My Youth Began With Him

The upstairs compartments in the Hunan style restaurant were exquisitely renovated.

Qin Chu had entered compartment no. 8 a few minutes earlier than Su Yu.

Su Yu walked up nervously. After all, Qin Chu had rejected him once when he tried to talk to him.

He wondered if Qin Chu asked to see him to berate him for the lost baby or for buying so many things for Huo Mian.

Su Yu felt unsettled. To be honest, ever since they came back from Yunnan, he had felt the atmosphere was quite weird, but he couldn’t put this feeling to words.

When Su Yu entered the room, Qin Chu was making tea.

“Here you are.”

“Yeah.”

“Take a seat.”

“Okay.”

“You place the order,” Qin Chu said it not as a question but a statement.

Taking off his jacket, Su Yu sat across from Qin Chu and picked up the menu.

“Anything you like to eat?” he asked Qin Chu.

“Nothing in particular.”

“Damn… I admit defeat. You’re truly like a buddhist. Everything is fine with you, huh?” Su Yu resigned.

“You choose.”

Qin Chu poured a cup of tea and pushed it before Su Yu.

“Waiter! We’re ready to order.”

Since Qin Chu didn’t show any preference, Su Yu decided to choose his own favorite dishes.

Like Sichuan cuisine, the dishes in Hunan style restaurants were famous for their spiciness.

A waiter came in respectfully with an order device in his hand.

“President Su, can I have your order now?”

“Chopped bell pepper fish head, home-style tofu, Hunan style stir-fry, dried tofu stir-fried with seasoned pork, spicy lotus root slices, western Hunan Tujia fish.”

Su Yu ordered six dishes in one breath…

“President Su, those dishes are enough for you and President Qin; we have big dishes.”

The waiter reminded him.

Nodding, Su Yu closed the menu. “And West Lake ground beef soup.”

“Okay. Do you want rice or noodles, President Su?”

“I’ll order it later. Qin Chu, would you like some wine?”

“How can we drive if we have wine?” Qin Chu glanced at him.

“We can call designated drivers or chauffeurs,” Su Yu said casually.

“You don’t have meetings in the afternoon? You’ll go back to your office to sleep?”

“Okay… You win. Waiter, bring us two bottles of mineral water and some rice.”

“Yes, President Su.”

After the waiter was gone, the compartment fell into silence…

Qin Chu was notorious for his silent demeanor; his words were less than one fourth of Su Yu’s.

Su Yu began to regret that An wasn’t here; he didn’t like to talk all by himself.

As he tried to find something to say, Qin Chu spoke, “How are things going in the company?”

“Oh, not bad. Are you going to ask for a loan from me?” Su Yu asked as a joke.

“Do you think you are richer than me? I wonder where you got this self-confidence…” Qin Chu looked at him in exasperation.

“Haha… I’m not less rich than you’re… Maybe we can compare the numbers in our bank accounts?”

“Childish.”

Su Yu: “…”

“Um, Qin Chu, don’t tell me you are here just to have lunch with me.”

“Of course not.”

“So, what’s today’s topic?” Su Yu didn’t think he could last long with this King of Silence.

“How many times have you seen Mian after you came back from Yunnan?”

“Um… I hope you don’t have a misunderstanding of us. There’s nothing between Huo Mian and me…”

“You don’t have to explain. I didn’t mean that. Just answer my question.”

“About two or three times.” Su Yu tried to remember.

“Do you think she behaved the same as before?”

“What do you mean?” Su Yu looked at Qin Chu in surprise.