The Uncrowned King of the Peninsula

Chapter 214: Catching an adulterer, right? (Two in one)

After the excitement, the five of them sat around the dining table in the restaurant.

It is called a dining room, but it is more like an area between the living room and the kitchen. There is a small round table on it, which is filled with various dishes, emitting tempting aroma.

To Bae Young-joon's right is Choi Sulli, to his left is Kim Min-woon, and Kim Yong-min sits opposite him.

"There's one last dish, it's coming soon!" Young-ae's aunt shouted in the kitchen, then came out of the kitchen with a plate of barbecue, smiling, and sat next to Kim Yong-min.

"Okay, okay," Kim Yongmin took the barbecue and put it down. "New Year's Day is coming soon. It's really great that you and Sulli can come today, Yongjun."

"It's not easy for us from Liangshan to live in Seoul. We must continue to work hard and have a good meal today."

"Okay, uncle." Pei Yongjun smiled.

"Oh, right," Kim Yong-min remembered something and raised his hand to stop Kim Min-woon who was about to show off, a smile on his face, "Young-ae, and everyone, I have good news to tell you today."

"Uncle, what's the good news?" Choi Sulli asked.

"Ahem," Kim Yong-min coughed twice, somewhat reservedly, then straightened his back. "I just got the news today that because of my contributions in investigating the Lee Seung-ri case, I'll soon be the head of the Criminal Investigation Section 4 at the Gangnam District Police Station."

"Oh! Really?" Aunt Yingai exclaimed, very surprised.

Kim Yong-min was originally just a grassroots police captain who hadn't even become the director of a police station. However, he has now become the section chief of a district police station. This is undoubtedly a great improvement, and he finally has a place in the police force in Seoul.

"Ah, of course it's true." Jin Rongmin enjoyed his wife's happy look, and a proud feeling appeared on his face. He looked at Pei Yongjun opposite him and said, "Yongjun, was it you who helped?"

After the appointment was made, Kim Yong-min was happy, but then he remembered that Bae Yong-jun had previously hinted that he would have a chance. He immediately understood the reason behind it and his heart was filled with gratitude and emotion.

"I just helped a little, but I can't let my uncle suffer like this forever." Pei Yongjun nodded.

"Ah, Yongjun, you've been so helpful. Your uncle wants to thank you tonight." Jin Rongmin laughed and raised his glass. "Come on, toast to you."

Pei Yongjun picked up the wine glass and drank with him.

As the wine started to flow, the atmosphere at the dinner table became more lively. Young-ae's aunt became even more attentive, and she became extremely cordial towards Choi Sulli as well.

"Yongjun, Shirley, I made all of this specially for you tonight. They are all Yangshan style dishes that are hard to find in Seoul." Aunt Yingai introduced them one by one.

"For this spine soup, we at Liangshan will specially add dried shad. Would you like to try it?" She served a bowl to Cui Xueli.

"Hmm! It's delicious! So that's what it's like. It's really different from the one in Seoul!" Choi Sulli's eyes lit up, and the vague yet familiar taste in her memory came to her mind.

"Hurry! Editor-in-chief, you try it too." She handed a piece of spine to Pei Yongjun like a treasure, and just happened to see the look in Pei Yongjun's eyes as he looked at her.

"Hehe, stop looking and eat quickly." Choi Sulli smiled a little embarrassedly and patted Pei Yongjun gently.

"Okay." Pei Yongjun looked at the innocent and shy smile on her face and felt his appetite grow.

After tasting them one by one, we finally got to the plate of grilled eel in the center of the table.

"This is the hagfish that Shirley brought. I think it's of great quality. Come and try it." Aunt Ying'ai picked up a piece of grilled eel that exuded a strong aroma. "Yongjun, eat it quickly."

"Oh? Hagfish? Yeah, that's really precious and nourishing," Kim Yong-min exclaimed, holding out his chopsticks. "Thank you, Sulli. Let me try..."

Aunt Yingai pushed his chopsticks away.

"Huh?" Jin Rongmin was stunned.

Aunt Young-ae glanced at Bae Yong-jun covertly.

"Ah, ah!" Kim Yong-min suddenly realized.

"Hey, Yongjun." He used chopsticks to pick up several pieces for Pei Yongjun and said with concern, "Eat quickly. Although work is busy, you can't be too busy. It's important to take care of your health."

"Yes, go to bed early and get up early, stay up late less, and don't be like your uncle who is almost going bald." Young-ae's aunt chimed in and gave Pei Yongjun a few more pieces of grilled hagfish, which made Kim Yongmin yell in dissatisfaction.

Looking at the pile of grilled eels on the plate in front of him, Bae Yong-jun blinked and turned to look at Choi Sulli beside him.

