Xu Yanxia hadn't expected Lin Hengnan to show up here directly.
But since he was already here, she couldn't just pretend not to see him. She paused her steps and asked, "Why are you here?"
After all, they had been friends once. No matter how incompatible their values were, there was no deep-seated hatred between them. The upbringing she had cultivated over two lifetimes compelled her to remain as polite as possible.
Lin Hengnan gave a bitter smile and said, "You didn't reply to my messages last night, and you wouldn't answer my calls either. This was the only way I could find you."
"Xiao Xia, things were too rushed last night, and I was a bit anxious. I didn't express myself clearly, and there were things I didn't get a chance to say. I hope you can spare a little time to let me finish."
Seeing this unfold, Luo Jiajia, who was preparing for opening hours at the venue not far away, intended to step forward and help Xu Yanxia chase him off.
However, Xu Zhanpeng held her back, saying, "Let Xiao Xia handle it herself. Some ties need a clean break."
Luo Jiajia halted her steps.
Xu Yanxia paused for a moment before walking over to Lu Jingming's car window. "Could you please wait for me a moment? I just need to say a few words to him," she asked.
Inside the car, Lu Jingming smiled with polite refinement and said, "No problem. Go ahead."
Inwardly, however, his heart had already tightened.
Wasn't hitting a brick wall yesterday enough for this guy? Now he was chasing her all the way here today?
His motives were definitely not innocent.
He immediately tracked Xu Yanxia's figure through the rearview mirror, quietly turned off the engine, and subtly rolled his window down a bit.
He watched as Xu Yanxia took a couple of steps back toward the young man and asked coolly, "Whatever you have to say, just say it."
The guy put on a solemn expression and said, "I only said those things last night out of jealousy. I admit I felt insecure; I panicked when I saw the rumors about you and him."
"Xiao Xia, the truth is I've always really liked you. I care about you deeply, and I thought you knew that."
As he spoke, he even had the audacity to try and grab her hand.
Watching this, Lu Jingming's brow twitched, and he instinctively unbuckled his seatbelt.
Fortunately, Xu Yanxia dodged the man's grasp and simply replied with icy detachment, "Well, I'm sorry, but I don't like you. If you're done talking, I need to go. I have things to do."
"Xiao Xia,"
The man relentlessly called out to her like a lingering ghost, "I know you're still angry, but I hope you can give me a chance to apologize. Putting this incident aside, didn't we get along so well before? Back then, we went to the beach together, went hiking, ate hotpot, and went to the movies together... And during the New Year, we even took walks together in the snow back in our hometown..."
"???"
In the car, Lu Jingming had heard enough.
They had actually done so many things together???
The beach, hiking, hotpot, movies.
They even took walks in the snow back in their hometown???
Was he mocking the fact that subtropical Rong City never snowed?!!
...
Fortunately, just as President Lu was on the verge of losing his rationality from the provocation, Xu Yanxia cut Lin Hengnan off just in time.
"We can't just put this incident aside."
She continued, "Actually, it's a good thing this happened. It served as a necessary reminder for both of us that we belong to two completely different worlds. Your goal is to break away from the working class, while my family and I will likely always work in the very professions you look down on."
"Of course, that's perfectly normal. Everyone has the right to make their own choices. You really don't have to force an apology for this, and I am under no obligation to forgive you. There are so many different kinds of people in this world; eventually, you'll find someone whose views align with yours."
"Let's leave it at that. We've laid everything out in the open today, so please don't come looking for me anymore."
Having said her piece, she turned and walked toward him.
Who would have thought Lin Hengnan would yell at her back, "Xiao Xia, do you think I'm going to be like this forever? Do you think I'll never have a day where I make it big and earn a fortune?"
"???"
Xu Yanxia furrowed her brows. She turned back and delivered her final words to him, "Whether you make money or not has absolutely nothing to do with me. If I need money, I'll earn it myself."
With that, she pulled open the car door and climbed into Lu Jingming's vehicle.
It had to be said that after a day of adjusting her mindset, Xu Yanxia's emotions were much more stable. This time, she wasn't angry in the slightest. As she fastened her seatbelt, she didn't forget to apologize to Lu Jingming. "I'm so sorry for making you wait so long again."
Her tone was completely relaxed and normal.
"It's no problem,"
Lu Jingming offered a gentle smile. He started the engine, pulled away from the curb, and asked, "Have you eaten yet? How about we go grab something to eat first?"
"Sure."
Xu Yanxia immediately responded with a generous wave of her hand, "I just got paid this afternoon. Whatever you'd like to eat, it's my treat tonight."
That's right, today was payday at the Lu Group. Even though she had been working there for less than a full month, her base salary combined with several bonuses added up to nearly six figures.
Fortunately, the source of each bonus was clearly noted. For example, there was a bonus for inspecting food safety in the cafeteria, one for her food tasting at Jiushan, and others for helping Lu Jingyao host his friends, helping Lu Jingxi manage his health, and so on...
Otherwise, she would have almost suspected there was a bug in the payroll system again.
Lu Jingming, however, countered, "You just treated me to teppanyaki last night. How could I possibly let you pay again today? Tell you what, I'll foot the bill tonight. How about we go get hotpot?"
"Hotpot?"
Xu Yanxia was a bit surprised. She looked at him and said, "I remember Aunt Zhang mentioning that you prefer lighter flavors."
Lu Jingming just smiled. "It gets boring eating bland food all the time. Sometimes it's nice to try something different."
He cast a glance her way and asked, "Do you have any recommendations? Which hotpot places in Rong City are good?"
Xu Yanxia thought for a moment. "If you really want to eat hotpot, there's a great Chongqing-style place on the fourth floor of the Jinji Center. It happens to be not far from Baihui."
"Let's go there, then."
...
About twenty minutes later, the car pulled into the parking lot of the Jinji Center.
After parking, the two of them took the elevator straight up to the hotpot restaurant on the fourth floor.
Since it was still early and a Monday evening, there wasn't a line at the restaurant yet.
Xu Yanxia specifically asked the server to find them a quiet, semi-private booth, and she sat down with Lu Jingming.
"I'm sorry, President Lu. This place doesn't have fully private dining rooms, so we'll just have to make do with this."
"That's perfectly fine."
Lu Jingming smiled easily. "Since it comes highly recommended by you, the food is bound to be good."
Xu Yanxia picked up the tablet on the table to start ordering. "What kind of broth base would you like?" she asked him. "We can get a split pot. Their mushroom and tomato broths are both quite good. Or we could even go for a four-flavor split pot."
Lu Jingming considered this for a moment, then asked, "Whenever you guys came here before, what flavor did you usually get?"
Xu Yanxia replied, "We always got the spicy beef tallow broth."
Is that so?
Lu Jingming made the final call. "Then let's get the spicy beef tallow broth, too."
