Chapter 9

Chen Lüli: Don't tell Ming Yu about last night.

Lin Yu paused, then replied: Okay.

To put it plainly, he was afraid Ming Yu would worry. If she did, neither family would have any peace, and the phone calls would surely come one after another. Lin Yu put down her phone.

Another message appeared in the group chat.

Ming Yu: Reply to my private message @Chen Lüli

The group chat went quiet after that. Lin Yu glanced at it and figured they had probably gone to chat in private.

"So, Saturday?" Li Yin's voice brought Lin Yu back to herself. She looked into his eyes and smiled. "Okay."

A few minutes later.

Chen Lüli stood, put on his leather gloves, and tapped Lin Yu's table. "I'm off."

Lin Yu had picked up the vase and was arranging the flowers in it. She nodded. "Drive carefully."

Chen Lüli nodded to Li Yin.

Li Yin nodded back. Chen Lüli left, and as he pulled the door open, he saw Lin Yu's reflection in the glass. She had lowered her eyes as she spoke to Li Yin, a faint smile on her lips. In her arms were the exquisitely crafted vase and the beautiful yellow roses, which matched her dress rather well.

Hee hee.

CLL, what are you looking at! What are you thinking about now!

Another 100 red packets for this chapter. See you tomorrow.

Chapter 9

After arranging the flowers, Lin Yu took them to the counter and found a suitable spot for them. They instantly added a touch of warmth to the counter. Xiao Li waggled her eyebrows at Lin Yu.

The corners of Lin Yu's lips curved up, but she ignored her. The restaurant gradually grew busier, and she had to help out from time to time, so she told Li Yin. He smiled and said, "Go ahead, don't worry about me. I didn't know your place was this comfortable before. I really discovered it too late."

Lin Yu smiled. "Then come more often."

Li Yin looked at her beautiful face, the tips of his ears turning red. "Okay."

Lin Yu replaced his coffee with a fresh cup and turned to get back to work. Xiao Li couldn't keep up with the fruit tea orders, so the manager went over to help while Lin Yu attended to the customers. The restaurant had six regular employees. The apprentices working under the baker and head chef didn't count as regular staff, and they occasionally hired part-timers, sometimes middle-aged women and sometimes university students.

The restaurant's customers fell mainly into two groups. On workdays, most were white-collar workers from nearby, and especially during breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the majority bought or picked up their orders and left.

The afternoon tea customers were either discussing business or work, or relaxing over gossip.

The other group came from farther away. Some were media people, some came to review the restaurant, and some were students. Most came on Saturdays and Sundays, so there were fewer people at breakfast on weekends, and the restaurant also quieted down quickly after dinner.

The employees' days off were scheduled according to the flow of customers. The baker and head chef had a little more free time, especially the baker, who usually came out to help after finishing her work if she had nothing else to do, keeping an eye on the restaurant or learning to make coffee and latte art.

Once Lin Yu got busy, she couldn't spare much attention for Li Yin, so she brought him something to eat from time to time.

Li Yin waited patiently for Lin Yu and even ran into some colleagues from his company. Seeing him spending his day off at this internet-famous restaurant, they winked at him. Then they noticed his gaze was fixed on the owner and realized something. They left smiling even more broadly. Afterward, they returned to the company to continue working overtime, and they couldn't help gossiping about it.

"Way to go, Li Yin. Looks like his girlfriend is the owner of Xiaoyu Restaurant."

"The super pretty owner?"

"That's her."

"Wow, wow, wow. He's got serious game."

"I heard they met on a blind date."

"You can find someone like that on a blind date? I want to go on one too."

"Haha, plenty of people have their eyes on that owner, but none of them dared make a move. Team leader Li was the one who won her over."

"Why aren't you working? What are you talking about?" A woman's voice rang out directly above the guy who had spoken, and they instantly fell silent. Qin Jialan swept her gaze over them, an oppressive feeling bearing down on them. After standing there for a few seconds, she turned and left. Once her high heels had carried her away, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The guy who had spoken immediately wiped the sweat from his brow and kept quiet, not daring to say another word.

Lin Yu brought a menu over and sat down beside Li Yin. She opened it for him and smiled. "Shall we have dinner here?"

Li Yin really had come to like her restaurant. No wonder business was so good. He had spent the whole afternoon there, looking at the garden outside and watching her busy figure, listening to people chat. Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, they seemed very relaxed here, and he felt the tension he'd been carrying these past few days ease as well.

He took the menu and smiled. "Sure, I'd be delighted."

Lin Yu showed him the light meals on the menu. Li Yin ordered a black pepper steak and added a cup of the restaurant's fruit tea. Lin Yu took the menu to notify the kitchen.

She also ordered herself a beef salad.

After dinner, a group of students came in carrying a cake, apparently to celebrate a friend's birthday. All eight of them were dressed in blue-and-white school uniforms. Lin Yu glanced at them and saw they were from the nearby Li University Affiliated Secondary School. But all the school uniforms in Li City were blue and white, and for a moment, they took her back to her school days.

They ordered coffee and juice, then noticed that the restaurant sold cake. One of the girls apologized to Lin Yu, saying they hadn't known there was cake here.

Lin Yu set down two glasses of juice and smiled. "In theory, outside food isn't allowed, but it's all right to make an exception once in a while. Besides, birthday cakes here have to be ordered in advance, and the baker has already gone home, so there's no one to make one now."

