Carlos scoffed at the excitement on Debbie''s face. A housemaid came to the table with a te of roastedmb chops in her hand. He made a mockery of Debbie''s tone and said, "Calvert, this is the New Zend mutton chops. Freshly roasted. Have a taste!"


    Everybody sat in stunned silence, baffled to see the man, who was infamous for his arrogance, act in such a childish and immature way.


    What Carlos said made Calvert feel less awkward. "Thank you, Uncle Carlos," he said politely.


    While cutting the meat with his knife, Sheffield thought to himself, ''Calvert, what a coward!''


    When a small portion ofmb chops was ced in front of Calvert, Sheffield nced at themb chops and came up with a joke in his head. He leaned towards Calvert and whispered, "Did you know that roastedmb chops help to improve bodily functions and treat impo... Ahem! You should certainly eat a lot of it!"


    Sheffield''s voice was so low that the people sitting on the other side of the table couldn''t hear him. However, Evelyn, who was sitting next to Calvert, managed to hear what he had said and she almost choked on her juice.


    ''Sheffield can be so mean!'' she mused.


    The others turned to look at them. Calvert''s face darkened at their look of confusion. ''Would it kill this guy to be a little nice to me?''


    Although Carlos couldn''t hear what they were talking about, when he noticed the dispirited look on Calvert''s face, he guessed that Sheffield must have said something to him. Casting a cold nce at Sheffield, who was busy eating, Carlos asked, "What? Dr. Tang, is the food not up to your satisfaction?"


    Sheffield''s heart skipped a beat when he heard Carlos. He grinned and said, "Of course not! How could all this delicious food not satisfy anyone? I was just feeling a little jealous of Calvert."


    "Jealous? What for? Are you not happy with the dish my wife asked the housemaid to bring to you?" Carlos didn''t hesitate to attack Sheffield, cunningly exploiting the loophole in his words.


    "Of course, I am. Look, I''ve already emptied my te. That was delicious!" Sheffield said, unting his te at Carlos with a serious look. Then in order to further support his statement, he turned to the servant near him and said, "May I have some more please? One more serving for me, please. Thank you!"


    "Yes, sir. Please wait a moment."


    Infuriated, Carlos clenched his fist


    things. There''s an old saying that I think applies to you right now?"


    It didn''t matter to Miranda whether what Sheffield had said was true or not, because she felt veryfortable talking to him. Especially when he smiled, it would warm her heart. "What saying?"


    "True beauty never ages! I didn''t realize how true it was until I finally met you. Time can take away everything, but a beautiful temperamentsts forever and cannot be eroded with time!" There was not a trace of frivolity in his tone, which made everyone believe that his praise was sincere.


    In the course of her lifetime, Miranda had heard manypliments from people, but hearing such sweet wordse from a handsome young man like Sheffield certainly lifted her spirits. "Boy, you need to stop it with the tteries!"


    "Grandma, don''t be so modest. I wouldn''t lie to you. Evelyn, please tell Grandma that you agree with me."


    Evelyn smiled and nodded her head. When she saw how nicely Miranda and Sheffield got along, she earnestly prayed so that someday her father and Sheffield could also get along in the same way.


    Miranda was so happy that she chuckled at everything he said. "Okay, that''s enough for now. I was actually hoping to ask Sheffield something." Turning to face the young man, she continued, "Sheffield, I heard from Debbie that you are doing a research and development project at the moment. How is it going?"


    "Yes, Grandma. It''s almost finished. I''m looking forward tounching it early next year." Next year was less than a month away, and Sheffield was going to get very busy very soon.