As soon as the words were spoken, two steaks were brought to the table by the waiter.
Angry! Ignoring him.
Su Zhaotang picked up her knife and fork, vigorously stabbing the steak on her plate as if treating the food as the despicable man sitting opposite her.
Meanwhile, Zhou Lingjing elegantly took up his utensils, cutting the entire steak into uniformly sized pieces.
His slender fingers held a crystal-clear wine glass; as he gently swirled it, the red wine swirled against the sides of the glass.
The prominent Adam’s apple in his neck moved up and down with his drinking motion.
Perhaps due to the alcohol, his voice became low and rich. His eyes fixed on Su Zhaotang as he said,
“Want a taste?”
“No, I don’t want red wine. I want milk,”
Su Zhaotang said softly.
Zhou Lingjing gave a faint smile.
“You’ve grown older, but this habit of yours hasn’t changed a bit. I just brought you a glass in the office, and now you want milk again, Zhaozhao? Even my little niece isn’t as obsessed with milk as you are.”
“But I just really like milk,”
Su Zhaotang looked at him resentfully.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t order it for you. Don’t complain yet,”
Zhou Lingjing immediately signaled the waiter to bring a glass of milk.
“I also want a small cake.”
“Strawberry flavored,” she added.
Zhou Lingjing complied with each request.
“Thank you~” Su Zhaotang was satisfied, revealing two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth. The smile on her face was sweet enough to drown someone.
“Oh, so now you know to say thank you,” Zhou Lingjing remarked lightly as he sipped his red wine.
“Well, who goes around saying thank you all the time for no reason?”
Su Zhaotang blinked her big eyes at him.
Zhou Lingjing gazed at her leisurely without speaking.
Su Zhaotang lowered her head to avoid his gaze and began working on her steak.
Just as she was enthusiastically cutting away, the plate beneath her hands was suddenly taken away.
She looked up in surprise, her eyelashes fluttering, seemingly astonished by Zhou Lingjing’s action.
“Stop stabbing it so hard. I’ll cut it for you. Just wait and eat, little princess.”
Zhou Lingjing lowered his head, elegantly cutting the steak with both hands. The fat and meat juices blended together, emitting an enticing aroma.
Soon, a steak cut into neat, almost uniformly sized pieces was placed before Su Zhaotang.
“What are you looking at? Eat up. Don’t tell me you want me to feed you like when you were little?”
Hearing his words, Su Zhaotang blushed with embarrassment. Back then, she clung to Zhou Lingjing for everything, even waiting for him to feed her during meals. The housekeeper couldn’t coax her into eating by herself.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t eat on her own; she simply enjoyed being with him and wanted him to take care of her.
“Stop talking!”
Annoying, Su Zhaotang thought with a mix of anger and coyness.
She indignantly picked up her fork, stuffing pieces of beef into her mouth until her cheeks were puffed out.
Perhaps because she was a beauty, this eating manner appeared somewhat adorable and endearingly clumsy.
Midway through, she picked up her milk and took a sip. Feeling milk had gotten on the corner of her mouth, she extended her tongue and lightly licked her lips, cleaning off the milk.
But she couldn’t see it herself—there was still a tiny trace of milk at the corner of her mouth.
Zhou Lingjing watched and chuckled softly. He naturally picked up a napkin from beside him and wiped her mouth.
“Little messy kitten.”
Su Zhaotang’s fair face flushed hot. She quickly took the napkin from his hand and hurriedly said, “I can do it myself.”
Zhou Lingjing let her be, since he had already wiped it clean.
At that moment, a figure appeared beside their table, and Zhou Lingjing noticed it first.
It turned out to be Mr. Zhao from Chuangwei Technology, with whom they had collaborated some time ago. Mr. Zhao enthusiastically greeted Zhou Lingjing,
“Oh my, what a coincidence! I’m so fortunate to run into Mr. Zhou here,”
and then extended his hand to shake Zhou Lingjing’s.
He curiously looked at Su Zhaotang,
“Mr. Zhou, who is this?”
“My wife, Su Zhaotang,” Zhou Lingjing replied calmly.
Mr. Zhao was clearly shocked by this news, as there had never been any hint in their circle that Zhou Lingjing was married and had a wife.
He then greeted Su Zhaotang, who responded with a smile, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.
She was embarrassed by Zhou Lingjing’s words, “my wife.”
Mr. Zhao flatteringly praised Su Zhaotang to Zhou Lingjing, his face brimming with smiles,
“Mr. Zhou is truly blessed to have married such a beautiful wife. It seems you’ve been keeping her hidden all this time. May I ask which family’s daughter Mrs. Zhou is from?”
“If that’s an inappropriate question, please don’t mind it,”
he hurriedly added, afraid of offending Su Zhaotang and displeasing Zhou Lingjing.
“It’s fine. I’m Su Zhiyuan’s daughter,”
Su Zhaotang replied with a smile.
“Ah, so you’re Mr. Su’s daughter! No wonder you’re so exquisitely beautiful. After all, Mr. Su is still quite handsome even in his middle age. Looking at you now, I can see some resemblance in your eyes and brows to your father.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Uncle,”
Su Zhaotang smiled at him with narrowed eyes, appearing sweet and adorable.
Seeing that he still wanted to chat, Zhou Lingjing interrupted him, his expression turning slightly colder,
“Alright, Mr. Zhao, if you have matters to attend to, please go ahead. The two of us are about to leave.”
“Ah, yes, yes. Then I won’t disturb the two of you any further.”
Seeing Zhou Lingjing’s slightly displeased expression, Mr. Zhao tactfully said this and left.
Su Zhaotang breathed a sigh of relief and grinned at Zhou Lingjing,
“You’re still the best. If he had kept asking, I wouldn’t have known how to respond.” Hehe.
“Oh, so now you know I’m good? Who was glaring at me just now?”
Zhou Lingjing raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
“Who? Who would dare glare at our great CEO? Who?”
Su Zhaotang said while turning her head to look around, pretending to search, her eyes darting back and forth.
Zhou Lingjing watched her performance expressionlessly, showing no emotion at all.
“Hmph, boring,”
Su Zhaotang stopped fidgeting and looked at him with a deep gaze.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you home first,”
Zhou Lingjing stood up, walked over to Su Zhaotang, and picked up her small chain bag.
With his other hand, he gently grasped her arm and pulled her up. Once she was steady, he naturally took her soft, delicate hand and walked out with her.
The driver had been waiting by the car early on and opened the door for Su Zhaotang as she approached, making it easy for her to get in.
Meanwhile, Zhou Lingjing walked to the other side of the car.
The car slowly started, and for a moment, the atmosphere in the back seat was quiet, as neither of them spoke.
Just then, Su Zhaotang’s phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and saw it was Zhao Xi. She swiped to answer,
“Hey, what’s up, sweetie?” she said softly.
Hearing her tone, Zhou Lingjing narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Sweetie Zhaozhao, can I come over to your place tonight to hang out? I don’t have any filming scheduled,” Zhao Xi said gloomily on the other end.
“Haha, the struggling actress has no work? Just ask your brother to invest in a drama and cast you as the female lead, problem solved,”
Su Zhaotang teased her.
“Oh, come on, do you really think I’m that kind of person? I’m aiming to become a serious actress and win awards!”
“Alright, alright, future award-winning actress. Then why don’t you come over tonight? I’m on my way home now,” she said, idly playing with her hair.
“Okay, okay. I’ll hang up first then.”
“Mhm, bye.” The call ended.