Chapter 25: A Date...? But I still really like it. ...
"Alright, stop looking at it!" Wei Yu sat opposite Shen Yuheng, completely at a loss. "If all else fails, just print it out and hang it above your bed!"
Shen Yuheng suddenly looked up, his eyes shining as he looked at Wei Yu. He said "Thank you, Brother Wei" and then took his phone to the study.
Ever since Shen Yuheng received the reply, Wei Yu felt that he was a little "abnormal".
Not only did she repeatedly read Jiang Xinglan's replies, but she also kept repeating the phrase, "She said Teacher Shen is worth it."
Although Wei Yu could completely understand his feelings at that moment.
But at this rate, when will we be able to pick out a restaurant to eat at?
In order to end this situation as soon as possible, Wei Yu said those words, but little did he know that it would play right into his hands.
After fiddling around in the study for about ten minutes, Shen Yuheng returned to the living room with a satisfied look on his face.
"All done?" Wei Yu raised an eyebrow. "Hanged it by the bedside?"
“No, not at all,” Shen Yuheng nodded and then shook his head, “I printed it out and put it with the greeting card!”
“Alright,” Wei Yu said helplessly, tapping the table. “Now you can relax and start choosing a restaurant!”
“Of course!” Shen Yuheng said.
"What are your thoughts?" Wei Yu asked.
"First, eliminate those that have been stored for a long time, then those that taste good..."
Around three or four in the afternoon, Jiang Xinglan received information about several restaurants from Shen Yuheng.
Jiang Xinglan: "Weren't Yunyin and that little restaurant the ones you recommended before?"
"Hmm! I didn't expect Teacher Jiang to still remember." Shen Yuheng was genuinely pleasantly surprised; he hadn't expected her to remember what he had said at the beginning of the year!
"My memory is pretty good?"
"Which one does Teacher Jiang prefer?"
"That little restaurant? It looks pretty good." Jiang Xinglan felt that the restaurant looked familiar when she saw the restaurant information sent by Xia Shenyuheng.
"Sure, how about next Wednesday or Thursday?"
Shen Yuheng felt that the customer flow might be larger from Friday to Sunday, and consequently, the chances of being recognized would be greater.
Monday and Tuesday might involve the week's work schedule, so there wasn't enough time. Therefore, Shen Yuheng ultimately chose Wednesday or Thursday.
Jiang Xinglan checked the experimental schedule for next week. She had arranged to meet with Zhou's team on Monday to discuss cooperation, and it should be finished by Wednesday. However, just to be on the safe side...
"How about Thursday? There's a discussion next week, tentatively scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, but just to be on the safe side, let's reserve one day."
"Of course! I'm free next week, so I'll go reserve a room then."
---
Monday, in the research institute's main conference room.
Through Professor Zhao's introduction, Jiang Xinglan met his student Zhou Linfeng.
Zhou Linfeng has been researching the field of biological vector delivery since his undergraduate years.
Recently, he developed a new vector that may successfully help the product of SER3 gene expression cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the designated location to exert its effect.
It wasn't until noon on Wednesday that Jiang Xinglan and Zhou Linfeng finalized the details of their collaborative experiment and submitted the project application.
We're just waiting for the approval to come through so we can start working together.
In the afternoon, the people from the two laboratories had a meal together in the research institute's cafeteria.
After the meal, Jiang Xinglan and Su Wan saw Zhou Linfeng and the others off before returning to their office.
"Did you eat at that little restaurant?" Jiang Xinglan asked.
"Hmm, I think so," Su Wan thought for a moment, "It's been almost a year, hasn't it? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. We're going to eat there tomorrow. Any recommendations?" Jiang Xinglan opened the office door.
"Let me think about it." Su Wan followed Jiang Xinglan into the office and sat on the sofa.
"I remember this restaurant mainly serves Jiangnan cuisine. Last time I ordered sweet lotus root, drunken shrimp, and Longjing shrimp, which were all pretty good."
"Oh right! Their secret-recipe Dongpo pork is really good."
"Okay, I'll try it tomorrow." Jiang Xinglan nodded and silently noted down the names of the dishes.
"But who are you having dinner with? Is it Song Huai again?" Su Wan asked curiously.
Su Wan believes that only Song Huai has nothing better to do than spend his days trying out various shops.
So, when I was still with Zhou Cuo, if I wanted to go to a certain store, I only needed to ask Song Huai, and he could definitely tell me all about it.
“Shen Yuheng”.
"Shen Yuheng?" Su Wan's eyes widened, that incredulous feeling returning. "Xinglan, you two were just talking about this last week, isn't it a bit inappropriate to go out to eat together now?"
