The man looked like he was around mid-twenties. He was well-dressed and well-mannered. He was looking at Evelyn with a smile on his face. Evelyn thought he looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him.

"Hello, Miss Morgan," The man greeted her very politely.

"Hello," Evelyn responded, still thinking. However, her mind couldn't figure out whether she had met this man before, so she turned to look at Martin.

Before Martin could speak, the man spoke out to clear up her confusion. "I'm Fred. We met at Martin's annual dinner last year."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Fred." Evelyn still had an apologetic look on her face. She really couldn't remember anything.

Fred clearly saw through her look. He laughed lightly and joked, "I don't blame you. I blame myself for having normal features."

"Oh, it's not that. I have a bad memory."

"Don't bother him. He likes to make jokes." Martin smiled and gestured for Evelyn, who was still embarrassed, to sit down. "There were so many people at that time. It's normal to not remember him."

Fred smiled and said, "Based on what you have said, am I abnormal for remembering Miss Morgan then?"

"It's not abnormal. You can only blame Evelyn for singing so beautifully."

During the annual dinner last year, Martin had publicly announced his wedding date with Claire. Although Evelyn was very sad at that time, she sang a song for them to congratulate them. She was really into her singing at that time and had gotten a roar of applause from the audience.

Fred smiled and said, "Yes, indeed. After hearing Miss Morgan's singing, I fully understood the feeling of having one's voice lingering around the beams for three days."

"Mr. Fred, you're exaggerating." Evelyn was embarrassed by his praises.

Martin gestured to the waiter to serve their food. Then, he smiled and continued, "It's not an exaggeration. I also had that kind of feeling. Talking about this, not only have I not had a meal with you for a long time, but I also haven't listened to your singing for so long. Why don't we go to sing karaoke songs after dinner?"

Fred agreed happily, "This is a good idea. Call Claire to join us after this."

Hearing Claire's name, Evelyn's heart tightened. She turned to see Martin, who still had a smile on his face, and asked, "Where is Claire?"

"She's working overtime."

"Working overtime? Didn't she apply for a wedding leave?"

"I'm too busy with work these days, and I couldn't squeeze any time out to accompany my wife for our honeymoon, so we have postponed our honeymoon trip. She was bored being alone at home and started going back to work yesterday."

The phrase 'my wife' made Evelyn stiffen. It was the first time Martin addressed Claire like this in front of her. She felt somewhat disappointed inwardly, but she was mostly happy for them for having a stable relationship. She was especially happy that he didn't ask anything related to Theodore. She felt a little guilty and was afraid to be seen through.

Desperately wanting to start a conversation, she asked, "Well, isn't today the day you would go to the bride's home?"

"Her dad had passed away at the beginning of the year because he was ill. Her stepmother had remarried. So there will be no need to go to the bride's home."

"Oh, I didn't know Claire had so many misfortunes in her family. I can't believe I didn't know anything about it."

Sensing that Evelyn was feeling guilty, Martin quickly smiled and comforted her, "It's been more than half a year. My wife has already let it all go. By the way, Fred's voice is also good. You guys can have a battle later. Let's see who will be honored as the best singer."

"I'm definitely not as good as Miss Morgan." Fred smiled while he poured some juice for Evelyn.

"Thank you, Mr. Fred, for your compliment," Evelyn took the cup with both of her hands and said shyly. "Actually, I'm just singing for fun."

"Call me Fred. This sounds friendlier," Fred smiled and said. "You can sing so well just by singing for fun. Imagine if you sing seriously, won't you then become the most famous pop-star in the music industry?"

Martin chuckled. "Both of you should stop being so humble. Later Claire and I will be the judges and decide the points for the two of you."

Fred immediately said, "Then both of you should award us."

"Do I need to make an announcement to the press and let the whole world know about you two getting an award?"

"That would be the best."

"All right, let me call the press over now. You two can have a live broadcast by then."

When she saw Martin had indeed taken his phone out, Evelyn was shocked and quickly stopped him. "Martin, please don't. I-I can't do this."

"Silly girl, I was just joking with you. I was going to call my wife to tell her about going to the karaoke."

"Oh."Evelyn then let go of her hand and saw Fred was looking at her. She realized that she was out of the line and grimaced at him embarrassingly.

"The coverage isn't good here. You guys eat up first. I have to step out and call Claire," Martin said and walked out of the private room.

Evelyn shouted, "We'll wait for you to eat together."

"We don't have to wait for him. Let's eat first. You don't look too good. Drink some chicken soup," Fred said as he took a small bowl and poured some soup for her.

"Thank you. I can do it myself."

"You're Martin's sister. I'm Martin's buddy. You don't have to be so polite." After seeing her taking a few sips of the chicken soup, Fred then pushed the Osmanthus Rice Cake to her. He said, "This Osmanthus Rice Cake tastes really good. You should try it."

"Thank you."

The Osmanthus Rice Cake was Evelyn's favorite. When this dish was served, she was already swallowing her saliva after inhaling its sweet fragrance. If it wasn't because of Fred being there, she would have already gone for it as soon as it was served. Finally, she took a piece of the glutinous rice cake that had sweet osmanthus on it and slowly enjoyed the food in her mouth. The sweet fragrance and the right amount of osmanthus sweetness had complemented nicely with the chewy glutinous rice cake. She couldn't stop praising the delicious dessert, but she realized something weird while she was eating.

"This Osmanthus Rice Cake is too delicious. Are there any additives added in it?"

