The waiter looked at Lin Nuan and thought that she looked familiar. Yet, at the same time, he couldn't quite recall where he had seen her before. Only when he heard someone calling for a waiter outside did the waiter hurriedly say, "Please order the food first. When you're ready, just call for me!"
The waiter then hurriedly left.
Lin Nuan took out the tissues she had brought from her bag. After cleaning the cutlery and teacups with water again, she used the tissues to wipe them before placing them before Bai Xiaonian, Fu Huai'an, and Tuan Tuan.
Bai Xiaonian poured some water into her teacup and made a tsk tsk sound. "You're still the same way that you were back in school. They say we must eat a little bit of dirt to stay healthy!"
Children couldn't drink tea. Fu Huai'an was experienced when it came to taking a child out to eat, so he had stuffed a hot water bottle in Tuan Tuan's schoolbag when they left the house. The schoolbag was in the car.
Fu Huai'an picked up his keys and got up, then said to Lin Nuan, "I'll go out and get Tuan Tuan's little school bag!"
Lin Nuan nodded.
He had only just opened the door of the suite when he saw the smartly-dressed Lu Jinnan outside. His hand was in mid-air, and it looked like he was about to knock on the door, his expression a mix of awkwardness and astonishment.
Bai Xiaonian looked up, and upon seeing that it was Lu Jinnan at the door, subconsciously looked towards Lin Nuan.
Fu Huai'an couldn't have known about the hotpot restaurant they frequented in their college days. For Lu Jinnan to be able to find his way there… it could only have been Lin Nuan who told him about it!
But Bai Xiaonian saw inconcealable astonishment on Lin Nuan's face.
Lin Nuan was astonished too, as Lu Jinnan hadn't replied to her message.
Bai Xiaonian was even more confused now…
"I drove past just now and saw you guys enter, so I followed you guys in, thinking we could have a meal together. I'm not disrupting you guys, am I?" Lu Jinnan explained stiffly. Because he had smoked earlier, his voice was a little raspy.
Fu Huai'an gazed at Lu Jinnan with a hint of a smile as he turned his body sideways, allowing room for him to enter. "Come in first. I'm going to retrieve Tuan Tuan's school bag!"
Lu Jinnan nodded, then looked towards Tuan Tuan after he nodded at Lin Nuan as he entered.
He feigned calmness as he removed his jacket and casually placed it on the back of the chair next to Bai Xiaonian. At the same time, he asked Lin Nuan, "Can Tuan Tuan take spicy food?"
Bai Xiaonian frowned. There was such a large table with so many chairs. What was the meaning of Lu Jinnan insisting on sitting next to her, his ex-girlfriend?
"We'll get a twin soup base and order clear soup for Tuan Tuan's side. There's a bit of salt in the sesame sauce, so it's alright for him to eat a little less!" Lin Nuan lowered her head and caressed Tuan Tuan's head.
Under the table, Bai Xiaonian's hand, which was on her lap, was grabbed by a large hand. She felt her heart race like it was about to jump out of her chest.
She struggled, but that hand gripped her even more tightly.
After his car tires skidded just now and nearly caused his car to collide with a large truck, putting his life on the line, Lu Jinnan no longer wished to waste time fighting with Bai Xiaonian.
He once heard someone say, no one knew between an accident and tomorrow, which would come first…
In the past, Lu Jinnan didn't feel too strongly about this saying, but today, Lu Jinnan couldn't deny that he was scared!
He wasn't scared of death, but he was scared that he would no longer be able to be with Bai Xiaonian.
Even if the Pacific Ocean separated them, he could fly over to see her when he missed her. This beat not being able to see her ever again.
Bai Xiaonian turned her head and shot Lu Jinnan a warning glare.
Lu Jinnan also turned his head to look at Bai Xiaonian. He said, "Just now, merely seeing Old Fu's back view, I hadn't expected that you'd be here too. You're flying to America soon. I have a present for you. It's been in my car for a few days. Shall we go get it?"
Lu Jinnan felt very nervous when he spoke, fearing Bai Xiaonian would reject him.
