After touring the beautiful scenery of the Slender West Lake, when noon arrived, the two of them went together to the teahouse owned by Xiaoxian's family to have lunch with their team members.
Xiaoxian's family shop wasn't a trendy, internet-famous spot, but it had been operating locally for decades and had built up a solid reputation.
Actually, Xu Yanxia could tell from Xiaoxian's craftsmanship that her family put a lot of heart and profound skill into making dim sum.
Xiaoxian's parents were also incredibly welcoming, serving them a plethora of the shop's signature dishes all at once. As everyone tasted the food, Xu Yanxia took the opportunity to review yesterday's competition with her two teammates, Xiaoxian and Xiaoman.
"Xiaoxian, look, this thousand-layer oil cake your dad made is excellent. The one we made yesterday probably didn't have enough layers folded in. That's why the layers weren't as distinct after it was done."
"Yes," Xiaoxian quickly nodded and said, "I was actually a bit nervous at the time, and I kind of lost track while folding. I'll practice hard during this period and try my best to make sure nothing goes wrong in the next match."
"You'll definitely be able to do it." After encouraging her, Xu Yanxia moved on to the boiled shredded tofu on the table and said to Xiaoman, "Yesterday, when we were boiling our shredded tofu, we added the salt a bit too early, so the texture was slightly tough. But your knife skills were still very good. Keep up the good work."
"Okay, teacher," Xiaoman also nodded hurriedly and said, "I'll practice more when I get back, too, so I won't hold us back."
As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Shu, who was filming video footage for her on the side, immediately called out to her and Lu Jingming, "President Lu and Director Xu, lean in closer and make an appearance to give the shippers a sweet treat."
The round table for six was quite spacious, so even though the two were sitting next to each other, there was still some distance between them.
Hearing Ye Shu say this, Xu Yanxia quickly leaned toward Lu Jingming and flashed a peace sign at the camera.
To her surprise, Lu Jingming directly planted a kiss on her cheek, then smiled and waved at the camera.
This left her with a look of utter surprise, drawing screams of excitement from the rest of the team.
"So sweet! That's how you give out treats!"
...
The lunch drew to a close in a joyful atmosphere.
Originally, Xiaoxian's parents refused to let them pay the bill, but Lu Jingming still secretly settled it before they left.
After that, Xiaozhen and Ye Shu took Xiaoman back to the hotel to pack their luggage, as their flight was earlier.
Xu Yanxia and Lu Jingming's flight was in the evening. Taking advantage of the remaining time, they strolled together to her grandfather's old hometown.
Her grandfather's old residence was right in the old city district. The locally characteristic clear-water brick walls looked solid and quaint.
Entering the gate, there was first a small courtyard surrounded by antique-looking houses, with the garden located in the back.
Although it wasn't as large as some of the famous local gardens, the landscaping was well-arranged and quite exquisite.
Especially in late autumn, the leaves of the trees were colorful, and the osmanthus flowers were still blooming. The whole courtyard was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus, which smelled exceptionally fresh and sweet in the already somewhat chilly air.
The weather was already getting a bit cold. Lu Jingming took Xu Yanxia for a stroll around the yard, fed the fish in the small pond, and then went back into the room.
The room was just as quaint as the exterior of the house, featuring bluestone bricks, lattice windows, and double-opening partition doors. Even the furniture was made of rosewood, giving it a lot of character.
It was just a bit small; apart from the large bed, wardrobe, and desk, there was no room left for a sofa.
She sat down on his bed. Lu Jingming poured her a cup of red date tea and took out a photo album from a nearby table to show her.
"Here, these are all photos of me."
Xu Yanxia was a little surprised. She took the album and asked, "Do you usually keep your photo album right here?"
"Not exactly," Lu Jingming admitted honestly. "I specifically dug it out last night. I was worried there might be some ugly pictures, so I screened them first."
"Are you serious?"
Xu Yanxia couldn't help but be amused by him. She opened the album and started looking through it.
Unexpectedly, the very first thing she saw was a chubby, fair-skinned little boy with a round, fleshy face, probably around four or five years old.
"Is this..." She looked up at him in surprise. "You?"
"Yeah," Lu Jingming nodded. "Does it not look like me?"
As he spoke, he sat down next to her and looked at the photos with her.
"At first glance, I really couldn't tell," Xu Yanxia's gaze darted back and forth between his face and the photo a few times before she smiled and said, "But the eyes and eyebrows are the same."
"I didn't expect you to actually be this chubby back then."
"Of course," Lu Jingming told her. "I used to be quite the foodie. I was on the heavier side all the way through college graduation. Otherwise, how could I have lost over twenty pounds in the UK?"
"True."
