Chapter 23: The blind date really worked out.
With everything settled, and considering that tomorrow was Friday, Zhang Minglang simply gave all the people involved in the investigation the day off.
Having enjoyed a three-day holiday, Tang, exhausted both physically and mentally, went home and fell asleep immediately.
She thought she would have those dreams again, but unexpectedly she didn't.
I woke up again at noon on Friday.
Tang Yi felt dizzy and lightheaded, like she had a hangover. She struggled to reach her phone on the bedside table, only to find it was dead and switched off.
After charging and turning on the phone, several messages popped up. She found that Ms. Chen Lian had made several more phone calls and voice calls to her, along with a cold message: "Call me back when you see this."
Tang Yi didn't rush to reply. She got up, took a shower, and prepared to cook, only to find the refrigerator completely empty. As she ordered takeout, she thought to herself, "I'll have to go grocery shopping tomorrow."
After doing all this, she calmly dialed the phone.
"Getting off work so late?" Chen Lian's stern voice rang out.
"Working overtime," Tang Yi casually replied, opening the takeout lid.
Hearing the noise, Chen Lian's tone hardened: "Eating takeout again? I've already told you..."
Tang Yi didn't say anything, naturally moved the phone away from her ear and placed it on the coffee table, then continued disassembling the chopsticks without paying any attention.
Just as she had almost finished half a bowl of rice noodles, and figured she was done, she wiped her hands and picked up her phone. Chen Lian was just finishing up her sentence when she asked, "...Are you free after get off work this afternoon?"
"Huh? No." Tang Yi was confused and subconsciously told the truth.
"Come home at 5:30, your dad will cook."
Tang Yi frowned, about to refuse, when a male voice suddenly came through the phone: "Xiao Yi, you must come!"
Hearing her father's voice, her heart softened instantly.
"I'll go then," she thought.
Anyway, it goes in one ear and out the other.
However, in the afternoon, when Tang Yi was standing outside the door with the fruit she had brought for her parents, she noticed several unfamiliar pairs of shoes on the shoe rack.
She was too exhausted to be angry anymore, and stood there considering the possibility of leaving now.
Before they could come up with a solution, the door suddenly opened, and Ms. Chen Lian's impatient voice rang out: "That Tang Yi, isn't she here yet? Let's go to the restaurant first! I'm going to have a good talk with her later... Ugh!"
She looked up and saw Tang Yi standing outside the door. She gasped, grabbed Tang Yi's arm, and pulled her inside, shouting, "Speak of the devil! My girl's out there!"
Tang Yi felt nauseous when she saw how quickly her expression changed.
She forcefully shook off her mother's hand.
"Uncle Bai is here. If you're going to embarrass yourself, don't embarrass me!" Chen Lian glared at her fiercely and threatened in a low voice.
Tang Yi didn't pay attention to who she was talking about; instead, she seemed to have heard a joke, her eyes full of hurt: "What restaurant? Didn't you say on the phone that you were eating at home? You all conspired to lie to me like this?"
"What do you mean by lying? I'm your mother! I would never hurt you! It's just a meal, it doesn't matter where we eat."
However, Tang Yi was already heartbroken. She let go, and the plastic bag containing the fruit fell to the ground, with a few apples rolling out of the bag.
"I only came back because of my father. I never imagined that you would go to such lengths to deceive me for the sake of your own reputation." Tang Yi's voice trembled slightly, each word a tearful accusation. "Whoever wants to eat this meal can eat it, I'm not eating it!"
She finished speaking in one breath, then decisively turned around and walked towards the elevator, frantically pressing the floor button.
"Yiyi".
Tang Yi suddenly heard a voice she hadn't heard in years, her hands stopped moving, and she turned around in disbelief.
Bai Zeyu stood tall, one hand still resting on the doorknob, wearing a long trench coat and looking refined and cultured. At that moment, he was slightly frowning, gazing intently at her from a distance.
"Yiyi, I'm back in China."
Bai Zeyu's voice was as gentle and soothing as his name suggested, yet it instantly made Tang Yi feel as if she had fallen into an ice cave, and she felt utterly disgusted.
Tang Yi's family and Bai Zeyu's family make a total of six people, so Chen Lian reserved a round table in the main hall.
From the moment he entered and sat down, Chen Lian kept asking Bai Zeyu all sorts of questions, such as how his life abroad was, whether he could get used to the food, and what kind of job he planned to do after returning.
Bai Zeyu showed no sign of impatience. He leaned forward slightly, patiently listening to and answering questions, which earned him frequent nods of praise from Chen Lian.
"Yiyi, where are you working now?" Bai Zeyu looked at her expectantly.
Tang Yi looked up, but before she could say anything, Chen Lian's voice rang out: "Her? She's still at the same company. She refuses to resign."
Bai Zeyu's brows furrowed deeper as he listened. He looked at Tang Yi, whose expression remained impassive, with disbelief, his voice tinged with urgency: "Yi Yi, the company treated you like that, how could you still…"
"Still what? Still staying?" Tang Yi crossed her arms, looking at him coldly, a mocking smile playing on her lips. "My own choice, my job, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with you, does it?"
For a moment, Bai Zeyu was speechless, unsure of what to say in response to her words.
Chen Lian nudged Tang Yi's shoe under the table, warning her not to ruin the atmosphere.
Tang Yi turned her head and glanced at her indifferently. Even as her own mother, seeing that look in her daughter's eyes stirred a slight ripple in her heart for the first time.
Although Tang Yi was angry, her ingrained work experience and etiquette allowed her to suppress her displeasure and get up to take the teapot and pour water.
This restaurant is a newly opened store, and it's doing very well. Looking around, you can see quite a few young people.
