Chapter 16: Ordinary Girl

Lin Ran lowered her eyes, remaining silent. She truly didn’t want to bring up the past, nor did she want to mention Fu Xingjian again.

Seeing her suddenly look so down, Zhuo Ting inwardly regretted her words. Why couldn’t she control her mouth?

After thinking for a while, Zhuo Ting changed the subject to something lighter. “Your President Zhou is also quite the talented man. Does he have a girlfriend? If not, you should consider him.”

Emotions come and go quickly, and by the time Lin Ran spoke again, she was already in a much better mood.

She rolled her eyes. “Right now, all I see is money. As long as I have money for the rest of my life, nothing else matters.”

Just as others described her, her mind was all about money, completely obsessed with it.

She picked up a piece of beef and put it in Zhuo Ting’s bowl. “What about you? Why did you break up with your little boyfriend?”

Mentioning this, Zhuo Ting became sad. “Sigh, there’s nothing I can do. My little boyfriend has too much energy, and I just can’t keep up with him. With my old arms and legs, I’m really exhausted.”

Lin Ran: …

She shouldn’t have asked.

“By the way, how’s the dessert shop? Is the business doing okay?”

Last month, Zhuo Ting used her savings from five years of hard work to open a dessert shop in the city center. When Lin Ran first heard about it, she was shocked—putting all her savings into it was too risky.

But Zhuo Ting had had enough of the internal struggles at her old job and the difficult customers she encountered. She swore she’d never work for someone again; she wanted to be her own boss.

Seeing that she had made up her mind, Lin Ran didn’t try to stop her further and even offered to help out on weekends.

“The foot traffic is decent. I estimate that I’ll break even by the end of the year.”

“That’s great.”

Lin Ran was genuinely happy for her friend. If Zhuo Ting’s dessert shop succeeded, maybe Lin Ran would consider opening a small business herself. It would definitely be better than working a dead-end job.

The next morning, at 7:00 a.m., they took the subway to the dessert shop. Zhuo Ting had originally suggested driving her old car to the city center, but Lin Ran persuaded her that the parking fees were too expensive, so it was more economical to take the subway. Since they had been friends for many years, Zhuo Ting agreed without any objections.

At the dessert shop, Zhuo Ting was busy making desserts while Lin Ran helped clean the tables and set up advertising signs.

By 9:00 a.m., the shop officially opened. Zhuo Ting attracted customers while Lin Ran worked at the register. Despite being their first time working together, they had a great rapport.

“Xingjian, what are you staring at so intently?”

Yao Qian followed his gaze but saw nothing unusual on the street except hurried people and cars.

“Nothing,” Fu Xingjian replied, retracting his gaze and setting down the glass wine cup.

The thick, transparent glass cup reflected dazzling light under the ceiling lamps, casting an enchanting glow that made the person in front of it appear half in shadow, hard to read.

However, Xu Huanran seemed to catch onto something. He shook his glass of wine. “Are you interested in the girl at the dessert shop across the street? You, who usually keep your emotions hidden, I thought you’d already given up on love!”

Yao Qian gave him an incredulous look and then glanced over at the dessert shop. He could only vaguely make out a figure, unable to even see the person’s face clearly.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Xingjian isn’t like you, with love being the only thing on your mind.”

“Xingjian, what do you think?”

“Mm?” Fu Xingjian was lost in thought, not listening to Xu Huanran and Yao Qian’s teasing.

All he could think about was whether he had been too harsh on her. Why was she working part-time on weekends? Was Zhou Xu really as stingy as people said?

At this moment, even Yao Qian was starting to suspect something, raising his eyebrows. “Are you really interested in the girl from the dessert shop?”

Xu Huanran grinned widely. “Let me check her out for you.” With that, he stood up and walked toward the exit.

Yao Qian was afraid he would cause trouble, so he quickly followed. When Fu Xingjian realized what was happening, both of them had already reached the door, so he had no choice but to follow them.

“Welcome…” Zhuo Ting greeted them enthusiastically, her heart leaping with joy at seeing two handsome men. But when she focused, she saw Fu Xingjian standing at the door, and her expression immediately turned from cheerful to cold.

Xu Huanran, with a casual look, glanced at both Zhuo Ting and Lin Ran before sneering. “What a disappointment, just two ordinary girls. Let’s go, let’s go, back to where we came from!”

Zhuo Ting was already angry, but hearing the words “ordinary girls” made her blood boil. She exploded in rage. “You bastard! Who the hell are you to call me an ‘ordinary girl’? Why don’t you take a look at yourself before you speak?!”

Xu Huanran, who had always been treated like royalty, was stunned by the sudden insult.

Yao Qian immediately apologized. “Sorry, my friend is drunk, he’s talking nonsense.” He quickly pulled Xu Huanran out of the shop.

But just after taking a few steps, Xu Huanran realized something—he had been insulted! By a woman no less! He quickly shook off Yao Qian’s hand and pointed at Zhuo Ting, furious. “How dare you insult me?! Do you know who I am?!”

His outburst caused the customers in the shop to flee. Lin Ran rushed over from the register and pulled Zhuo Ting behind her.

“Excuse me, sir, no matter who you are, you started this trouble. You’re in the wrong, so please leave and don’t disturb our business.”

She stood firm, staring at him with calm defiance.

Xu Huanran laughed in anger, pointing at himself. “I’m in the wrong? You have quite the sharp tongue. Today I’ll—”

“Xu Huanran!” A deep voice interrupted.

Fu Xingjian stood at the door, his expression cold. “Go back!”

Zhuo Ting finally realized what had happened and grabbed a broom, glaring at Fu Xingjian. “Fu Xingjian, you have no shame, sending your friend to cause trouble! You’re a horrible person!”

Fu Xingjian clenched his jaw, remaining silent.

…and was forcefully swept by a broom.

Lin Ran was stunned. He actually didn’t dodge.

Quickly, she stopped Zuo Ting and softly said, “Forget it, forget it.”

“I’ll cover all the desserts in the store today, as an apology for my friend,” Fu Xingjian glanced at Lin Ran and spoke in a calm tone.

“Mr. Fu, no need,” Lin Ran refused coldly. “There’s no loss, you can just leave.”

Fu Xingjian’s dark eyes glanced at her lightly. In the end, he didn’t insist, “Okay.”