Zong Jinghao pulled the chair out for Lin Xinyan and waited until she sat down before taking his own seat with his daughter in his arms.
Su Zhan looked at the time and said, “Shen Peichuan is putting on airs this time, huh? He’s even late for his own treat.”
“Maybe he’s held up,” replied Lin Xinyan. The Shen Peichuan she knew was not a time-blind man.
“Who could this girlfriend of his be? Hasn’t Sang Yu left B City? Xinyan, do you have any idea who it might be?” Su Zhan suddenly remembered seeing him getting in a woman’s car. Could it be her?
“It’s not Sang Yu?” asked Lin Xinyan.
Shaking his head, Su Zhan replied, “She left…”
“I know who she is. I’ve met her.” Zong Yanxi cut Su Zhan off and said smugly, taking pride with the fact that she was the first to meet her, even though their first encounter was a hellish unpleasant experience.
“Really?” Su Zhan asked with a smile, “Is she pretty?”
Zong Yanxi thought about it and replied, “Just so-so.”
Regardless of how good one looked, with a bad impression, everything else was pointless.
Zong Yanxi disregarded her looks altogether and remembered only the displeasing experience with her.
As with what was unlikable about her, she couldn’t really tell. She simply didn’t like her.
Just then, two persons showed up at the door of the restaurant.
“It’s terrible to be late when we’re the one hosting.” Shen Peichuan wasn’t happy because he thought that Song Yaxin was too capricious. It was almost time already when Song Yaxin insisted on going home to change, causing them to be late eventually.
“It’s my first time meeting your friends and if I dress horribly, wouldn’t I be embarrassing you?” Song Yaxin knew as well that showing up late was not appropriate but she wanted to make a good impression on Shen Peichuan’s friends on their first meeting.
“I was looking all scruffy and hideous; aren’t you ashamed of bringing me to see your friends that way?”
Shen Peichuan could not counter what she said so he replied placidly, “What I value in people is their virtue, not the veneer. You are who you are and there’s no need to care about how you look in others’ eyes.”
Song Yaxin pursed her lips and asked, “Are you angry?”
“I’m not. Alright now, we are here.” Shen Peichuan signaled her to stop speaking while he pushed open the door of the private room and greeted the others with a smile, “We’re so sorry for being late.”
Song Yaxin was indeed pretty and her outfit was also tasteful and elegant. Taking Shen Peichuan’s arms, she smiled and said, “Sorry, the traffic was congested on our way here so we’re late.”
Shen Peichuan furrowed his eyebrows in surprise that she actually lied.
It was clearly because she insisted on changing into another outfit that we’re late. How could she lie that it was because of traffic congestion?
“It’s okay, no worries.” Su Zhan smiled and sized her up while raising his eyebrows. It’s really that woman.
Shen Peichuan introduced him to Song Yaxin, “This is my friend, Su Zhan.”
Song Yaxin put on a graceful smile. “Hello.”
Su Zhan nodded lightly.
Meanwhile, Zong Yanxi lay on Zong Jinghao’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Daddy, I don’t like this Aunt. I despise her.”
Zong Jinghao patted her back and lowered his voice, “Mind your manners.”
Zong Yanxi pouted and replied in a low voice, “I’m just being honest.”
“Xinyan, this is Song Yaxin, my girlfriend.” Shen Peichuan led Song Yaxin to Lin Xinyan and introduced her.
“Hi,” Song Yaxin smiled as she greeted and eyeballed Lin Xinyan for a while before she turned around and pretended to look at Zong Jinghao casually while checking him out.
Even though he was silent all the while, she had noticed this man since she came in.
It had never occurred to her that everyone in Shen Peichuan’s circle was extraordinary.
Sure enough, excellent individuals got along with others who were equally excellent. She would have grabbed this precious man sooner if she had known about this circle of his.
Lin Xinyan replied with a smile, “Hello there.”
Her impression of Song Yaxin was fine. She’s pretty and courteous.
“We’ve been waiting for ages for you to arrive. Don’t keep us hungrily waiting again.”
“That’s true. Come on, let’s sit down quickly.” Song Yaxin tugged at Shen Peichuan to sit down together.
Su Zhan was holding his phone in his hand so he snapped a picture of Shen Peichuan and Song Yaxin together in secret and sent it to Qin Ya.
Very soon, Qin Ya replied with a shocked emoji: Who’s the woman sitting next to Shen Peichuan?
Su Zhan replied: Make a guess.
Qin Ya replied with a soaky emoji: Forget it then.
