Adored by Him: My Blissful Days as the Girl Next Door-Chapter 395 - 394: Realization Afterwards

In the evening, Xu Hongbin and Zhang Jiahui arrived at the restaurant first.

Xu Hongbin had booked the Four Blocks Street Old Pot Private Kitchen.

After being seated, he first called Shi Yang to confirm they were on their way, and then called over the waiter to order.

Xu Hongbin handed the menu to Zhang Jiahui: "Order whatever you like."

Zhang Jiahui glanced at it twice: "Anything, as long as it’s not spicy."

Xu Hongbin looked over the menu and asked, "How about getting some ribs?"

Zhang Jiahui said, "Sure."

Xu Hongbin told the waiter, "We’ll have the ribs in dry pot, no chili, make it a large, and also a seafood dry pot, with fresh shrimp, make it spicy and a large one too... Uh, no rice; you guys have hand-pulled noodles, right? Bring two servings later. Right, and a pot of freshly squeezed mango juice, and a pot of watermelon juice."

After the waiter took the menu and left, Zhang Jiahui asked, "Just the three of us, can we finish two large pots?"

Xu Hongbin said, "It’s not just three people; Mr. Shi is bringing his girlfriend along."

Zhang Jiahui’s face changed: "Shi Yang has a girlfriend?"

Xu Hongbin, observing her expression, nonchalantly said, "Ah, I just heard about it too; they’re engaged and plan to get their marriage certificate this year."

"When did that happen? Why haven’t I heard anything? I mean, I’ve never seen Shi Yang getting close to any woman, I..."

Zhang Jiahui murmured to herself, her mind spinning.

What’s going on? How did Shi Yang suddenly have a girlfriend, and they’re already engaged? Moreover, they’re getting their marriage certificate this year; how could this happen?

Zhang Jiahui sat there dumbfounded and speechless, while Xu Hongbin sat nearby, observing her as if she was deeply hurt. His mind was filled with conflicting feelings, partly feeling sorry for her and partly feeling quite satisfied.

Both were contemplating their thoughts, and the private room fell into silence.

When Shi Yang brought Zhao Meimei through the door, they saw Zhang Jiahui looking deeply troubled, sitting absentmindedly in her chair, while Xu Hongbin didn’t look too pleased either, his gaze on Zhang Jiahui’s face was complex and hard to read.

Hearing the noise, both turned their heads, looking towards the door.

The moment Zhang Jiahui and Zhao Meimei’s eyes met, hers widened abruptly, hesitated for a moment, then her expression relaxed a bit, turning to glare at Xu Hongbin: Oh, Xu Hongbin, you were messing with me!

Seeing Zhang Jiahui’s expression, Xu Hongbin realized she had misunderstood, felt a blockage in his chest, stuck there uncomfortably, the words he was about to say were swallowed back, neither denying nor explaining intentionally.

Xu Hongbin hurriedly stood up to greet: "Mr. Shi, you’re here."

Shi Yang responded with a smile, Zhao Meimei followed up with greetings: "Brother Xu, Sister Jiahui."

Zhang Jiahui warmly invited Zhao Meimei: "Meimei, come over, sit here."

Zhao Meimei moved over to sit next to Zhang Jiahui, while Shi Yang and Xu Hongbin sat opposite each other.

Xu Hongbin said, "I’ve already ordered, got a pot of ribs and a pot of seafood. See if you want to add anything?"

Shi Yang said, "That’s enough, let’s see as we eat."

The dry pots came quickly, with the waiter pushing a cart over. Xu Hongbin hurriedly said, "Put the ribs on this side, and the seafood on their side, yes."

Zhao Meimei found it amusing hearing Xu Hongbin refer to "us" and "them," as she secretly kicked Shi Yang under the table.

Shi Yang raised his eyes to look over, Zhao Meimei gave him a glance, Shi Yang got the hint, gave her a playful glare, signaling her to be discreet, though his eyes were laced with a smile.

The waiter placed the freshly squeezed juices on the table, and Xu Hongbin asked Shi Yang, "Drink alcohol?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Shi Yang declined: "No, I drove here."

Xu Hongbin chuckled, holding up the juice to pour for everyone.

Zhao Meimei took a sip of her watermelon juice, found it average, not very good, and casually put it on the edge of the table.

Xu Hongbin turned to talk to Shi Yang: "A buddy of mine checked out the store and is interested in doing it. I’m planning to arrange for him to come to the provincial city in a few days to learn."

Shi Yang nodded: "Sure, I’ll arrange it with Wenda then. But you have to vouch for this guy being absolutely reliable!"

Xu Hongbin said, "That’s certain, this buddy of mine..."

While Xu Hongbin spoke, Shi Yang reached over to swap Zhao Meimei’s watermelon juice with his mango juice.

Xu Hongbin stopped mid-sentence and chuckled, "Mr. Shi, you really care a lot about Meimei." As he spoke, his eyes glanced toward Zhang Jiahui.

Zhang Jiahui didn’t mind, adding, "You wouldn’t know; Shi Yang has always been particularly nice to Meimei. Back in high school, whenever chatting with him, he’d hardly go three sentences without mentioning Meimei at home."

Zhao Meimei took a sip of the mango juice and curiously asked, "Brother, what did you say about me?"

Shi Yang laughed and said, "I was definitely praising you."

Zhang Jiahui said, "I remember once, hey, Shi Yang, do you remember that stationery shop at our school gate?"

Shi Yang, hearing this, thought to himself, this might be bad, and quickly tried to change the subject: "Hardly remember, it was so many years ago. Hey, don’t just eat ribs, try some of this seafood, it’s really good."

Zhang Jiahui playfully complained, "Really? Did you forget I don’t eat spicy food?"

Shi Yang was taken aback, awkwardly smiled: "Oh, is it so?"

Xu Hongbin teased, "I can see that, Mr. Shi, you really do have Meimei on your mind all the time."

The whole table burst into laughter.

After a while of laughter, Zhang Jiahui said, "Indeed, once I went with Shi Yang to that stationery store; I think I had run out of notebooks and wanted to pick one. I was selecting, turned around, and found he was gone. After buying my stuff, I saw him standing by the wall at the doorway, choosing bookmarks."

Bookmarks?

Zhao Meimei glared at Shi Yang: What bookmarks?

Shi Yang honestly recalled nothing, slightly furrowed his brows.

Zhang Jiahui was lost in her memories: "I was so happy at the time, thinking he was planning to buy them for me. It turned out he picked several Sailor Moon bookmarks."

Shi Yang still did not recall anything.

But Zhao Meimei suddenly remembered when she was in elementary school, she was particularly obsessed with Sailor Moon and collected related items everywhere.

Sure enough, Zhang Jiahui said to Shi Yang, "Back then, you took one of each Sailor Moon bookmark, except you didn’t buy the one for the character Tuxedo Mask. I asked why you didn’t want it, and you said your Meimei was especially infatuated with that character and you were afraid she’d start crushing too early. Hahaha...."