57. Eat
The restaurant, not far from the office, was an elegantly decorated Cantonese restaurant with a quiet and intimate atmosphere. The waiter led them to a booth by the window, a spot where they could admire the night view of the river outside. Shortly after they were seated, the waiter duly handed them two menus.
Jiang Nan took the menu and started flipping through it.
The dishes looked excellent, delicate and delicious, but when she saw the prices, she was shocked. There were only two words flashing in her mind - so expensive.
It was a bit of a stretch for her to order four dishes with her monthly salary.
"Anything you avoid, or anything you particularly like?" Chen Yunsheng looked up at Jiang Nan and asked in a familiar tone. At that moment, the soft light from the restaurant fell on his face, making him look even more approachable.
Jiang Nan immediately raised her head and said sincerely, "I don't have any dietary restrictions. Anything is fine." She answered seriously, trying to appear less embarrassed.
Chen Yunsheng looked at her intently, saying nothing. Then, his gaze returned to the menu, and he listed a few dishes to the waiting waiter. He paused, then naturally asked Jiang Nan for her opinion: "Is there anything you'd like to add?"
Jiang Nan looked at the heavy menu before her, then at Chen Yunsheng, who was waiting for her opinion. She felt even more pressure. After a moment's deliberation, she closed the menu and handed it to the waiter, saying to Chen Yunsheng, "Everything is good." She tried to maintain her composure and said, "What you ordered is good."
So Chen Yunsheng didn't insist any more. He nodded to the waiter and said, "That's all."
After the waiter left with the menu, the table fell into silence for a while.
Jiang Nan lowered her head and wiped her hands with the wet wipes provided by the restaurant. She felt the atmosphere was a little awkward. She and he had only eaten out alone twice, including the time at the small restaurant.
The feeling is wonderful. It doesn't have the sense of distance that comes with being in an apartment, nor the intimacy of playing a loving couple in an old house. Instead, it's a more private, real, and difficult to define state - a bit like two blind dates awkwardly getting closer and getting to know each other.
Jiang Nan was amused by her own thoughts and couldn't help lowering her head even lower to prevent Chen Yunsheng from seeing the ambiguous smile on her face.
"Apart from that incident, was everything else going smoothly during today's filming?" Chen Yunsheng poured her a cup of hot tea while speaking.
"Yeah, it went very smoothly," Jiang Nan said as he took the teacup and felt the warmth spread through the cup wall to his palm. "Teacher Fu is actually very easy to communicate with and very professional. The location effect is also very good. The director said there is enough material."
"That's good," he nodded, his eyes fixed on her face, his expression more focused than usual, "You look a little tired."
Hearing this, Jiang Nan subconsciously touched his face: "Maybe I didn't sleep well last night, and I've been on edge today."
"Then after dinner, we'll go back and rest early."
"Okay." Jiang Nan picked up the teacup, took a slow sip, and stopped chatting. Fortunately, at this moment, the waiter began to serve the dishes. Exquisite white plates were placed on the table one by one, and the dishes also emitted an enticing aroma.
"Try this," Chen Yunsheng said, using his serving chopsticks to pick up a shrimp dumpling and placing it on the plate in front of her. "Their shrimp dumplings are their specialty, and the shrimp inside are very fresh."
Jiang Nan was somewhat flattered. His meticulous care, which had previously seemed to exist only in those performances where it was a bit forced and stiff, now seemed natural and considerate, familiar and peaceful.
"Thank you," she whispered, then lowered her head and took a bite.
The shrimps were indeed plump and chewy, fresh and delicious.
"How about it?"
"It's delicious." She nodded.
Chen Yunsheng smiled softly and picked up another for himself. During the meal, he spoke a little more than usual, commenting on the dishes and asking about trivial matters related to her project execution. He no longer ate in silence. Jiang Nan inexplicably felt that their identities had changed. Before, she talked and he listened, but now he talked and she listened.
As these dull questions and answers unfolded, the atmosphere at the table gradually relaxed. Although Jiang Nan was still eating cautiously, not daring to make any loud noises, his body was no longer as stiff as it had been at the beginning.
"Do you have any follow-up promotion plans?" he asked.
"We have a preliminary direction, but we still need to wait until the final product is out before refining it," Jiang Nan replied. "It will mainly focus on online marketing and a wave of KOC promotion. Offline, we may also cooperate with a few pop-up stores."
"Well, keep the rhythm right," he said. "If you need resources, you can talk to Wei Yan."
Jiang Nan hummed vaguely—she could sense his support slowly shifting from the businesslike, mutually beneficial relationship of the past to a more personal one. This change felt like a feather brushing gently across her palm, leaving her feeling a bit itchy and a bit bewildered.
"One more thing," Chen Yunsheng suddenly put down his chopsticks and said, "In a few days, the cheongsam master will have someone send fabric samples for you to choose from. When would be convenient for you?"
