A deadly silence pervaded the room. Wiping his non-existent sweat, Secretary Chen could have sworn he heard thunder rumble in the distance. It was a long time later before Shen Yue finally spoke up in a cold tone.
"I see. You can take your leave now."
After hastily bowing, Secretary Chen hurriedly opened the office door to scurry out of the room. He didn't even want to breathe the same air as Shen Yue, the big ice block. He shivered in fright.
'It's like Antarctica in there! Ahh, rest in peace, Ms. Xu. You'll be remembered,' Secretary Chen thought sadly while shaking his head before he turned to walk down the long corridor.
Meanwhile, after Secretary Chen's departure, Shen Yue threw the expensive ballpoint pen in his hand on his desk carelessly. His slender fingers pinched the space between his eyebrows and rubbed it tiredly.
'This woman really is something. It's been less than a day, and she has already made this much trouble.'
Replaying Secretary Chen's words in his mind, Shen Yue's eyes couldn't help but darken.
"Heh."
Smiling a smile that did not reach his eyes, he was oh so excited to hear her explanation later of what she had meant when she said those words.
"Big," he repeated sneeringly.
He wouldn't mind showing her how "good" his skills were later and she was definitely going to pay a price as "big" as his "thing." In Shen Yue's view, Xu Wenqi was as good as dead. She had truly dug her own grave and jumped straight in.
Little did Xu Wenqi know that someone was planning her funeral so soon. She sneezed and sniffed.
'Ah, is someone cursing at me?' she thought jokingly. 'I don't have any enemies though...'
All of a sudden, a deep rumbling sound could be heard from her abdomen. Her stomach was protesting its hunger. Forgetting her earlier thoughts, Xu Wenqi only had one single thought in her mind at this moment: food. Shopping and arguing with Huo Lizheng had drained most of her energy. Xu Wenqi went to examine the shopping mall's map to look for a place to eat. She wanted to purchase something expensive and delicious.
'Of course, the most expensive and delicious food has to be meat!' she thought excitedly.
Looking at the map for a while, Xu Wenqi was still contemplating where to go when a young blushing man tapped her shoulder. She turned around and was greeted with a good looking face with tinges of red on his pale cheeks. Casually dressed in a plaid outer shirt and white T-shirt paired with black jeans, the man looked particularly youthful.
"Uhm, d-do you need some help? I couldn't help but notice you've been standing here for a long time," he said shyly, not daring to make eye contact with her.
Xu Wenqi was struck with Cupid's arrows. She could have sworn she saw drooping puppy ears on the top of the man's dyed brown hair.
'Woo, how can anyone be this cute?' she mused.
Fangirling internally, she tried to look as composed as she could while saying, "Oh, I was just looking for places to eat. It's my first time coming to this mall so I'm not really sure what's good. Do you have any recommendations?"
The young man's eyes lit up and said, "I do! I frequent here often and I really like the Japanese restaurant on this floor. They have the best meat dishes and bento boxes. You just turn right here and walk all the way down."
Smiling Xu Wenqi said, "Oh, thanks. I was just craving some meat dishes."
Before she could turn her heels to walk in the direction the man pointed, he spoke up.
"N-no problem. O-oh, wait t-that…Can I have your W-wechat or number?" he blurted out with his eyes closed.
Xu Wenqi was shocked. For a moment, she wasn't sure how to respond. No one in her entire life had ever asked her for her number. In fact, she had zero romantic experience and all of her knowledge came from reading romance novels in her free time. Xu Wenqi felt that the ability to attract birds and bees was all the credit of the original owner's face and not her true self.
She smiled embarrassedly and made up a lie saying, "No, sorry. I, um, have a boyfriend."
Without waiting for the man's response, she quickly fled to escape the awkward situation. She located the high-end Japanese cuisine restaurant and arrived there quickly. The restaurant was extravagantly decorated with a traditional theme. Bright festival red paper lanterns hung on the ceiling with horigotatsu* tables set by small teacups and a wide black teapot at its center. Matching red cushions were placed on the floor for guests and private rooms with shōjis*. Female waiters were wearing kimonos of a light pink cherry blossom design and male waiters wearing a similar set but in a solid imperial blue color. Settling into her private room, Xu Wenqi pushed all thoughts away except the delicious food on the menu.
notes:
horigotatsu* = a type of traditional Japanese table that's low to the ground and has a recessed floor beneath it so that people can stretch out their legs.
shōji* = a sliding outer or inner door made of a latticed screen covered with white paper.