Jiang Xinglan frowned. "It's just a dinner party between friends, what's wrong with that?"
"However, many people only look at what they want to see, and not many people really care whether it is true or false."
In addition, Su Wan wanted to say that Jiang Xinglan had mentioned the name Shen Yuheng far too many times recently.
“But I can’t let these people I don’t know affect my social life.” Jiang Xinglan’s tone was calm, but it always carried an undeniable air of authority.
"What if it gets photographed?"
"Call...my brother?" Jiang Xinglan's voice trailed off at the end, a playful reassurance, "Don't worry, you won't get photographed."
As they were talking, Jiang Xinglan had already packed her things.
She picked up her bag and looked at Su Wan, "Shall I take you home first?"
---
At 11 a.m. on Thursday, Shen Yuheng arrived at the restaurant ahead of time to make sure there were no problems in the private room.
Jiang Xinglan arrived 15 minutes early. After parking her car, she was led into the private room by the staff.
Shen Yuheng was sitting and looking through the menu when he saw the door being pushed open.
Although Jiang Xinglan was dressed very simply, in a minimalist white shirt and flowing black trousers, Shen Yuheng was still attracted to her.
He quickly stood up. "Teacher Jiang, you've arrived."
For some reason, Jiang Xinglan always felt that Shen Yuheng was a little nervous when facing her.
That feeling was very similar to when I was in school and got caught skipping class by the teacher—the same panic, the same anxiety.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Jiang Xinglan said as she took her seat with the help of the waiter.
"No, no, I'm just early," Shen Yuheng waved his hand and pushed the menu on the table in front of Jiang Xinglan. "Teacher Jiang, please see if there's anything you'd like to eat."
"I don't really know what you like to eat, so I was thinking of ordering it when you get here."
Jiang Xinglan looked directly at Shen Yuheng, her expression relaxed. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I just heard from a friend that the Dongpo pork here is quite good. Just add this dish to the menu."
"Then let's order the Dongpo pork first, and I'll order the rest." Shen Yuheng didn't refuse and opened the menu.
However, he would ask Jiang Xinglan before ordering each dish.
"Shall we order another crab meat lion's head meatball? A friend recommended this dish to me, shall we try it?"
"Okay." Jiang Xinglan picked up the teapot from the table and poured herself a cup of tea.
"Would Teacher Jiang like to have braised chicken mushrooms with bamboo shoots or braised pork and bamboo shoot soup?"
"How about braised chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms with bamboo shoots?" Jiang Xinglan thought for a moment, then asked, "Teacher Shen, don't you have anything you'd like to eat?"
"Huh?" Shen Yuheng was taken aback; he hadn't considered this question at all.
Jiang Xinglan's words made him feel cared for by her again, which made him very happy, and his tone became cheerful, "Then how about another order of Longjing shrimp and steamed white fish with chicken oil and ham?"
"good."
"What about the staple food? Plain noodles?"
"How about crab roe soup dumplings? I'm kind of craving some," Jiang Xinglan suggested.
"Okay, then let's have crab roe soup dumplings!"
The waiter repeated the order before leaving, leaving Shen Yuheng and Jiang Xinglan alone.
"Thank you for last week." After thinking it over, Jiang Xinglan felt she should thank him in person.
“It was my fault that Teacher Jiang got involved in this,” Shen Yuheng said sincerely, looking at Jiang Xinglan. “Then I have a responsibility to minimize the impact on you as much as possible.”
Jiang Xinglan's heart skipped a beat.
She felt that in this context, "duty" might be more accurate.
However, this did not prevent her from expressing her gratitude for his efforts in upholding the rigor of scientific research.
"Anyway, it's my turn to treat you next time."
"Then I'll trouble you to make the arrangements next time, Teacher Jiang."
Jiang Xinglan smiled and said, "Of course!"
As she spoke, Jiang Xinglan looked around the private room. "However, I can't find such an elegant place like Teacher Shen. I can only prepare simple meals."
"It's alright, as long as it's prepared by Teacher Jiang, it's fine anywhere."
Perhaps because the atmosphere was too harmonious, Shen Yuheng spoke his mind directly.
It wasn't until he finished speaking that Shen Yuheng realized what he meant and quickly added, "What I meant was that I have complete faith in Professor Jiang's taste."
As the two chatted and laughed, the dishes were gradually placed on the table.
"Shall we get started?" Shen Yuheng asked.
