Chapter 12: Blind Date Convention — Who is your auntie? Call me daddy.

He Xiu had originally intended to go out to eat lunch when he just happened to see the brief scene with Jian Yan’s high school classmates. At this moment, it was already time for the first shift of employees to have lunch. When he saw Jian Yan carry her lunch box and walk towards the staff dining hall, he also felt too lazy to go outside and headed directly to the staff dining hall instead.

People were sitting in twos and threes in the dining hall. As soon as Jian Yan found an empty seat to sit down, she opened her super-insulated, three-layered lunchbox. Even though several hours had already passed, the food inside was still piping hot.

He Xiu saw where she was sitting and picked up a tray before heading to the canteen window. Today, the dining hall was serving stewed beef and potatoes. The auntie working at the canteen saw that Director He had come to her own dining hall to eat and gave him extra beef.

It was nearly impossible to see the potatoes.

He Xiu thanked the dining hall auntie and carried his tray to sit opposite Jian Yan. Jian Yan, slightly surprised, raised her head. After seeing He Xiu, she was even more surprised.

Ke—ke— She covered her mouth and coughed lightly. She nearly didn’t stand up. “Director He.”

He Xiu looked at her and chuckled. “I simply came over to eat lunch. There’s no need to be so nervous.”

“Oh, mn…” Although Jian Yan’s mouth made a sound of agreement, her heart was still somewhat uncomfortable.

He Xiu, on the other hand, was rather normal; he even inspected her lunchbox. “Do you normally bring your own food to eat?”

Jian Yan nodded. “Yes.”

“Is the dining hall food not tasty?”

“No, no.” If Director He believed that the dining hall food was of questionable quality, then the uncles and aunts working in the dining hall might not allow her to enter the hall in the future. “In terms of the staff’s meals, the quality can already be considered good. I merely have picky tastes, that’s all.”

“So it’s like this.” He Xiu was still studying her lunch: fluffy white rice, pork soup with corn, and stir fry broccoli and mapo tofu. “You cooked this yourself?”

“Mhmm.”

“You got up early to make this?”

“Mn, I generally get up very early in the morning. I began stewing the pork soup last night; it was ready by this morning. If I have an evening shift, I would have cooked in the afternoon.”

He Xiu chuckled. “I couldn’t tell that you were this virtuous.”

Jian Yan thought for a moment. Nan Si seemed to have said the same thing. “Because I dress very fashionably, I don’t look like I’m someone who can cook?”

He Xiu bowed his head and smiled. “Has there been anyone else who said this to you?

Jian Yan shrugged. “No one.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He Xiu said, “Your meal aesthetically looks good, but I don’t know whether it also tastes good.” The corners of his lips curved into a slight smile. He looked at Jian Yan. “Do you mind if I taste a bit?”

When several colleagues sit together and eat, they would inevitably taste each other’s meal. Since Jian Yan always brought her own food, many female colleagues had tasted her cooking already.

But He Xiu wasn’t a female colleague. Theoretically, she should mind very much, but he was sitting across from her and had been chatting with her for a very long time. She actually… didn’t feel as disagreeable as she had expected.

She picked up a clean spoon and scooped a piece of pork chop onto He Xiu’s plate.

This time, she pondered, A man who looks attractive and has a pleasant voice really can receive extra care from the world.

“Thank you.” He Xiu picked up the pork chop and tried it. He raised an eyebrow at Jian Yan. “Your skills are pretty good. It seems that I need to change this notion that a ‘beautiful woman can’t cook.’”

After Jian Yan heard him say this, she automatically retorted, “Who said that beautiful women can’t cook?”

“I…” He Xiu suddenly stopped speaking. He looked down and faintly stuck out his lower lip. “No one.”

Jian Yan thought it was somewhat strange, but she didn’t pry. He Xiu very quickly returned to normal and smiled at her. He said, “In fact, my culinary skills are also very good. If there’s a chance, I’ll let you have a taste.”

Jian Yan looked at him in surprise and courteously thanked him.

