That evening, Xu Zhen mercifully allowed everyone to leave work early of course, only after they’d finished the work at hand.
Xu Zhen: “If there’s nothing else, you can head out.”
Xu Zhen: “Don’t make a big show of it, don’t draw attention. Keep a low profile, everyone.”
Project Manager: “! Thank you for your benevolence, Boss! You are truly the last treasure of this world!”
The others lined up behind him:
What a well-practiced office life… Unfortunately, Lu Wanning would die before she could say anything that sappy, so she just replied with a “thank you” sticker. She messaged Zhou Xue’er on WeChat, it just so happened that Zhou Xue’er had also gotten off early, so the timing for heading to the Japanese restaurant was perfect.
It was just past six, before the restaurant’s busiest hour. On the first floor was an oval-shaped counter area where customers sat in a circle around the chefs, watching them prepare food up close.
Zhou Xue’er had arrived early and swiftly snagged an excellent spot: “Come quick!”
In front of the chef lay a whole fish. He carefully sliced a long strip of flesh along the grain, then cut it into evenly sized pieces of sashimi, arranged them on a plate, and set it before the two of them.
“Yum-yum~” Zhou Xue’er had skipped both breakfast and lunch for this meal, and now her eyes lit up as she devoured the sashimi one piece after another, wolfing it down. “But what’s this stuff next to it?”
Lu Wanning answered her question: “Grated daikon.”
“Huh?”
“You eat it together with the fish. Try it.”
Zhou Xue’er did as she suggested. The chef had cut from the fattier part of the fish, and on its own the sashimi tasted a bit greasy but paired with the grated daikon, it was indeed much more refreshing.
“You really know your stuff,” she said with a surprised “oh.” “Do you eat Japanese food often?”
Lu Wanning paused. “I just saw it online.”
Zhou Xue’er thought that made sense. With prices in the capital so high, even cheap Japanese food cost several hundred yuan a meal, where would freshly graduated corporate grunts like them find the money for that?
The chef soon started making tamagoyaki in front of them, the sizzling of oil accompanied by the quickly rising aroma of cheese absolutely mouthwatering.
The two of them ate while watching the cooking performance, chatting and laughing, thoroughly relaxed.
Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last. Barely twenty minutes later, Lu Wanning’s phone started vibrating.
A client had suddenly requested a conference call. The project manager, looking pitiful, @-ed everyone in the group chat: “Fam, I don’t have my computer on me. Could someone set up a meeting link and get online to help with screen sharing? Would be eternally grateful!”
“Play dead!” Zhou Xue’er caught it out of the corner of her eye and offered her advice with passionate conviction. “Everyone’s off the clock. You won’t get overtime pay for hustling now, so just pretend you didn’t see it.”
Whether the other colleagues were busy or shared Zhou Xue’er’s sentiment, no one replied in the group chat.
Normally, whenever something like this came up, Xu Zhen would immediately jump in to assign someone, but even she hadn’t surfaced no telling what she was doing.
Lu Wanning glanced back. The private rooms in the restaurant were still empty, so she could probably ask the staff and borrow one for a little while.
“It’s fine, I’ll just hop online for a bit you go ahead and eat.” She typed a “1” in the group chat while telling Zhou Xue’er, “I remember this client’s issue isn’t complicated. Should be done in twenty minutes.”
Zhou Xue’er blinked, then marveled, “Wanning, I’m only now realizing you’re a workaholic. If it were me, I’d be 100% wrapped up in dinner.”
So Lu Wanning pulled her laptop out of her bag, asked the waiter, and found a private room to log on and share her screen.
While the project manager talked, he also sent her a “kneeling” meme in a private message: “Stepmother, please accept my bow.”
Lu Wanning smiled and replied, “Rise.”
She was off the clock and really wasn’t in the mood to think about work anyway. The project manager’s grandiose presentation went in one ear and out the other she didn’t absorb a word. Luckily, she didn’t need to do anything besides flip through the slides, so slacking off didn’t matter.
As she listened, Lu Wanning grew drowsy, and suddenly memories of the past surfaced.
