Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Sending Zhihan
The big talk was out first, and Song Zhihan couldn't find a reason to refuse. She returned to her workstation with her bag in her hand, supporting her chin and staring at the lock screen on her computer in a daze.
Becca was shutting down her computer when she saw her turn back and asked, "Why are you back again?"
Of course, Song Zhihan couldn't tell anyone about his dinner with Lin Jie. He lied to her, "Um, I suddenly remembered there was a bug in the script, so I came back to fix it." Then he thought of the list of attendees for the summit and asked in confusion, "Didn't you say you were going with Sister Xiaochi? Why didn't you go?"
Becca touched her nose, feeling a little guilty. "I don't want to go. I'll tell Mr. Lin that someone at home is sick and needs care."
Song Zhihan nodded and added, "But Qie University will also be there this time, and President Lin will arrange for someone from our company to meet him. Are you sure you don't want to go? What a great opportunity to unveil the mystery of Qie University."
Becca was speechless. She didn't want to go because of Qie Da...
The two chatted for a few more sentences, and Becca also got off work. Song Zhihan sat at his workstation and leaned his head to look at Lin Jie's office. Why hadn't he come out yet? Was he going to have a meeting until very late?
His stomach growled a few times, and Song Zhihan took out a few biscuits from the drawer and ate them while waiting. He saw a funny video and forwarded it to his friends in a row, inviting them to laugh together.
She waited like this for more than twenty minutes, growing hungrier and hungrier, before she heard a noise coming from the office.
James and the secretary came out first, and Lin Jie lagged behind a few steps.
Seeing Song Zhihan still sitting there, James glanced at Cheng Yang's empty workstation and teased, "Strange, Song Zhihan, why haven't you gone home from get off work yet?"
Song Zhihan laughed dryly and glared at Lin Jie from the corner of his eye. It was all because of him! He was late!
Lin Jie knew he was in the wrong, so he led James to change the subject while winking at Song Zhihan. He tilted his head and nodded slightly in the direction of the elevator, and Song Zhihan understood.
As they walked out together, James suddenly suggested, "We just finished the meeting. How about having dinner together tonight? Song Zhihan, you can come too. If you want to avoid awkwardness, ask Cheng Yang to come too."
Song Zhihan was about to refuse, but Lin Jie spoke first: "I have work to take care of later, so I won't go."
James was a little embarrassed. If Lin Jie didn't go, what would it mean for him to go out to eat with a group of female employees?
Song Zhihan immediately responded: "Boss, I have something else to do at home, can we do it another day?"
"Of course, let's do it another day." James calmly resolved this difficult dinner and slipped away.
His secretary looked at the remaining two people and smiled slightly: "Mr. Lin, Zhihan, see you tomorrow."
Song Zhihan waved to her with a bright smile, and watched her disappear from his sight. Only then did his stiff back relax as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
She said to Lin Jie unwillingly, "Let's make an appointment next time. I'm going home first."
Lin Jie is so annoying. Why didn’t he tell her in advance if he had work? He made her wait so long.
She was about to leave angrily, but Lin Jie stopped her in time: "I don't have any work to deal with. I just made an excuse. Do you want to eat with James?"
Song Zhihan's expression instantly brightened up. Without even looking back, he turned around and stopped in front of Lin Jie. Then he raised his head and asked him expectantly, "Shall we eat together?"
Her eyes are round and bright, and the spots in her pupils are like crushed starlight. The two lumps of flesh on her cheeks are also light pink, and her every frown and smile are full of bright vitality.
Lin Jie rubbed his itchy fingers, his brows relaxed, and he smiled faintly: "Of course."
It felt a bit strange for the two of them to drive separately. Song Zhihan handed Lin Jie a post he had seen a few days ago and said, "Do you like Yunnan and Guizhou cuisine here?"
Lin Jie looked at the screen, but didn't see the food. Instead, he saw a comment from "me" below, which read: I took a big bite and aww.
He was amused by this vivid sound and looked at her. She spoke slowly, her words were very slow and teasing, "Send it to Zhihan?"
Song Zhihan didn't understand the implication. He slid his finger across the screen to show him what was going on without looking up. "Hmm? Want to eat?"
"Okay, let's eat here."
He is not very picky about food. People with strong taste can eat anything as long as there is enough spicy flavor.
