“It seems that Ji Chen isn’t working overtime today.” Jiang Baiwan put down her phone and said to Tan Mi, “He said he’ll be here soon.”

Tan Mi smiled cryptically, then quickly corrected her expression, and said to Jiang Baiwan, “You go to the kitchen to help. Master Wei is working alone inside, you, the boss, won’t give him a hand?”

That’s right. Without thinking too much about it, Jiang Baiwan just jumped up and ran into the kitchen to help.

Now, only Tan Mi and Luo Xiao were left at the table. Tan Mi looked at Luo Xiao openly, while Luo Xiao smiled at her before lowering his head to play with his phone.

However, Tan Mi didn’t intend to let him go so simply. “Which company does Mr. Luo work for?”

“It’s not far away from here.” Luo Xiao’s hand gestured a direction in the air. “It’s right next to Haochen Building. The company isn’t big, but I can at least make some money every month.”

Tan Mi smiled. “Mr. Lou’s words are too polite. A VC that often went to record programs, others might not know, but I know quite a bit.” Everyone there was a social figure, so there’s no need to talk about fronts, right?

Luo Xiao naturally understood Tan Mi’s meaning, but the man played dumb and didn’t take the bait. “It’s alright, it’s alright. The whole family isn’t hungry when one has enough to eat^[1]describes a bachelor who only needs to take care of himself because he does not have to support a family. If it wasn’t for Xiao Wan’s delicious Malatang, I won’t come here every day.”

Tan Mi was immediately stifled, first cursing Jiang Baiwan in her heart for not being able to read people, then she began to complain about why Ji Chen donated his family’s great chef to this small Malatang shop . Now there’s a big-tailed wolf coming to the door with a ready-made excuse. When you arrive, let’s see what you’ll do.

What Tan Mi didn’t know was that Ji Chen had already met Luo Xiao once, and the atmosphere between the two was quite tense. This time Tan Mi asked Jiang Baiwan to call Ji Chen over but Luo Xiao didn’t have much to say, except that Ji Chen would have a big ‘surprise’ when he arrived later.

———

This translation is by Pocketbunny at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m

Ji Chen was busy in the office when he suddenly received a call from Jiang Baiwan. From the phone, Jiang Baiwan’s voice was lively that the listener couldn’t help but feel at ease.

Ji Chen didn’t hesitate to accept Jiang Baiwan’s invitation and agreed in one breath. After hanging up, Ji Chen became torn—— What should he bring with him if he wanted to go and eat?

When Assistant Xu came in to deliver documents, he saw Ji Chen sitting at his desk with a calm appearance of handling business affairs on the surface, but in fact, his eyes were quite vacant.

……President Ji must be thinking of Miss Jiang again.

Assistant Xu walked in and put the papers on Ji Chen’s desk. He pretended to say in passing, “President Ji, do you need anything else?”

Assistant Xu called out to Ji Chen and only then did he come back from his own thoughts. He frowned and looked at Assistant Xu. After being silent for a moment, he finally asked, “Xiao Wan called me to eat at her place, do you think I should go back and change clothes?”

“President Ji, why do you need to change clothes?” Assistant Xu hurriedly stopped him. “What did Miss Jiang invited you to eat?” It couldn’t be to treat President Ji to Malatang, could it?

Ji Chen: “Hot pot.”

Assistant Xu: “……” Well, it’s better than Malatang.

“Since you’re eating hot pot, President Ji can wear another set of clothes according to the season.” Assistant Xu carefully advised Ji Chen. “Miss Jiang must have seen you in a suit many times, so if you change into another set of casual clothes, it should make Miss Jiang see you in a different perspective.”

Ji Chen’s eyes lit up and let out an “Hmm”. Assistant Xu knew that Ji Chen had agreed. “President Ji, you can bring some dishes over so you will look more genial.”

“Okay, then I’ll leave it to you.” Ji Chen nodded. “I’ll change and you can order some dishes for me.”

Assistant Xu went to work without complaint. When he was making the phone call, Assistant Xu couldn’t help sighing again in his heart—— There really weren’t many good assistants like him these days.

So, an hour later, Ji Chen appeared in front of Jiang Baiwan’s shop wearing a crisp trench coat while carrying a few dishes.

He was just about to enter when…… he heard a man’s voice from inside. “Xiao Wan, where’s the fried prawns you made? When will it be ready? Are you planning to starve both Miss Tan and me to death?”

“You should be polite when eating other people’s food. If you have the ability, then come into the kitchen and do it yourself!” Jiang Baiwan’s voice was a bit muted, supposedly coming from a distance.

It’s that man…… Ji Chen’s complexion became slightly overcast, however, he quickly adjusted his expression and walked into the Malatang shop alone.

Jiang Baiwan happened to come out of the kitchen with a plate. When she saw Ji Chen at the door, she immediately erupted into a big smile. “Ji Chen, you’re here. I was about to call you to ask when you’re arriving.”

