”What nonsense are you spouting?!”
Yu Qingbie’s face instantly turned ugly, as if a paint palette had been spilled. After a brief moment of shock and pallor, it turned a deep, furious lividity. His dog-like eyes widened as he glared at Shen Mingjin.
”How could this be fake?!”
He reached out and slapped the bed frame loudly, as if that would help him regain some confidence and self-assurance.
”This is a Hainan rosewood bed that I bought for over ten thousand yuan. My parents personally inspected it in person. They spent real money on it, how could it be fake?!”
Yu Qingbie kept repeating this sentence, and the more he said it, the more he felt that Shen Mingjin, this country bumpkin, was talking nonsense and that his real purpose was to make others look at him with more respect. So his eyes suddenly became sharp, and he looked at Shen Mingjin suspiciously, his eyes full of distrust.
”…The wood is coarse, the pores are too large, and the color is yellow and dull, which are obviously the characteristics of rosewood.”
Shen Mingjin, too lazy to waste words with Yu Qing, turned to look around, grabbed a useless cloth and wiped it on the bed board, making the patterns on the bed board even clearer in the light shining through the curtain gaps. He said in a low voice:
”Moreover, the quantity of Hainan rosewood decreased rapidly during the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty. Even if you really had a way to buy genuine rosewood, the quantity you could purchase would be extremely limited.”
Shen Mingjin’s voice was calm, and although his expression was not sarcastic, his eyes clearly showed that it was impossible. He casually flicked the bed board with his fingertip: “More than 100,000 yuan? Don’t even mention buying a bed, you’d have a hard time buying a chair.”
Yu Qingbie stared at the composed Shen Mingjin, his eyes widening until they almost popped out of the window: “………”
He was stunned; he was completely dumbfounded on the spot!!
Shen Mingjin’s words were so logical and organized that he couldn’t help but believe them.
But how could this be?!
Yu Qingbei refused to believe that his relative working in Myanmar would lie to him. He moved his lips, and in the end, he wanted to make one last desperate attempt:
“How do you know all this? Are you an expert?”
“…” Upon hearing this, Shen Mingjin paused, pondered for a moment, and finally came to a conclusion:
”I’m not an expert.”
Shen Mingjin pointed to his head and said seriously, “But these things are in my head, and I remember them as soon as I look at them.”
Yu Qingbie: “………”
Why has this guy suddenly become so unreliable again…?
So, should he believe it or not?
Yu Qingbie stood there, his expression shifting, his mind a jumble of conflicted thoughts, like a headless fly, unable to make sense of anything for the time being.
However, after saying that, Shen Mingjin was quite happy and went to the bathroom again to get some water and carefully cleaned his small room.
Upon seeing this, Yu Qingbie paused, looking at Shen Mingjin’s actions with a somewhat complicated expression. After a moment, he quietly retreated.
He knew in his heart that Shen Mingjin had no reason to lie to him, so it was very likely that… Shen Mingjin was telling the truth.
For the next few days, Shen Mingjin stayed in the small room that Yu Qingbie had arranged for him.
The room was small; after placing a four-poster bed, there wasn’t even room for a table. Fortunately, Yu’s mother was kind-hearted and spent money to install a wardrobe on the wall for Shen Mingjin.
…Although some of the renovation costs will have to be deducted from Shen Mingjin’s salary.
But Shen Mingjin didn’t care. He was still worried about how to solve the problem of storing clothes when Yu’s mother’s suggestion solved it.
The night before officially moving into the food stall, Yu’s mother gave Shen Mingjin an advance of half his salary and a half-day off, asking him to go to a nearby shopping mall to buy some toiletries and pajamas he needed.
While browsing a pajama store, Shen Mingjin unexpectedly saw a rabbit pajama set. The material was soft and fluffy, and there was a pom-pom embroidered on the buttocks. Two ears drooped down from the hood on the back, making it look like a lop-eared rabbit.
Shen Mingjin’s mind stirred, and for some reason, he suddenly thought of Xu Duwan looking at him with red eyes, and felt that it was quite similar to a rabbit. He couldn’t help but touch the rabbit pajamas and chuckle.
