Tong Jia had also eaten in the self-serve fast food restaurant before. The food was both inexpensive and delicious, with a wide variety of options. However, no one would choose this place to invite someone to, right? Tong Jia glanced at Song Yancheng, and opened her mouth cautiously: "It's a fast food restaurant. There are a lot of people now, and you might not like it. Why don't we find another restaurant close by?”
In fact, Song Yancheng didn’t care what he ate as long as he could be together with Tong Jia, even if it meant standing in the road and not eating anything. Yet, he also understood it wasn't the best time to say such things right now. He said gently, "It's up to you, I am comfortable with anything." After thinking more carefully, he solemnly added, "I am not a picky eater."
Tong Jia looked at a building not far away. There was a big advertisement board on the second floor. It looked like a BBQ and hot pot buffet. One hundred and twenty-eight per serving… It appeared to be a decent meal. She lingered for a while before pointing her finger and saying, "Why don't we go to the buffet and have hot pot at the same time?”
"En." Song Yancheng gave Tong Jia a satisfactory answer.
The two people crossed the street, and soon arrived at the self-serve restaurant's door. Tong Jia let Song Yancheng wait at the side and went to the front desk to pay the bill first.
Despite the fact that Song Yancheng was dressed casually, his entire person appeared clean and impressive. A small smile passed across Tong Jia's lips, which had been desolately staring at him. When a couple girls who had just exited the elevator spotted him, their eyes lit up, and they muttered and spoke about him.
Tong Jia turned her head and smiled at Song Yancheng after buying the order. "We can enter. Let's go.”
Song Yancheng raised his legs and followed her. He tilted his head looking at Tong Jia, his eyes holding unspeakable happiness.
A few girls lamented as they paid for the bill.
"As expected, the good-looking ones are always taken, leaving behind all crooked melons and cracked dates for us to choose. This is really unfair!”
"The girl is also very beautiful."
“I think we should be glad that the handsome guy didn’t have a boyfriend, okay?"
Perhaps because of Song Yancheng's attractive looks, the server who caught a glimpse of him escorted them to the nicest spot in the restaurant, which was not only near the window but also enclosed by bamboo, making it considerably quieter.
The space could accommodate four people. One side of the sofa was currently filled by two individuals and one person, which was really comfy.
"You stay here and I'll pick something." Tong Jia put her purse aside and said: "Help me look after my purse. Oh yes, what drinks will you have?"
Song Yancheng looked at her and said warmly, "I am fine with anything.”
Tong Jia wasn't sure if he was being just polite or whether his response was genuine. Song Yancheng likely had never been to a restaurant with such a price, therefore inviting Song Yancheng to dine was not a pleasant thing to do. The two people did not have the same standard of living. Tong Jia, the humbler of the two, was also distressed.
Forget it. Anything was fine, right?
This restaurant's table was huge, with half of it dedicated to eating hot pot and the other half to barbecue. Tong Jia went back and forth several times before ultimately bringing up all of the food for the time being. Song Yancheng felt more and more happy when she was busy.
Finally, Tong Jia took a plate with drinks and some fruits. She put a cup of orange juice by Song Yancheng's side.
Tong Jia reached out for the barbecue tongs, but Song Yancheng stopped her. He said with a smile, "I'll do it.”
At first, he was clumsy, but later he became more and more skilled. Tong Jia was eating the roasted bacon, and the mushroom roll, while very unmagnimously thinking ‘This is what a man should be doing!’ She couldn’t be flattered just because he was Song Yancheng, right! Let’s just eat, she should eat with an open stomach! Anyway, Song Yancheng didn't eat much. She had to eat everything without losing money!
Tong Jia was eating all the time, and Song Yancheng grilled meat and gave her mutton rolls, but he didn't eat much himself.
Finally, Tong Jia couldn't eat anymore. Song Yancheng just picked up chopsticks to eat. Basically, Tong Jia hadn't finished eating. He ate very fast, but it would not make people feel rude.
Tong Jia, who was full and wanted to sleep, looked at Song Yancheng. She couldn't help but wonder. She thought Song Yancheng didn't like to eat these things. She didn't expect him to eat them so sweetly now.
"Is it delicious?" Tong Jia asked doubtfully.
Song Yancheng was picking up a potato from a small hot pot. After hearing her question, he naturally nodded. "It's delicious.”
His expression didn't appear to be fake. Although Tong Jia hadn’t planned to have a nice time at first, after all, she felt that if she had a good time, her purse would be unhappy. But when Song Yancheng said this, Tong Jia still felt very happy.
Because of this little matter, a smile was still hanging on her lips even after she came out from the restaurant. However she could not smile as she reached downstairs.
Consciousness was faster than the body. As soon as Tong Jia saw the person, she quickly greeted her. "Aunt Zhou.”
