Chapter 29

"Kuzan, you are really enthusiastic~" Borsalino said unhappily for his behavior of interrupting his conversation twice.

"Really? I don't think so. Maybe it's because we have a good relationship." Kuzan replied to him, his tone was lazy, but his words were extremely provocative.

"Really?" Borsalino imitated his tone just now, "I didn't see that~"

"Maybe it's because you don't want to admit something in your heart, so your eyes will automatically block it." Kuzan finished speaking, and showed the information that Cheng Xi had just handed to him in front of Borsalino, and said lightly, "I'm going to find Marshal Kong, please do as you please." After that

, he turned around and left without looking back, leaving Borsalino standing there alone, failing to control his expression, and his face became very ugly for the first time.

On Cheng Xi's side, she finished talking about military expenditure with Youshula in the office, and suddenly she glimpsed through the window that the snow was still falling outside, fluttering and turning the environment into a silver-white fantasy, so she invited him: "It's a cold and snowy night, it's perfect for hot pot, come to my house for dinner tonight?"

Youshula nodded and agreed: "Okay, just the two of us?"

Cheng Xi: "Of course hot pot will be more lively with more people, bring Hancock and the others, and then I'll call a few friends."

"Okay." Youshula agreed and then realized something was wrong, "Hey, No, which friends do you want to invite?"

Cheng Xi answered her question directly with action, and turned his eyes to the man who was working seriously opposite: "Sakaski, do you want to have hot pot after work?"

Looking up from work, meeting the pair of beautiful and bright eyes that still had a little expectation, Sakaski couldn't bear to refuse, and there was no reason to refuse. Occasionally eating and drinking with good friends is better than staying at home alone after work. He looked through the schedule and found that there was no extra overtime task in the evening, so he nodded in agreement.

For this iron-blooded and cold boss, Yushula was not as discouraged as she was at the beginning, and she wished she was eight hundred miles away from him. Mainly because she thought that a large part of the documents that were originally going to be thrown to her by Cheng Xi for processing were now directly handled by Vice Admiral Akainu, her emotional change towards Vice Admiral Akainu changed from fear at the beginning to even a little gratitude now.

Then Cheng Xi ran into Kuzan again in the corridor, and invited him to have dinner together in the evening, and Kuzan also agreed.

In the afternoon, Zefa called Cheng Xi to his office, and tried to maintain his good temper and attitude as an elder: "Will you go home for dinner tonight? Your mother has cooked a lot of delicious dishes."

"Tonight?"

Cheng Xi was a little entangled. This was really unfortunate. She had just organized a hot pot party, and the time and place had been set. It was a bit rude to break the appointment now, but the elder asked her to go home for dinner. Judging from the attitude of the other party, there was a kind of rebellious girl who thought that if she didn't come back tonight, she would never come back and wander around Marinford for the rest of her life.

"But I just made an appointment with a friend." She looked hesitant. "

What's the matter? Can't you just call your friends to play at home together?" It just so happened that he also wanted to see what friends his child usually made.

Cheng Xi: "Hey, is it okay?"

Zefa: "Of course."

So it was agreed that Cheng Xi would take his friends to Zefa's house for dinner after work. After Cheng Xi went out, he first told everyone to change the place to eat and changed the address, and then went to find Borsalino.

Looking at the address written on the paper in their hands, Kuzan and Sakaski fell silent at the same time. This address...seems a little familiar.

"Hey, Cheng Xi, I thought you forgot what you said about coming to see me." In the office, Borsalino said to Cheng Xi who came in.

Cheng Xi was speechless. She felt that Borsalino's tone was a little...tea. She must have thought too much. Cheng Xi tried hard to push these abnormal complaints out of her head. Although she did forget as he said, she could not admit it directly: "I was a little busy just now. I didn't mean not to come to see you."

She looked up at Borsalino and tugged at his sleeve. Her tone was full of sincerity and her eyes were very firm.

Borsalino: She is like this, so she must be really busy. I choose to believe her.

Cheng Xi: My acting skills are really damn good. I must be nominated for the next Oscar.

Borsalino: "Little Cheng Xi is so cute like this."

Cheng Xi warned him: "If you do this again, I will bite you."

Borsalino raised his hands and pretended to be afraid of surrendering.

"Come to my house for dinner tonight, do you want to come?" Cheng Xi invited.

Hearing his invitation, Borsalino was happy at first, but then felt a little regretful. This was really unfortunate. Gang Gu Kong had just given him an overtime task tonight. The location was an island near Marinford, and he would not be able to come back until two days later at the earliest.

