I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Everyone originally thought they were dining in a private room, with a large round table in the middle, which would have a better atmosphere.

Many people were disappointed upon seeing the central seating area. One resourceful person even suggested putting several tables together.

But when they saw the curved booths along the glass curtain wall, they had no objections.

"Can we sit there?" someone asked directly.

Ms. Jiao simply smiled and said, "Of course."

So everyone happily rushed over to grab a seat.

However, when everyone was scrambling for seats, they noticed something: in each of the curved booths, the two seats closest to the window offered the best view. Sitting on the outside meant the view was somewhat obstructed by people in the middle.

The reason they had no objections to the curved booths next to these glass curtain walls was that they wanted the best view.

If four people share a booth, it's somewhat awkward for the two people sitting on the outside.

Some people wanted to ask if they could share a booth, but they felt that doing so would make them seem like they were making a lot of trouble and bothering others, so they were a little embarrassed to ask.

Ms. Jiao is also very good at reading people.

Seeing everyone's expressions and hesitation, she spoke up first: "The best seats are right by the window. If you want to enjoy the view, I personally suggest a booth for two customers."

Someone asked, "Is that alright?"

Ms. Jiao smiled and said, "Of course."

After hearing what Ms. Jiao said, everyone felt relieved and began to allocate seats according to the configuration of two people per booth.

Shen Kang followed, but didn't rush to sit down. He just stood by and watched over them, letting them assign themselves their own seats.

He Qiuzhu followed Shen Kang and naturally did not sit down at first; Ye Jintong was also with her.

Once everyone was seated, a waiter came over with the menu and drinks list.

These waiters were given instructions on short notice, and they specifically told the students that if a dish wasn't on the menu, they could just tell them the name of the dish, or simply tell them the ingredients and what techniques they needed to prepare it.

Yin Zhiqian then took the menu, and Ji Chunfu sat opposite him.

After flipping through a few pages and looking at the prices of the items, Yin Zhiqian was secretly astonished.

A glass of wine costs over a hundred... Looking at these prices, he felt a little uneasy.

Although it was He Qiuzhu, the proprietress, who was treating everyone, and seemed to be very wealthy, I was still a little hesitant to order.

Not only Yin Zhiqian, but also Ji Chunfu across from him, and the people in the other booths, were the same.

Everyone was quite quiet for a moment, looking at the menu as if they were reading books in a library.

He Qiuzhu asked Shen Kang in a low voice, "What happened to them?"

Shen Kang said, "I guess they felt the price was too high and didn't dare to order it."

He Qiuzhu thought for a moment, mustered her courage, stepped forward, and, feeling a little guilty that Shen Kang wouldn't see her expression, raised her voice slightly and said to Ji Chunfu, "Ji Chunfu, what did you call me in 211 just now?"

Ji Chunfu was taken aback and subconsciously said, "Boss lady."

He Qiuzhu narrowed her eyes with pleasure, pointed at Ji Chunfu, and said, "Take whatever you like, this is your bonus for the rest of the year."

Ji Chunfu's eyes lit up.

Don't tell me, you really shouldn't tell me.

Although he knew beforehand that He Qiuzhu was treating him, he still felt guilty and didn't dare to order when he saw the high price. But now Ji Chunfu's mindset is different.

Upon hearing He Qiuzhu call out "Boss Lady" and say "as a bonus," Ji Chunfu seemed to return to the state he had been in before in Room 211, where everyone was desperately scrambling to shout "Boss Lady" and wait for the money to be handed out. Suddenly, he became bolder and dared to order.

The people in the other booths, upon seeing this, seemed to return to their previous state in booth 211, and started calling out "Boss Lady" one by one again.

He Qiuzhu's expression grew even more delighted, her finger pointing incessantly, "Order whatever you like." "Order whatever you like."...

Yu Jinping and Lan Lan were also sitting in a curved booth at this time.

Seeing this, Yu Jinping was somewhat surprised, but also became more interested. "Shen Kang's little girlfriend is very smart."

Lan Lan was both surprised and interested: "Indeed. Her approach has changed the students' psychological logic. Before, although they knew she was treating them, their logical sequence was 'she spends money—buys the food—delivers it to them.' Under this logic, their behavior was similar to 'begging,' so the prices on the menu still created a psychological barrier. But after she said that, their logical sequence became 'they work, call out to people—receive her wages—use those wages to buy the food.' From 'begging,' it became 'consuming with their own labor,' significantly lowering the psychological threshold..."

The two teachers were discussing this over there.

Shen Kang looked at He Qiuzhu, who was standing to his side and pointing at things.

Shen Kang narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of suspicion flashing in them: This kid, so skilled? Was he just pretending to be stupid to fool me all this time? ...