Choi Sulli was covering her mouth and laughing, with her eyebrows curved, looking cute and adorable.

When their eyes met, she quickly let go of his hand and stuck out her tongue as if she had been caught doing something bad.

Bae Yong-jun picked up a piece of eel, looked around, and then looked at Choi Sulli.

"What are you looking at?" Choi Sulli smiled slightly and leaned over to touch Bae Yongjun's shoulder. "Eat quickly, hehe."

"There's nowhere to use it after eating it." Pei Yongjun looked into her eyes and muttered softly.

Cui Xueli's cheeks flushed slightly. "You, you should eat it first. You can use it sooner or later."

"When?" Pei Yongjun asked.

"What do you care? Eat quickly." Choi Sulli blushed and unreasonably picked up the chopsticks and stuffed the eel into Bae Yongjun's mouth. "Why are you talking so much?"

Pei Yongjun smiled as he chewed the juicy and charred eel meat.

Jin Min-yeon on the side looked at him eagerly.

Glancing at the skinny Kim Min-woon, he was reminded of Liu Zhimin's soft and big grapefruit.

Min-hye plays with Yoo Ji-min every day, so he won’t feel inferior, right?
"Min-hwan, you should have one too." Pei Yongjun, who was concerned about his cousin's mental health, picked up a piece of eel for her and said, "It's good for your health."

"Okay, thank you Yongjun oppa!" Kim Min-woon's eyes lit up.

"Minwoon, eat slowly!" Yingai's aunt scolded.

"Oppa, look, my mom is scolding me again!" Kim Min-woon hid beside Bae Yong-jun and continued to eat.

"Auntie, let Min-woon eat. I'll bring him food next time." Choi Sulli, who was standing by, looked at Kim Min-woon eating and laughed.

"Oh, come and eat more often. Don't bring anything. We have everything at home."

"Well, okay, I'll come often." On the night at the end of the year, Choi Sulli seemed to enjoy this happy family atmosphere and nodded happily.

"Is that so?" She looked at Pei Yongjun.

"Yes, we will come often." Pei Yongjun nodded and reached out to touch her hair.

"Okay, okay, come often!" Jin Rongmin picked up the wine glass again, "Let's have another drink together, and have a smooth new year."

"Happy New Year!" Choi Sulli also raised her glass, with hope flashing in her bright big eyes.

While eating and drinking, Kim Yong-min suddenly slapped his thigh, remembering that he still had some old photos, which included Bae Yong-jun as a child. He quickly said that he would go find them and take a look.

Choi Sulli was very interested and followed him to the storage room to rummage through things.

Aunt Young-ae went to the kitchen to heat up some cold dishes. Kim Min-woon slumped contentedly in his chair, touching his slightly bulging belly. Everything was so peaceful.

Pei Yongjun sat quietly, savoring a moment of leisure, and then he felt the phone vibrate in his pocket.

He took out his cell phone and saw that it was a message from Liu Zhimin.

There was a photo on the screen: a pair of brown, exquisite round-toed leather shoes with a small red bow, and a crisp, white, tender calf wearing small white cotton socks.

Pei Yongjun took a look and replied.

[I'm eating. I'm almost full. Thank you.]

Ryu Jimin: [? ? ? 】

------

News about Liu Zhimin came pouring in.

【You are a pervert! 】

【Disgusting! 】

[Don’t touch me next time!] Bae Yong-jun summarized the key points of her words.

【When is the next time? 】

Liu Zhimin sent an emoji of a man being hit hard by a big hammer.

Pei Yongjun raised his eyebrows and asked: [How do you feel today?]

Liu Zhimin: [It’s pretty good. No one controls me. I can do whatever I want and wear whatever I want.]

She posted a selfie with her phone covering her face. She was wearing a brown windbreaker, a white sweater underneath, and light blue tight jeans. She looked full of youth and vitality.

[Look, I don’t need to wear hanbok today. This is so comfortable~]

There was a hint of joy in Liu Zhimin's words.

Bae Young-jun: [Then I wish you a happy new year]

Liu Zhimin: [Hmph~ It’s okay, I’m quite happy haha]

[I didn't expect you to be so capable. Where did you get an invitation to the Blue House New Year's Eve dinner? She ran over happily. Finally, she's not at home anymore.]

Pei Yongjun: [After all, it's New Year's Day. If we want to get her out of the house, we need to have some reputation.]

Bae Young-jun asked Lee Dong-hoon to get an invitation to the Blue House New Year's Eve dinner through the KBS press corps stationed at the Blue House.

This kind of dinner party is very famous, and there are thousands of people attending. For people with channels, adding a few people is not a difficult thing, but for someone who came from behind like Liu Zhimin's stepmother, she probably attaches great importance to this kind of face-saving matter, so naturally she has to go.