He Xiu asked, “What shift do you have tomorrow?”

“Still morning shift.”

“Then let me treat you to lunch tomorrow. Consider it payment for this pork chop.”

Jian Yan hastily said, “No need. You’re too polite.”

He Xiu replied, “You’re the one that doesn’t need to be so polite. I have treated all my staff at Fantasy Wardrobe.”

Is that true?

Jian Yan wasn’t convinced.

He Xiu smiled at her. “At the end of the year, the company is quite busy. You have been here for so long, yet I still haven’t treated you to a meal. I’ll make it up tomorrow.”

“You really don’t need to…”

“Except for you, I have treated the rest of my staff. The others are all still under the impression that I have something against you.”

“Oh…”

“Then it’s a deal.”

……

As Jian Yan carried her lunchbox back to Fantasy Wardrobe, she was still pondering this matter. A colleague saw her returning with creased brows and walked up to her to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Ah…” Jian Yan thought for a moment before asking, “That is, has Director He treated you to a meal before?”

The colleague nodded and said, “He has invited me. When Fantasy Wardrobe was just established, he treated all the staff to a meal.”

“Then what about new employees coming in after?”

“He also treated them. I was one of them.”

“Oh…” Jian Yan felt relieved upon hearing her reply.

“Come on, come on, let’s go eat.” A colleague came up to draw away the person Jian Yan was talking to towards the dining hall. “What were you two talking about?”

“Jian Yan asked if Director He had treated me to a meal.”

“Oh, you came later so you didn’t eat with all of us. What did Director He treat you to?”

“He let me choose, and after we finished eating, he paid the bill.”

They were walking too far away for Jian Yan to hear the rest of their conversation.

In her coat pocket, her phone vibrated. Jian Yan fished it out and glanced at it. Lin Zhen had sent a WeChat text.1

「Very good. At lunch today, my mom arranged another blind date for me.」

Jian Yan thought for a moment and then sent her a reply. 「If you really don’t want to, then don’t go. Every time you go, you complain endlessly.」

Lin Zhen: 「 I can’t do anything about it. I’m already thirty. Actually, I am very worried as well.『covers face』」

Jian Yan: 「This problem you can’t rush even if you want to.」

Lin Zhen: 「I need a boyfriend to fill the hollowness in my life『covers face』」

Jian Yan: 「Hollowness? Then you should play games.」

Lin Zhen: 「… … … …」

Lin Zhen: 「Is this the reason why you play games?」

Jian Yan: 「No, my hollowness is filled by money :)」

Lin Zhen: 「『goodbye』」

Lin Zhen: 「I’m heading off to the battlefield. After a while, I’ll give you a live relay.」

Jian Yan laughed and placed her phone into her bag.

Unexpectedly, Lin Zhen really did give her a live relay of her date. In ten to twenty minute intervals, the phone in her bag would vibrate once.

Jian Yan sent off another wave of clients before she had the time to take out her phone and glance at it.

Lin Zhen: 「I really wonder what kind of view my mom has of me『smile』」

Lin Zhen: 「Last time, the blind date thought I didn’t like him because he was poor right? He must have complained to the people who arrange this stuff. This time, I’m introduced to an upstart.『smile』」

Lin Zhen: 「He already bragged from his family’s seaside villa to his private airfield.『goodbye』」

Lin Zhen: 「Do you know what I’m currently thinking? I especially want to transform into the set pair of Harionagoand Amikirito beat him up.2『 smile 』」

Pfff. Jian Yan couldn’t help but laugh when she read this. Just as she thought of sending Lin Zhen a message to comfort her, her phone vibrated once again.

「Erase that. Can you guess who I just saw? That friend of Master He!」

?

Today, Tang Zheng was also forced out of his home to go on a blind date. He really didn’t understand why; he was only 29 and was extremely handsome. Furthermore, he also had the Tang family as a powerful backer. So why was he still forced to go on a blind date?? Could he even be unable to marry a wife?

