Chapter 493: Dining Together 1
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Then Ye Xiyuan will undoubtedly be dumbfounded.” Ye Lengan chuckled behind her hand. “She went through such effort just for a rare shot at making a name for herself, even clearing obstacles early on, only to suddenly realize it was all pointless busywork. Do you think she might be angered to death by it
“Do you have any interest in attending yourself?” Huangfu Ruiling asked with a smile. “You could serve as a judge this time.”
“Huh?” Ye Lengan was taken aback after hearing this. “Me? A judge? But I’m rather ignorant when it comes to fashion design. Doesn’t it seem I’d lack proper qualifications to sit on the judges’ panel?”
“You’re more qualified than anyone,” Huangfu Ruiling asserted, looking directly at her. “As the lady boss of Huangye Group, who could boast higher standing?”
Rather than objecting or getting flustered by Huangfu Ruilings pronouncement, Ye Lengan instead nodded matter-of-factly, as if it were only natural. “l suppose you make a reasonable case. Then I shall reluctantly take on the duty of judge this time!”
Seeing Ye Leng’an’s haughty manner, Huangfu Ruiling just chuckled and shook his head, eyes full of affectionate indulgence.
“l bet Ye Xiyuan will be quite surprised to see me there!” Ye Lengan laughed softly behind her palm. “l truly look forward to witnessing her reaction soon.”
“It won’t be long now,” Huangfu Ruiling assured lowly. “With you seated at the judges’ table watching her, I imagine she’ll be anything but composed!”
After nodding in agreement, Ye Lengan suddenly urged, “Alright, enough chitchat. You ought to hurry up and get back to work! Once you’ve finished we can go eat.”
Within a few dozen minutes Huangfu Ruiling had powered through the paperwork, and the pair headed down to the parking lot intent on lunch. Unexpectedly, in the parking lot they happened across Huangfu Ruixiang and Li Yiran.
Seeing the two of them, Ye Lengan was genuinely surprised for a moment. If her memory served correctly, when she’d passed Li Yiran downstairs earlier the girl was carrying a thermal food container. Meaning she’d come to deliver a lovingly prepared meal. But even by the clock, surely they couldn’t have finished eating so soon!
“Big brother, Miss Ye,” Huangfu Ruixiang greeted them first. “You’re off to lunch too? What a happy coincidence! Shall we go together?”
“You haven’t eaten yet?” Hearing this, Ye Lengan was puzzled. “But wasn’t that…
Before she could even complete the sentence, Li Yiran’s expression had already soured noticeably.
“Oh, so you knew about it too, Miss Ye!” Huangfu Ruixiang didn’t seem surprised. “Well, since our paths crossed… Indeed Yiran brought food over just now, but she can’t cook to save her life. The taste was utterly unpalatable. So we planned to just go out instead.”
With each word from Huangfu Ruixiang, Li Yiran’s face fell further. Especially upon catching sight of Ye Leng’an standing next to Huangfu Ruiling, she was awash in embarrassment. She couldn’t have imagined that the lunch she had painstakingly prepared, Huangfu Ruixiang had spat out after a single bite. Not only that, but he’d mercilessly declared it far too distasteful and instructed her not to cook for him again in the future.
She had done all of this expressly to curry favor with Huangfu Ruixiang, only to have her efforts completely dismissed as worthless. She was even starting to question if choosing Huangfu Ruixiang as her target had been a mistake!
His feelings for her seemed far too tepid in her view.
Yet at this point, there could be no reversing course. Even if she’d erred, she could only continue erring now.
It was evident Huangfu Ruiling merely wanted an intimate two-person lunch with Ye Lengan, with no intruding third wheels to hamper them. But before he could voice refusal, Ye Lengan already acquiesced.
“Sure!” she said with a bright smile. “Since we’re all yet unfed, why don’t we take this felicitous encounter as a reason to share the meal?”
No one expected Ye Lengan would actually agree. Even Huangfu Ruixiang was briefly taken aback following her response.
But he swiftly rebounded, suggesting, “There’s a Japanese restaurant in the shopping center nearby I’m not sure would suit your tastes…. Shall we try it though?”