"Where is this?" Hua Jin looked up at the red lanterns hanging on both sides of the courtyard gate. It was very quiet inside the gate, not as lively as expected in a normal restaurant.
"It's a private restaurant. It doesn't serve ordinary customers. The chefs here are excellent at cooking." Pei Yan stepped into the door, "Let's go."
Hua Jin clung to the door frame and blinked at Pei Yan: "Mr. Pei, you know I'm from the village, right?"
"You just said you wanted to thank me, are you going to regret it now?" Pei Yan was almost laughed at by Hua Jin, "My kindness to you is not worth the price of a meal?"
"Not to mention one meal, even a month's worth of food is more than enough." Hua Jin said innocently, "But the key is that I don't have much money. I'm afraid I won't have enough money when I pay the bill later, and I can't afford to lose face."
"Isn't it embarrassing to linger at the door and not come in?"
"At least this way you can avoid losing money. Otherwise, I'll just work like a slave to repay you."
"There's a joke on the Internet that says a woman will work like a slave to a man she doesn't like, and will pledge her love to a man she likes." Pei Yan squinted at Hua Jin, "What do you think?"
"For something like giving your body to someone, both parties must be willing to do it." Hua Jin lowered his head and muttered softly, "If after giving your body to someone, it brings a lot of trouble to the person you are repaying, it is not called repaying a favor, it is called revenge."
"Humph, you're quite good at making excuses." Pei Yan saw that she was still clinging to the door frame, so he reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. "Don't worry, it won't cost you much."
After walking a few steps forward, Pei Yan suddenly remembered something. He lowered his head to look at Hua Jin's knees and slowed down his pace. "This private restaurant has a chef who is very good at cooking Sichuan cuisine."
Hua Jin looked up in surprise.
"When my grandfather was still alive, I liked to eat the dishes he cooked. You are from Shu Province, so help me taste his dishes and see if they are authentic Shu flavors."
Hua Jin buried her head again: "Oh."
There weren't many people eating here, but that didn't mean there weren't any. When someone found out Pei Yan had brought a young girl here to eat, they couldn't help but be surprised.
Who else could stand Pei Yan's fickle temper, except for a woman who wanted to make a quick buck from him? If she lived with him for the rest of her life, wouldn't she suffer from mental illness?
Some people were hesitant about whether to go and say hello, but when they saw Pei Yan took the initiative to pull the girl's wrist, they tactfully retracted their heads. In today's world, it would be unlucky to affect other people's love.
If this person's good deeds are ruined, there will be more trouble.
Hua Jin discovered that Pei Yan was very familiar with this place, and it seemed that he often came here to eat.
After passing through the archway, someone came to lead the way and brought them to a private room: "Mr. Pei, is it the same as before?"
"Let's eat Sichuan cuisine today." Pei Yan took a sip of appetizer tea, "I'm tired of eating the same old things."
"Okay, please wait a moment." The receptionist bowed slightly to the two and left the private room.
Hua Jin looked up at the calligraphy and paintings on the wall. "Fresh crucian carp with shredded pork, fragrant celery soup. Sichuan wine is the strongest and the river fish is the most delicious. The poem of the poet is just right to be hung here."
"Wow, I didn't realize you know so much about this." Pei Yan glanced at the paintings on the wall. They were all modern imitations and could not be considered fine works.
"Of course. When I was in high school, I was the top student in the school, and I was always in the top three in Chinese." Hua Jin took a sip of the appetizer tea. "Even if I don't understand elegance, I can still pretend to show off."
You have such excellent grades, but you want to start working so early?
Pei Yan's hand holding the tea trembled slightly. He looked at Hua Jin, who looked calm, and the irritability reappeared. He raised his head and touched his chest, trying to suppress the uncomfortable feeling.
The dishes were served very quickly. Some time-consuming dishes could not be prepared because Pei Yan did not order them in advance.
Hua Jin tasted a few chopsticks and couldn't say whether the dishes tasted authentic, but they tasted good. A hero doesn't ask about his whereabouts, and delicious dishes don't care about the cuisine.
Before she knew it, she had eaten two bowls of rice. She sighed, "It's nice to eat meat, but it's hard to lose weight."
"You're already so thin, why would you want to lose weight?" Pei Yan poured a cup of tea for Hua Jin, "Here, digestive tea."
"Thank you." Hua Jin took the teacup and took a sip, thinking of what happened last time he went to Jiangjiu City with Pei Yan. "It seems that there are marketing accounts online that are leading the trend, suggesting that the kind-hearted person in Jiangjiu City who did a good deed without leaving his name is related to a certain artist. However, this artist is very smart and did not respond directly to this matter. Even if you stand up and say that you are the kind-hearted person who called the police to save people, he can completely push yourself away."
"Anyone with a bit of common sense wouldn't dare to take credit for the good deeds done by others." Pei Yan took out his phone and searched online. "Who is this actor? I've never heard of him."
"These media really like to brag with their eyes closed. They hold up a photo of you sitting here with your face blurred out, and they still praise you for being stunningly beautiful..."
Hua Jin clenched the teacup in her hand, wanting to smash it.
"And here, they say she has a graceful figure and a refined temperament... what a bunch of nonsense."
She didn't want to smash the cup, she wanted to smash the teapot.