Hehe!

Lin Zhen had been intentionally glancing over in his direction since he had come in. He was sitting across from a beautiful woman whose temperament was outstanding, but she appeared to be high-maintenance. She quickly understood this type of situation she was seeing as someone who had personally experienced it——this guy had also come for a blind date.

Originally, this restaurant was the holy land of blind dates. Here, men and women sat together——out of the ten pairs inside, roughly five were blind dates. But wasn’t he…a gay guy? Not only did he already have a committed relationship with Director He, he had even said that he liked Director He the most!

Ai, indeed, every family had their own set of classic problems. He was obviously a gay guy, but he was pressured on all sides and had to go on a blind date with a woman. He also must not have it easy.

“Miss Lin, are you listening to me?” The upstart sitting opposite Lin Zhen asked her.

Lin Zhen returned to reality. She smiled at him, saying, “What were you talking about just now? Your family’s airplane or your family’s Gundam?”

At this moment, Tang Zheng finally took note of Lin Zhen sitting to the side. He had felt that this woman looked somewhat familiar. After thinking for a moment, he finally recalled that she was the woman who was with Jian Yan that day.

…Wasn’t she a lesbian? Why was she also on a blind date?

He glanced at the man sitting across of Lin Zhen and shook his head. This quality——if he were a woman, he would rather choose Jian Yan.

The eldest daughter of an affluent family sitting opposite him chattered on and on about what would happen after marriage. After some consideration, Tang Zhen suddenly stood up and walked toward Lin Zhen’s direction. “Hello, do you remember me?”

Lin Zhen didn’t expect for him to come up and talk to her, but this was like grabbing a life-saving rice straw. She nodded quickly. “I remember.”

Tang Zheng smiled at her. “I didn’t expect to see you here as well. We have indeed been brought together by fate.”

“Yes.”

“Tang Zheng, what’s going on with you?” Miss High and Mighty, Tang Zheng’s blind date, walked next to him and sized Lin Zhen up. “Do you know this auntie?”

…Auntie?

Lin Zhen laughed gently. If she could transform into the set pair of Harionagoand Amikiriright now, she would definitely beat up this woman. “Who is your auntie? Call me daddy.”

Miss High and Mighty: “…”

Tang Zheng, standing to the side, couldn’t help but laugh. Before the two women could create a disturbance, he interjected, “This is my friend whom I haven’t seen for quite a while. Today is a rare encounter, so I won’t accompany you any longer. You can enjoy your meal——this will be on me.”

Lin Zhen immediately followed, climbing up the pole. 3 She also said to her blind date, “Right. I will also leave you first. How about you and this young lady share a table? I think she will definitely be interested in your family’s Gundam.”

Tang Zhen chuckled once more before pulling Lin Zhen out of the restaurant.

His and Lin Zhen’s cars were parked outside. The two of them walked to their cars before stopping at the same time. Tang Zheng thought for a moment before saying to Lin Zhen, “How about we try and find some place nearby to eat?”

Notes:

1. WeChat = mobile text and voice messaging service developed by Tencent ?

2. Harionago and Amikiri are yokai from Japanese mythology. Harionago—also known as Nure-onago, Hari-onna, or Warai-onago— is a ghost from Japanese urban legend known to attack men with her needle-like hair. A beautiful woman with extremely long hair, she would smile at men on the lonely roads and backstreets of Japan, and if they smile back at her, she will manipulate her hair so it wraps around him like barbed wire and slice him to pieces. Amikiri are small, crustacean-like yokai that resemble shrimp or lobsters known for cutting nets or meshes of any kind up. This hobby of theirs often leads to mosquito nets being torn to shreds, allowing mosquitoes to come in and bite the homeowner. What Lin Zhen means in this instance is that she wants to have the abilities of these two Japanese yokai, to be able to tear a man to shreds with her hair and to invite misfortune into his life. ?

3. Moonclipse’s comment: Basically, Lin Zhen is picking up on Tang Zheng’s cue and copying him ?