CH 18

It was already 5:30 p.m. when Ruan Mengmeng proposed to leave, and Chen Linjia was dead set on dragging them to have dinner together.

When she ran to the billing window to go through the discharge procedures, the kind nurse refused with a smile, saying that Chen Linjia’s family had asked her to observe her for another day before she could be discharged tomorrow.

Chen Linjia was so angry that she jumped to her feet!

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It wasn’t easy to have two days of rest from classes or dance practise. Who would waste two days of rest in the hospital!

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Chen Linjia’s face turned red and green, but finally, she gritted her teeth and took Ruan Mengmeng’s arm and got into the car. When Lu Zhengyuan saw the situation, he didn’t ask any questions.

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When they arrived at the pedestrian street in the city centre, Chen Linjia jumped out of the car as if there was fire under her buttocks.

Ruan Mengmeng thanked the driver, who took out a business card and handed it to her.

“Classmate, this is my mobile phone number,” the driver begged bitterly, “The young master and madam have given instructions that the young lady must return to the hospital at 10:30 p.m. Please, I’m asking this classmate to help advise her.”

Taking the card, Ruan Mengmeng smiled softly, thinking that Gu Tingzhi was still good to Jiajia. As long as it was with good intention, she would not refuse.

“En, don’t worry Uncle Driver, we’re just having a meal.”

Lu Zhengyuan was stunned at her words. On the way over, he had been thinking of how to invite Ruan Mengmeng to watch a movie after dinner. He had thought of several versions of the opening line, but now it was dead in the water. His heart felt stifled.

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There was no chance of further planning today.

Chen Linjia, who had gotten out of the car first, stood by the side of the street in a puff of anger. When she saw the two of them dawdling, she went back and knocked on the car window, “What aren’t you two getting out of the car?”

Ruan Mengmeng waved her business card at the driver. She walked over to Chen Linjia to poke her in the arm, “Did you eat a cannon? The moment you land, you’re shouting,” she whispered. “Zhengyuan is still around. Can’t you be more restrained?”

Chen Linjia looked at Lu Zhengyuan and teased, “Even if I eat a rocket launcher into the sky and blow up a mushroom cloud, it doesn’t matter to him because he has ah…… in his eyes.”

Rounding the other side of Ruan Mengmeng, smiling, she pushed her best friend towards Lu Zhengyuan, “Only you, a gentle dazzling firework.”

“What are you talking about?” Ruan Mengmeng twisted on her heel and exclaimed, “Aiyah!”

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Lu Zhengyuan was quick on his feet, pulling Ruan Mengmeng’s arm with one hand and holding her shoulder with the other. He nervously asked, “Is everything okay?”

This was a Japanese restaurant with exquisitely arranged landscape ponds on both sides of the entrance. There was a small rockery with flowing water, dense clouds of smoke made of dry ice, and two koi in the tinkling water.

Ruan Mengmeng almost fell onto the ground, and even if she hadn’t hit a stone, she would have fallen into the water.

She shook her head at Lu Zhengyuan, while behind her, Chen Linjia was sniggering.

Ruan Mengmeng’s almond eyes widened. She didn’t apologise to her and she was laughing? How dare she?

“Hey, you did it on purpose! See if I don’t… “

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Ruan Mengmeng’s soft voice was very dissatisfied, and she raised her hand to slap Chen Linjia.

Chen Linjia raised her face fearlessly. Two three or four centimeters long fingerprints and the corner of the eye a bandage gauze…. this was a poor sell~

“You ……” Ruan Mengmeng bit the corner of her mouth. She couldn’t fight, “Humph! You remember.”

“I’ll remember it. I’ll just remember it. ” Chen Linjia was not at all afraid of the angry pufferfish, Ruan Baozi [1]. She elbow stabbed Lu Zhengyuan, “How about it? I let you be a small hero to save the beauty.”

Looking at Ruan Mengmeng, who was two steps away, Lu Zhengyuan frowned and said, “It was very dangerous just now. If I hadn’t pulled her, Mengmeng would have fallen into the pool.”

Chen Linjia rolled her eyes, “I was just looking at you! Besides, the water in that fortune pool isn’t even deep enough to submerge my ankles, right? Che, I don’t know how to be nice to people.”

“Zhengyuan, shall we sit in the private room?” Ruan Mengmeng communicated with the restaurant waiter, “Who let us have a big tabby cat? We don’t want to affect the appetites of other guests.”

Chen Linjia, who was poked fun at, laughed and sucked back a breath of joy, pulling at the corner of her injured eye.

“I’ll do whatever,” Lu Zhengyuan took a step across behind Ruan Mengmeng and said, “Mengmeng, just make the decision.”

“Oh…” Chen Linjia heard this and stroked her arm in a strange manner.

Ruan Mengmeng glanced at her. The drama was too much, so she was too lazy to pay attention. She listened to the sweet-smiling waitress next to her while she introduced them to the box.

