Chapter 34: Respect is Earned
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Cao Shanshan was unable to control herself. She darted in Ling Yun’s direction. Ling Yun was so busy chatting with Ning Lingyu that he did not listen to anything Zhang Ling said.
Do you think that I’m afraid to sit beside you? I’ll do exactly that!
Cao Shanshan reluctantly walked towards the empty seat between Ling Yun and Zhang Ling. Without flinching, she gently sat down in a natural and elegant manner.
Although she was still angry, she had to maintain her status as an elegant, upper-cla.s.s lady. At this moment, the waiter handed her the menu. Zhang Ling immediately took the menu over and did not share it with anyone else. Without hesitation, she started ordering, “Including the three dishes just now, we would like to have Braised Pig Trotters, Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, Sliced Beef and Ox Tongue in Chilli Sauce…”
Cao Shanshan felt ashamed. Zhang Ling, can you even finish all that food? Also, all the dishes are above fifty dollars…
Before Zhang Ling could finish ordering, Cao Shanshan s.n.a.t.c.hed the menu. She ordered a plate of Sour and Spicy Potato Strips without even looking at the menu, then proceeded to place the menu in front of Ling Yun.
“I wasn’t done with ordering…” Zhang Ling murmured to express her dissatisfaction, which caused Cao Shanshan to glare at her angrily.
Ling Yun noticed that Cao Shanshan only ordered one dish and he looked at her with a rather surprised expression. Ling Yun did not bother looking at the menu and pa.s.sed it over to Ning Lingyu. He said in a warm voice, “Lingyu, order whatever you’d like to eat.”
Ning Lingyu stuck out her tongue playfully at Ling Yun. She, too, ordered a plate of Fried Lettuces with Roasted Garlic and Stir Fried Broccoli without looking at the menu. She then proceeded to pa.s.s the menu to Chai Hanlin. Similar to Ling Yun and Ning Lingyu, this was Chai Hanlin’s first time in Savant’s Restaurant. Chai Hanlin did not know what dish to order and so, he pa.s.sed the menu to Tang Meng.
As of now, there were already nine dishes. Tang Meng gave it a deep thought. He looked over at the three beautiful girls beside Ling Yun and then decided to get three bowls of Sugared Bird’s Nest Soup with Dates. He proceeded to place the menu on Zhang Dong’s hand.
Tang Meng had always been a very thoughtful guy who paid attention to details. By using Ling Yun’s treat to order Bird’s Nest Soup for the three ladies, he received praise from all three of them.
Even Cao Shanshan, who had always been crude to Tang Meng, replied with a smile.
Tang Meng pretended not to see Ling Yun’s killer stare from the opposite side, but instead looked at the three beauties. He was secretly proud of himself. Treating the two prettiest girls in school to some Bird’s Nest Soup without spending a single dollar? Such a good deal! Only an idiot wouldn’t do it.
After receiving the menu, Zhang Dong returned it directly to the waiter. He looked at Ling Yun, then at Tang Meng, and ordered, “Half a dozen beers and three cups of fruit juice.”
Zhang Dong was influenced by his father who loved to drink beer. His whole body was sweating since he had played basketball just now and he needed a drink to quench his thirst. Beer was the obvious choice.
The waiter went to process the order. While everyone waited, the entire Kuixing Pavilion became almost like a news conference for Ling Yun.
“Ling Yun, I heard that you knocked down your hostel’s door last night and punched both Wei Tiangan and Jia Meng. Is it true?”
“Ling Yun, how did you manage to persevere running eleven laps while carrying the sandbag in the afternoon? You even vomited blood but you still seem perfectly fine!”
“Ling Yun, how did you train your memory? How did you become so powerful? Do you still remember the text? Why don’t you repeat it for us again?”
“Ling Yun, did you really beat up Gou Junfa? Aren’t you afraid that he’ll get someone to deal with you? What if he uses his connections to get you expelled?”
Zhang Ling, who had a natural potential to be an excellent reporter, acted as the main interviewer. She was followed up by Tang Meng and the others.
Ling Yun remembered the words ‘be super lowkey’ by heart. He acted as if he was a big shot being interviewed. He gave random answers and beat around the bush. His mouth was full of sh*t. His main purpose was to avoid answering the questions properly.
Although he was lying, his answers were hilarious. This greatly amused Ning Lingyu, who could not stop laughing. Even though Cao Shanshan disliked Ling Yun, she, too, started to simmer with laughter.
Fortunately, Savant’s Restaurant was not too busy. The first dish was served not long after and that was when Zhang Ling’s rigorous questioning stopped. When the waitress brought in the beer, Zhang Dong told her to leave the bottle-opener and politely asked her to leave.
Zhang Dong, being a tall guy, stood up and bent towards Ling Yun. He filled his beer gla.s.s then took a seat. After a quick contemplation, Zhang Dong faced Ling Yun and said sincerely, “Ling Yun, to be honest, you used to be a coward. Although we did sympathize with you, we couldn’t really help out much. But now that you’ve changed, from the bottom of our hearts, we are truly happy for you. Cheers to you!”
Everyone was touched by Zhang Dong’s sincere words. They joined in the toast together while looking at Ling Yun with a complex gaze. For a moment, the private room became silent.
This included Ning Lingyu, who had been happily laughing just now. Her pair of big eyes turned moist as she nipped her lips and stared at her brother. Her eyes were filled with pride and expectation. It was a truly indescribable moment.
Although Cao Shanshan did not look at Ling Yun, her pair of slender hands, which was holding a cup of juice, trembled slightly and uncontrollably. Her gaze was unstable as she didn’t know where to look.
