茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Mr. Xiang and his date with Aunt Qiu’s niece, arranged by Mrs. Xiang, took place at a Manga Café at three o’clock in the afternoon.

Xiang Kun, as always, arrived half an hour early, sitting in the café looking at his phone, having just received a message from Xia Libing.

There were no words, only a repeated emoji of a panda holding a bowl sizing for food.

But the message was perfectly clear…

Xiang Kun couldn’t help but smile bitterly. It seemed that going back to Citong City this time, if he didn’t prepare a meal for Old Xia, he would risk being resented.

Although there was no recollection of Old Xia being angry or furious, Xiang Kun was somewhat curious about what that would look like. If others like Tang Baona or Yang Zhen’er anger Old Xia, he imagines he would be excited and gossip about the spectacle, but he doesn’t want to be the “guinea pig”.

After all, the closest Old Xia had been to being angry was when they severely beat up two human traffickers. Thinking of her powerful and heavy attack on the traffickers, Xiang Kun felt an urge to clench his legs together.

“Do you have a place to cook at your place?” Xiang Kun messaged back.

“Yes, when? What do you need?” Xia Libing replied immediately.

Xiang Kun thought for a bit and said, “Send me the location of where you live and I’ll grab some ingredients beforehand.” As per the schedule, he intends to head back home tomorrow afternoon. Providing he can cook two meals for his parents before that, tonight after the date, he can cook a meal for Old Xia first.

Xia Libing sent an OK emoji, then sent her address over.

At 3:02 pm, a fashionable, tall girl walks into the café.

Even though Xiang Kun had his eyes on his phone, his sense of smell and hearing were constantly collecting information from the café subconsciously, and he kept an eye on the door from the corner of his eyes. Judging from the current time and his mom’s description of Aunt Qiu’s niece, it was highly likely her.

Within two seconds of the tall girl entering the café, Xiang Kun formed a preliminary judgement with his perceptual information.

Her clothing, shoes, bag were all understated but had a distinct design sense. Even though Xiang Kun couldn’t recognize most of the brands, he could tell they must not be cheap.

Her face was neatly made up, her nails were covered with a white arc-shaped nail polish at the tips, and the perfume she had on was rather fresh and natural.

Aside from a pair of petite earrings, she wore no other accessories.

As for her clothing, makeup and accessories, they all matched perfectly. If her natural looks scored a six, her attire and makeup surely elevated her to an eight.

This is the image of a metropolitan white-collar worker with a sense of fashion, who values the quality of life. According to what mother had found out, she used to work as an Executive Assistant and should be quite competent at her job.

Judging from her tiny facial gestures, heart rate, breath rhythm, and scent, she was likely feeling a bit nervous and slightly expectant.

As Xiang Kun formed his initial judgment, the girl called the number her aunt had given her which belonged to Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun picked up his vibrating phone and, without answering the call, rose from his seat and waved at her.

Xiang Kun clearly saw the girl’s face slightly stiffen at the sight of him. From her micro expression reaction, it was clear that her expectations had nearly been dashed and her anticipation was dwindling.

Feeling amused, Xiang Kun figured that she was disappointed with his image. His mother probably hadn’t mentioned to Aunt Qiu about him shaving his head, so she likely did not know that beforehand. Secondly, judging from her attire, she probably couldn’t appreciate Xiang Kun’s outfit, which consisted of Uniq10+GAP+ANTa.

“Hello Miss Yang, I am Xiang Kun.” As Miss Yang approached, Xiang greeted her politely.

“Hello. Have you been here long?”

“Not too long. What would you like to drink?”

After ordering and settling down, the two began talking about the city where Xiang Kun used to work.

Xiang Kun noticed that Miss Yang, having briefly glanced at his redmi phone on the table filled with scratches and a crack on the screen, creased her eyebrows minutely.

He understood that this wasn’t necessarily because Miss Yang looked down on his cheap phone. Rather, judging from her demonstrated attitude towards her personal attire, she is the kind of person who values looking presentable. It’s normal for her to be put off by the “scruffy” and “beaten- up” state of Xiang Kun’s phone.

Of course, the old Xiang Kun wouldn’t have noticed such minute changes in expression. Overall, Miss Yang had been quite polite since their first encounter.

In the past, Xiang Kun had seen posts or jokes about simple-minded women on blind dates on the internet. Including IT forum threads where peers vented their frustrations. They mentioned the women who would ask questions about the number of houses, type of car, yearly income, and amount of saving right from the start. This gave a distasteful feeling of treating blind dating like a commercial trade.

But Xiang Kun figured it was probably because the people who set him up were either friends or relatives. He had been on many blind dates, but never encountered this kind of situation. Regardless of the final result, the interaction had always been fairly normal. Even if it was awkward, the conversation still veered back to hobbies, work, and life.

Details about material circumstances would have been communicated privately by the people who set them up, or the other party would make a judgement through other topics of conversation.

