Jiang Shiyan spoke rapidly. Chen Siran was stunned for a while, unable to believe it: “We’ve all given you two some alone time, and you’re asking me if I want to go eat beauty chicken soup?!”
Chen Siran made two “ya ya” sounds, speaking with the contemptuous tone of someone who’s driven ten cars: “Yan-dog, can you handle this or not?!”
“What nonsense about alone time,” Jiang Shiyan scoffed, “Chen Siran, don’t apply your dirty thoughts to Tang Yang and me. Be careful, or I’ll report you to the Security Department for poisoning the nation’s flowers…”
Chen Siran turned his head and whispered to Feng Weiran: “The so-called flower protectors are often the flower thieves themselves. One can’t help but marvel at the ancestors who invented the phrase ‘the water near the tower flows first’.”
Jiang Shiyan complained: “What are you two whispering about?”
“Praising you, saying you’re good, handsome, and awesome without being weird,” Chen Siran clicked his tongue, “Send over the address.”
Jiang Shiyan: “Mm.”
Chen Siran: “Is Sister Yang going—”
“Beep beep beep,” Jiang Shiyan’s signal was lost.
At noon, Chen Siran and Feng Weiran saw Jiang Shiyan still wearing casual suits. When they returned to Yi Xiu, they saw him change into jeans, sneakers, and a long black down jacket. He had headphones around his neck, a mask hanging from both ears, pentagon-shaped sunglasses, and a navy baseball cap pulled down so low it almost covered his eyes.
Was this… Jiang CEO’s hip-hop youth play?
Chen Siran was surprised for a moment, then cooperatively took photos of the hip-hop youth like a fan.
The hip-hop youth removed his mask, with a domineering CEO expression: “Hip-hop is a fashion.”
Then he bent down and got into the car.
Chen Siran and Feng Weiran wanted to laugh and say something, but they encountered Jiang Shiyan’s ice-cold face.
The two held back their laughter until their facial features were almost distorted. When they arrived at the place, they burst into laughter for a good while before recovering.
The Flavor House had antique decor, with each table surrounded by railings and vines on three sides, providing some privacy for customers.
At the entrance, Jiang Shiyan gave each of them a mask.
Chen Siran and Feng Weiran, both big shots who had been on hot searches, glanced inside to see it was fully seated. Assuming Jiang Shiyan was afraid of being photographed by paparazzi, they obediently put on the masks.
When the waiter led the three to Jiang Shiyan’s reserved seat, Chen Siran entered and caught sight of Tang Yang diagonally across. Chen Siran immediately understood and teased: “Hoho!”
Jiang Shiyan sat down and kicked Chen Siran: “If you’re sick, take some medicine.”
Sitting opposite Tang Yang was an elite-looking man in a suit and tie, wearing black-framed glasses. The two seemed to be discussing something interesting, and Tang Yang was smiling.
But the restaurant was crowded and noisy, and Jiang Shiyan couldn’t hear clearly at all. He was distracted while ordering, drawing on his hand with the ballpoint pen.
Chen Siran was laughing, but he still felt sorry for his old friend. He brought down a set of live-streaming equipment from the car and said in a low voice: “I’ll put the camera on the railing. The microphone has a good recording effect. Yan-dog, you can go to my sub-account’s live stream room later.”
Jiang Shiyan: “What are you doing?”
Chen Siran shrugged, looking very innocent: “I just want to livestream the bustling scene at this chicken soup restaurant to reflect the national health craze.”
Jiang Shiyan was stunned for a moment, then sincerely gave a thumbs up: “That’s a very good idea.”
You dressed up like this… isn’t it because you want to spy but are afraid of being recognized?
Chen Siran grumbled inwardly but didn’t mock this idiot out loud.
Now, realizing the live streaming idea without letting Tang Yang discover it became the primary concern for the three.
Feng Weiran quickly calculated the optimal angle for camera placement on his notepad, Chen Siran checked the battery levels of various devices, and Jiang Shiyan observed every movement seemingly casually yet with full concentration as if he could hear everything, yet also as if he couldn’t hear anything.
The man opposite Tang Yang was called Zhou Mo, right?
Jiang Shiyan could see Zhou Mo’s lips moving, while Tang Yang smiled at him.
Jiang Shiyan exclaimed, “Wow”: “He just keeps talking, blah blah blah non-stop. I don’t know what’s so interesting to talk about.”
Zhou Mo said something, and Tang Yang let out a “pfft” laugh.
Jiang Shiyan exclaimed “Wow” again: “He even prepared warm-up jokes? A grown man with probably as many tricks as there are stars in the sky.”
Zhou Mo’s voice lowered a bit, and he said something else. Tang Yang nodded with a smile.
Jiang Shiyan: “Does this person understand conversation etiquette? He just keeps talking by himself, not giving others a chance to speak. Really…”
Zhou Mo finally said something, and Tang Yang laughed until tears came out. Zhou Mo pulled out a tissue and handed it to Tang Yang. As Tang Yang reached for it, their fingers almost touched.
Jiang Shiyan looked up at the clock on the wall and laughed angrily: “Good heavens, what kind of meal takes ten minutes and still isn’t finished! Is everyone’s efficiency so low nowadays? Won’t their boss be furious if he knows—”
Feng Weiran weakly raised his hand beside him: “They haven’t even brought the pot to the table yet.”
Just as Jiang Shiyan was about to burst out in anger, Chen Siran calmed him down: “Relax, relax, look, it’s almost done.”
“So fast?” Jiang Shiyan was indeed soothed, half-believing as he took the phone, “Why can I only see people but not hear any sound?”
Chen Siran: “Is that so?”
