After his blunder in the handsome guy's comment section was exposed.

My cousin Pei Xinyao called.

Xi Chenzhou hung up and switched to the chat dialog box.

xcz: [What's up?]

Pei Xinyao: [Where are you? My aunt and I just finished a spa treatment. How about we grab lunch together?]

Xi Chenzhou's mother is Pei Xinyao's aunt.

Pei Jie had just been promoted to partner at the law firm, and at the same time, the firm established a new office in China, officially entering the domestic market. It was the perfect time to expand its client base, and she was extremely busy.

The mother and son hadn't seen each other for a while.

xcz: [Send me the restaurant address.]

Pei Xinyao sent her location, and Xi Chenzhou saw that it was not far from the bookstore.

Pei Xinyao: [We've made a reservation and are about to head over. You can leave now.]

xcz: [Hmm.]

Xi Chenzhou lowered his head to reply to the message.

Lin Xuechun also picked up her phone, opened a review app, and wanted to see what food was available nearby.

Xi Chenzhou helped her so much today, she should at least treat him to a meal.

The bookstore was inside the mall, and there were quite a few good restaurants upstairs. Lin Xuechun browsed through them one by one—barbecue, hot pot, Sichuan cuisine… She didn’t know what he liked to eat, so she wondered if she should ask him later.

How should I start the conversation?

"Xi, I'd like to treat you to lunch. What would you like to eat?"

No, that's too direct.

Are you free at noon? I'd like to invite you to lunch.

It feels kind of strange, like she took the initiative to ask him out.

"Thank you for today. Are you free at noon? I'd like to treat you to lunch."

That sounds more natural.

Lin Xuechun was organizing her thoughts when she saw Xi Chenzhou across from her begin packing up his things, closing his laptop and putting it into his backpack.

Her rosy lips parted slightly, and her almond-shaped eyes widened involuntarily, her gaze clear and slightly surprised: "You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I have something to do at noon." Xi Chenzhou zipped up his backpack and looked at her. "I should be able to finish my part tomorrow. WeChat me during the next group discussion."

"Okay." Lin Xuechun nodded, glad that she hadn't brought up the matter of inviting him to dinner earlier.

"Bye-Bye."

She waved at him again.

Xi Chenzhou's gaze swept over her soft lips, which were moist like freshly bitten cherries. His heart felt as if it had been gently touched, and his fingers, which were in his pockets, curled slightly.

"Okay, bye-bye."

His voice was low and somewhat weary as he picked up his schoolbag, slung it over his shoulder, and turned to leave.

After seeing him leave, Zhou Xinran came over to find Lin Xuechun.

"Sigh, isn't Xi Chenzhou coming with me this afternoon?"

"Yes, he has something to do."

"Oh, then let's eat together as a family. What do you want to eat, baby?"

"I'm fine with either of you, it's up to you."

"I just saw a newly opened Korean restaurant. Lots of people online have checked it out, and it looks pretty good. Shall we go there?"

"Okay. What about the computer? Should we leave it here or take it with us?"

"Take it with you. The framework has already been discussed, and all that's left is to look at the literature and fill in the gaps. You can do that anywhere. I'm thinking of taking a nap this afternoon."

The three of them packed their things, took the escalator up to the fifth floor of the mall's food court, and found the Korean restaurant.

As expected of a popular restaurant, the waiting area at the entrance was already full of people, a stark contrast to the restaurants next door.

"Hello, how many of you are dining?" the waiter asked, approaching with a queuing machine.

Zhou Xinran: "The three of you, how long will it take?"

"About forty minutes. We have arranged free services in our waiting area, such as manicures, hand care, and Perler beading... so the wait is actually quite short." The waiter gestured to the area on the right.

Lin Xuechun looked over and saw that many of the customers waiting for their seats were playing games and seemed to be having a good time.

I'm not that hungry anyway, so waiting a bit won't hurt.

She looked at Zhou Xinran: "How's it going, Ranran? Are you eating here?"

