The hot pot restaurant wasn't far, decorated in the trendy national style. Even though it was past eleven, there were still quite a few customers.
After parking the car, the two of them walked into the restaurant one after the other.
A waiter enthusiastically greeted them. Ye Cheng reported her phone number at the front desk to verify the coupon, and then they were led to a booth by the window.
They chose a divided pot, with one side spicy red oil and the other a mild mushroom broth.
Soon, plates of freshly sliced beef and lamb, beef tripe, duck intestines, and a heap of vegetables, tofu, and wide noodles filled the table.
Jiang Ye was indeed hungry. As soon as the pot boiled, he immediately put in half a plate of fatty beef, his eyes fixed on the bubbling red oil, waiting for the meat slices to change color.
Ye Cheng wasn't in such a rush. She poured herself a glass of complimentary orange juice, sipping it slowly, watching him with a slight smile as he devoured the food like a starving ghost reincarnated.
When the meat was cooked, Jiang Ye picked up a piece, rolled it in the oil dip, and stuffed it into his mouth, sighing with satisfaction.
As if suddenly remembering something, he casually asked, "By the way, we've been chatting for so long, and I still don't know your name."
Ye Cheng took another sip of her orange juice and casually tossed out two words: "Liu Ke."
"......"
Jiang Ye's chewing stopped instantly. He slowly raised his head, expressionless, and extended his right hand, palm open, in front of her:
"I don't believe you. Let me see your ID."
"Pfft—"
Ye Cheng couldn't hold back her orange juice, spraying it out, but she quickly turned her head, sparing the dishes on the table.
Coughing and wiping her mouth with a tissue, she looked at Jiang Ye, half amused, half exasperated: "Cough cough... Buddy, are you checking household registration? Alright, alright, I'm scared of you. Actually, my name is Zhao Min."
Jiang Ye almost ground his molars to dust, but instead of withdrawing his open hand, he pushed it forward, his tone more insistent:
"ID card!"
"What's with you?"
Ye Cheng pouted, slowly wiping her fingers with a tissue: "We're all wanderers in the world, who uses their real name outside? A nickname should suffice, right?"
Seeing Jiang Ye's hand still stubbornly stretched out, with a determined stance that he wouldn't give up until he achieved his goal, she sighed helplessly, crumpled the tissue into a ball, and tossed it into the trash:
"Fine, fine, I'm scared of you. My name is Ye Cheng, Ye as in leaf, Cheng as in orange. Satisfied? Do you want me to go back and get my ID to prove my identity?"
Only then did Jiang Ye grunt in satisfaction, retracting his hand and putting a few pieces of tofu into the clear soup pot: "See, if you'd said that earlier, we wouldn't have had to go through all this."
Ye Cheng chewed on her meat, watching him with interest: "And you? What's your name? I can't just keep calling you 'hey' or 'buddy', can I?"
"Zhang Wei."
Ye Cheng: "......"
The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Jiang Ye sighed: "Alright, Jiang Ye, Jiang as in river, Ye as in wild. You can just call me good brother."
"What good brother, trying to take advantage, huh?"
Ye Cheng rolled her eyes, wrinkling her nose in disdain: "You don't even look older than me. How old are you?"
"22." Jiang Ye scooped up a spoonful of shrimp paste, dividing it into their bowls.
"That's a coincidence, I'm 22 too."
Ye Cheng raised an eyebrow: "Which month?"
Jiang Ye looked up at her, his face calm and collected: "January 1st, at 12:01 AM. And you?"
"......"
Ye Cheng clenched her fists, deciding not to argue with him on this matter, picking up her chopsticks to focus on eating: "Let's eat, I'm starving!"
The two temporarily ceased fire, each concentrating on the food in their bowls.
Jiang Ye was truly famished, burying his head in his meal.
Ye Cheng ate more elegantly, but her pace was no less swift.
After eating for a while, she seemed to remember something and lightly kicked Jiang Ye's leg under the table.
Jiang Ye looked up, still chewing on beef tripe: "What?"
"Hey, Jiang Ye..."
Ye Cheng lowered her voice a bit, her eyes sparkling: "About what I mentioned in the car earlier, what do you think?"
Jiang Ye didn't immediately catch on: "What thing?"
"Well..."
Ye Cheng blinked: "I sell you a pair of socks every day, and you give me four... um, just give me two hundred! Long-term cooperation, mutual benefit! How about it?"
Jiang Ye frowned, instinctively starting to consider the feasibility of this deal.
If he could steadily get socks from her, all at the price of around 40 like today, each pair would yield a cashback of 400, leaving 200 after paying her, two thousand in ten days, six thousand a month...
It seemed... pretty good? It would be a stable income.
Though the method was a bit perverse, for the sake of money...
He had just started to mull it over when the system's warning sounded in his mind:
[Ding! Detected intent of illegal transaction by the host, such behavior cannot trigger the cashback mechanism, please avoid.] You are reading on g.com, the official source.
The small flame that had just ignited in Jiang Ye's heart was instantly extinguished.
As expected, the system wasn't so easily fooled.
He immediately lost interest, waving his hand: "Not interested, no."
"Not interested?"
Ye Cheng was taken aback, not expecting him to refuse so bluntly: "Huh? I saw you were quite happy when you got the socks in the car earlier. Why the sudden disinterest?"
As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to think of something, eyeing Jiang Ye suspiciously, her gaze turning peculiar:
"Could it be... when I went upstairs to change, you already did something weird with those two socks, and now you've calmed down?"
Just then, a waiter passing by with a tray overheard the latter part of Ye Cheng's words, turning back sharply, casting a look of extreme shock, mixed with sympathy and understanding, at Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye was completely engulfed by black lines.
He held his forehead speechlessly, feeling his temples throbbing: "Ye Cheng, I solemnly declare, I really don't have that kind of fetish! I'm purely just... just..."
He was at a loss for words, unsure how to explain the joy he felt when the cashback arrived.
Ye Cheng bit into a lotus root box, blinking as she took over the conversation: "Purely just taken a liking to me?"
Jiang Ye paused, the piece of fatty beef he was holding almost falling back into the pot.
Seeing him choke, Ye Cheng smiled smugly, wearing an expression of "I saw through you long ago":
"Why so shy? Renting a car to pick up girls at the school gate shows you're inherently bold, with both the desire and the guts. Although... hehehe~~"
She laughed, stuffing a piece of tofu into her mouth, only to be scalded and blowing on it for a while before recovering:
"Although you didn't succeed, that just means your methods are clumsy, your luck is bad, but it doesn't negate your inherent boldness."
Jiang Ye: "......"
He looked at Ye Cheng with a face full of speechlessness: "I just find your mouth so..."
"So what?"
Ye Cheng interrupted him, attempting to pick up another piece of tofu, this time wisely blowing on it for a long time:
"Want to say my mouth is sharp? When you really catch up to me one day, you'll only say 'Baby, your mouth is amazing,' believe it or not?"
"Clatter!" Jiang Ye's chopsticks fell onto the table.
Damn!
Is this woman driving? And the wheels are practically rolling over my face!
What exactly is she made of? One moment a drunkard, another a mature woman, sometimes a nightclub queen, and then suddenly a seasoned driver?