His expression stilled.
Meng Mian had her little head bowed, hair in a bun, skin delicate, her whole person glowing white.
The red earbuds rested against her pale, small ears, making her skin look even more clear and luminous.
Her eyelashes were extremely long, like little fans.
A flutter, then another flutter.
Her snowy little face, maybe because it was so tender, actually looked soft and squishy.
She wore a goose-yellow chiffon shorts set, which made her look even more tender, white, and slender.
Maybe because she was quietly watching her phone right now, she actually looked impossibly well-behaved.
Ji Silin simply couldn’t reconcile the person in front of him with the one who had once blocked his path, so fake and exaggerated, dressed so maturely, not likable at all.
Yet it was definitely the same person.
What made her change so much all of a sudden?
Even her temperament seems to have changed.
Like two different people.
But their relationship was a transaction. They would break up in three months.
Ji Silin couldn’t be bothered to dig deeper into what was going on.
Then he thought of not having recognized her, and felt a little awkward again.
But since he’d already apologized to Meng Mian and transferred her money, Ji Silin’s emotions evened out again.
They ate in the hotel’s largest private room.
Meng Mian and Ji Silin sat across from each other.
Ji Silin had Meng Mian order the dishes.
Meng Mian really did order.
Seeing Meng Mian so decisive, not dragging things out at all, Ji Silin thought it was good.
After Meng Mian finished ordering, Ji Silin added all the signature dishes she hadn’t ordered.
Meng Mian had no particular reaction. She just obediently sipped the freshly squeezed juice that had just been brought up.
This was a Ji Group hotel, so of course the food for this private room was prepared first.
Some dishes were even already ready.
Soon the food started arriving.
A full table of dishes.
Meng Mian most wanted to eat the sweet-and-sour pork ribs, so she picked up two pieces and put them in her bowl.
But she didn’t eat them right away.
Instead she held her chopsticks and just waited.
The ribs were too hot for her right now.
She was oversensitive to pain. Temperatures that a normal person would find warm, a little hot, she couldn’t stand.
Otherwise, the mucous membranes in her mouth and throat would feel intense pain.
So every time she ate or drank something, it could only be a tiny bit warm.
Across from her, Ji Silin had taken a bite of food, and when he looked up, he saw Meng Mian had clearly put food in her bowl but wasn’t eating. She was just staring at it with bright eyes, looking especially well-behaved.
A little cute.
Only after unhurriedly swallowing the food in his mouth did Ji Silin ask, “Why aren’t you eating?”
“It’s too hot. I’m waiting for it to cool a bit more,” Meng Mian answered softly.
Her almond eyes were still shining as she stared at the two pieces of ribs in her bowl, gleaming and appetizing, clearly delicious at a glance.
Ji Silin assumed it was because the ribs had just come out of the pot and really were hot.
“Then eat something else first.”
Meng Mian shook her little head, extremely insistent. “I want to save my stomach for the thing I most want to eat.”
If she ate something else, her stomach wouldn’t be as empty, and the ribs wouldn’t taste as good.
Ji Silin couldn’t understand.
But he respected it.
He said nothing more.
Then, as if possessed, he picked up a rib himself.
He took a light bite, saw the temperature was just right, and said, “It’s fine to eat. Not hot anymore.”
He hadn’t even noticed he was testing the temperature for her.
“Really?” Meng Mian thought it really wasn’t hot anymore, and without any caution, took a bite.
But the moment she bit down, she was burned, and her eyes instantly went red. “Hot.”
Her little face looked utterly wronged.
Ji Silin was stunned.
He’d just taken his from the plate. It should have been a little hotter than the one she’d put in her bowl earlier.
How could mine not be hot, but hers still is?
From her reaction, it should be more than a little hot. Very hot.
But looking at Meng Mian’s red lips, white teeth, wronged face, and brimming eyes,
Ji Silin found he couldn’t bring himself to say anything harsh.
Rarely at a loss, he said, “I don’t know why yours is still hot. Mine really isn’t. Sorry. You, don’t cry.”
“Huh?” Meng Mian’s pain had just passed when she heard Ji Silin say this, and she stared blankly. “I’m not crying.”
She isn’t?
Ji Silin’s cold gaze fell on Meng Mian’s eyes.
He looked carefully at Meng Mian’s eyes.
Other than her reddened eye rims, there really were no tears in her eyes.
It was just that her eyes were naturally clear and watery.
It was only because her eye rims had turned red that it looked like her eyes were full of tears.
Ji Silin cleared his throat, a little awkward.
Meng Mian was already explaining. “It’s not your fault. You don’t need to apologize. I just can’t eat hot things. Not even a little hot.”
Delicate.
Last time she bumped into him, it was the same. Such a light bump, and she’d cried about the pain.
He’d thought she was crying then too.
Now it seemed she probably hadn’t cried then either.
Ji Silin stopped minding whether Meng Mian ate or not, stopped talking too, and went back to his own food.
Meng Mian didn’t mind.
After waiting a while longer, Meng Mian picked up the rib that had burned her earlier from her bowl.
Since it had burned her, this time she didn’t dare bite into it directly.
She touched it lightly with her lips first, and when she felt it really wasn’t hot anymore, her eyes immediately curved into crescents, and she took a bite.
It really was delicious.
Her satisfaction made her eyes curve even more.
Ji Silin saw it, and again thought the girl was delicate.
But he still said nothing.
After eating the rib, Meng Mian picked up a piece of spicy chicken.
She couldn’t eat too spicy either. It also intensified the pain.
Meng Mian asked the server for a small bowl of water and swished the chicken in it for a long time before daring to put it in her mouth.
Her eyes curved with satisfaction again.
Ji Silin saw it again.
Still said nothing.
But then Ji Silin saw that Meng Mian also didn’t eat anything too sour, too cold, or too hard.
It took her ages just to get one happy bite of food.
She even picked up some fish, spent a long time trying to remove the bones and still couldn’t get them all out. So she simply gave up, her snowy little face full of regret, and switched to eating something else.
But not getting the fish she wanted clearly made her less happy than before.
Her eyes weren’t even curving anymore.
Just whose delicate little thing is this?
Ji Silin felt a rare stirring of irritation.
He picked up a piece of fish, very carefully removed all the bones, and placed it in Meng Mian’s bowl.
Only then did the irritation in his chest ease.
Meng Mian was currently bent over her bowl, eating greens.
Her heart was still on the fish.
Compared to greens, she wanted the fish more.
If only the fish had no bones.
But she wouldn’t eat fish with bones.
She’d been pricked by a fishbone before, right at her throat. Excruciating.
Suddenly a piece of boneless fish appeared in her bowl.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
She instantly looked up at Ji Silin.
Ji Silin’s face was expressionless. “Eat.”
“Thank you!” Not only did Meng Mian’s eyes curve, her voice was even full of life.
Ji Silin didn’t know what was with him. He couldn’t help looking after Meng Mian.
Maybe it was because the current Meng Mian was so well-behaved and soft.
Ji Silin was about to put down his chopsticks. He’d already eaten his fill.
But seeing Meng Mian obediently and quietly eating the fish he’d deboned for her…