Holding the bag from the pharmacy in his right hand, his left hand hung down by his side, swinging back and forth happily to the rhythm of his steps.
A band-aid was wrapped around the second knuckle of his left ring finger.
The more Chen Jinshan looked at it, the more he felt it looked exactly like a ring that hadn’t been pushed all the way down.
Recalling how carefully Zhou Xiaqing had just disinfected his wound with iodine and how gently she had applied the band-aid, the little person inside Chen Jinshan’s heart began to chuckle foolishly again.
Every now and then, he would consciously raise his hand to look at the band-aid on his finger.
This “ring” had been personally “put on” him by Zhou Xiaqing.
“We’re here.” Walking ahead, Zhou Xiaqing stopped in her tracks, turning around to urge him on. “Chen Jinshan, what are you dawdling for?”
“My hand hurts,” Chen Jinshan replied insincerely, quickening his pace.
“What does your hand hurting have to do with your feet?” She frowned in dissatisfaction.
“Zhou Xiaqing, do you even know how to cherish a delicate flower like me?” he joked with her on purpose, his tone lazy.
As he finished speaking, he happened to catch up to her side.
His tall build, broad shoulders, and narrow waist made her—even at 175 centimeters tall, look quite petite.
Zhou Xiaqing sized him up from head to toe, letting out a sarcastic lament: “Wow, what a tall, delicate flower. What a massive piece of jade.”
He nodded in deep agreement, a hint of smugness in his demeanor. “I am pretty tall.”
Zhou Xiaqing gave a precise evaluation: “A narcissistic flower.”
He smiled, leaning down closer to her.
His lips opened and closed right beside her ear, loaded with double meaning: “It’s pretty massive, too.”
Zhou Xiaqing’s eyes widened, and she felt like vomiting.
She reached out and pushed him away forcefully, her face written all over with disgust. “An oily piece of jade.”
Chen Jinshan hadn’t actually been moved by her push, but he still made a show of staggering backward, laughing nonstop.
He didn’t know what kind of psychological drive it was, but he just loved teasing her.
The little expression she made when her feathers were ruffled was truly vivid and adorable.
He followed Zhou Xiaqing into the restaurant like her little shadow.
After they sat down, the waiter brought over the menu.
Zhou Xiaqing glanced at it briefly; the dishes were quite similar to the branch in Shanghu.
Familiar with the menu, she skillfully ordered one cold appetizer, two hot entrees, a dessert, their signature fried rice as the main staple, and for the dim sum, she naturally ordered the crab roe soup dumplings she had mentioned before.
Having ordered so much in one breath, she closed the menu and looked across at Chen Jinshan. “See what else you want to add.”
“My young lady, this is already more than enough to eat, okay? How much do you think I can eat?”
Chen Jinshan handed the menu back to the waiter with a polite smile. “Just this for now, thank you.”
Once the waiter left, only the two of them remained.
Holding her glass of water, the seduction guide notes in her mind scrolled, locking onto step two of the plan:
Target an area of his expertise and deliver a somewhat backhanded, clumsy compliment.
Zhou Xiaqing took a sip of water, opening the topic as naturally as she had envisioned: “The decor style here is quite different from the shop in Shanghu. It has a lot of local character.”
“It’s quite rustic and low-key here, and the ambience is nice.” Chen Jinshan’s eyes darted slightly.
“I’ve never been to the Shanghu branch. When we go home for the holidays, find some time to take me there.”
He was lying.
He had actually been there many times with his classmates and friends; he could practically find his way there with his eyes closed.
“Sure,” Zhou Xiaqing agreed readily.
Right now, she had zero mental energy to decipher whether his words were true or false.
Her entire mind was consumed by how she was going to “deliver a somewhat backhanded compliment” to him next.
“You promised,” Chen Jinshan confirmed again.
“Of course.” Zhou Xiaqing cleared her throat, putting on an expression of deep interest.
“I happened to come across your swim meet on my phone last time.
You swim so well… the way you stroke the water is just different from everyone else.
