5 Chapter 5
The next night, when Chen Ying just got off work and walked downstairs, Zhou Baixi was already waiting outside the door.
Today she was wearing a long pleated dress with a small collar and short sleeves. It was in a cool color scheme. Combined with her quiet personality, it made her look aloof and indifferent. Standing next to Zhou Baixi, who had a cold face and looked like he couldn't talk, they were inexplicably a good match.
The weather has been getting warmer lately, but the wind can still be chilly at night. Chen Ying learned this the hard way. She once stayed up until 3 a.m., and after a night of cold wind, her fever reached nearly 40 degrees Celsius. Since then, when she returns home late at night, she always brings an extra coat to protect against strong winds.
Today she brought an extra piece for Xiao Doukou.
Zhou Baixi was a little confused when he saw the bag she was carrying, so Chen Ying had to explain, "It was windy at night."
Zhou Baixi smiled awkwardly, turned around to drive the car out and opened the passenger door.
Chen Ying felt particularly uncomfortable. This was her first time riding in his car. Facing this man whose mere sight made her heart flutter, the passenger seat was too special. She wasn't sure if he was just being polite and didn't really want her to sit there.
But sitting in the back was even worse. Someone came to pick her up out of kindness, but she treated him as a driver.
Besides, when she got in the car, she saw a men's coat on the back seat, as well as Xiao Doukou's small coat and small schoolbag.
Chen Ying felt that the clothes in her bag were a little hot, and she regretted that she should have thought of it earlier. Zhou Baixi would definitely prepare a coat for Xiao Doukou.
Zhou Baixi said that his buddy is very humorous, calm and down-to-earth, so there is no need to worry about it being difficult to get along with him.
But she didn't expect him to be so down-to-earth.
——In a roadside barbecue restaurant, his hair was combed meticulously, and he wore a suit that fit him well, but he wore a pair of big slippers on his feet. He let Xiao Doukou sit on his lap while he sat on the roadside eating skewers.
——While eating, he pretended to feed Xiao Doukou, and when she opened her mouth, he took it back, and the next second, the barbecue went into his own mouth.
It’s not his fault that he didn’t let Xiao Doukou eat it. She was still young and her family didn’t allow her to eat these things. He just let her taste it and she didn’t dare to eat too much.
In addition, Xiao Doukou had to be careful not to touch anything. There was oil everywhere, and if she stained her clothes, she would be beaten by Zhou Baixi.
Zhou Baixi stopped the car and honked the horn without getting out.
"Uncle, aunt!"
Xiao Doukou saw his car first, and her feet started shaking, which scared Li Hao so much that a mouthful of squid almost got stuck in his throat.
He looked in the direction of Xiao Doukou's gaze and saw Chen Ying's face with a slight smile next to the rolled-down car window. He was so scared that he hurriedly paid the bill and ran towards Zhou Baixi with the plastic bag containing leather shoes next to him.
Why did he ask the distinguished guests to come to the barbecue stall to see him?
Xiao Doukou was so happy when she saw her uncle and aunt that she didn't even wait for the car door to open. She climbed in through the window and snuggled in Chen Ying's arms, gurgling with joy.
"You said you wouldn't come earlier or later, but you chose to come at this time. If you had come a minute earlier, I would have starved to death. If you had come a minute later, I would have died of stuffing!"
Li Hao cursed angrily in the back seat, then smiled at Chen Ying and said, "Sorry, it's our first meeting. Please forgive me for making fun of you."
He showed double standards to the fullest.
"Hello, I'm Chen Ying. Happy birthday!"
Chen Ying took out the gift she had prepared from her bag. Li Hao was immediately flattered. His hand holding the small box trembled uncontrollably and he kept saying thank you, thank you!
God knows, he really just wanted to see her under the pretext of her birthday and have everyone get together, and he had told Zhou Baixi not to accept any gifts.
Zhou Baixi ignored his pleading eyes and told Chen Ying about it as a joke. He said, "He just gets nervous sometimes. Don't pay attention to him. That's just how he is."
Chen Ying smiled softly, and Li Hao said, "Nonsense! I'm not usually like this! It was just too hot, so I changed my shoes. I had made careful preparations to meet Miss Chen, but it was just an accident!"
Chen Ying thought back to his outfit, which was indeed very "carefully prepared".
Xiao Doukou insisted on sitting with Chen Ying. Although Li Hao and Zhou Baixi were reluctant, Li Hao had to switch seats with Chen Ying and sit in the co-pilot seat, and then he and Zhou Baixi looked at each other in surprise.
Li Hao, sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly felt a little nervous. He looked at Zhou Baixi and said, "You're not going to kill me, are you?"
Zhou Baixi smiled and said, "No."
Li Hao thinks he will.
Chen Ying sat in the back, completely confused about their conversation.
Although Li Hao was often carefree and unpretentious, he was still low-key and unassuming. He didn't invite anyone else to celebrate his birthday, and even those who wanted to celebrate were rejected. After discussing with Zhou Baixi, he booked a private room at a restaurant called "Eighteen Years Old."
——Li Hao said, because a man is a boy until he dies, he is eighteen every year!
Zhou Baixi was already used to the fact that the thickness of his face was longer than a ruler used by primary school students.
Li Hao said he used the private room for quiet, to show his respect for Chen Ying. Zhou Baixi couldn't argue with him, so he just let him go. After all, it was Li Hao's money.
The dishes are selected when booking the private room, so the dishes are served as soon as you arrive. They are all Chinese food, suitable for all ages.
Chen Ying's impression of Li Hao changed a little. Knowing that he and Zhou Baixi had both studied abroad, Chen Ying originally thought that he would be extravagant and like Western food.
