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After her afternoon classes, Shang Li returned to her rented apartment, quickly made herself a bowl of instant noodles, wolfed it down, and rushed out to work her shift at an American-style Western restaurant.
She’d been working at this place since her freshman year—it had been nearly two years. Not long ago, a few popular idols had visited by chance, and overnight, the restaurant became the hottest spot in town. These days, customers came in a constant stream, and even securing a reservation was difficult.
Thinking about the long night of work ahead, Shang Li already felt an ache in her lower back. She pulled out her phone and calculated her income and expenses for the month, wondering if she could afford to send some money to her Father and Mother in Jinzhou to help with the household expenses.
After calculating everything, she had a few hundred yuan left. In the family group chat of three, she sent both her Father and Mother a red envelope. Before leaving the house, she had a sudden thought and went to the bathroom to check the pack of sanitary pads Lu Tinghe had bought her yesterday—there were still a few lefts.
But what she saw made her pause.
Strange. None were missing—not even one. So where had that pad in the paper bag come from?
Did it just appear out of thin air? Or had someone from the dry cleaner’s accidentally slipped it in?
Even if the dry cleaner had done it, how could it be such a coincidence that it was the exact same brand and type?
After thinking for a while, Shang Li decided she must have remembered wrong and didn’t dwell on it. After all, she had too much on her plate to waste energy on something so trivial.
As for Lu Tinghe’s remark yesterday about keeping it in mind—maybe he was just making an offhand comment. Even if he really did take it seriously, there was nothing about her that could possibly catch Lu Tinghe’s interest.
…
At exactly five o’clock in the evening, Shang Li arrived at the American-style Western restaurant for her shift.
Nightfall came. The city lights flickered on. As usual, the restaurant was bustling with activity.
Shang Li weaved through the tables with plates in hand, barely getting a moment’s rest.
She had just served a massive platter of honey-glazed roasted black pork ribs—her arms were sore from carrying it—when the manager called out, “Shang Li, Table 2 needs to order.”
“Got it!”
She responded and jogged over to Table 2 by the floor-to-ceiling window, pulling a pen from her uniform pocket and preparing to take their order. “Good evening, may I take your order?”
No one replied.
After a moment, a man’s voice from the table said, “Your shirt’s open.”
The voice was deep and pleasant, with a slow, deliberate rhythm—there was something teasing in it.
Startled, Shang Li lifted her head and saw Lu Tinghe looking straight at her.
The man sat with his legs slightly apart, one long-fingered hand tapping the table lightly. His dark eyes shimmered with a hint of amusement.
Across from him, Ning Mo rested her chin in both hands, pouting coquettishly. “Tinghe, why are you teasing this poor girl? You made her blush.”
Shang Li looked down and realized that a button on her uniform shirt had somehow come undone. She hurried to fasten it.
This shirt was indeed a bit tight—not quite a match for her bust. She really needed to ask the manager for a different size.
“Sorry about that,” she said, regaining her composure and picking up her pen and order sheet again. “May I ask what you’d like to eat?”
At the table saw a man and a woman—he was refined and strikingly handsome, exuding an air of sophistication; she was radiant and graceful, delicate, and charming. Together, they were the very image of a perfect couple.
Shang Li couldn’t help stealing another glance at them, a flicker of envy rising in her heart.
Lu Tinghe acted as if he didn’t know her, casually flipping through the menu. “Any recommendations?”
“Our garlic chicken spaghetti, American-style meatloaf, Hawaiian salad, and strawberry cream cheesecake are all highly recommended.”
“Alright, we’ll take those, then.”
“Very well.”
As Shang Li listed down the items on the order sheet, Ning Mo gave Lu Tinghe a pout and said in a sugary tone, “Ahh, eating all these high-calorie things at night? You’re going to make me fat.”
Shang Li’s pen paused slightly—so… was she ordering them or not?
Shang Li looked up and happened to catch Lu Tinghe watching her.
Her expression stiffened slightly. She instinctively touched her face, wondering if something dirty had gotten on it.
The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Ning Mo, brows furrowed, called out, “Tinghe? Lu Tinghe?”
Lu Tinghe withdrew his gaze and replied to Ning Mo in an indifferent tone, “Afraid of gaining weight? Then what do you want to eat?”
“Let me think,” Ning Mo said with a flirtatious smile as she began flipping through the menu.
Shang Li said, “Please take your time. Let me know when you’ve decided.”
“Alright.”
After she walked away, Lu Tinghe glanced coolly at Ning Mo. “So afraid of gaining weight? Why don’t we just order two glasses of water?”
Ning Mo: “…”
Shang Li walked off with the order sheet and said to her coworker, Xiao Lin, “When Table 2 calls to order again, could you cover for me? I’ll take care of your section instead.”
Xiao Lin cast a gossipy glance toward Table 2. “Wow, that’s a seriously good-looking couple. You don’t see many that well-matched!”
Shang Li forced a faint smile. “Yeah… they suit each other perfectly.”
With that, she turned and headed toward the opposite side of the restaurant.
Just yesterday, in broad daylight, Lu Tinghe had reappeared in her life. In the span of just a few dozen hours, everything had fallen into chaos.
Every word and gesture of his—even just his name—was like a spell that threw her into complete disarray.
She was so stupid, so stupid, the kind that there is no cure for her.
Shang Li sighed, composed herself, and poured all her focus into work.
For the next few hours, she didn’t step a single foot near Table 2.
After getting off at ten o’clock, Shang Li was in the locker room changing clothes. Beside her, Xiao Lin was packing up her things as she muttered, “The boss is so stingy. He really should give us a dinner allowance. I saw online reviews saying our restaurant’s dishes are amazing, but we haven’t even gotten to try them once.”
Shang Li smiled. “You could always pay for it yourself.”
“No way. It’s so expensive—one salad costs over a hundred yuan. I bet the ingredients don’t even cost thirty.”
Shang Li suddenly felt a wave of emotion. People like her and Xiao Lin didn’t eat gourmet food because they couldn’t afford it. But people like Ning Mo avoided it to maintain their figure.
That thing Hobbes said—about all men being born equal—was complete nonsense.
Some people were born in Rome, while others couldn’t reach it no matter how hard they worked their whole lives.
Noticing Shang Li spacing out, Xiao Lin nudged her. “Oh right, that Table 2 you asked me to cover—turns out they didn’t order anything in the end and just left. That super handsome guy left a tip though, said it was for the two glasses of water.”
“I see…” Shang Li replied absentmindedly, thinking that it was probably because Ning Mo was dieting and Lu Tinghe had simply accompanied her, sticking to something low-calorie.
Ning Mo had called him “Tinghe” so sweetly—it was likely the two of them were dating.
So, Lu Tinghe liked that kind of perfect girl—beautiful, smart, and from a good family. Shang Li felt a flicker of relief that she’d never sent that confession letter. If she had, the humiliation would have been unbearable—enough to make her want to bite off her own tongue.
Xiao Lin glanced at her curiously. “Hey, Shang Li, why didn’t you want to take care of Table 2? That guy looked familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
Shang Li’s eyelashes fluttered. A light flashed briefly in her eyes, and then she said softly, “He’s too handsome. I don’t dare look at him.”
Xiao Lin: “…”
They chatted a bit more, tidied up their things, and walked out of the restaurant together.
They had barely stepped out the front door when a deep, heart-stopping male voice rang out behind them.
“Shang Li.”