"I see, so that's why. Did anything happen?" Mother Tian asked with concern.
Liu Yifeng shook his head, "Nothing, thanks for your concern!"
Although Yun Duo'er was curious why this father and son were so late today, Sister Jin had already warned her, and she dared not have any other thoughts.
What if she showed too much concern for this father and son, and Sister Jin found out? With her resolute personality, she would definitely report it to the company, and then she would be finished.
At the same time, during the brief moment Liu Yifeng was talking with Mother Tian, the host saw that everyone had finally arrived and began the afternoon competition.
Only six people remained in the competition. Two would be eliminated today, one more tomorrow, and the final day would be a three-way championship.
Therefore, as the competition reached its climax, the players were all very strong.
Tongtong was the only contestant without any pressure. The championship was already in his grasp, so there was no need to spend too much effort on it.
But for other contestants, to make it into the top three, they had spent a lot of time and energy preparing, increasing their extracurricular knowledge.
Due to the small number of contestants, the recording time was also short, and the program could be finished in the afternoon, with no recording needed in the evening.
Three rounds were completed in the afternoon, and then a playoff was held among the bottom three ranked contestants, with only one contestant advancing and the rest being eliminated.
By 5:30 PM, the results of the eliminated contestants were announced.
One was a foreign contestant, and the other was a domestic contestant.
As of today, both foreign contestants had been eliminated.
Tongtong's performance had never disappointed anyone, and everyone had already recognized him as the eventual champion.
As they exited the recording hall, Xia Qianqian immediately said, "Yifeng, the recording ended early today. Shall we not eat in the cafeteria? Let's go out for dinner, my treat!"
"How can I let you treat me? I should treat you!"
Xia Qianqian immediately shook her head, "No, I already felt quite bad about what happened at noon. Besides, you found me for the advertisement, which brought me a considerable income. I should at least treat you and Tongtong to something good."
Seeing Xia Qianqian's insistence, Liu Yifeng no longer refused, "Alright, it's your treat then!"
"Tongtong, Aunt Xia is treating you to dinner. What do you want to eat?" Xia Qianqian looked down at Tongtong gently.
Tongtong thought for a moment and then said, "I want to eat KFC, can I?"
"Of course, you can. But don't you want to eat something better? We can eat KFC anytime, and it can even be a late-night snack. Tongtong, choose something better!" Xia Qianqian felt that KFC was too cheap. Since she was the one offering to treat, she should treat them to something good.
After hearing Aunt Xia's words, Tongtong thought seriously again, but after a long time, he still didn't know what he wanted to eat, so he shook his head, "I don't know what to eat either."
Then, Xia Qianqian looked at Liu Yifeng, "What about you? What do you want to eat?"
"Then let's go for hot pot. The weather is so nice, hot pot is the perfect match." Liu Yifeng hadn't eaten hot pot for quite some time and truly missed it.
Xia Qianqian looked at Tongtong again, "Tongtong, is hot pot okay?"
"Mmm, yes, I want to eat hot pot too!" As long as Daddy wanted to eat it, Tongtong would too.
Seeing that both father and son wanted to eat hot pot, Xia Qianqian waved her hand, "Alright, then we'll go for hot pot!"
Then Liu Yifeng drove them to a well-known hot pot restaurant in the area.
Fortunately, they didn't arrive too late and there were still seats. Any later and they would have to queue.
"Since I'm treating, you can order. Feel free to order whatever you want, don't be polite!" Xia Qianqian handed the order form directly to Liu Yifeng.
Liu Yifeng didn't stand on ceremony and started ordering from the menu. He first ordered a鸳鸯锅 (yuānyāng guō - a pot divided into two sections, one spicy and one mild).
Then he ordered a lot of side dishes, including quail eggs, corn, handmade beef balls, lamb rolls, and some other food that Tongtong liked.
There were about ten side dishes in total. "I'm done ordering. See if there's anything else you want to eat." Saying this, Liu Yifeng returned the menu to Xia Qianqian.
Xia Qianqian added a few more dishes and ordered a pitcher of fresh fruit juice.
Soon, the soup base arrived, followed by various side dishes.
The spicy pot was very hot, and many people were sweating profusely, taking off their jackets, then their shirts, until only their undershirts remained.
Liu Yifeng also tasted the spicy pot. It was indeed very spicy. Although Tongtong could eat spicy food, he was still a child, and Liu Yifeng was worried about his stomach, so he quickly told Tongtong to eat from the non-spicy clear soup pot.
Tongtong obediently ate from the non-spicy pot. Xia Qianqian, being a native of Haicheng, had grown up eating spicy food.
Therefore, the spiciness was nothing to her. She was seen putting food into her mouth, one bite after another, without any pressure!
Seeing her eating with such gusto, Liu Yifeng said, "You seem to be even better at eating spicy food than me. Aren't you afraid of getting pimples?"
"What's there to be afraid of? If you live for a lifetime, you can't avoid eating this and that for the sake of your figure and skin. What's the point of living?" Xia Qianqian never let these things stop her from eating what she wanted and never made herself suffer.
However, there was also a sense of letting go. After all, she wasn't famous, and no one would care about her figure. So why be so strict with herself?
Thus, her uninhibited eating habits had always made many of her peers envious.
What was even more infuriating was that no matter how much she ate, she never gained weight, and her skin remained good, with very few pimples.
Therefore, she felt there was even less reason to pay attention to what she ate.
After hearing her words, Liu Yifeng immediately gave her a thumbs-up, "You have the right perspective. I see many female stars go through a lot of hardship that ordinary people can't endure for the sake of their figure and skin."
"So a life like that is meaningless to me. Anyway, I don't care about those things. If I get pimples, I get pimples. If I gain weight, I gain weight. I'll eat first." Xia Qianqian said, and then she expertly cooked a few more slices of tripe, eating them with great satisfaction.
Xia Qianqian ate without any pretense, she was very genuine. Seeing her eat, Liu Yifeng's appetite also increased.
However, while they were eating, they did not forget to pick up food for Tongtong.
The scene of the three of them enjoying themselves looked like a family of three.
This hot pot meal lasted for over an hour. Xia Qianqian ate until her stomach was full, and only stopped when she really couldn't eat anymore.
Liu Yifeng ate the most. Of all the food ordered, he alone consumed more than half of it.
"Tongtong, are you full?" Xia Qianqian asked Tongtong, who was sitting opposite her.
"I'm full, thank you Aunt Xia for treating me to such delicious hot pot!" Tongtong said very considerately.
Xia Qianqian immediately smiled upon hearing this, "You're welcome, Tongtong. If you think it's delicious, we can come again next time, okay?"
"Okay, but next time, let me treat!" Tongtong nodded.
"You're a child, how can I let you treat? Next time, I'll treat!" Xia Qianqian, a girl in her twenties, could never agree to let Tongtong treat.
Liu Yifeng, who was standing by the side, immediately said, "You two stop arguing. Next time, I'll treat!"
Only then did they stop talking about who would treat. Instead, a smile of success appeared in their eyes.
Seeing their little actions, Liu Yifeng smiled and didn't expose them.
It was just a meal. Even if they didn't say it, he would still proactively pay the bill next time they ate out.
"Since we're all full, let's go for a walk to aid digestion!" Xia Qianqian stood up and suggested.