Shi Yang got Xu iyuan’s signature on a store’s promotional poster that featured her photo.
Qian Sing was delighted and insisted on treating Zhao ii to a al as a reward. However, Zhao ii was saving her appetite because she was planning to attend a dinner with Shi Yang that evening, so she forced herself to eat only seventy percent full.
The two of them were arm in arm, walking out of the mall when Zhao ii’s phone rang. It was Shi Yang calling.
Shi Yang asked, "Where are you? I’m back. Want to co over and pick you up?"
Zhao ii glanced at the big sign of the maternity store across the street: "No need, I’m right here at the central mall. I’ll head over to the company and find you later."
After seeing Qian Sing off, Zhao ii first went to the maternity store to pick up the bag of specialty products that Peng Hui had gifted her. Then she jogged over to Shi Yang’s company.
Shi Yang took the bag from her hand, opened it for a look: "Where’s this from?"
Zhao ii said, "Peng Hui gave it to ."
Shi Yang held onto it without letting go and handed his briefcase to Zhao ii, putting his arm around her shoulder as they walked out the door.
Zhao ii asked, "Where are we going to eat tonight? Who’s coming?"
Shi Yang said, "Roast lamb, with your Brother Chao and the others."
Zhao ii felt her belly and realized she made a mistake: "Oh no, if I had known, I wouldn’t have eaten so much earlier."
Shi Yang laughed and ruffled her hair: "It’s okay, if you like it, I’ll take you again in a few days."
The roast lamb spot that Shi Yang reserved was in the suburbs, with quite a big yard and over a dozen roasting pits. It’s the best ti for roast lamb, with the weather being chilly in the morning and evening and hot at noon. At night, as the temperature drops, everyone gathers around the roasting pit, eating delicious lamb crisped on the outside and tender on the inside, paired with refreshing beer. It’s sheer bliss.
Zhao Dazhuang and Wang Tianyu couldn’t make it; October 1st is the busiest ti for installing the Naughty Castle. The kindergarten was rushing to be ready for use by the end of the holiday, and they were putting in extra hours at night.
Liu Xiue couldn’t leave the stockroom either. Products sold fast during the holiday, requiring massive transfers from the warehouse to the store every evening, keeping her incredibly busy.
Besides the two night-shift sales associates left at the shop, a few people from the warehouse, and the company staff responsible for entering sales inventory who needed to work overti, Shi Yang rented a bus to bring everyone else over for a dinner gathering.
Over twenty people occupied a double pit roasting area. The grill master was roasting and slicing on-site. Zhao ii had never tasted such grilled at and found it fascinating.
Shi Yang brought over a slab of roasted ribs from the grill master, handed it to Zhao ii, smiling handsoly, and teased her softly: "Your stomach must be a bottomless pit! Weren’t you just complaining about eating too much earlier this afternoon? And now you’ve already devoured three ribs."
Zhao ii took the plate, grabbed a rib with her hand, and took a big bite out of the crispy lamb: "Bro, I’m thirsty. Could you get a beer?"
Shi Yang chuckled: "Haven’t you already had quite a few beers? You still want more? Do you still have room in your stomach?"
Zhao ii licked the barbecue sauce off her lips: "Yeah, I’ll just go to the bathroom a couple of tis, and problem solved."
Initially, everyone sat around feeling a bit restrained, but after eating and drinking for a while, the atmosphere quickly livened up. The sales had been good these past two days, the company’s performance was high, and the employees’ bonuses were increasing accordingly. They were all in high spirits, and fueled by the alcohol, soone started leading the charge to toast the company’s leaders. Once a round of toasts began, others followed suit, circling and toasting Shi Yang and the others.
The store manager of the main store was quite familiar with Zhao ii and particularly looked out for her.
The manager asked Zhao ii, "Do you also like Xu iyuan?"
Zhao ii said, "She’s alright. I’ve watched that lodrama she acted in; it had crying my eyes out. She’s quite a good actress."
The manager’s eyes sparkled: "You’ve watched it too! She looks pretty normal on TV, but in person, she’s so slender. I just caught a glimpse of her walking past the store earlier, and oh my, her face is smaller than a palm!"
Zhao ii laughed heartily: "A small face looks better on cara!"
Shi Yang, being mobbed for several rounds of beer by the employees, finally managed to break free. He glanced over at Zhao ii, who sat by the fire chatting and laughing with the manager, and felt relieved enough to slip away to the bathroom.
Today, to accommodate Xu iyuan, Shi Yang wore a crisp sumr suit. When he got out of the car, he took off his jacket, wearing only a white short-sleeve shirt with a standing collar. As he made his way to the bathroom, he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.
The bathroom was inside, directly opposite the roasting pits area, and this roast lamb spot was particularly popular, with figures moving back and forth in the courtyard.
Shi Yang headed straight for the bathroom, not paying attention to his surroundings. So distance from their double pit roasting area, by the fire pits, soone seed to coincide with his movents; as soon as he stood up, they followed to the bathroom door, waiting outside without going in, looking like they were waiting for soone.
Shi Yang erged from the bathroom, with water drops still on his face, his hair in front of his forehead damp and clinging to his face, making him look even more handso.
As he stepped down the steps, he saw Zhang Jiahui standing outside, her face flushed from the alcohol.
Zhang Jiahui said with a smile, "I thought it looked like you from afar, and it really is you."
Shi Yang was a bit surprised: "You’re here for dinner too?"
Zhang Jiahui said, "I had so family matters earlier and took more than half a month off. Today, I invited so close colleagues during the holiday to have a al together. I didn’t expect to run into you here, but, really, it seems we’re quite destined to et."
Seeing Shi Yang’s handso face, the liquid courage she had already consud made Zhang Jiahui feel a bit bold.
She had spotted Shi Yang sitting in the outer double pit area as soon as she entered the restaurant courtyard. His tall and slim figure stood out in the crowd, and every gesture attracted attention, especially since everyone around the fire seed to deliberately focus their gaze on him.
Shi Yang replied nonchalantly, "Yeah, it really is quite the coincidence."
Zhang Jiahui smiled slightly: "I heard from my brother-in-law that you’ve shifted your business focus to the provincial city. So, you won’t be going back?"
Shi Yang responded with a simple "Yeah."
Zhang Jiahui suddenly let out a small, wry smile: "You’ve always been like this, talking so little. I’d say ten sentences, and you’d sotis not even respond with a single full one, just ’mm,’ ’ah,’ ’oh,’ to placate ."
Shi Yang glanced at her: "Really? I don’t rember that."
Zhang Jiahui gave him a slightly resentful look: "How could you forget! Even when we were together back then, I was the one who confessed to you. You liked but never wanted to initiate anything. You’d always turn around and look at during and after class, and every ti I noticed and turned to look at you, you’d imdiately pretend as if nothing happened and look away."
Zhang Jiahui murmured, "You were subtly mischievous even as a child!"
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