He told Cheng Xi about the new task, and Cheng Xi also felt a little sorry. The time of this task was too urgent.

In fact, when Borsalino first received this task, he refused, but Gang Gu Kong was uncharacteristically tough.

Because the sea has been very chaotic recently, most of the headquarters' lieutenants have been sent out to perform tasks. Now only Hong Huangqing, Cheng Xi and Garp are left in Marinford.

When Sora Cyborg went to look for Garp, Garp was sleeping. With his extremely good sleep quality, Sora decided to give up on this candidate. Then there was the model worker, the model of the navy, the standard-bearer of attendance, Sakaski. It was strange. Sakaski, the king of rolls, had always been the most active one to go on missions, but today, for some reason, he refused this mission because he had something personal to do.

As for Kuzan, he disappeared after leaving Sora Cyborg's office in the morning. He couldn't get through to Den Den Mushi either. His whereabouts were harder to find than a ghost.

Zephyr had said hello to Sora. Cheng Xi was going home for dinner in the evening, so this mission definitely couldn't be assigned to her.

Borsalino had never thought that one day he would become a model worker among his colleagues.

Borsalino originally thought that Cheng Xi had a 50% chance of refusing his invitation, but he didn't expect that she would take the initiative to invite him before he invited her, and to have dinner at her house. Was he going to meet her parents? Or was it a candlelight dinner for two at home?

What a pity.

But there will be opportunities in the future, anyway, their offices are only two floors apart.

Cheng Xi's work time is 5:30, and she has been restless since 4 o'clock. She is so anxious that she wants to check her watch every second. The reason is that in addition to the dinner party in the evening, she has two days off tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so she doesn't have to get up early and go to work.

Finally, when the pointer points to the corresponding position, Cheng Xi rushed out of the door as fast as possible.

It's great to get off work.

Sakaski wanted to ask Cheng Xi if she needed to bring anything along the way, such as fresh fruits, but when he looked up, a big white rat rushed out of the office, and her seat was empty. He sighed in his heart, it's really a rush.

After arriving home, Cheng Xi took off her navy uniform, changed into a relatively comfortable sportswear, and then opened the refrigerator to see if there was any food that could be brought over. There were pickled black plum tomatoes yesterday, a large box of spicy boneless chicken feet, and her own spicy strips, which were Will's favorite.

After putting these in a bag and putting on his coat, Cheng Xi went out. When he got to the place, Cheng Xi took out his key and opened the door: "I'm back."

Maybe because of his busy work, Zefa hadn't come home yet. Will was sitting on the sofa reading a book. When he heard her voice, he threw the book away and ran towards her: "Sister!"

Elsa also poked her head out of the kitchen: "Xixi is back, go wash your hands, the food will be ready soon."

"Should I help you?"

"No, there is only one last stir-fried vegetable to be prepared."

"Okay."

Cheng Xi glanced at the dining table. The dining table has an automatic heating device, so even if the dishes are placed on it for a long time, they will not get cold. There are already more than a dozen dishes of different sizes on it, with rich ingredients, a combination of meat and vegetables, and a variety of colors, aromas and flavors. Just looking at it makes people salivate.

"Sister, I'm hungry."

"Shh, keep your voice down." Cheng Xi put his finger to his mouth and made a hushing sound, "Do you want to eat spare ribs or shrimp dumplings? Sister will steal a piece for you."

Stealing vegetables is a technical job. It must be done without the parents knowing, and after taking it, you must study the arrangement of the dishes so that the guests can't see that any of the dishes have been taken away.

Unfortunately, the naughty kid was not interested in these delicacies. He whispered, "Sister, I want to eat spicy strips."

Cheng Xi: ...

She handed over the spicy strips box helplessly: "Will, be good, next time don't say you are hungry, just say you are greedy."

At this time, there was another sound of the door opening. After Zefa entered the door, he was followed by Yusula, who was trembling, Hancock, who had a queen-like aura at a young age, and the calm Rosinante.

What a coincidence, an encounter.

Zefa knew Rosinante, the adopted son of the Warring States. Yusula had also heard that his daughter's adjutant was very strong in both work ability and swordsmanship, and had great potential. In time, he would definitely grow into another mainstay in the navy. As for Hancock, he had no impression, but so far he was very satisfied with Cheng Xi's circle of friends.

Until the doorbell rang.

After Zefa opened the door, he saw two very familiar faces that he had to face almost every day.

The same is true for Sakaski and Kuzan.

