Chapter 29: The enemy wants to see the child

Sun Han quickly discovered that figuring out the seating arrangement when eating with Lin Huaixu was a troublesome matter.

Leaving Xin Rui to sit next to Lin Huaixu wasn’t appropriate, since Lin Huaixu was Tong An’yu’s ex-boyfriend.

Pushing Tong An’yu towards Lin Huaixu was even less appropriate.

Their breakup had been so tragic, and they were separated by the enmity of their fathers’ bankruptcies.

Who knew what Lin Huaixu was actually planning?

It wouldn’t be a big deal for her to sit with Lin Huaixu, but that would be especially weird.

After all, she was the only one present who knew all three of them, while Xin Rui and Tong An’yu had just met.

Before Sun Han could work through her dilemma, Lin Huaixu had already made the arrangement for her.

The waiter led them to a four-person table.
Lin Huaixu naturally took Tong An’yu’s arm and pulled her to his side.

Just then, a waiter passed by with a sizzling, greasy pan-fried steak.

His action made it seem as if he was just making way for Tong An’yu.

The four of them were thus split into two sides.

Xin Rui didn’t overthink it and sat down with Sun Han.

Sun Han hesitated, repeatedly exchanging glances with Tong An’yu.

Tong An’yu felt like half her body was numb.

She knew very well that she should have refused to eat with Lin Huaixu back in the elevator lobby.

Whether it was old feelings or old grudges, it was inappropriate for them to get too close again.

But the words were stuck in her throat, unable to come out.

Her body naturally yearned to be close to Lin Huaixu, just like how she used to be unable to resist stealing a kiss while he was asleep.

Just a light, fleeting touch had made her heart flutter.

This was an experience she hadn’t had again in seven years.

She once thought she had grown up, become steady, and was able to set aside love and affection to devote herself to the higher realm of technological development.

It turned out…

“Sit.”

Lin Huaixu released his hand and sat down first in the booth seat, taking on the air of a host despite being a guest.

He was clearly the one who had been invited.

Tong An’yu feigned calmness and sat down.
The spot where he had held her continued to send erroneous signals to her brain.

His fingers were so long.

How could they completely encircle her forearm even when just holding it?
This almost created a closed loop of warmth, as his palm temperature was noticeably higher than her body’s.

He wasn’t as thin as he was seven years ago.
His muscles were perfectly toned.

When he exerted force, his forearm tensed slightly, and the black shirt concealed the faint veins that surfaced.

And then, she saw the watch he was wearing.

A Breitling Red Serpent Avenger.

Whether it was intentional or not, it was like a basin of cold water being poured over her.

Tong An’yu instantly calmed down, then shifted her chair slightly outwards, creating a distance of two palm-widths between herself and Lin Huaixu.

The watch did suit his temperament.
The yellow dial didn’t look out of place with his all-black suit.

But there was no need for her to get close and be a nuisance.

At this moment, Lin Huaixu had just taken the menu from the waiter.

No one noticed his fingers tightening under the menu.

His peripheral vision swept over the distance between them, a chasm that seemed insurmountable, one that she had personally created.

Knowing she already belonged to someone else, knowing she didn’t want to get entangled with the past, he still couldn’t avoid that momentary emotional backlash.

He wanted so badly to hold the back of her neck, to wrap his arm around her waist, to cut off all her retreats and devour her unguarded breath, just like he used to.

A few seconds later.

Lin Huaixu pushed the menu to the center of the table, his emotions already appearing natural.

“You guys order.”

Xin Rui said, “Little Tong, you do it. You know this place better.”

A thin layer of sweat formed on Tong An’yu’s palm.

She touched the menu, her fingers leaving faint prints on it.

“Mm, this place is famous for—”

She casually flipped the menu, then suddenly froze.

Her words got stuck in her throat, like a malfunctioning cassette tape.

Unexpectedly, the first dish that appeared before her eyes was pan-seared and steamed cod.

Pan-seared and steamed cod, pan-seared and steamed cod…

—‘Caramel latte, pan-seared and steamed cod, and anything else you want. I want you to have it all.’

