The Enigmatic Return (Neera and Jean) novel Chapter 351

Chapter 351 Has Jean Ever Had His Mouth Blessed?
After ending the call, Neera suppressed her inner turmoil and got up, intending to prepare some lunch. However, upon opening the refrigerator, she found it empty – there was no leftover food in the house.

Letting out a sigh, she realized she had no choice but to head to the nearby upscale supermarket for groceries.
An hour later, she returned with a bag full of fresh ingredients, feeling ravenously hungry and drained of energy or motivation to cook.
any
Deciding to take the easy way out, she opted to make herself a bowl of instant noodles and took it to the gazebo to eat. She planned to manage through lunch this way and then prepare a proper meal for herself later in the evening.
As she waited for the noodles to cook, she noticed lan on the other side of the railing, watering Jean’s outrageously expensive greenery. He seemed downcast, with a drooping posture, as if he were the most miserable person on Earth.
Curious, Neera called out to him, “Mr. lan, why are you taking care of the plants today? Isn’t it usually Richard’s job to tend to them?”
lan looked up upon hearing her voice, and his eyes displayed a distinct sense of resentment. Last night, Jean had made him practice his driving skills for the entire night, only to wake up in the morning and be tasked with demonstrating them again. Now, he was relegated to watering plants…
Despite being an influential senior assistant who could shake things up with a simple stomp of his foot at Kingsview, lan found himself reduced to the role of an ordinary gardener. As much as he wanted to lodge a complaint with Neera about the situation, his reason prevailed, and he came up with a lame excuse, “Richard took the day off today, so I’m helping with the plants.”
As he spoke, he unintentionally revealed a tinge of self-pity, which Neera couldn’t help but notice. In her eyes, lan appeared somewhat pitiful and downtrodden.
However, a frosty snort interrupted the scene. Jean had appeared out of nowhere and was standing behind lan.
Startled, lan straightened up immediately, as if he were a young poplar tree. “Ms. Garcia, you go ahead and have your meal. I won’t disturb you!”
With a hasty farewell, he grabbed the watering can and resumed his gardening duties.
Once he left, Neera was left alone with Jean. They locked eyes, and memories of last night’s tumultuous encounter and her confusing dreams flooded Neera’s mind, making the atmosphere awkward.
After an extended silence, Neera finally spoke up, “Um, have you had lunch?”
Jean arched an eyebrow, glanced at his wristwatch, and then responded leisurely, “Yes, I have.”
Neera immediately felt embarrassed for asking such an unnecessary question. It was already past 2 p.m. wouldn’t have had lunch by then?
–
who
Regretting her choice to have lunch in the gazebo rather than at the restaurant, she berated herself for her impulsive decision. Now, she found herself in an awkward situation with Jean.
Jean, however, appeared unfazed by the situation and asked, “Is that your lunch?” He gestured toward the bowl of instant noodles in her hand.
Neera didn’t give it much thought and proceeded to eat her noodles.
About an hour later, she realized why Jean had asked about her stomach.
A sharp pain radiated through her abdomen, leaving her feeling as if something was churning inside her stomach. Her stomachache intensified, feeling like a fiery turmoil.
Over the years, due to her work in the research lab, she had often ski pped meals and subjected her stomach to irregular eating patterns. Although she had been trying to take better care of her health, she still occasionally overtaxed her stomach.
In particular last night’s alcohol consumption combined with today’s sp icy instant noodles on an empty stomach proved to be a disastrous combination for her sensitive stomach.
In the afternoon, she was in such discomfort that she was drenched in cold sweat, lamenting Jean’s supposed jinxed words. “Has Jean ever had his mouth blessed?”
Enduring the pain, she got up to find some medicine.
However, she was met with another misfortune – her medicine box was empty!
With no other options, she had to ring the doorbell next door.