Su Zhan smiled and replied: That’s his girlfriend. He’s introducing her to us today. How nice it would be if you were here. We’ll be able to have dinner together then. How about this, I’ll come to see you after dinner, okay?
Qin Ya texted him back: What time is it now? Are you mad?
Su Zhan replied: I want to have breakfast with you tomorrow.
Though smiling while looking at the text message, Qin Ya sent out was rather unkind: You must be crazy!
Smiling, Su Zhan put away his phone.
“I know some of the signature dishes here. Do you have any dietary restrictions?” Song Yaxin turned to Lin Xinyan and added, “What would you like to eat? I heard people say that expectant mothers are picky about food.”
“Not me, I’m fine with anything,” Lin Xinyan answered.
“Well, I’ll make the order then.” Song Yaxin flipped through the menu when suddenly, Zong Yanxi started, “Aunt, you haven’t asked me yet.”
Song Yaxin paused for a while, then she quickly smiled and asked, “Well, what would you like to eat then?”
Lying in Zong Jinghao’s arms, Zong Yanxi uttered, “I don’t even know what is available in this restaurant. What am I to order?”
Song Yaxin reacted immediately by handing the menu over to her. “Have a look and see what you like to eat.”
Though smiling amiably, she hated Zong Yanxi deeply within. How could this little girl be so annoying?
What a spoilt brat!
Lin Xinyan frowned and patted her daughter. “Hey, please behave yourself. How could you talk to Aunt like that?”
“It doesn’t matter. She’s still young.” Song Yaxin was still trying to keep her graceful composure.
In fact, Zong Yanxi knew it was impolite and unkind to behave in such a way. But for some unknown reasons, she just disliked this Aunt so much. To her, it was the same as how much she liked Zhou Chunchun; both happened without a reason.
One likes someone without a reason, and it’s the same with hating someone.
“Why don’t we just let Yanxi order the dishes for our dinner tonight? Please order more since it’s a rare chance for Uncle Shen to be footing the bill,” Su Zhan said as he winked at Zong Yanxi.
Zong Yanxi grabbed the menu and acted like a grown-up. She had only started going to school for a few days and could only recognize a few words. However, since pictures of the dishes were provided, she could point at them to order.
She beamed with joy. This menu is really not bad. Some menus have only words and no pictures, making it difficult for those who can’t read to make an order.
She pointed at almost all the dishes which were not spicy because she had been used to rather bland cooking at home and her parents preferred eating food that was light and bland. Therefore, the dishes she ordered were mostly light flavored.
While waiting for the food to be served, Su Zhan asked, “Ms. Song, right?”
Song Yaxin smiled and nodded.
“Oh, then your father must be Captain Song, am I right?” Su Zhan finally got his head around it. Lin Xinyan and he was having the same question in mind. How did this woman get her hands on such a droner like Shen Peichuan?
And all of a sudden, it occurred to him that Shen Peichuan’s superior’s family name was also Song. Could it be that this woman’s father is Captain Song?
Shen Peichuan did not like to talk about subjects that were related to his job.
Hence, Su Zhan only knew very little about this.
Song Yaxin replied with a smile, “Yes.”
“Hold on, something’s not right. Weren’t you already married?” Su Zhan recalled that there was once when Shen Peichuan told him he was attending a wedding ceremony and he asked whose wedding it was and then got the reply that it was his superior’s daughter who was getting married.
Song Yaxin’s face darkened almost instantly.
“I am divorced.” Song Yaxin smiled wryly. She felt uncomfortable to be asked about her marital status. Hence, she stood up and said, “Excuse me for a while, I need to use the washroom.”
With that, she left the room.
There was a brief silence at the table. No one seemed to have expected that she was divorced.
Su Zhan looked at Shen Peichuan. “She was the one who pursued you?”
Shen Peichuan nodded.
Su Zhan blew up right away. It was not because he felt awful about divorcing, instead, it was because he knew how respectful Shen Peichuan was toward his superior.
If it were a request from Captain Song, Shen Peichuan would most probably agree to it as a note of respect to him.
Earlier on, he was still glum due to Sang Yu’s desertion. Who would have thought he would flip-flop and eventually hooked up with Song Yaxin? It was strange enough, indeed.
“You’re not a good match for each other,” Su Zhan spoke his mind directly.
There was not much expression on Shen Peichuan’s face. “I think we should be fine.”
Su Zhan went silent and just stared at him.
Disturbed by his glare, Shen Peichuan asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Su Zhan snorted, “Because you look so much like a sitting duck, you fool!”
