Chapter 55: Speculation
Zhao Zhuangzong was speculating the circ.u.mstances. How long had Lu Xiaoxiao and Jiang Yao been here? Did they see anything from the outside? Did he do anything overly affectionate earlier that would cause any misunderstanding?
Then, he lifted his speculative glance at Lu Xiaoxiao’s innocent smile. She was still scanning around the restaurant curiously at the moment. Zhao Zhuangzong a.s.sumed that the sloppy and clumsy Lu Xiaoxiao wouldn’t notice anything peculiar and offbeat.
As for Jiang Yao…
Zhao Zhuangzong squinted and pondered. Although Jiang Yao was Lu Yuqing’s sister-in-law and they had interacted several times because of their connection, Jiang Yao had always been a sullen and reserved person. He couldn’t figure out her temperament and personality, and he wasn’t sure if she had noticed anything.
In his opinion, Jiang Yao was not an easy character to be up against, unlike Lu Xiaoxiao. She was not as foolishly innocent as Lu Xiaoxiao was. After all, Jiang Yao was a top student in school, and the intelligence level of a person who excelled academically was exceptionally high. Besides, although she and Lu Xingzhi spent very little time as husband and wife while they were married, Lu Xingzhi was very protective of and affectionate to her. It could be concluded that Jiang Yao was a sophisticated and astute woman, and that she had some tricks up her sleeve.
When he thought of this, Zhao Zhuangzong began to worry. Did Jiang Yao see anything? Did she figure something out?
Zhao Zhuangzong couldn’t find the slightest hint of answers to the questions based on Jiang Yao’s external expression. Jiang Yao was being her usual self. She greeted and smiled politely at him. Then, she just stood there quietly without any change of expression on her face.
At this moment, Zhao Zhuangzong felt that Jiang Yao and Lu Xingzhi were very much alike.
“Brother, since you’re done, why don’t you let me and Jiang Yao take your seat, please?” Lu Xiaoxiao blurted out, anxiously impatient to chase him away. “We’re so hungry! Pretty please?”
At her remark, Zhao Zhuangzong nodded with a smile and said, “Okay, your meal is on me, order whatever you like. Enjoy your meal.” Then, he stood up and strode towards the cas.h.i.+er next to the entrance.
Jiang Yao couldn’t hear what Zhao Zhuangzong was saying to the cas.h.i.+er due to the noisy ambiance, but she could see that both he and the cas.h.i.+er were looking their way. He must have been saying that he’d pay for their meals as well.
It seemed that Zhao Zhuangzong knew the owner of the restaurant, or in other words, he was a regular here that even the staff knew him. Hence, Zhao Zhuangzong could settle their bill before they had even ordered, regardless of how much it would cost.
After their table was cleaned, Lu Xiaoxiao urged Jiang Yao to sit down. She said with a proud smile, “See, I made the right decision to dine in here, didn’t I? Brother-in-law even paid for us! He’s so generous! We’re so lucky!”
“Yup, you’re right,” Jiang Yao answered with a mysterious smile. Everything flooded back into her mind—Zhao Zhuangzong dining in with the pregnant woman, as well as the way he placed his hand tenderly on the pregnant woman’s belly. If she hadn’t come here and witnessed this, she would have hardly remembered this incident before rebirth.
Jiang Yao thought that the only person in the world who would believe in Zhao Zhuangzong’s nonsense was a silly naive girl like Lu Xiaoxiao.
It would still be believable that Zhao Zhuangzong would dine alone in this restaurant even if he had a wife. However, would a normal pregnant woman come to this restaurant alone?