When Zhao Lifei stepped closer to the table, she saw a wide variety of food that smelled so good that her stomach made a loud noise again.
She felt her cheeks heat up and tried to avoid any eye-contact with Yang Feng. He bit his bottom lip to suppress the laughter that threatened to come up.
She snuck a secretive glance at him and instantly wished she didn't. His eyes were lit up in mischief and the way he was biting his lip made him incredibly charismatic.
'Stop drooling.' Zhao Lifei chided herself, immediately averting her eyes away from him.
"Don't just stand there. Come and sit." He mused, his eyes twinkling when he looked at her.
He thought she was so unpredictable at times. One minute she would give him the cold shoulder and ignore him, then the next minute, she'd surprise him with expressions that ticked his heart.
The blush on her cheeks have yet to subside as she sat on the chair he pulled out for her.
'Is she a tsundere?' He asked himself when he thought about her behavior.
"Don't just stand there. Come and sit." She copied his words upon realizing he was staring at her. She was beginning to squirm under the intensity of his gaze.
When she turned her attention back to the food, she seriously hoped she wasn't drooling. Perhaps it was because she was so hungry, but every dish looked amazing!
She is sure that whoever marries Yang Feng in the future would be a very lucky woman. Based on how good he treated her as his sister's best friend, the wife-to-be would be waking up to eye-candy every morning and to a doting husband who he will probably cook for her a lot.
Zhao Lifei felt a prick in her chest at the idea of another woman wrapped around Yang Feng's arms.
She blinked at her emotions. There it was again, that sudden surge of annoyance and frustration. She was familiar with this feeling and had associated it with jealousy, but why would she be jealous of Yang Feng's future wife?
'It's not like I have a crush on him. Don't overthink this, he's just being nice because of what happened at the hospital.' She tried to convince herself. Not wanting to get ahead of herself, she decided to focus on the present.
"Well, are you going to join me?" Zhao Lifei asked him.
Yang Feng blinked before revealing a smirk. "Why? Do you want me to join you?" He teased her.
He was good at hiding his eagerness that looked like a dog wagging his tail for a good response. However, she completely shattered his dreams when she opened her mouth and said, "No, why would I?"
Yang Feng felt his world crumble. He took her words to heart and felt a painful jab to his chest at her quick response.
This woman never hesitated to reject whatever he offered her and had always managed to distance herself.
Maybe he seriously needs to sit down with that sister of his to find out what's wrong with this stubborn woman. But knowing Ruqin's personality, she'd probably jump to another conclusion and impulsively create a misunderstanding.
When Zhao Lifei saw how somber and dark his expression had become, she couldn't help but smile in amusement. She was merely joking with him but realized he took her words too literally. "Well, if it makes you so upset, I wouldn't mind dining with you." She teased again, but her face was so straight when she said it, Yang Feng took it to heart again.
His expression worsened and then she nearly rolled her eyes before reaching out to tug his wrist.
He refused to look at her and instead, glared at the wall. His stare was so intense, she was afraid the wall might crack!
"Don't be angry, it was a joke. Of course, I would love it if you would dine with me." She lightly laughed, her voice no longer indifferent and detached. Instead, her tone was as warm as a summer day.
Yang Feng turned around in shock. This was the first time she had ever joked with him. Making jokes meant she at least considered him to be a friend? Right?
"Well, if you suppose so. I guess I should give you the honor of dining with me." Yang Feng felt his mood brighten at the thought. He decided to enjoy the lively atmosphere and teased her back.
Zhao Lifei rolled her eyes at his words, but couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. He pulled out the chair beside her and sat down.
The maids and butler in the corner of the room were shocked to see the scene in front of them. They had never seen their stoic master crack a joke or laugh with so much warmth! In front of Zhao Lifei, he was a completely different man!
The old butler had been taking care of Yang Feng ever since he was a young boy running around the Yang Mansion. He could feel his heart shake and quiver with the strong emotion that washed over him. He hadn't seen Yang Feng laugh so freely in a long time that he nearly forgot the sound of it.
Ever since the head of the Yang household decided to train Yang Feng in managing both the business and their underworld dealings, he had rarely smiled.
With his innocence lost, his eyes had turned lifeless and maintained a cold expression as if nothing in this world mattered to him anymore.
The old butler couldn't help but feel sympathy for Yang Feng. By accompanying his grandfather, what little light that Yang Feng possessed was completely stolen by the darkness.
Breathing in the musty smell of rotting bodies, hearing the tortured screams of their enemies, and witnessing things too gruesome for a child to bear, Yang Feng grew up unfazed to all sorts of appalling scenes.
The old butler remembered a haunting memory of seeing a young, blood-coated Yang Feng stroll through the back entrance of Yang mansion with a chillingly calm expression on his face. And when he asked what happened, he had simply replied, "Business." before dropping the gun he had been holding to the ground. Knowing how harsh Yang Feng's grandfather was, the old butler could already guess what Yang Feng was forced to do...
A peal of sweet and refreshing laughter brought the old butler from his dark thoughts. He lifted up his wrinkled face and saw a beautiful scene before him.
The woman sitting beside his unrecognizable young master was grinning at something, whereas Yang Feng seemed completely smitten by everything she was doing. Their playful banter while eating was something this dining room had never seen before.
The old butler breathed out in surprise and nearly shed a tear at how happy Yang Feng seemed to be. To be able to lift Yang Feng's spirit, the old butler began to think very positively of the female guest. At first, he thought she might have been a gold digger who had managed to successfully scheme against their boss. But now he saw her in a different light.
The old man knew Yang Feng would be smart enough to weed out the good from the bad. Seeing as he had obviously not discarded or kicked her out of the house when she woke up this morning, the old butler knew the female guest was someone very important to his master...perhaps, she was the future Madam Yang?