11 – vol.2 Sea Salt Mousse
The man lowered his eyelashes, concealing the shifting darkness in his eyes.
His sharp brow bones flickered in and out of sight beneath the dark hair on his forehead, making him seem increasingly unfathomable.
Zhou Wensen sensed that something was off.
Having become a manager at a young age, he possessed the ability to read people’s expressions.
Coupled with his natural sensitivity toward men…
He could observe a very subtle change in Pei Zhixiu’s expression. The air around him suddenly turned cold, and his mood had clearly dropped a notch compared to before.
Zhou Wensen gripped his coffee cup, slightly studying the expression of the man opposite him, and couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
Had he said something wrong?
But he didn’t think he had said anything inappropriate.
Wasn’t it just introducing the café, introducing the café’s owner, and then sharing the interesting connection he had with this café?
All perfectly appropriate topics…
Where was the problem?
If it wasn’t something he said… could it be that the coffee didn’t suit his taste? Or perhaps the food didn’t agree with him?
He glanced at the coffee that had only been sipped once, and suddenly a thought struck him—
He shouldn’t have ordered a latte.
Zhou Wensen remembered the instructions his colleague had once given him and couldn’t help but mentally slap himself.
He immediately stood up and called out:
“Suisui!”
His voice was loud enough for Wen Ruosui at the counter to hear instantly.
She pulled her attention away from what she was doing, wiped her hands clean with a cloth, and quickly walked over to the table by the window, asking Zhou Wensen:
“What’s wrong? Is there anything you need?”
Zhou Wensen directly tugged at Wen Ruosui’s arm, signaling her to stand beside him and lean in.
Perhaps due to his different sexual orientation, Zhou Wensen was always quite intimate in his body language with familiar women.
And Wen Ruosui was accustomed to his affectionate gestures.
She also bent slightly, crouching down with her hands on her knees, tilting her ear to listen.
Zhou Wensen leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice: “Oh no, I forgot this big client doesn’t like milk in his coffee… Quick, help me change it.”
Wen Ruosui was slightly surprised: “What should I change it to?”
Zhou Wensen gave a hint: “Mandheling coffee? Less sugar, I think he’d like that.”
“Alright, is there anything else you’d like to add?” Wen Ruosui noticed that the desserts on the table were barely touched. Although they were just small snacks, she guessed they probably didn’t suit his taste either.
Zhou Wensen was at a loss, his voice flustered: “I don’t know, I can’t guess what a big boss like him would like. How about you make some recommendations?”
Wen Ruosui paused: “…Let me think.”
The man and woman were speaking very closely, and such intimate whispering naturally caught Pei Zhixiu’s eye.
His narrow eyes narrowed slightly.
In his amber pupils, the color gradually turned cold.
Especially when he noticed her, wearing a gauze dress, tilting her head and listening intently to Zhou Wensen with focused attention, the man’s thin lips unconsciously tightened further, and his brow furrowed slightly.
Lost in thought, Wen Ruosui quickly came up with something to add. She whispered to Zhou Wensen:
“He probably doesn’t like sweet things very much. How about I see if there are any light or savory snacks and bring some over, what do you think?”Although these words were directed at Zhou Wensen, as she spoke, her gaze couldn’t help but drift toward the man across from her, involuntarily observing his movements.
With just a glance, she met Pei Zhixiu’s eyes, which were staring directly at her.
Dark and profound.
At that moment, he was crossing his arms, openly watching the scene unfold before him. His gaze happened to fall on her face, and the depth in his eyes held something unfathomable, impossible to decipher.
Wen Ruosui’s heart skipped a beat.
She hadn’t expected the man across from her to stare so intently.
After all, when two people are whispering, if they’re seated at the same table, most people would avoid eye contact or divert their attention to avoid awkwardness, signaling that they hadn’t overheard.
But he seemed different.
He simply and unabashedly fixed his gaze on her.
The afternoon sunlight fell on his face, casting a faint golden glow over his features.
Though the surroundings were bathed in warm tones, he inexplicably exuded a gloomy chill. Especially his eyes—their dark gleam carried a sharp, almost piercing intensity.
Wen Ruosui didn’t know where his coldness came from.
Nothing particularly unusual had happened.
She felt inexplicably nervous.
Fortunately, the man’s phone on the table suddenly rang, abruptly ending their brief exchange of glances.
He averted his gaze, picked up the phone, stood up, and walked to a corner to answer it.
The man’s temporary departure allowed Wen Ruosui to breathe a sigh of relief.
But her thoughts remained entangled in his profound gaze.
Just as her mind drifted, Zhou Wensen patted her arm. “Boss Suisui, are you listening?”
“…What?”
She hadn’t been paying attention to what Zhou Wensen had said.
“Why are you so distracted today?” Zhou Wensen asked, puzzled and suspicious.
Taking advantage of Pei Zhixiu being on the phone, he repeated, “As we agreed earlier, we’ll proceed as you suggested.”
“Oh, okay,” Wen Ruosui replied.
She turned and walked toward the bar.
As she passed the corner, she saw the man on the phone, standing tall and straight beside a potted plant.
A few leaves of the plant brushed against his trousers, leaving slight creases on his otherwise crisp suit pants.
The corner wasn’t far from the aisle.
As she walked along the aisle, his low, cool voice drifted into her ears, and she caught a few brief snippets:
“In Pucheng.”
“Not sure, we’ll see.”
She couldn’t tell what the person on the other end was saying, but it seemed to make him frown slightly, his serious expression tinged with a hint of impatience.
Wen Ruosui quickened her pace.
She lowered her head, avoiding his face.
However, as she brushed past him, she felt him tilt his head slightly and glance up at her.