Lu Jinnan wasn't actually good at lying to someone he cared about. When he spoke, his eyes were fixated on the other party, not blinking even once… fearing that if he blinked too many times, the other party would see through his lie.
"What present? I'm a little curious! Xiaonian, go and get it and show Tuan Tuan and me!" Lin Nuan smiled and said with Tuan Tuan in her arms.
Knowing that Lin Nuan was trying to help Lu Jinnan, Bai Xiaonian glared at Lin Nuan behind Lu Jinnan's back!
How could Bai Xiaonian not be angry with her hand gripped in the palm of the shameless Lu Jinnan, especially with her friend helping him?
Bai Xiaonian's ears flushed from anger, resembling the red skies on a summer evening.
Lu Jinnan was proud to his bones, yet he had come here and lowered his stance with Bai Xiaonian—Lin Nuan knew this, and Bai Xiaonian knew this even better.
The two of them had each other in their hearts, so when Lu Jinnan came, Lin Nuan could guess how things would turn out, and Bai Xiaonian could also guess it.
Precisely because she could guess how things would turn out, Bai Xiaonian's ears turned red against her will.
With the large, scalding hand gripping hers, no words were needed. The masculine scent was enough to capture Bai Xiaonian's heart, making her heart rate accelerate and causing her blood to flow faster.
"Let's go!" Lu Jinnan lowered his voice, bewitching Bai Xiaonian.
Bai Xiaonian's heart beat even faster, the way it did when she was instigated to play truant or do something bad back in high school. Her heart thumped furiously.
"Just go, you're just going to look at a present. Are you afraid?"
Lin Nuan helped Lu Jinnan with her gentle voice, clearly enjoying the show and unable to wait for things to escalate.
Unwilling to show cowardice, Bai Xiaonian nodded, then forcefully pulled her hand from Lu Jinnan's grasp. "I'll be right back!"
Lin Nuan nodded.
Although Lu Jinnan's hand was empty now, the sound of the chair scratching against the floor filled up his heart, making him feel joyful.
Lu Jinnan followed behind Bai Xiaonian. Upon opening the door, they came face-to-face with Fu Huai'an, who had come back with Tuan Tuan's cartoon schoolbag in his hand.
"Are you leaving?" Fu Huai'an asked.
"Lu Jinnan said he has a farewell present for me! We're going to get it…" Bai Xiaonian's ears turned even redder.
Actually, she could totally have asked Lu Jinnan to bring the present into the room for her!
She had taken the extra step of going out to retrieve it with him because she knew Lu Jinnan had something to say, and she wanted to hear if what Lu Jinnan had to say was what she wanted to hear.
In Bai Xiaonian's heart, Fu Huai'an was a man who was hard to read and deal with. She feared Fu Huai'an would see through her intentions, so she lowered her gaze and dared not look at that man with a heavy presence.
"En! No hurry… Xiao Nuan and I will order the food first!"
Watching as the two of them left, Fu Huai'an closed the door, then said with a smile to Lin Nuan, "I guess the two of them won't be coming back! Do you want to eat hotpot here or eat something lighter?"
Fu Huai'an remembered how Lin Nuan was a little heaty, and her throat was hurting. She had just gotten a little better today… so Fu Huai'an wanted Lin Nuan to eat something a little lighter.
"I don't think so!" Lin Nuan was in doubt. "At most, they'll talk a little longer. It's not a good idea if they come back to find that we've left, right?"
Fu Huai'an pulled out a chair and sat down, then retrieved Tuan Tuan's little water bottle from his school bag. He poured a cup of water for Tuan Tuan and placed it before him with his large hand, then said with a hint of a smile, "Do you want to bet on this with me?"
Seeing Fu Huai'an's expression, for some reason, Lin Nuan felt tempted. She bit her lip and asked, "What are we betting on?"
Fu Huai'an glanced at Tuan Tuan meaningfully, his throat vibrating. "To have the other party do whatever we ask, with nothing being out of bounds!"
Feeling that Fu Huai'an's glance at Tuan Tuan implied that he was up to no good, Lin Nuan thought to herself, this… gamble was a little too big!