On the way to the restaurant, Shen Shuci was still texting Tang Wan, just to distract herself a bit.
Tang Wan complained that she hadn’t hung out with her lately, asking if she was too busy being all lovey-dovey with Huo Qinqi. That wasn’t it at all. They were both busy in their own ways. Huo Qinqi had things he was occupied with, things she couldn’t exactly get involved in, while she had just beco a full-ti employee, and there was plenty of work piled up after her extended vacation.
"Wanwan wants us to visit her place when we get the chance," Shen Shuci said, glancing at the person driving.
"Hmm."
In no ti, the car had arrived in front of the restaurant, and from a distance, they saw a man standing at the entrance.
Though the weather was warming up, it was still a bit chilly for short sleeves. He stood there with a straight posture, looking very conspicuous. Seeing Huo Qinqi’s car approach, he imdiately made a call to his teammates:
[Target has arrived, get ready!]
There was an imdiate buzz of excitent among the people in the private room.
"The captain is being too secretive, why can’t we et his girlfriend? Why is he hiding her from us?"
"Later, we should give him a bath with so water soaked in polo leaves."
"To get rid of bad vibes."
...
Since this was a private gathering, there was no strict hierarchy in place, so they behaved quite freely. The main point of the etup wasn’t just dinner; they really wanted to see the ’sister-in-law’ in person. However, soone was determined to protect his wife and wouldn’t let them see her.
The person at the entrance saw Huo Qinqi get out of the car and imdiately ran up enthusiastically, shouting "Captain!" while trying to suppress the excitent inside.
After all, soon the captain would be a drenched rat.
There were rare opportunities to play a prank on him privately.
"Hmm." Huo Qinqi nodded, then walked around to the passenger side and opened the car door for Shen Shuci, leaving the man dumbfounded...
They thought Huo Qinqi hadn’t brought his girlfriend along and planned to prank him. If ’sister-in-law’ saw them ssing around, they’d have no dignity left in front of her in the future.
"Hello." Shen Shuci greeted him politely.
"She’s saying hello to you," Huo Qinqi frowned, "Why are you spacing out?"
He always thought that his subordinates were quite clever. How co they fumbled so badly upon first eting?
Huo Qinqi suddenly raised his voice, startling the person who was already feeling guilty and causing him to stiffen.
"Brother Liu!" Huo Ran also got out of the car.
"Huo Ran’s here too." Clearly, they all knew each other.
The man had been planning to inform his fellow teammates, but Huo Ran pulled him aside, "Brother Liu, help us carry these things."
Both hands were quickly filled with items, leaving no chance to send ssages or make calls.
...
The four of them entered the restaurant and walked towards the private room, while the person behind was getting more and more anxious.
Especially seeing Huo Qinqi standing at the door, even though he opened the door, he was planning to let Shen Shuci enter first, which left him quite bewildered...
Watching the captain express such tender care and speak so gently to his girlfriend, and she even brought gifts for them, if the mont she walked in she got drenched, the al would be over for sure, and they would be skinned alive by the captain.
"Go ahead." Huo Qinqi opened the door.
Shen Shuci felt a bit nervous inside, taking a deep breath, and the mont the door opened...
Before she could react, she got tugged forcefully to the side, unfortunately revealing Huo Ran who was right behind her.
A small bucket of water ca splashing over, catching him completely off guard...
He was thoroughly chilled to the bone.
Inside and outside, dozens of pairs of eyes exchanged looks, only realizing they had all noticed Shen Shuci at that mont, leaving everyone stupefied.
Shen Shuci hadn’t expected her first eting to happen under such circumstances...
She originally thought they were all acquaintances, just that she hadn’t t them, fearing it would be quite awkward. But it turned out, the group across was even more awkward than she was!
"Ca... Captain."
"Bro?" Huo Ran was the most bewildered, what just happened? What did he do?
The soaking red hair stuck to his face, dripping wet with water.
...
Five minutes later
Huo Ran was toweling off his hair with a towel borrowed from the restaurant, while Huo Qinqi sat upright, Shen Shuci sitting close to him, not knowing what to say, while everyone else stood against the wall in unison.
It didn’t seem like they were there for a al, but rather attending a struggle session.
"You guys think you’re so smart, huh? If I hadn’t reacted quickly, who were you planning to splash with water?"
"Bro, if you reacted quickly, why didn’t you pull out too?"
"I thought with all the training you’ve been doing lately, you’d be quite agile. Didn’t expect you to be this slow. I must have overestimated you."
"..."
Huo Ran was left dumbfounded, why did it feel like it was sohow his fault?
And the group across clearly knew his speaking style and deanor well, they weren’t surprised by his comnts, finding it to be typical.
"Weren’t you all eager to et her? I brought her along, and this is how you welco her?"
No one spoke up.
Shen Shuci had never been in a situation like this "scolding" session; mainly, even though they were all looking straight ahead, she felt their eyes all on her, so she took up her cup and pretended to drink water.
"Let introduce, this is Shen Shuci, my girlfriend." Huo Qinqi introduced simply and directly, followed by the unanimous shout of...
"Hello, sister-in-law!"
Startling Shen Shuci so much, she nearly dropped her cup.
This water never ended up splashing on Shen Shuci; after a few words from Huo Qinqi, it was Shen Shuci who ntioned the food would get cold, he finally let them sit down to eat.
Originally, they were all quite casual people, yet it seed they beca sowhat restrained with Shen Shuci there, suddenly eating in a more refined manner, even speaking in softer tones.
Four words to describe it: affected and pretentious.
**
No one drank alcohol at the gathering, so it ended quickly. Shen Shuci took the opportunity when she went to the washroom to settle the bill, as she had earlier agreed with Huo Qinqi that they’d treat for this al.
After settling the bill, just as she was about to head back to the private room, she unexpectedly bumped into soone familiar.
Calling him a ’familiar’ face was an understatent; calling him part of the Chou Family wouldn’t be wrong, the sa young master she had stabbed in the throat with a glass at the club before.
The scars on his face and neck hadn’t healed, yet he was already out causing trouble.
In his arms, he held a girl who seed to be drunk, leaning against him while his hand had started to sneak beneath her shirt.
The girl, hugging his waist, half-collapsed into him, was still babbling about wanting to drink more.
"... Let’s go, baby, let’s keep drinking." His focus was entirely on the person in his arms, and unexpectedly he ran into Shen Shuci, recalling the earlier incident, feeling pent up and annoyed.
Damn it, is Beijing this small? Can you run into her even in a lousy place like this?
Ever since the incident at the club, outsiders might not know, but within their circles, many were aware that he had been blacklisted by Jiang Siye, and it’s hard not to get ridiculed when many clubs and bars wouldn’t allow him entry anymore, forcing him to choose places where he wouldn’t run into acquaintances.
Never thought this small restaurant would lead to an encounter with Shen Shuci, what a small world of enemies.
With an indifferent and composed expression, looking at him as if she was looking down at an ant.
He knew in his heart that this woman looked down on him.
"Young Master You... where are we going?" the girl in his arms murmured in a soft voice.
"We’re off soplace nice, of course." He held the girl as he brushed past Shen Shuci, deliberately bumping her with his shoulder.
Shen Shuci gave a cold laugh, finding his behavior ridiculous and childish, but didn’t dwell on the encounter.
Unbeknownst to her, an avalanche of events would follow due to this man...
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