Trailing behind them, Shen Xiao craned his neck curiously. Loving drama as always, he read out the three glaringly obvious characters on the small shop’s signboard—
“Luo~si~fen~.”
He deliberately dragged out the syllables, his face full of schadenfreude.
Qin Liangyan sneaked a glance at the refined young master beside them. Tugging lightly on Lin Ting’s sleeve, she whispered in a breathy voice,
“Tingting… are you sure about this place?”
This luosifen shop was genuinely famous in Jingbei—delicious, well-known, with plenty of branches. She and Lin Ting came here often.
But treating someone like Lu Hesheng—who frequented high-end clubs, lived in luxury mansions, and drove supercars—
Tsk. Just imagining the scene was enough.
She really couldn’t picture Young Master Lu sitting on a plastic stool, slurping noodles.
Lu Hesheng’s gaze swept over the rather plain storefront before settling on the determined little back of Lin Ting’s head. He stepped forward and bent slightly, his tall figure enveloping her.
“Junior, am I only worth twenty yuan in your eyes?”
He paused, clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction.
“Or are you trying to murder your senior?”
The distance between them instantly crossed a line.
Lin Ting froze, not daring to move. She was completely surrounded by his presence—if she turned her head even a little, her lips would brush against his with ease.
Her lashes fluttered nervously as she earnestly tried to sell it to him.
“It’s really good. Trust me. You can try it.”
Shen Xiao leaned in with a wicked grin.
“Lin Ting, if you want to murder him—”
He met Lu Hesheng’s warning gaze.
Smoothly changing his tune, he added,
“That’s… not entirely impossible.”
Shen Xiao wasn’t talking nonsense. Lu Hesheng really was allergic to the noodles in luosifen.
It had happened about a year or two ago. Whenever Young Master Lu returned to China during holidays, it was usually a big affair—but that time, he told no one.
Not even Shen Xiao, his childhood friend who’d grown up wearing the same pair of shorts with him, knew about it.
That night, Lu Hesheng had called him out of the blue.
When Shen Xiao rushed to the luosifen shop to pick him up, the man’s handsome face was slick with cold sweat, his neck and exposed arms covered in large patches of red rash.
They rushed to the hospital, where it turned out Lu Hesheng was allergic to the noodles.
No one knew why he’d suddenly returned to China, or why he’d appeared alone at that unremarkable little shop.
Later, Lu Hesheng tossed him the keys to a beloved sports car. Only then did Shen Xiao reluctantly agree to keep the secret.
Now that he thought about it more carefully—even someone as thick-skinned as Shen Xiao could sense there was something fishy he didn’t know.
Hearing that Lu Hesheng was allergic, Lin Ting blinked in surprise.
She instinctively looked at him. The man only pressed his lips together, as if it were nothing worth mentioning.
For some reason, a trace of regret brushed across Lin Ting’s heart.
In the end, after circling around, the four of them still went to the restaurant Shen Xiao had booked.
The restaurant was set inside a traditional Chinese courtyard, with an elegant atmosphere. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was a stretch of lush greenery, mist drifting through the air.
Shen Xiao lounged back in his chair, casually chatting with Lu Hesheng.
“So this time back in Jingbei, you’re not leaving again, right?”
“Not leaving.”
After saying that, Lu Hesheng suddenly seemed interested. He looked Shen Xiao up and down and remarked meaningfully,
“After all, you can’t bear to see me go.”
Shen Xiao’s eyes widened in horror. He immediately covered himself.
“Holy hell! Lu Hesheng, act normal! I perform—but I don’t sell myself!”
Lu Hesheng promptly looked away, his disgust obvious.
“Relax. You’re overthinking it.”
Shen Xiao leaned in again, curious.
“You were doing just fine—why run off to Jing University to study?”
He knew Lu Hesheng hated being restrained, yet his academic ability was the real deal. He’d finished all his undergraduate credits in just three years in the US.
Now he was coming back to China for grad school—purely choosing hardship for no reason.
