Chapter 126 Act Natural

A waitress approached the group of 7: "Dr Chen, Miss Li and friends, I will escort you to your table."

Everyone was chatting amongst themselves as they followed the waitress.

Ling Qiang: "Bro Wei it seems like I've underestimated your abilities and reputation."

Chen Wei gave him a quizzical look: "Hmm?"

Ling Qiang smirked: "I thought we would be seated by the door or by the kitchen or something. It actually seems that we may be seated at a prime location."

Chen Wei gave him a droll look.

Ling Qiang put both his hands up: "I was wrong for underestimating you. Your reputation and beauty proceed you."

The group started laughing at Ling Qiang's words which although complementary were more fitting for a woman.

Chen Wei: "That is down to my genetics and also my fortune for standing next to you; who could make a gremlin seem attractive."

Ling Qiang chuckled in response.

Li Yu Yan who still had humor in her voice: "Brother Ling it was your fault for picking a losing battle. Hmph." She hooked her little finger around Chen Wei's and blushed slightly.

Ling Qiang pretended to look distraught: "Must you kick me while I'm down and force feed me dog food?"

He Meiying narrowed her eyes when she spotted a figure that looked somewhat familiar.

Li Na looked at He Meiying who seemed to be annoyed all of sudden: "Sis Meiying is everything okay? What are you..." She turned to her right to look at what had caught He Meiying's attention.

Li Na: "Isn't that Xiuying?! I knew I saw her at the entrance earlier!"

Shen Mo Chou: "The raggedly little orphan girl? Where?"

Li Na pointed to a table. Everyone turned to look.

Waitress: " Dr Chen this is your table. Here are your menus. Would you like to order any drinks?"

Chen Wei's gaze was captivated by the vision in green.

Li Yu Yan grimaced internally as she saw Chen Wei's reaction. She gently tugged on Chen Wei's sleeve: "GeGe."

Everyone looked at the table which was only 9 feet away from Li Xiuying's. Their table was diagonally in front of Li Xiuying's table.

....

Ren Daiyu and Yao Changying propped up the menu blocking them from view. She whispered to Li Xiuying: "Are the people sitting to the right of us your family?"

Ren Daiyu rolled her eyes and whispered: "What gave it away?"

Yao Changying ignored Ren Daiyu's sarcasm: "2 things. One that they kept looking over here with shocked expressions and two because they look like they're cursing Li Xiuying to eternal damnation. How many cousins hate you?"

Li Xiuying: "Li Na -blue. Li Yu Yan-purple."

Yao Changying: "Why does the one in silver seem to be trying to kill you with her gaze then?"

Li Xiuying shrugged. She couldn't remember offending the woman.

Ren Daiyu: "Is the one in the black suit the scum b*****d?"

Yao Changying smirked: "What gave it away?"

Li Xiuying nodded: "Chen Wei."

Yao Changying: "What's the plan?"

Li Xiuying: "Behave normally. Ignore their existence."

Ren Daiyu nodded with a serious look on her face.

They put down the menus. Ren Daiyu had a disgusted look on her face as she looked at the menu and Yao Changying swirled her drink and tried to look like an empress looking down at her subjects.

Li Xiuying looked at her friends: "Act Natural."

Qilin, Lài Yongliang, and Lài Shi-on were looking at the women opposite them who were behaving oddly.

Lài Yongliang: "Is everything well?"

Yao Changying laughed regally: "Of course. Why would there be anything untoward."

Ren Daiyu kicked Yao Changying under the table.

Yao Changying gave an accusing look to Ren Daiyu: "Oww. What was that for?"

Ren Daiyu scowled: "Listen, Mother of the nation. Act normal."

Yao Changying: "Why don't you tell that to your face?"

Li Xiuying took a sip of her water ignored her friends and turned to get the attention of a waitress.

The waitress politely asked: "Are you ready to order?" She tried to look as confident as possible which was a difficult task to accomplish with the maître d' was hovering next to her.

