotpot actually preserves some of those distinctive characteristics. Authentic old Beijing hotpot is always cooked over charcoal in a copper pot—that’s what gives the lamb its fine texture, keeps it from having any gamey taste, and makes it incredibly tender.
When you eat old Beijing lamb hotpot, you can also pair it with ingredients like white radish, napa cabbage, baby cabbage, lettuce, spinach, frozen tofu, dried tofu, vermicelli, and more. If you’re into spicy hotpot, you can use chili oil or other dipping sauces to make the flavor even richer. And this place has all of that. A coworker brought me here once, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Every time I’m craving hotpot, this is the first place that comes to mind.”
After hearing Lin Shuyue’s explanation, Luo Ming’s mouth was already watering.
Lin Shuyue went ahead and ordered six plates of meat and a vegetable platter.
Watching the slices of lamb tumble and roll in the steaming copper pot, Luo Ming’s eyes practically sparkled with hunger—so much so that he almost drooled.
And through the rising steam, Lin Shuyue watched her cousin’s eager, hungry expression and couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“A sister like this is much cuter,” she thought to herself.
After they’d eaten and drank their fill, Lin Shuyue offered to take “Lin Shuwen” back to her place. But “Lin Shuwen” firmly declined: “Sis, I have to go to your studio to record a show tomorrow. There’s no way I can afford to mess up a CCTV program. I need to prepare properly.”
Lin Shuyue let out a chuckle. “Wenwen, you don’t have to be so nervous. Our show isn’t as serious as you think. And I actually have copies of all the scripts and materials your agent received.”
“That’s different.”
“Wow, I didn’t realize you took your work so seriously! Honestly, that makes me feel a little spoiled. Alright then—I’ll take you back. If you run into any issues, feel free to call me anytime.”
“Okay.” Luo Ming agreed without hesitation.
Back at the hotel, Luo Ming got the script from Sister Shan. Tomorrow at the TV station, they’d definitely go over the script first and then do a rehearsal to make sure the recording the day after went smoothly. Familiarizing himself with the script was a necessary part of preparing for any variety show.
Fortunately, Luo Ming had the Memory Library. With that, memorizing the contents of the script was a piece of cake.
In his own room, using “studying the script” as an excuse, Luo Ming told Lin Shuwen about what had happened with her cousin.
After listening to Luo Ming’s description, Lin Shuwen was full of question marks. Was her cousin really like that? It didn’t match the person in her memory at all.
For one thing—Lin Shuyue had actually taken the time to patiently explain the history and proper way to eat old Beijing hotpot?
What kind of joke was that?!
Ahem! “Wenwen, did anything happen at the company today?”
“No… nothing. The people you hired are really reliable. Even without you around, they’re fully committed to their work. Today, they basically finished level 3-3 of Plants vs. Zombies.”
“So fast!” Luo Ming was genuinely surprised.
They’d completed an entire level on their very first day at work? Was Senior Brother Zhao really that dependable?
“Yeah! I didn’t expect them to move that quickly either.”
“If they can keep up this pace, then even if I lose half my time on this end, it won’t matter much.”
Lin Shuwen felt a little awkward upon hearing that. Luo Ming was over there working hard on her behalf, putting in so much effort, while she couldn’t do much to help him in return.
She decided to turn that guilt into motivation—and promised herself to work even harder at learning to code from now on.
“Order number 16, your food is ready!”
“Luo Ming, I’ll stop here for now. My grilled lamb chops are ready. We’ll talk again tomorrow.” And with that, Lin Shuwen hung up.
Hard work? She’d start tomorrow. Tonight, it was all about those lamb chops.
The next day, Luo Ming got up bright and early. At 7 a.m., Chen Junmiao began doing his makeup. Sister Shan had Chen Sichu go buy breakfast—still no carbs, just a cup of soy milk and a boiled egg. Luo Ming polished those off while getting his makeup done.
After he was all set, the four of them headed off to the show’s recording studio.
