Earlier in the daytime, Ning Li and both Gu men had only been a wall apart from each other and almost met up.
Ning Li thought that she had managed to avoid them and had not expected to run into them at this hour.
She quickly adjusted her expression and looked surprised. “Dr. Gu? Why are you here?”
Gu Siyang also found it coincidental to see Ning Li here.
He got out of the car immediately. “Lil Uncle and I came over to run some errands. What about you?”
Ning Li lifted a finger and pointed. “My home is over there. I came back to check on it.”
She was originally from Lincheng anyway.
“Such a coincidence!”
Gu Siyang glanced in the direction she pointed at.
“Lil Uncle and I were just casually strolling around here. We didn’t expect to run into you!”
He admired Ning Li very much, so every time he looked at her, his eyes were glowing.
Since they had met coincidentally, Gu Siyang wanted to show his good character as LY’s boss so that Ning Li would have a better impression of him.
“Did you come out for dinner?”
His gaze fell on the restaurant signboard behind Ning Li.
“It just so happens that Lil Uncle and I haven’t eaten yet either. Shall we eat together?”
Ning Li was speechless.
She gave Gu Siyang a once over.
Young Master Gu came from an extremely good background and was really out of place here.
“This place is too simple…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Gu Tinglan got down from the car as well.
“Let’s eat here.”
He had a gentle and elegant smile on his face.
“Siyang and I are not familiar with this place, so we don’t know which restaurants are nice. Since you chose this shop, it must be decent.”
Ning Li had no reason to refuse them since he said so.
She nodded. “Let’s eat together then.”
….
The store was not large, but it was very packed.
A middle-aged woman behind the counter looked up and saw Ning Li, and immediately revealed a look of surprise.
“Lili, you’re back?”
Ning Li smiled lightly. “Aunt Xu.”
Aunt Xu hurriedly greeted her. “Come sit quickly! When did you come back?”
“I came back this afternoon.”
Ning Li led Gu Tinglan and Gu Siyang inside.
Only then did Aunt Xu see the two young men behind her.
“Oh! Lili, are they your friends?”
Ning Li nodded her head.
When Aunt Xu saw this, she immediately became more enthusiastic.
She could tell at first glance that these two people were not ordinary, so it was good for Ning Li to have such friends.
Aunt Xu handed over the menu.
“Take a look, what do you want to eat?”
Ning Li handed the menu to Gu Tinglan.
“I’ll get my usual. Dr. Gu, what would you like to eat?”
Gu Tinglan smiled. “I’ll get whatever you’re having.”
Gu Siyang also hurriedly said, “Me too!”
Ning Li turned back and said, “Aunt Xu, three servings of lamb soup please.”
Winter in Lincheng was still quite cold, so it was good to drink this to warm their stomachs.
“Okay!”
Aunt Xu shouted at the kitchen. “Old Xu! Lili brought her friends over. Three lamb soups!”
She said a few more words to Ning Li before she went back to her work.
“Looks like the boss lady here likes you a lot.” Gu Tinglan laughed.
Ning Li nodded. “Uncle Xu and Aunt Xu are very nice.”
The couple also lived in this neighborhood, and they had owned this small restaurant for years.
When Ning Haizhou had first been imprisoned, their family had taken out all their savings and owed a lot of debts in order to compensate the victim’s family.
Ning Li and her grandmother did not have a fixed source of income and had been short of money.
Aunt Xu and her husband could not bear to see them that way, so they would help them out from time to time.
When they ate at the restaurant, Aunt Xu would always give them a larger portion.
Gu Tinglan nodded.
Even if Ning Li did not say it, he could already guess some of it.
“I intended on asking you to be our guide around Lincheng, but you have your final exams soon, so let’s forget it.”
Gu Tinglan changed the topic.
Of course, he was not referring to this trip.
His original plan had been to wait until Ning Li’s exams were over to ask her about this.
He had not expected that they would run into her here this time.
Ning Li smiled. “Mm, I made a last-minute decision to come back to get a few things.”
This was a reasonable explanation.
Gu Tinglan knew that Ning Li did not get along with the Ye family and was not happy living there.
Earlier when Ning Li had mentioned “her home”, that was the first time Gu Tinglan had ever heard the word coming from her mouth.
“I can’t show you around this time because I’m heading back to Yunzhou tomorrow.”
Gu Tinglan did not mind.
It was a Sunday tomorrow and Ning Li had to be at school the day after tomorrow, so of course, she had to go back.
Besides, they had only come over for that car this time, and it really was not very convenient to bring Ning Li with them.
“Next time then, it’s all the same.”
As they were talking, Aunt Xu served the lamb soup.
The soup base was rich, creamy, aromatic, and steaming hot.
Gu Siyang’s eyes lit up.
“It smells so good!”
Ning Li’s phone vibrated. It was a message from Lu Huaiyu asking her what she had eaten.
She then pointed the camera at her bowl and sent him a picture.
…
Lu Huaiyu and Cheng Xiyue walked towards the shooting gallery.
There were already several young men standing there, all of which were friends with Cheng Xiyue and Lu Huaiyu.
It was rare to gather like this today.
Cheng Xiyue walked in front.
Lu Huaiyu lagged behind a few steps as he looked at the photo Ning Li had just sent him. He raised his eyebrows slightly.
It seemed that the girl was quite happy with her meal.
“Lu!”
Several people greeted him.
Lu Huaiyu answered and casually scrolled through his social media.
He instantly stopped in his tracks.
Gu Siyang had posted something a minute ago.
[This soup is amazing!]
The caption was attached to a picture of three steaming bowls of lamb soup.
The soup looked familiar.
He had just seen it.
“Lu! Xiyue said that you have been practicing less recently. Want to compete?”
Someone shouted with an excited smile.
Lu Huaiyu put away his phone and strode over with his long legs.
He picked up a gun, spun it in his hand, and said in a nonchalant voice. “Sure.”