Seeing Jiang Baiwan, Ji Chen’s expression visibly softened. “I happen to have nothing to do today, so I came here straight.”

After saying that, Ji Chen walked over and put the things in his hand on the table. “I brought a few dishes that taste quite good. Let’s eat them together.”

“Okay.” Jiang Baiwan also placed down the plate. “This is the fried prawns I just made, try it. I’ll go in and help Master Wei. We can have hot pot in a minute.”

Then Jiang Baiwan trotted off again towards the kitchen, leaving only three people in the hall.

The atmosphere became increasingly awkward. On one side, Luo Xiao wasn’t pleasing to Tan Mi’s eyes, and on other side, there’s also some unpleasant feelings towards Ji Chen whom she once had thoughts about, so she simply lowered her head and played with her phone. On the contrary, Luo Xiao greeted Ji Chen familiarly, while the corners of Ji Chen’s mouth tugged down in response.

Why is this person here too?!

At this moment, the voices in the hearts of the three people became united.

Ji Chen stared at Luo Xiao near him. Since he saw Luo Xiao last time, he went back to find someone to check his background.

However, Luo Xiao’s background was as clean as he revealed outside. This man doesn’t even have any other hobbies other than playing games. Apart from having a good job and academic qualifications, the rest were no different from ordinary people.

Because of this, Ji Chen became even more frustrated. He couldn’t explain why he was unhappy, but he dislikes Luo Xiao from the start.

Perhaps because Ji Chen was staring at Luo Xiao for too long, Luo Xiao suddenly looked over, and the eyes of the two collided. Before Ji Chen could recover, Luo Xiao spoke to him enthusiastically. “Mr. Ji, come and try the fried prawns made by Xiao Wan. She’s quite good at cooking.”

Luo Xiao called Jiang Baiwan intimately, putting him and Jiang Baiwan together with his words, while Ji Chen became an outsider.

Tan Mi couldn’t help raising her eyes to look at Ji Chen, wanting to see how this President Ji would react when facing his romantic rival.

Ji Chen unhurriedly picked up a pair of chopsticks, picked up a prawn and tasted it. After eating, he said, “It’s pretty good. Much improved than her previous dishes. I still remember that before opening this shop, she insisted on making me a bowl of Malatang. The taste is really…… I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life.”

I have known Jiang Baiwan long before you and eaten the food she’d  made herself several times, so when did it become your turn, this pheasant, to cluck here today?

Tan Mi automatically translated Ji Chen’s words in her mind and felt that she was about to suffer internal injuries from holding in her laughter.

Luo Xiao let out an “Oh” and said, “It turns out that Mr. Ji and Xiao Wan have known each other for a long time. My bad, may bad, I was forgetful. One time when I was chatting with Xiao Wan, she seemed to have mentioned this matter.”

Me and Jiang Baiwan often chats and she hasn’t mentioned you much. Are you two really close?

Hearing this, Ji Chen’s dark eyes were calm but there seemed to be surging waves within them. He said placidly. “After all, Xiao Wan and I…… had a bit of a thing. Although it’s over now, she may still be brooding about it a little.”

His words were vague, but the more vague they were at this time, the better. After all, Luo Xiao couldn’t get to the bottom of the matter.

Who knew Luo Xiao didn’t care at all? He chuckled and said as if to comfort Ji Chen, “It’s okay, it’s okay, let bygones be bygones. Who didn’t have any quarrel with friends? When the matter is over, everyone will still be friends.”

When she heard Luo Xiao directly classified the matter between Ji Chen and Jiang Baiwan as ‘friends quarrel’, Tan Mi couldn’t help herself from tittering.

As soon as she laughed, the two men looked at her at the same time. Of course Tan Mi wasn’t afraid. She raised her head and swept the two of them a glance. “Since everyone is here, let’s eat some food. Mr. Ji happens to bring some dishes. Mr. Ji, can you please take them to the kitchen so they can be warmed up?”

Even though Ji Chen had rejected her before, Tan Mi was still sensibly on Ji Chen’s side—— It was obvious that Ji Chen was more sincere to Jiang Baiwan, albeit he couldn’t see it himself. He was much better than Luo Xiao, who was hard to figure out.

Ji Chen knew that Tan Mi was handing him the ladder, and he also took the opportunity. He picked up the plastic bag and stood up. “Then I’ll go to the kitchen.”

After speaking, he strode towards there.

Tan Mi glanced at Luo Xiao. Seeing him lowering his head and sipping a drink, she couldn’t help calling out, “Hey, your words…… what do you mean with them?”

Luo Xiao blinked his eyes in an innocent manner. “What? I was just having a chat with President Ji.”

Tan Mi looked at Luo Xiao with a sneer and deliberately said, “Yes, but some things are still quite troublesome. After all, the outcome is still uncertain.”

Luo Xiao didn’t have any reaction to this and just continued to sip his drink with his head lowered, as if the person who was sparring back and forth with Ji Chen just now wasn’t him.