171 character issues
Li Wei sat in her upstairs office for a while, looked at the reports on her desk, but really had no interest in reading them. So she made an internal call to say goodbye to her aunt, put on her coat, and left.
Cheng Fei wanted to send a car to take her, but Li Wei didn't know where to go, so she decided against it. After leaving the gate, she saw Shouchun Restaurant not far away and remembered the chef. She decided to walk there to see what good food they had.
Compared to Jingxiangyuan, Shouchunlou appears less dignified and imposing, but rather more lively and bustling. Upon entering, a welcoming waiter led Li Wei to a table. Knowing she was alone, the waiter hesitated for a moment before guiding her to a small two-person table by the window.
Li Wei felt stifled at the sight of it; she had been feeling stifled enough these past two days. So she demanded, "Find me a private room with a window; this place is too small."
With lunchtime approaching, the seats with more guests should naturally be reserved for those with more people. Somewhat hesitantly, he said, "Are you alone? Would it be better if you sat in a less crowded seat?"
Li Wei: "I'm alone, but I'd like to find a private room with good lighting. If there isn't one, that's fine." After saying that, Li Wei turned to leave. There are plenty of restaurants, and she wasn't hungry. All this fuss was annoying.
Seeing that the customer was unhappy, the waiter quickly said, "Okay, then please come with me." Anyway, it was still early, and he figured she couldn't eat much by herself, so he should be leaving soon.
Li Wei entered a private room with a view of the street outside. It was clean and tidy, and could seat about ten people. Li Wei took off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair, then pulled up a chair and sat down: "Bring me a pot of hot water first."
The waiter responded and called out to the door, and someone went to take care of things, handing the menu to Li Wei.
Li Wei took the dish and glanced at it. Feeling confused, she put it down and said to the waiter, "Give me ten of your best or freshest dishes, and whatever snacks or appetizers you just have today. Just bring me one serving. As for drinks, forget it, that's all."
Huh? The waitress glanced at Li Wei, then looked at her again. Had she heard correctly?
Seeing that the waiter seemed a little slow, Li Wei asked again, "Didn't you hear me? Should I repeat it?"
The waiter hurriedly shook his head: "No, no, um... shall we serve the food now?"
Li Wei nodded, then added after a moment's thought, "Don't try to fool me with your leftovers. If it doesn't taste right, you'll be in trouble."
Li Wei wasn't in a bad mood and wanted to overeat; she was just looking at food to improve her mood. Anyway, there were plenty of people in her family who could eat a lot, with Luo Dawei being the first to arrive, followed by Li Lianhui, and so on. She decided to pack some to take home for them as lunch.
Aside from the hot dishes, the rest were served in a continuous stream. Each waiter who brought the food couldn't help but glance at Li Wei a few more times; they'd never seen a girl like her before. Judging by her clothes, she seemed like a child from a wealthy family. But wasn't this a bit too extravagant?
Li Wei had no interest in thinking about people she didn't care about. Looking at the snacks and treats on the table, she would try the ones that looked good and leave the ones she didn't like untouched, occasionally taking a sip of water.
As she was enjoying her meal like a little emperor, a waiter placed a small dish of candied fruit on the table and suddenly said, "Oh—, who is it? It's you, Li Wei! What brings you here to eat alone today?"
She looked up and recognized her. She seemed familiar, as if she had seen her somewhere before. But judging from her suit, she seemed to be the manager here, and a pretty and sweet woman. Suddenly, Li Wei remembered.
"Oh, it's Sister Xiaomei. Why are you personally serving the dishes, boss lady?" Li Wei said with a smile, without moving.
Xiao Mei, having dealt with people for many years, is naturally outgoing and eloquent. She pulled up a chair and sat down next to Li Wei, saying warmly, "You know, ever since we went out together last time, you and Luo Jianhua haven't come around much. Shou Chun was talking about you guys yesterday. Have you forgotten about us?"
Li Wei smiled and said, "How could I forget? Your restaurant is so big, standing right on the street. How could I forget it? Well, here we are today."
Xiao Mei glanced at the table, which was almost full, and found it increasingly amusing: "I just heard from the waiter that a pretty young lady ordered a whole table of food, but she barely ate any, just looked at it. I was just curious to see who was so extravagant, but it turned out to be you, girl. Why did you come alone? How is your sister Xiao Lin? Are you busy with your studies in high school?"
This girl with the small eyebrows has a bit of Wang Xifeng's demeanor. Whether it's real or fake, she makes it both enthusiastic and lively, like old friends who haven't seen each other for many years.
Actually, there's a reason why Xiao Mei is so enthusiastic. Ever since Cheng Fei moved her company to this street, Li Wei, having a good impression of Xu Shouchun and his wife, introduced this restaurant to her aunt. Cheng Fei and some of her company employees often come here for meals, especially Cheng Fei, who often comes here when she has business engagements and doesn't want to go far. She's become a regular or big customer of Shouchun Restaurant.
Over time, people naturally learned about the relationship between Li Wei and Cheng Fei, and Cheng Fei also inadvertently mentioned that Li Wei had introduced her family's restaurant.
So from any perspective, it's normal for Xiaomei to curry favor with Li Wei. In Xiaomei's mind, not only did Li Wei bring in customers, but her family relationship with General Manager Cheng of Feifei Company was also worth cultivating. Their clothes are quite expensive in the mall, but who can blame her for liking them?
