Watching Ma Pengfei drive away without dropping anything off, Lin Jiang finally felt relieved. He and Li Yuanyuan slowly walked back.
"Brother Jiang, I feel like something is fishy about this."
"What’s fishy about it?"
"First, that food vlogger came to slander us, and now a government official shows up. Spring Harmony Noodle Shop must have reported us," Li Yuanyuan said, still shaken.
"Thankfully, you had the foresight to have us clean the kitchen, or we would’ve been in real trouble."
’If I were that amazing, I’d be a fortune teller, not running a noodle shop here.’
’Then again, most people would never think of reporting themselves.’
"You saw that video of the food vlogger hyping up Spring Harmony Noodle Shop, right?"
"I saw it. What should we do?"
"Go back and find the official social media account for the market supervision bureau. Send the video to them."
"Huh? But everything in there is just hype. If we show it to the officials, won’t that be like free advertising for them?"
"Erm..." Lin Jiang paused. "Just do as I say."
"Got it."
After giving her the instructions, Lin Jiang got in his car and left to go pick up Li Zhiyi.
BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ—
On the way, a message came from Li Zhiyi.
Li Zhiyi: "Brother Jiang, I’m off work. I’ll wait for you at the entrance."
Lin Jiang: [4-second voice message]
After sending the voice message, Lin Jiang sped up. A few minutes later, he pulled up to the entrance of the 4S dealership.
Li Zhiyi was wearing a blue dress with a butterfly print, black flats with square buckles, and carrying a small black purse. She also held a pink bag. Her whole outfit was beautifully coordinated.
Spotting Li Zhiyi, Lin Jiang stopped the car in front of her and rolled down the passenger-side window.
"Get in."
"Brother Jiang, let’s put the license plate on first."
"No rush. There are too many cars here. We can find a less crowded spot to do it later."
"Okay, that works too."
Li Zhiyi got in the car and handed the license plate to Lin Jiang.
"Ooh, Zhiyi, your boyfriend’s here to pick you up."
Just as he was about to drive off, Feng Xile came out with a few male colleagues. She looked at Li Zhiyi in the passenger seat and teased her.
"No wonder you didn’t even take off your black pantyhose after work. So there was a reason for it."
Li Zhiyi’s cheeks flushed red at the comment.
"Brother Jiang is just here to pick up the license plate. Don’t talk nonsense."
"Alright, alright. I know you’re here on business. Go on, get to your ’important business’."
Feng Xile didn’t tease Li Zhiyi any further. If she had really found a well-off boyfriend, Feng Xile would be happy for her.
Li Zhiyi was blushing beet-red. She kept tucking her hair behind her ear, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Brother Jiang, don’t listen to her nonsense. That’s just how she is. She has no filter."
"It’s fine. It’s fun when everyone jokes around with each other."
"Mhm."
Li Zhiyi relaxed a little. She quietly turned her head and glanced at the storage compartment in the passenger-side door, only to find that the stockings she had left there were gone.
’Looks like Brother Jiang took them. Men really do like this stuff. I guess not changing out of my pantyhose after work today was the right choice after all.’
"Brother Jiang, here’s the license plate. Take a look," Li Zhiyi said, pulling it out of the bag.
"There’s not much to see. All the license plates in the country look the same," Lin Jiang said with a smile.
"But I still have to thank you for picking it up for me. Are you free tonight? Let me treat you to dinner."
"I’m free, I’m free! But you didn’t give me a chance to treat you last time, so it has to be my turn."
"You can treat me next time. It’s not a big deal, so there’s no need to argue about it."
"Then I’ll owe you two meals. You have to give me a chance to treat you back in the future."
"No problem."
RING RING RING—
Li Zhiyi’s phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, she didn’t answer. Instead, she opened WeChat and started replying to a message. But before she could send it, the phone rang again.
RING RING RING—
Just as Li Zhiyi was about to decline the call, Lin Jiang said calmly,
"If it’s inconvenient to answer in here, I can pull over so you can get out and take the call."
"No, no, no, it’s not inconvenient! It’s one of my female classmates calling me."
Li Zhiyi specifically emphasized that it was a *female* classmate, afraid that Lin Jiang would get the wrong idea.
Left with no choice, Li Zhiyi answered the phone.
"Hello, Yingying."
"Lulu is already on her way. Are you off work yet?"
"I am, but something suddenly came up. I can’t join you guys for dinner," Li Zhiyi said in a low voice.
"What? But we already made plans! You can’t just bail on me for no reason. We haven’t gotten together in ages."
"Something really did come up suddenly. Let’s get together some other time. My treat."
"But I’ve already prepared everything! It’ll all go to waste if you don’t come. Lulu and I can’t eat this much."
"Then... I’ll head over a little later."
"Okay, you promised. You have to come today."
"Mhm, I know."
’Of all the times to call, it had to be now. So frustrating,’ Li Zhiyi thought, a little annoyed.
"Did you have plans with someone tonight?"
Li Zhiyi was a bit embarrassed.
’She did have plans today. Her college classmates had asked her to dinner. But when Lin Jiang offered to take her out, she couldn’t bear to miss the opportunity, so she told a little lie.’
’And now he knew. It made her look desperate.’
’Even though that was the truth, it was still mortifying that he found out.’
"Yes."
Unable to come up with a good excuse, she could only nod in response.
"If you have something to do, we can just reschedule. It’s not like we have to do it right this second."
"It’s fine. You not only bought a car from me, but you also helped me deal with Wu Guangming. So, we’ll have our dinner first. They can wait their turn."
"There’s no need for that. You wouldn’t be able to relax during dinner, and they’d be anxiously waiting. We can just reschedule," Lin Jiang said as he drove.
"Where do you need to go? I’ll give you a ride."
Since Lin Jiang had put it that way, Li Zhiyi felt she couldn’t insist any longer. ’A girl should be a little more reserved, anyway.’
"It’s at Century Triumph. My classmate found a new job, and she invited us to celebrate over dinner there."
"Oh, Century Triumph. Sounds like her situation is pretty good. The apartments there aren’t cheap."
"She lives in an apartment. I think her boyfriend rents it for her," Li Zhiyi said with a sigh.
"But the apartments there really are expensive. I heard it’s over 200,000 yuan per square meter. A regular worker might not even make enough in a year to afford a single square meter."
Lin Jiang nodded.
’Theoretically, that’s true. But not for cheaters like me.’
The two of them chatted as they drove, and they soon arrived at Century Triumph.
"Brother Jiang, I’m here. Thanks for dropping me off," Li Zhiyi said unenthusiastically.
"It’s no big deal. Don’t mention it."
"We’ll reschedule."
"Okay."
After a few more brief exchanges, Li Zhiyi reluctantly opened the car door, fantasizing about how wonderful it would be if he offered to come pick her up later.
She got out, closed the door, and waved at Lin Jiang.
"I’m going now, Brother Jiang. Bye-bye."
"Yeah, bye-bye."
Waving one last time, Li Zhiyi turned to leave. Just then, a surprised voice called out.
"Zhiyi, you’re here too!"

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