The Chef Rules the Last Days
Chapter 150 - 147: Provoking Jiang Hai

Chapter 150: Chapter 147: Provoking Jiang Hai

It wasn’t just him, the expressions of everyone in the car varied, but they were unanimously surprised.

After all the hardships they had endured on their way here, and the dire situation outside, these people were still leading affluent lives, seemingly unaffected.

The car slowly pulled up in front of a villa at the center, where a crowd was packed tightly together.

At the forefront was Jiang Hai, standing at attention in his military uniform with a straight back.

The car came to a stop, and Su Mo looked up at Lu Chen, her heart starting to pound nervously, "I’m a bit nervous."

She had been feeling nervous since they entered the city, even though it wasn’t her first time meeting them, but her identity had changed—she was now a relative of Lu Chen.

"I’m here," Lu Chen’s cool palm enveloped her smaller hand, looking down at her, "Let’s get out of the car."

"Okay," Su Mo nodded, and they got out of the car, hand in hand, leading the way.

The crowd gathered outside started yelling upon seeing Lu Chen, shouting "Admiral!" so loudly it almost pierced the heavens.

Even with his newly silver hair, Lu Chen’s familiar, enthralling phoenix eyes bore a bone-chilling coldness, his restrained aura resembling that of a fierce beast lurking in hell.

Jiang Hai knew he was back. His face didn’t show much fluctuation, due to his immense effort to control his excitement, but his trembling voice betrayed him:

"You’re back."

"Mm," Lu Chen nodded slightly, holding Su Mo’s hand tightly.

He appeared very aloof, but only Su Mo knew that the hand holding hers was also trembling.

"Let’s go inside to see your aunt," Jiang Hai said, keeping his back straight, hands clasped behind him, and led the way in.

Hu Ding glanced at the clasped hands in front of him, somewhat unable to react; he murmured behind them, "The Admiral has returned and even brought a woman back with him; this is really something."

Jianxiong had just entered the house when he heard Hu Ding’s muttering, laughed heartily, and slung an arm over his shoulder, "That’s my sister."

Hu Ding recalled him as the special forces soldier from the Jiang Residence in A city, "Aren’t you all from the orphanage, where did you get a sister from?"

Jianxiong bristled at that, tightening his arm around his neck, "Why ask so many questions; why don’t you arrange a place for us brothers to stay first?"

Hu Ding broke free from him, glancing at Li Qian and others standing behind, and feeling a bit embarrassed, "Follow me, follow me, I got a bit excited seeing the Admiral."

After witnessing Lu Chen’s return, everyone settled down and dispersed into groups, and from the back door of the villa, a figure dashed out. Li Qian felt a ripple in his spiritual power and subtly retracted it.

The living room on the first floor of the villa was spacious, with a European-style decor that was both luxurious and exquisite.

Su Mo didn’t look around, instead she simply followed behind Lu Chen up the wooden staircase.

Intermittent coughing came from a room at the end of the second floor corridor. Jiang Hai’s countenance was grim, and his once dark and shiny hair had begun to grey; he gave a heavy sigh, patting Lu Chen on the shoulder:

"Go in and see," he said.

Lu Chen looked down at Su Mo, who was shaking her hands, "You go in, call me when I should come in."

"Wait here for me," he said gently ruffling her head before turning the doorknob and stepping inside.

Jiang Hai stood to the side, observing the intimacy between the two, and said to Su Mo with a severe expression, "Come with me."

"Oh," Su Mo glanced at his expression and knew something was amiss. She didn’t object, however, and obediently followed him into a vast study.

Stacks of documents crowded the precious solid wood desk as Jiang Hai seated himself in a chair, scrutinizing Su Mo from head to toe before slowly beginning, "I’ve met you."

Su Mo glanced at the chair beside her and nodded generously in response, "You visited the community where Lu Chen and I lived before the apocalypse."

"What’s your relationship with Lu Chen?" Just by sitting there, Jiang Hai’s decades of authority in office were not to be underestimated.

But she was far from intimidated. She hooked the corner of her mouth and gracefully took a seat in the chair beside her, "You saw it all just now, didn’t you?"

"So, it was you that Lu Chen risked his life to go back and save?"

"Yes," Su Mo acknowledged with a smile and a nod.

Seeing her as a woman reliant on others caused Jiang Hai’s brows to furrow deeply, already deeming the woman before him incompetent.

His tone was as cold as frost, "You insolent child, better leave at once. Lu Chen is the successor I’ve groomed for twenty years, you’re not worthy of him."

Su Mo leaned back in her chair, laughing out loud, her eyes sparkling with mocking light, "He’s your successor? Then may I ask, is Mrs. Jiang’s current pregnancy a boy or a girl? If it’s a boy, will you still hand over the successor to him?"

She wasn’t foolish, in fact, quite shrewd; Jiang Hai wasn’t truly considering her man as his successor, but more likely seeking a protector for his own child.

However, she couldn’t deny that Jiang Hai indeed had cultivated Lu Chen to be exceedingly outstanding, appealing to her at first sight in every aspect.

Her words clearly touched a nerve with Jiang Hai, whose eyes flickered and chest heaved violently with anger, yet he couldn’t come up with an answer to her purposefully challenging question.

The Su Mo of now was not the type to tremble with fear from a mere glance as before.

She stood up, and as though that wasn’t enough, she added, "It doesn’t matter if you acknowledge me, but the times are different now, wouldn’t you agree, Vice Commander Jiang?"

She stressed the word "Vice" heavily, causing Jiang Hai to rise abruptly from his seat and slam his hand onto the desk, generating a thunderous sound.

Lu Chen, who was in the room at the far end, darkened his expression and let go of Jiang Yulian’s hand, "I’ll be right back."

Su Mo peeked at his hand hitting the desk and said with a smile, "Calm down, Vice Commander Jiang, what kind of woman do you think is worthy of Lu Chen?"

"Someone who can be of help to him, not some girl who hasn’t even grown her hair out fully," Jiang Hai said darkly, spitting out the words through gritted teeth.

Su Mo had been mistaken for a minor more than once, but hearing it from Lu Chen’s family still made her particularly displeased.

Her smile faded, and the suppressive aura that she had kept in check since entering the city now emanated from her, pressing towards Jiang Hai, "While I probably should address you as ’Uncle-in-law’ out of respect for Lu Chen, your words truly upset me."

The hostility she encountered upon arrival was perplexing and unsettling.

Jiang Hai’s eyes showed astonishment as the overpowering pressure forced him back into his chair, unable to rise.

As Su Mo’s spiritual power spread, Lu Chen, feeling it vaguely, strode to the door and didn’t even knock before turning the handle.

Su Mo turned her head to see him enter, retracted her aura immediately, curved her cherry lips downward and looked up with eyes brimming with water, appearing deeply aggrieved.

Worry flickered between his brows as he embraced her petite frame protectively, his facial features taut with coldness as he confronted the seated figure, "What did you say to her?"

Jiang Hai, still feeling crushed by Su Mo’s spiritual power, was further infuriated by the man’s blatant accusation. He circled the desk, pointing at Lu Chen’s nose angrily as he shouted:

"You little brat, have you forgotten your place? Are you serious about this woman?"