Chapter 25. He absolutely adores President Zhou.
If Tian Xu knew that taking a day off would cause him to miss out on so much, he would definitely have preferred to work overtime.
The driver in the front seat had been working alongside Zhou Shilin for several years and this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. As he tried his best to make himself inconspicuous, he suddenly understood why humans were researching self-driving cars.
At this moment, the calmest person in the car was probably Zhou Shilin. He turned his head to meet Chen Ci's gaze, and after a moment, he asked, "Why would you ask that?"
Chen Ci didn't expect him to throw the question back at her, but it was somewhat of a rhetorical question: "You seem to care about her, and you even gave her such expensive clothes. Maybe it's just your spending habit, but it does make people overthink things."
Zhou Shilin's eyes flickered as he looked at her and said, "I don't really think about it too much. I don't just give it to anyone."
Chen Ci was stunned for a moment, and she could feel her heart beating faster: "So you admit that you like her?"
Zhou Shilin said, "I do have feelings for her."
His frankness left Shen Ci unsure of what to do next. She could sense that Zhou Shilin treated them differently, but given his status, she told herself not to overthink it.
The reason I'm asking this question today is because this matter has been weighing on her mind for several days, and she's afraid that bottling it up might cause her to develop some other illness.
Zhou Shilin's answer was unexpected. She paused for a while before asking, somewhat puzzled, "Generally speaking, shouldn't you like me more?"
The driver in the front seat: "..."
At that moment, he completely reconciled with self-driving technology.
He hopes the car is now driverless.
Upon hearing Chen Ci's words, Zhou Shilin lowered his eyes and chuckled softly. This was the first time Chen Ci had seen him smile so clearly, and to be honest, it was quite handsome.
“You’re quite confident.” Zhou Shilin looked up at Chen Ci, the smile in his eyes not yet completely gone.
Chen Ci raised an eyebrow, and she was indeed quite confident about this: "After all, I've been confessed to since I was a child, and I've always been very likable."
Zhou Shilin nodded, neither confirming nor denying: "What about Shen Feifei?"
Chen Ci said, "Nobody likes her."
Zhou Shilin recalled what Shen Feifei had said in the car that day, and his gaze toward Chen Ci seemed to hold something more than before: "In my opinion, she is just as likable as you."
Chen Ci's hands, resting on her knees, clenched slightly. She felt her heart beating faster, making it hard for her to breathe.
"You said no one likes Shen Feifei, do you not like her either?" Zhou Shilin asked her from the side.
Chen Ci pursed her lips, her gaze falling on the hem of her skirt: "Does my liking matter?"
“Of course it’s important,” Zhou Shilin said. “Since you are twins, born from the same source, no one is more important than you.”
Chen Ci didn't answer. Zhou Shilin looked at her for a while, then looked away and said nothing more.
The car finally stopped in the bustling commercial center. Zhou Shilin led Chen Ci into the tallest building and took the elevator to the sixty-third floor.
There is a very high-end tea house here. Chen Ci already knew the average cost per person before she came. After entering, she saw the luxurious and elegant decorations, which were worthy of the price.
Zhou Shilin had reserved a private room. Chen Ci followed him inside and discovered that the room's window faced the lake view, offering an excellent vista.
Each private room has a dedicated tea master. Zhou Shilin and Shen Ci sat by the window and handed her the tea menu: "Do you usually like to drink tea?"
"Uh... does milk tea count?"
Zhou Shilin slightly curved his lips and looked at her, saying, "Then choose one that catches your eye."
Chen Ci looked down at the tea menu. Although she didn't usually drink tea, she had heard of these famous tea names. Moreover, each tea had a brief description and price listed after it.
She glanced at Zhou Shilin, then finally chose the relatively inexpensive option: "This one will do."
The tea master responded and began preparing tea for them. Zhou Shilin then handed her a menu, which featured a variety of exquisite pastries: "The pastries here are also quite good, with both Chinese and Western options. See what you like."
Choosing pastries was much easier for Shen Ci than choosing tea; she quickly ordered several that she wanted.
The dim sum is made by a chef in the kitchen, and the waiting time is not boring at all, because the tea master in the private room demonstrates the brewing process on the spot, which is very entertaining.
Finally, when she could pick up her teacup and savor the tea, Chen Ci sat up straight and, like the noble families in TV dramas, took a small sip and savored it carefully.
Zhou Shilin, sitting opposite her, took a sip of tea, looked at her and chuckled: "You don't usually drink tea, but you're quite serious about it."
Chen Ci held the teacup and said slowly, "Of course, after all, this sip of tea is enough for me to drink dozens of cups of milk tea."
"Oh, did you taste anything?"
"Hmm... anyway, it tastes good."
After the snacks were placed on the table, Chen Ci discovered that the tea tasted even better with them.
"The macarons here are actually this good?" Chen Ci was a little surprised. She admitted that there was an element of gambling in ordering the macarons. She didn't expect that the macarons would not be too sweet or greasy, and they even had unique fruit flavors. "No wonder President Zhou comes here for afternoon tea."
"You flatter me." Although Zhou Shilin was a regular customer here, he had never ordered macarons here before.
After finishing a macaron and taking a sip of tea, Chen Ci felt both satisfied and a little guilty: "Every time President Zhou treats us, it's to such high-end places. I'd rather treat you to crayfish..."
"There's nothing wrong with crayfish, they're quite delicious." Zhou Shilin gave a brief review of Uncle Li's restaurant. "It's just that the store is a bit small. With their current customer traffic, it's easy for an accident like ours to happen last time."
“Indeed.” Chen Ci nodded, agreeing with his point of view. “Since Gouwa and the others started helping out at the store, business has been even better than before. And now it’s peak season for crayfish, so there are just too many people.”