Xu Yanxia said as she flipped further back. Sure enough, in the photos taken every year he came back up until his teenage years, he was chubby.
However, there were no photos of him as he grew older. It was probably because boys who hit puberty did not really like taking pictures.
She couldn't help but smile as she looked through them. "You were pretty cute."
Lu Jingming smiled too. "When we have kids, they'll probably be quite cute, too."
"What are you saying..."
Xu Yanxia's cheeks flushed.
He, however, said without a trace of a blush, "Isn't it bound to happen sooner or later?"
With that, he reached out, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her into his embrace, and lowered his head to gently kiss the tip of her ear.
He added softly, "I know you care so much about Xiaobao, so you must love children too."
A wave of tingling numbness washed over Xu Yanxia, and she couldn't help but shrink her shoulders slightly.
Who knew that he would follow the curve of her ear, down her cheek, and kiss all the way to her chin.
He murmured in a low voice, "I never used to feel like the days were so hard to get through..."
As he spoke, he captured her lips in a kiss.
Gentle and soft, it seemed to carry a hint of the sweet fragrance of osmanthus...
It made her almost forget to refuse, and she was on the verge of being drawn deeper by him.
Fortunately, at that very moment, her phone suddenly started vibrating.
Her reason returning, Xu Yanxia began to push him away, blushing as she said, "I have a video call."
Lu Jingming, however, was still unwilling to let her go.
It wasn't until she struggled to grab her phone and saw the profile picture on the screen that she told him, "It's Xixi calling."
Only then did he gradually stop.
With a hint of dissatisfaction, he said, "That foodie is probably just calling to ask you for food again."
"Maybe Xixi has something important to say."
Xu Yanxia cleared her throat and tapped to answer.
The face of her bestie, Queen Xixi, instantly appeared on the screen, calling out to her with anticipation, "Babe, where are you?"
Xu Yanxia replied, "I'm in Yangzhou, at my grandfather's house."
Noticing that her hair was a bit messy, she quickly smoothed it out.
On the other end, Lu Jingxi immediately frowned. "No way, didn't you guys finish filming the Yangzhou stop of the show yesterday? I'm already back in Rong City, why are you still there?"
"When are you coming back? I'm still starving and waiting for our dinner!"
Xu Yanxia was a little surprised. "You're back in Rong City?"
As soon as she spoke, another face suddenly appeared on the screen, smiling at her and saying, "Not only is my sister back, but I'm back too, Sister Xiaoxia!"
It was surprisingly the Third Brother of the Lu family, Lu Jingyao, whom she hadn't seen for a long time.
Xu Yanxia looked pleasantly surprised again.
However, before she could say anything, Lu Jingming leaned into the camera and said to his younger brother and sister on the other end, "You two better have something very important to call at this time."
The two people on the other end of the video called him brother together, "You're there too?"
"Nonsense,"
Lu Jingming said with a smile on his face, "If I wasn't here, would Xiaoxia come to grandpa's house by herself?"
"That's true,"
But his good sister nudged away his good brother Lu Jingyao with her elbow, and said to Xu Yanxia, "Then when are you coming back, babe? I have a concert this weekend, and I have to go to the next place after singing. I can only stay for a few days. When will our dinner happen?"
"Right, the concert!"
Xu Yanxia's eyes lit up immediately, and she hurriedly said, "I almost forgot! We're going back tonight, so we can meet up tomorrow night!"
"That's great!"
Lu Jingxi nodded. "Then I'll wait for you! I missed you to death! You don't know how worried I was watching your live stream yesterday! But you did great!"
Saying that, she let out a sound of surprise, "Babe, your makeup today is so pretty, all pink and tender! What shade of lipstick is that? It looks so good!"
Xu Yanxia froze for a moment. "I didn't wear makeup today..."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately realized.
—It was probably just now...
She could only say to Lu Jingxi, "Maybe the camera has a beauty filter on."
"Okay then,"
Fortunately, her good bestie didn't ask further, but just reminded her, "Hurry back, I'm waiting for you! By the way, tell my brother to bring me some Yangzhou buns, I love them!!!"
Immediately after, Lu Jingyao's voice sounded in the background again—
"And me, Sister Xiaoxia, tell my brother to bring me some too, I love them too!!!"
Xu Yanxia smiled and said okay, waved goodbye to them, and hung up the video call.
Unexpectedly, right after, Lu Jingming pressed against her back again, wrapped his arms around her waist, and whispered in her ear with a smile, "The lipstick is my shade, right?"
"So annoying..."
She bit her lip and hit him playfully, then stood up blushing, pulling him outside.
"It's about time, we still need to get them some local specialties, let's go."
Lu Jingming sighed and had no choice but to stand up too.
—He knew it, God sent his younger brother and sister to test him.
