Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 223 Enemies meet on a narrow road
After greeting Du Anrao and Du Desheng, Du Anrao called Xi Jingyue and asked him to come out for dinner to discuss business. Xi Jingyue seemed to have made time specifically for her. As soon as he heard that Du Anrao wanted to invite him to dinner, he immediately agreed and even offered to pick her up.

When the two arrived at the restaurant, the small eatery still had a long queue, just like before, with people queuing from the inside to the outside.

Xi Jingyue was not intimidated by the scene: "I have heard that although this restaurant is small, the food is really good. Many bosses in B City who love food love to come here. Foodies from other places also come here often. Some people even buy a house and settle down in B City just for this food."

Du Anrao was also hearing about this for the first time. He knew the restaurant's food was delicious, but he didn't expect it to be so famous that even Mr. Xi, an outsider, knew about it.

"The food at this restaurant is really delicious. The owner's elder is a good friend of my great-uncle. If we didn't come here too often and worry about troubling them, my great-uncle and I would come here every day."

"There's such a connection. I've heard a lot of people mention this restaurant before, and seeing it in person is always better than hearing about it. I've always wanted to come and try it out. Unfortunately, this restaurant doesn't accept reservations or deliver, so if you want to eat here, you have to come and queue up in person. I've mentioned it a few times but just haven't been able to find the time, so I haven't been able to eat here until today. So, what should we do now... go and queue up?"

"No need, no need." Du Anrao took out the VIP black card that the old lady had given her before, and said with a little pride, "I helped the shop owner a little bit before, and they gave me this card. It can be used to open a private room in the shop without queuing. But we should be discreet and sneak in later, so as not to be seen by the customers in line and cause any unnecessary trouble."

Xi Jingyue glanced at the black card in Du Anrao's hand, raising an eyebrow slightly. For a restaurant to break its long-standing rules and open a back door for her, this was probably more than just a small favor.

But he wasn't one to pry into other people's privacy or get to the bottom of things, so he nodded in agreement and said, "That's great. Your concerns are valid. We'll pretend we're going in to find someone, sneak in, and then find a waiter to open a private room for us without alerting anyone else."

Talking to smart people is so comfortable and effortless. Du Anrao gave him a playful OK sign before leading him inside.

As it turns out, keeping a low profile really works. The last time we came, the reason why the customers in line complained was because a waiter personally led them upstairs, and it was immediately obvious that they were also customers.

This time, without a waiter to guide them, the two walked casually, looking like they were in a hurry to go upstairs to find someone. Although the customers queuing downstairs noticed, they didn't pay much attention to it.

After the two went upstairs, Du Anrao casually grabbed a waitress in the store's uniform, handed her the card, and chuckled, "Um, sister, could you please open the next private room for me?"

The waitress was perceptive; seeing the stamp and text on the card, she didn't immediately jump to conclusions. Instead, she led the two to a corner of the second-floor lobby and politely said, "Please wait here for a moment while I go find our supervisor."

The young woman moved quickly, and within two minutes, an uncle who was about the same age as Fu Ruixiang arrived in a hurry with her.

"Are you Miss Du? Why didn't you tell us you were coming? We could have come down to meet you in person."

The foreman's attitude toward Du Anrao made Xi Jingyue increasingly certain that the shop owner owed Du Anrao a considerable favor.

Du Anrao was a little embarrassed by the other party's enthusiasm: "No need to be so polite. We've already caused you a lot of trouble by coming here. If we're too high-profile, the ordinary customers queuing downstairs will have something to say, and it won't be good for you either."

Hearing her say this, the supervisor guessed that this Miss Du must have heard about what happened when she came last time, and couldn't help but feel a little moved, and the smile on her face became more sincere.

"Thank you for your understanding, but you don't need to worry about these things. We will handle them properly. You just need to enjoy your meal and have fun in our store, which is the greatest affirmation of our work."

"Then I'll take you two to private room number one now. It's peak dining time, and the owner is still inspecting the kitchen. I've already sent someone to inform him. Please wait in the room for a moment; I believe he should be here to see Miss Du soon." "Uncle Fu is here today too?"

"The boss usually visits the main store and several branches in rotation, and today it just so happens to be this one."

"That's wonderful. Mr. Xi, you're in for a treat today. The food at this restaurant is delicious, and Uncle Fu's cooking is absolutely divine."

As Du Anrao spoke, he seemed to remember something and turned to the head waiter, saying, "If Uncle Fu is busy, there's no need to have him come over. We're just here for a meal; there's no need to make such a fuss."

"It's alright, the boss is just taking a walk around and looking around. Most of the time there won't be any major problems in the store." The supervisor said as he led the two towards private room number one.

This private room is separate from the second-floor dining area, making it a relatively private and quiet space. Logically, since Du Anrao and his group have been so low-key, once they enter the room, there's a high probability that nothing too serious will happen.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Just as they reached the door of the private room, a furious shout suddenly came from behind them: "You lot, stop right there!"

Du Anrao and the others were startled and instinctively turned their heads to look in the direction of the sound.

Upon seeing the person who spoke, Du Anrao's smile vanished: "How come it's you?"

As the saying goes, enemies meet on a narrow road. The person who called out to them was none other than Du Tianci, who had been at odds with Du Anran the night before.

"That's what I should be asking you. Why are you here? What are you doing here?"

"What else can I do at a restaurant besides eat? Besides, I don't need to report to you where I go or what I do, right?"

"you!"

"Tianci, what's going on? Why did it take you so long to go out and get something?" Before Du Tianci could say anything, Du Weishuai followed him over.

Seeing that Du Anrao and his companion were also taken aback, he immediately frowned and said, "You...were following us?"

Du Anrao: "???"

[Help! This old bastard must have some kind of paranoia! I was happily meeting up with someone for dinner, and all I get is this bad luck! Can't I even enjoy my meal?! From now on, I absolutely, positively will remember to check the almanac before going out!]

Xi Jingyue: "..." It's clear that someone is quite frustrated right now.

(End of this chapter)