Cheng Qicai looked around the office out of boredom. Li Gui wasn't there; only Gu Rongqi was there.

She wondered why Gu Rongqi had asked her to stay.

Is there something wrong with her work today that requires her to stay and be reprimanded?

Lost in thought, Gu Rongqi stood up and said to her, "Let's go!"

"Huh?" Cheng Qicai asked blankly, confused. "Where to?"

"I'll treat you to dinner."

"I……"

"Don't refuse, consider it my apology for my slip of the tongue yesterday." Gu Rongqi immediately stopped Cheng Qicai from refusing.

Hearing Gu Rongqi say that, Cheng Qicai felt even more guilty.

She was already ashamed, and now Gu Rongqi was reflecting on his own mistakes and wanted to treat her to a meal to apologize, even though she had just scolded him.

Hmm, compared to this, I do seem more like a petty person.

Feeling guilty, Cheng Qicai changed the subject: "I meant I'd treat you."

Gu Rongqi was taken aback by what she meant, paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay!"

"What are we eating?" Gu Rongqi asked.

Cheng Qicai was taken aback by the question. Although she said yes, it was, after all, a last-minute decision.

She asked in return, "What would you like to eat?"

"Anything is fine, it depends on what you invite." Gu Rongqi passed the buck back to Cheng Qicai.

"So what were we originally going to eat?" Cheng Qicai tried to play a little trick.

If the meal Gu Rongqi treated her to wasn't so expensive, she could have gritted her teeth and paid for it, after all, she had only recently received a check for 100,000 yuan for nothing.

Gu Rongqi smiled enigmatically, "Now it's your turn to treat me."

Rejected, Cheng Qicai had no choice but to honestly think about what to eat later.

Cheng Qi thought for a moment and asked, "How about we take another look at what's on the phone?"

"good."

The two sat back down in the office. Cheng Qicai took out her phone, opened an app, and looked for places to eat nearby.

Gu Rongqi doesn't eat spicy food, so spicy hot pot and mala tang are definitely out of the question. Cheng Qicai looked at a few restaurants with milder flavors and asked him, "Clear broth hot pot, tomato and beef brisket stew, black chicken nourishing soup..."

Cheng Qicai read a long string of words from the page.

What do you think tastes good?

Cheng Qicai thought for a moment and said, "The black chicken soup that I had with Brother Lin before was pretty good."

She pulled up the store's reviews and showed them to Gu Rongqi, "Look, they're alright, aren't they?"

Looking at Cheng Qicai who was close to him, the familiar scent of jasmine wafted into his nostrils. He slowly nodded, "Okay, let's go to this one then."

The scent of jasmine has faded away and disappeared.

After discussing it, the two went downstairs and set off. The store was not far from the company, so they chose to walk there.

As soon as they arrived at the store, they were told that they would have to wait a while for a table.

It's after get off work hours, but there are still quite a few people coming to eat. Luckily, several tables left shortly after they arrived, so their number was called quickly.

After they sat down, Cheng Qicai took the menu and asked, "What would you like to order?"

Gu Rongqi took the menu and quickly checked off a few dishes.

Seeing how quickly he did it, Cheng Qicai gave him a mental thumbs up. Fortunately, Gu Rongqi didn't hesitate and chose the dishes directly, otherwise she would have been wondering what to eat.

So it's actually quite nice to have someone help you make decisions.

Cheng Qicai was quite pleased with Gu Rongqi's straightforward style when they went out to dinner together.

The dipping sauces are prepared by the waiters, but there's also a condiment station in the corner where you can add more yourself.

"Do you need any more dipping sauce?" Cheng Qicai asked, getting up.

Gu Rongqi stood up and said, "I'll go with you."

The two walked to the condiment area, and Cheng Qicai added a large spoonful of cilantro and a small spoonful of millet pepper to her bowl. She simply couldn't do without these two ingredients for her dipping sauce.

After Cheng Qicai put down the spoon with the millet peppers, she saw Gu Rongqi use his well-defined knuckles to take the spoon and scoop some more millet peppers into his bowl.

Gu Rongqi looked at the millet peppers in his bowl and Cheng Qicai's bowl, then picked up his spoon to scoop some more into his bowl.

Seeing that his hand hadn't stopped and he was about to reach into the chili peppers again to scoop some out, Cheng Qicai stopped him and asked in confusion, "Aren't you afraid of the spiciness?"

Gu Rongqi paused, smiled, and said, "No, it's just that I feel like I'd miss out on a lot of delicious food if I didn't eat spicy food, so I wanted to get used to it."

"Then you'll have to get used to it gradually. This much in your bowl is about right." Cheng Qicai looked at the chili peppers in his bowl and felt that for a novice like him who couldn't handle spicy food, this amount was already about right.

"Okay." Gu Rongqi obediently put down his spoon.

The two returned to their seats, where a casserole dish filled with chicken soup had already been brought to them by the waiter.

As the pale blue flames burned beneath the stove, the aroma of chicken wafted from the pot, growing stronger and stronger.

As the golden soup continued to boil and simmer in the clay pot, Cheng Qicai called out, "It's ready! You can eat now."

Cheng Qicai picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of chicken from the pot, put it in the dipping sauce, coated it with cilantro and sesame oil, and added a few drops of red, making it look even more appetizing.

She blew on it a few times, then put it in her mouth. The tender chicken, mixed with the spicy flavor, stimulated her taste buds.

Cheng Qicai ate with great concentration. When she felt the spiciness, she stopped eating, picked up the water next to her left, and sipped it slowly.

She looked at Gu Rongqi, who was engrossed in eating, and asked, "How is it? Is it good?"

Gu Rongqi raised his head and nodded to Cheng Qicai.

But seeing his expression, Cheng Qicai choked on the water she had drunk. Reacting quickly, she turned and bent over, coughing, "Cough cough cough~"

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