The two of them continued tearing around the go-kart track for several more laps before finally returning to the car, utterly exhausted.
Ji Liuyue was so tired she did not want to move even a finger. She let her head rest against the seatback and turned to glance at him.
“What are we having for lunch?”
Xu Jinsi blinked his charming eyes with an utterly serious expression.
“Ah, hasn’t the date already ended? We’re going back to the house.”
A look of disbelief flashed across Ji Liuyue’s face.
“…It ends after go-karting? Your idea of a date is way too…”
Xu Jinsi gave a soft snort and turned to look out the window.
“Isn’t it? After you went horseback riding last time, did you have any other activities?”
Without waiting for Ji Liuyue to answer, he continued, “Go grocery shopping?”
There was an unmistakable hint of sourness in his voice.
Ji Liuyue smiled and nodded. “That’s right.”
Xu Jinsi lifted his chin slightly. “Then we’ll go grocery shopping too.”
Ji Liuyue was utterly dejected. “…”
Come on. They had been playing all morning, and she was starving.
Why go grocery shopping?
Wasn’t this when they were supposed to eat?
Ji Liuyue sighed weakly. “Forget it. Let’s just go back to the house.”
Xu Jinsi fell silent again.
She simply closed her eyes for a nap. She had no idea how long she slept before opening them to find that the van arranged by the production crew was still moving.
Confused, she asked, “Huh? Weren’t we going back to the house? Why haven’t we arrived after all this time?”
No one answered.
She turned her head and glared angrily at Xu Jinsi.
“Xu Jinsi, I knew you couldn’t be trusted to tell the truth.”
She was about to continue scolding him when the vehicle slowly came to a stop. The electronic gate slid open, and Xu Jinsi pointed outside.
“Come on. Time to eat.”
The moment Ji Liuyue heard the word “eat,” she instantly recovered her energy. She shot to her feet, but because she had slept for too long, she was still dizzy.
Her vision went black, and she nearly fell.
Fortunately, a hand silently reached out beside her and caught her firmly.
Xu Jinsi’s amused voice drifted over. “I thought you were just clumsy. Turns out your coordination is terrible too.”
She immediately retorted, “You’re the one with terrible coordination.”
Xu Jinsi got out of the car first.
Ji Liuyue followed, preparing to jump down. He naturally extended his arm toward her.
“Hold on. The ground ahead is a little uneven.”
“Okay.”
Xu Jinsi looked slender, but beneath his clothes were the taut, defined muscles of someone who worked out regularly. The arm she held was firm and hard beneath her fingers.
Ji Liuyue was completely unselfconscious—and quite the greedy little rascal.
Not only did she hold on, she gave his arm several extra squeezes.
At first, Xu Jinsi’s expression remained perfectly natural. But once he realized what she was doing, the tips of his ears gradually turned red.
His gaze shifted back to her face as he pretended to remain calm.
“Aren’t you going to let go?”
“You were the one who said the ground was uneven. I’m afraid I’ll fall.”
Ji Liuyue answered with complete justification, though she eventually released him with some reluctance.
The two of them entered the private restaurant one after the other.
It was a Chinese fusion restaurant themed around classical gardens, and reservations were available only to members. Without Xu Jinsi’s membership, even the production crew would never have been able to arrange a table there.
In the original storyline, the broadcast of this very date was what made many viewers realize that Xu Jinsi was a true elite heir, not merely a high-income professional.
Being able to dine at a restaurant like this required considerable family influence and wealth.
So, in addition to being exceptionally capable, he was also a second- or even third-generation heir to a wealthy family.
“Is there anything you don’t eat?” Xu Jinsi asked as he flipped through the menu, turning slightly toward her.
Ji Liuyue casually held out her hand.
“Give me the menu.”
Xu Jinsi fell silent. “…”
She really was direct.
Normally, wouldn’t any girl going on a date with him at least pretend to be a little reserved?
“Oh, I eat anything.”
“It’s fine. You can order.”
“Our tastes are probably similar. I trust you.”
Ji Liuyue, on the other hand, had simply asked for the menu.
Though he was thinking this, Xu Jinsi still handed it to her and lowered his voice.
“Order whatever you like. I’m here.”
On the dating show, the production crew paid for the date locations, but all meals at the house, as well as the food during dates, had to be paid for by the guests themselves.
The reason Xu Jinsi said this was because the restaurant was far from cheap.
Ji Liuyue noticed that too.
The very first item on the menu was a 3,888-yuan Eight Treasures Seafood Feast.
“Let’s get this one.” She pointed at it.
The set included eight dishes, each with an elaborate and elegant name. Moreover, each dish was served only after the previous one had been finished.
The entire meal took at least one or two hours. Between courses, there were even live cooking demonstrations by the chefs.
When the final dish, Golden Chrysanthemum Lotus Soup, was finally served, Ji Liuyue let out a long sigh of relief.
She gave Xu Jinsi a deeply aggrieved look.
“Do rich people always waste this much time when they eat?”
Xu Jinsi lowered his head with a smile.
“I don’t come here often either. I mainly come when I’m hosting a banquet or meeting someone particularly important.”
Ji Liuyue stared straight at him and seized the opportunity.
“So that means… I’m someone important?”
Xu Jinsi looked away.
In an offhand tone, he said, “You’re the first female guest I’ve ever invited out myself, so of course you’re important. I also took this date very seriously.”
“Tch.” Ji Liuyue gave a soft scoff before asking curiously, “We already went on a date on the first day, so why did you want to ask me out again?”
She bluntly cut to the heart of the matter.
“Did you want to get to know me better?”
Xu Jinsi had not expected her to put it so directly. He thought for a moment about how to answer.
After a brief pause, he slowly spoke, his tone serious.
“Our date on the first day was interrupted halfway through, so… I wanted us to have a complete date.”
Ji Liuyue nodded.
“Are you satisfied with today’s date?”
Xu Jinsi laughed helplessly.
“I was the one who invited you out. Shouldn’t I be the one asking whether you were satisfied?”
Ji Liuyue tugged at the corner of her lips.
“I was satisfied with everything except this meal.”
Xu Jinsi rubbed his forehead helplessly.
“I thought you might enjoy the food.”
Ji Liuyue smiled brightly.
“Not really. Compared with fancy restaurants, I prefer the kind of roadside stalls with a real, down-to-earth atmosphere.”
Xu Jinsi froze.
He remembered the look of distaste on Liu Qingye’s face when they had gone on a date at a breakfast stall.
Then he looked at Ji Liuyue.
It seemed he had discovered another way in which they were compatible.
He began, “Then if I took you to a breakfast stall beneath one of the residential buildings—”
Before he could finish, Ji Liuyue interrupted him excitedly.
“Yes, please! That’s the most authentic kind, and it’s bound to be delicious.”
Xu Jinsi smiled along with her, his smile a little more genuine this time.
“Then I’ll take you there next time.”
Ji Liuyue seemed to notice something.
The corners of her lips curved upward.
She leaned a little closer.
“Xu Jinsi, do you mean you want to choose me for the next date too?”
Her almond-shaped eyes glimmered as they darted mischievously from side to side.
