Water and Fire~Chapter 48.1: You Keep It

 

Chapter 48.1: You Keep It

Chu Qianmiao ignored the message that popped up on her phone. After all, she was Zhang Teng's soldier, and she was going to give herself a stomachache that afternoon. It was definitely going to be so bad that she couldn't work overtime at Yousi.

She asked the waiter for the menu and handed it to Tan Shen for his order.

"Anything?" Tan Shen asked as he took the menu.

"Anything!" Chu Qianmiao replied proudly. "How can you go broke eating barbecue?"

Tan Shen flipped through the menu and said, "This place actually has seafood!" He waved over the waiter. "Are the lobsters and king crabs in your restaurant alive?"

"………………"

Chu Qianmiao's mouth twitched.

After lobster, Tan Shen ordered king crab, then giant snails, and after the giant snails, oysters... He also ordered crayfish in various flavors, including spicy garlic and thirteen-spice sauce... In short, he ordered whatever was expensive, while the meat skewers, which should have been the star of the show, became just a sideshow.

Chu Qianmiao felt a pang of anxiety. These seafood dishes were too expensive; she usually couldn't bear to eat them. Whenever she came, she would just order some lamb skewers with Gu Miaoyu.

Tan Shen ordered the expensive items and closed the menu with satisfaction. He said with a look of surprise, "This little shop has a simple facade, but I didn't expect it to be so hidden. There are so many good things!" He glanced at Chu Qianmiao, "I remember you loved seafood. I do too!"

Chu Qianmiao smiled stoically. She mentally calculated the price of the meal and figured she might have to stay and wash the dishes after dinner.

She and Gu Miaoyu exchanged a glance, and Gu Miaoyu silently told her she'd help her brush...

Chu Qianmiao mostly felt blessed by her life, but sometimes she felt the lingering notion of class. Some people indulged in delicious meals without blinking an eye, while others constantly calculated what they'd have left to eat until their next payday. The economic base dictated the superstructure. Even if everyone was equal, spending power already distinguished people.

For example, she and Tan Shen, she and Lei Zhenzi, and she and Ren Yan.

Compared to their privileged backgrounds, she felt so insignificant, even having to calculate the cost of a single meal. But she wasn't discouraged. She was still young, and by the time she reached thirty, she was sure to achieve financial freedom.

After a while, the dishes arrived.

When Chu Qianmiao and Tan Shen were dating, they'd never had barbecue, but they had enjoyed copper furnace hotpot together. Young Master Shen was quite reserved around the hot pot, never willing to reach for anything to shove into the copper pot. Chu Qianmiao prepared everything, and he ate everything ready-made. Eventually, Chu Qianmiao became displeased, slamming the table and declaring, "We're just friends, not practicing raising a son."

Tan Shen then launched into a flurry of complaints, saying, "I'm sorry, Miao. I didn't have the sense to be treated well during meals. It was always others who arranged the meal and served me. This won't happen again."

Before the last time, they parted ways amicably.

True to his usual behavior as a young master, Chu Qianmiao was prepared for Young Master Shen to dig in as soon as the dishes—skewers, lobsters, and more—were served.

Tan Shen's excellent performance stunned her.

As soon as the crayfish arrived, he put on gloves and began peeling them. After peeling one, he placed it in Chu Qianmiao's bowl, explaining, "This is thirteen-spice. You're hungry, so try something non-spicy first!"

Then he peeled another spicy one and placed it in Chu Qianmiao's bowl, continuing his explanation, "Try this one and see if it's spicy. If it's too spicy, I'll have them bring some soup and rinse it for you before you eat!"

Chu Qianmiao stared at the peeled crayfish in the bowl, stunned.

Gu Miaoyu turned to look at her, her expression also as if she had been enlightened by this sweet guy—so this is what other people's exes are like.

Chu Qianmiao quickly said to Tan Shen, "Don't peel it for me. Eat it yourself. I'll do it myself."

Tan Shen looked up at her, his gaze suddenly deep. "I learned how to peel crayfish online yesterday. You can't let me learn it for nothing!"

Chu Qianmiao was flattered. If she hadn't been broke, she would have thought Tan Shen's courtesy was a ulterior motive, like borrowing money from her.

After peeling the crayfish, the next thing to come was the lobster. Tan Shen said, "I learned how to peel a lobster online yesterday!" and put the lobster meat into Chu Qianmiao's bowl.

After the lobster, the next thing to come was the king crab.

"I learned how to eat king crab online yesterday!"

After that, he put all the crab meat into Chu Qianmiao's bowl.

