*
At dinner time, Zhao Sili dragged her to a private kitchen. "To celebrate your battle robe, come on, my treat!"
Tao Xinrou felt she had no reason to refuse.
The private room was elegant with warm yellow lighting. She wore a very uncomfortable bodycon dress and nude pink high heels, walking crookedly. Zhao Sili nodded approvingly beside her. "Ah, the effect is great."
Before she could figure out what was happening, the waiter led them to the door and gestured for them to enter.
The door opened.
Tao Xinrou's mind went blank.
She knew it! Zhao Sili had ulterior motives!
What battle robe, what celebration—it was clearly a trap!
The atmosphere grew even more awkward.
Ying Jingsheng looked at her; she looked at him.
Tao Xinrou felt like a prisoner being escorted to the execution ground, and Zhao Sili was the executioner.
Horrifyingly, the "executioner" was still smiling.
Zhao Sili waved at him enthusiastically. "Cousin, you got here fast!" She pulled Tao Xinrou in. "Look who I brought—ta-da! Your roommate."
Now Tao Xinrou understood why Zhao Sili insisted she change into new clothes. All the earlier sentimentality vanished.
The situation was even more awkward. Ying Jingsheng looked at Tao Xinrou, and Tao Xinrou looked at Ying Jingsheng. Neither knew what to say.
Zhao Sili tugged Tao Xinrou in and pushed her to sit beside Ying Jingsheng before casually continuing, "Xinrou and I just went shopping. My mom texted me that I should bring you something, so I called you out."
His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds before he asked, "Where's the stuff?"
"Oh, the stuff..." Zhao Sili blinked. "It's in the car. I'll get it to you later."
Tao Xinrou silently looked down, convinced this was an excuse Zhao Sili had made up.
But since she was already seated, she couldn't just flee.
Dishes came one by one. Zhao Sili bustled about, serving food to Ying Jingsheng and pouring tea for Tao Xinrou, all while chattering about the heritage project, company gossip, and embarrassing stories from Ying Jingsheng's childhood.
Midway through the meal, Zhao Sili's phone rang. She glanced at the screen, exclaimed "Oh no!" and stood up. "Shoot! I have an appointment with my aesthetician for a facial. I forgot the time. I have to go now." She grabbed her bag in one fluid motion, moving so fast that Tao Xinrou barely reacted before she was at the door.
"Sili?" Tao Xinrou called out.
"Take your time. The bill's already paid. Don't wait for me. Bye!" Zhao Sili said and slipped out, then poked her head back in, sticking out her tongue at Tao Xinrou before slamming the door shut.
The room fell silent except for the bubbling hotpot.
Tao Xinrou held her chopsticks stiffly, staring at Ying Jingsheng across the table, who also hadn't moved. Only one thought echoed in her mind: Help me, what now? Zhao Sili had run off.
She'd used a flimsy excuse and abandoned her here.
Now it was just the two of them, staring at each other.
She thought Zhao Sili was trying to set them up, but really she was creating this excruciatingly awkward solo moment.
Tao Xinrou lowered her head and used her chopsticks to poke at the cold fish ball in her bowl, turning it over and over.
She wished she could poke herself and vanish on the spot.
Ying Jingsheng didn't speak either. He poured himself a cup of tea and sipped slowly.
Time passed. It felt like an eternity, and neither uttered a word.
Until Tao Xinrou's phone screen suddenly lit up.
She picked it up. It was a WeChat message from Zhao Sili.
[Dear Rou, go for it! I'm cheering for you, screaming for you. Make sure you win my cousin over.]
[Don't thank me. Call me the matchmaker angel (◕‿◕)]
[By the way, the battle robe today really caught my cousin's eye. I saw him look at you several times.]
Tao Xinrou wanted to throw her phone into the hotpot.
On second thought, that would be disrespectful to her phone.
As she was racking her brain for a polite way to say, "Let's call it a night," a steady voice came from across the table: "She's gone."
It wasn't a question, but a statement. It seemed he'd received the news too.
Tao Xinrou forced a stiff smile and managed a "mm."
"I figured she would. She's been like that since she was a kid—causes trouble and runs, but not without turning back to make a face."
Tao Xinrou was stunned, unsure how to respond.
Ying Jingsheng looked away and fixed his gaze on her. "Let's eat. I'll take you home after."
Hearing that, the taut string in Tao Xinrou's heart inexplicably loosened a little.
She picked up her chopsticks and started eating again.
They ate in silence for another ten minutes.
During that time, Zhao Sili sent a few more messages, pressing for updates: how things were going, what stage they were at, insisting she make her cousin drink a few glasses—it would help with evening exercise.
Tao Xinrou's cheeks burned. She flipped her phone face-down on the table, refusing to look at it anymore.
*
After dinner, they walked out of the restaurant one after the other.
A cool evening breeze blew, and the shadows of plane trees swayed along the street.
Tao Xinrou was about to suggest they go back together when Ying Jingsheng spoke first: "Since we're out, is there anywhere you'd like to go? Or anything you need to buy?"
Tao Xinrou was taken aback.
What? He was actually asking if she wanted to go shopping?
Had the sun risen in the west today? Or had Zhao Sili fed him some love potion?
She paused for a few seconds, then said inexplicably, "Well... I need to go to the pharmacy."
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, I need to get medicine for my mom. She's almost out. And I'll be busy soon, so I'm afraid I won't have time to restock."
Ying Jingsheng didn't ask further. He just nodded. "Let's go."
The pharmacy was two streets away. At this hour, it wasn't crowded.
Fluorescent light spilled from the glass window, illuminating a pot of dying pothos by the door.
Tao Xinrou walked familiarly to the shelf, picked up a box of medicine, checked the date, put it down, and picked up another.
Ying Jingsheng waited near the entrance, standing erect, looking out of place in the pharmacy's medicinal smell.
She paid, and they left the pharmacy one after another.
No one noticed that in the shadows across the street, a phone had quietly aimed at them and clicked the shutter.