Chapter 16 Dating Spot: We're a Couple
Li Baidong smiled and said goodbye to his teammates, waved away the water offered by several girls, took his coat and bag, and walked towards a section of the stands.
He was covered in sweat, and said to Xing Lan with a smile, "Brother, you're here so early."
"Restaurant reservations are required. We're the first group, so we need to get there early," Xing Lan said, handing him a tissue. "Let's go."
"Brother, wait a minute." Li Baidong took a tissue to wipe the sweat from his forehead, looked up and said, "I want to go buy a bottle of water first, I'm a little thirsty."
Xing Lan looked at him.
"Didn't a lot of people just bring you water? Why didn't you take it if you wanted some?"
Li Baidong smiled shyly, blinked, and said, "I don't want people to misunderstand."
"What misunderstanding? It's just a bottle of water. Are you worried they'll overthink it?"
“It wasn’t them.” Li Baidong stared intently at Xing Lan, his expression suddenly turning serious, and said softly, “I was afraid you would misunderstand.”
“…What could I possibly misunderstand?” Xing Lan frowned slightly and said to Li Baidong, “No need to buy any, there’s water in the car.”
As the game ended, fewer and fewer people remained in the stadium, and Xing Lan and Li Baidong followed the crowd out.
Li Baidong was exceptionally popular. He could run into a friend he knew every few steps at school, and they would greet each other warmly and incessantly. A walk that should have taken five minutes took him more than ten minutes.
Many people would glance curiously at Xing Lan next to him, and a few more outgoing ones would even ask directly, "Brother Dong, who is this?"
Li Baidong turned to look at Xing Lan, and introduced her to everyone with a smile: "My roommate."
As they approached the school gate, a round-faced girl in a school uniform skirt appeared before them.
After greeting Li Baidong, she suddenly bypassed him and went straight to Xing Lan, holding up her phone with an eager expression, saying, "Handsome, can I have your contact information?"
"Hey, hey, I can't add him, he doesn't have WeChat." Before Xing Lan could react, Li Baidong spoke up for him.
He rushed forward in one stride, standing like a human iron plate between Xing Lan and the girl. His tall body swayed left and right with great agility, preventing any possible eye contact between them.
"No WeChat? QQ will do!" The girl was short and completely blocked by Li Baidong's tall, 1.9-meter frame. She jumped up and down, trying to catch another glimpse of Xing Lan, and stubbornly shouted, "At the very least, I have her phone number!"
"None of them." Li Baidong smiled, but his words were extremely cold, leaving no room for negotiation. "Senior, don't even think about it."
"How could that be!" The girl looked at him suspiciously. "Move aside, I want to hear what the handsome guy has to say."
Li Baidong turned to look at Xing Lan behind him, and while Xing Lan was looking down at his phone, he lowered his voice and said to the girl, "Sis, this one really won't do. Next time I'll introduce you to a junior from the street dance club, eighteen years old, with abs, I guarantee you'll like him."
"...Okay, sure." Tempted by the eight-pack abs, the girl reluctantly nodded.
"You little rascal, next time you see a handsome guy like your roommate, remember to tell me first." Before leaving, she muttered to Li Baidong, "Hidden for so long, are you planning to secretly marry him?"
"How could that be?" Li Baidong narrowed his eyes and said with a half-smile, "Don't joke around, sis."
"Remember to send me the street dancer's WeChat ID!" the girl repeatedly reminded him.
"Okay, sis!" Li Baidong nodded and watched his senior leave with a smile.
Back in the car, Li Baidong sat in the passenger seat and gulped down some water. Suddenly, he heard Xing Lan next to him say casually, "I have WeChat."
Before Li Baidong could explain, Xing Lan put her fingers on the steering wheel and said casually, "That girl was quite pretty."
Li Baidong's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly.
He slowly swallowed the last mouthful of water, turned his head and smiled at Xing Lan: "That's my senior. What's wrong, bro? You like her?"
"I'm not interested, I just think you two look good together." Xing Lan looked straight ahead and said calmly, "I remember you said you liked older women? Isn't your senior a good match?"
Li Baidong wiped the water from his lips with his wrist and said with a smile, "I do prefer someone a little older than me, but she started school early, so she's not actually more than a few months older than me and is no different from other people her age."
“When it comes to dating, I think a four or five-year age gap is quite suitable, what do you think, brother?” he said, glancing tentatively at Xing Lan.
“A few years older doesn’t matter.” Xing Lan paused, then said casually without changing her expression, “But I don’t like people younger than me.”
He had barely finished speaking when he heard a sharp crack beside him, like something suddenly breaking, which sounded abrupt and loud in the quiet car.
Turning his head, Li Baidong accidentally crushed the empty plastic water bottle in his hand.
The bottle of this brand of mineral water is quite hard and should not be easily deformed. However, in Li Baidong's hands, it became a grip strengthener with little challenge. The originally smooth and full bottle was crumpled into a tangled mess like garbage and let out a sharp scream of despair.
As Xing Lan drove, her gaze fell on his hand, which was holding a bottle and had prominent veins.
"What's wrong?"