…
When she was little, she and Lu Jiahui lived in the Han family’s servants’ quarters, eating mostly cafeteria food at school or simple home cooking. Occasionally they’d go out to treat themselves to fried chicken and burgers or some other junk food. She never thought anything of it.
But then she became Han Yao’s toy.
After writing her name on that paper, the first thing Han Yao demanded of Lu Wanning was to eat dinner with her every day.
The two of them didn’t attend the same school back then. Lu Wanning went to a cheap public school nearby, while the eldest Han daughter attended an aristocratic private school just from the name, you could tell how expensive the tuition was. During the day they each went to their own schools; the only meal where Lu Wanning’s company was required was dinner.
I thought it would be some kind of demand, but it’s just eating meals?
Lu Wanning let out a long breath and agreed without hesitation: “Sure. But… don’t let my mom find out. She’d get the wrong idea.”
Lu Jiahui had always cautioned her to keep her distance from the master’s family, not to get too close. Knowing she was in the wrong, Lu Wanning feared her mother’s worry all the more. If she told her she’d signed some bizarre toy contract with the eldest Han daughter, no doubt Mom would nag her endlessly.
Their first dinner together was in the Han family’s reception hall.
Lu Wanning came home from school and carefully made her way there, schoolbag still on her shoulders. When she pushed open the door, a servant inside froze upon seeing her.
Even among the Han family’s servants there were ranks. People like Lu Jiahui did rough work washing vegetables in the kitchen, cleaning and were never allowed to set foot in these spaces. The ones who personally attended to the masters’ daily lives held more power and carried themselves more proudly.
The servant waiting in the reception hall recognized who Lu Wanning was and frowned. “What are you doing here? Leave, now.”
Lu Wanning answered honestly, “I’m looking for Han Yao.”
The servant’s face darkened. “How dare you call her by name? And no one is allowed in here without permission.”
She was about to say more when a soft voice drifted from within.
“I allowed it.”
Those three words seemed to carry some kind of magic. One moment the servant was frowning, ready to scold Lu Wanning; the next, her expression changed, and she turned back respectfully: “Yes.”
Lu Wanning looked up toward the voice.
In the reception hall stood a long, large solid-wood table, its corners carved with exquisite patterns. A white tablecloth hung down in delicate strands of lace trim handmade, stitch by stitch, she’d been told.
She saw Han Yao sitting at the far end of the reception hall. She wore a white silk dress, her hair loosely pulled back into a low ponytail draped over her right shoulder.
The eldest daughter seemed to like wearing white dresses at home.
Lu Wanning looked down at her own blue-and-white school uniform. Normally she never thought anything of it, but here, for the first time, she felt completely out of place.
“Come sit,” Han Yao said.
Lu Wanning sat down in the seat right beside her without thinking twice.
Visibly, the maid’s expression shifted again. After a moment, she spoke cautiously: “Miss, what is she here for?”
The table had already been set with tableware knives and forks, wooden chopsticks, coasters, napkins, everything in place.
“To eat,” Han Yao said.
“This…” the maid suggested softly, “perhaps she could take a different seat?” Even when receiving guests, there was no reason to sit this close.
Han Yao’s voice was warm, but her eyes held only indifference. “She can sit wherever she likes. I allow it.”
She even smiled a little. “Do you have something to teach me about it?”
The maid immediately lowered her head. “My apologies, I spoke out of turn.” She turned and left quickly. “I’ll go fetch the chef.”
Lu Wanning didn’t understand. She had a question, so she asked it directly. “Isn’t the food already made and just brought out? What’s the chef coming for?”
Han Yao’s gaze settled on her, seemingly gaining a faint, almost imperceptible warmth.
“He’ll prepare it fresh, right here,” she said.
Hearing that, Lu Wanning started to look forward to it.
Before long, the maid wheeled in a serving cart, followed by the chef who would be cooking for them today. Clearly the maid had informed him in advance he had known of Lu Wanning’s presence beforehand.
Lu Wanning had never seen him at the Han household before; he was probably specially hired from outside.
