Chapter 19 Ten Thousand Stars Sleep, Pure and Clear Like a Lady
"Wow, how come you're so good at complimenting people? If you keep doing this, I'll really get embarrassed..."
Even the shameless Boss Xu blushed deeply after being talked about like that, and shyly covered her face with her hands.
"Nice to meet you. I feel like we get along quite well. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She spoke from the bottom of her heart.
“That’s right.” Shen Siqing laid out the tea and snacks on the table one by one. “Don’t laugh at me, but my parents had me meet a few people before, but either we didn’t get along or we didn’t click. Someone like Xiaoyu is really hard to find.”
“Before…” She tilted her head and thought about Li Tingyang two weeks ago, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Not to mention the one I was dating before, haha, he was really weird.”
"How is it so bizarre? Tell me about it."
"The specifics are a bit embarrassing to talk about, but it made me a bit withdrawn. After that, my relatives introduced me to a few more people, but I didn't dare to meet them."
While they were talking, Xu Zhiyu looked at the osmanthus cake on the table with great longing, but she had to maintain a certain composure in front of someone she liked. So, she delicately picked up a piece with her pinky finger, took a small bite, and ate it with her black tea. The sweet osmanthus cake melted immediately in her mouth, with a delicate texture, and her entire nasal cavity was filled with the aroma of the cake and black tea.
"Hearing you say that, I should be glad you came this time, otherwise where would I have met such a compatible girl?"
"Hehe, you're right. So it's all fate. This time, it was Sister Mint from across the street from my supermarket who persuaded me to come. I didn't expect to chat with you so well. It feels like we've met somewhere before."
Ah Yu wasn't saying this because she learned some flirting techniques from Xiaohongshu (a Chinese social media platform); she genuinely felt that this person looked familiar, so familiar that people started to wonder if they were a couple in a past life.
“I know Sister Mint. She’s Uncle Long’s wife. Uncle Long used to run a restaurant in Half Moon Villa. My dad loves their food. Whenever he has a fight with my mom, he goes there and orders a couple of side dishes and a bottle of beer.”
"Yes, yes, Brother Long's cooking skills are also excellent. He and his wife have opened a small shop in Huainan Lane, right across from my supermarket. When you have time later, we can go eat together again!"
“Okay.” He has never liked sweet things since he was a child. “I was just saying that I used to find these kinds of pastries dry and sweet, and I didn’t understand what was so good about them. I just saw Xiaoyu eating them and realized that I was eating them the wrong way.”
Chen Siqing picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and, just like Ayu, ate it with black tea. It immediately tasted delicious.
"Yes, precisely because pastries are quite dry, they're best enjoyed with tea. Now, do you understand?"
The man opposite him smiled handsomely and nodded, saying, "Delicious."
.
While there was laughter and joy next door, Lin Xingmian's side was desolate and lonely.
My fingers flew across the screen, but I still couldn't avoid the final, heavy "defeat."
Well, we lost the game too.
He irritably threw his phone on the table, staring at a plate of his favorite dessert, but had no appetite at all.
Why hasn't Boss Xu called me yet?
Is it really that easy to talk to?
Didn't we agree that he would come and help with the quality control? How come we got so caught up in our conversation that we forgot about him next door?
Just as he was wondering what was going on, a stranger suddenly knocked on his screen, and then a bouquet of flowers peeked in from outside the curtain.
The deliveryman in the yellow shirt called out loudly, "Mr. Shen, your order is here, number ending in 6899."
Already irritable, Lin Xingmian snapped, "Take it away, it's been delivered to the wrong place."
Shen Siqing, who was sitting next door, also heard the delivery guy's voice. He immediately lifted the curtain and came out. "I'm here. Sorry, I might have entered the wrong room number."
"It's alright, as long as you get your things." The young man was a fool, getting a scolding for no reason, but luckily it was just a wrong room number, and they were all adjacent, so he didn't have to look for another place.
Shen Siqing glanced at Ayu sitting inside and saw that she was paying attention to the outside. After taking the bouquet, he deliberately walked to the curtain of the next private room and stood there. He said to the people inside with a guilty look, "I'm sorry, I didn't fill in the room number correctly. I didn't mean to disturb you."
It turns out that the bouquet of flowers was ordered by the man next door.
Lin Xingmian felt a surge of anger rising from the bottom of her heart to her head.
He yanked open the curtain at the door, sat on the sofa, and met the gaze of the man outside who was holding a bouquet of flowers and bowing slightly in apology. Sparks flew.
"How can you even give away flowers this ugly?" the usually taciturn boy suddenly retorted sarcastically.
However, his words were overheard by Ayu, who had come out of the private room to check the situation. She frowned, stood next to Chen Siqing, and retorted with dissatisfaction, "Young man, how can you talk like that?"
This—classmate?
Lin Xingmian's eyes darkened, her gaze filled with resentment and sadness as she looked at her.
When did she say she'd come over to help her vet the case? Should the two of them pretend they don't know each other?
Last time I could be a younger brother, but this time I can't even be a younger brother anymore, I have to be—"this classmate".
He lowered his eyes and said, "I'm sorry."