Jiang Xinglan nodded, and only after Shen Yuheng picked up his chopsticks did she use them to place a piece of Dongpo pork on the plate and take a small piece off.
As soon as she put it in her mouth, Jiang Xinglan frowned almost imperceptibly.
Wow, it's so sweet! I don't think the Dongpo pork I remember is this sweet.
Shen Yuheng across from him picked up his chopsticks and tasted the crab meat lion's head meatballs first.
It's fresh as it is, but... isn't it a bit bland?
The two looked up at the same time, their eyes met for only a moment, and then they both looked down again.
One person tried a bite of the crab meat lion's head meatball, and the other person tried Dongpo pork.
The two looked up at each other again, both with bewildered expressions.
"This..." the two of them said at the same time.
"How about we try something else?" Jiang Xinglan suggested.
A silent understanding spread between the two.
The two of them tried all the other dishes one by one.
After another exchange of glances, they both felt somewhat helpless.
Well, it's a long story.
Shen Yuheng and Jiang Xinglan put down their chopsticks.
"Teacher Jiang, I'm sorry, I think I messed up." Shen Yuheng's face was full of self-blame.
How could this happen!
I even invited everyone from the studio to eat here over the weekend, how could this still turn out so badly!
"It's not that serious," Jiang Xinglan said with a smile. "At least it eliminates one of our dining options in the future. Anyway, I probably won't be coming here again."
"Me too!"
Shen Yuheng said this, but he still called the waiter in to ask why.
Soon the restaurant manager arrived at the private room, glanced at the almost untouched food on the table, and looked ashamed.
"Dear customers, we are very sorry. Our head chef has taken a last-minute leave today, and his assistant is filling in. The food is usually quite good, but there are just too many customers today, so the assistant was a little flustered, which caused you a bad experience. We sincerely apologize."
After the restaurant manager finished speaking, the private room fell silent.
“I knew it! It didn’t taste like this when I came over the weekend. How come it’s changed so much all of a sudden?” Shen Yuheng said.
Upon hearing this, the restaurant manager's apology deepened. "I'm truly sorry, but we'll waive this meal for you."
“No need for that. It’s a special case, which is understandable,” Shen Yuheng declined. “Besides, some of the dishes are quite good.”
Jiang Xinglan nodded in agreement.
"How about this, if you two are willing to trust us, we will serve you some other dishes that customers usually order, as compensation for our mistake."
Shen Yuheng glanced at the time and looked at Jiang Xinglan, who seemed to have nothing planned for the afternoon.
"Teacher Jiang, is your time available?" Shen Yuheng asked.
“Yes,” Jiang Xinglan nodded, “I don’t have anything planned for this afternoon.”
"Then let's do as the manager says," Shen Yuheng decided.
“Okay, thank you very much for giving us this opportunity,” the manager bowed again. “Rest assured, we will definitely not let you down.”
Not long after the manager left, the new dishes were delivered.
Indeed, the dishes tasted pretty good this time, and certainly deserved the high score on a certain review site.
“Okay, I take back my previous decision,” Jiang Xinglan said, putting down her chopsticks as she finished eating. “I’m still willing to try again.”
At this moment, most of the annoyance in Shen Yuheng's expression had disappeared, and after hearing Jiang Xinglan's words, a hint of brightness appeared on his face. "I'm glad Teacher Jiang likes it."
Jiang Xinglan's gaze fell on Shen Yuheng, and she tilted her head slightly, "What about Teacher Shen?"
“I like it very much too.” Shen Yuheng’s tone was gentler than Jiang Xinglan had ever heard before. “Although the process was a bit bumpy, I still like it very much.”
---
In the parking lot of that small restaurant, Song Huai parked his car and entered the elevator one after the other with Zhou Cuo.
"I told you to hurry up! Look at the time! It's almost time for dinner."
"Stop nagging," Zhou Cuo said calmly. "I've already come all this way with you, what more do you want?"
“I saw online that this place is delicious, so I’ve been wanting to try it,” Song Huai rolled her eyes at Zhou Cuo. “If Cheng Rui wasn’t still on a blind date, do you think I would have come to you?”
The elevator doors opened, but Zhou Cuo did not step out.
Zhou Cuo calmly pressed B1, then reached out and pressed the close button. "Since that's the case, I won't keep you company any longer."
"No, no, no, we're already here!" Seeing the elevator doors slowly closing, Song Huai quickly pressed the open button. Seeing that Zhou Cuo didn't move, he compromised and said, "I was wrong!"
Zhou Cuo snorted and stepped out of the elevator, but stopped after only two steps.
"Let's go, what are you doing stopping here?"
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