Leng Lingxiao suddenly stopped chatting and tossed his cell phone aside before she could make out the words on the screen.
"Tangtang, let’s stop for some food in a bit, you must be hungry too, right?"
Tang Xiaowan glanced at the yogurt, fruit, and various pastries nearby, and replied with a giggly smile, "Actually, I just ate a bunch of random stuff... Oh, okay then, let’s stop for some food."
Leng Lingxiao nodded, picked up his phone again, but the moment he swiped the screen, he abruptly turned it off.
Really? Just missed it by a little!
Chat, keep chatting; why have you stopped? What are you pondering over now?
Tang Xiaowan stretched nonchalantly; "Huahua, the phone you gave me is pretty good, seems to be the same brand as yours, just a different model."
"Yours is the latest model; mine is from last year."
"What? Mine is the latest model!"
Tang Xiaowan casually reached out, and Leng Lingxiao handed over his phone without any fuss.
"That’s quite embarrassing, haha." Tang Xiaowan continued.
"No worries, It’ll just come out of your money."
Seeing Tang Xiaowan biting her lower lip, Leng Lingxiao shook his head and laughed; "Just kidding, no need to deduct money. Consider it a benefit of your investment over the years."
"I didn’t mean that."
"Nothing really; I was just asking casually. You think too much, you overthink things."
Leng Lingxiao shook his head and laughed again.
At this moment, about a hundred meters behind them, Chen Xin was holding the steering wheel, stealthily glancing at Li Zishen in the back seat.
The tapping noise resounded.
The man proficiently replied to emails, nearly having dealt with the overseas company.
"Brother Shen, should we really ignore that photo?"
"What do you think Leng Lingxiao would do?"
"He’d definitely intercept it, oh, Brother Shen, wise as always, then we won’t bother, especially since Lady Tang wasn’t captured in it."
Li Zishen closed his laptop, looking at the empty seat beside him, a sense of loss welling up inside.
He and Leng Lingxiao being secretly photographed and made into gossip did not matter, as long as Tang Xiaowan was not involved.
The photo was taken at Mei Garden’s small pond, but it had all been blurred.
Tomorrow was Sunday, and Xiaowan’s sudden decision to return to Jin City might have been out of concern for the depreciation of her property; silly girl, it’s not worth much anyway.
And I’m here, there’s nothing to worry about.
Thinking so, Li Zishen sent a message to Tang Xiaowan.
[What are you doing? The next rest area has your favorite barbecue, shall we go together?]
Two minutes passed with no reply.
[Watching a movie? Reply fast!!!]
Tang Xiaowan always watched movies when riding in Li Zishen’s car, but this time in Leng Lingxiao’s car, it was a different scenario.
It was all about eating, drinking, and chatting non-stop the whole way.
She wasn’t hungry at all.
The reason for no reply was that the white cell phone from Li Zishen was in her handbag, hidden by the car’s music, while she was currently holding the anti-eavesdropping black cell phone given by Leng Lingxiao.
"Tangtang, we’re almost at the rest area. What would you like to eat?"
"You? What about you?" Tang Xiaowan asked back.
"I’ll go with whatever you decide."
"How about roast duck? But I’d like to eat it in the car while listening to music and chatting."
Leng Lingxiao nodded, "Okay."
After a pause, Tang Xiaowan suddenly realized it might be inappropriate to do so, as she was in a hurry to hit the road, but there were other companions as well.
So she quickly changed her mind, "Huahua, how about we have lamb soup instead? I remember they sell it. Is lamb soup okay?"
"Of course, you can."
Leng Lingxiao was from Huang City, where the dietary habits differed from Qingcheng, primarily focusing on wheat-based dishes.
There were lamb restaurants everywhere, and he loved them.
Upon hearing that they were going to have lamb soup, Zhao Renjie also nodded repeatedly, his face all smiles.
After they left the Qingcheng area, the temperature gradually began to cool down. Having a bowl of lamb soup was really nice, especially when it was spiced up with two spoonfuls of mutton fat chili oil—simply unbeatable.
"Old Zhao, after we finish the lamb soup, buy two roast ducks to take with us," Leng Lingxiao suddenly added.
Tang Xiaowan instantly frowned, thinking Leng Lingxiao was just being silly—flush with cash and splurging pointlessly. After having lamb soup, who could still eat roast duck?
One was already too much, let alone two!
"Tangtang, remember to give one to Granny Yu when we get back. Just say it’s a special treat from you."
"Does Granny Yu like roast duck?"
Leng Lingxiao smiled slightly. "She loves it. She can finish a whole one by herself."
"Wow, that’s impressive. Wait, Huahua, how did you know Granny Yu came to my place? Did Cheng Shi tell you?"
Looking at Tang Xiaowan’s puzzled face, Leng Lingxiao simply rubbed her head gently and then burst into hearty laughter.
"Come on, tell me, is it really him?" Tang Xiaowan pressed on.
"We’ve reached the rest area, let’s get off."
"Psh, changing the subject again. Are you guys hiding something from me, and Old Zhao too?"
"Alright, stop overthinking it all the time. We’re all good people here; why would we hide anything from you? Hurry up and get off. We still need to hit the road after eating."
"Nonsense, when have I ever overthought anything?"
"Alright, you haven’t—my mistake."
That’s how Tang Xiaowan was brought to the restaurant by Leng Lingxiao, with Zhao Renjie following closely behind.
The two continued to argue all the way.
At this moment, not far from them was Li Zishen’s car. He quietly watched everything unfold, a bitter feeling unspoken in his heart.
"Brother Shen, shall we..." Chen Xin tentatively asked.
"There’s no need to follow anymore."
"This... Okay, Brother Shen."
Turning the car around, Chen Xin immediately restarted the car and waved at the driver of the black SUV behind them, signaling him to follow.
Both vehicles soon disappeared into the night.
The rest area was not too far from Jin City. If they drove fast, it would take at most an hour and a half to reach Li Garden.
Therefore, whether they stopped or not didn’t really matter; eating back home was just as fine.
However, Chen Xin knew better than anyone that Li Zishen was angry and, once home, was likely to blow up. It was a miracle if he didn’t smash the study.
His fiery temper could only be checked by Tang Xiaowan, not even by Madam Lai. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveI[F]ire.net
A notification suddenly sounded.
Li Zishen cleared his throat, glanced at his phone, and after a pause, slowly picked it up.
Before he could open it, another message popped up.
"Sorry, just saw your message."
"We three are about to have lamb soup. Where are you guys? I didn’t see you. Did you go to the barbecue side?"
Li Zishen read the messages, his lips twitching slightly as his eyes drooped.
"Here, Brother Shen, is it..."
"Can you go any slower?"
Chen Xin frowned. "I’m sorry, Brother Shen."
Immediately, the car sped up once again as Li Zishen began to type on his screen.