"No, it's delicious because this osmanthus is collected from the best orange osmanthus from Harmony Mountain. It's completely uncontaminated. Every petal is carefully picked. The sugar used to preserve the osmanthus and the glutinous rice used to make the rice cake are also carefully picked too. Of course, the baker who makes the rice cake and the chef who cooks it have to be carefully selected too. Their culinary skills are the best. Otherwise, even if you have the best osmanthus sugar, it wouldn't do any good without the best rice cake."

Evelyn was utterly shocked. "It's so complicated. How expensive is this Osmanthus Rice Cake, compared to the average Osmanthus Rice Cake?"

It just happened that Martin walked in. He smiled when he heard those words and interjected, "It's not how this one is more expensive than the average one. It's simply not for sale. The hotel chef had specially prepared for Fred, this big foodie."

"What?" Evelyn felt it was beyond her imagination.

"He likes to torture the chefs all the time."

"You really don't know how to talk. What do you mean by 'torturing the chefs'?" Fred immediately retorted. "Food is the first necessity of the people. Devouring delicious food is one of the best things in my life. It not only satisfies the desire of hunger, but it also induces a sense of spiritual enjoyment."

Martin smiled and sat down. Then, he picked up his fork and said, "It's only a meal. How do you discover so much profound philosophy in it? For me, eating is just to fill the stomach."

Seeing Martin eating quickly with his chopsticks, Fred shook his head and sighed. "Do you know the way you gobble your food shows that you're unappreciative of such heavenly food??"

"Regardless, it's devouring the food slowly or gobbling it down. It becomes the same thing after it enters your stomach. I don't see the difference in it."

"You are the typical type of caring only for the result, not the process of it."

"The result is indeed more important than the process. Evelyn, don't you think so too?"

Evelyn was listening intently to their conversation. She didn't expect Martin to ask her all of a sudden and couldn't help but stiffen.

Honestly speaking, she agreed more with Fred's point of view because she was also a foodie, but she wasn't as particular as Fred. However, she felt she couldn't go against Martin in front of an outsider, so she didn't say anything. She only laughed dryly and nodded slightly.

"If you ask Evelyn in that way, she wouldn't dare to disagree with you."

Unexpectedly, Fred had pointed out her inner thoughts. Evelyn was a little embarrassed. After thinking for a moment, she compromised and said, "The process exists for the results. Without a process, there will be no results. That's why the process and the results are both important."

"Our argument has indeed given Evelyn a hard time." Martin laughed. He turned to look at Evelyn and said, "Fred and I are used to arguing all the time. Don't mind us at all. It's normal if you lean more toward Fred's point of view. The reason why I'm not particular when it comes to eating is because my family was poor when I was small. I have already thanked God for having something to fill my stomach. I don't even dare to wish for more than that. Although my living conditions now are better, it's a deeply ingrained habit that has been formed for more than ten years, and it cannot be changed."

"You didn't even have enough to eat when you were small?"

Normally, Martin rarely told Evelyn about his childhood. She was very shocked by his words. When she was small, she grew up in a closed-off and poor valley. However, even if her living conditions in the valley weren't good, she never went hungry. That was why she couldn't imagine the conditions that Martin said he had lived in.

"My family used to be poor. Now that my life is better, I think I should learn from Fred, this foodie, on how to enjoy life. This beef is really good. Try it."

As she stared at the beef in her bowl, Evelyn knew Martin didn't want to continue talking about the previous topic, so she didn't ask any more questions. After all, the past was just a memory, and the most important thing was the present.

"They're both beef, but they taste completely different when they are used to make a delicious dish because one is a captive cattle and the other is a free-range cattle."

"Can cattle be raised free-range?" Evelyn asked curiously.

"Of course. It's the same as rearing chickens and ducks. If I get the chance, I will bring you to have a look at the grassland where I specially rear my carnivorous animals."

"You mean you have a forest dedicated to providing food for your animals?" When Fred smiled and nodded, Evelyn suddenly felt a sense of awe and stared at Fred for some time. She suddenly shouted out, "I know where I've seen you!"

"Oh? You finally remember me?" Fred's eyes shone with happiness.

"Yes! It's not during Martin's annual dinner, but it was in a previous talk show on TV! You are the executive of the Cosmic Ventures, aren't you?" Evelyn instantly had great respect for him.

Her words made Fred a little disappointed as the smile on his face couldn't help but dim.

"The Internet was talking about how Cosmic Ventures intends to acquire Ivy Hill Community in Wesy City and the west side of that land, is that true?"

"Evelyn!"

Evelyn realized that her question was inappropriate after hearing Martin's reminder. Embarrassed, she immediately apologized, "I'm so sorry. Because my family is living in the Ivy Hill Community, my parents are particularly concerned about the demolition. That's why I couldn't help asking more about it."

"It's okay. This is no longer a trade secret. It's okay to talk about it with you," Fred said while he glanced shortly at Martin, and his eyes flashed with disapproval.

"Is it really going to be demolished?" Evelyn didn't notice this tiny detail. She was only curious while she continued asking her question.

"Yes. Everything is going as planned. This shrimp is good."

"Thank you." Evelyn took her plate to receive the shrimp that he gave her and looked at him while she ate. She was listening carefully to his every word, so that she could go back and tell her parents. However, she didn't realize that something was wrong with Fred's behavior just now.

"A few days ago, the company had held a special meeting for the compensation of the residents of the Ivy Hill Community to plan..."

"Evelyn."

"What?"

When she heard someone was calling for her, Evelyn instinctively turned around. She didn't expect to see Theodore standing at the door of the private room. She was startled and quickly got up, but her movements were too big, causing her to lose balance.

"Ah!"

"Be careful!" The next thing she knew, she fell into Fred's arms.