It’s incredibly clean, and your rhythm is perfect.
I couldn’t help but applaud at the time.
I feel like you’re both hardworking and talented.
Honestly, just thinking about how you’ve been soaking in water since you were a kid makes me want to cry, it’s just too hard.
Chen Jinshan, if you don’t make the national team, it would be a literal crime against nature!”
She rattled off a massive stream of words, but only the very first sentence was a line she had actually planned.
Everything else was a spur-of-the-moment improvisation after her brain went completely blank.
It was chaotic, illogical, exaggerated, artificial, fake, and clumsy.
She had messed up again.
Zhou Xiaqing slumped her head listlessly, blaming herself a thousand times over in her heart.
Seeing her transition from a sudden burst of passionate output to her current state of gloom, Chen Jinshan couldn’t fathom what was going on inside her head.
Based on his understanding of her, asking her directly wouldn’t yield any answers, so he simply chose not to press.
When she wanted to talk, she would naturally open her mouth.
When Zhou Xiaqing was angry, Chen Jinshan would coax her out of it.
When Zhou Xiaqing was sad, Chen Jinshan would make her happy.
It was as if things were naturally meant to be this way.
“Zhou Xiaqing,” he called her name softly, his voice incredibly gentle. “Which race were you watching?”
Zhou Xiaqing named one of the competitions he had participated in.
“You know, a lot of interesting things happened that day.”
He began to describe it to her vividly.
His expressions and gestures couldn’t help but remind Zhou Xiaqing of how he used to sit in the back row during elementary school, storytelling passionately to everyone.
Listening to his stories, her eyes curved into beautiful crescent smiles.
Staring at her sparkling eyes, Chen Jinshan felt a profound sense of satisfaction and joy.
Compared to usual, Zhou Xiaqing ate quite a lot during this meal.
Perhaps it was because she hadn’t eaten Taizhou cuisine in a long time, so her appetite was wide open, or perhaps it was because Chen Jinshan’s amusing stories put her in a great mood, naturally improving her appetite.
Or maybe it was because of something else.
Zhou Xiaqing wasn’t entirely sure.
After eating and drinking their fill, they rested at the table for a while.
Chen Jinshan got up to use the restroom.
Fearing that something might go wrong with the subsequent steps of her plan, Zhou Xiaqing deliberately opened her phone’s memo pad to double-check step three of the guide just to be safe:
Know how to guide them into a trap and initiate a certain amount of physical contact.
The little person inside her heart was waving flags and shouting cheers for her.
Zhou Xiaqing resolved that she absolutely could not mess it up this time.
Putting down her phone, she waved the waiter over to settle the bill.
The waiter carried a polite smile, informing her softly, “Miss, the gentleman who was with you just now already went to the counter and paid the bill.”
Zhou Xiaqing froze for two seconds.
But thinking about it carefully, aside from being a bit mischievous and unruly when he was a kid, Chen Jinshan didn’t really have any dark history in other aspects.
Uncle Chen and Aunt Yu treated people with utmost thoughtfulness and propriety.
Under his parents’ precept and example, Chen Jinshan had absorbed a great deal through osmosis without even trying.
He possessed excellent manners.
He would automatically pour tea and water for elders at the dining table, instinctively walk on the outer side of the pavement when walking with women, maintain proper boundaries when joking around with classmates, and take the initiative to help girls in a decent, non-intrusive way.
No wonder some female classmates back in junior high school used to say that Chen Jinshan was a hidden gem of a thoughtful guy.
While Zhou Xiaqing was deeply lost in thought, Chen Jinshan returned from the restroom, looking as if he hadn’t fully recovered from a shock. “Zhou Xiaqing, I just got a massive scare.”
“What happened?” Zhou Xiaqing grew tense along with him.
“I just finished washing my hands, looked up, and saw my own face in the mirror. I was massively shocked by how handsome I am.”
A hidden gem of a thoughtful guy?
More like a hidden gem of delusional confidence.