This person was the mother of Zhou Yanchen. When she saw Tong Jia, a trace of confusion flashed across her face, but she soon returned to absolute being, nodding and smiling. "Miss Tong is doing well, I guess.”
Tong Jia looked at the smile on Mother Zhou's face. She was secretly relieved. As soon as she looked down, she saw a little boy behind her.
Mother Zhou, who was holding the little boy, said very gently, "Chenchen, this is Sister Tong, call her sister.”
The little boy was very cute, probably afraid of being around people. He called out timidly, "Hello sister.”
Mother Zhou wanted to talk with Tong Jia, so she asked her to drink tea. Tong Jia did not refuse.
Song Yancheng didn't want to leave yet. In Mother Zhou's surprised and clear eyes, he followed naturally.
Mother Zhou and Tong Jia sat and chatted. When she looked at Chenchen, who was playing not far away, she sighed. "Chenchen is a child of my distant relative. When his parents went out to sea last year, something happened. There was only the child left. His uncles and aunts were unwilling to take care of him. I lost my son, and Chenchen lost his parents. If you think about it carefully, this is fate.”
Chenchen was playing with Song Yancheng. At first, he still was uncomfortable with Song Yancheng, but right now he was next to him constantly calling him brother.
"Chenchen is very well behaved. His relatives also have children of their own. They can't say good or bad to him, but they are always negligent. The child is finally lively now, I regard him as my second son." Mother Zhou's eyes were full of love. At first, she did have selfishness and wanted to adopt a child to fill the void in her heart, but as they spent more and more time together, she didn't regard Chenchen as her son's body double, but her youngest son.
Tong Jia was happy for Father Zhou and Mother Zhou from the bottom of her heart. Zhou Yanchen had died, leaving people with the most pain, but they should not stop because of the pain. On the contrary, they should cheer up again.
"Aunt, Yanchen will be happy to see you like this." Tong Jia put her hand comfortingly over Mother Zhou’s.
Mother Zhou looked at Song Yancheng, and again looked at Tong Jia and smiled meaningfully. "This young man is handsome and he seems to be very nice.”
Tong Jia stared helplessly at Mother Zhou with 'I do not know how to explain this' expression.
"Aunt, it's not what you think……”
As an experienced person, Mother Zhou did not argue with Tong Jia, just looking at Tong Jia with great interest. She liked Tong Jia very much. She felt sorry for Yanchen more than once, but now she had figured it out. Maybe Yanchen and Tong Jia had been fated to not meet. She was very accurate in judging people and knew that Tong Jia was a kind-hearted person. She hoped that this kind-hearted Miss Tong could get happiness.
Finally, before leaving, Mother Zhou gathered up a smile and said to Tong Jia, "I wish you happiness, my child. I think Yanchen will feel the same way in heaven.”
Such a plain sentence made Tong Jia’s eyes nearly redden. She hadn’t forgotten Zhou Yanchen, and she wouldn't forget him in the future. She just heard such words, and somewhere in her heart would still be sour.
She would not forget that there was such a person who had given her his heart persistently and silently.
Mother Zhou went to the table of Song Yancheng. Chenchen still lingered in Song Yancheng's arms, and he couldn't bear to come out for a long time. When he saw his mother, he got up reluctantly and said to Song Yancheng, "Brother, I'm leaving.”
Song Yancheng laughed. He bent over and ruffled Chenchen's head.
He clearly hadn’t done anything, but he didn't know why the child liked him so much. He felt soft in his heart at the same time.
Mother Zhou glanced at Song Yancheng and felt kind in her heart, "Mr. Song, we will leave.”
When Song Yancheng saw some white hair on Mother Zhou's head, his heart sank slightly, and soon he felt that this mood was too puzzling, so he put this idea aside and smiled and said, "Goodbye, aunt.”
Mother Zhou walked away with Chenchen. When they reached the door, Chenchen stopped, cocked his head and asked curiously, "Who was that beautiful sister?"
"It's your brother's friend." Mother Zhou looked at the distant sky and smiled.
Yanchen had left early, but they still had a life to live. Mother Zhou was holding Chenchen, her figure getting farther and farther away, until you could no longer see.
Tong Jia sat in the seat and looked at the lemon black tea in front of her, as if she had fallen into contemplation.
Song Yancheng slowly walked up to her and sat down. He knew she had something on her mind. Just now, he also heard something, which seemed to be related to the aunt's son. Originally, Song Yancheng was full of questions, but seeing Tong Jia like this, he didn't want to ask anything.
Tong Jia seemed to have a lot of secrets waiting for him to dig up. Song Yancheng clasped his hands together and stared at the stuffy and quiet girl in front of him. An idea flashed through his mind-
The first love she had mentioned was that aunt's son, wasn’t it?
Alas. Song Yancheng sighed and pursed his thin lips.
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This Author Has Something to Say:
Qin Yue: scoff~, Thick-skinned.