She heard the gasps from her colleagues.
An Lan felt heat rise in her cheeks under his dark gaze. “It will be tiring to hike in the mountain.”
“That’s why you need my company.” Xu Baohan nodded.
Li Yuchen looked at him with envy. “Chief Judge Xu, you’re really considerate. Since that’s the case, let’s go together. The bus we hired is pretty big anyway.”
“Thank you.” Xu Baohan looked at him gratefully.
Li Yuchen was very excited. He was even more excited than when he won the 10,000-yuan lottery. He had been given many colder shoulders by Xu Baohan, so he felt flattered at the slightest compliment.
An Lan’s lips twitched, feeling her colleagues had all betrayed her.
…
When they reached the parking lot, An Lan unlocked her BMW.
Xu Baohan got into the passenger seat. An Lan asked, “How are you going to go home after dinner? You won’t let me drive you home, will you?”
“I’ll take a taxi,” Xu Baohan tilted his head and asked, “I wonder what Lawyer An would take me to eat.”
An Lan was exasperated. “You’re the one who’s asking me out now. Do you think it’s right for me to arrange the place of the dinner?”
“Because I don’t know much about romance,” Xu Baohan replied matter-of-factly. “You know about it more than I do.”
An Lan sighed. At least, he knew his weaknesses, but why did it feel like she was chasing after him instead of he chasing her? “Let’s go and eat in a western restaurant.”
Xu Baohan nodded.
It was a twenty-minute drive to the restaurant.
Xu Baohan was stunned as soon as he stepped in. This western restaurant was very large and had a retro decoration. The warm color of the interior was dim and made the place look like an art gallery. Every goblet and plate on the tables glittered under the lights. There were dozens of tables neatly arranged in the hall. The eaters included foreigners and Chinese. Everyone looked quiet and cultured.
Could this be one of those places that Shu Ran mentioned where couples kissed and held hands under the dim lights?
“Why did you stop? Let’s go,” An Lan turned her head and said.
Xu Baohan’s face turned hot. He was secretly glad that the lights were dim and she couldn’t see his flushed face.
The two of them sat at a table for two, which was covered with blue brocade.
The waiter handed over the menu.
Xu Baohan took a look and had a rough idea of the prices. The average price for each person was four to five hundred yuan, but he knew that a casual meal of two usually cost three to four hundred yuan.
An Lan observed his expression and asked, “What do you want to eat?”
Xu Baohan ordered an Australian beef ribs, black fish roe with pancakes, while An Lan ordered a fillet with red wine and foie gras, salmon with cream and mushroom sauce, and a three-ball ice cream.
After the waiter left, An Lan quickly tied her hair up with a hairband and asked with a smile, “Chief Judge Xu, don’t you think that this restaurant doesn’t fit in with you?”
“I never went to such restaurants,” Xu Baohan said honestly. “Are you trying to use this restaurant to tell me that the two of us aren’t suitable? We have different ideas about consumption and we like different things.”
An Lan sighed softly. It was easy to talk to smart people. It wasn’t that she felt nothing with Xu Baohan, but she had known that the two of them weren’t suitable from the first time they met. “You like to go to a home-style restaurant, and I want to go to a place where I can enjoy the nice decoration and atmosphere. Our ideas on consumption are different…”
“An Lan,” Xu Baohan interrupted her. “Have you ever wondered why Nian Junting, as rich as he is, never eats out?”