They met by chance at the entrance of the villa area, each holding a few bags of gifts in their hands. The three faces looked at each other, and the air was instantly quiet, as if the scene was frozen.

"Hello, teacher." This is Sakaski.

"Hello, uncle." This is Kuzan.

"Hello to you too." This is Zefa, who said hello but actually looked unhappy. "Come in."

After saying that, he turned around and went back to the living room without even closing the door. It was only when Sakaski came in that he closed the door.

Yushula thought it would be an awkward dinner, with different personalities adding up to a rusty gear chain, but she didn't expect that everyone actually got along very well. Cheng Xi was like the lubricant among everyone, and could actually keep the chain turning.

Elsa came out of the kitchen with a plate of lettuce in her hand, and said to everyone in a gentle tone and a kind attitude: "You are Xixi's friends, right? Welcome, welcome, the meal is ready, let's eat."

"Hello, auntie." This time Sakaski learned his lesson, and instead of saying hello to the teacher's wife, he called auntie together with Kuzan.

At the dinner table, even though she had seen Cheng Xi tearing up pirates with her bare hands and splitting the pirate ship with one knife, it might be because the elders’ filter was too strong, Elsa always felt that her child was still a good baby: "We ask you to take care of our Xi Xi at the headquarters. She is not in good health. If she gets into trouble by accident, please help her."

Sakaski: "Okay, auntie, I will take better care of Cheng Xi in the future."

Kuzan: "Auntie, you worry too much. Xi Xi is not only capable at work at the headquarters, but also often helps others. She is like a little sun. We all like her very much. There is no trouble. Such a lovely friend, I want to be with her all the time."

Sakaski: ... Kuzan, why didn't I see you before? You are so talented in language?

Cheng Xi's face flushed when he praised her. The smile on her face could not be hidden, so she had to pretend to lower her head to drink soup to relieve the embarrassment. This Kuzan, did he secretly sign up for some emotional intelligence improvement class behind everyone's back?

Elsa was also overjoyed by Kuzan's words, and she actually had some thoughts about him that a mother-in-law is more and more satisfied with her son-in-law. Although Zefa noticed something was wrong, he was naturally happy to see his wife and daughter happy.

Rosinante secretly scored points: "Because Cheng Xi is my friend, I will always be on his side in the future."

Hancock continued to add fuel to the fire: "Master Cheng Xi will not cause trouble. If there is, it must be someone else's problem. I will catch all these people and kill them."

Although she is still young, her domineering attitude in her talk and laughter has begun to show the potential of a future empress.

Will quickly stopped Cheng Xi's arm: "I like my sister the most too."

Cheng Xi: No, you guys are like this... I'm a little uncomfortable. Among the people at this table, Yusura is the most stable and reliable.

But in fact, Yusura seemed calm on the surface and ate chicken feet, but her heart was in turmoil: Humph, anyway, she is just playing with you, and she is really playing with me.

The snowstorm outside the door continued, and the whirring sound of the strong wind continued. Elsa suggested that if the snow didn't stop later, everyone should stay at home, anyway, there were enough rooms.

The atmosphere at the dinner table became lively, and then Kuzan suddenly asked: "By the way, Cheng Xi, why don't you have a code name until now?"

Starting from this generation, in the navy, the navy at a high level will have their own code names, including those officially recognized, which are generally based on colors and animals, such as Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru. These codes are assumed to be candidates for admirals who are capable of competing.

Or privately circulated, such as the nickname of the navy hero Garp is "Iron Fist", and Zefa is called "Black Arm Zefa".

He doesn't think that Cheng Xi's strength can't reach the level of a candidate for admiral.

As soon as this question came out, the people at the dinner table who didn't know the inside story stopped what they were doing and looked at Cheng Xi. Even Sakaski was a little curious about her answer.

And those who knew the inside story, such as Zefa, immediately froze and collapsed.

"This matter..." Cheng Xi answered his question hesitantly.

In fact, when Cheng Xi was promoted to major general and went to the G5 detachment for training, the higher-ups sent someone to give her a code name, White Bird, because her swordsmanship was as light and swift as a bird, but Cheng Xi thought it was not cool and rejected it. At that time, she was full of chuunibyou, and she thought of several such as Ghost-Seeing Sorrow, Flying Witch, and Demon Nightshade, but the higher-ups thought they did not match her image and rejected them. After being rejected too many times, Cheng Xi could no longer bear it and directly said that she would refuse to accept any other code name except "Mom".

The higher-ups would definitely not accept such a ridiculous code name. In fact, Cheng Xi was angry at the time, and she regretted it a few days after she said it, but she was still stubborn, so the stalemate lasted for two years, and neither side was willing to bow their heads first.

