Chapter 18

On Saturday night, the three of them met as planned.

Zhou Zhou had already sent a message with the food order and location in the “Milk Tea Three Brothers” group the night before.

It was a famous hotpot restaurant. According to a popular food app, the average cost was at least 500 yuan per person, but it was still very popular and required advance booking.

Zhou Zhou picked this hotpot place with her most sincere intention.

Because this meal was both a thank-you and a chance to catch up. If they had a set meal, three people wouldn’t eat much and the atmosphere wouldn’t be good. But hotpot is the best way to loosen up and enjoy time together.

Also, all three often attended events and dinners outside, so none of the many restaurants in city H really excited their taste buds anymore.

Boring meals are just a form of torture.

This hotpot restaurant had fresh ingredients, authentic sauces, and the environment was not loud like normal hotpot places. Instead, it was fresh and elegant, a perfect place for chatting.

Since she was treating them, Zhou Zhou asked the two for their opinions in the group chat first.

Zhou Zhou: This hotpot is very good and the environment is nice. It has great reviews. Are you okay with it?

Cheng Yanran didn’t know much about food and simply said he had no objection.

He had never been in a relationship but knew girls liked hotpot, barbecue, and milk tea.

For him and Chen Jing, whatever they ate was fine, whatever filled them up was good. He had been looking forward to this meal for a long time, so why worry about what to eat? Of course, it would be whatever Zhou Zhou wanted.

Cheng Yanran: The location is in the old town, a bit far from Emerald Bay. Should I pick you up?

Since the last time he gave Zhou Zhou a ride, he had even washed his car, hoping for another chance to give her a ride.

But Zhou Zhou said she was already back at Ruyi Garden.

Zhou Zhou: I’m going to buy milk tea first on Henghu Street. The hotpot place is nearby; I’ll just walk there.

Cheng Yanran: Okay. I’ll be there at 6 o’clock.

Soon Chen Jing tagged him in the group asking if he could pick him up on the way.

Cheng Yanran wanted to ignore him but typed two words: “Address?”

Da Jing: My place.

Cheng Yanran: Okay.

Cheng Yanran: Milk tea delivery is fine too. @Zhou Zhou

Zhou Zhou: Do you want hot or cold?

Da Jing: Hot milk tea with spicy hotpot, perfect.

Cheng Yanran: I want cold too.

Da Jing: When we were kids, a lollipop was enough to be happy. Now we need hotpot and milk tea.

Zhou Zhou: (laughing emoji)

Cheng Yanran: Give him extra ice.

Zhou Zhou: Okay~

Da Jing: Thanks Director Zhou, grateful heart.

Zhou Zhou remembered Chen Jing had said he was “on the go” and wanted to tease him, so she used the “poke” function to poke Da Jing, saying, “Still on the go?”

Cheng Yanran almost laughed out loud and shared his live location.

Soon Zhou Zhou joined the location sharing and poked Da Jing again: “Confess quickly or face stricter punishment.”

So the three phones showed a triangle of locations on the map.

Zhou Zhou: Old town Ruyi Garden, building 8.

Cheng Yanran: Science Park, Dongsheng Technology.

Da Jing: Crescent Street, sky is dark blue.

From their recent chats, Zhou Zhou guessed Chen Jing loved to play around. Crescent Street was a famous bar street, and “Sky is Dark Blue” sounded like a bar’s name.

She looked at her phone. It was past 9 p.m. As a fellow deputy general manager, she wondered if Cheng Yanran was so busy with work.

But it wasn’t appropriate to ask. They were just friends, and private matters needed clear boundaries. After sending a laughing emoji in the group, she stopped sharing her location.

Joking too much can hurt friendships.

In the adult world, it’s hard to have a few good friends. She didn’t want to ruin this friendship over small things.

“Milk Tea Three Brothers” was not only a memory of good times in youth but also a sincere hope for the future.

When Cheng Yanran and Chen Jing entered the hotpot restaurant, they were surprised.

The hall was quiet and simple—no tables in sight, but a pond filled with water lilies and goldfish, with fake rocks and flowing water making gentle sounds.

They were not new to nice restaurants, but hotpot places were usually noisy and busy.

This place had private rooms on both sides of the hall.

They found the private room Zhou Zhou booked and went in. Zhou Zhou was already sitting there, with two cups of milk tea steaming on the table.

Maybe because it was the weekend with no work the next day, Zhou Zhou dressed more casually, not the usual black, white, gray, or beige colors.

Cheng Yanran felt his eyes light up as soon as he saw her.

She wore a red knit dress in a modern Chinese style that perfectly showed off her slim waist and graceful figure, as if made just for her. The red made her skin look like white jade, and her eyes were gentle but cool, like bright stars in the night sky.

In that moment, Cheng Yanran felt his heart beating strongly.

He wanted to compliment her but didn’t dare say anything. After looking at her a couple of times, he sat down and took a sip of his milk tea.

Zhou Zhou smiled naturally and said, “Parking is not easy at the entrance, right? It’s crowded here.”

“It’s okay, it’s only 6 p.m., there are spots in the parking lot nearby.” He calmed himself and spoke gently. Looking at his milk tea, he noticed the cup was more stylish than before.

He tried to savor the taste again—it was the same Ceylon black tea with roasted milk flavor, sweet and fragrant like her smile that year.

Chen Jing was as enthusiastic as always, “How did you find this place? It’s great.”

“Chi Yao found it. I came here once before.”

“Is Chi Yao still in the northwest?” Chen Jing asked.

Zhou Zhou nodded, and Chen Jing smiled, “You and Chi Yao are a perfect match,” giving a thumbs up, “One builds the country, one serves the people.”

Zhou Zhou laughed and asked Cheng Yanran, “Is he like this at company meetings too?”

Cheng Yanran was pouring tea and casually touched Zhou Zhou’s milk tea cup to check it was warm. Now it was late autumn, and girls shouldn’t drink cold drinks, especially after hotpot, or they could get stomach problems.

“More or less.”

Chen Jing grumbled, “People say they’d do anything for their friends, but I wonder how you can ‘stab’ your friends in the back?” Then he pulled out his phone and said to Zhou Zhou, “I want to eat this… and this… duck intestines… scallops.”

Zhou Zhou leaned over, repeated the order softly, and agreed.

This scene was like when they used to order milk tea together in their youth—ten plus years felt like just yesterday, only one night apart from today.

This was why Zhou Zhou liked being with them.

Sincerity is always the best weapon.

Even with different roles and experiences, when they met again, they still respected and understood each other.

Chen Jing was still the loud, cheerful Chen Jing. Cheng Yanran was still the gentle and quiet one. Zhou Zhou remained independent, strong, but also someone who longed for friends.

Soon the waiter brought the hotpot.

It was divided into four sections: spicy, mushroom, tomato, and bone broth.

Cheng Yanran glanced and said, “Chen Jing and I can eat anything. No need to make such a fuss.”

Zhou Zhou looked at him like she wanted to see through him, and he felt his hand tremble a little.

“Thanks, Mr. Cheng, for helping,” she said, meaning the car-buying for Zhou Feng.

“You’re just making money for his family. He probably feels great about it, and you thank him?” Chen Jing said unhappily.

Cheng Yanran just wanted to shut him up but saw Zhou Zhou’s smile didn’t fade, so he comforted himself: It’s fine, if it makes him smile, anything goes.