Tang Shu paused for a moment, then quickly went back to normal.
Whenever the two of them used to go out to eat, the restaurant utensils needed to be disinfected in advance, and it was Jing Yu who often took care of these things.
After having several meals together, she seemed to have gotten used to his movements, and therefore the surprise in her dark eyes rose rapidly, and faded away just as quickly.
Xu Qianyun, sitting opposite them, could not simply describe his expression as surprised.
What’s going on? Does Mr. Jing come here often for meals?
This stirred up a slight feeling of imbalance in Xu Qianyun, who usually came over only on weekends. It was his sister’s house, after all; how could a stranger seem more at ease than himself?
Wait a second, stranger?!
Xu Qianyun finally remembered that heartfelt inquiry from his sister about whether he had started dating, and he suddenly felt like he was facing a formidable enemy!
Could it be... no way?
Thus, throughout the entire lunch, Xu Qianyun’s scrutinizing eyes never stopped moving, darting here and there, afraid of missing any detail.
As for his wandering gaze, everyone reacted differently; Tang Shu was mostly puzzled, Jing Yu naturally knew what the looks implied, but still ate as if it were a normal day, unperturbed.
And Su Xiaochi, who originally wanted to discuss other matters with Tang Shu, just curled up the corners of her lips as if watching a play. But in her mind, she added that they would need to find another time to discuss the training.
Today was not suitable, not suitable at all.
That very evening, Lin Yunlan saw her conflicted and annoyed son.
"What’s the matter, did you do poorly on a test?"
"No, there haven’t been any tests at school recently."
"Then has someone been bullying you?"
Xu Qianyun waved his arm, showing off a bit of muscle, "How could that be possible? No one can bully me these days!"
Lin Yunlan didn’t know whether to be proud of her son’s confidence or worried about his school bully-like tone.
"Never mind, you’re grown up now, deal with your own issues."
She was busy checking the menu with Aunt Zhang, and after adding a few more dishes, they finally came to an agreement.
"That should be enough, we’ll see if we need more when the time comes."
"Okay, Madam, I’ll go get ready. You’ve worked hard too."
Aunt Zhang was exceptionally enthusiastic, clearly in high spirits unlike her usual self. Once she joyfully left to prepare the ingredients, Xu Qianyun, who was about to go upstairs, approached his mother.
"Mom, are we celebrating a festival these days, with such a feast?"
Aunt Zhang was almost flying with joy. He had grown so much, and it was only when the prospective brother-in-law came over for a meal that she would be this happy.
"What festival? You must be playing too much these days. Qianyu’s project has made significant progress, and this is for her celebration party."
"Oh—is it the one in collaboration with the National Institute of Instrumentation?"
He remembered that the project was settled during the New Year’s period, and at that time Xu Qianyu was so busy networking that it was almost impossible to see her.
"Yes, your father said that the first batch of trial products have been produced by the factory and the test results are quite good. They’re ready for large-scale production."
Xu Qianyun grabbed an apple from the table and took a bite, "When is it, do we need a banquet?"
He had just overheard a series of dishes being named, everything from land fowl to river swimmers, an incredibly lavish spread.