Coffee was still considered a new type of hot beverage in this city.
People here were accustomed to drinking tea. Of course, it was English afternoon or morning tea.
Now there are all kinds of coffee available and not simple instant or instant coffee, but coffee with complicated procedures starting from coffee beans.
When Gu Nianzhi got out of the car, she saw a post-modern cafe with unique decor.
The entire storefront was built with transparent glass panes, and the structure inside was supported by meticulously placed steel beams and columns. Although intricate, it was neat and orderly to provide an open view.
The name of the shop was even more unique; it was called Truth Coffee.
Zhao Liangze accompanying two beautiful women into the cafe without blinking his eyes immediately attracted the attention of everyone inside.
He found seats by the window.
Gu Nianzhi sat with Zhao Liangze next to the window.
Bai Shuang sat across from them.
When they walked to the window, they realized that the cafe was actually built by the sea.
Stretches of rocky reefs could be seen outside the window, and the coastline was a little further away.
There was no sandy beach, so when the sea slapped against the reef and splashed coils of white mist, the waves crashed.
“…The rocks pierced through the sky, the stormy waves hit the shore, and a thousand piles of snow were cast into the air.” Gu Nianzhi pointed to the scenery outside the window with a smile and said, “Our ancient poems described this scene perfectly, so did the ancient Huaxia people ever come here before?”
Zhao Liangze glanced at her and said with a smile, “You’re a genius, after all, memorizing poetry perfectly.”
“Shucks, all you care about is teasing me.” Gu Nianzhi pouted. “Hurry up and tell me what kind of coffee is good here.”
Zhao Liangze did not even look at the menu, but directly said to the waiter, “She will have a natural cappuccino, I want a mocha, and the lady on the other side will have a latte. Make the natural cappuccino with double sugar and double milk, the mocha black, and the latte with milk, no sugar, and a little bit of hot cocoa.”
Bai Shuang’s expression became more conflicted. She looked at Zhao Liangze peculiarly and said, “…You remembered what I like.”
“I’ve been to several concerts with you, so I know everything about what you like.” Zhao Liangze replied casually as he leaned back on the seat and asked Bai Shuang, “When did you come to Cape Town? We just arrived not too long ago. Do you know any good places to visit?”
“Oh really?” Bai Shuang looked down somewhat frantically, balling her hands together with her arms trembling slightly. After a while, she said, “I’ve been here for a few days, and came with a marine animal protection organization. We are here to do some scientific publicity for a while.”
“Oh, that’s great.” Gu Nianzhi saw that Bai Shuang was acting nervously, so she quickly changed the subject, asking, “What kind of protected marine animals are there? I can only see seafood…” She was even licking her lips.
Bai Shuang was amused by Gu Nianzhi and laughed. “All you care about is eating seafood. We can’t let our team leader hear that; he won’t say a word to you if he ever found out.”
Gu Nianzhi asked, “…Eating seafood is wrong too? That’s food! That’s food!”
“Okay, I know you like seafood the best. Today, I will take you to the best restaurant for seafood here, okay?” Zhao Liangze glared at Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi smiled and nodded as she said, “I must eat until I am completely full.”
“You make it sound like I don’t feed you enough. Yesterday you had three bowls of rice!” Zhao Liangze raised his hand and called the waiter over to order two pieces of cake for Gu Nianzhi and Bai Shuang.
The waiter brought all the coffee over then.
Zhao Liangze’s black mocha didn’t have any additions. It was so black that it appeared solemn and strong.
Bai Shuang’s latte was dark yellow, like the color of the salted egg yolk inside a mooncake. An ear of wheat was drawn on the surface in white milk foam.
Gu Nianzhi sighed and took her natural cappuccino.
A heart shape drawn with white milk foam floated on top of the pale-yellow drink.
Looking at the heart, Gu Nianzhi remembered the heart-shaped steak Huo Shaoheng had made. Her heart throbbed, and she caught a glimpse of a tall figure from the corner of her eyes, so she immediately glanced over calmly.
The man was wearing the same uniform as the other waiters here, and he kept his head down at the coffee bar as he made various kinds of coffee according to customer requests.
His fingers were straight and clean, but his knuckles were not visible. He almost seemed to be making art when making coffee.
As if sensing Gu Nianzhi’s gaze, the person looked up and smiled at her.
It was a completely unfamiliar face, but Gu Nianzhi seemed to be in a trance as she stared at him before quickly looking down, her heart pounding.
No matter who this person pretended to be, Gu Nianzhi could recognize him – it was Huo Shaoheng.
He said he wanted to hide in the shadows, but he was actually hiding like this…
Gu Nianzhi’s thoughts ran wild in her heart. She was both happy and worried, but there was a faint feeling of swelling as if she was too full of happiness, and it would overflow soon.
She clutched her chest and patted it, her eyes squinting into a smile when she looked at the coffee cup in front of her.
Zhao Liangze took a few sips of black mocha and couldn’t help but frown when he saw Gu Nianzhi grinning dumbly at the coffee cup. “Hey, what’s the matter? Why are you smiling at a coffee cup so happily?” he asked.
