CH 8.2

It was a full course meal where the next dish was served once the guests were roughly done with the previous one. The serving time was inevitably slow due to the large number of guests.

Ji Fanyin took her time with the food, and soon, they were serving the dessert. It was a slice of passion fruit cheesecake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. She took a bite of it and felt satisfaction rippling from the tip of her tongue.

Delicious. I should drop by here the next time I have a break.

Ji Fanyin was about to have her second bite when the person on her right pushed over an untouched slice of cake. She glanced over, and the man, who hadn’t spoken over the entire course of the meal, said, “It’s for you.”

Ji Fanyin accepted the gift with a smile. “Thank you.”

Zhao Qi quickly learned from example. “Is the cake to your liking? I’m not too fond of sweet stuff, so…”

“No thanks. I’ll feel cloyed if I have a third slice,” Ji Fanyin rejected his goodwill.

Zhao Qi shot a sharp glare at the man sitting on Ji Fanyin’s right, only to be ignored once more.

It was then that the organizer of this gathering, Cheng Lin, turned to her sisters around her and laughed, “How hilarious! Nowadays, all it takes is for a person to dress up a little to draw in men with bad eyes.”

Ji Fanyin continued digging into her cake, not paying her any heed.

Cheng Lin: “…”

She gritted her teeth and spoke in an even louder voice, “It sure is nice to have a pretty face.”

Her loud remark was met with a questioning look from Ji Fanyin, who seemed to be asking, ‘Why are you speaking so loudly?’ The expression on her face was so innocent that it looked as if she was truly intrigued by Cheng Lin’s behavior.

Cheng Lin couldn’t take it any longer, so she stood up and confronted her, “Ji Fanyin, do you really need me to spell out your name?”

Ji Fanyin blinked her eyes and asked, “My apologies, but you are…?”

“Drop the act!” Cheng Lin slammed her spoon on the table. “You had the audacity to invite yourself to the gathering I proposed, but you don’t even know who I am?”

Ji Fanyin widened her eyes in realization. “You’re the organizer? You have done an excellent job choosing the location. This restaurant has excellent food.”

“Thank you,” replied Cheng Lin subconsciously.

It took a second before she finally snapped out of it and roared furiously, “Why are you saying that? I’m scolding you here!”

Towards that, Ji Fanyin replied, “Did you scold me? You said that I have a pretty face.”

“It’s Ji Xinxin’s face!” exclaimed Cheng Lin in displeasure.

Ji Fanyin chuckled softly and said, “Yes, I do get commonly misrecognized as her.”

Song Shiyu: “…”

Is she talking about me here?

“I probably should mention that I’m actually the older sister here,” Ji Fanyin shook her little dessert spoon as she said. “I’m a day older than Xinxin.”

“You’re a day older?” asked Zhao Qi curiously.

“We happened to be born around midnight. There was half an hour of difference between our times of birth,” explained Ji Fanyin.

The woman sitting opposite Ji Fanyin couldn’t resist the urge to join the conversation, “That sounds amazing. Doesn’t that mean your family celebrates for two consecutive days during your birthdays?”

All of a sudden, Cheng Lin seemed to lose her presence amidst this discussion.

“That’s not it. We simply celebrate on her birthday,” replied Ji Fanyin.

Zhao Qi: “…”

Cheng Lin: “…”

That single response plunged everyone sitting at the long table into a state of awkwardness. They immediately understood the meaning behind those words. Even Song Shiyu’s eyebrows furrowed together a little.

No matter how he looked at it, this was simply too pitiful…

Ji Fanyin finished up her first slice of cake with eyes curled in delight before reaching for the second plate. “I’m the older one here after all. It’s only right for me to give in to my younger sister.

“… I-is that how it is?” asked Zhao Qi hesitantly.

Cheng Lin slammed the table and shot to her feet, exclaiming, “… Can’t you learn to stand up for yourself?”

With those words, she tossed her napkin aside and left the restaurant. Everyone looked at her in astonishment.

Ji Fanyin watched her departing silhouette contemplatively.

Looks like she doesn’t bear any ill-will. She’s just a candid person with a sharp mouth. This kind of people are often used as sacrificial pawns in imperial harem dramas.

Cheng Lin’s friends jumped to their feet and chased after her, leaving an awkward atmosphere lingering over the long table.

Meanwhile, Ji Fanyin calmly finished her second slice of cake before heading to the cashier to foot the bill.

Of course, she was only footing her portion.

It was not easy to earn money after all. While spending money didn’t affect the progress of the ‘Temptation of Home’ app, she wasn’t intending to squander it off either.