"Then we'll order one from you next time. Thank you, miss." The boys and girls immediately brightened and took out their phones, saying they'd order more food.

Lin Yu smiled and let them order as they pleased.

There were a lot of students, and with the birthday celebration, they made quite a racket. Lin Yu and Xiao Li sorted out the plates and bowls that had arrived during the day. Once there were fewer customers, Lin Yu handed things over to the manager and left the restaurant early with Li Yin. He had kept her company there all afternoon and evening, so she made some time for him.

Li Yin was quite happy to see that she still had time. It was cold outside, and as they stepped out, Lin Yu slipped her arm through his. His heart thudded, and he followed her gaze to the lively group of students celebrating the birthday through the glass window. Lin Yu watched for a few seconds before looking away. Ming Yu's birthday fell in the heat of summer.

Back in their second year of high school, Lin Yu had just met them when Ming Yu's birthday came around. Jiang Zao had pulled her over, and Ming Yu was wearing a birthday hat while Chen Lüli lit her candles with a lighter. The candlelight brightened, bathing both their faces in its glow, and Ming Yu smiled, her dimples showing, and closed her eyes to make a wish.

Chen Lüli stood beside her, watching her make it.

Jiang Yan'an teased her from the side, asking what she was wishing for: to get married as soon as they graduated, or to get into Huaqing and become a research teacher.

Ming Yu smiled without answering. Her eyes stayed closed, and she made her wish for a long time.

After Jiang Zao pulled her over, Lin Yu had stood quietly to one side, beyond the candlelight, watching the scene. She had thought it beautiful, but also very distant. It was clearly right in front of her, yet she simply couldn't get close. Back then, they had also been wearing blue-and-white school uniforms like these.

"Your school uniforms were blue and white too, weren't they?" Li Yin's voice brought Lin Yu back to herself. She smiled and nodded. "Mm, all the school uniforms in Li City are that color."

Li Yin fiddled with his car keys and said, "They look better than ours."

Lin Yu looked at him. "What were your school uniforms in Nan City... like?"

"The private school ones looked nicer. Ours were blue, white, and green..."

Lin Yu smiled. "That sounds nice too."

Li Yin smiled. "We thought they were ugly at first, but once we got used to them, they were all right. The girls protested more. The boys were less particular and accepted them quickly."

"Back then, the moment we opened our eyes, we were doing practice papers. We couldn't worry about whether our uniforms looked good."

Lin Yu nodded.

When they reached Li Yin's car, he glanced at the time and smiled. "It's so late. How about we go look at the stars?"

Lin Yu's eyes lit up. "Sure."

There was a small hill in the nearby Culture Park where they could see the city and the sky. Lin Yu had rarely been there, but she had heard it was a nice place and not difficult to climb.

The car started, and they soon reached the foot of the hill. There were many people in the park, but not many climbing the hill. Li Yin held Lin Yu's hand as they went up step by step.

When they reached the top, the dazzling city spread out before them beneath a sky full of stars. Lin Yu tilted her head back in wonder. Li Yin saw her scarf draped loosely around her neck, her lip gloss glimmering faintly under the sky, and her face as beautiful as a fairy's. His grip on her hand tightened. Lin Yu pulled him along. "Let's sit over there."

Li Yin said, "Okay."

They sat down on a rock. Lin Yu tilted her head back and counted the stars, while Li Yin sat quietly beside her.

There were quite a few couples nearby. Some talked, some focused solely on the stars, and some took photos. The night wind was cold, but it couldn't match the romance brought by the sky full of stars.

The wind turned Lin Yu's nose red, and she tugged at her scarf. Seeing this, Li Yin smiled and pulled it up a little for her, wrapping the ends around her and covering her nose. Lin Yu turned and blinked at him.

He smiled softly, his heart beating faster.

At midnight, people on the hill began making their way down. Lin Yu and Li Yin got up to descend as well. His phone rang a few times with messages in his work group chat, but he didn't look at them.

Lin Yu thought of Xiao Diu. Given Chen Lüli's condition that day, she figured he should be home, but she still wasn't entirely at ease, so she sent him a message.

Lin Yu: Are you home? I might not make it over to feed Xiao Diu tonight.

Two minutes later, he replied.

Chen Lüli: I'm home.

Lin Yu: Okay.

Lin Yu: How are you feeling today?

Chen Lüli: I'm fine now.

Lin Yu: Okay.

Chen Lüli: On a date?

Lin Yu paused, then replied: Mm.

Chen Lüli didn't reply again. Lin Yu and Li Yin made their way down the hill step by step, and just as they reached the bottom, they saw someone selling tanghulu. Li Yin bought a skewer for Lin Yu.

By the time Lin Yu got into the car, her nose was red. Li Yin hurriedly turned on the heater and rubbed her hands. "I didn't expect it to be so cold on the hill at night."

Lin Yu ate a piece of tanghulu and smiled. "That's normal."

She offered him a piece, and Li Yin smiled and bit one off. Then he waited until her hands had warmed up a little before starting the car and taking her back to her residential complex.

Li Yin lived on the other side, in the opposite direction from Lin Yu's complex. It wasn't easy to park at the entrance, so Lin Yu unfastened her seat belt and told him to drive carefully.