Chapter 18.2: Are you looking at that girl?

The results of this bet were out. Ye Tianhui won again. She calculated the odds, and since it wasn’t an upset, she only had four times the payout. But since she had invested 1,000 HKD, even with just a four-fold return, she turned 1,000 HKD into 4,000 HKD.

With the more than two thousand HKD she had saved for living expenses, she now had over six thousand HKD in savings.

Considering her experience last time, she was afraid of causing trouble, so she didn’t dare act alone and specifically went to find Jiang Lingfeng.

Jiang Lingfeng: “You placed another bet?”

Ye Tianhui smiled: “Mm, I won money.”

Jiang Lingfeng looked over, the warm autumn sunlight falling, and she smiled, her brows dancing with sunlight.

He thought back to that day outside the dormitory, the girl who had walked out alone, looking lonely and cold, completely different from how she looked now.

He nodded: “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

Ye Tianhui: “If you’re busy with the casino, I can wait a little longer, no rush.”

Jiang Lingfeng: “I’ll tell them, otherwise I’m afraid you’ll be anxious.”

Ye Tianhui: “Okay, I’ll treat you to a meal today.”

For a moment, Jiang Lingfeng told Ye Tianhui to wait here, then he went to their store. From a distance, Ye Tianhui saw him talking to some people, all young men wearing Hawaiian shirts, and those young men curiously glanced over.

Jiang Lingfeng moved slightly, blocking their line of sight.

After a while, Jiang Lingfeng returned, and the two of them went to the bus stop. While waiting for the bus, Ye Tianhui noticed that Jiang Lingfeng’s shirt sleeve bulged a little around his arm, and from the shape, there seemed to be a bandage underneath.

She asked: “Is your work very busy?”

Jiang Lingfeng: “It’s okay, just recently been a bit busy.”

Ye Tianhui: “Oh, busy with what? Fighting?”

Jiang Lingfeng glanced at Ye Tianhui: “Someone came to challenge us.”

Ye Tianhui didn’t quite understand and looked at him curiously.

Jiang Lingfeng looked at Ye Tianhui’s confused eyes, so clear and innocent, as if determined to get to the bottom of it.

He then explained: “It’s the big circle guys, also from the mainland. These people are very strong, came to challenge us, demanding protection money. We couldn’t do anything about it for a while.”

Ye Tianhui was a bit surprised, and Jiang Lingfeng roughly explained, and then Ye Tianhui understood.

This kind of thing wasn’t really strange; it could only be said to be a result of the times.

At this moment, the bus arrived, and the two of them got on, so Jiang Lingfeng didn’t bring it up again.

Ye Tianhui had written down all the betting stations in her notebook. Jiang Lingfeng accompanied her to exchange them, and after a whole afternoon of effort, they finally got everything. She ended up with about four thousand HKD, mostly in red-backed fish, with one hundred HKD per red-backed fish. That’s about forty red-backed fish, which were stuffed in an envelope, bulging with cash.

Ye Tianhui was overjoyed.

She didn’t like living a poor life. She enjoyed good food, and for clothes, they didn’t need to be too fashionable or refined, but they had to be made from good material and comfortable. The cheap clothes on the market in Hong Kong weren’t good quality; they were industrial products, which she didn’t like very much.

Now, suddenly making such a small fortune, her life immediately became more comfortable.

She smiled widely, practically skipping as she grabbed Jiang Lingfeng’s hand: “Let’s go, let’s go, today I’ll treat you to a nice meal!”

Jiang Lingfeng lowered his eyes and glanced at her hand holding his wrist: “Okay, then let’s have car noodles.”

Ye Tianhui: “No way, we have to go to a restaurant!”

She tugged on Jiang Lingfeng’s hand, eagerly pulling him towards a nearby restaurant. It was a restaurant that looked somewhat upscale, well-located, and surely not cheap, but who cared? Enjoying it first was the most important!

The restaurant environment is very good, transparent and bright, with the view of Victoria Harbour right below when one looks down.

The people coming here to eat are all wealthy; the men are dressed in suits, and the women are fashionable and beautiful. In comparison, Jiang Lingfeng and Ye Tianhui seem somewhat out of place, even the waiters look at them with somewhat odd expressions.

However, Ye Tianhui remains calm and composed, eagerly ordering and enjoying her meal.

She ordered various dishes, including milk phoenix puff, abalone chicken puff, roasted suckling pig slices, and sweet and sour pork, basically ordering everything that looked good.

Jiang Lingfeng slightly furrowed his brows: “Can you finish it? Don’t waste it.”

Ye Tianhui smiled: “Normally, I wouldn’t dare to eat like this. It’s hard to come by a windfall, so we should order more and try everything.”

She explained: “If I were eating alone, I couldn’t finish it. But now that you’re here, it’s just right for me to take the opportunity to try more dishes.”

Jiang Lingfeng: “Alright.”

Soon, the food was served, and indeed the dishes looked good, the kind of quality one would expect when money was spent. Even the abalone chicken puff had small abalones on top!

Ye Tianhui naturally ate heartily, while Jiang Lingfeng had no expression, silently eating.

Ye Tianhui curiously asked, “Don’t you like it?”

Jiang Lingfeng: “I like it.”

