The private booth was right next to Su Lu and Gu Xin’s, with Su Lu sitting towards the inside of the booth, hidden from view of others outside, but she could see everyone else without fear of being discovered.
Thus, Su Lu had been quite curious about the commotion at the entrance and had watched attentively for quite a while.
Gu Xin chuckled, "Why do you like to watch the bustle?"
"Just taking a casual look," replied Su Lu, blinking her eyes. "It’s like watching something while eating."
She believed her voice wasn’t loud and her seat was concealed enough, which is why she watched the commotion so unabashedly.
However, she didn’t expect that among the middle-aged couple being led to the neighboring booth by the waiter, the middle-aged man with a blank expression, robotic tone, and cold eyes glanced over in Su Lu’s direction.
Even though Su Lu’s position was quite hidden and couldn’t be seen from outside,
she felt that the middle-aged man’s gaze was sharp as a hawk’s, as if it landed directly on her face and saw through her.
As a result, she quickly lowered her head and stopped watching the commotion.
The waiter had already led the middle-aged couple to the booth next to them.
There was a slight distance between the two booths; if you spoke in a lowered voice, you couldn’t hear the conversation from the neighboring booth. At least, Gu Xin and Su Lu always spoke quietly enough not to disturb others.
But the middle-aged woman in the next booth didn’t seem to have the same intention, her voice wasn’t restrained at all compared to earlier and while not loud, it wasn’t particularly quiet either.
The disdain in her tone was undisguised, "To think we couldn’t even book a private room, this place has really gone down in class, and you’re just not picky..."
Although her tone was disdainful, it wasn’t hard to hear the somewhat involuntary coquettishness in her voice when she spoke to the middle-aged man, much softer.
"I heard this is a famous spot. Old brands have their own rules; don’t be too troublesome," the middle-aged man’s voice was still robotic, sounding a bit indifferent and devoid of warmth.
The middle-aged woman immediately softened, "I know, I know. I’m just worried you’re not used to it. I’m just concerned about you..."
Her voice grew softer and softer, but the middle-aged man didn’t respond again, seemingly too lazy to reply.
After a while, a young and beautiful woman with immaculate makeup walked over, her smile flawless, "Uncle, auntie, sorry to have kept you waiting. I’m not familiar with the parking spots and got delayed while parking. Please forgive me."
"It’s fine," the middle-aged man replied offhand, still sounding indifferent.
But the middle-aged woman was very gentle to the young woman, "Oh dear, Cai Zi, there’s nothing for you to blame yourself for. It’s your first time here after all, and it’s normal not to be familiar with the parking spots. I think it’s that boy who’s thoughtless! If he had come to pick us up on time, you wouldn’t have had to go to all this trouble."
Xiao Caizi kept smiling flawlessly, her words and tone as if following some established script, extremely understanding, "Auntie, you are too kind. He’s probably been too busy recently to look after us. We should be more understanding..."
The middle-aged woman, looking at Xiao Cai Zi’s demeanor, was immensely pleased, her eyes crinkling with her smile, teasing, "Oh my, I just said a few words about him, and you’re already on his side?"
Xiao Cai Zi created a suitably shy expression and gesture, "I... I’m just speaking the truth, auntie, please don’t make fun of me."
Xiao Cai Zi maintained a degree of decorum and a relatively quiet volume while she spoke.
So, Gu Xin actually couldn’t hear clearly what was being said in the neighboring booth, but Su Lu, who naturally had excellent hearing, could pretty much make out the content of their conversation, even though she wasn’t deliberately trying to listen.
Not long after, the braised eel was served.
Gu Xin had the waiter place the braised eel in front of Su Lu, "Eat more, don’t you like braised eel?"
"Hm? Thanks, make sure you eat plenty too," said Su Lu.
She focused on eating the braised eel in her bowl, while the sounds of low conversation and ordering came from the next booth. After a little while, other noises from the neighboring booth reached her ears again.
The middle-aged woman’s voice rose, "Finally here! Unbelievable, making the elders come all this way and still have to wait for him!"
A young woman’s voice carried over faintly, "Sorry I’m late. Dad, um... Aunt Zhou. Sister Caizi."
The middle-aged woman seemed displeased with her greeting, "What ’Sister Caizi’? She will be your future sister-in-law, Jing Ruo, just call her ’sister-in-law.’"
"Uh..." Jing Ruo smiled awkwardly.
Su Lu’s hand, which was holding a bowl of braised ricefield eels, suddenly stopped. She blinked gently, her breathing becoming very light, shallow yet deep, as if she was finally preparing herself.
Su Lu lifted her gaze and looked over.
From her concealed position, she could clearly see the man and woman who had entered through the door, making their way to the adjacent booth.
The woman was young and beautiful, none other than Jing Ruo, whom Su Lu had seen a few times.
And the man beside Jing Ruo had a tall, slender figure, his face betraying few emotions, his clothing casual and not formal, even looking quite relaxed. However, it was easy to see there was impatience in his eyes and brow.
That face—she would recognize it even if it turned to ashes.
Su Lu felt her throat go dry and tight, unable to swallow anything. She involuntarily reached out and gently touched her abdomen.
Thinking about the phone call she couldn’t get through, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" came Bo Jingshen’s deep, magnetic voice from the next booth, tinged with indifference.
But Zhou Xiaochu didn’t care about his words, continuing, "How am I talking nonsense? I specifically brought Cai Zi over. Come on, sit next to Cai Zi."
Then came the sound of a chair being pulled out.
Su Lu sat quietly, her heart even humbly hoping for him to utter words of refusal, but she didn’t hear him refuse.
Then, Bo Jingshen’s cellphone began to ring.
He glanced at the screen with Jiang Li’s number on it, couldn’t be bothered to answer, and swiped to reject.
Su Lu sat in the next booth, her complexion a bit pale. Gu Xin was busy messaging Chen Yaxi and didn’t notice Su Lu’s pallor.
Quietly, Su Lu took out her phone. She wanted to know where exactly the problem lay.
She clenched her fingers tightly and tightly pressed her lips together as she dialed the familiar number.
Then she held the phone to her ear, waiting for any sound from the call.
Waiting for any sound from the cellphone in the next booth.
There was no reaction at all from the next booth; Bo Jingshen’s phone didn’t ring.
And an icy female voice came through the earpiece into Su Lu’s ear,
"Sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached..."
Su Lu blinked silently.
So, the problem wasn’t that his phone was unreachable—it was merely that when Su Lu called, it was unreachable.