They decided to leave right away, and the location was not far away, so Song Zhihan suggested that they walk there.
According to the map, go around the back of the company and cross two streets to arrive. The whole journey is estimated to take fifteen minutes.
It sounded fast, but when he went around the back of the company and saw several snack stalls emitting tempting aromas, Song Zhihan couldn't help but touch his empty stomach.
Attacked from both sides, shouts and fragrance filled his ears and nose. Song Zhihan buried his head lower and lower, trying not to be disturbed by them.
Lin Jie walked beside her, smiling as he watched her struggling to resist.
But Song Zhihan was ultimately captivated by the aroma of fried noodles. The scorching aroma of eggs popping in the pan instantly captivated her. She sniffed, identified the source, and looked eagerly at it for several seconds. She couldn't help but say to Lin Jie, "Lin Jie, do you think we can buy some fried noodles and take them to the restaurant? They smell so good, can you smell it?"
Of course Lin Jie smelled it, but he thought it was a very common smell. Didn’t street fried noodles all smell like this? Sichuan noodles were the most delicious.
But seeing the desire in Song Zhihan's eyes, he instantly overturned his own conclusion: "Let's eat this fried noodles, it smells good to me too."
Besides, fried noodles are cheap, so you can eat them for... well, many meals anyway.
Song Zhihan pretended to hesitate for a few seconds and said, "That's not good. If it gets out that I treated people to fried noodles, it will damage my reputation."
Lin Jie smiled: "You're treating me to a meal with a quota, not a number of meals."
It made sense, so Song Zhihan accepted the proposal.
The fried noodles were served by a young woman, her movements expertly handled. Her face was covered in sweat from the smoke and fumes. The food in the wok was golden and very tempting. There was a sign next to the food cart that said the fried noodles were 12 yuan a portion, which was definitely good value for money.
Song Zhihan ordered from the boss: "Boss, I want two servings of fried noodles. I scanned it via WeChat."
The boss greeted them warmly: "Okay, please find a vacant spot and sit down. Just wait a moment."
There were a few small tables at the back of the dining car. When I looked back, I found that there was a baby carriage not far from where the boss was working. A baby wrapped in cotton clothes was sleeping soundly inside.
Song Zhihan was very surprised. He looked at Lin Jie silently without saying anything, but he felt mixed emotions.
If it weren't for the pressure of life, how could I have the heart to bring such a young child out to make a living.
After finding an empty place, Lin Jie wiped the tables and chairs with paper again before letting her sit down.
He is a very picky person and has a lot of nitpicking issues.
After struggling for a long time before sitting down, Song Zhihan hunched over, supporting his chin with his arm, his eyes unable to stop glancing at the surrounding snack stalls, all of which looked delicious.
She was looking for delicious food, and Lin Jie was looking at her, and the little thoughts on his face were obvious.
Lin Jie just sat down and stood up again: "Grilled cold noodles, braised chicken feet, sweet and sour pork, and French fries, right?"
Song Zhihan looked at him with a fiery gaze, nodding like a chicken pecking at rice: "Yes!"
"I'll go buy it, you wait here for the noodles." Lin Jie gave a few instructions and walked towards the snack stand.
Watching him walk away, Song Zhihan began to look forward to all kinds of delicious food. The fried noodle boss teased him in between washing the pot: "Beautiful girl, your boyfriend is so considerate."
Hearing this name, Song Zhihan blushed for a moment, and quickly and firmly refuted: "He is not my boyfriend, he is my brother."
Yes, he is just a brother, a blood-related brother, Song Zhihan reminded himself again.
Brother? The boss was puzzled. Is this a new way of flirting between young people? I don’t understand.
Song Zhihan opened up the conversation. He glanced at the stroller and asked, "Boss, your child is so well behaved. He doesn't make any noise and stays with you obediently."
The boss was very proud: "Yes, my good boy is very obedient."
Song Zhihan smiled: "How old is he?"
"Seven months."
"Only seven months? Your family doesn't care about you, letting you set up a stall alone with such a young child." Song Zhihan stood up for her: "You have to run the business and take care of the child at the same time, you've worked so hard."
The boss was stunned for a moment, then smiled, her voice bitter: "My husband passed away half a year ago, my husband's family is not well off, and I have patients to take care of. I had no choice but to come out with my child."
