Chapter 424: Chapter 423: Following Boss Lu, There’s Meat to Eat!
Chapter 424: Chapter 423: Following Boss Lu, There’s Meat to Eat!
Zhang Yanyan didn’t lift his head, eagerly flipping through his notes like someone starved for knowledge.
Lu Mian’s eyes were warm, her gaze falling on the flamboyant characters on the page as she firmly said, “The condition is—it must not be leaked.”
This was a rule she added herself.
Although Xiao Qimo hadn’t specifically instructed her to do so, she was still stingy about it.
She watched as the other party nodded solemnly in agreement, and only then did she feel at ease.
She trusted Zhang Yanyan; he was reliable.
Zhang Yanyan was somewhat puzzled, looking at her with a smile in her eyes and a distant look, he asked, “Lu Mian, since you treasure your notes so much, why did you give them to me?”
“Hm…” Lu Mian pursed her lips, “Maybe, I’m just kind of bored.”
A certain Deputy Director Guo on vacation in Spring City raised his hand: Yes, my position as deputy director was also a product of the boss’s boredom.
After handing over the stuff to Zhang Yanyan, Lu Mian left.
A few students dining in the restaurant all noticed the notebook in Zhang Yanyan’s hands, winking and signaling each other stealthily.
Lu Mian was cool and proud, distancing herself from others, but they had to admit that her two full-score competition results were enough to turn anyone green with envy.
They were curious about Lu Mian’s study methods, curious about her notebook.
Seeing that Lu Mian had given Zhang Yanyan something, some were itching to have a look.
Fang Xilan was the first to approach Zhang Yanyan; she didn’t even finish her meal before rushing out.
“Zhang Yanyan!” She extended a friendly olive branch, smiling warmly and easily at him, her eyes shining on the notebook in Zhang Yanyan’s hands as she asked knowingly, “Is that from Lu Mian?”
“Yep,” Zhang Yanyan hugged it to his chest.
Having shared a meal at the same table previously, Zhang Yanyan didn’t have a good impression of Fang Xilan.
Especially since she had exchanged a damaged book for Lu Mian’s new one and even ate Lu Mian’s share.
Even though that girl didn’t give a hoot about those things, he felt indignant on Lu Mian’s behalf.
“Can I have a look at it?” she asked.
Zhang Yanyan thought to himself that some people really have no shame; he hadn’t even flipped through it much himself when someone came over, brazenly asking to borrow the notes.
Not to mention his promise to Lu Mian not to circulate them, even if it were an ordinary notebook, he wouldn’t lend it.
He decisively shook his head, “No borrowing.”
Fang Xilan fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, “Why?
We’re all classmates; sharing study materials with each other is no big deal.
I can lend you mine too.”
Zhang Yanyan strictly followed Lu Mian’s request, hugging the notebook even closer.
We’re not that close to start exchanging notebooks with each other.”
Fang Xilan was plainly refused, which left her feeling awkward.
Biting her lips and looking aggrieved, she said, “In the end, you all just look down on me because my family is poor and I have a bad background, deliberately distancing yourselves from me…
I just wanted to see Lu Mian’s notes, what did I do wrong?”
Every time bringing up being poor, this kind of coercive moral hijacking, Zhang Yanyan could see through it all now, even if he were dim-witted.
“Sorry, no matter how poor your family is, I’m not going to let you see it.”
Having said that, Zhang Yanyan left with the notebook.
He left Fang Xilan standing there, her face flushed with embarrassment and tugging at her clothes.
She had thought of them as good friends!
What was wrong with just taking a look, it’s not like it cost them any money!
Meanwhile, Xiu Qian, quietly dining in the restaurant, had noticed the notebook that Lu Mian brought out even before she left.
The capitalized X on the cover sent him into deep thought.
He had seen that notebook before.
He was certain that the notebook wasn’t Lu Mian’s, but rather…
He just couldn’t for the life of him figure out how the notebook ended up in Lu Mian’s hands?
Lu Mian made her way to Zitan Pavilion, after all, it was a meal made by Xiao Qimo’s mom, and she would brave any danger for it.
Even before she stepped inside, her stomach began to growl, clearly impatient with desire.
Her steps quickened involuntarily as she knocked on Xiao Qimo’s room door.
This time, it was Ye Jinwen who opened the door for her, and his laughter could be heard through the crack even before the door opened, sounding as jubilant as if it were the New Year.
“Little Mianmian, you’ve finally arrived!” Ye Jinwen rubbed his hands excitedly, leading her to the living room coffee table.
On the coffee table, two large insulated boxes sat securely in place.
In Xiao Qimo’s room, aside from Ye Jinwen, there was Yun Sang.
At the moment, he was half-bent over, one hand propping up the desk, the other resting on the back of Xiao Qimo’s chair, his mouth going on about something coding-related.
Ye Jinwen bustled happily around the coffee table, quickly setting out plates and cutlery, his gaze hardly able to veer away.
How rare, tagging along with Lu Mian brought its benefits, allowing him to enjoy Aunt Xiao’s cooking without even visiting the Xiao Family.
Indeed, following Boss Lu meant a guaranteed feast!
All three were indeed waiting for Lu Mian, and upon her arrival, Xiao Qimo contemptuously pushed Yun Sang away, who was too close to him, and emotionlessly moved past him to get to Lu Mian’s side.
Yun Sang let out a low scoff, crossed his hands behind his neck, and strolled over lazily.
Those eyes, brimming with recklessness, casually swept over the coffee table and lit up with surprise and delight.
“Not bad, brother!” he thumped Xiao Qimo’s chest, “You actually remembered my favorite thing!
Worthy of a friend of over twenty years, you are indeed attentive.
Little Yezi must have long forgotten!”
Xiao Qimo brushed off his hand, baffled, only to see Yun Sang’s large palm intent on snatching a plate from the coffee table the next second.
And on the plate, two hamburgers lay quietly.
The man’s temples twitched violently, and before Yun Sang’s greedy paw could touch the hamburgers, he swiftly intercepted his hand.
Then, both Xiao Qimo and Ye Jinwen simultaneously turned their eyes to Lu Mian.
The girl, who had been in a good mood just moments ago, had her delicate features seemingly cracking apart, her eyes unwaveringly fixed on the plate of hamburgers with an unusual flicker of emotion.
Ye Jinwen read four clear words on her face: My hamburgers…
He hurriedly explained to Yun Sang, “Brother Yun, you’ve got it wrong, those hamburgers aren’t for you!”
Yun Sang disbelieved, wrenched free from Xiao Qimo’s hold, and instead casually slung his arm over the scholarly man’s shoulder.
“If they aren’t for me, then who?
You don’t eat hamburgers, Xiao Qimo doesn’t eat them, could it be that…”
He was still arguing his case when he suddenly whipped his head around to look at the other person in the room—Lu Mian.
He saw the grief in her eyes, he understood the heartbreak in her expression.
“Tsk!” Yun Sang tapped his cheek with his tongue, speechless.
Then he could only watch as Xiao Qimo, that cultured lowlife, quickly approached the girl and coaxed her in a warm voice, “I specially asked my mom to make them for you.
They are all yours, no one will compete with you for them.”
The girl’s expression soon cleared, the clouds parting for the sun, and she nodded in relief at the regained treasure.
Yun Sang: Here, ten thousand words of colorful language are omitted.
Ye Jinwen was puzzled, glancing at the dejected Brother Yun on his left, then at the radiant Lu Mian on his right.
Scratching his head full of question marks.
Why did they all have a thing for hamburgers?