The cart held a wide variety of ingredients, but what intrigued Lu Wanning most was the fish lying on a bed of ice not even scaled yet, gleaming silver under the light, with a hint of blue if you looked closely.
“Hello,” the chef said with a nod, then began his introduction. “This is fresh king salmon, caught this morning and flown in.”
The knife seemed to become a magician’s prop in his hands. With just a few cuts, he sliced the fish into evenly sized pieces, then shaped rice into small balls with his other hand, carefully laid the fish slices over them, and finished with a sprinkle of some kind of finely chopped garnish.
“Please enjoy,” the chef said with a smile, and the maid promptly placed two small plates before them.
Lu Wanning looked at it uncertainly. “It’s raw?” You could eat fish raw?
Han Yao picked up a piece lightly with her chopsticks, put it in her mouth, and only after swallowing did she give an “Mm.”
Lu Wanning hesitated. “Then don’t you dip it in some kind of sauce?” Plain fish and rice had no flavor at all.
She didn’t know why the maid and the chef’s expressions underwent a subtle change, but they were professionals and would never let their emotions show too much.
Presently, the chef explained: “The rice has been seasoned in advance, so no additional seasoning is needed. King salmon also has a natural sweetness and delicate flesh its texture alone is well worth savoring.”
“Oh,” said Lu Wanning. She lowered her head to pick up a piece with her chopsticks, but she hadn’t expected the ingredients to be so soft. Careless, she cut right through it.
She didn’t know why their expressions changed again.
The servant seemed about to open her mouth to remind them of something, but at that moment Han Yao set down her chopsticks, the porcelain clinking crisply against the dish a sound that was both an interruption and a warning.
Lu Wanning finally got to eat that piece of sushi. The taste was strange, hard to describe sweet, with a hint of milky fragrance, melting in her mouth with none of the fishiness she’d imagined.
It was delicious. A very refined flavor.
But perhaps because she was used to her mom’s home cooking, she couldn’t help feeling it was a bit bland.
Han Yao’s gaze rested on her face, then shifted to the chef, who understood at once and quickly set a small dish of soy sauce in front of Lu Wanning.
They sampled many more dishes after that, and the whole meal passed in silence.
Lu Wanning had never eaten such a quiet meal. Occasionally she couldn’t help trying to start a conversation, but Han Yao spoke extremely little, and neither the chef nor the servant ventured to speak again.
After everyone else had left, Lu Wanning couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Why doesn’t anyone talk?” She’d been trying so hard to find topics, and no one picked up on any of them.
Han Yao gently dabbed the corner of her mouth with a napkin, her movements slow and graceful. Only after setting it down did she say, “No speaking while eating. Why would we talk?”
“That’s way too boring,” Lu Wanning said. “Meals are only fun if you chat a little.”
Han Yao blinked, a faint bewilderment in her eyes. “I eat every meal alone,” she said slowly.
Lu Wanning made an “oh” sound.
She looked at Han Yao’s white dress and suddenly thought it resembled the beautiful white feathers of a little bird. Then she glanced down at her own blue-and-white school uniform she’d accidentally gotten pen marks on the cuff today, leaving it all smudged.
They were clearly so different, yet at this moment the gap somehow didn’t seem so big.
“You’re the one who asked me to keep you company for meals,” Lu Wanning said.
Han Yao’s expression didn’t change. “Mm.”
“Then just listen to me talk, that’s all.”
…
The project manager had already been droning on for over twenty minutes, and Lu Wanning was getting drowsy. Resting her chin on her hand, she accidentally dozed off and even dreamed of things from the past.
When had the lights in the private room gotten so dim…? She rubbed her eyes, and before she could collect herself, she jolted upright in shock.
At some point, another figure had appeared across from her.
Black hair still tied in a low ponytail, almost swallowed by the darkness only those black-and-white eyes gleamed with an unreadable light.
Han Yao gazed at her silently, saying nothing. She simply placed her slender fingers on the door and gave it a gentle twist.
Click.
Right in front of Lu Wanning, she locked the door to the private room.