After reading a few reports, Pei Yan locked his phone screen and said, "This kind of hype won't have much effect. Netizens will soon forget about it. I won't bother with this kind of small artist. It will lower my status."
Having said this, he immediately lowered his head and sent a message to his assistant, stating that he would not have any cooperation with this artist in the future. It is normal for artists to establish their own personas and create topics for themselves. But whether it is an artist or an ordinary person, such things should not be used for hype. This is the bottom line of being a human being.
After drinking some digestive tea, Hua Jin and Pei Yan walked out of the private room. The courtyard was hung with colorful lights, which was very beautiful at night.
"These lights..." Hua Jin looked at them carefully for a while, "Some of them seem to be handmade?"
Pei Yan stared at the lamp for a while, but could not tell the difference between handmade and non-handmade. Could it be that people who were engaged in traditional handicrafts had a natural intuition about handicrafts?
"Mr. Pei is in a really good mood. Are you here with your friends to enjoy the lanterns?"
Hua Jin looked back and saw a man in a suit and glasses walking towards her. When he came closer, Hua Jin found that he was about 60 years old and had a serious expression, which made her think of the word "gentleman".
It's hard to dislike such a person, but it's also hard to feel close to him. She tilted her head to look at Pei Yan's expression, who had no expression at all at the moment, as if the man who came over didn't exist at all.
The atmosphere changed as Pei Yan ignored the man. It gradually became cold and there was a lingering awkwardness in the air.
This serious-looking man didn't seem to notice Pei Yan's indifference at all. Instead, he nodded to Hua Jin and said, "You look unfamiliar. Is this your first time in a place like this? This is a rare opportunity. Let Mr. Pei accompany you around."
Hua Jin felt that this was a bit off, as if it was mocking her for not having been to such a place before, and also pretending to be arrogant to arrange for Pei Yan. Hua Jin had met many people who seemed serious but actually cared about status and seniority at work. If she didn't want to conflict with them, she just had to keep smiling.
"I heard that Mr. Xu's precious only child was put in jail. I wonder if he has been released?" Pei Yan's mouth curled up slightly, outlining a mocking arc, "Young people are ignorant. After staying in there for a while, maybe he will grow up."
"Thank you for your good wishes." The expression on Mr. Xu's face could hardly be suppressed. Just when Hua Jin thought he was going to explode, Mr. Xu actually had the energy to give her a polite smile before leaving slowly.
“This person…”
"This family is not good." Pei Yan could not hide his disgust for the Xu family. "Two or three months ago, this little bastard from the Xu family invited his friends to race cars. These people were so bold that they drove in the city. When they ran a red light, the second son of the Chen family found something wrong and turned the steering wheel and hit the guardrail. The little bastard from the Xu family actually rushed through it, causing a pedestrian crossing the zebra crossing to be sent to the emergency room for rescue. Although his life was saved, his leg was gone."
"The Xu family has spoiled this precious kid so much that they cover up for him even when he did something wrong. If the previous car accident hadn't caused such a big stir, the online public opinion couldn't suppress it, and the victim wasn't willing to sign a letter of apology, the Xu family wouldn't have been willing to let their only child go to jail." Pei Yan sneered, "Don't be fooled by some people who look like decent people, but when they do things, their hands are so dirty that it's unbearable to look at. When you see such people in the future, be smart and run as far away as you can."
"Why are you so pale?" Pei Yan noticed that Hua Jin's face was not looking good. "Are you feeling unwell?"
"It's okay." Hua Jin shook his head, "I just think that the passerby who was hit was really unlucky."
"Chen Jiang was one of the people who played with Xu Wangba that day. He called the police immediately after the accident. Although Chen Jiang is not a good person, he has a bottom line and will not joke about human life." Pei Yan laughed meaningfully, "It was his greatest luck that Chen Jiang was there that day."
Hua Jin understood the unfinished meaning of Pei Yan's words, turned around to look at the direction the man had just left, and felt a little breathless: "It's late, I should go back."
Pei Yan glanced at her and said, "I'll take you there."
When paying the bill, Hua Jin found that the cost of the meal was indeed not high. She turned her head to look at Pei Yan, who was leaning against the door, looking at her with a half-smile, his eyes full of mischief.
After the two left, the cashier said to his colleague, "I didn't expect to encounter something like this. It was the first time for a female companion to dine here. She had a VIP membership card, but she still had to pay the balance. Mr. Pei is so rich, there's no need to save this little money."
"So he still doesn't have a girlfriend." The colleague said as he registered the accounts, "No one can save a man who is single because of his own strength."
Hua Jin sat in Pei Yan's car and received a message from Tan Yuan.
Tangyuan: Huahua, is Mr. Pei your friend?
Fanhua: You are in the mood to care about my gossip. It seems that I am fine now.
Tangyuan: Not long ago you said you would pick up trash to feed me, but just a few hours later you already start to dislike me for meddling in your affairs?
Fanhua: I know you care about me, don't worry, I know what's going on.
Tangyuan: Based on my experience of watching TV dramas for more than 20 years, every main or supporting character who says they have a plan in mind will eventually fall into the trap.
Flowers: ...
The author has something to say:
Pei Yan: A man who claims to be magnanimous but keeps a record of his pettiness in a notebook.
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