Did she hear Chen Linjia’s words? Why didn’t she react at all? She didn’t blush or get angry? Lu Zhengyuan looked at Ruan Mengmeng, his heart torn and confused. [2]

The interior of the shop was traditionally decorated in a gorgeous style. The dishes were exquisite, the taste was light, and the prices were very expensive. It was much better to have a visual atmosphere to talk or for a business meeting.

However, for the three people who came here simply to pay tribute to the five zang temples [3], they were not very satisfied with the food.

Chen Linjia ate a spoonful of avocado salad and a large platter of hand-held sushi on the table, which was cut into cute shapes. She picked two of them up and put them in her mouth, not wanting to lift her chopsticks again.

“Mengmeng, why did you choose this place?”

Ruan Mengmeng was also stifled. She was a fan of local food, or heavy food. “We have wounds, ah. You think I don’t want to go for good food?”

“Order something else?” Lu Zhengyuan suggested, intending to ring the table bell.

“Don’t!” Chen Linjia reached out to stop it, her eyes shining brightly. “Let’s go to Yummy Street. Sesame oil skewers, and barbecue?”

When Ruan Mengmeng heard this, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva with a gulp. Lu Zhengyuan laughed out loud at this.

She lowered her head in embarrassment and hurriedly ate an eel sushi roll to suppress the shame.

“Let’s go then,” Lu Zhengyuan said thoughtfully. “We haven’t eaten out since middle school, and I haven’t even touched fried or grilled fish or meat for a long time. That is the way it tastes best. I especially wanted to eat it once Chen Linjia said it.”

“Is it that painful to lose weight?” Ruan Mengmeng grimaced, “Three or four months? I wouldn’t have been able to stick to it.”

“You’re just a foodie with no perseverance.” Chen Linjia spat.

Lu Zhengyuan stood up and patted Ruan Mengmeng’s head in passing, “It’s okay, Mengmeng is cute like this, no need to lose weight.”

“Hehehehehe ……” Chen Linjia smiled gossipily at Ruan Mengmeng. She turned her head at a glance and saw Lu Zhengyuan and the waiter at the door swiping their phones and shouted, “Eh? What are you doing? I’ll pay the bill!”

“No chance, you can do it next time!” Lu Zhengyuan waved his phone’s successful payment interface. “Is Mengmeng ready to go?”

“Oh.” Ruan Mengmeng got up from the tatami and said, “Zhengyuan, I chose the place. How come you’re paying for it?”

All three of them were from good families, but it was Ruan Mengmeng who had the most pocket money.

When Chen Linjia’s father died, the property was divided into three. One for each of his parents and children. However, she was not yet an adult and Huang Lili was her legal guardian. At the request of Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen, the share belonging to Chen Linjia was deposited in the bank’s financial fund and could only be accessed after she turned 18.

The pocket money she had on hand was a monthly allocation from the bank. Huang Lili wanted to give her an allowance, but she was stubborn and refused to take it. She even avoided the Gu family like they were snakes.

Lu Zhengyuan’s parents were both doctors at the city hospital and had money, but it was still less than Ruan Mengmeng’s father, who runs a chain of lifestyle supermarkets. Besides, Ruan Mengmeng’s father was afraid of his daughter losing her chubby body and gave her much more pocket money than her peers.

“I’m a boy,” Lu Zhengyuan said, “and you treated me to a Flowery Branch Oolong this afternoon. Forget it?”

“But I just saw you didn’t even eat much,” said Ruan Mengmeng. “Why don’t I treat you to a skewer later?”

“Aiya,” Chen Linjia squeezed over and took a quick glance at Lu Zhengyuan to create another opportunity, “Mengmeng, don’t be so serious. Our relationship is so good. It’s pointless to bother about this. I heard there’s a big movie coming out recently?”

Lu Zhengyuan received the olive branch thrown by Chen Linjia and said smartly, “Yes, The Little Prince is in theatres……. Mengmeng, do you want to go?”

Ruan Mengmeng asked in return, “Does Zhengyuan want to go?”

“I ……” Lu Zhengyuan hadn’t finished speaking when the impatient Chen Linjia interrupted next to him, “Of course I want to go. The little prince and his rose, “in love with a unique flower blooming in the vast sea of stars.” It’s beautiful.”

Seeing that both of her friends wanted to go, Ruan Mengmeng wouldn’t spoil the fun. She nodded her head in agreement, “Sure, how about next weekend night?”

Hearing her say that, Lu Zhengyuan let out a sigh of relief, and his face glowed with joy.

Chen Linjia also looked excited. Her bright face could not hide her lively wit, even though it was scratched.

The two looked at each other and, after a tacit smile, both looked relieved, their expectant looks seeming to imply something else.

And when Ruan Mengmeng saw the interaction between the two, a light bulb suddenly lit up in her head: oh~~ so that’s it ……

[1] Baozi is a bun made with yeast so it can puff up. It is usually filled with meat, veggies or even paste. It is also known as Pow/Pau.

[2] The words Lu Zhengyuan used are typically used for people in relationships, telling them “you can make the decision for us”. Chen Linjia made a sound as if she was insinuating that particular meaning to what he said, so Zhengyuan was confused as to why Mengmeng didn’t care.

[3] They simply came to fill their stomachs.