Song Zhihan subconsciously said sorry, and looking at the boss's strong smile, he felt uncomfortable.
She didn't dare to chat with anyone anymore. She sat back in her seat and waited for Lin Jie to come back.
The fried noodles business was good, with diners constantly placing orders. Even after Lin Jie had bought all of his snacks, their noodles still hadn't arrived.
They tacitly agreed not to urge her. Song Zhihan tasted each delicacy with a fork and said each one was delicious. However, Lin Jie discovered that she had not touched the braised chicken feet and French fries that she said were delicious after taking one bite. However, the grilled cold noodles were almost finished.
While the two were waiting for their meal, the sudden cry of a baby suddenly resounded throughout the stall. The child who had just been praised by the boss for being a good boy was now crying heart-wrenchingly.
The boss kept his hands and kept coaxing the child, but the child's crying did not stop. Some people were already making impatient clicks. Song Zhihan, who was sitting not far away, became anxious and couldn't swallow the piece of meat in his mouth for a long time.
When she was in trouble, the person sitting next to her stood up. She watched Lin Jie go to the boss. The two of them said a few words, and then she saw him bend down and pick up the child in the car. His movements were skillful and extremely adept.
Song Zhihan's mouth opened wide in surprise. Could it be that Lin Jie is already married?...
Otherwise, how could he be so good at comforting a child! The child stopped crying immediately!
She swallowed her shock, walked to Lin Jie, looked at the good boy lying in his arms, and the doubts in her heart suddenly disappeared.
Such a small ball lay in Lin Jie's hand like a small pillow. Its dark little eyes stared at her curiously. After looking for a few times, it began to grin again.
Ouch, Song Zhihan was struck at once. She touched the child's face in the air and said in a rippling voice: "He is so cute~"
Lin Jie rocked the child gently, his movements were gentle and skillful as if he had done it many times.
After the good boy was coaxed into submission, Lin Jie carefully put him back into the stroller. At the same time, their fried noodles were also ready.
The boss was very grateful and added two more eggs to the noodles to show his gratitude.
Everything returned to normal, the boss was cooking noodles and the good boy was sleeping.
Song Zhihan's previous doubts surfaced again, and she asked tentatively: "Just now, I saw that you were very skilled in coaxing the child..."
"Yes, I have taken care of children before." He answered simply. Seeing Song Zhihan's disappointment after hearing the answer, he sat up a little straighter and told her the whole story: "You should have heard my mother mention it. My father passed away very early, and she raised Lin Mo and me alone. It was not easy. She used to help out in a restaurant, and she was busy all day long. I was in charge of Lin Mo before she started elementary school, so I have some experience in taking care of children. Later, when I was in junior high school, I was assigned to a school far away from home, so I lived with my uncle for three years and helped take care of my cousin. He was about this age."
He was calm and composed as he recounted the story, his heart aching when he mentioned his mother and sister, but no other emotion could be heard. But Song Zhihan could hear the hidden meaning. Living with his uncle at such a critical age, right at the peak of his high school entrance exams, how could he possibly be distracted by taking care of a baby? The insincerity and sadness of living under someone else's roof were all too apparent.
It turns out that Lin Jie also had such difficult times, and he was not as perfect as others imagined.
"My mother, like this boss, is a woman who has been let down by fate. They both carry heavy burdens and move forward, facing life with tenacity. After I became an adult, I wanted to help her share the burden, but she is very strong-willed and did not rest in peace just because I gave her. So, Song Zhihan, if my mother makes you feel uncomfortable at home, please understand. You can tell me if you have any questions or complaints."
He understood Song Zhihan's personality and Zhong Xiuwen's temper. One had a sharp tongue, the other a soft heart. If the two of them really got into an argument, it would be like World War III.
Song Zhihan shook his head: "No, I like Aunt Zhong very much. I like the food she cooks and I like her as a person."
"Thank you, Song Zhihan." His sincere words drifted into the wind.
Song Zhihan looked at him and suddenly smiled. On a night filled with the aroma of fried noodles, she saw the tenderness in Lin Jie.
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Author's note: I'm on a business trip tomorrow! New characters are coming, so stay tuned! [Glasses]
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