Ling Yun slowly glanced over the crowd while smiling. Finally, he stopped at Zhang Dong.
“Thank you,” Ling Yun said while raising his cup and finis.h.i.+ng the drink.
Ling Yun was calm and collected, but as soon as he drank the beer, he no longer felt so. What the h.e.l.l is this taste?
If not for the people here, he would have spat out the whole gla.s.s of beer. Ling Yun frowned and grit his teeth. He gulped down the gla.s.s of beer as if it was poison. It tasted bitter and left a weird taste on his tongue. The expression on his face was turning weird.
Tang Meng was a little surprised. He giggled, “Ling Yun, you’ve never consumed alcohol before?” Although this was his first time, Ling Yun was not about to embarra.s.s himself. He forced a smile and replied, “Of course I have! But there’s always this weird taste…”
Ling Yun’s explanation successfully covered his lie. Tang Meng smiled in return, “This is the taste of beer. If it doesn’t sting, it ain’t alcohol. You’ll get used to it quickly. Go ahead! Tuck in!”
After the first dish was served, the remaining dishes came very quickly. Zhang Ling flashed a wide smile at the dishes that she ordered. She gobbled the food ferociously, paying no attention to Cao Shanshan, who was seated beside her.
Cao Shanshan was also starving. It was something that she was not used to. Everyone was her cla.s.smates except for Tang Meng and Ning Lingyu. Thus, she ate happily without many reservations.
The only thing that made her unhappy was that Ling Yun kept pa.s.sing Ning Lingyu more food, but did not pa.s.s any food to her. This made her a little upset.
Would you die if you gave in to me? Even if you do give me some food, I wouldn’t cherish it!
As soon as they were done eating, the waiter immediately served the Bird’s Nest Soup to the three ladies. Without any hesitation, Zhang Ling immediately gulped down the whole bowl of soup.
“I’m so full! My stomach is so bloated…” Zhang Ling giggled to herself. Zhang Ling lifted her head and realized that everyone was staring at her, which made her a little embarra.s.sed. She smiled back awkwardly. Cao Shanshan also ate quite a huge portion. However, she was full of elegance, hence, she took her time to consume the soup, acting like an upper-cla.s.s lady.
A woman’s stomach is a unique thing.
As soon as Cao Shanshan was done eating, she glanced at Ling Yun and felt that he was not that hateful after all. You’re lucky that you’re quite interesting!
Although it was a huge feast, Ling Yun and Tang Meng consumed the least. In the afternoon, they had shared five to six dishes between the both of them and as a result, they were rather full. In Ling Yun’s head, he was thinking of a way to get some useful information from Cao Shanshan. He never treated people to meals only to get nothing in return.
At this moment, Zhang Ling wiped her mouth and stood up. She announced embarra.s.sedly, “You guys continue eating. I have to head to the washroom…”
Ning Lingyu also stood up. She smiled and said, “Let’s go together!”
Ning Lingyu did not need to use the washroom. Instead, she wanted to use this opportunity to speak with Zhang Ling privately. After all, Zhang Ling was going to be her brother’s ‘tutor’ in the coming two months. If Zhang Ling was not satisfied, her brother’s treat would have been wasted.
After the two of them left the room, Ling Yun tried to start a new conversation, “Who here has been to The Great Wall of China?”
Zhang Dong and Cai Hanlin could not help but look at each other. The Great Wall of China was located in the North, but they were in Jiangnan. They had obviously never been there before.
Tang Meng was using a toothpick to pick his teeth, but when he heard this, he laughed, “The Great Wall? I’ve been to Yan Jing’s Ba Da Ling many times before. Why? Do you want to go?”
Ling Yun was afraid that no one would continue the conversation and so he nodded his head and said, “I’ve heard that the Ba Da Ling section of The Great Wall is both magnificent yet imposing. I would love to go there.”
“Go then! You can head there via train or airplane. Once you reach Yan Jing, you can purchase a ticket to go up,” Tang Meng replied casually.
Ling Yun feigned his curiosity, “How did they even build this two thousand years ago? How did they manage to carry those big pieces of stone up to the mountaintop? How did they even manage to stack it up?”
Since Ning Lingyu had left, Tang Meng had already stopped paying attention. After picking his teeth, he drew out a stick of cigarette and replied, “How the h.e.l.l would I know? I think the ancient Chinese are actually smarter than us though.”
Cao Shanshan’s lips moved as if she had something to say. However, she immediately shut her cute little mouth and did not say a word.
As Ling Yun’s eyes swept the room, he sighed to himself uncontrollably.
“What do you want!” A high-pitch and irritated scream came from outside the room.
Ling Yun and the rest knew that this voice belonged to Zhang Ling. Their faces turned black. Tang Meng rushed out of the room while yelling, “Sh*t!”
Since his dream girl, Ning Lingyu, was also outside, he was definitely alarmed. Although he was fast, Cao Shanshan was faster. She left her seat in an instant and she rushed ahead of Tang Meng.
“That’s fast!” Ling Yun murmured as he looked at his surroundings. His pupil contracted and his eyes narrowed slightly. However, this was not the right time to think about this. He noticed that everyone had dashed out and he followed suit.
When he arrived outside the room, Tang Meng and Cao Shanshan were already standing in front of Ning Lingyu and Zhang Ling. Facing them were three men in their twenties. They seemed like university students. Their drunk faces were red from alcohol.
“Oh, this new girl is also quite pretty… We can’t find such a beautiful girl in our school…”