The topic Miss Yang chose to initiate conversation with was also about work. After asking about Xiang Kun’s work situation, she moved the topic towards his university major, the city his university located, his university life, and then shifted the conversation onto her own university life, her work, her past company, and why she decided to quit.

Honestly speaking, Miss Yang made excellent and appropriate remarks. It showed that she was an executive assistant at a large company with thousands of employees. She was able to keep the conversation going and avoid awkward silences.

However, looking back, Xiang Kun felt more at ease during his first meeting with Tang Baona a few months ago.

Even though he had no intention of pursuing anything further on both occasions. the experiences were quite different.

If Xiang Kun had to choose between the two women based solely on their physical appearances, the superficial old Xiang Kun would definitely have chosen Miss Yang, a white-collar beauty with long legs. However, once he got to know them, his choice would have been reversed.

Even from the first meeting, being with Tang Baona felt easier, even if the conversation veered towards topics that he was completely unfamiliar with, he could still have a high-spirited conversation. On the contrary, being in front of Miss Yang gave him a sense of not daring to “overstep his bounds”, a sense of dullness…

While the two were still in conversation, Xiang Kun, who had been constantly on the lookout, suddenly spotted a familiar figure entering the café.

A tall figure close to 1.75 meters, wearing LeBron 17 basketball shoes that were rarely worn by women, a pair of jeans that even though they were a bit loose, still clearly showed off her long legs, a loose white t-shirt with a character design on it, a black G-SHOCK electronic watch, a ponytail bobbing slightly at the back of her head, delicate and beautiful facial features, her mouth slightly curved as if bearing a smile, but her expression was cold and aloof…

Isn’t that Old Nia?

Old Xia, who had unconsciously looked around the café after entering, also quickly noticed Xiang Kun, as he stood out quite noticeably.

From Xia Libing’s detached expression which was slightly dull, Xiang Kun knew that she hadn’t expected to see him there.

The ability to reveal her surprise through a dumbfounded state was so characteristic of Old Xia…

Xiang Kun recalled that the first time he met Old Xia was also at a comic café. She seemed to have a habit of spending her time in cafes, reading and doing work.

But what was she doing at the café at this time? Didn’t she have work?

Could it be that she took time off to buy groceries with him?

As he was processing various pieces of information in his mind quickly, Old Xia at the entrance glanced at Miss Yang seated across from him. Then, she very casually blinked at him before moving towards the counter.

“You guys continue chatting, I won’t go over and say hi,” Xiang Kun surprisingly understood the meaning behind her blink.

Why did I understand that? There was no intonation in her blink! It’s not Morse code! Um, I didn’t misunderstand, did I?

Xiang Kun was a bit surprised by himself.

Even when he saw Old Xia, he didn’t blatantly stare at her, nor did his expression change, so Miss Yang didn’t notice anything unusual.

“Mr. Xiang, do you have any specific plans for your future career development?” Miss Yang suddenly asked a rather HR-Iike question.

Xiang Kun thought for a while and said, “Actually, I plan to return and start a rabbit farm.”

He kept an eye on Old Xia. After ordering, she took the little bear number stand and sat down at a table not too far from him, directly facing his direction. Miss Yang asked, “Oh? You like rabbits?”

Xiang Kun immediately replied, “Yeah, I love eating rabbit. Rabbit meat contains up to 70% protein, which is higher than most meats—it’s low in fats and cholesterol, very nutritious, good for children’s brains, can prevent Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly, and has beautifying effects on women! It also has a high meat-to-feed ratio. If raised well, 3:1 or even 2.5:1 is possible, which is more efficient than raising pigs…”

Miss Yang interrupted Xiang Kun, who was babbling about rabbit farming: “Are you planning to find a spot for your farm on the outskirts of Citong City?”

“No, it’s hard to find a place on the outskirts of the city. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Tongshi Town, north of Jianzhou City. I went there yesterday and visited a location in Chongyun Village, more than 20 kilometers away from Tongshi Town. I plan to establish the farm there. The scenery there is beautiful, the mountains and waters are clean, and the people are very warm and friendly…”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t say anything,” Miss Yang agreed without any intention to continue the conversation. Initially, after hearing Aunt Qiu’s introduction, she was interested in this IT professional who had been working in a first-tier city for seven years, already owned property, and had a stable career foundation, technical ability, and network.

But now, this person has become someone who wholeheartedly wants to start a rabbit farm in the countryside. So going forward would be a waste of time. As the saying goes, we can’t cooperate if we follow different paths. If our visions and goals for the future are different, it’s naturally impossible to proceed together.

Xiang Kun could also quickly discern from Miss Yang’s subtle facial expressions, body movements, heartbeat, and other data that she no longer had any interest in continuing the conversation, nor any expectations of advancing their relationship. With her eloquence, she will surely find a very appropriate reason to tell Aunt Qiu why they are not suited for each other..