At eleven p.m., with all the ingredients sold out, the food stall closed right on schedule.
Xu Yanxia returned to their accommodation with her friends.
Rent near the night market wasn't cheap. To save on expenses, they had rented two apartments in a building a few kilometers away. Xu Yanxia shared one suite with Luo Jiajia, while Xu Zhanpeng shared another with Wang Gang.
It was already quite late, and they still had to buy and prepare ingredients tomorrow. After returning, everyone took showers and got ready for bed.
Luo Jiajia, who had been staying alone for several days, was thrilled to have Xu Yanxia back and insisted on squeezing into the same bed with her.
"How have things been at the Lu family these past couple of days? Are they easy to get along with? They haven't given you a hard time, have they?"
Ever since Xu Yanxia started staying at the Lu household, their schedules had been out of sync. Usually, when Xu Yanxia got up early for work, Luo Jiajia was still asleep. By the time Xu Yanxia finished her tasks, the others were busy shopping for and prepping ingredients.
When Xu Yanxia got off work in the evening, it was precisely the stall's busiest time, so the two hadn't had a proper chat in a while.
Xu Yanxia said, "The Lu family has been very polite to me; they haven't made things difficult at all. Actually, I feel bad that you've had it tough lately, Jiajia. Coming all this way with my brother to rough it."
Luo Jiajia brushed it off with a casual "Ah, it's nothing! I had nothing to do back home anyway. Might as well come out and experience the big city!"
She was an only child and had never really experienced hardship. After finishing her studies, she worked at a relative's company in her hometown. If it weren't for the incident with Xu Yanxia's uncle, she'd probably be planning her wedding right now.
As a member of the Xu family, Xu Yanxia felt a bit guilty towards her future sister-in-law and often reminded her brother to treat Luo Jiajia well.
"Your brother said once we get the money back this time, we'll hold the wedding at that Tang Dynasty Grand Hotel and he'll buy me a big diamond ring."
Luo Jiajia chuckled.
"Absolutely!"
Xu Yanxia laughed too. "If my brother dares to go back on his word, you come find me. I'll definitely straighten him out."
"Deal!"
Luo Jiajia then asked her, "By the way, have you met all the Lu family members? Is Lu Jingxi really as pretty as she looks on TV? Does she sing at home too?"
Lu Jingxi was the second child of the Lu family, the one working as a celebrity in the entertainment industry.
Xu Yanxia replied, "...Sorry, I've met everyone except her."
Luo Jiajia continued, "What about the Lu family's youngest son? The ice hockey player. Last time, someone posted photos of him playing online and it caused quite a stir. Is he really that tall and handsome in person?"
Xu Yanxia yawned. "Pretty tall, decent-looking, and quite the eater too."
Forgive her—she had gotten up at six this morning for work, and it was almost one a.m. now. She was really struggling to stay awake.
However, Luo Jiajia was getting more and more excited. "What about their eldest son, the CEO? Is he handsome? Does he seem like the domineering CEO type from those short dramas?"
Compared to his younger siblings, Lu Jingming kept a much lower profile. Apart from business activities related to the group, he rarely appeared in public. It was hard to find his photos online, no wonder Luo Jiajia was curious.
Unfortunately, Xu Yanxia was too exhausted to keep her eyes open. She mumbled drowsily, "He's alright too... seems like a pretty nice person..."
Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
...
The next morning, Xu Yanxia was awakened by her phone vibrating.
At first, she thought it was her alarm. Still half-asleep, she swiped at the screen a few times before remembering she had specifically turned off her alarm before going to bed last night.
She had no choice but to pick up her phone and look. It turned out to be Lu Jingyao, the third child of the Lu family, who had sent her three messages in a row—
[Xia Jiejie, are you up yet?]
[Did Chu Hao go find you for a late-night snack yesterday???]
[And he added you on WeChat?!!]
Xu Yanxia, "..."
What was going on? It was only seven in the morning. Do college students these days get up this early?
She squinted and replied, [Yes, I'm off today. I happened to run into him last night when I went to help out at the night market.]
Less than two seconds after sending it, she received a new message: [That guy was bragging on his Moments last night; I just saw it this morning! Jiejie, why didn't you tell me you were off?]
Xu Yanxia, "???"
Why would she need to tell him she was off?
He was at school; her day off didn't affect him at all.
While she was typing, another new message came from him: [I don't care, I'm going to eat there tonight too!!!]
Xu Yanxia, "..."
She had to delete what she was typing and start over: [Sure.]
Just after sending it, another new message arrived: [Lu Tong, Xiao Xu, and a few others want to come too. I'll add you to the group chat; you can send the location.]
Immediately after, he sent her an invite to a group chat called "The Bros."
Xu Yanxia clicked in. Before she could say anything, a flood of messages greeted her—
[Jiejie, you're finally here! I'm your dear brother Lu Tong!]
[Jiejie, me too, I'm Xiao Xu! Why did you only invite Chu Hao for a late-night snack and not us?]
[Are we not as handsome as that guy Chu Hao?]
Chu Hao, who suddenly popped up: [Isn't that the truth?]
[Get lost!]
[Get lost!]
[Get lost!]
...
The barrage of new messages truly amazed Xu Yanxia. Do male college students these days all get up this early?
Not wanting to watch them bicker anymore, she quickly sent a message: [I'll be there until eight tonight. You can all come anytime; I'll save spots for you.]
Then she sent the location of the night market stall.
She immediately received a bunch of [Okay]s and [OK]s.
Xu Yanxia also replied with an OK emoji, then set the chat to mute, turned off the screen, and planned to go back to sleep.
Who would have thought that barely two seconds after closing her eyes, her phone vibrated twice again.
Thinking it was Lu Jingyao again, she opened the screen to look and found it was actually from Lu Jingming.
[May I ask which type of mayonnaise is used for the sandwiches?]
It was followed by a photo of the condiment section inside the Lu family's refrigerator.
Xu Yanxia, "..."
What was going on?
Was President Lu planning to cook himself?
She remembered Mrs. Lu had asked Butler Zhang to make it for him last night?
Regardless, she replied first: [It's the first bottle from the left on the second row.]
She even marked it on the photo for him.
She soon received a reply: [Okay.]
About half a minute later, another new message arrived: [Do I pour the milk directly into the eggs before scrambling?]
Xu Yanxia, "..."
He really was going to make it himself?
After a moment's thought, she simply got out of bed, went to the outer room, and sent him a voice message, explaining the process in detail.
A minute later, he sent her an OK emoji, followed by another voice message.
She clicked play, and President Lu's clear, cool voice came through: [Did I disturb your rest?]
Xu Yanxia, "..."
Was her just-woken-up voice that obvious?
But it wasn't really him who disturbed her, so she politely replied, "No, I was already up."
After a moment's thought, she tentatively asked, "Are you making breakfast yourself this morning?"
He quickly sent a voice message back: "Mm. I happened to have the recipe you sent, so I wanted to try making the sandwiches myself."
Xu Yanxia replied with a [Okay.]
Turning off the screen, she suddenly felt this CEO was becoming a bit more down-to-earth.
