Xie Shu managed to catch Teacher Li and the students just in time as they were about to leave the villa.
He briefly told them that his girlfriend had already ordered takeout for everyone at noon, so there was no need to head to the restaurant.
The group was taken aback at first, then exchanged puzzled glances.
It was one thing for his girlfriend to order takeout for him, but why for everyone else too?
A few people, sure, but there were so many of them!
Was he sure she had ordered for everyone?
The art students and Teacher Li, who had chatted with Xie Shu that morning, knew that the "girlfriend" he mentioned was Ruan Nianxi, the girl they had met in the morning who came from a wealthy family. So they were shocked but not skeptical about what Xie Shu said.
It seemed they were benefiting from Xie Shu's good fortune.
But the students and teachers who had been on the second floor were unaware of these details. Some even thought Xie Shu was joking until they saw the uniformed delivery staff coming from the corner one by one, and they fell silent.
Contrary to Xie Shu's expectations, the arrivals were uniformed restaurant delivery staff, not the usual yellow and blue delivery guys.
It looked like the restaurant had sent them specially, and there were quite a few of them.
Since only the people from their villa were standing outside, the delivery staff spotted them immediately.
The restaurant wasn't far, and the delivery staff quickly arrived at the villa, politely asking, "Excuse me, which one of you is Mr. Xie Shu?"
"I am," Xie Shu responded.
"Hello, Mr. Xie. This is the meal Miss Ruan ordered from our restaurant for you and your friends. Where would you like us to set it up?" the lead staff member continued.
Xie Shu wasn't too familiar with the place. As far as he knew, there wasn't a dining area here, right?
The first floor was full of art supplies, and there were a few other rooms he hadn't really entered, unsure if there were any tables.
Even if there were, he didn't know if they could accommodate everyone's lunch.
So, he looked towards the teachers.
They were more familiar with the place, so it was better to let them decide.
"Why not take it to the second floor? There's more space there," suggested Teacher Li, catching Xie Shu's gaze.
The other teachers had no objections, and the students were even less likely to speak up.
And so, everyone headed back into the villa, this time all making their way to the second floor.
This was Xie Shu's first visit to the second floor, which was completely different from the first. Unlike the first floor with its many small rooms, the second floor was spacious, with simple, flexible partitions between areas.
Xie Shu felt he had to revise his earlier impression.
The villa was actually quite large; he had initially thought it small because the classrooms on the first floor didn't take up much space, skewing his perception.
There were many single desks on the side, and the teacher instructed the students to push them together to form several large tables.
The delivery staff then followed, placing the well-packed dishes on the tables and kindly opening them one by one.
Boiled fish, Dongpo pork, spicy shrimp, mouth-watering chicken, braised pork with preserved vegetables, steamed ribs, mixed seafood soup…
As the lids were lifted one by one, everyone's eyes widened in amazement.
Even Xie Shu was taken aback.
He had thought the food would be individual lunch boxes, not like this.
Then came the individual boxes of rice. Since Ruan Nianxi wasn't sure exactly how many people were there, she had made a rough estimate in the morning and ordered a bit extra.
Fortunately, her estimation was pretty accurate, with only a few boxes of rice left over.
***
Elsewhere.
Ruan Nianxi finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw on her phone that the order had been delivered.
It had arrived, and that was great.
She had almost been rejected again.
Since high school, Xie Shu had always refused everything she sent him.
Every time she prepared something for him in advance, she never managed to give it to him…
When Xie Shu refused her again just now, she almost couldn't help crying.
But thankfully, he accepted it in the end.
She wasn't sure if it suited his taste. Considering the distance, she didn't choose a restaurant in the city center.
Otherwise, she would have delivered only the best to him.
His friends were just an afterthought.
She was different from Xie Shu.
He had many friends; she only had him.
Xie Shu used to be close with his friends, so she had to find ways to get along with them.
But she never really had anything in common with Xie Shu's friends, couldn't relate to them, and didn't really want to hang out with them. However, if she didn't interact with them, she was worried they might think she and Xie Shu weren't close, especially some of his female friends…
So, from the beginning, she had always found other ways to let his friends know she existed in his life.
Ordering their lunch along with his was one such method.
She couldn't be by Xie Shu's side to make her presence felt, so she had to use this method to show them she and Xie Shu were close.
Hmm, she'd have to think of other ways next time.
With that thought, Ruan Nianxi put away her phone and stood up, ready to grab something quick to eat in the company cafeteria downstairs.
The company cafeteria was close by, and she arrived in minutes.
During lunchtime, the cafeteria was crowded, with employees lining up at every window. Not wanting to mingle with too many strangers, Ruan Nianxi chose a less crowded window.
She went to a porridge stall, which was almost empty compared to the morning.
She casually ordered a bowl of porridge and two buns, then carried her tray to the dining area to sit down.
She had barely sat down and taken a sip of her porridge when her phone rang.
The sound indicated a WeChat video call.
The only people who ever video called her were her parents, who would do so whenever they were away and missed her. Otherwise, they contacted her by phone.
But weren't they both at the company today?
Hadn't they just seen each other that morning?
Why were they video calling her now?
Curious, she took out her phone, ready to answer, but she froze when she saw the name.
It was Xie Shu!!
She paused for a few seconds, then frantically fixed her non-existent stray hair and touched her cheeks.
After making sure everything was in order, she nervously answered the video call.
Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan