The Byoukidere Is Her Sweetie

Chapter 85: 085: Sweet Pink Bubbles

Jiang Zhi had just snapped back from his reverie, “Hmm?”

Zhou Xufang glanced at the hand he was holding and hesitated but didn’t pull away, “Are you feeling unwell?”

He shook his head without letting go of her hand and led her into the private room with slow steps, not watching the road but turning his head back to look at her, “If one day you want flowers, I’ll buy them for you, but can I not buy roses?”

She said, “I don’t like flowers.”

Jiang Zhi felt once again that everything Xue Baoyi had said was bullshit.

The reserved room was on the second floor, nicely decorated and near a window, where with just a glance up one could see the neon lights at the street corner. However, Jiang Zhi liked cleanliness and had Ah Wan wipe down the table and chairs before he would sit.

...

Zhou Xufang pushed the menu towards him.

He pushed it back to her, “You order for me.”

Ah Wan, standing silently to the side, felt that there was something off about her employer’s persona.

“Do you have any food dislikes?”

Jiang Zhi said he didn’t have any, “Order what you like.”

Ah Wan rolled her eyes, wondering how many finicky, annoying habits this stubborn ancestor of hers had–he wouldn’t eat onions, ginger, or garlic, couldn’t handle fish with bones, wouldn’t eat shrimp that weren’t peeled, porridge couldn’t be too thin or too thick, rice couldn’t be too soft or too hard, couldn’t tolerate even a bit of fat on meat, and would throw a fit if lean meat was even slightly tough…

No food dislikes?

Ha!

Zhou Xufang ordered the signature seafood porridge for Jiang Zhi just like hers but requested hers without egg and added a dozen or so dim sums and all of the signature dishes from the restaurant.

Jiang Zhi frowned deeply at the abundance.

“Don’t order so much.” Thinking about her earning money through hard labor, he couldn’t bear the extra expense and took a pen, crossing out over half of what she had ordered.

Zhou Xufang reached for the pen again, “I’m afraid it won’t be enough for you.”

Jiang Zhi closed the menu decisively and handed it back to the waiter behind him, “I don’t eat much.” He took off his coat and casually slid his chair closer to hers, claiming coolly, “I’m easy to feed.”

Ah Wan felt like scoffing again.

Easy to feed?

Shameless, not knowing who was so picky that he drove several chefs away.

And there was something even more shameless—

“Are you hot?”

Zhou Xufang nodded.

With utmost naturalness, he responded, “Then take off your coat.”

The heater was on in the room and indeed it was a bit warm, so Zhou Xufang took off her coat.

Jiang Zhi glanced at the pink sweatshirt she was wearing, and the more he looked, the more pleasing it was to his eye. With an artistic flair, he was completely at ease, “Why didn’t you come to the set yesterday?”

“I went to clean some windows.”

Jiang Zhi’s eyebrows tightened abruptly, “Clean what windows?”

Zhou Xufang pointed to the high-rise buildings outside the window in a typical, serious tone, “The ones like that.”

The skyscrapers outside soared into the clouds, towering over a hundred meters high.

Jiang Zhi took one look at it and his expression darkened before he fell silent, just watching her.

After a long while, she realized that he seemed to be angry.

“Why aren’t you talking?” She didn’t know what had suddenly annoyed him.

When he wasn’t smiling, with his eyebrows tightly knit, his eyes were filled with severity, “Don’t you know how dangerous working at heights is?”

Oh, he was worried about her.

Patiently, she explained, “It’s okay, I have a professional qualification certificate.”

She even got a certificate…

He fell silent again.

Unable to scold her, he could only sulk.

Seeing that he wasn’t talking, Zhou Xufang also remained silent, poured herself a cup of sweet tea, and sipped it slowly.

She could still drink her tea!

Jiang Zhi grew even more annoyed, “Zhou Xufang!”

His expression was fierce, but because he wore a pink outfit today and his hair was a matte warm color, with an unhealthy pallor over his face making him look delirately gentle, he didn’t seem so imposing. Instead, he looked like a tiny kitten that was angry and trying to be ferocious but had yet to grow claws. Even when he bared his teeth and waved his paws, he had no real power.