"I didn't ask in advance... Eh? Can I just call you Chen Ying?"
Chen Ying nodded, then she remembered that he had always called her Miss Chen.
"Okay, just call me Haozi! I didn't ask in advance what I want to eat, and I don't know if it suits your taste." Li Hao grinned.
Chen Ying wasn't particular about food. As a child, she ate everything and wasn't picky. Later, when she started cooking, she found many dishes disgusting, the kind she didn't even want to look at. She looked at the dishes on the table; most of them were her favorites. She wondered if it was just a coincidence.
"Auntie likes it!" Xiao Doukou suddenly spoke up and answered for Chen Ying.
Chen Ying looked at her in surprise, she was a lot shorter than she was sitting on the stool. Xiao Doukou chuckled and said, "My uncle said that. I heard Uncle Haozi call me that day."
Now Li Hao and Zhou Baixi were both a little embarrassed, as if their secret conspiracy had been exposed on the spot.
Zhou Baixi explained: "I remember that you often ate those dishes when you were a child, so I remembered them."
Chen Ying's heart began to pound, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved a little. She simply laughed softly, using laughter to cover up her discomfort.
The person you have a crush on takes you to celebrate his best friend’s birthday and takes care of your preferences. Most importantly, eight years have passed and he still remembers it.
This was unbelievable. Chen Ying looked at him secretly. He was sitting on the other side of Xiao Doukou, carefully feeding her stir-fried rapeseed.
Chen Ying didn't know what to say.
Li Hao used his serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of braised pork for her and said, "Has anyone ever told you that you're too thin? Zhou Baixi is fine, but he's just sickly and refusing to eat is normal. You have to eat well. Health is the most beautiful thing."
Chen Ying heard the key words, turned to look at Zhou Baixi, and asked worriedly, "Are you sick?"
“No.”
Chen Ying suddenly remembered that the first time she saw him was in the hospital, but she was immersed in mixed emotions at the time. She felt that their relationship was not to the point where she had to ask him about everything. Although she was worried, she did not ask.
But now she felt she had a chance and the courage to ask.
"I saw you in the hospital before. Were you sick?"
"No." Zhou Baixi answered without hesitation, then looked up at her, "Oh, that time Haozi had a stomachache, so I went to see him."
Li Hao stared with wide eyes at his good brother's calm "statement". He could remain so calm even when he made up a story in front of him, the person involved.
Li Hao was very concerned about his reputation and gritted his teeth, "Nonsense! It was clearly your other good brother who got sick that day, not me."
"Don't be fooled by Haozi's appearance today. He usually wears shorts and slippers to work. He loves to eat at street stalls, like the barbecue you saw today. But his parents don't let him eat those, so he can only eat them secretly."
Chen Ying roughly imagined it, and Haozi's character immediately stood in her mind: a humorous and handsome turtle, squatting on the side of the road to secretly eat barbecue, while eating while being careful not to be discovered by his family.
She thought about it again, Li Hao loves barbecue so much, it is normal for him to have stomach upset and go to the hospital occasionally.
Li Hao slapped Zhou Baixi's arm hard, showing him his biceps, and gritted his teeth, "Nonsense, I'm in good health! Get out of here!"
Then he said to Chen Ying, "Chen Ying, don't believe him. He went to see another friend, not me! He's a very bad person. Don't believe his lies."
Xiao Doukou was very quiet during the meal. She curiously watched the three adults fighting and laughing. She didn't quite understand what they were saying, but they were all laughing, so she laughed too, occasionally calling out "Auntie". After receiving Chen Ying's gentle response, she said in a baby voice, "Gululu Gululu!"
Chen Ying really liked this child, and she responded enthusiastically to Xiao Doukou: "Gulp gulp, Auntie is making bubbles too!"
Xiao Doukou started dancing on the stool, and Zhou Baixi quickly held her down, fearing that she would fall.
When dinner was almost over, Chen Ying realized that the four cups on the table were all filled with drinks. It was fine for her and Xiao Doukou to drink drinks, but why did those two grown men...
"Don't you guys drink alcohol when you have dinner together?"
Li Hao said, "Who drinks that stuff? Drinking will only cause trouble, Zhou Baixi, don't you think so?"
Li Hao always had a grin on his face, and he believed that one should not hit someone who smiled at him. Zhou Baixi resisted the urge to hit him and responded with a smile.
For some reason, Chen Ying always felt that those two smiles were not very innocent.
Seeing that her uncle was silent, Xiao Doukou replied for him: "No one in our family drinks alcohol. Uncle doesn't drink either."
Zhou Baixi pinched Xiao Doukou's still round chin with one hand and threatened her, "You know too much..."
Not only that, Xiao Doukou knew many more secrets. But she was young, didn't understand what those secrets were, and didn't gossip, which temporarily saved Zhou Baixi's face.
At 8:30 in the evening, Xiao Doukou had already fallen asleep in Zhou Baixi's arms. Several people took their things and ended the dinner.
Li Hao naturally sat in the back seat of the car, waiting for Zhou Baixi to take him home.
"Who told you to come up here? Take a taxi yourself!"
Zhou Baixi held the child and asked him to get out of the car without saying a word.
Li Hao felt very aggrieved. "You won't let me ride in your car? How can you be so cruel!"
"I'm not going the same way as you guys. I'll take a taxi." Chen Ying said silently.
"No!" the two men said at the same time.
Li Hao quickly opened the car door and rolled out, saying with a smile, "I'll take a taxi. You help him take care of Xiao Doukou. See you next time!"
Zhou Baixi gestured to Chen Ying to open the back door, then said, "Please, old classmate, sit in the back and help me take care of Xiao Doukou."
Chen Ying had no choice but to get in the car.
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