Chapter 43
Qiao Shao and He Shen also saw them. He Shen said, “You’re here? Wait a minute.”
Wei Jiayu thought to himself, ‘Why aren’t you cowering!’
Qiao Shao quickly said, “I accidentally spilled the milk so I’ll clean it …”
How do I clean it? Mop or rag?
Where’s the rag? Where’s the mop? Qiao Shao Shao missed his Auntie Wu a lot.
This statement cleared everything up. It turned out that they weren’t doing this and that in broad daylight. He had just accidentally spilled some milk.
Wei Jiayu had been taking small hurried steps out through the door and this finally made him stop in his tracks.
Lou Xiao said, “The car’s already downstairs.”
He Shen pulled Qiao Shao and said, “It’s all right, don’t worry about it.”
Qiao Shao said, “We’re just going to leave it like this? If we wait ‘til we get back…” it would be all smelly!
Lou Xiao frowned. “Don’t touch it. I’ll call someone to clean it.”
He Shen wouldn’t have cleaned it by himself. There probably wasn’t even a single mop in this apartment.
He Shen also stopped Qiao Shao. “Be careful not to let it touch you.”
Qiao Shao was still hesitating. He felt that it wasn’t right to just up and leave it…
Lou Xiao already made a phone call. “… En, come and do the cleaning. I’ll put the key under the mat.”
He hung up and said, “Let’s go.”
He Shen looked at Qiao Shao. “Okay?”
Qiao Shao: “…”
Fine, it’s not like he knew how to clean up the spilled milk anyway.
Wei Jiayu stood by the door and looked on silently. In his heart a violent storm was raging.
Actually, he wasn’t all that familiar with Lou Xiao and He Shen. Lou Xiao was a lone wolf and He Shen, even more so. Both of them had auras that warned people to stay back. Because Lou Xiao had “saved his life”, Wei Jiayu particularly worshipped Lou Xiao and by a.s.sociation, he also admired the great and celebrated G.o.d of learning.
But truth be told, this was his first visit to He Shen’s place. As a result of their unfamiliarity with each other, Wei Jiayu had no idea that Lou Xiao often arranged for someone to come and do the cleaning because he was afraid of He Shen dying of exhaustion in the rental apartment.
He still thought…Lou Xiao had done it for Qiao Shao! In order not to let Qiao Shao do it himself, Lou Xiao specially found someone to help with cleaning!
Oh sinner! This little poor ghost was such a sinful man!
This group of people headed out the door. The car was already parked and waiting for them downstairs.
Wei Jiayu displayed some quick-thinking. He sprinted to the front pa.s.senger seat, quickly settled in, and fastened his seat belt.
There were a total of four empty seats. He had no intention of sitting in the backrow and being a light bulb.
The k2018;oh so sensible’ Wei Jiayu, received an eyebrow raise from the school tyrant. Wei Jiayu thought that Lou Xiao was praising him for his cleverness. He was relieved, and sat down, now even more at ease.
With the armrests raised, there were three seats in the backrow. Qiao Shao was the smallest and was naturally delegated to the middle seat. Lou Xiao was on his left and He Shen was on his right.
Qiao Shao, who was squeezed in the middle, glared at Wei Jiayu—you stole my seat! It’s a pity that he was half a beat too slow. Now, he was left with no choice but to be caught between these two pairs of long legs.
Sigh … It wouldn’t be so bad if there wasn’t such a direct comparison. The compared Qiao Shao was very bitter.
The entire car ride was deathly silent.
Normally, He Shen talked to Qiao Shao quite a lot, but when there’s someone else in a private s.p.a.ce, he wasn’t so talkative. He didn’t speak, and Qiao Shao also didn’t know what to say. Lou Xiao was even more the taciturn type. What’s more, he considered himself to be a light bulb and had no desire to talk much. Wei Jiayu, who sat in the front seat, let alone speak, he didn’t even want to remain in this car. He’d jump out if he could. The car driver had brought a Bluetooth headset so that only he could hear the navigation directions. So except for the cool air conditioning, only the sounds of their own breathing could be heard.
Wei Jiayu felt the stiffness in the air. He comforted himself; fortunately, he sat in the co-pilot seat. Soon he realized another serious problem: he was wrong! He was terribly wrong! He shouldn’t have sat down in the co-pilot seat! He should have asked Shen Ge to sit here instead!
He then thought of Lou Xiao’s raised eyebrow… “Praise”, my a.s.s! That was obviously a murderous look!
Just imagine, if Shen Ge really were interested in Qiao Shao, wouldn’t the back row just be a tangled mess? Sorry, Wei Jiayu thought of those magically altered lyrics—he shouldn’t be in the car, he should be under the car instead!
Fortunately, there were no traffic jams along the way, and the restaurant was close. So, just a short while later, they already arrived.
