The four of them went to a barbecue restaurant.

Xue Meng was still pressing Jiang Lan for more details about the post, feeling acutely that he knew more about this than he was willing to let on.

But Jiang Lan was very vague about it.

Xue Meng’s curiosity was fully aroused. Perhaps because he had personally experienced it, his fear of supernatural force was not as intense as before, and he even dared to be curious about it. After they ordered the food and the waitress left, he rechecked the post, only to find it was gone.

Xue Meng.”???”

Looking at Jiang Lan, he said.” How come the post was deleted?”

Jiang Lan whispered in his ear.” That thing is not a mermaid, and the OP is still alive and receiving treatment in a hospital.”

Goosebumps started to appear in Xue Meng’s skin. He found out that he was just not afraid of mermaids. If the mermaids turned out to be other mysterious creatures, he was still easily frightened.

After the barbecue, they prepared to go home.

Zhang Tianxing gave Suan Ni back to Jiang Lan with great reluctance.” The nest in our office is too small, tomorrow I will replace it with a bigger one?”

Jiang Lan turned down his offer.” That is Uncle Zhou’s gift. It is enough.”

Zhang Tianxing didn’t give up easily.” Then I will bring Nini more toys.”

Jiang Lan watched him. This silent expressionless cool young man was now looking at Suan Ni with the look of a discarded, miserable child.

He laughed but didn’t refuse. He turned to Suan Ni.” Now say goodbye to our cool guy.”

Obedient Suan Ni tilted his head and meowed to Zhang Tianxing.

“See you tomorrow.”

Zhang Tianxing was satisfied and left.

***

The next day, when Jiang Lan walked into the office, he saw a pile of cat’s toys.

He suspected Zhang Tianxing might one day fill this small office to capacity with toys and snacks.

Suan Ni had already grown close to Zhang Tianxing after being showered with snacks. He jumped down from Jiang Lan’s shoulder and started to pick his toys.

Jiang Lan shook his head, and didn’t know how to react to his brother’s behavior. He placed Jiao Tu on his desk and whispered to him.” How about I buy you a small aquarium to put on my desk?”

Jiao Tu agreed inside his conch.

Today their workload was light. After finishing a report, Jiang Lan started to search for a suitable aquarium online.

Jiao Tu loves shining gemstones. So the small aquarium shouldn’t be too plain-looking. After a while, he settled on a small aquarium. Then he went to a gemstone shop and placed an order for many shining gemstones and jades.

While completing the payment, Jiang Lan thought about how to explain these gemstones. If he said these were faux gemstones, no one would suspect him?

****

After shopping, it was time to get off work.

As Jiang Lan was tidying up his desk, Ying Qiao called to tell him he was already at the gate waiting for him.

Jiang Lan waved Zhang Tianxing goodbye and walked out with Suan Ni.

Today Ying Qiao was dressed in a silver-grey blazer. His hair was well-combed. Jiang Lan threw him a few more glances, feeling he was a little different today.

But he couldn’t see what was different about him. More handsome, that’s for sure.

After hearing this, Ying Qiao’s smile broadened.

They took the subway to the restaurant.

This time, Jiang Lan picked an expensive Japanese restaurant. He was wealthy now, so he could afford to invite Ying Qiao to an expensive restaurant and splurge out on good food.

After being seated by the waitress, Jiang Lan passed the menu to Ying Qiao, asking him to order anything he likes.

Reading the price listed on the menu, Ying Qiao fell silent. He was contemplating the appropriate dishes to order so as not to exceed Jiang Lan’s budget.

Glancing at the Little Monster, who was in high spirits, he decided against suggesting to switch to another more affordable restaurant. If the Little Monster decided on this restaurant, this suggestion might hurt his self-esteem.

Finally, Ying Qiao ordered two plates of Sushi.

Seeing this, Jiang Lan ordered more Sashimi. How could they go to a Japanese restaurant without ordering Sashimi?

Ying Qiao’s brow furrowed more when he saw Jiang Lan ordered more food.” Perhaps we ordered too many?”

“No.” Jiang Lan answered without thinking, then it occurred to him that as a little monster, he shouldn’t eat this much. So he hurriedly added.” I ordered these for you.”

Ying Qiao.” I can’t eat this much.”

Jiang Lan.” Oh.”

Finally, he reluctantly deleted half the dishes he ordered.

Looking at the sum of their order, Ying Qiao was finally satisfied with the moderate cost.

There weren’t too many diners in this restaurant tonight. So their food was quickly served.

Jiang Lan felt a little disappointed with the small quantity of Sashimi they ordered, thinking he would come here next time, alone!

Ying Qiao barely touched the food. Instead, he watched him eat most of the time. Jiang Lan ate his food like a hamster, with cheeks moving with each bite. From time to time, he would feed a very yummy part to his two brothers.

While Ying Qiao was watching him openly, Jiang Lan stole a few glances at him.

When they were almost finished, and the atmosphere between them was warmed up, Jiang Lan placed his chopsticks on the desk, cleared his throat, and got to the business tonight.

“Where did you buy the dried fish you gave Suan Ni? The taste is so much better than other dried fish.”

En?

This question caught Ying Qiao by surprise, he answered casually.” Do you like it? I will buy it again for you if you like it.”

Jiang Lan watched him with a solemn look on his face and started to lure him into a trap.” What kind of fish is that dried fish? So yummy.”

Ying Qiao didn’t notice his increasingly angry look.” It’s just an ordinary fish.”

Jiang Lan.”!!!”

He squinted his eyes and decided to say it.” A colleague of mine said it is Wen Ray Fish, very, very expensive!”

He stressed the words “very expensive”.

Ying Qiao was surprised but still remained calm while suitably pretending to be a little confused.” That is the dried fish my boss gave me. I thought it was just ordinary dried fish. Is it expensive?”

Yi?

Jiang Lan thought he seemed sincere enough when he said this. Suddenly his mood brightened. The dried fish turned out to be a gift from Boss Cheng, not Ying Qiao bought with his own money.

That made sense.

He was greatly relieved and mumbled to him.” I thought you had overspent your money, buying dried fish this expensive.”

Ying Qiao smiled.” Why? I don’t have much money.”

Jiang Lan.” En, En.”

“But why did Boss Cheng choose to give you an expensive gift?”

Ying Qiao.” That dried fish seems to be a gift for my boss. But he didn’t like it, so he gave them to me.”

There wasn’t a single flaw in Ying Qiao’s story. He passed the test. Then he added casually.” Who told you these were Wen Ray Fish? I don’t even recognize them myself.”

Ying Qiao suspected Zhou Shu^[1]TL’s note: Uncle Zhou’s name, please read Chapter 19had betrayed his trust and revealed his background a little.

But Jiang Lan said a name he didn’t know.

“Zhang Tianxing?”

Jiang Lan.” En, I heard from Uncle Zhou that he was a member of the Tianshi Mansion, very wealthy.”

Ying Qiao saw the sparkling lights in the Little Monster’s eye and was a little dismissive about it.” The Tianshi Mansion is not that rich.”

Jiang Lan was puzzled.” Is that so?”

He always thought the wealth of the Tianshi Mansion was comparable to the Dragon Palace’s affluence. 

Then he saw Ying Qiao raise his chin a little, glancing at him.” Ying Dragon was the wealthiest.”

“……….”

It suddenly dawned on Jiang Lan that Ying Qiao had belittled the Tianshi Mansion to make the image of the Ying Dragon, his idol, look brighter.

Read more advance chapters on Patreon to support us

Advance Chapters TOC