The Beautiful Time With You

They reached Taste of Home, and since Lin Jiage was with her, Shi Yao ‘extravagantly’ opted for the compartment seats.

The waiter swiftly handed them the menu, but Lin Jiage didn’t take it. Instead, he gestured for Shi Yao to order instead.

Having visited Taste of Home multiple times, it didn’t take Shi Yao too long to place her order.

Of course, since she was treating, she felt that it was necessary for her to show some sincerity as well. Thus, she specially ordered the large crayfish which she couldn’t even bring herself to order usually.

After Shi Yao was done choosing their dishes, the waiter routinely repeated the order once more, “Confirming your order, one large portion of Spicy Crayfish, one large portion of Thirteen Spices Crayfish, one large portion of Garlic Crayfish, one plate of Grilled Scallop, and one plate of Lamb Skewers…”

Shi Yao nodded her head, preparing to respond with a “That’s right”, but before the words could leave her mouth, the young man sitting across from her had already directed a nonchalant question to the waiter, “Are you sure that’s right? Just one portion for every dish?”

The perplexed waiter nodded. “I’m certain. Would you like to change your order?”

Lin Jiage shot a strange look at Shi Yao.

Why is she being so reserved today? Is it because she’s running out of her monthly allowance? She doesn’t need to worry about it since I wasn’t going to let her pay for the bill in the first place…

Thus, after a moment of thought, Lin Jiage turned to the waiter and said, “Three portions for all ordered dishes.”

“Sir, do you mean that you’d like to have three portions for all the dishes that the Miss just ordered?” Thinking that his ears were playing tricks on him, the waiter sought for confirmation.

“That’s right, three portions…” Lin Jiage repeated his order once more. A moment later, he changed it, “… Ah, no. What I mean is, three large portions.”

It took a moment before Shi Yao realized that Lin Jiage was altering the volume of food according to the bowls of dumplings she’d had during their breakfast together. Astonished, she anxiously waved to the waiter and said, “No no no, don’t listen to him! Just listen to my order, one large portion for every dish.”

When the waiter finally left, Shi Yao turned her head back to Lin Jiage and explained, “We won’t be able to finish three portions.”

Lin Jiage calmly nodded as he explained his previous actions as well, “I thought that you’d need three portions—ah, no, it should be three large portions—of whatever you ate.”

Shi Yao was sipping on her water and almost choked after hearing his sudden explanation.

It took a while before Shi Yao finally soothed the harsh sensation away, and she continued drinking her water. At this moment, Lin Jiage calmly continued where he left off, “If I think about it, we did order three large portions this time too. It’s just that they’re in different flavors.”

And this time, Shi Yao really choked on her water… To others, having a handsome man to accompany them for dinner would whet their appetite, but for her, it was a life-threatening encounter! Who knew when he’d drop another remark during the meal that would choke her to death…

…

In the end, they added two more large portions of crayfish and cleaned those dishes up beautifully as well. Satisfied, Shi Yao took off her gloves.

Her hands were stained with oil, and even the wet tissue provided wasn’t enough to clean them properly. After informing Lin Jiage that she was going to the bathroom, she left the table.

But ten minutes soon passed, she still wasn’t back yet.

After secretly paying the bill, Lin Jiage waited patiently for Shi Yao’s return. He soon felt that something was amiss, and this feeling was growing stronger by the moment. Thus, he reached out for his phone and called her.

The call was successful, but no one picked up on the other end.

Unable to remain seated, Lin Jiage took both his and Shi Yao’s coats and left the compartment. He quickly asked the nearest waiter for directions to the bathroom before heading over hurriedly.

At the entrance of the bathroom, he saw Shi Yao.

But at this moment, there were a few additional figures standing around her.

Of the group, the person that stood out the most was a woman. In this slightly chilly weather of early spring, she was dressed in strangely revealing clothes.

She had heavy makeup on—smokey purple eyeliner paired with long and curly false eyelashes and dark-red lipstick.

Lin Jiage stared at her for some time, but he still couldn’t recognize who she was.

But she then said, “I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time, Lin Jiage.” It was only then that Lin Jiage finally recognized who she was.

Qin Yiran.