Li Wei was feeling down, and Xiao Mei was a good talker. Being both women, they found themselves chatting away, getting more and more engrossed in each other's conversations about everything under the sun—makeup, clothes, men, women, children, the elderly—and getting quite animated. Inevitably, the conversation turned to Xiao Mei's past with Xu Shouchun.
In Li Wei's memory, Xu Shouchun was a portly, slightly lecherous, and somewhat sleazy man, much older than the delicate Xiao Mei. She assumed he must have been divorced. But today, listening to Xiao Mei reminisce about her past hardships, she learned that despite his current success and wealth, owning two restaurants, Xu Shouchun had been incredibly poor in previous years, unable to even find a wife. He wasn't particularly handsome, and his family was poor. He worked as a cook, and his monthly earnings barely covered his family's expenses and his own smoking and drinking. Sometimes, he even went into debt.
However, Xiao Mei, who worked as a waitress at Jingxiangyuan with him, felt that although Xu Shouchun had some minor flaws and wasn't very well-off, he was a good person at heart. He was filial to his parents, loyal to his friends, and never made advances towards the female waitresses, even though he looked a bit sleazy.
Xiao Mei was a rural woman from a poor family with many younger siblings, so she didn't have high standards for a partner. Over time, she developed feelings for Xu Shouchun. After they got married and started their own business, they lived a happy life. Even now that Xu Shouchun is successful, he doesn't have the vices some people have, like having a mistress or keeping a concubine. Apart from enjoying cooking more, he's still the same as before.
Throughout the conversation, Xiaomei's happiness and pride were evident. Finally, she sighed, "Actually, men are more likely to last if you meet them when they're not yet successful. As for those who change their hearts and fall in love with others, that's because their character is inherently poor. So, you really have to look at a person's character. Character is more important than anything else."
Li Wei really didn't have much experience with this kind of thing, but she often heard older people talk about character. Especially when she was little, her grandmother would often say that although someone might not be the best in some way, they were a good person, honest and reliable.
It seems that this person's character can cover up all his flaws.
Li Wei chatted with Xiao Mei for a long time, and finally, seeing that it was getting late and the restaurant was busy, she got up to say goodbye and packed everything up to take home to her family's group of diners.
Xiao Mei insisted that Li Wei not pay the bill, but Li Wei didn't want to owe anyone a favor. In the end, she managed to get a 40% discount and then left.
While at the restaurant, Li Wei had already called home and asked Li Lin to have dinner with Ding Anni at the martial arts school. Li Wei went directly to the house where Li Lianhui and Luo Da were staying. Carrying large bags, she opened the door and was immediately greeted by a strong smell of sweat mixed with foot odor, which almost made her faint.
Upon entering the room, Li Wei found her sportswear, pants, socks, and other belongings scattered haphazardly on the sofa. Several empty cans were piled on the coffee table, along with empty plastic bags containing some unknown food. Li Wei felt as if she had stumbled into a garbage dump, and this was only half a day and one night!
She hurriedly put the things she was carrying on the kitchen table, and the first thing she did was throw all the smelly clothes into the washing machine to dispose of them. She swept all the trash on the coffee table into the trash can, intending to empty it when she went downstairs.
As Li Wei opened a small window, she wondered to herself, "Did Aunt Gao not come this morning?"
As the cold air rushed into the room, it quickly felt much fresher. Li Wei wasn't idle either; she went to check where the culprits had gone.
She knocked on Li Lianhui's door, and found him playing games in bed. Li Wei shouted, "What time is it? Get up and eat lunch!"
Li Lianhui, a lazybones in bed, was startled and dropped his game console.
Li Wei pushed open the door to Luo Da's usual room. This one was better; he was shirtless, wearing shorts, and leaning against the wall practicing handstands. His strong, muscular physique was dazzling. Li Wei tossed out a sentence, "Eat, eat," and closed the door before leaving.
Soon Li Lin and Ding Anni arrived as well. Originally, it was thought that Ding Anni should have gone home, but who knew that this girl would drag her feet and not want to go home. Let her continue to freeload off us, anyway, it won't make a difference if one more person comes along.
Li Wei laid out the food on the table, all still warm. She brought out bowls and chopsticks, one set for each person, but she didn't need any for herself, as she had just finished eating, although she ate a little here and there without any particular order.
While everyone was eating, Li Wei turned on the washing machine. Remembering Aunt Gao's situation, she asked Li Lianhui. Li Lianhui said, "Aunt Gao slipped on her bike on her way here this morning. She called to say she would come again tomorrow, but didn't say what kind of injury she was injured."
Li Wei was still worried, so she called again to ask. The other person said that her foot was a little twisted and her knee was scraped, but it was nothing serious. She told Li Wei not to worry and that she would come over tomorrow.
Seeing that nothing serious had happened, Li Wei decided to give Aunt Gao two days off, telling her to come back in two days to recover and rest. She said she had worked hard these past few days.
Li Wei could tell that Aunt Gao was quite happy, and probably really wanted to rest.
While tidying up the house, Li Wei kept an eye on the foodies at the dinner table and couldn't help but sigh. No matter what, her friendship with Luo Da and the others over the years had truly been cultivated day by day, with every bowl and chopstick in hand. No matter what happened, it couldn't be erased.
Suddenly, Xiao Mei's words popped into Li Wei's mind: "Character!" Does Luo Da have any character?
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