Ye Tianhui snorted lightly: “With that serious face, I thought you were eating bitter melon!”

Jiang Lingfeng was taken aback, then explained: “I think it’s delicious, I’m just used to eating like this.”

Ye Tianhui smiled: “I’m treating you to a big meal, at least show some happiness!”

Jiang Lingfeng: “How do you expect me to show happiness?”

Ye Tianhui propped up her chin, savoring the sight of him: “Now, give me a smile.”

Jiang Lingfeng: “…”

Ye Tianhui: “Come on, look at me, give me a smile.”

Jiang Lingfeng found it amusing in his heart, she was now like a young lady teasing a rich young master.

He actually wanted to smile, but with her looking at him like that, he couldn’t bring himself to: “Stop it.”

Ye Tianhui firmly disagreed: “No, no, you have to smile.”

Jiang Lingfeng couldn’t argue with her, so he pursed his lips and gave a small smile.

The smile was a little stiff.

After smiling, the two of them looked at each other, suddenly finding it very funny, and then both started laughing, tears welling up in their eyes.

After the meal, there was still quite a bit of food left. Ye Tianhui asked the waiter to help pack it up, and she had Jiang Lingfeng carry the packed boxes. The two of them walked out of the restaurant and took the elevator downstairs.

There were several good restaurants in this building, and when passing by a seafood restaurant, Ye Tianhui said, “This restaurant looks really expensive, it must be much more expensive than what we just ate.”

Jiang Lingfeng looked over and indeed saw that the restaurant was beautifully decorated and elegant. From the transparent floor-to-ceiling glass, even the ceiling was covered in gold leaf. The waiters inside all looked very refined.

Looking further inside, however, it was a one-way curtain wall, so nothing could be seen inside.

He looked at the luxurious curtain wall and said, “When I have money, I’ll take you here to eat.”

Ye Tianhui: “Sure, but you must remember the name of this place, don’t forget.”

Jiang Lingfeng turned his head to look at Ye Tianhui. She had eyes that seemed to have been washed with ice water, clear and bright.

Sometimes she would be too cold and distant, as if she didn’t belong in this world, but at other times, she seemed very innocent and pure, with her eyebrows and eyes full of vitality, her full forehead radiating youthful energy.

She looked at the luxurious restaurant they didn’t dare enter, her gaze full of straightforward longing.

He slightly clenched his fist hidden under his sleeve, and in a serious and hoarse voice, he said, “This restaurant is called Zhang Lin Ji, I’ve remembered it.”

He whispered his promise, “One day, I’ll treat you to a meal, and you can eat however you want.”

Ye Tianhui listened, naturally happy: “I’ll write it down in my little notebook. Don’t forget me when you get rich!”

**********

This restaurant had been around for some years. In recent years, Hong Kong had developed rapidly, and many famous restaurants had emerged. In fact, this place had become a bit outdated.

However, Gu Shizhang used to come here occasionally with friends when he was in school, and this time, for a gathering with friends, he still chose this place.

During the meal, he went to the restroom. When he returned, he saw the tall Ye Lixuan by the patch of bamboo, looking out the window not far away.

Gu Shizhang followed his line of sight and saw Ye Tianhui outside the floor-to-ceiling glass wall.

And the young man next to Ye Tianhui.

The two of them were talking about something, but through the glass wall, their conversation couldn’t be heard. However, it was clear that Ye Tianhui looked very happy and satisfied. She was smiling at the man, her smile full of joy.

That man—

Gu Shizhang scrutinized the man.

He looked to be in his early twenties, handsome for a man, though his clothing was rather unrefined—clothes that he probably thought were fashionable but were actually low quality, like a gangster wandering the streets.

It was him, the one Ye Tianhui had been thinking about, the one she had treated to ten Hong Kong dollars worth of claypot shark fin?

So, now, Gu Shizhang’s worth was still sixty Hong Kong dollars. What about this man, how much had his worth increased?

As he looked, Ye Tianhui and Jiang Lingfeng had already moved toward the nearby elevator.

They walked further away, and Ye Lixuan withdrew his gaze and looked at Gu Shizhang.

He asked, puzzled, “Do you know him?”

Gu Shizhang heard this and slowly withdrew his gaze, landing on Ye Lixuan’s face.

Ye Lixuan was thirty-nine, but the years hadn’t left too many marks on his face. In fact, most of the time, people would mistake him for someone in his early thirties.

A university professor, refined and scholarly, with a detached personality, uninterested in the mundane world. He usually immersed himself in academic research, embodying the style of a Wei-Jin literati, independent from the world.

Such a Ye Lixuan was quite popular on the university campus, and even female students in their twenties had once fallen for him.

Gu Shizhang looked at Ye Lixuan and spoke in a flat voice: “I don’t know him.”

Ye Lixuan raised an eyebrow slightly: “I saw you staring at that girl.”

Gu Shizhang: “Oh, wasn’t it you who kept looking?”

Ye Lixuan nodded in acknowledgment.

Gu Shizhang said with little expression: “I rarely see you like this.”

Ye Lixuan looked at the restaurant’s lobby, where a few customers walked by, but the girl was no longer there.

He recalled the girl’s appearance and a faint emotion flickered in his eyes.

He spoke in a very low voice: “She—”

She gave him a strange sense of familiarity.