Chapter 13

After arriving at the hotel and dropping off their luggage, the two didn’t linger for long and quickly drove to the restaurant that Song Wenzhou had recommended.

The restaurant was called “Bai Jiayao,” a Chinese restaurant with a very ancient and elegant interior design.

Song Wenzhou had been here a few times before, always with Mu Chi.

The restaurant was doing well; in just a few months, it had built a strong reputation, and during mealtime, it was always packed with people.

Song Wenzhou hadn’t made a reservation before coming, so he thought they might have to wait for a while. To his surprise, the restaurant’s lobby manager recognized him and smiled as he greeted him when he walked in.

“Mr. Song, you’re here,” the manager said with a smile. “Would you like your usual table? It’s just become available.”

Song Wenzhou couldn’t resist the manager’s warmth, so after thanking him with a smile, he followed the manager to their usual table.

Xu Chu raised an eyebrow at him in a place the manager couldn’t see and made a subtle “not bad” gesture with his mouth.

Song Wenzhou chuckled softly and shook his head. In fact, the manager’s enthusiasm was all because of Mu Chi.

Mu Chi ran an influencer incubator company, and when “Bai Jiayao” was first promoting itself, they had collaborated with him a lot. You could say that the restaurant’s success in filling up seats in such a short time was largely due to the effect of the influencers Mu Chi worked with.

As a result, the manager treated Mu Chi with extra politeness, and by extension, he was also very considerate towards Song Wenzhou, who often came along with Mu Chi.

Their usual table was by the window, where they could clearly see the view outside. The area was semi-enclosed with carved wooden partitions on both sides, creating a cozy, secluded spot.

The manager personally brought the menu over and asked if he could help Xu Chu, who was unfamiliar, with the restaurant’s signature dishes.

Song Wenzhou, feeling a bit embarrassed, interjected, “Manager, you go ahead and handle your other tasks. I can introduce the menu to my friend.”

The manager smiled and said, “That’s true, Mr. Song is a regular. I won’t disturb you then, but if you need anything, just call for the waiter.” He then raised his voice and called, “Xiao Zhang, please take good care of them here.”

After the manager left, Xu Chu exaggeratedly clasped his hands together and said to Song Wenzhou, “It’s been only three days, and you’ve already gotten so powerful. You’ve really made a name for yourself.”

“I’m just riding on someone else’s coattails.” Song Wenzhou casually checked off two of his usual orders and pushed the menu toward Xu Chu. “Their dishes are all pretty good. You can order whatever you want.”

Meanwhile, as the manager passed the front desk, he encountered another regular customer.

“Ah, Mr. Mu, you’re here too.”

Mu Chi frowned, not understanding. “Too?”

“Yeah,” the manager smiled. “Mr. Song just sat down.”

“Which Mr. Song?” Mu Chi had never referred to Song Wenzhou like that and didn’t immediately realize who it was.

“The Mr. Song who always comes with you,” the manager hesitated slightly under Mu Chi’s questioning.

“You mean my old…” Mu Chi’s eyes lit up. “Where is he?!”

“He’s at your usual table…”

Before the manager could finish speaking, Mu Chi had already walked off quickly, his long legs carrying him away.

The manager was momentarily stunned, then turned to meet the gaze of a young man in his early twenties. He quickly switched to a smile and said, “Welcome, may I ask how many are in your party?”

The young man pointed in the direction Mu Chi had just left and awkwardly smiled. “…I’m with Mr. Mu.”

The manager’s smile didn’t fade, and he gestured with a hand, “Please, allow me to take you there.”

Song Wenzhou was sitting with his back to the direction Mu Chi was coming from, but Xu Chu, sitting across from him, was the first to notice Mu Chi.

“Why did you tell him the address again?” Xu Chu asked, frustrated, thinking that Song Wenzhou was too softhearted.

“What?” Song Wenzhou looked up in confusion, then followed Xu Chu’s gaze behind him. Mu Chi was walking toward them, smiling broadly, with a swift step.

“Zhouzhou,” Mu Chi slowed down when he got close, speaking softly, “What a coincidence, you’re eating here too.”

Song Wenzhou replied, “Hmm.”

It was indeed a coincidence.

“What coincidence?” Xu Chu, however, didn’t believe that their meeting was truly accidental.

It wasn’t the first time Mu Chi had appeared halfway through and interrupted his “date” with Song Wenzhou. Every time, Mu Chi would say it was a coincidence, but in reality, he was always purposely showing up to take Song Wenzhou away.

When Mu Chi heard this, it seemed like he had just noticed Xu Chu, and he immediately adopted a disdainful expression. “Isn’t this Mr. Xu, the great artist? I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Mr. Mu, you must have a lot of important matters to forget; not recognizing me is normal,” Xu Chu provocatively said. “As long as our little Zhouzhou recognizes me, that’s all that matters.”

