Chapter 176 - 176: Treating Lu Yingxin to a Meal
Lin Xiaowan only briefly mentioned the Five Fortune Flatbread. Without waiting for Huo Zheng’s response, she continued to say, “Previously, I told Lu Yingxin that I would treat her to a meal. I even mentioned it again when she visited our house. I felt bad so I invited her out tonight.”
Huo Zheng asked worriedly, “Where are you going to eat?”
Lin Xiaowan was not in a hurry to go to the dessert shop. She replied, “We haven’t decided yet. Since I said I’m going to treat her, it’s more appropriate if she chooses the place.”
Huo Zheng said, “Alright, alright. Send me the address once you’ve decided, okay? 1’11 pick you up when you’re done.”
Lin Xiaowan said, looking troubled, “The driver is with me. The driver can just send me back. There’s no need for you to go to so much trouble.”
The duo chatted for a while more. When Huo Zheng heard the sound of a car honking from Lin Xiaowan’s side, he urge her to go and eat before ending the call.
As soon as the call ended, Huo Zheng called his assistant over with a dark expression on his face. He said, “Go and investigate Lu Yingxin again. Be more thorough when you check her recent movements.”
Ever since he heard Aunt Wu’s speculations about the cats, Huo Zheng felt even more strongly that something was amiss. Moreover, there were too many coincidences with Lu Yingxin. Although Shengjing City was not big, it was not small either. How was it possible for Lu Yingxin to run into Lin Xiaowan so frequently?
“Bring me the results later,” Huo Zheng said.
‘Huh?’
Assistant Song’s reaction was a little slow. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall.
‘Isn’t he going home to have dinner with the Young Madam?’
Huo Zheng glanced at Assistant Song expressionlessly, and Assistant Song straightened his back and quickly said, “Yes, I’ll bring it over as soon as there’s a result.”
With that, Assistant Song quickly slipped away.
‘Damn it! It’s fine if you don’t go home. But is there a need to scare me like that?!’
In the dessert shop.
When Lu Yingxin saw Lin Xiaowan walk in, she quickly rose to her feet and asked, “Are you done? I’m a little hungry.”
Lin Xiaowan looked at the empty table in front of Lu Yingxin and asked, “Oh, you didn’t order anything earlier? By the way, what do you feel like eating? Don’t be polite with me. Just tell me what you feel like eating…”
Lu Yingxin had been sitting there for a long time, looking through a list of restaurants in Shengjing. There were a few restaurants that she had begged Old Master Li to bring her to before this. In her opinion, the restaurant at the top of the list had to be the best and the most expensive. For example, the private restaurant that she wanted to go to did not have many introductions.
Upon hearing Lin Xiaowan’s words, Lu Yingxin pretended to look troubled as she said, “Hmm, I don’t have any preference. However, my husband made a reservation at Mriai Waki previously, but he had some work to do at the last minute so the reservation was canceled. Why don’t we eat there?”
Lin Xiaowan had never heard of the restaurant before. She said, “Let’s just go there if that’s what you want. Do we have to make a reservation?”
Old Master Li rarely went out in public with Lu Yingxin. The number of times they ate outside could be counted on one hand. She only heard of the restaurant, and she had casually made up a story about having a reservation there. As such, she was not certain if they had to make a reservation. However, based on how exclusive it was, she was sure that they would need to make a reservation. As such, she said confidently, “Yes.”
Lin Xiaowan asked Lu Yingxin to spell the name of the restaurant before she looked up the restaurant’s phone number. However, when she called to make reservations, an employee told her that they were no longer taking reservations. With that, she regretfully conveyed the result to Lu Yingxin.
“Then let’s go to another restaurant. It’s not like we have to go to this restaurant,” Lu Yingxin said with a smile on her face. However, inwardly, she thought that Lin Xiaowan truly lived a good life by relying on Huo Zheng. She knew that if Huo Zheng had personally called, there would be no need for them to make a reservation at all. Not only that, but if she were with Huo Zheng, she was sure he could bring her to restaurants where ordinary people could not even enter.
Lu Yingxin felt extremely indignant. She could not help but wonder again how Lin Xiaowan managed to capture Huo Zheng’s heart, and why it was not her. In her opinion, she was not inferior to Lin Xiaowan at all. In fact, she felt she was prettier than Lin Xiaowan and that she was more suited to stand next to Huo Zheng.
Lin Xiaowan naturally did not know much about dining outside. She had not even heard of the restaurant that Lu Yingxin mentioned. However, she thought Lu Yingxin’s standard should be relatively high. As such, she tried her best to recall the good restaurants that she had been to with Huo Zheng and Gu Yuwu. After thinking for a while, she still could not think of anything so she asked, “Is there anywhere else you want to go?”
Lu Yingxin naturally had a backup plan. However, she pretended to think hard before she asked tentatively, “Why don’t we go to the Sea Cloud Pavilion?”
Lin Xiaowan looked up the restaurant on her phone again. This was another restaurant that she had never heard of. She asked again, “Do we need to make reservations?”
“The restaurant is quite big. I’m sure they’ll have a table for us,” Lu Yingxin said, “Let’s go and have a look first. The Sea Cloud Pavilion is quite near.”
Before leaving, Lin Xiaowan gave Lu Yingxin a lot of desserts from the shop. She knew that Lu Yingxin was not a member so she gave her a membership card and even charged the card to the highest limit for Lu Yingxin, paying for it out of her own pocket.
The Sea Cloud Pavilion was big. As Lu Yingxin said, there was no problem for them to eat there without making a reservation.
When they arrived, Lin Xiaowan asked for a private room, and after taking a seat, she sent Huo Zheng the restaurant’s address.
Huo Zheng was still working at the office. When he saw the message, he quickly replied.
[Huo Zheng: Don’t eat raw seafood. Your stomach is weak. You can only eat cooked seafood, understand?]
The Sea Cloud Pavilion was famous for its raw seafood, especially its raw lobster. Huo Zheng was worried that she would not listen to him again.
Fortunately, Lin Xiaowan had never been too enthusiastic about raw seafood. She quickly responded to his message.
[Lin Xiaowan: 1 know, I know-]
When the waiter brought the menu over, Lin Xiaowan did not take it. Instead, she gestured to Lu Yingxin to take it as she said, “Since I’m treating you, you should order. I don’t know what you like to eat.”
Lu Yingxin did not stand on ceremony with Lin Xiaowan. She looked at the menu for a moment before she asked the waiter, “Do you have any recommendations?”
The waiter skillfully recommended a few popular dishes. Among them were raw fish and raw lobster.
Lin Xiaowan had no interest in them, but seeing that Lu Yingxin was interested, she naturally did not object.
This was Lu Yingxin’s first time eating out with Lin Xiaowan so she felt that she should not be too presumptuous. She ordered a Monte Carlo sea bass before she handed the menu to Lin Xiaowan and said, “Even if you’re treating me to a meal, you should order what you like as well.”
Lin Xiaowan said with a laugh, “I’m more interested in desserts.”
Upon hearing this, the waiter quickly said, “We have the winter gummy bear dessert in our restaurant that’s popular with young people. Those who’ve tried it all praised it. Would you like to try it?”
Lin Xiaowan nodded decisively before she asked Lu Yingxin, “Do you want to try it as well?”
“Sure,” Lu Yingxin replied. She naturally would not refuse..