Why exactly did she like this restaurant?
Was it really because the food was more delicious than the Sichuan and Hunan cuisine she was used to?

Why did she order that Brabus after returning to the country?

Was it really because it stood out among the many luxury cars?

It turned out her subconscious choices were unknown even to herself.

It turned out that even when she remembered nothing, her body still wanted to love Lin Huaixu.

Xin Rui leaned in.

“Cod… is the cod here good?”

She saw that Tong An’yu had been staring at it for a long time.

Tong An’yu snapped back to reality, almost flusteredly flipping the page to cover the cod.

“I haven’t had it. It’s probably not that good.”

Sun Han didn’t know the past associated with the pan-seared and steamed cod.
But she knew Tong An’yu well.

Her little finger was still tucked into the page with the cod, refusing to let go.

So, Sun Han thoughtfully said, “If you want to eat it, just order it.”

“I don’t—”

“I want to eat it. Order it,” Lin Huaixu said faintly, taking a sip of the sour and astringent cucumber-lemon water.

Thump, thump, thump.

What on earth was making that sound?

Oh.

Damn it.

Only she was a tangled mess.

“Oh, so CEO Lin likes cod. That’s—”

See?

Of course.

That was his taste to begin with.

It had nothing to do with her.

Tong An’yu distractedly chose a few more signature dishes.

No one had any objections, so they called the waiter over to place the order.

The waiter recorded all the dishes and then asked, “Would any of you like anything to drink? Our tea drinks are also quite good.”

Xin Rui thought, ‘When eating with the boss, maybe we should have tea. Whether it’s barley tea or Da Hong Pao, it can’t go wrong.’

“What kind of tea do you have here?”

The waiter said, “We have black tea, green tea, and white tea, as well as other sweet drinks with a tea base.”

Xin Rui pondered, “Then let’s have…”

Lin Huaixu said, “A caramel latte, thank you.”

Clatter.

Tong An’yu knocked over the knife and fork beside her hand.

Xin Rui said, “Eh, doesn’t CEO Lin drink black coffee?”

She remembered hearing after starting her job in Shenzhen-Hong Kong that the company’s pantry had bought a very good coffee machine and beans just because Lin Huaixu liked to drink black coffee.

Lin Huaixu said, “I don’t usually drink sweet things, but someone thought I liked it.”

So he had never clarified it.

Because when it was handed to him by someone, it really was delicious.

Xin Rui was curious.

“Who was it?”

Lin Huaixu didn’t answer.

Xin Rui asked, “Was it the secretary?”

Tong An’yu hurriedly bent down to pick up the fallen knife and fork.

‘Stop asking! It was me, it was me!’

“Ma’am, we’ll pick it up later.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s convenient for me.”

Tong An’yu quickly buried her face under the table.

But when she looked closely, she was dumbfounded.

Convenient my a**.

The knife was fine, right under her chair.
But the fork was a real piece of work.

It had actually bounced to the heel of Lin Huaixu’s leather shoe.

To retrieve the fork, she would have to reach her hand under her nemesis’s leg.

Her nemesis’s leg…

Sigh, did trousers really flatter the figure that much?

Why did his legs look so long from this angle?

That’s right.

If they weren’t long, he wouldn’t have had to adjust her mountain bike seat to the highest setting every time.

‘He probably won’t feel it, right?’

‘It’ll just be for a moment.’

Tong An’yu extended two fingers and reached under Lin Huaixu’s leg.

Her hand had just crossed the shadow cast by Lin Huaixu’s trousers and was nearing his shoe when the light drew a distinct line of light and shadow on her fair arm.

A hand suddenly cupped the back of her head.

“Get up,” he said.

Tong An’yu froze, motionless.

She heard her nemesis take a deep breath.
His legs, which had been casually placed, were now tensed tightly, the trousers pulling into obvious creases.

Tilting her head up, she saw her nemesis looking down, his eyes extremely dark, brewing with emotions she couldn’t comprehend.