When he mentioned that he'd found a video of Xinjiang lamb skewers and learned how to flip them for optimal flavor, Chu Qianmiao couldn't help but ask, "Are you planning on opening a restaurant this time?"

Tan Shen, displeased, threw the skewers onto the stove, not flipping them. He said, "Chu Qianmiao, can you please stop playing dumb? I'm doing this to open a restaurant. I'm just trying to show you that I'm caring, okay?!"

Chu Qianmiao didn't back down, either: "I feel it, I feel it. This barbecue restaurant is truly honored to have you, Young Master Shen, taking care of me!"

Tan Shen glared at her, and Chu Qianmiao matched his gaze. Gu Miaoyu, beside him, was terrified, worried that if the two of them started arguing, the table would flip and splash all over her.

But Tan Shen, staring at her for a moment, suddenly smiled, his lips rosy and his teeth white, like a demon. He said to Chu Qianmiao, "I'm giving in to you this time and letting you off the hook. But next time, it'll be your turn to give in to me!"

Chu Qianmiao: Ha.

Tan Shen turned to Gu Miaoyu and asked, "Didn't I scare you just now? Qianmiao and I are like this when we're together!"

Gu Miaoyu shook her head blankly, admitting she wasn't scared. In her heart, she cursed Chu Qianmiao and Tan Shen for being two psychos.

Chu Qianmiao started the conversation by asking Tan Shen to tell her about his time abroad. He spoke vividly, though he didn't seem to be saying much as he recounted these experiences.

His story was entertaining, and Chu Qianmiao and Gu Miaoyu were quite interested.

Chu Qianmiao asked questions from time to time, seemingly casually, asking whatever came to mind.

"Is the return ticket easy to buy?" she asked.

"Cheap things are hard to find, but expensive ones are easy to find," Tan Shen said.

"..." Chu Qianmiao wondered if this was a low-key display of wealth.

"You said you were on the same flight as Li Tang the day you came back?" Chu Qianmiao asked casually while eating skewers.

"Well, isn't it a coincidence that we're on more than one flight together? We might end up working for the same company," Tan Shen said.

Chu Qianmiao looked up at him. "By the way, where are you going to work?"

Tan Shen said, "You're so thoughtful. You only remembered to ask about my work when we were almost done eating." After a pause, he said, "I joined an investment company, Yingji Capital."

Chu Qianmiao thought, Oh, so Li Tang works at Yingji Capital.

She asked again, "Hey, you said you got a ride with Senior Ren the day you came back? Where did he drop you off?"

Tan Shen said, "That's a coincidence. Li Tang and I live in the same neighborhood, which is why I thought I'd get a ride with Senior Ren." He paused, then changed the subject. "By the way, Qian Miao, I wanted to ask you something. You've worked with Senior Ren for so long. What kind of person is he? I get the feeling he harbors some hostility toward me. He was cold to me the whole way there that night."

Chu Qian Miao said, "He's just like that. He's cold to everyone." After a pause, she casually asked, "Was he like that to Li Tang, too?"

Tan Shen thought for a moment. "Yeah, not too warm either."

Chu Qian Miao: "You see, he's just like that. The kind of person that mosquitoes wouldn't bite in the summer." She thought the skewers seemed quite delicious, even more fragrant than the expensive seafood she'd just eaten, and she enjoyed it very much.

Tan Shen watched Chu Qianmiao devour her meal and suddenly said, "Oh, no! I'm afraid I've gotten Li Tang into trouble. Maybe Senior Ren misunderstood something was going on between me and Li Tang, and that's why he's been so cold to us all the way?"

Chu Qianmiao's teeth were irritated by a hidden tendon. She frowned, thinking, "What kind of shredded meat is this? I can't even bite it."

Tan Shen continued to ask, "I really just wanted a ride. Do you think Senior Ren misunderstood something about Li Tang and me?"

Chu Qianmiao stiffened her neck and simply swallowed the chewed tendon. She nearly choked.

"Are you asking me?" she said to Tan Shen. "I don't even know what the word 'Litang' is, and you're asking me?"

Tan Shen frowned at her. "If you don't know, then you don't know. Why are you charging at me like this?"

Chu Qianmiao raised her voice, "Is this my first day charging at you?"

The tense atmosphere between them suddenly made Gu Miaoyu want to escape. She regretted coming to this meal. It was like she was watching two people who turned into psychos the moment they met each other.

Tan Shen slammed the table. "But you used to be aggressive with your words, but now you're using rhetorical questions! You know how infuriating it is!!"

Chu Qianmiao was stunned. She had actually used rhetorical questions just now.

She didn't know when Ren Yan had influenced her to start using rhetorical questions.

Damn it.