Li Baidong paused for a moment, then quickly regained his usual smile: "It's nothing. Sorry, brother, I wasn't paying attention, did I scare you?"
"No," Xing Lan said, then looked away.
The restaurant was located in a rather remote area, and since it was Xing Lan's first time there, she wasn't familiar with the route. She followed the navigation and drove around for almost an hour before finally arriving.
Aside from a few casual words at the beginning, they didn't talk much on the way.
Xing Lan was focused on finding her way using the map on her phone, while Li Baidong, despite having just won the game, didn't seem to be in a very good mood.
After wandering around for a while, we finally found a parking lot near the restaurant.
As he got out of the car, Li Baidong lowered his head, unbuckled his seatbelt, and casually asked, "Brother, why don't you like people younger than you? Do you think they're childish?"
He muttered to himself, "Actually, being young doesn't necessarily mean being immature, and being old doesn't necessarily mean being mature. It mainly depends on their psychological age and their life experiences. The famous psychologist Ehrenbert once said..."
Xing Lan remained silent for a long time. Just when Li Baidong thought he hadn't heard him, he heard him utter a few words in a low voice.
"Because the younger they are, the more they tend to talk."
Noisier than a dog, but less obedient.
It's not worth it.
Li Baidong, who was standing next to him, immediately fell silent, his eyes lowered, and he seemed to be lost in thought.
"I'm too busy to teach a child how to grow up. Since being together is a two-way selection process, I need to screen those who can save me energy."
After saying that, Xing Lan glanced at him indifferently, opened the car door, turned around, and walked out.
-
Xing Lan had no idea where Li Baidong had found this obscure restaurant. In his mind, male college students in their early twenties usually preferred hot pot or barbecue, or at most, Japanese buffets.
But he insisted on eating at this French restaurant.
Aside from the nice ambiance, the food itself wasn't particularly special in terms of taste or presentation. The only accolade displayed at the entrance was that it had been named one of the "Top 3 Niche Dating Spots" on a social media platform.
After Xing Lan sat down, she subconsciously looked around. Sure enough, apart from them, the other tables nearby were filled with young couples who were there to talk about love. They were whispering sweet nothings to each other in the dim light.
The waiter quickly brought the menu.
Each table only had one menu. The male waiter glanced at them and handed it to Xing Lan, who seemed most likely to pay the bill later.
Xing Lan glanced down at the menu, casually pushed it to Li Baidong across from her, and said generously, "You order, see what you want to eat."
“Okay, bro.” Li Baidong took the menu, turned to the waiter and said, “Then give me two 520 Special Set Meals.”
He thought for a moment, then added, "Please don't put garlic cloves on the roasted lamb chops, thank you."
"Excuse me, sir," the waiter paused, somewhat embarrassed, "our restaurant has a rule that the 520 set meal is only available to couples. May I ask..."
"Huh? Then..."
Li Baidong glanced at Xing Lan subconsciously, his expression hesitant.
Xing Lan slightly lifted his eyelids and saw Li Baidong looking at him with a cautious yet pleading gaze.
His eyes were so bright that it was hard to refuse him.
“We are a couple.” Xing Lan put down her phone and said to the waiter without hesitation, “I don’t think your restaurant discriminates against same-sex couples.”
The waiter paused for a moment, then quickly shook his head: "Of course we don't discriminate, we just need to confirm beforehand. Excuse me, gentlemen."
"It's nothing," Xing Lan waved her hand.
Perhaps because he had successfully ordered the set meal he wanted, Li Baidong looked particularly happy, his gloom from the car earlier completely gone.
Xing Lan glanced at him and thought the kid was too easily satisfied.
They arrived early and were among the first customers in the restaurant; their food was served shortly afterward.
This restaurant is not only in a remote location, but the seats inside are also very narrow, as if it were designed specifically for young couples on a date, perfect for their "you kiss me, I feed you" eating style.
However, when two adult men sit facing each other, it feels cramped and awkward, and they can't even put their legs down properly.
Although Li Baidong was politely trying to avoid it, his legs were just too long, and before he knew it, he had crossed over and brushed against Xing Lan's leg.
Today, Li Baidong was wearing gray athletic pants. At first, when he accidentally bumped into Xing Lan's long trousers, he would quietly say "sorry." But as the incidents happened more and more often, Xing Lan gradually got used to it and told him to just be careful and not apologize so frequently.
Knowing that their dishes were only so-so, the restaurant tried various creative tricks to improve the customer's dining experience.
Halfway through their meal, a foreigner in a suit walked up to them, stopped at their table, and began to play the violin with great emotion.
After the music ended, he slowly gave a gentlemanly bow and said to them seriously in somewhat broken Chinese, "God bless you, may your love last forever."
Xing Lan had no idea about this, and the black pepper in the steak made her cough.
In contrast to his unease, Li Baidong on the other side couldn't help but lower his head and smile.
Her ears blushed subtly in the dim light, and her face radiated a youthful and gentle happiness.
Perhaps to solidify their relationship, after laughing, Li Baidong even nodded to the foreigner in gratitude.
His tone was very serious, not at all like a child's play.
Thank you, we will.
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