He eagerly pulled his phone out of his pocket.
The young man, however, put his phone away and said blandly, "Let’s go eat."
Another delay on their photo together...
Afterward, the two chose a restaurant on the street and went in.
Once inside, they discovered the restaurant they picked wasn’t large, but it was adorned with colorful lanterns and Chinese murals, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere.
After sitting down at a vacant table, Shi Wangyue kept his head down, sending messages on WeChat.
As an elder almost a full cycle older, Ze Wu took the initiative to take charge of ordering: "Is there anything in particular you want to eat?"
"Anything’s fine." The young man didn’t look up.
"Alright, then we’ll have salt-baked chicken, pork knuckle in soy sauce, Eight Treasures duck, Songjiang perch, and white-cut chicken, one of each," Ze Wu ticked them off on the menu, muttering as he checked them off, "We’ve got chicken, duck, fish, and pork. What else do we want, how about some soup dumplings?"
The young man paused and nodded: "Okay."
"Alright, let’s add soup dumplings. That should be enough for the two of us." He handed the menu to the server, who smiled and went to place the order.
But Ze Wu suddenly remembered something, called the server back, and asked, "What drinks do you have?"
In a very authentic American English accent.
After asking the server, he switched to Mandarin and asked the young man across from him, "Do you drink alcohol?"
The young man had already put his phone down and said casually: "Anything’s fine."
He immediately broke into a smile and told the server, "Bring a bottle of wine."
...
On New Year’s Eve, the small restaurant in Chinatown was bustling, and the food service was a bit slow.
Ze Wu had waited all afternoon for Shi Wangyue and was already hungry.
When most of the dishes were finally served, he poured a glass of alcohol for himself and the young man across from him, then grabbed his chopsticks and urged the young man, "Eat while it’s hot, eat while it’s hot."
After saying this, his chopsticks descended onto the Eight Treasures duck he’d been eyeing for a long time.
Unexpectedly, a well-defined hand reached out mid-air to block his chopsticks: "Wait, let me take a picture."
Ze Wu: "..."
What left him speechless was that the young man didn’t just take panoramic shots but close-ups as well.
After finishing the photos, Shi Wangyue finally said, "Sorry, you can eat now."
The voice was cool and indifferent, saying "sorry," but without really meaning it.
Ze Wu, not wanting to argue, quickly helped himself to the food.
What continued to leave him speechless was that even with so many delicious dishes in front of him, the young man didn’t start eating and continued messaging on WeChat:
[Kid: [picture] [picture] [picture] [picture] [picture], tonight’s New Year’s Eve dinner.]
[Sister: Shanghai cuisine? Looks nice.]
[Kid: Yes, a Shanghai restaurant in Chinatown.]
[Sister: Thumbs up jpg, that’s great, have fun eating with your friend.]
[Kid: Hmm.]
Ze Wu focused on eating himself and didn’t mind the other’s behavior.
He picked up a piece of salt-baked chicken and stuffed it into his mouth, enjoying it thoroughly.
In the midst of enjoying it, he couldn’t help teasing the young kid, "Are you updating your parents back home on your schedule? Taking photos and broadcasting the whole time."
The young man put his phone down, picked up his chopsticks, and grabbed a freshly served, steaming hot dumpling: "No, it’s someone very important. She worries about me not having a proper New Year abroad, so I send more pictures to ease her mind."
Ze Wu’s face lit up with interest, "Oh, someone who deserves a big thumbs up and your dedication, is it a guy or a girl?"
The young man elegantly sipped the soup from the dumpling and replied unhurriedly, "A girl."
Ze Wu was surprised: "You’re so young and already have a girlfriend?"
"No," the young man shook his head.
After saying that, he stopped speaking.
Ze Wu wasn’t one to pry into others’ privacy anyway.
Besides, though he and the young man had known each other online for years, today was only the third time they’d met in person.
...
The way he met the young man was, frankly, quite peculiar.
Due to family influence, he had loved money, investment, finance, and dabbling in the stock market since he was young.
Years ago, in his youthful recklessness, he dared to enter the stock market under a pseudonym even as a minor, using funds he coaxed from his mother, along with years of saved New Year’s money and pocket money to go fishing in the market.
At that time, the domestic market was booming, and he was fortunate in the beginning, making quite a bit right off the bat.
This only fueled his audacity, making him even bolder in the market, and when the domestic market no longer satisfied him, he took his adventures online to foreign markets.