Bai Shuang glanced at her and smiled understandingly. “Little Ze, you don’t understand this. Nianzhi must be thinking about her lover, isn’t that right?” she said.
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
Zhao Liangze, “…”
“What’s the matter? Am I wrong?” Bai Shuang raised her eyebrows, her plump lips pouting slightly into a seductive shape.
“I want to have a lover too, but I don’t have one. What should I do?” Gu Nianzhi composed herself and spread her palms helplessly.
“How could that be? Nianzhi, aren’t you Huo Shao’s girlfriend?” Bai Shuang asked in surprise. “Huo Shao has no girlfriends except for you.”
Gu Nianzhi seemed to sense the person at the coffee bar looking over.
She smiled calmly and said, “Really? But we broke up already.”
The corners of Zhao Liangze’s mouth twitched as he stayed quiet.
Bai Shuang quickly asked with concern, “Huo Shao is so good to you, why did you break up? Nianzhi, you must reconsider carefully and work harder to pursue Huo Shao!”
“No, it’s exhausting to chase after someone. I plan to be pursued by others from now on, so I won’t chase after anyone anymore,” Gu Nianzhi said with a smile.
She actually didn’t mean anything else and was just talking about her own situation.
But to Bai Shuang’s ears, it sounded like she was talking about her. Her face flushed red involuntarily as she lowered her head and muttered. Taking a sip of the latte, she stopped talking.
Upon seeing Bai Shuang’s reaction, Gu Nianzhi realized that Bai Shuang probably misunderstood her words and quickly looked down as well.
The three of them sat at the table with the best view, but not one of them looked at the ocean outside the window. Instead, they immersed themselves in the coffee, which also created a strange sight in the cafe.
Huo Shaoheng shook his head behind the counter and was speechless, seeing all three like this. The three of them together were like a group of fools.
He called over a waiter and asked him to deliver the snacks Zhao Liangze had ordered to dispel the awkward silence at the table.
When the food arrived, Gu Nianzhi became lively again and said to Bai Shuang, “Miss Bai, are you still going to return to the Huaxia Empire? How long will you stay abroad? I actually didn’t know where to go to have fun for this trip. I just randomly pointed to the map and came to this place.”
Bai Shuang was very envious of Gu Nianzhi’s relaxed and carefree attitude. She excitedly replied, “If you want to go somewhere fun, you should return to the Huaxia Empire. The food in our country is world-class. But for the scenery, there are many options to visit in foreign countries. After all, the scenery is different from what is in the Huaxia Empire, so sightseeing is quite interesting.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded quickly and said, “Actually, I mainly chose Cape Town because of the very fresh seafood…”
“You really can’t talk about anything except for food. If I didn’t know you, I would think you are not a lawyer, but a food consultant from a restaurant.” Zhao Liangze pushed the small snack in front of him towards Gu Nianzhi and said, “You eat it. Will this stop you from talking?”
“Okay, I won’t talk anymore.” Gu Nianzhi made a zipping gesture over her mouth and then ate the cake.
Only then did Zhao Liangze talk to Bai Shuang.
“…You are alone, so don’t stay here for too long. It’s about time you went back.” Zhao Liangze glumly persuaded her, saying, “Nianzhi will only travel abroad for a few weeks, and then I will take her back to the Huaxia Empire.”
“Really?” Bai Shuang was a bit curt to Zhao Liangze and kept her eyes on Gu Nianzhi the entire time. She seemed to have an easier time chatting with Gu Nianzhi, so she changed the topic, saying to Gu Nianzhi with a smile, “Nianzhi, you asked me to recommend some fun places to go. I remember some now.”
“Oh? Really? I would really like to hear the details.” Gu Nianzhi put down her cake and sat ramrod straight with an eager expression.
Bai Shuang was truly a national spokesperson. She spoke melodically and introduced Gu Nianzhi to the fun places in Cape Town like she was introducing the treasures in her own home.
“The natural scenic spots of Cape Town are located near the suburban coastline. You are staying there anyway, so it is enough for you to go out every morning and evening. You’ll be sick of the ocean view after staying here for two weeks.”
“There are some very unique museums in Cape Town. If you have enough time, you should take a few days to visit the museums, and I guarantee you won’t get bored.”
As Bai Shuang spoke, she took out her phone enthusiastically and opened the photo album. “Look, these are a few photos I took in a museum in the city center the other day. Aren’t they interesting?”
Gu Nianzhi looked them over one by one and smiled noncommittally.
The only museums she liked were history museums, preferably very old ones.
Most of the museums there had not been there for even a hundred years, so she was not very interested.
But she still looked at the photos politely and occasionally expressed some admiration.
As she was about to finish looking at all the photos, Gu Nianzhi was ready to decline seeing any more when she saw another image.
In this photo, Bai Shuang stood in front of a mosaic wall with a victory sign in her hands. On the wall not far behind her, there was the handwritten English poem, “A Little Girl Needs Daddy,” that Gu Nianzhi was very familiar with…
Gu Nianzhi’s gaze froze, and she immediately pointed to the photo to ask, “Where is this? Is it also a museum? It doesn’t look like the previous photos.”