"I'm fine with either. It depends on the master's time," Jiang Nan blinked. "Will it bother you too much? I can find another place to watch."
"No," Chen Yunsheng looked at her calmly, "I'll choose with you."
These few simple words caused ripples in Jiang Nan's heart - she didn't know if he had figured it out, but she could see that he was indeed more willing to interact with her than before.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she didn't know how to start. So she could only lower her head and stir the soup in the bowl with a spoon to hide the waves in her heart.
Chen Yunsheng didn't say anything more, but when his eyes occasionally swept across the slightly red tips of her ears, a faint smile would appear on his lips.
The dinner continued in a relaxed atmosphere. He no longer maintained the invisible distance he had before. She noticed that when he spoke, his body would lean slightly towards her, listening attentively. When she accidentally touched his hand, he didn't immediately avoid it.
This tiny change, like the gurgling stream, silently seeps into the transparent and invisible barrier between the two people.
On the way home after dinner, neither of them spoke much, but the atmosphere was not awkward. Instead, there was a peaceful tacit understanding swirling in the air.
Jiang Nan leaned back in his chair, looking at the lights outside the window. The gloom in his heart caused by anonymous text messages and strange phone calls seemed to be quietly dispelled by this ordinary dinner tonight.
Thinking of this, she turned her head slightly and looked at Chen Yunsheng in the driver's seat.
He looked intently at the road ahead, and the outline of his face became much softer in the flickering light and shadow.
She thought that this man seemed to be approaching her step by step in a way that she could clearly perceive.
This realization caused ripples to spread across the lake of her heart, making it almost impossible for her to calm down.
At this time, the car drove into the underground garage and parked steadily in the parking space.
As Jiang Nan packed up her things, she said, "Thank you for today."
"What are you thanking me for?" His voice was clearly audible in the quiet carriage.
"Dinner, and the text message thing."
Chen Yunsheng looked at her in silence. The cold white light from the underground garage cast tiny specks of light in his eyes, like stars falling into a deep pool. After a moment, he spoke slowly, his voice softer than usual: "You're welcome. You can tell me anything from now on."
The meaning of this statement is far deeper than the literal meaning.
Jiang Nan's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. She hurriedly lowered her head, unbuckled her seatbelt, and whispered, "Let's go upstairs."
"You go up first," he looked away, "I still have some things to take care of."
Hearing this, she paused in pushing the car door, then responded, "Okay, I'll go up first."
After Jiang Nan got out of the car, she took two steps and couldn't help but look back. He was still sitting in the car, looking at her through the glass, his eyes calm and focused.
Jiang Nan felt her face instantly grow hot as she met those eyes. She immediately turned back and hurried towards the elevator. Only once she was inside and no one was around did she lean against the cold wall of the elevator and let out a long breath.
She couldn't help but raise her hand to cool her scalding cheeks.
The look in his eyes when he looked at her through the glass was calm, focused, and even had a tenderness that she had never seen before.
gentle.
When this word came out, she was shocked.
So, as soon as the elevator opened, she hurried out, as if there was something strange in the elevator that had given her such thoughts. Only when she crossed the corridor and reached the door did her heartbeat stabilize and she calmed down a lot.
Then she entered the password, opened the door and went into the house.
The sensor light in the entrance hall automatically lit up, dispelling the darkness in the room. She kicked off her shoes, stepped barefoot on the floor, touched the two rabbits, and then went into the living room.
The apartment was uncomfortably quiet.
The moment she turned on a few wall lamps, a warm yellow light immediately spread, but the apartment still seemed empty and quiet. She walked to the center island and poured herself a glass of water, her mind turning over a few thoughts.
The clear water slid down her throat and slightly suppressed the heat on her face, but the throbbing in her heart was difficult to calm down.
She couldn't help but recall the details of the dinner - the shrimp dumplings he brought, the natural chat, and the words about cheongsam and diamond rings. Every subtle movement and every ordinary word seemed to be coated with a different layer of luster when she recalled it now.
He wasn't a good communicator, nor did he say sweet nothings, but his actions, the way he looked at her, the distance that had quietly shortened, all spoke of a change.
I don’t know how long it took, but suddenly there was a slight sound of the electronic lock opening at the entrance.
Jiang Nan subconsciously straightened his back, and his heartbeat involuntarily quickened.
Chen Yunsheng came in and saw her still in the kitchen. He was stunned for a moment: "Are you still awake?"
"Yeah, I'm not sleepy yet," Jiang Nan said, a little uncomfortably, holding the water cup. "Are you... done with your work?"
"It's just some follow-up work. It won't take too long." He walked to the center island, his eyes naturally sweeping over her, and then landing on her feet - she was barefoot again.
He looked away uncomfortably, feeling his ears getting a little hot.
"Xia Tian... I'm used to it." Jiang Nan seemed to understand his gaze and explained in a low voice.
"This is not good for your health." He said vaguely, then walked to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water.
The two of them sat there separated by the island, speechless for a moment.
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