She pulled her hand back from under her nemesis’s leg, even though she had been just about to grab it.

Only after seeing her get up and sit properly did Lin Huaixu bend down himself, spread his long legs, and pick up the fork.

The waiter took the dirty utensils.

“Sorry for the trouble. Besides the caramel latte, would you like anything else?”

The back of Tong An’yu’s head was also numb.

She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and calmed herself.

“Herbal tea. Give me that Cantonese-style cooling and fire-reducing herbal tea.”

The waiter said, “We don’t have Cantonese-style herbal tea, but we have iced lychee fire-reducing tea.”

Tong An’yu said, “That’s fine.”

She had to cool down.

Her nemesis had touched her head again.
Even though it was to urge her to get up.

With this interruption, Xin Rui also forgot to ask who that person was.

She looked down at her phone, sighed wearily, and then put the phone face down.

Sun Han asked, “What’s wrong? Something at work you need to deal with?”

At the mention of work, Lin Huaixu also glanced over.

Xin Rui quickly explained, “No, no, it’s my ex. He heard I came to Jing City and is always trying to ask me out to eat. I feel that since we broke up, there’s no need to stay in touch. We’re strangers from now on. But he wants to continue being friends.”

“Ex… ex-boyfriend?”

Tong An’yu gasped guiltily, feeling even more flustered.

Her ex was right beside her, asking her to eat.

Sun Han and Tong An’yu exchanged a glance.

Sun Han secretly kicked Xin Rui’s foot under the table.

“If you really liked someone, you can’t be friends after breaking up. Let’s not talk about exes.”

“No,” Xin Rui didn’t get the hint and continued, “He’s a fickle and sentimental person. When I went to Shenzhen-Hong Kong, we were long-distance. He fell in love with someone else out of loneliness, but he couldn’t let go of me and always wanted to stay in touch. If you ask me, an ex should be like a corpse, dead in your contact list. Still thinking about them is being promiscuous, and if you’re still entangled with them, you’re a scumbag!”

Critical hit, critical hit, consecutive critical hits.

Tong An’yu was almost dazed by the words “promiscuous” and “scumbag.”

Her hand holding the lemon water was shaking.

She stole a glance at her nemesis.
He was as composed as ever, his emotions stable.

One really had to start a business.
An entrepreneur’s mentality was truly unshakable.

The meal was tasteless.

When the plates were empty, Tong An’yu finally felt a sense of relief.

When it was time to pay, the waiter proactively walked to Lin Huaixu’s side.
Perhaps because he was the only man, or perhaps because he had such a strong leadership presence, in any case, no one else even had a chance to fight for the bill before Lin Huaixu had swiped his card.

Xin Rui said, “Little Tong, this place is really good. Let’s get together again when we have the chance.”

Tong An’yu said, “Okay, okay.”

Xin Rui said, “Boss, thank you for treating us to lunch. I’ll treat you to coffee when I have time.”

“You’re welcome,” Lin Huaixu said in a calm tone.

Sitting in the elevator of the Jingjin Tower, Tong An’yu finally let out a long sigh of relief.

It was finally over.

She could hide back in Hexin Technology.
From now on, she would be a well-behaved corpse and never run into her nemesis again.

The elevator ascended.

Tong An’yu stared at the numbers ticking by one by one.

Lin Huaixu suddenly asked, “Where’s Cooper?”

Tong An’yu straightened up.

Xin Rui thought the boss was asking Sun Han, so she wondered, “Who’s Cooper? A colleague?”

Sun Han said, “Uh…”

Lin Huaixu’s gaze shifted this time, its direction clear.

“Tong An’yu.”

Tong An’yu’s mind was buzzing.

She couldn’t pretend to be an idiot, so she said, “…At my parents’ house.”

Lin Huaixu retracted his gaze and said nonchalantly, “With all those ‘pats,’ the child must miss me. Bring him over sometime so I can see him.”

Ding!

The elevator reached the seventh floor, just before Tong An’yu could think of blowing it up to destroy the body and eliminate the evidence.