The car passed smoothly through the checkpoint at the Research Institute’s entrance. Only after entering did Lin Wanwan realize how vast the place truly was. The entrance area resembled dormitory buildings, clustered together to form a residential zone, with the cafeteria situated nearby.
Chen Zixiang and the others knew their boundaries. Since this residential area housed many researchers’ family members and support staff, it was perfectly fine to show Lin Wanwan around the outer perimeter.
The cafeteria interior was spacious yet simply decorated. The cement floor had been polished smooth by countless footsteps, and the whitewashed walls showed slight signs of wear. A row of food service windows stretched along one side, with metal menu boards above them gleaming faintly. The cooks, dressed in white uniforms, skillfully wielded their serving spoons.
Just as Chen Zixiang had said, the Research Institute’s cafeteria offered excellent meals—this was evident from the dozen or so service windows lined up before them.
Having returned slightly late from their meeting and encountering Lin Wanwan on the way, there weren’t many people left eating in the cafeteria now.
The two men who had been sitting in the front seats of the car earlier had already gone together to get their food. Chen Zixiang fumbled through his coat pocket, finally pulling out a crumpled meal ticket. Before he could hand it to Lin Wanwan, he looked up to see that Jian Shen had already taken his sister to the service window to get their food.
Well, that was quick.
Jian Shen said, “Two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. Tell the cook what you’d like.”
Using the meal ticket Jian Shen had given her and holding a stainless steel food container, Lin Wanwan couldn’t help but notice how well the researchers were treated. The stainless steel containers used in their cafeteria would cost five yuan for a small one and ten yuan for a large one if sold outside.
Wait—judging by how they addressed each other earlier with “Jian Gong,” Jian Shen, despite his young age, was already an Engineer. With such good treatment, his salary must be quite substantial too.
The two Jian brothers were truly worlds apart. Jian Ming was still waiting for job assignment after graduating from university, while Jian Shen was doing work that many people couldn’t even imagine in their lifetimes. Lin Wanwan understood the sense of defeat Jian Ming felt when talking about his brother—that feeling of being overshadowed by someone else’s aura.
Besides employees, many family members also came to eat in the cafeteria, so Lin Wanwan’s unfamiliar face didn’t attract much attention. However, her strikingly beautiful appearance made people glance at her a few extra times. Even the braised pork in her food container looked like it had several more pieces than Chen Zixiang’s—generously portioned.
“It’s not fair! Why do you give them so much, but your hand keeps shaking when serving meat for me? Still shaking! There’s almost nothing left!”
Chen Zixiang lamented to the cafeteria cook behind them, while Jian Shen observed Lin Wanwan.
Today’s Lin Wanwan seemed like a completely different person, giving off a totally different impression from last time.
During their brief encounter that night, she had worn delicate makeup, with her long hair half-tied and half-cascading over her shoulders. Her well-tailored overcoat made her appear ladylike and proper.
Now, her face was fresh and clean, her jet-black long hair meticulously braided and draped over the curved side of her chest. The end of her braid was tied with a light green silk scarf that swayed gently as she walked, making her look even younger.
There was a significant age gap between them, and moreover, he was the older brother of Lin Wanwan’s boyfriend. If Jian Ming hadn’t messed up and had successfully brought her home for dinner that day, his parents would surely have liked her very much, and she would have become his future sister-in-law.
Jian Shen withdrew his probing gaze, having twice seen Lin Wanwan’s reddened, moist eyes.
From a young age, he had been exceptionally intelligent and mature in both character and conduct. After starting work at the Research Institute, he had not been without contact with women, yet he had never felt anything for them.
But deep in Jian Shen’s heart, a secret had begun to form from the night he met his brother’s girlfriend.
He had dreamed of Lin Wanwan’s eyes—glistening like autumn waters, misted with tears, their gaze tender and pitiful, swirling beneath him.
He had thought it was just an unexpected loss of control after pent-up physical urges, but today, seeing her again, he had inexplicably let her into his car, and now they were even sitting at the same table for a meal.
While Chen Zixiang was still arguing with the master chef, Lin Wanwan and Jian Shen found seats and started eating first.
Without Chen Zixiang, an outsider, the two of them could speak more freely.
Lin Wanwan had already rehearsed everything in her mind. She pretended to hesitate, her collagen-rich cheeks puffed up as if in anger. “I wonder how Jian Ming is doing. He hasn’t contacted me these past few days.”
She wanted to strike first!
Because regardless of whether Lin Wanwan intended to break up with Jian Ming or was angry with him, a normal person would want to know what had happened after Jian Ming suddenly left that day, to the point where he had disappeared without a trace until now.
If Lin Wanwan appeared calm, or even indifferent, it would seem somewhat cold and unfeeling.
“He did some foolish things,” Jian Shen remarked about his brother.
Lin Wanwan noticed that Jian Shen did not shield his brother and spoke very bluntly, his words clearly revealing his disdain for Jian Ming’s foolish act of taking the blame for Shen Mingyue.
“Is that so…” Lin Wanwan replied softly.
Jian Shen looked at her. She sat there quietly, exuding an aura of heartbreak, her delicate brows slightly furrowed—was she worried about his foolish brother?
Her eyes were already reddening, tears stubbornly welling up but held back, refusing to fall.
She lightly bit her lower lip, trying to distract herself with the slight pain. Lin Wanwan turned her head slightly away, avoiding Jian Shen’s searching gaze.
This emotion wasn’t entirely feigned. After all, it was a relationship she had genuinely invested in. She felt disappointed and regretful toward Jian Ming, but not remorseful.
Her appearance, in Jian Shen’s eyes—a straight man with no romantic experience—was interpreted as sadness over Jian Ming.
“Don’t cry,” he said, his tone stiff from lack of practice in comforting others.
When Lin Wanwan cried, Jian Shen felt something—an inexplicable restlessness. Driven by the innate nature of male physiology, this uncontrollable feeling irritated him.
Lin Wanwan lowered her head, as if laughing at herself, then looked up at Jian Shen again, as if having made a painful decision. “Please tell Jian Ming for me—I want to break up.”
Jian Shen’s tone grew distant and cold again. “I’ll convey it to him.”
Jian Shen’s unexpected gentlemanliness left Lin Wanwan unsure of what to say next. She murmured almost inaudibly, “Thank you,” not daring to look up at the man sitting across from her as she ate her meal.
Throughout the meal, Lin Wanwan couldn’t even taste the food. She keenly sensed the drop in the atmosphere around Jian Shen, the intense pressure making her afraid to breathe too heavily. Had something gone wrong with her performance earlier? Did it seem insincere?
Both harboring their own thoughts, they finished the meal. Jian Shen asked Chen Zixiang, who had also hastily wolfed down his food and finished eating, to take Lin Wanwan to the station later to catch her bus.
He needed to keep his distance from this woman.