The private dining room door swung open. Fang Dongxu froze before he had even stepped inside.
"Chen Xiaoying? Fuck, what are you doing here?"
His voice was loud enough to carry into the room next door.
Before coming, Wang Xiaoliang had only said he was bringing someone, without saying who. Chen Zhifei stood up, her expression unruffled, while Fang Dongxu looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"I've been here a while."
The three sat down. Fang Dongxu was still staring at Chen Zhifei, his mouth hanging open.
"Sorry I'm late. I've had too much on my plate."
Chen Zhifei lifted her teacup, took a sip, and set it down.
"Fang Dongxu, my name is Chen Zhifei now. Chen Xiaoying is dead. Please don't call me that again, all right?"
Her tone was mild, almost a request.
"Right, right, Chen Zhifei. Good name, good name." Only then did Fang Dongxu seem to accept that Chen Zhifei was really there.
He picked up the menu, flipped through it without looking, and rattled off five or six dishes. He was clearly a regular.
The dishes arrived one after another. Fang Dongxu took a bite and casually asked, "Zhifei, are you at Chengyu too?"
Chen Zhifei nodded. "I'm an accountant in the Group Finance Department."
"How much do you make?"
"Eight thousand."
Fang Dongxu turned to Wang Xiaoliang.
"Xiaoliang..."
"Fifteen thousand."
Fang Dongxu tapped his chopsticks twice against the edge of a plate and curled his lip. "Liu Xinyu really does play favorites. When I first joined Chengyou, I had a three-month probation at three thousand a month. Five thousand after that. I'm guessing neither of you had a probation period?"
Wang Xiaoliang let that pass and changed the subject. "How long did you work at Chengyou Labor Service? What exactly do