After getting off the car, most of the pa.s.sengers heaved a sigh of relief.
Qiao Shao: No need to compare legs!
Lou Xiao: No need to emit light and heat!
Wei Jiayu: I got out of there alive…
Hutchison is a j.a.panese restaurant with a very low-key façade. However, inside, it was elegantly decorated in light green hues that was pleasant and refreshing. The interior was simple but refined. The color of the untreated wood was warm and inviting. The service staff wore understated kimonos and the simple white clothes, contrary to what one might expect, actually complemented each other well.
When Qiao Shao first heard the name, it made no impression on him. But when he came in, he found that he had actually been here before…
He had a cla.s.smate before who brought him here.
He Shen had reserved a private room — a small one with tatami flooring and four seats facing each other.
Wei Jiayu learned his lesson from the car ride. This time, he hung back and let them sit wherever they wanted.
Lou Xiao went ahead and picked one of the innermost corners to sit down in.
Wei Jiayu saw this and understood. He mustn’t sit next to Lou Xiao, so he should go opposite!
He was about to walk over, when He Shen beat him to that seat and said, “Wei Jiayu, go sit next to Lou Xiao.”
He Shen then patted the seat next to him and said “Qiao Shao, sit here.”
Qiao Shao sat down.
Wei Jiayu froze.
This … isn’t quite right!
Qiao Shao and Lou Xiao were diagonally opposite to each other. This was simply the farthest one could be from each other in this room!
The server then came to take their orders. Lou Xiao often came here and without looking at the menu, he ordered a few dishes.
Wei Jiayu was still worried about this precarious seating arrangement.
Lou Xiao glanced at him. “What’re you having?”
Wei Jiayu was still scared out of his wits. “Anything.”
Lou Xiao said irritably, “There’s no dish called “Anything” on the menu.”
Wei Jiayu was so shaken by his tone that his blue hair nearly stood on end. “I’ll just have whatever you’re having.”
The server nodded and Lou Xiao added, “Don’t give him any alcohol.”
Lou Xiao had ordered a drink for himself.
On the opposite side, He Shen was being very amiable. He asked Qiao Shao. “Can you eat seafood?”
Qiao Shao was also very well-behaved. “Yeah.”
“Are you ok with raw fish?”
“It’s okay.”
“Is crab congee ok with you for the staple?”
“Sounds good.”
He Shen’s lips curved in a smile. “And a cup of sake?”
Qiao Shao looked at him: “???” Minors are not allowed to drink alcohol, ok!
“Just teasing you,” He Shen put down the menu and said. “Don’t be nervous, there’s no one else here.”
Qiao Shao wasn’t nervous. This meek and submissive manner of his was out of pure fear of running into someone he knew! Although it was a private room, it wasn’t completely isolated and the door was still open. He was seated in one of the outer seats and who knows if someone might spot him here…
The odds were very, very small but Qiao Shao didn’t want to court disaster.
“Um…” Qiao Shao, who finished his order, whispered to He Shen, “Can we change seats?”
He Shen asked him, “Why?”
Qiao Shao put on a bold face and said, “I want to sit inside.”
He Shen said, “Ok.”
They changed seat and he was now seated across from Lou Xiao.
Wei Jiayu quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Little poor ghost, looks like you still have some sense left in you. I didn’t hold that meeting for you for nothing!
It could still be regarded as a pretty calm meal.
He Shen took good care of Qiao Shao and kept an eye on what he loved to eat.
As for Lou Xiao, he sat in the corner, drinking, bored out of his mind, not paying the least bit of attention to the people opposite.
Wei Jiayu was so anxious, but of what use was his worry? The person concerned had already given up and decided to drown himself in liquor!
Midway, Lou Xiao got up to go to the toilet.
Wei Jiayu stood up to let him through and also said, “I’ll go too …”
As soon as they came out, they heard He Shen’s voice from the private room. “I’ll get it for you. You have to be gentle so the sea urchin won’t break. Come, open your mouth …”
WTF!
Wei Jiayu froze. He wanted to cover Lou Xiao’s ears!
Lou Xiao shot a glance at Wei Jiayu.
Wei Jiayu quickly looked away.
Lou Xiao came out to smoke, he lit a cigarette and asked, “Do you know?”
Wei Jiayu’s back was stretched taut.
What did he know?
He felt that he really knew too much!
Lou Xiao blew out a smoke ring. “He Shen and Qiao Shao …”
Wei Jiayu’s hair was about to stand on end. “Those two, um …”
Lou Xiao looked at him.
Wei Jiayu didn’t want to set off the flames of war. He strengthened his resolve and said, “Those two are seatmates, and it’s normal for them to be like that! Why, the seatmates in front of my seat hug all the time. Just this morning, they were even feeding each other!”
Little poor ghost, this is as much as your dorm room leader can help you!