Li Xiuying: "Starters. Pulled beef ravioli, crawfish bisque, lobster bisque, oxtail consommé. Mains. filet mignon medium rare, braised halibut, cognac shrimp with beurre blanc sauce, beef wellington, honey spiced duck and coq au vin. Desert later."

Yao Changying: "We'll have a bottle of house red."

Waitress: "Is that everything?"

Ren Daiyu: "The gentlemen haven't ordered yet." Seeing Li Xiuiyng ignore the men when it came to ordering, she realized that Li Xiuying didn't want these men to accompany them tonight. Now that she thought back to the situation when these men approached them; they had invited themselves using the guise of being Li Xiuying's acquaintance.

Qilin and Lài Yongliang were both very perceptive men. They had also realized that Li Xiuying didn't seem to warm to their presence. On the other hand, the carefree Lài Shi-on didn't notice anything wrong and began ordering what he wanted with gusto.

The waitress took the orders of all the men and rushed to the kitchen trying to look elegantly as possible. The maître d' glanced briefly at his boss before nodding subtly and walking to Chen Wei's table.

...

He Meiying: " Xiao Na you said that that woman is called Li Xiuying. How do you know her?"

Li Na: "Unfortunately, she's our ungrateful cousin. She's an ungrateful and disrespectful slu.. person who treats us poorly. I don't even know why she's here or whose money she used to get in."

Li Yu Yan spoke gently with sadness: "Xiao Na don't be so hard on little sister. Just because we've never seen those men before doesn't mean that they're bad people. They could be Little Xiu Xiu's new friends. Maybe they were able to help her to attain a reservation. I just feel sad that she never told us she wants to come here; if she had we would have definitely taken her with us. " She continued adding fuel to the fire that Li Na had ignited with her words.

Everyone at the table glanced at Li Xiuying with disgust in their eyes.

The maître d slowly made his way to the Chen table and heard the majority of what was being spoken.He was amused by what these young girls were saying 'Why is everyone these days so easily influenced by these young girls who like to think themselves intelligent."

Everyone at the table quietened down and looked at the maître d.

Maître d:"Hello everyone, thank you all for gracing us with your presence tonight. Are you all ready to order?"

Li Yu Yan turned to Chen Wei: "Ge you know what tastes the best here, can you order for me?"

Chen Wei was pleased with Li Yu Yan's behavior, he snuck a quick peek at li Xiuying who wasn't even glancing in his direction.He then ordered for himself and Li Yu Yan. Everyone at the table then began ordering their dishes and drinks.

Maître d: "Someone will be here shortly with your drinks."

Tseng Zhi Ruo: "Excuse me before you go... can you tell us if the woman over there in the green is called Li Xiuying?"

Maître d: "I'm sorry Miss Tseng, I can't divulge any information about our guests."

Chen Wei: "We understand. Thank you."

The maître d left the table and gave a passing glance at Qilin before going to the kitchen.

The group then recommenced their earlier conversation.

Tseng Zhi Ruo: "What does he mean by 'not divulging information'? Tch, I was just asking her name not her passport number."

Ling Qiang casually said: "Relax. This isn't a place to bring your attitude to."

Tseng Zhi Ruo pouted: "Gege. I just wanted to confirm her identity."

Ling Qiang responded with a small smile.

Shen Mo Chou: "Li Na is right. It's absolutely her; don't be fooled by her clothes. You know what they say 'clothes don't make the man'. She's probably dressing up now to entice men. I still can't believe she ran away from home like some spoiled an ungrateful little wretch especially after everything uncle and auntie have done for her. Just look at her now. She's such a cheap woman selling herself to strangers for a reservation and food." She was Li Na's and Li Yu Yan's childhood friend and had seen Li Xiuying grow up in the Li family home.

He Meiying: "So she is, in fact, the ill-mannered person I thought she was."

Li Yu Yan: "Senior He what do you mean?"

He Meiying: "I have met your cousin before in a supermarket. She interfered with the procedure I was performing and then even talked back when I tried to educate her about seniority."

She proceeded to tell her version of the supermarket event.