With many people in the restaurant, the signal was poor. Jiang Shiyan clicked on the recording, and Chen Siran helped to adjust it.
The three of them noisily stood up, then quickly sat down, occasionally dropping something, teasing each other with “Yan-dog,” “Siran-dog,” “I’m your brother-in-law,” and then reaching out through the vines to pick things up.
Meanwhile, at the table two meters away.
Zhou Mo heard frequent movements from the diagonal table, and Tang Yang kept turning her head to look. When he turned to look, he saw nothing.
Zhou Mo asked, “What are you looking at?”
Tang Yang chuckled: “An idiot.”
Zhou Mo heard it vaguely: “Huh?”
Tang Yang turned her head and coughed lightly, suppressing a smile. When she turned back, her expression was already composed: “Nothing.”
In fact, besides being Tang Yang’s direct senior from the university, Zhou Mo was also an alumnus from No. 1 High School, three years her senior.
After meeting Tang Yang, he first reminisced about their university days, then talked about No. 1 High School.
Tang Yang didn’t attend No. 1 High School for junior high, but Zhou Mo did.
Zhou Mo mentioned that when he was in his first year of high school, there was a chubby first-year junior high student named Jiang Shiyan who was famous throughout the school.
Firstly, because he was cute.
Secondly, because when the little chubby was in his first year of junior high, he participated in the 1000-meter race at the sports meet using someone else’s spot. By the time the first-place runner had finished, he had only completed one lap. Even when the second-to-last person finished, he was still huffing and puffing along. Everyone tried to persuade him to give up as he was occupying the track, but he kept gasping for air, crying while running, refusing to give up. In the end, the whole school stood up to cheer for him. When he crossed the finish line, the applause was thunderous. It was quite a spectacle.
Thinking about it, Zhou Mo praised: “I don’t know much about him now, but I felt at the time that someone so persistent and optimistic would achieve great things in the future.”
Tang Yang didn’t mention how well she knew Jiang Shiyan, nor did she say that Jiang Shiyan had lost weight now. She just imagined a stubborn little chubby crying while running, and couldn’t help but laugh.
Zhou Mo continued: “Later, I encountered him once again on the playground. He was walking and eating from his lunch box, but he didn’t notice the steps and fell face-first into his lunch box, his hand still raised to protect his chopsticks.”
Tang Yang let out a chuckle.
Zhou Mo described: “At that moment, everyone stopped to look at him. He looked around, stood up, wiped the vegetables off his face, and continued walking and eating as if nothing had happened.”
The scene was so vivid; he must have been eating his favorite tomato fried rice and steamed pork with rice flour.
Tang Yang burst into laughter, really wanting to reach out and wipe the potato and tomato juice off little chubby Jiang’s face.
Zhou Mo gentlemanly handed her a tissue.
When the two had just started reminiscing, the atmosphere was a bit awkward, but after Zhou Mo mentioned Jiang Shiyan, Tang Yang noticeably relaxed.
Zhou Mo, catering to her interests, said more things Tang Yang didn’t know, making her laugh so hard she almost held her stomach.
“I suddenly remember,” Zhou Mo said as if he just realized something, “Isn’t he your high school classmate? He reposted your Weibo last time, and you even became an internet celebrity for a while.”
Zhou Mo thought of something: “Now, major banks are paying a lot of attention to new media, especially in terms of traffic and influence. When I was at Hui Shang Bank, the senior management had established corresponding reward plans. Although your popularity was short-lived, you should be a shoo-in for the annual excellence award from the head office.”
“It’s not that big a deal,” Tang Yang carefully wiped the corners of her eyes, “There are so many others who performed better than me.”
“Don’t be so modest,” Zhou Mo smiled warmly, “I even looked through the popular comments at the time. There aren’t many girls as excellent and beautiful as Deputy Director Tang.”
“You flatter me,” Tang Yang deflected uncomfortably.
“You deserve it,” saying this, Zhou Mo reached into his briefcase and pulled out a box of cookies, “By the way, I didn’t give you a gift when you transferred back to A City before. Let me make up for it now.”
Zhou Mo was thoughtful: “Even the most excellent girls like sweets.”
“This isn’t appropriate,” Tang Yang didn’t want to accept it.
Tang Yang was the type who would rather give things to others than feel indebted to them. Zhou Mo had helped her with small favors before, so she felt obligated to return the gesture to avoid any misunderstandings. Although cookies weren’t a big deal, Zhou Mo wasn’t Jiang Shiyan, and Tang Yang would feel uncomfortable accepting his gift without having brought an equivalent gift for him.
“It’s alright, I just queued up at some Sugar Little Sugar flagship store for these. You can try one while they’re fresh,” Zhou Mo pushed it towards her, “I didn’t just bring them for you, I brought some for other friends too.”
Tang Yang still hesitated: “This…”
Zhou Mo smiled: “Please give me a face, Deputy Director Tang.”
Zhou Mo was also a figure in the risk control field, and besides, he had already addressed her as “Deputy Director Tang.”
Tang Yang had no choice but to accept it. As she lifted the cookie box lid, she said, “Then next time I’m in B City, I’ll bring you some peanut…”
The “brittle” was barely audible.
At the edge of the cookie box were five small packets of cookies, while in the center, strictly separated, lay a car key and a black gold card.
Tang Yang’s gaze fell on the trident logo in the center of the car key, and she fell silent.
Tang Yang’s expression frosted over.
After a while.
She looked up, hesitantly glancing at Zhou Mo: “This is…?”
Author’s Note: This chapter has 20 random red envelopes, and our slogan is: Plot prevents choking, everything for sweetness, read with peace of mind!
╥﹏╥ This is the old painter’s worried face after gaining another two pounds.