His smile delighted the saleswoman standing next to him, who assumed Shen Mingjin liked this style. She immediately seized the opportunity and enthusiastically began promoting the item.
”Hello sir, these are couple styles in our store, but one person can also wear them, since they are easy to change and wash.”
When the sales assistant said the last few words, Shen Mingjin hesitated slightly. Seeing this, she pressed on, “And right now we’re having an anniversary sale, so buying two items together is 23% off, it’s a really good deal!”
“……Okay.” Shen Mingjin couldn’t resist the sales assistant’s enthusiastic smile, and coupled with a little unspeakable selfishness, he took off the pajamas without thinking and said awkwardly:
”Then… please settle the bill.”
The sales assistant took the clothes, her eyes immediately lighting up with a smile, and replied crisply, “Okay!”
As night fell, several beams of light illuminated the edges of the rows of buildings, gradually converging into a dazzling galaxy. Together with the headlights of speeding cars leaving afterimages, they formed colorful molecules that permeated the air before being quickly dispersed by the roaring wheels of the next vehicle.
As night fell, more people came to get off work and took walks along the roadside. The canopy of the food stall was set up at the right time. After putting on his chef’s uniform and hat and washing his hands, Mr. Yu and his apprentice began to cook.
Shen Mingjin then helped Yu’s mother move the tables and chairs out.
As soon as he stepped out, many female college students who were wandering around looking for a place to eat were attracted by his face. They nudged each other and finally sat down at the table that Shen Mingjin had just set up.
This was the first time in all the years that Yu’s mother had run her food stall that customers had arrived as soon as she set up the table. She looked up at the students in front of her with surprise and saw that they were all looking at Shen Mingjin, who was oblivious and gently handing the menu to the female college students in front of him, with nervous and shy expressions. A helpless smile appeared on her face, and then she went back inside.
“What would you like to eat?”
Shen Mingjin didn’t expect that guests would arrive as soon as he set up a table. Adhering to the attitude that the customer is God, he casually took out a pen and paper from his pocket and pretended to listen attentively.
”Hmm… Let’s start with two pounds of crayfish, a few side dishes, and three bottles of beer.”
These female students were dressed appropriately and elegantly. Judging from the matching and material of their clothes, they were obviously girls from well-off families. They didn’t usually come to places like street food stalls. They stared at the greasy menu, thinking hard and pushing each other around. In the end, they were a bit reserved and conservative in what they ordered, but they didn’t want to seem out of place, so they ordered three more bottles of beer.
”Okay.” Shen Mingjin quickly wrote down what they had ordered on a piece of paper. As he tore it off, he glanced down at the chattering girls, paused, and then said:
”If you can’t drink much alcohol, how about I switch to herbal tea?”
Seeing the girls’ confused looks, Shen Mingjin smiled and explained:
”If you can’t drink alcohol, I’m afraid you’ll get drunk after just a little bit, and that will be inconvenient when you go back to school.”
”Oh, oh oh…”
Shen Mingjin’s words were too suggestive, and the girls blushed slightly. They knew that the handsome guy in front of them had figured out that they didn’t come here often, and they looked a little flustered. But they were also touched by Shen Mingjin’s kind reminder and nodded quickly like chickens pecking at rice.
”Then let’s have herbal tea.”
”Okay.” Shen Mingjin nodded, casually made some corrections on the paper, and turned to walk towards the kitchen.
”Oh, thank you.”
Several girls watched Shen Mingjin’s retreating figure. One of the bolder girls even stood up and playfully called out to his back:
”You’re not only beautiful, but also a wonderful person!”
Shen Mingjin: “………”
Seeing the guest outside the door startled by the commotion, Shen Mingjin couldn’t show an unpleasant expression, so he could only smile helplessly and say, “Thank you.”
As night fell, more and more people came here to eat after get off work. Shen Mingjin was so busy that he didn’t even have time to rest. Naturally, he didn’t know that his interaction with the group of female students had been seen by someone across the street.
Across the street where cars were speeding by, a Rolls-Royce Phantom was parked quietly in a parking space, its dark windows reflecting the profile of a fair-skinned man.