After He Qiuzhu finished distributing this batch of "bonuses," and everyone had earned their wages for "calling the proprietress," they happily started ordering food and drinks. They dared to order—this was something they earned by calling the proprietress with their own skills!

Seeing that there was nothing else that needed to be looked after, Shen Kang prepared to lead He Qiuzhu to a seat.

Before going there, Shen Kang looked at Ye Jintong, who had been following He Qiuzhu and had not yet taken a seat.

"Jintong, find somewhere to sit down."

Ye Jintong said, "I'll sit with Qiuzhu." She's been with him all this time because she wants to sit with He Qiuzhu, even if it's outside and the view isn't great.

Shen Kang shook his head. "It's not very convenient."

Ye Jintong was quite familiar with Shen Kang. Although Shen Kang's tone was rather calm, she could still sense his determination and did not insist any further.

"Alright."

After saying that, he went to find a place to sit.

Shen Kang then led He Qiuzhu toward a curved booth.

On the way, he asked the kid suspiciously, "You usually don't seem very bright, but you seemed quite capable just now? You're not just faking it all along, are you?"

He Qiuzhu was startled, but her face showed confusion. "What? What are you pretending for? No. I'm actually not very smart most of the time. I was just saying whatever came to mind."

Shen Kang was still skeptical. "Really?"

He Qiuzhu nodded dazedly, "Really, brother."

"!"

Shen Kang realized that he had been wrong and that it was probably just a coincidence.

He Qiuzhu usually only called him Shen Kang, but now she calls him brother, acknowledging that he is older than her, so what she said must be true.

After chatting for a while, the two walked to the curved booth where they wanted to sit.

The two sat down on the same side. Opposite them, there was already someone sitting alone, the same person Shen Kang had seen sitting there as soon as he entered.

"Qiuzhu, good evening."

The person sitting opposite Shen Kang and the other man greeted He Qiuzhu with a smile.

He Qiuzhu replied, "Good evening, Ruan Yue."

The guest who had been sitting there since early morning was none other than Ruan Yue.

Good evening, Shen Kang.

Good evening, Miss Ruan.

After exchanging greetings, Ruan Yue asked He Qiuzhu about her daily life at school.

Shen Kang didn't disturb them, but looked at Ms. Jiao standing to the side.

Ms. Jiao is now acting as a waitress, holding a menu to the side.

Shen Kang asked He Qiuzhu and the others a question, then ordered a few dishes, and Ms. Jiao took the menu and left first.

Shen Kang turned his head and looked past He Qiuzhu, who was sitting inside, towards the outside of the glass curtain wall.

The location is quite good, offering a panoramic view of the entire Beilu District. However, Beilu District is somewhat remote, and it's 08 now, so the city's nighttime lighting is still far inferior to what it is today.

Looking down from here, the lights are scattered here and there, not yet forming a continuous line like in later times.

In the eyes of Shen Kang, who came from a later era, it seemed somewhat desolate.

After watching for a while, Shen Kang withdrew his gaze and looked at Ruan Yue opposite him.

At this point, Ruan Yue and He Qiuzhu's casual conversation came to a temporary end.

"Miss Ruan, are you in Beilu District today?" Shen Kang asked.

He had also taken He Qiuzhu to Ruan Yue's house before, and knew that Ruan Yue's house was in Wutai District.

From the time He Qiuzhu called Ruan Yue until now, it's been less than an hour. If Ruan Yue were at home in Wutai District, she probably wouldn't be able to get here now.

"It's not exactly a coincidence, but I just bought another house here," Ruan Yue said.

Shen Kang said enviously, "Miss Ruan is really rich. When did you buy it?"

"August."

"That's even better, because it was a low point back then. Now that the four trillion yuan stimulus plan has been announced, the property market is poised for a sustained rise. Miss Ruan has really gotten a great deal..."

After chatting for a while, Ruan Yue couldn't help but ask, "Do you usually talk about these things with Qiu Zhu?"

Shen Kang shook his head. "That's not it."

Upon hearing this, Ruan Yue thought to herself, "That's more like it. When young couples are in love, they're definitely saying things like 'I love you' and 'you love me,' not talking about all this nonsense."

Then Shen Kang said the next thing.

"He Qiuzhu and I usually talk about our studies, like advanced mathematics and Marxist philosophy. We tutor each other and help each other grow and improve," Shen Kang said seriously.

"..."

Ruan Yue seemed to have a black line appear on her forehead, but then she laughed instead: "You really are good at making people laugh, it's never boring being with you."

Shen Kang was very dissatisfied: "What do you mean by 'teasing'? Everything I said is true! We even represented the school together in a professional academic competition!"

He Qiuzhu chimed in from the side, nodding repeatedly with "uh-huh."

It's quite like a case of the husband and wife following each other's lead.

Ruan Yue watched, smiled, and remained silent, thinking to herself how wonderful it was to see these young people in love.