Testing the Boundaries
The Spirit Charm Restaurant stood midway down the food street, a two-story wooden building.
Lin Hao and Jiang Chao stepped through the carved wooden doors, and more than half the street noise faded away at once.
Lin Hao looked around and saw individual seating areas partitioned by wooden screens.
The restaurant specialized in medicinal cuisine, and most dishes on the menu were labeled with benefits such as replenishing qi and blood or nourishing the meridians.
That gave him something to look forward to, because his stomach had long since started growling again.
Jiang Chao had been right. Xia Zhi and her best friend were already sitting by the window, their heads lowered over the menu.
Hearing footsteps, Xia Zhi immediately looked up and stood, a sweet smile spreading across her face.
Lin Hao's gaze settled on her, and he could not help feeling a flicker of admiration.
Xia Zhi's slightly curled long hair fell over her shoulders. She wore a pale apricot dress cinched at the waist, its hem above her knees, revealing her slender, straight legs.
"A Chao, you're here." Xia Zhi's voice was soft, and as she spoke, her gaze settled on Lin Hao.
"Right, let me introduce you." Jiang Chao draped an arm around Lin Hao's shoulders and said with a smile, "This is the best buddy I told you about, Lin Hao."
Then she turned to Lin Hao. "Haozi, this is Xia Zhi."
"Hello. A Chao mentions you all the time." Xia Zhi smiled and held out her hand.
"Hello." Lin Hao reached out as well and politely shook her hand.
But while their hands were clasped together-
Lin Hao's heart suddenly gave a jolt.
He seemed to feel Xia Zhi's fingertips lightly circling his palm, whether deliberately or otherwise.
He could not help raising his eyes to Xia Zhi, only to see her withdraw her hand naturally, the same sweet smile on her face, without the slightest sign of anything unusual.
He could not help wondering, Was that just my imagination?
"Oh, and this is my best friend, Su Xiaoran." Xia Zhi gestured toward the girl beside her and introduced her with a smile.
Su Xiaoran stood and waved with a smile, seeming fairly outgoing. "Hi, you two! Sit down. We just looked at the menu, but we haven't ordered yet. We were waiting for you."
Jiang Chao hurriedly pulled Lin Hao down into a seat, apologizing repeatedly for being late, then picked up the menu and began recommending dishes to Xia Zhi.
Jiang Chao's eyes were filled with smiles.
Sitting by the window, Lin Hao recalled that touch and looked at Xia Zhi's flower-bright smile across from him, feeling increasingly that something was wrong.
Just then, Jiang Chao pushed the menu toward Lin Hao. "Haozi, don't hold back on my account. Eat your fill. These past couple of days, I've seen you eat enough for three of my meals in one sitting. Your qi and blood must have gone up quite a bit, right? This place's medicinal cuisine is just the thing to replenish them. You'll be even more assured of passing the Martial Artist Examination."
Lin Hao smiled and took the menu. "All right, then I won't hold back."
"Why would you hold back with me?" Jiang Chao turned to Xia Zhi. "Zhizhi, Xiaoran, you order too. Get whatever you want."
"Okay." Xia Zhi's sweet, soft voice carried a smile.
Yet the corners of her eyes tilted up slightly, and she cast Lin Hao a barely perceptible flirtatious glance.
Sensing Xia Zhi's gaze, Lin Hao's expression briefly paused, and he looked up at her.
Xia Zhi had already turned away naturally, pointing at the menu and telling Jiang Chao which dishes she wanted.
It left Lin Hao feeling as though that glance had merely been his imagination.
He looked at Jiang Chao again. Jiang Chao was looking down at the names of the dishes Xia Zhi was pointing to, his face full of smiles, completely unaware of anything unusual.
The cloud of suspicion in Lin Hao's heart grew heavier. He said nothing more and lowered his head to leaf through the menu.
The dishes soon all arrived, filling the table with hearty fare that replenished qi and blood and nourished the meridians.
During the meal, Xia Zhi spoke to Jiang Chao in soft, gentle tones.
One moment, she mentioned the limited-edition martial artist figurine she had only managed to buy after visiting three shops.
The next, she said she wanted to go with Jiang Chao to the arcade that weekend to play the newly released games.
As Jiang Chao listened, the smile at the corners of his mouth never took a break.
Su Xiaoran chimed in at just the right moments from the side as well. Jiang Chao's face glowed with delight, and he drank cup after cup of fruit wine.
Lin Hao had originally wanted to follow the conversation and say a few good words about Jiang Chao, but swallowed them back just as they reached his lips.
Because he was now certain those two earlier incidents had not been his imagination.
At that moment, beneath the table, the toes of a soft foot were lightly touching his trouser leg, rubbing slowly upward along his calf.
Lin Hao abruptly drew his leg back. Using the motion of standing to pick up the water pitcher and pour himself some water, he shifted half a foot to the side, avoiding that foot.
He could easily tell that the foot beneath the table belonged to Xia Zhi.
He looked up across the table. Xia Zhi had her head tilted as she acted coy with Jiang Chao, her expression so sweet he could have squeezed honey from it.
It was as though what had just happened beneath the table had never occurred.
Lin Hao sat back down, his fingers tightening slightly around his water glass.
This was the innocent, sincere good girl Jiang Chao had spoken of?
But looking at Jiang Chao's utterly unguarded smile-
Lin Hao still chose not to expose everything at that moment.
He lowered his head, picked up his chopsticks, and put a piece of tenderly stewed beef brisket into his mouth.
The medicinal potency of the food slid down his throat, and a warm current immediately seeped into every limb and bone.
The hunger within his body eased a little.
He simply stopped dwelling on it for the moment and concentrated on eating. He would replenish his body's deficit first.
During the meal, Xia Zhi tested him twice more. Once, she used the act of passing him the serving chopsticks to deliberately brush her fingertips over his knuckles.
The other time, when he stood to get some tissues, Xia Zhi stood as well and deliberately leaned her body toward him, only for Lin Hao to turn sideways and avoid her.
Looking at Xia Zhi across from him, still smiling sweetly, he had nothing left in his heart but a cold sneer.
By the end of the meal, Lin Hao felt warm all over, his stomach bulged slightly, and much of the empty feeling in his meridians had disappeared.
He glanced across the table and discovered, somewhat to his surprise-
Xia Zhi and Su Xiaoran had eaten considerably more than an ordinary boy would.
Yet beneath Xia Zhi's waist-cinching dress, her waist and stomach remained flat, without the slightest bulge from eating her fill.
Just then, a server came over with the bill and bowed with a smile. "Hello, your total comes to thirty-two thousand seven hundred."
The smile on Jiang Chao's face froze at once. He took the bill and stood. "I'm going to the restroom for a moment."
He turned and walked away quickly, his steps carrying a hint of haste.
Clearly, he did not have enough money and had gone to ask his family to transfer some.
Watching his retreating figure, Lin Hao felt somewhat guilty.
Because of his hunger, he had failed to restrain himself and had eaten more than half the food on the table.
"Brother Lin Hao." Xia Zhi suddenly spoke, smiling as she leaned a little closer to him. "Once we're done eating, could you take Xiaoran home? She lives nearby, and it isn't safe for a girl to walk alone at night. Besides, Xiaoran fell for you at first sight."
Su Xiaoran immediately played along, leaning forward slightly to reveal her slender collarbones, her gaze alluring. "Yes, Brother Lin Hao. Sorry for the trouble. If you have time, you could come in and sit for a while, too."