Seeing him apologize, Ayu felt that sad feeling again for some reason. She didn't expect Xingmian to apologize so easily after she said just one sentence. Rather than seeing him like this, she felt better after hearing him say a few angry words.
"Little Fish, don't be angry. It was really my fault. I made a mistake. Today was supposed to be a happy day. These flowers are for you. Do you like them?" Shen Siqing tried to smooth things over when she saw the atmosphere was tense.
"I don't have great taste, but I spent quite a while looking for one. It's a bit ugly, but please don't mind."
Lin Xingmian curled the corners of her lips and gave a faint sneer.
I really can't stand this kind of pretentious behavior.
In Shen Siqing's hand was a bunch of red roses covered with black veil.
Ayu was flattered and surprised. She hadn't expected Shen Siqing to be so thoughtful on their first meeting, even preparing flowers for her. She happily accepted them, saying, "What are you saying? I'm already very happy to receive flowers, let alone such beautiful ones that you carefully selected."
But her blissful and excited expression felt like a thousand steel needles piercing Xingmian's heart. What else was there to ask?
Her expression said it all.
He originally planned to ruin her plans, but he had to get her permission first, right?
Shen Siqing and Ayu returned to their private room. As she turned around, her gaze lingered on Xingmian for a moment. There were some things she ultimately didn't have the courage to say. This blind date had gone so smoothly, and she didn't want anything to go wrong.
Xingmian sat alone in the adjacent private room, staring blankly at a plate of pastries and an untouched cup of tea on the table for half an hour. During class that morning, she had rehearsed countless plans in her mind: how to interrupt their date, how to embarrass the man...
But now, despite the jarring laughter from next door, he had lost all reason to go in.
...
They chatted until dark. Ah Yu checked the time on her phone and it was already past eight o'clock!
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed.
The person opposite her, Chen Siqing, quickly asked her what was wrong, whether they had been chatting too late.
After calming down and thinking about it, she realized that since they had talked for so long, Xingmian must have guessed that her blind date was very successful. He wouldn't have waited for her like an idiot so late, would he have just gone home after finishing his snacks?
Can……
"What do you want to eat tonight? If you haven't decided yet, should I order it?" Shen Siqing asked, noticing her sudden unease.
"I've already looked at it this afternoon, we can just go over there later." She opened the afternoon order page, pretending to confirm, but in her mind she was thinking about how to go next door to see if Xingmian had left without Shen Siqing noticing.
"Okay, I'll go to the restroom now. I've been drinking tea all afternoon."
Very good.
She nodded hurriedly.
As soon as Chen Siqing left, she immediately lifted her skirt and peeked through the curtain next door. The lights inside were on at their lowest setting, and the boy leaning against the sofa was already asleep.
She felt a pang of heartache and guilt, so she went over and touched his head, gently waking him: "Xingmian, why are you asleep?"
When the boy woke up and saw the person standing in front of him, he thought he was dreaming and suddenly hugged her.
Ayu was startled, afraid that Chen Siqing would come back from the restroom and bump into her, which would cause a huge misunderstanding! She quickly broke free from his embrace, the dim light obscuring her bright red earlobes.
"What's wrong?"
"No." The distinct touch when he hugged her just now brought him back to his senses. "Sister, are you done? Let's go back to the supermarket to eat?"
Ayu looked troubled: "What should I do? I made a dinner appointment with Shen Siqing tonight. I thought you would have left long ago. You silly child, why are you still waiting?"
"You didn't tell me to leave."
"Aren't you usually quite clever? Why are you being so stubborn now? I haven't asked you to prove that our blind date was a success!" she said happily, then apologized, "I'm sorry about this afternoon, I was afraid he would misunderstand, so I pretended not to know you."
Xingmian remained silent and sullen.
Will you be angry with your older sister?
She sat down close to him, tilting her head to observe his angry expression. He looked cool, no wonder he captivated so many young girls.
"You're going out to dinner with him tonight, what about me?" he asked sourly.
It's infuriating! I've been sulking all day, from morning till night.
He thought that after they finished talking that evening, he could go back to the supermarket with his sister to have dinner, listen to her complain about how bad this guy was, and then he could show off a bit more in front of his sister so that she would realize that all the men in the world combined are not as good as him, Lin Xingmian.
And what was the result?
"I'll treat you to fried chicken, KFC or McDonald's? You choose." Ah Yu pulled out the KFC WeChat mini-program, genuinely wanting to make it up to him.
Lin Xingmian slowly closed her eyes in anger, only to be met with this sentence.
"No need, I'm leaving."
He was very dissatisfied with the compensation, picked up his phone, and scrambled to his feet.
He's really angry, he's genuinely angry this time!
If his sister still insists on going to dinner with that guy tonight and doesn't come out to pursue him, he swears that he will never go to Tiantian Supermarket again in this life, the next life, or ever again!
forever!
Watching him leave, Ayu couldn't bring herself to say a word to stop him; she could only sigh helplessly behind him.
Looks like I'll have to make something nice to coax her tomorrow.
She opened her phone to pay the bill for Xingmian's private room, only to find that he had already bought it in advance.
Somewhat puzzled:
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