Lu Hesheng kept his eyes on the back of Lin Ting’s head.
Unlike the model student with straight black hair tied in a high ponytail back in high school, she now wore her hair in soft, voluminous waves, delicate like a doll.
His Adam’s apple rolled slightly before he withdrew his gaze.
“To relive campus life—and maybe date a pretty junior. Is that not allowed?”
Shen Xiao pushed his luck.
“Brother Lu, all those girls who confessed to you in the States—blonde white girls, dark-skinned hotties, little celebrities, influencers…”
“How come you never brought even one back for us to see? Your standards that high?”
Lin Ting’s hand trembled as she scooped soup with her spoon. The edge lightly tapped the bowl, producing a soft, crisp sound.
Lu Hesheng glanced at him.
“What are you, the reincarnation of Ten Thousand Whys?”
Alright—clearly he’d hit a sore spot.
Shen Xiao knew when to stop.
“Lu Hesheng, try licking your lips—see if your sharp tongue poisons yourself someday.”
The moment the four of them had sat down in the private room, they’d been locked in awkward silence.
Lu Hesheng looked perfectly at ease and said nothing. Lin Ting kept turning her head to look out the window, as if her mind had gone offline. Qin Liangyan couldn’t read the situation and quietly played on her phone.
Shen Xiao had kindly tried to lighten the mood by chatting.
And what did he get?
This jerk treating his goodwill like donkey liver and lungs.
The dishes here were served one by one. At the right moment, the server entered and softly informed them that all dishes had been served.
Lin Ting, very consciously, excused herself to go to the restroom and left the room.
Lu Hesheng lightly kicked the leg of Shen Xiao’s chair.
“Go settle the bill.”
Shen Xiao raised an eyebrow smugly.
“Bro, did you forget whose restaurant this is?”
At the front desk, Lin Ting was mentally prepared for her wallet to take a heavy hit.
To her surprise, not only did the manager refuse to take her money, he even politely registered her phone number, smiling enthusiastically.
“Miss Lin, you’re a distinguished guest of our boss.”
“The boss has instructed that from now on, whenever you dine at any restaurant under our group, your bill will be waived.”
Lin Ting froze. She knew perfectly well she was benefiting from Lu Hesheng’s influence.
With mixed emotions, she returned to the private room.
The moment she pushed the door open, she met Lu Hesheng’s gaze.
He rarely bothered to speak, yet now he asked her,
“Full?”
Lin Ting nodded instinctively.
Lu Hesheng pointed toward the floor-to-ceiling window with his long fingers.
“I meant the scenery outside. Are you full, junior?”
“After all, some people have been showing me the back of their head ever since we came in.”
“Anyone who didn’t know better would think it was because Shen Xiao is too ugly to look at.”
Shen Xiao nearly sprayed wine all over him.
“Lu Hesheng, be human, will you?!”
Dragging him down at every opportunity—Shen Xiao felt it was absolutely necessary to scam another sports car from him later.
Lin Ting’s face flushed instantly. Her eyes darted away as she crumpled the napkin in her hands.
She just… didn’t know how to face him.
Even more so, she didn’t know whether he still remembered her.
Lin Ting always felt that anyone who met Lu Hesheng’s beautiful peach-blossom eyes would end up blurting out what was in their heart.
In a voice as soft as a mosquito’s, she refuted him,
“That’s not true.”
Lu Hesheng scoffed.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Outside the restaurant, Lu Hesheng had already called a car to take Lin Ting and Qin Liangyan back to campus.
When Lin Ting got into the car, she immediately noticed the exquisite gift bag placed on the back seat, with a card tucked into the side.
The driver explained at just the right moment,
“Miss Lin, Young Master asked me to give this to you.”
Qin Liangyan’s gossip soul burned brightly as she urged Lin Ting to open it.
She pulled out the card. On it was the man’s characteristically bold handwriting:
“Junior, this is to make up for the clothes. You’re not mad anymore, right?”