Chapter 15 (2)

A Chance Meeting

 When they arrived at the restaurant, everyone immediately sat down and began discussing the broth options. Twenty minutes passed before an agreement was reached. Huang Xiaoling also ordered a few extra stir-fries and a dim sum. Zhou Dou glanced at her indifferently, but Huang Xiaoling saw his eyes and understood he was upset. However, she wasn’t sure why.

While waiting for the food to be served, Senior Tang took the initiative to ask Bo Ziren, “Younger Sister Bo, were you raised here from childhood?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never heard you speak your home dialect.”

“She doesn’t even speak Mandarin,” Huang Xiaoling said, her voice half-joking, half-serious. “Even though we are in the same class, we’ve only heard her say two sentences during the entire semester.”

“I don’t like to talk in class either,” said Zhou Dou lightly. “Everyone is here to learn. It’s not like we enrolled at school to go on a spring outing.”

When Huang Xiaoling heard this, she knew the comment was aimed at her. She frowned as she felt a sensation of her head being stabbed with a needle.

The boiled fish pot arrived and was placed in the middle of the table, immediately livening up the atmosphere. Senior Zhao picked up a piece of fish and aimed a question at Bo Ziren.

“Younger Sister Bo, what are your usual hobbies?”

“She often makes runs to the library,” Zhou Dou answered in her stead.

“Do you have any other hobbies?”

“No,” Zhou Dou answered for Bo Ziren again.

Senior Sister Zhao shook her head in disbelief.

“No? But a young girl must have a lot of things she likes.”

Zhou Dou countered with a question.

“Why are you asking so many things? Are you planning to introduce her to someone?”

Huang Xiaoling took this as her opportunity for a rebuttal. “Zhou Dou, why do you always rush to answer for others?”

Bo Ziren also felt wronged. She looked at Zhou Dou as he smiled at Huang Xiaoling.

“Because I want to.”

“…”

Things heated up as Huang Xiaoling put down her chopsticks. She glared at Zhou Dou, her eyes wide open. They both confronted each other, while the two senior sisters sat to the side, secretly laughing at them. Finally, Senior Tang stepped up and moved to settle their dispute by switching the conversation to a different topic.

As Senior Tang tried resolving the issue, Bo Ziren’s gaze absent-mindedly fell to the door. A group of people had walked in, and her attention was suddenly caught by a familiar figure amongst them, causing her gaze to immediately snag on him. It was Cheng Jingbo. 

He was walking at the front of the group, his coat securely hanging off one arm. A man was walking next to him, continuously turning to talk to him. Cheng Jingbo seemed to smile and say something in return, but he was too far for her to even see clearly, much less hear what was being said. 

His group sat at a square table near the door, with Cheng Jingbo at the outermost seat.

Bo Ziren’s distraction quickly caught the attention of Senior Tang.

“Younger Sister Bo, why did you only eat a few bites?”

She recovered her senses, and quickly lowered her head to her bowl of fish.

About half a minute later, she heard her mobile phone ding in her bag. She took it out and found a short text on the screen.

[You and your classmates?]

It was from Cheng Jingbo. She subconsciously glanced in his direction. He was still looking at his friends and listening to what they were saying.

[Bo ZIren: Yes]

There was no reply back after that.

The number of people around them made it inconvenient to bother him, so Bo Ziren did not step forward to say hello. However, this didn’t stop her from secretly watching him. She observed that he didn’t seem to have much of an appetite. He barely moved his chopsticks at all and merely drank water.

“Why do you always look at that man over there?” Zhou Dou asked, noticing Bo Ziren’s gaze focused elsewhere. He touched her elbow. “Be careful, or people will turn around and tell you that you’re harassing them with your eyes.”

“Which man?” Senior Sister Zhao asked, looking over with a quick smile. “Is it the table near the door with the four men? Let me look and guess which one Younger Sister Bo is looking at.”

“Does this need to be guessed?” Senior Tang replied humorously. “If it was me, even I would only look at the man with the straightest back who’s wearing a shirt.”

“I also agree. Younger Sister Bo, you have a good eye,” said Senior Sister Luo sincerely, applauding her choice. “The man in the shirt is really quite eye-catching. His side profile is perfect, though I can’t tell how he looks face to face.”

Listening to them openly discussing Cheng Jingbo, Bo Ziren felt a little surprised. She gradually remembered the fact that with Cheng Jingbo’s looks and temperament, it was impossible for him to not stand out in a crowd.

However, Cheng Jingbo did not turn around and show his face, making the two senior sisters quite impatient.

“Well, if we’re going to talk about handsome guys, Younger Brother Zhou’s appearance is also not something to scoff at,” said Tang Xuechang, intentionally complimenting Zhou Dou.

Huang Xiaoling answered, “Just considering someone’s looks is so superficial. In this era, handsome guys need to have a positive demeanor, in addition to good looks, if they want to win any high scores.”

Zhou Dou didn’t care about the words coming from this little girl and chuckled indifferently. This made Huang Xiaoling blush. Fortunately, the whole table was covered in steam, and so no one could tell whether her face was flushed from the heat, or due to a sudden rapid heartbeat.