"My Mom!?"

Yu Shula couldn't help but complain: "What a mess is this?" "

It's not a mess, this is a code name that I thought about for a full five minutes." Cheng Xi refuted her, "How cool!"

Ah, this, everyone really can't think of how it is related to the word cool.

"Just think about it, when people mention me in the future, they will say, 'It's my mother, Lieutenant General Cheng Xi, who is very powerful.' Or 'My mother Cheng Xi is really young and promising.' It's so cool to have so many great children invisibly."

Hearing this, everyone laughed, even Sakaski, who always had a cold expression, curled the corners of his mouth.

Except for one person, that is...

No one noticed the old father's livid face.

After dinner, everyone rushed to help clean the table and wash the dishes, and even took away the kitchen waste when they left.

The snow outside stopped. Although it was dark, it was as bright as day. The snow had accumulated in a thick layer, which made it a little difficult to walk, but it was nothing for these strong people, and they could continue on their way.
Cheng Xi put on her coat and sent them off, then returned to the villa, where she also had her room. She had just finished dinner and was lazy, so she didn't want to hurry, and planned to stay here for the night. As soon as she entered the house, 

a warm feeling hit her face. She took off her shoes and coat, and huddled on the sofa to eat potato chips without any image. Will was eating spicy strips without any image next to her. 

Zefa suddenly called her name very seriously: "Cheng Xi." 

"Here!" Cheng Xi immediately threw away the potato chips and sat up straight. 

"Sakaski and Kuzan, which one do you like as a boyfriend?" This question stunned Cheng Xi. Before she could react, Zefa said another more shocking sentence, "Or do you like both of them? I can't make a decision." 

Cheng Xi didn't answer her question, but asked curiously, "What if I like both of them?" 

She thought Zefa would scold her for being a two-timing scumbag and then give her a lecture, but Zefa said, "You are my daughter, so of course I will ask Zhan Guo to arrange different schedules for them so that Sakaski and Kuzan can accompany you better." 

Cheng Xi: ... You don't have to spoil me so much. 

She waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, you misunderstood, we are just good friends, I don't have any romantic thoughts about them." 

It makes sense, Cheng Xi is only 18 years old, while Kuzan and Sakaski are 27 and 33 years old respectively, the age difference is a bit big. As a father, he hoped that Cheng Xi would find a man of similar age, with the same values ​​and hobbies to date, but there were not many men who could achieve the same success as Cheng Xi at this age. 

"What type of person do you want to date?" 

As an old father, he had to check. 

Will and Elsa also came over. 

"Well..." Cheng Xi thought for a while and counted on his fingers, "I like younger, sunny and cheerful, straightforward and clingy little milk dogs, and they must be handsome, tall and long-legged, able to spend money on me, and provide emotional value..." 

She listed a bunch of things, and Zefa was confused. He understood the last few conditions, after all, he gave his monthly salary to his wife, but what were the first few little milk dogs and straight people! ? 

He finally asked the question in his mind, "What does younger mean?" 

"It means younger than me." 

"You are so young yourself, and you want to find someone younger than you." Zefa's tone was a little angry. This is not as good as Kuzan and Sakaski. "Why don't you just date Garp's grandson!?" " 

Hey, Uncle Garp has a grandson?" He was shocked for ten thousand years. He remembered that when Drago left the navy a few years ago, he was still single. Now he has a son. This is really a dream. But after seeing Zefa's increasingly bad face, she finally understood. 

In fact, Garp has no grandson. This is just an exaggeration used by his father to express his anger. 

"Xixi, you can change the way you say it." Elsa reminded her kindly. 

She casually said, "He can fly, spit fire, and split a 20-story reinforced concrete building with his hands. He can eat 800 pepper dumplings in one meal." 

Zefa was so angry that he stood up and went back to the room. When he closed the door, he used a lot of strength to make a loud "bang" sound to show that he was really angry now. He 

was coaxed by his wife in less than half an hour. 

According to his wife's thinking, there are people in this world who can breathe fire because of their fruit ability or special race, such as Sakaski. There are also people who are strong enough to split a 20-story building with their hands, such as Kuzan, but there are very few people who can meet all these requirements at the same time, and they are younger than Xixi, so it is impossible for such a boy to exist. 

In other words, Xixi wants to stay single and accompany her parents for the rest of her life. 

So the old father who was full of anger just now instantly extinguished his anger, and a smile appeared on his eyes and eyebrows. 

