All four of them were hungry.
Li Lanxiang picked up one of Hongbin Tower's signature pan-fried dumplings, put it in her mouth, and narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.
"Our Hongbin Tower still has the best food."
Wang Xiaoliang felt there was something intriguing about that remark.
Our?
There was something unusual about her use of "our."
He instinctively glanced at Zhou Qiang, only to find him smiling, a trace of something impossible to define in his smile.
"It won't be ours much longer," Zhou Qiang said mildly.
He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of food too. "Eat up. Have plenty, and order more if it's not enough. Every meal here is one less we'll get to enjoy."
Li Lanxiang's chopsticks stopped in midair. She looked at Zhou Qiang in confusion. "Brother Qiang, what do you mean?"
Zhou Qiang kept eating at an unhurried pace, as though he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.
"When business is good, people get jealous. And there are quite a few jealous people."
He set down his chopsticks, picked up a napkin, and wiped his mouth.
"But that was inevitable. If they want to fight over it, I'll step aside."
"Besides, there'll soon be major changes in the school administration."
Wang Xiaoliang blurted out almost without thinking.
"Brother Qiang, you mean... Hongbin Tower is yours?"
At that question, even Wei Zijin raised her head in surprise and looked at Zhou Qiang.
Zhou Qiang met Wang Xiaoliang's gaze calmly and nodded.
"Yes."
He added, "To be precise, I lease it. The lease hasn't actually expired. We agreed on five years, and it's only been just over three."
"But I recovered my investment long ago."
He lifted his teacup, seemed to remember something, and continued, "Vice Principal Jiang spoke