He had delicate features and a slender figure. He originally had clear and clean almond-shaped eyes, but his slightly furrowed brows gave his face a hint of menacing aura.
Upon seeing many people secretly taking photos of Shen Mingjin with their phones, Xu Duwan clicked his tongue softly and tapped the steering wheel of the car in annoyance. His fingertips tightened with each passing moment, as if he wanted to use the steering wheel as the eyes of those who were peeking at Shen Mingjin and poke them out.
”Alright, if you miss him, go see him. What’s with you getting angry at the car here?”
Jiang Ruoling sat in the passenger seat, feeling a little sorry for the car that had suffered such inhuman abuse.
”I checked for you. He fainted while buying breakfast for you this morning, that’s why he was late. He wasn’t looking for a boyfriend at all. Why are you taking it out on him?”
”Is hindsight helpful?” Xu Duwan turned around and glanced lightly at Jiang Ruoling. The light from the window refracted through his eyes, completely obscuring them, leaving them inexplicably dark and gloomy.
”What were you doing all this time?”
His tone was indifferent, and when he wasn’t making any expression, the corners of his beautiful almond-shaped eyes were slightly downturned, giving him an inexplicably eerie aura.
”…” Jiang Ruoling knew he was in the wrong, so he touched his nose and remained silent.
”Here are the car keys, take them.” Xu Duwan abruptly changed the subject, pulling the car keys out of Jiang Ruoling’s arms and tossing them to him before opening the car door and getting out.
”Drive away, I’m not going back tonight.”
”cough…….”
Jiang Ruoling nearly choked on his own saliva. After a moment of stunned silence, he quickly leaned against the car window and shouted at Xu Duwan’s retreating figure:
“What the hell are you doing?! ”
”I mess with men, not with your crap.”
Xu Duwan calmly uttered this shocking statement, which was completely inconsistent with his previous persona. Then, ignoring Jiang Ruoling’s shocked expression, he stepped into the bustling food stall, wearing a high-end shirt and shiny leather shoes worth tens of thousands of yuan.
The customers coming and going are all ordinary students and office workers. When Xu Duwan stepped into this environment, it was like a pearl falling into the sand, dazzling to an excessive degree.
Yu Qingbie also came tonight. He has been contacting a well-known antique appraiser to determine the material of his bed. Today, he took a break from his busy schedule and was secretly eating peanuts at the front desk. Hearing a commotion outside the door, he tossed a peanut up, opened his mouth to catch it, and peeked out to see what was happening.
However, just as his gaze turned outside, the slender, aloof, and noble man outside the door turned around and met his eyes.
”puff–“
Upon seeing Xu Duwan, who exuded a murderous aura as if he had come to catch someone in the act of adultery, Yu Qingbie almost spat out the peanut he had just swallowed. A peanut got stuck in his throat, forcing him to cough loudly.
Damn, he’s here again!
Shen Mingjin was serving dishes, so busy that he was drenched in sweat. The glistening sweat even soaked through his clothes on the front and back, revealing his slender waist and clearly defined abdominal muscles.
”What’s wrong?” Shen Mingjin heard Yu Qingbie cough and was distracted with concern. He bent down to his side and reached out to pat his back.
“Would you like some water?”
”…” Yu Qingbie choked and couldn’t speak. He bent over, coughed up the peanut bits from his throat, and then pounded his chest. As he coughed, he looked at Shen Mingjin with a serious expression.
”Brother Shen.”
His eyes darted around, glancing at the doorway. He swallowed hard, took a few steps back, and adopted a posture of distancing himself from Shen Mingjin: “Your boyfriend is watching us from the doorway.”
Yu Qingbie, ever the drama queen, suddenly put on a shy expression and said, “Wouldn’t it be inappropriate for my sister-in-law to see us like this?”
Shen Mingjin: “?”
For some reason, as soon as Yu Qingbie finished speaking, Shen Mingjin suddenly felt a chill down his back. He subconsciously turned his head and saw Xu Duwan sitting at the table, staring straight at the hand he had placed on Yu Qingbie’s back, his expression cold as if covered in frost.
Shen Mingjin: “………”