Zhao Meimei glanced at the girl’s friendly smile, quickly avoided eye contact, and turned away pretending not to see.
She turned to look at Shi Yang, seriously sketching the menu, and couldn’t help but steal a glance at the girl through the corner of her eye. Sure enough, she saw her focused on watching her Brother Yangyang.
Zhao Meimei pouted, unhappy.
Shi Yang finished selecting and turned to Zhao Meimei, asking, "Do you want peach-flavored drinks or Sprite today?"
Zhao Meimei tugged at the tablecloth, looking gloomy, and stayed silent.
Shi Yang glanced at the waiting waiter nearby, smiled apologetically, and asked again.
Zhao Meimei toyed with her narrow eyelids, intentionally not speaking.
Shi Yang, already unrested, felt tired and weary. He was merely forcing himself to accompany Zhao Meimei here. Seeing her inexplicably act up, he suddenly felt impatient and frowned, thought for a moment, and said to the waiter, "Then bring one of each, please."
Shi Yang planned to take the leftovers back to the hotel for Zhao Meimei to drink later.
After the waiter turned to leave, Shi Yang asked Zhao Meimei, "What were you doing just now? Why the sour face?"
Zhao Meimei huffed, "Who said I was sulking?"
Shi Yang felt a bit displeased with Zhao Meimei’s attitude and his voice grew low as he scolded, "Then why didn’t you answer when I asked you? Do you think it’s fair to let the waiter stand by waiting?"
Zhao Meimei: "...I, I didn’t mean to keep her standing."
As Shi Yang scolded her, Zhao Meimei suddenly felt uncomfortable, feeling both upset and wronged.
Zhao Meimei hung her head and tugged at the tablecloth.
Seeing her like that, Shi Yang’s heart softened, and he reached out to rub her head, "What happened earlier on?"
Zhao Meimei lowered her head, acting casual, "Nothing much."
Shi Yang pinched Zhao Meimei’s cheek.
She couldn’t help but laugh, turned and nestled into her Brother Yangyang’s arms, leaning against him and acting coy, "Stop pinching me, you’re going to make my face swell."
As she finished saying this, she glanced at the girl again, noticing her still stretching her head to look over here.
Zhao Meimei sat up straight, stopped messing around with her Brother Yangyang, and turned to whisper, "Bro, what’s your relationship with that girl just now?"
Shi Yang had actually long noticed Zhang Xueyao peeking over, but he deliberately ignored it. Now that Zhao Meimei asked, he casually brushed it off, "Just an ordinary classmate. We greet each other when we meet at school."
Zhao Meimei’s eyes shifted, "Didn’t you say there weren’t any pretty girls in your department?"
Shi Yang: "She’s not from our department; she’s in the management department."
Zhao Meimei keenly caught this information and pressed further, "If she’s not from your department, how do you know her?"
Shi Yang frowned, "Don’t pry unnecessarily."
Zhao Meimei pouted, feeling sulky, took some lamb with chopsticks and kept swishing it around the pot without eating properly.
Shi Yang sensed it and sighed inwardly, softly explaining, "Really, just ordinary classmates, why would I lie to you?"
Zhao Meimei lifted her eyelids, half-believing, "Really?"
Shi Yang fed her a piece of lamb, "Mm-hmm."
Zhao Meimei finally smiled again.
At that time, Zhao Meimei was already slowly showing signs of being possessive; she started showing pettiness, getting temperamental, stirring up petty arguments—being both fussy and stingy—and as she grew older, she became downright awkward.
Shi Yang also noticed Zhao Meimei’s tendency for possessiveness and petty dispositions; they flared up frequently. Strangely enough, she never behaved around outsiders.
Zhao Meimei at school wasn’t like typical girls, crying easily, being troublesome, or always calculating. She was cheerful, had an easy-going and generous temperament, had many friends, and was well-connected. Whether with boys or girls, she had good relationships.
When Shi Yang used to pick up or drop off Zhao Meimei at school, her classmates always had unanimous praise.
At that time, Shi Yang never understood what Zhao Meimei’s little head was constantly pondering over; she seemed to have something hidden inside her, especially secretive, kept tightly under wraps.
Zhao Meimei ate slowly, dawdling but ate a lot. Shi Yang didn’t have much appetite, just felt extremely sleepy with a headache and sore throat.
Halfway through, Zhang Xueyao and her group were leaving and came over to say goodbye.
Shi Yang politely bid farewell, and Zhang Xueyao gave him a deep look, suddenly saying, "Shi Yang, let’s still be friends, okay?"
Shi Yang was stunned, not expecting her to say this suddenly. To him, a breakup was a breakup; there was really no need to remain friends.
But being asked directly by Zhang Xueyao, he felt a bit awkward rejecting her outright, especially since she hadn’t done anything wrong, and everyone was soon to graduate and go their separate ways. Additionally, he was wary of Zhao Meimei beside him, fearful her once smoothed fur might flare up again.
Shi Yang nodded perfunctorily.
Zhang Xueyao said nothing more, bid farewell, and walked away with her friends.
How perceptive Zhao Meimei was—it was her forte to read expressions and observe people. She inquisitively asked, "Bro, does she like you?"
Seeing Zhang Xueyao finally leave, Shi Yang secretly sighed with relief, feeling completely at ease, and smilingly reached out to rub Zhao Meimei’s head, "Stop guessing, hurry and eat! It’ll be overcooked soon."
Zhao Meimei returned to the hotel smelling like hotpot and was immediately sent to take a shower by Shi Yang.
Zhao Meimei took her little camisole, underwear, and pajamas into the bathroom, carefully hanging them on the rack.
In the earlier years, she would openly wear her little vest and shorts in front of Shi Yang without all this fuss. She had grown up, learned to feel shy, and earlier, when she took out her underwear, she sneakily bundled it inside her pajamas and took it to the bathroom while Shi Yang wasn’t watching.
Standing under the warm water her Brother Yangyang had adjusted, Zhao Meimei comfortably showered, wetting her hair and body, identifying the hotel-provided shampoo and body wash, and used each one in turn, lathering herself in bubbles and couldn’t help but start singing.
"Monkey Brother Monkey Brother, you’re so remarkable, the Five Elements Mountain can’t hold you, out jumps the Monkey King... la la la..."
"I oo oo ooh... fell in love with you..."
Singing happily, Zhao Meimei’s voice grew louder, singing while scrubbing bubbles, swinging her waist and wiggling with rhythm, her entire body radiating an indescribable excitement and joy, self-absorbed in delight.
Zhao Meimei felt happy, blissful, and joyous because she could see her Brother Yangyang; her mood had unknowingly started to move with certain someone.
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om