Liu Zhimin: [I didn’t expect you to actually do it, that’s pretty good]

There seemed to be some disbelief in her tone.

Pei Yongjun smiled.

[Of course, otherwise how could I be worthy of your hospitality last night]

His palm seemed to recall the soft and warm dumpling that was difficult to grasp in one hand.

[Tsk~ I'm in a good mood, I won't bother with you]

Liu Zhimin replied, then asked, "How did you get the invitation? Wasn't it difficult?"

[Well, it’s a little secret]

Pei Yongjun didn't say it clearly.

Liu Zhimin: [It’s still a secret. Where are you now? Are you at Min Yeon’s house? ]

Bae Young-jun: Yes.

Liu Zhimin: [Since you've worked so hard, I'll give you a surprise.]

surprise?

What surprise?

After the message was sent, Liu Zhimin no longer responded.

Pei Yongjun put down his phone and seemed to have a premonition.

ding dong~ ding dong~
The doorbell rang.

"Yongjun, please help me open the door. I can't leave." Aunt Yingai shouted from the kitchen.

Pei Yongjun stood up, walked to the door when the doorbell rang, and looked through the peephole.

A figure in a brown windbreaker stood at the door.

ding dong~
The doorbell rang again.

Pei Yongjun opened the door and saw Liu Zhimin's fair and tender face, which showed both joy and anger. Her delicate little hands were crossed in front of her belly, holding a fashionable black bag.

"How is it? Surprised?" Liu Zhimin smiled like a flower, and the tiny mole at the corner of her mouth shyly hooked people's eyes.

Pei Yongjun blinked.

"Why aren't you talking?" Liu Zhimin waved her hand in front of him, her long eyelashes fluttering. "Are you stupid?"

"Well, no, it's just a surprise." Pei Yongjun smiled, "Why are you here?"

"Minyan also invited me, but I said I wanted to see how things went," Liu Zhimin said. "It's boring to stay at home all the time, so I came here so that you wouldn't be ignored."

"Hey, why don't you react at all? Aren't you welcome?" She kicked his calf with some dissatisfaction.

"Of course you're welcome." Pei Yongjun took the bag from her hand, gestured for her to come in, and paused for a moment, "But, there are quite a few guests tonight."

"Are there a lot of guests?" Liu Zhimin gave Pei Yongjun a strange look, walked past him, stepped into the door, and said in a puzzled tone, "How many more guests can there be..."

She suddenly stopped talking.

"Ji Min? You're here too?" Choi Sulli's clear voice came from behind Bae Yongjun.

He turned around and saw Choi Sulli walking out from the inner room holding a photo album, waving at Liu Zhimin with a surprised expression on her face.

"Come and sit down, Auntie has made a lot of delicious food."

"...Ah, okay, long time no see, Sulli." Liu Zhimin showed a sweet and dignified smile on her face, bowed gracefully and greeted Choi Sulli.

Pei Yongjun's eyebrows twitched. He lowered his head and looked at the heels of his brown leather shoes with red bows on them, and took a deep breath slowly.

Liu Zhimin really tried hard.

However, remembering the few fingerprints he left on the white dumpling last night, Pei Yongjun generously forgave Liu Zhimin.

No big deal, just pinch it back next time.

------

The number of people for dinner increased from five to six, but Aunt Yingai cooked a lot of food, so it was no problem to entertain a few more people.

"I'm so sorry to bother you. I had something happen at home and I was delayed for a while." Liu Zhimin expressed her apologies to Kim Yongmin and his wife with an apologetic smile that only a lady from a noble family could show on her face.

"Oh, you're welcome. Come and sit down. Don't be disgusted that we've already eaten." Aunt Ying'ai really liked Liu Zhimin's behavior and said in a warm tone, "Please sit down."

"Ouni, sit here!" Kim Min-hyuk diligently cleared the tableware for Liu Zhimin and made a seat between her and Bae Yong-jun.

Liu Zhimin sat down and said, "Thank you, Minyue."

She thanked him politely and greeted Bae Yong-jun and Choi Sulli, maintaining just the right amount of etiquette.

Then, Yingai's aunt began to introduce the various dishes made today and gave her some from time to time.

Pei Yongjun glanced at her, but found that she just looked at him and smiled politely, as if she was not very familiar with Editor-in-Chief Pei, who seemed to have only met him twice.

Fine.

Pei Yongjun stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a piece of pork ribs for Cui Xueli next to him, "Xulli, eat some more."

"Editor-in-chief, I'm a little full," Choi Sulli frowned innocently and passed the ribs to Bae Yongjun, "You eat it, hehe."

"Okay..." Pei Yongjun's eyebrows twitched again.

This little girl Liu Zhimin steps very accurately.

This meal was a blessing.

(End of this chapter)