Zhou Xufang was not afraid of him at all and even agreed with him.

Jiang Zhi felt like she had scratched the tip of his heart. It was painful and itchy, and he grabbed a handful of his own hair, frustrated and angry, and complained to her, “If I don’t talk to you, can’t you initiate conversation with me?”

His expression was still fierce, but his tone had softened.

Coquetry, Jiang Zhi found, was quite addictive, because she ate it up, and he increasingly took it up with ease.

Zhou Xufang was both confused and stunned. “What should I talk about then?”

“Say that you’ll never work outside again.”

That wouldn’t work; she wanted to buy Moon Bay.

Afraid that Jiang Zhi would get angry, she muttered softly, “I still need to work.”

Jiang Zhi: “…”

When obedient, you could make his heart itch.

When disobedient, you could make his hair stand on end.

Such a pain!

Jiang Zhi took a deep breath, unable to outstubborn her, and could only compromise, “Then can you not do anything dangerous? No window washing, no brick-moving.”

Zhou Xufang thought for a moment, then agreed. No brick-moving—she could work with concrete pumps. No window washing—she could scrub toilets.

Jiang Zhi was naturally still worried, pondered for a moment, “Would you want to become a celebrity?”

Zhou Xufang shook her head without thinking.

Compared to letting her work outside, Jiang Zhi would rather bring her into his own circle, “The entertainment industry is exceedingly profitable, why not join? It’s just about making money, and if you want, I can make you earn until your hands ache.”

She honestly discussed the matter, “I’m not good at acting, singing, or dancing.”

“You don’t need to be, my support is enough.”

That’s how peculiar the entertainment circle was—there were countless ways to be famous, not necessarily through talent.

Zhou Xufang still shook her head, unexplained.

She was not like most people, too much exposure made her feel a severe sense of crisis; she was only suited for solitude, preferably somewhere isolated like Moon Bay.

Jiang Zhi poured himself a cup of tea and gulped it down to cool his temper. He wasn’t angry with her, but with himself because he couldn’t handle her.

At that moment, his phone rang. It was Xue Baoyi.

“What’s the matter?”

His tone was as explosive as if he had swallowed a ton of dynamite.

Xue Baoyi still teasingly ridiculed him from the other end, “Why so angry? Did Zhou Xufang upset you?”

Jiang Zhi couldn’t be bothered to discuss it, “Hanging up.”

“Don’t,” he hastily got to the point, “there’s a bit of a tricky situation at Huayu, Jin Lei has made some secondary preparations, it seems you can’t swallow it all at once.”

Jin Lei and Jin Song, the two brothers fighting like dogs, and plenty of others wanted a piece of it too.

Jiang Zhi didn’t reply to Xue Baoyi, pressed the phone against his ear, and instructed Zhou Xufang, “Don’t move, wait for me here.”

“Mm.” @@novelbin@@

He grabbed his coat, stood up, and left to take the call.

Zhou Xufang didn’t know what it was about, but could Ah Wan not know? It was about discussing thuggish schemes, sneaking in where they’re not wanted—that’s why he was deliberately avoiding the high-principled and morally righteous Miss Zhou.

In the lobby of the porridge shop, a child was crying. The crying annoyed Jiang Zhi, and he pulled a face mask out of his pocket, put it on, and walked outside.

Hearing the sob, the waiter set down his tray and went over to comfort the child. “What’s wrong, little buddy?”

Just then, Jiang Zhi pushed open the door.

The night breeze slipped in, knocking a note off the tray. The child was still sobbing intermittently, unable to find his mother.

The waiter took him to the information desk, made sure everything was handed off at the front, then returned to continue his service, noticing the note had flipped over. Assuming a passing guest had accidentally touched the tray, he didn’t pay much attention, directly taking it into a private room.

“Your seafood porridge.”

“Thank you.” Zhou Xufang asked the waiter, “Which bowl doesn’t have egg in it?”

“The one on the left.”

Zhou Xufang thanked him and moved that bowl in front of herself.

More than ten minutes passed before Jiang Zhi returned to the room, finding Zhou Xufang motionless, lying with her head on the table.