Actually, I didn’t recognize you at first either, Song Wenzhou thought apologetically to Xu Chu in his mind.

If he had said that out loud, it would have been the end of him. Song Wenzhou pretended not to notice the tension between the two and quietly fiddled with his utensils.

Mu Chi was about to retort, but thinking about his current “unwelcome” situation, he feigned a look of grievance and glanced at Song Wenzhou, pouting. “Zhouzhou…”

Song Wenzhou helplessly stood up to mediate the situation. “Are you going to stand here the whole time?”

Mu Chi responded with a soft, “Ying…”

Now, he was really feeling aggrieved.

Xu Chu, feeling victorious, laughed gleefully and said, “Alright, stop whining. I’m just borrowing your wife for one day; I’m not going to steal him away.”

Mu Chi, unable to do anything about Song Wenzhou, wasn’t going to let Xu Chu get away with being so arrogant. He muttered, “If you need Zhouzhou to accompany you, does that mean I don’t need him?”

“I just broke up before coming back to the country, and I’m feeling sad, needing some company,” Xu Chu shrugged. “Did you break up too?”

At that moment, Mu Chi and Song Wenzhou both fell silent.

Just then, the manager came over, leading the young man. With a smile, he asked, “Mr. Mu, Mr. Song, would you like me to combine your tables?”

Song Wenzhou lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Mu Chi noticed that Song Wenzhou didn’t seem to want to sit with him, and his expression darkened as he said, “It’s fine, I’ll sit at the table next door.”

Xu Chu sensed something was off and glanced back and forth between Song Wenzhou and Mu Chi.

Once Mu Chi and the young man were seated at the table next door, Xu Chu half-covered his mouth and asked, “What’s going on?”

Song Wenzhou smiled and said, “I don’t see how you’re so heartbroken after breaking up?”

On the contrary, from Xu Chu’s description, it seemed like he was quite happy after the breakup.

“Don’t change the subject, you two…” Xu Chu raised his eyelids and gestured toward Mu Chi, lowering his voice to ask, “Did you argue?”

“No,” Song Wenzhou shook his head. “Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t argue.”

Xu Chu instinctively felt that there was more to Song Wenzhou’s words, but clearly, this wasn’t the right place to talk about it. He decided to hold off on asking and address it later.

Soon, the dishes Song Wenzhou and Xu Chu had ordered began arriving at their table, with vibrant orange and red colors that looked very appetizing.

Meanwhile, although Mu Chi arrived a few minutes later than them, due to the varying cooking times of the dishes, they all came out just as Mu Chi and the young man’s dishes were being served.

Everyone in the restaurant was focused on the dishes in front of them, except for Mu Chi. His attention remained fixed on Song Wenzhou.

When Mu Chi saw the plates in front of Song Wenzhou filled with red, fiery chili peppers, his frown deepened.

Finally, as Song Wenzhou reached for his chopsticks, Mu Chi couldn’t hold himself back. He stood up and, with an unhappy expression, quickly moved over to Song Wenzhou’s side, took the spicy hotpot and the chopped chili fish head, and walked away.

“What are these dishes you ordered? Don’t you know your own health condition?”

Song Wenzhou and Xu Chu: “…”

Returning to his own table, Mu Chi, under the surprised gaze of the young man, placed the spicy dishes down, then picked up the stir-fried beef with cactus and the cinnamon chicken and swapped them for Song Wenzhou’s table.

The young man: “…”

Mu Chi didn’t care about the odd looks from others. He then took away the spicy chicken cubes from Song Wenzhou’s table, replacing them with stir-fried broccoli with garlic, making sure to remove every last chili pepper.

“There,” Mu Chi clapped his hands in satisfaction. “You can eat now.”

Mu Chi happily returned to his seat, thinking to himself that Song Wenzhou was just as his “mother-in-law” Ren Suyi had said—greedy for food, always wanting to try things his stomach couldn’t handle when no one was around to supervise.

Fortunately, Mu Chi felt a bit of relief. Fortunately, he caught it today; otherwise, Song Wenzhou would have been dealing with stomach pain later.

“You should eat too,” Mu Chi called to the young man across from him. “Not to your liking?”

The young man quickly smiled and said, “It’s perfect, it’s perfect.”

He was starting to feel nervous. The way Mu Chi was acting now was completely different from how he had been when discussing work with him.

Song Wenzhou paused his chopsticks, resting them on the broccoli, a hint of pleasure subtly rising in his heart.

The dishes Mu Chi brought back were all his favorites.

Xu Chu, on the other hand, was twitching at the corner of his eye, gritting his teeth as he said, “Although… why did you have to swap all the dishes I love with something else?”

“Ahem, weren’t you complaining about back pain earlier?” Song Wenzhou, in an attempt to protect Mu Chi, said awkwardly. “It’s better not to eat too spicy; it’s good for your health.”