Xiao Yue’s eyes glistened as she looked at Quan Yu. It was hard to tell if she was touched or she was just acting. In any case, her red eyes turned watery. She bit on her lips. She looked like a child who was forced to be strong due to the unfairness she had been treated with.
Quan Yu’s eyes were pained when he looked at her. He patted the back of her hand. “Let bygones be bygones. It was my fault for not standing up for you when the child accidentally bump into you. However, I asked you out tonight to talk about happy things, so let’s not think of those sad things anymore.”
It was a simple gesture but it almost made Xiao Yue cry. She was an expert at playing with people’s hearts but noting how kindly Quan Yu was treating her, she was incredibly happy. If he was not sitting before her, she would have stood up and skipped around happily. She pursed her lips to reveal a smile. She curved her lips at the right angle to reveal her purposely bleached teeth. “Yes, Brother Yu is right. I’m very happy to see you today, I shouldn’t make you worry about me.”
“You silly girl.” Quan Yu smiled and patted her head. He pushed a plate of escargot towards her. “We have plenty of time to talk. Let’s eat first. Try these red wine escargot. It’s the chef’s signature dish, I hope you’ll like it.”
Xiao Yue was overwhelmed. Her eyes widened and her lashes trembled. “How, how did you know this is my favorite dish? Plus the signature dish of the chef here should be his steaks…”
Quan Yu looked at her and scoffed internally. Of course, I’ve done my research. On the surface, he smiled warmly. “I’m afraid that you might not enjoy the meal so I asked the restaurants that you normally frequent. After I found out this is your favorite dish, I purposely flew the chef in from France… I’m sorry, am I being too pushy?”
Xiao Yue’s heart skipped a beat. Her palms were sweaty. The man had gone through the trouble of studying her favorite dish, even an idiot knew what that meant!
“Brother, Brother Yu! Why are you apologizing for that! In the future, if you want to know anything about me, just come and ask me. I will tell you everything.”
“I’m not sure if you like this chef’s cooking or not. However, I personally find the fragrance of garlic and red wine enhances the softness of the escargot. It also heightens the buttery sensation. It is why I like this chef’s cooking so much.”
Quan Yu lowered his head to scan the card which was pasted to the side of his table. He told Mo Li that he couldn’t memorize these pretentious words but Mo Li insisted that this was incredibly important.
“I, I love it…” Xiao Yue lowered her head and uttered softly. Her cheeks flushed red as she picked up her fork to poke at the escargot.
Quan Yu smiled and signaled for the waiter to refill Xiao Yue’s wine glass. At that moment, Quan Yu took out a manila folder from his suit pocket and pushed it towards Xiao Yue.
“I’ve been very busy lately and it took some time to find out the truth. I am so sorry that I wasn’t there for you… I know this won’t make up for anything… And I am not good with things like this. But I hope you will take this card from me. As your big brother… This is the least I can do, I hope you’ll accept it.”
When Quan Yu said the word, ‘big brother’, there was a pain in it like he hoped their relationship went deeper than that. Xiao Yue’s brain shut down. She stared at the envelope and warmth flowed through her heart. She was also touched.
When she was down on her luck, Quan Yu came as her savior. Quan Yu was the only one willing to help her and this proved that she meant something different to him.
Xiao Yue thought about it and she turned on the waterworks. “Brother Yu, you have no idea how much I despise myself! I am not…. as good as you think. I am not worth this!”
Indeed, you are better at acting than I thought. You even used children to harm others. You are far more heartless than I thought.
Quan Yu reached over the table to silently slip a napkin into her hand. His fingertips caressed her palms. “I’ll be lying to say that I don’t mind. However, I am angrier at the man to have succumbed to such dirty tricks to get to you…”
Quan Yu paused at this moment. As if realizing he had gotten too close, he coughed with embarrassment and sat back down in his seat.