The Maybach glided smoothly into the exclusive driveway of Yunding Tower.
Chu Anhe followed behind Xie Jingran and took the private elevator straight to the top floor. With a soft ding, the elevator doors opened to reveal a gilded logo “Le Lumière.”
Le Lumière was the most prestigious French restaurant in Jiangcheng. It operated under a strict membership invitation system, and it was said that even reserving a table required waiting six months.
Yet at this moment, the waiter seemed to have been waiting for them. He bowed and guided the two of them to the best seat beside the floor-to-ceiling window.
After they sat down, the waiter handed them the menu.
Chu Anhe looked at the menu filled entirely with French words and not even a reference picture. Her head instantly started to ache. She was afraid that if she randomly ordered something she might end up ordering nothing but wine.
She forced herself to remain calm and tried to guess the dishes from a few word roots that looked vaguely like English.
“One Wellington steak, medium rare. Cream of mushroom soup. And caviar tart for the appetizer.”
Xie Jingran closed the menu and glanced at the girl sitting across from him who clearly looked uneasy.
“The same for her.”
The waiter bowed respectfully and left.
Chu Anhe finally relaxed. Although Professor Xie usually appeared cold, the way he made decisions for her right now gave her an unexpected sense of security.
Soon the appetizer and main course were served one after another.
Chu Anhe looked at the complicated arrangement of knives and forks in front of her. She desperately tried to recall the Western dining etiquette she had seen in movies before. Was she supposed to take the utensils from the outside inward or from the inside outward? Should the fork be in the left hand or the right?
Carefully she picked up the knife and fork and tried to cut into the thick steak.
Because she was overly nervous and unfamiliar with the motion, her wrist trembled and the force shifted in the wrong direction.
Screech, The blade scraped heavily across the bone china plate, producing a sharp and unpleasant sound.
In the quiet and elegant restaurant, the noise was extremely conspicuous.
A well-dressed lady dining at the next table frowned and glanced over with open disdain. She softly sneered to her companion.
“These days the standards for Le Lumière are getting lower and lower.”
Chu Anhe froze with the knife and fork in her hands. Her cheeks flushed instantly and she wished she could crawl into a hole in the ground.
Xie Jingran paused in the middle of cutting his steak. He slightly turned his head and cast a cold glance at the neighboring table.
When the lady met Xie Jingran’s icy gaze, her heart trembled. She hurriedly lowered her head to drink water and did not dare look again.
Xie Jingran withdrew his gaze and looked at Chu Anhe, who sat there with her head lowered like a primary school student who had done something wrong. His brows slightly furrowed.
Why did she suddenly look a bit pitiful?
A familiar mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
Emergency mission triggered: Pampered feeding.
Mission requirement: The host must personally cut the steak and feed the target at least one bite.
Reward: Life value +3 hours.
Failure penalty: Imitate a clapping seal in public for one minute while shouting “Anhe is the best.”
The veins on the back of Xie Jingran’s hand holding the knife instantly bulged.
Imitate a clapping seal?
He took a deep breath and clenched his teeth, using tremendous self-control to suppress the urge to flip the entire table.
Xie Jingran leaned forward and pulled Chu Anhe’s plate toward himself. Under her shocked gaze, he cut the steak that had defeated her into evenly sized bite pieces.
After finishing, he pushed the plate back in front of her.
“Thank you.” Chu Anhe felt awkward. She was just about to pick up her fork when she saw Xie Jingran spear a tender piece of steak and bring it to her lips.
Chu Anhe’s eyes widened. She looked at the beef in front of her and then at Xie Jingran’s handsome face that clearly showed impatience. Her brain stopped working.
Was he… feeding her?
Xie Jingran felt uncomfortable being stared at by those wide deer-like eyes. The tips of his ears turned slightly red. To hide the embarrassment, his brows knitted tighter and he ordered stiffly.
“Open your mouth.”
Chu Anhe mechanically opened her mouth and accepted the piece of meat.
The beef was tender and juicy, rich with sauce.
System: Ding! Mission completed. Reward issued.
Xie Jingran withdrew his hand, feeling strangely restless inside.
For the rest of the meal, the atmosphere became subtle but harmonious.
The final dessert was a Napoleon pastry paired with strawberry mousse. The cream was sweet but not greasy, and the fragrance of strawberries burst on the tongue.
Chu Anhe ate happily with her eyes slightly squinted. A small bit of white cream remained at the corner of her lips, making her look like a satisfied little cat.
Xie Jingran leaned lazily against his chair. Through the gently swaying red wine glass and the faintly tipsy glow of the lights, his gaze unconsciously settled on her sparkling eyes.
So she likes strawberries.
How childish.
Yet he did not realize that the irritation brought by the System’s missions had strangely calmed down at that moment.
After dinner they took the elevator to the underground parking garage.
Xie Jingran walked to the black Maybach and pressed the unlock button. The headlights flashed and illuminated the dim passage ahead.
Suddenly a harsh engine roar echoed from the entrance of the parking area.
Vroom, The sound grew closer rapidly.
A heavily modified motorcycle rushed down the ramp like a wild beast out of control.
The rider, a young man wearing a full helmet, was clearly street racing. The speed was astonishing and he did not even slow down while turning.
The loss of control happened in the blink of an eye.
The motorcycle failed to lean properly in the turn. The entire vehicle lost balance and slid sideways with massive momentum.
Xie Jingran had just opened the car door. When he heard the sound and turned his head, his pupils shrank.
The heavy motorcycle was about to crash into him.
“Watch out!”
A slender figure suddenly burst forward with shocking strength.
Chu Anhe did not have time to think. She grabbed Xie Jingran’s arm and pushed him toward the inside of the car door with all her strength. At the same time her own body lost balance from the force and fell directly into the motorcycle’s sliding path.
Bang!
Everything happened too quickly.
Xie Jingran was pushed into the safe gap between the driver’s seat and the door, completely unharmed. Chu Anhe avoided the direct collision but fell heavily onto the rough concrete floor.
The motorcycle slid more than ten meters before crashing into a pillar. The rider got up, realized he had caused trouble, and fled immediately without even checking on them.
“Chu Anhe!”
Xie Jingran’s heart skipped violently. The fear in that moment was even worse than the pain when the System issued a warning.
He rushed over and knelt beside her without caring about the oil and dust on the ground.
Chu Anhe gasped from the pain. But when she saw him approaching, she swallowed the cry that almost escaped her lips and instinctively tried to curl her leg.
Like a stray cat used to licking its wounds alone, her first reaction to sudden kindness was not reliance but fear that she might be causing trouble.
“Don’t move!” Xie Jingran shouted sharply.
Chu Anhe’s teeth trembled from the pain, yet she still forced a smile that looked worse than crying.
“Professor Xie… I’m fine.”
Xie Jingran looked at her miserable state. The scolding words that had reached his lips became stuck in his throat.
That strange feeling surged again.
It was like countless tiny needles piercing his heart. A dense, aching soreness spread inside his chest, even more suffocating than when his heart had almost stopped.
With a dark expression, Xie Jingran ignored her protests. He bent down and slid one arm under her knees while the other wrapped around her back, lifting her up in a bridal carry.
“P-Professor Xie?” Chu Anhe exclaimed softly and instinctively grabbed his collar.
“If you don’t want to become crippled, stop moving.”
Xie Jingran placed her carefully in the passenger seat, his movements unexpectedly gentle.
After fastening her seatbelt, he walked around to the driver’s side and slammed his foot on the accelerator.
The black Maybach shot out of the parking garage like an arrow released from a bow.