"Of course! Come on, let's play with Perler beads first." Zhou Xinran loves doing crafts and was immediately captivated. She dragged Lin Xuechun to the Perler bead area and picked a table to sit down.

After Xu Yang got his number, he came over and sat down to watch the two of them play.

The beaded area is right next to the restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows, offering a view of the diners inside.

Lin Xuechun chose a cat pattern, picked out several colors of beans and put them in a storage box. Just as she was about to start making it, she suddenly heard a girl next to her nudge her companion's arm: "Look, look! That guy is so handsome!"

Lin Xuechun also likes to look at handsome men, and upon hearing this, she followed their gaze.

At a corner table in the restaurant, Xi Chenzhou was having dinner with a girl.

"Wow, is that the guy's girlfriend? She's pretty too, they're such a good match!"

"As expected, all handsome guys have partners."

It turns out that what he meant by having something to do was having dinner with his girlfriend.

He has a girlfriend but still carries her bag and drinks from the straw she used. Isn't that the mark of a scumbag?

Lin Xuechun frowned slightly, puffed out her cheeks, and looked at him with a hint of disdain.

"What are you looking at, baby?" Zhou Xinran noticed her staring intently into the restaurant and followed her gaze. "Oh my god, isn't that...so-and-so? What's going on? Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Probably." Most of the diners at this restaurant are couples, or groups of friends at one table.

There's a high probability that a man and a woman are a couple.

Inside the restaurant.

Xi Chenzhou leaned back lazily in the booth, his eyelids half-closed, casually scrolling through his phone.

The black hoodie was loosely worn, the collar slightly open, revealing a section of pale, slender neck with a prominent Adam's apple.

Originally, he was going out to eat with his mother and cousin, but his mother was called away by a phone call at the last minute. His cousin happened to run into her best friend Guan Ying, so he ended up eating with his cousin and her best friend.

Midway through, her cousin went out to video chat with her boyfriend, leaving Guan Ying alone face to face with him.

He wasn't familiar with him and had no interest in talking, keeping a cold expression on his face.

Guan Ying picked up a fries from the plate in front of her, dipped them in cheese sauce, took a bite, and looked across at the other side: "I never expected we'd go to the same school. Interested in joining our basketball club? Almost all the members of the school team are from our club."

Guan Ying is a junior at Peking University. She and Pei Xinyao, Xi Chenzhou's cousin, are high school classmates and best friends.

Upon hearing Guan Ying's invitation, Xi Chenzhou paused in his phone-swiping, glanced at her, and said calmly, "Not interested, thank you."

Guan Ying smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't join. I heard from your sister that you were on your school's basketball team abroad."

"Just playing around." His voice was low and lazy, with a hint of detachment.

"What other sports do you like?" Guan Ying persisted, trying to find a topic to talk about.

"It's all alright." Xi Chenzhou didn't even look up, his fingers swiping across the screen, looking tired, clearly having no desire to continue the conversation.

The conversation died down again.

Guan Ying usually likes to post on WeChat Moments, but she hadn't taken a picture of this beautiful meal yet. So she simply took out her phone, tossed her hair, and looked at Xi Chenzhou: "Could you take a picture for me?"

She handed him the phone.

Xi Chenzhou has mild mysophobia and doesn't like to touch other people's phones.

But out of respect for his cousin, he hesitated for a moment before finally reaching out to take it.

He held the phone loosely with his fingers, pointing it at Guan Ying. Guan Ying adjusted her expression, picked up a French fry from the plate, and imitated Zhang Yuanying's eating expression as she fed the fry to her mouth, her eyes crinkling as she looked at the camera.

Xi Chenzhou tapped the screen a couple of times casually, didn't even look at the photos, and handed the phone back to her.

"Thank you."

Guan Ying couldn't wait to pick up her phone to check, and then started editing the photo.

Xi Chenzhou took out the alcohol wipes he always carried and slowly wiped his fingers.