"No, are you driving so slowly because you're afraid of running over ants?" Zhang Minglang, sitting in the car moving at a snail's pace, couldn't help but urge Cheng He in the driver's seat to hurry up.
"What's the rush, buddy? Haste makes waste. Besides, I just got my driver's license recently, my life is more important." Cheng He stared intently at the road ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.
Where's your mountain bike?
"Oh, that one, I sold it, and I even let someone try it out. If they don't like it, I'll give them a full refund!"
Cheng He turned her head quickly towards him with a grin, then turned back.
Zhang Minglang was wearing a black windbreaker, zipped all the way up, completely covering the lower half of his face. The weather outside was cool, and gusts of cool wind blew in through the window, making the stray hairs on his forehead flutter in the air.
"If the food isn't good, you're dead meat." Zhang Minglang said to his good friend, idly scrolling through his phone.
Cheng He scoffed, mimicking his tone in a sarcastic manner, and repeated, "If the food isn't good, you're dead meat!"
Zhang Minglang clicked his tongue and pretended to raise his hand to hit him. Cheng He quickly shrank back and protested loudly, "Hey, hey, hey, watch where you're going! I'm watching where I'm going!"
The car finally came to a smooth stop on the side of the road. The two opened the door and got out. Cheng He rushed over and put her arm around Zhang Minglang's shoulder, but he brushed her hand away in disgust.
"Hello, how many are in your party?"
Cheng He made a peace sign, and the shop assistant nodded and directed them to sit by the window in the lobby.
Zhang Minglang was scrolling through his WeChat Moments when he suddenly saw a picture of his mother making a wish at a temple in City B, along with a photo of the wishing plaque.
He clicked on the larger image, and there was a bright red wishing plaque with a ribbon tied to it, on which were written the four characters "May all your wishes come true" in black ink.
Zhang Minglang smiled and gave a thumbs up.
I wish my wishes could come true.
He was thinking silently when he looked up from his phone, sat down, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
He was stunned.
The view through the entire lobby, the tables and chairs, and the people talking animatedly, all seemed to blur into the background in an instant.
In the instant the world was paused, he could only see Tang Yi sitting quietly in another corner, her arms crossed, her expression as always.
My wish has really come true!
However, the next second, he noticed that Tang Yi was sitting opposite a man who was about the same age as her.
Is this a blind date?
As he considered this possibility, his brows furrowed more and more.
"What are you looking at?" Cheng He saw his brother suddenly freeze and stare at a certain spot. A tall guy was standing by the table without sitting down. He stretched out his arm and waved it in front of his eyes.
"Huh? It's nothing." Zhang Minglang came back to his senses, relaxed his brows, sat down guiltily, and cleared his throat.
He tried hard not to look at her, but as if under a spell, he would occasionally turn his head to glance at her.
Fortunately, Tang Yi treats everyone the same.
Indifference that treats everyone the same.
But he still felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
Zhang Minglang looked up at Cheng He, who was excitedly flipping through the menu. He couldn't resist taking his phone, placing it under the table, and opening the chat window to type.
Tang Yi's phone, which was lying to the side, lit up. She didn't want to pick it up and look at it, but she really felt the atmosphere at the table was awkward and boring.
She glanced at the others; they were all chatting amongst themselves. So she took her phone under the table, unlocked it, and opened WeChat.
[Chapter: Is shrimp delicious?]
[Chapter: I'd like to hear your suggestions]
Tang Yi's heart skipped a beat. She looked up sharply, but didn't see that familiar figure.
Her sudden movement startled Bai Zeyu, who was sitting opposite her. He swallowed a mouthful of food, leaned forward, and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Did you see someone you know?"
Tang Yi's gaze wandered for a moment before finally settling on the all-too-familiar black figure by the window. He suddenly looked up, and their eyes met precisely.
Zhang Minglang provocatively rested his chin on his hand, held the thin phone between two fingers of his other hand, and swayed it back and forth, raising his right eyebrow at Tang Yi, who was squinting slightly.
Tang Yi looked away, lowered her head, and said casually, "It's nothing, I just smelled a bit sour."
"Sour?" Bai Zeyu followed her gaze, but unsurprisingly saw nothing. He was clearly puzzled, and when he tried to ask further, Tang Yi obviously didn't want to continue this pointless topic.
He had no choice but to suppress his discomfort and, in a fit of anger, toss the handkerchief aside.
Tang Yi opened her phone and typed:
[Tang Yi: It's awful, don't order it.]
She thought for a moment and added:
[Tang Yi: The dipping sauce is very sour.]
Zhang Minglang covered the corner of his mouth with his hand, then looked up at her at the dining table and typed with one hand:
[Chapter: Do you need help?]
Tang Yi paused, her finger hovering above the screen.
She looked up at Zhang Minglang's table, then at Bai Zeyu across from her.
She didn't want to stay here a moment longer anyway. If he could go along with it and lend her a hand, there wouldn't be any bad thing.
Besides, it's not working hours now, and it was his suggestion anyway.
So she typed a few words:
[Tang Yi: How can I help?]
"These two kids, they don't say a word. They used to get along so well, sigh!" Bai's mother couldn't help but feel sorry for them, seeing one of them looking down at his phone and the other listening to his parents.
"Yes, Tang Yi, why don't you sit with him and have a chat!"
Suddenly interrupted, Tang Yi quickly turned off her phone screen and looked up to smooth the hair behind her ear.
"Don't just sit there like an idiot, hurry up and go!" Chen Lian nudged Tang Yi and urged her.
Tang Yi was about to get up when suddenly a heavy weight was lifted from her shoulders as a pair of strong hands pressed her down, abruptly stopping her from standing up.
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