“Alright. We are on a date. We will talk about that next time. Let’s order some food first.” Zhao Youlin came around and realized that Mu Tingfeng’s mind was elsewhere, like her. She coughed lightly and pulled the subject of the conversation back.
Mu Tingfeng came around and hurriedly beckoned the waiter over to take their order.
The menu in this restaurant looked pretty good, so Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng started chatting with each other after ordering a few dishes.
Mu Tingfeng was laconic, so it was Zhao Youlin who led the conversation most of the time. Mu Tingfeng looked at her tenderly as he listened to her, and he would respond to her from time to time.
They just talked idly with each other, and they somehow managed to keep their conversation going for quite some time.
Unfortunately, this harmony did not last long, as it was interrupted by a couple who walked in side by side.
Everything was great with the restaurant Xia Zhetao recommended for Zhao Youlin, except for one thing, it had no private rooms.
All the seating was arranged outside, which led to something inevitable.
“Arghhh! I have told you that this restaurant has such good business, it is going to be packed at night. All the seats would have been taken if we didn’t come early, yet you wouldn’t listen. See, all the tables are taken now.” *Sob. The familiar voice of a woman carried a hint of obvious pity and grief. People who had heard it could not help but empathize with her.
The man who was being blamed seemed a little awkward. “Oh… About that, I didn’t expect this shop would be this popular. Why don’t we order takeaway and eat it somewhere else? It is the same.”
“No, it is not! This restaurant serves this special shrimp dumpling. If we order takeaway, it will get cold. Cold shrimp dumpling skin will become hard, it will not be delicious anymore!”
“Oh…”
Zhao Youlin looked over subconsciously when she heard their voices. As she expected, she saw two familiar faces instantly.
“Li, Mr. Ling?”
Ling Ran was fretting about what he could do to make it up to his future wife. When he suddenly heard a familiar voice, he followed the voice and immediately saw Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng, who were sitting by the window!
“General Manager, President Mu, what are you doing here?” Surprisingly, Li actually reacted faster than him. She trotted toward them and asked in a questioning tone.
Zhao Youlin grinned. “Why can’t we be here? What have you come here to do are here for the same thing, of course.”
Li was stunned for a second. She thought over it for a while and came around. This place was a restaurant. They were here to eat, of course.
“General Manager, President Mu, you guys like their food too? I like them too. Every dish they make is good. You will never get sick of it, and it’s affordable! They always have a full house most of the time, like today… We only came a little bit late, and all the tables have already been taken.” As Li said that, she lowered her head in disappointment.
Seeing that, Zhao Youlin could not help but chuckle. “We still have two empty seats here at our table. You can share our table, if you don’t mind.”
“Really?” Li’s eyes brightened up instantly. There was an excited look on her face.
Ling Ran, who was standing closely behind Li, could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth when he heard Zhao Youlin’s offer. He cut off Li’s exclamation awkwardly. “Oh, we wouldn’t want to bother you.”
“How would we bother them? General Manager is not a stranger to us!” Li muttered begrudgingly.
Cold sweat ran down Ling Ran’s forehead. He was crying internally. ‘Milady, why can’t you just stop talking? Didn’t you see the face of the man sitting in front of the General Manager has turned murderously dark?’
Yet Zhao Youlin was not bothered by the expression of the man sitting opposite of her. She smiled and said, “Li is right. We are not strangers. Since you are already here, we can eat together. What do you say, Tingfeng?”
Mu Tingfeng’s expression was as dark as hell, but since Zhao Youlin had already said that, he could not bring himself to turn her down. He replied through gritted teeth, “Since you are already here, you should join us.”
After saying that, he swept a cold glance at them. The look in his eyes was like he wished he could tear them limb from limb and feed their flesh to dogs for interrupting his date with Zhao Youlin, which he had meticulously planned.
Even Li, who was usually insensitive to things like this, noticed that they were unwelcome to someone here. Her face went instantly pale, and she reflexively wanted to step back.
Seeing her fear, Ling Ran took a step forward and stood in front of Li, blocking her from Mu Tingfeng’s hostile gaze. He stiffened and was about to open his mouth to decline, but he was interrupted by Zhao Youlin first.
“You heard him. Now come and sit with us. There are so many customers around. Do you want to be watched like animals in the zoo?”
They were stunned to find that many people inside the restaurant seemed to have noticed them standing alone. They were glancing over at them.
They had no choice but to put up with Mu Tingfeng’s murderous gaze and take the empty seats.
Li sat down beside Zhao Youlin, while Ling Ran sat down beside Mu Tingfeng.
Li was still okay with it, because Mu Tingfeng’s cold aura usually would not spread to Zhao Youlin’s side. Plus, Mu Tingfeng generally does not make things difficult for girls, so Li, who was sitting next to Zhao Youlin, had luckily dodged a bullet.
And compared to her, Ling Ran, who was sitting next to Mu Tingfeng, was not so lucky. He could feel the eerie chill spread from his spine to the back of his body, to the back of his head. All he could feel was chill. It made him feel like a big popsicle standing in the heat of summer, extremely uncomfortable!
Ling Ran wanted to cry. ‘This isn’t the date I imagined!’
Fortunately, the situation did not last long. The dishes Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng ordered were served.
With the help of the dishes, the atmosphere at the table was finally not as awkward as before.
It was especially the case for Li, where before the dishes were served, she did not dare to say anything because she was afraid of Mu Tingfeng’s gaze. After the dishes were served, she was like a bird that had finally been freed from its cage. Her eyes shone brightly, reflecting the exquisite meal in front of her. She could not see anything else.
Zhao Youlin’s lips curled as she had long noticed Li’s reaction. She looked at the dishes on the table and said in a low voice, “Dig in. It won’t be as nice when it gets cold.”
Li, who had gotten the green light, no longer cared about anything else. She started to attack the food. While she was busy stuffing them into her mouth, she kept introducing the food to Zhao Youlin.
“General Manager, try this. This is this restaurant’s signature dish, drunken shrimp. It smells good, and it tastes even better. And this… This… And this…”
Mu Tingfeng’s expression turned darker. Feeling the cold aura coming from beside him, Ling Ran cried internally.. ‘This really isn’t the date I wanted!’