Cheng Xi didn't know what he was thinking. After playing with Will on the sofa for a while, he went back to his room to sleep. After two happy days of vacation, she returned to the office on the third day with a unhappy face. 

"Good morning, Cheng Xi." This time it was Sakaski who took the initiative to greet her. 

"Good morning, Sakaski." She answered weakly. 

Sakaski walked up to her and put a box of things on the table: "Thank you for the dinner of uncle and aunt the day before yesterday. I heard that you like to eat beef at the dinner table, so I brought you some steak today." 

In fact, it was not a coincidence at all. This was the top steak he specially asked someone to bring back from South Wen Island. South Wen Island has a warm climate and juicy grass. It has strict requirements on water source, light, and humidity in the farm. The cattle are regularly given music to relax and meat massages are performed. There are also multiple quality inspection processes before they are sold 

. Such strict breeding standards make the South Wen cattle full of bones, strong muscles, tender and juicy meat, evenly mixed fat, and beautiful snowflake patterns on the surface. Although it is expensive, it is still in short supply. Even the royal families of many countries love to eat South Wen steak. 

Sakaski first asked a colleague who happened to be in South Wen Island to help, and then paid three times the price for expedited delivery, so that this box of steak could be delivered in time today. 

"Thank you." Cheng Xi accepted the steak and thanked him. 

However, Sakaski, what's wrong with you? Why don't you call me teacher? Why do you call me uncle and aunt? Why do I feel so awkward? 

What Sakaski didn't expect was that Cheng Xi had her own unique way of cooking this box of steak. 

The reason was this: there were ten steaks in this box, all from different parts. After she got home from work, she fried a tomahawk with great enthusiasm, put some broccoli and cherry tomatoes, and cooked a plate of pasta, just like the high-end Western restaurant. The beef was really delicious. After she had a good dinner, she sat at her desk and started writing a novel. 

Cheng Xi was a little hungry when she wrote until midnight. After looking through the refrigerator and finding these steaks, she suddenly had the idea of ​​making a plate of fried pork with peppers with fillet, and paired it with freshly cooked rice. It was so fragrant that she lost her mind. It was so delicious. 

With the idea that happiness is better shared than happiness alone, she got up half an hour earlier today and fried two large boxes of fried pork with peppers. In order to relieve the spiciness, she also cooked a pot of vegetable soup with tomatoes, tofu, mushrooms, corn, etc. 

After handing this impromptu lunch box to Sakaski, Cheng Xi had been urging him to eat quickly and taste his cooking skills throughout the morning. Although Sakaski was not hungry at all, and his mind told him that it was a waste of food to make high-end steak into fried pork with peppers, he could not resist Cheng Xi's nagging, and he himself wanted to know what fried steak with peppers tasted like. 

So less than an hour later, at nine o'clock, Sakaski opened the lid of the lunch box. It was steaming hot, and the red and green peppers were shiny with oil. He took a tentative bite 

. It was really delicious. 

"How is it, not bad?" Cheng Xi looked at Sakaski expectantly and asked. 

"Yeah." He nodded, "very delicious." 

Cheng Xi also opened the lid of the lunch box and started to pick up the rice, so when Ganggukong came in, he saw such a scene.
Cheng Xi and Sakaski were eating opposite each other, and they were eating very seriously. Cheng Xi was so spicy that he gushed water into his mouth to relieve the spiciness, but Sakaski seemed to have no reaction to the spiciness as if his taste buds had failed.

"Cheng Xi, Sakaski!" He was very angry, "Are you here to work or to eat!?"

In fact, at Cheng Xi's level, it is okay to eat snacks in the office or even leave the office without saying hello, but what are they eating!

Chili fried meat, ghost pepper and green pepper are red and green, the color combination is quite good, but the smell is choking and pungent. The two of them ate secretly without knowing to close the door. The whole corridor was filled with the spicy smell of chili, which was more choking than the smoke after the fire. He could smell it from a long distance.

Some recruits even mistakenly thought that the headquarters building was on fire.

Today, Ganggu Kong finally realized that putting Cheng Xi and Sakaski together would not affect Cheng Xi to become more calm and sensible, but would soon be led astray by Cheng Xi.

So he made a decision again.

Cheng Xi finally got his own office.

At least one reliable candidate should be left among the candidates for the general. It is impossible for all four of them to slack off in the office every day, drinking tea and eating. If that were the case, the Navy Headquarters would be on the verge of bankruptcy.

That's right, Kong Gang separated Cheng Xi and Sakaski.

Because of a plate of fried pork with peppers.