Zhou Shilin asked, "Have they considered expanding the store?"
Chen Ci was slightly surprised: "You really intend to invest in them?"
"..." is not impossible.
When they finished their tea, the pastries on the table were still uneaten. Chen Ci hadn't originally ordered that many, but Zhou Shilin added some more for her halfway through, and as expected, they couldn't finish them.
Looking at the leftover snacks on the table, Chen Ci smiled and asked, "Can I take these with me?"
Just in case no customer had ever packed anything here before, Chen Ci added, "I mainly want to take it back for Shen Feifei to try."
When Zhou Shilin heard her words, he seemed to slightly curl the corners of his mouth, but that smile was fleeting, and Chen Ci was not sure if it was just her imagination.
He asked the waiter to pack up the leftovers, then turned to Chen Ci and asked, "Is this enough? Should we order something else for her?"
"..." It's clear that President Zhou really likes her.
"No need, thank you, Mr. Zhou." Chen Ci smiled and declined Zhou Shilin's offer.
Zhou Shilin said, "Why don't we ask Shen Feifei? What if she wants to eat it?"
Chen Ci: "..."
You really love it.
The next second, she saw Zhou Shilin take out his phone and start sending messages to Shen Feifei.
Chen Ci: "..."
She felt her phone vibrate in her bag, and she was just glad she had put it on silent.
Zhou Shilin's gaze seemed to sweep over the bag she was carrying, intentionally or unintentionally. Shen Feifei's WeChat was silent. Zhou Shilin looked at her and said, "Why don't you give her a call?"
"Really, it's not necessary, Mr. Zhou!" Chen Ci almost wanted to pounce on him and grab the phone in his hand. "This is really enough. She doesn't eat much to begin with."
Zhou Shilin seemed to disagree: "Last time at the crayfish restaurant, I saw her eat quite a lot too."
Chen Ci: "..."
So what? :)
Carrying the packaged pastries, Chen Ci left the teahouse, her dinner for the night now settled. Zhou Shilin escorted her home the same way before leaving. Once home, Chen Ci placed the pastries on the table, changed her clothes, and took a shower.
After taking a shower and putting on her pajamas, she lay down comfortably on the sofa.
After having afternoon tea with Zhou Shilin today, she felt that the tea restaurant she had chosen was hard to surpass. Maybe next time she should treat him to something different. She wondered if he could handle spicy food?
Chen Ci was about to pick up her phone to ask him if he could eat spicy food, but she stopped mid-air.
Now that she's portrayed as Shen Feifei's younger sister, and knowing that Zhou Shilin has feelings for Shen Feifei, she still keeps asking Zhou Shilin out to dinner alone. Doesn't that seem a bit inappropriate?
How about we let Shen Feifei go out to eat with him?
...In the past, Shen Feifei's appearances were just about fighting, but now she has to go out and date?
Her illness seems to have gotten worse.
Zhou Shilin's words kept echoing in her mind, making her restless. Chen Ci simply picked up her phone and opened the game.
Saturday saw an even larger crowd at Uncle Li's restaurant than weekdays, and the restaurant was already quite full. Gouwa and Jinmao had been keeping an eye on Gao Yang these past two days; after their warning, he had indeed behaved himself considerably and hadn't bothered Li Linrui again.
Back from outside, the two busied themselves with the restaurant's affairs. Evenings were peak times for crayfish, and Uncle Li couldn't handle it all by himself. As dusk fell, the tables inside and outside the restaurant were filled with crayfish customers, and Golden Hair was outside again, helping newcomers get their numbers.
Three or five shirtless youths approached from afar. The leader had a buzz cut and walked with an arrogant air, as if he didn't recognize any of his relatives.
But the golden retriever recognized him.
This man was called Scarface—though he didn't have a single scar on his body—and he was someone they used to hang out with. Later, they met Shen Feifei, and through her matchmaking, they came to help out at Uncle Li's restaurant, gradually drifting away from this group.
When Golden Hair saw Scarface arrive with his men today, he had a bad feeling. He went up to him and called out, "Hey, isn't this Brother Dao? Long time no see. What brings you here today?"
Scarface glanced at the customers filling the shop, both inside and out, and chuckled as he patted Golden Retriever on the shoulder: "Your business is doing well, aren't you? Why don't you call your brothers when you're making money?"
"Hey, we're just working for someone else, how can we get rich?" Golden Hair looked around and said to Scarface sheepishly, "Look, there's no seat here, how about we get together for dinner another day?"
"Don't bother looking anywhere else, I think this place is fine." Scarface smiled at him, raising his chin, and said, "How about we brothers come and help you out?"
The golden retriever chuckled awkwardly, "I can't make that decision either..."
"Then let the person in charge come out and talk to me." Scarface shoved him and shouted into the restaurant, "Sang Biao, come out!"
His shout drew everyone's attention in the restaurant, but Scarface couldn't find him, so he shouted a few more times.
"Who called me?" Gouwa, wearing an apron, came out from the kitchen.
It was clear he was in a hurry; he didn't even have time to put down the kitchen knife in his hand.
When Scarface and the others at the door saw him come out like that, they instinctively took a few steps back: "What are you doing? Do you want to chop someone up in the street?"
Gouwa stood there staring at them without moving or making a sound. Jinmao stepped forward and said to Gouwa, "Boss, they said they want to work in our shop and asked if we need any help."
Gouwa said, "We don't need it."
Scarface chuckled, took a step forward, then stepped back: "We see your business is so good, you guys can't possibly handle it all."
Gouwa still said, "I told you, I don't need it."
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Author's Note: I had a bit of writer's block today, but I'll try to update earlier tomorrow. [emoji]
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