Are You Allergic To Romance? - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Are You Afraid of Me?

Jing Yuan was teased by Xie Mianzhi and just looked at the other person silently.

Her gaze was sincere and honest, like she was looking at someone she treasured deeply; she couldn’t even control the affection she was unintentionally showing.

So, when Xie Mianzhi looked up, Jing Yuan quickly averted her eyes.

Stay calm.

“Thank you,” Jing Yuan said.

Xie Mianzhi put away her handkerchief and intentionally raised an eyebrow. “Your reaction time is so slow. Are you thanking me for wiping your shoulder, or for calling you a ‘little idiot’?”

“You tell me,” Jing Yuan shrugged helplessly.

“I think you’re thanking me for seeing that you’re a little idiot. Let’s go.” Since she had a rare chance, she had to tease her a bit more. Before Jing Yuan could refute, Xie Mianzhi quickly beckoned her.

Immediately after, they were led by the waiter into the high-end restaurant.

The restaurant’s Manager Xu saw the familiar, noble figure and immediately welcomed her, greeting Xie Mianzhi warmly.

“Miss Xie, you’ve arrived.”

Xie Mianzhi returned a smile. “I heard you have new dishes, so I specially brought my friend to try them.”

“That’s a great honor. Yes, we’ve introduced many seafood delicacies. I hope you and your friend will be satisfied this time.” Manager Xu was momentarily dazed by Xie Mianzhi’s smile. She had never encountered such a warm and kind Second Miss of the Xie family; after all, the few times she had visited before, her expression was always arrogant.

Perhaps it was because of the friend she brought?

This was the first time she had seen Miss Xie dine here with anyone other than their boss.

Ah… this young lady, she possessed a pair of golden eyes and straight black hair. For some reason, she exuded a gloomy aura that screamed ‘keep out.’

“I will take you upstairs right away. It’s the top-floor flower room specifically requested by Boss Xin. It’s the best dining location overlooking the city. Please follow me.” As the woman raised her eyes, Manager Xu quickly retracted her gaze. She respectfully led the two esteemed guests to the top-floor restaurant.

Led personally by the manager, Xie Mianzhi saw the prime spot her friend had specially reserved for her. The space was well-proportioned, near the window overlooking the city, and the privacy was decent. Although the top-floor restaurant didn’t have separate rooms, the patrons who dined here were generally expected to have good manners and wouldn’t peer rudely.

Xie Mianzhi was very satisfied with the location. She motioned for Jing Yuan to sit down and asked, “Is this okay?”

Jing Yuan nodded immediately in response.

She’s so obedient.

Xie Mianzhi felt that this question-and-answer exchange with Jing Yuan was quite comical. The certain Miss Jing was so docile, she was like some kind of puppy.

A certain eldest Miss of the Xie family really wanted to reach out and stroke this little dog’s head at this moment, but a waiter came over to present them with drinks, interrupting her plan.

Honestly~

“Hello, today’s pre-meal drink is an iced beverage made from fresh lychees,” the waiter introduced respectfully.

Jing Yuan liked the white, nearly transparent drink in the glass cup. It was made from lychees.

“I don’t know if you can drink alcohol, but we have the current seasonal drink here. Try it first.” Xie Mianzhi remembered she had stored a few bottles of Louis Roederer at this restaurant, but unfortunately, she was driving today.

Jing Yuan heard the word “alcohol,” and the corner of her mouth lifted slightly. She had secretly tasted a type of strong liquor when she was little, and she almost destroyed Grandfather Hong Que’s villa back then.

However, her tolerance for alcohol should be fine now.

“Do you like to drink?” Jing Yuan asked the person in front of her. If Xie Mianzhi liked to drink, her grandfather had once given her some good vintage collection, which was kept in the family’s wine cellar. When they had time, she could invite Xie Mianzhi to taste it, or just gift it to her directly.

Xie Mianzhi chuckled and quickly waved her hand. She couldn’t let Jing Yuan know she liked alcohol; she had to maintain her image. “I usually only take a little sip. The plum wine I brought back from your house last time was very agreeable, though.”

“I learned how to brew it from Granny Shen, but it’s not fully matured yet,” Jing Yuan replied. She was very happy that the other person liked the plum wine.

Xie Mianzhi pretended to catch the implied meaning in Jing Yuan’s words and joked, “Ah, is that so? You wouldn’t be brewing it for me, would you? Planning to bring it to me later.”

Jing Yuan was startled by this remark and didn’t know how to answer. She slightly opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but instead just picked up the glass and took a sip to mask the panic of her little secret being exposed.

“I’m just teasing you. Look how flustered you are,” Xie Mianzhi saw the person’s shy demeanor, and of course, she knew the other person didn’t mean that. “I need to go to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

Xie Mianzhi stood up, and Jing Yuan also stood up with her.

“You’re going too?” Xie Mianzhi was a little confused. Was the other person going to follow her?

It was only when Xie Mianzhi asked that Jing Yuan realized this was a conditioned reflex. She remembered how uncoordinated Xie Mianzhi was and how easily she could fall, so she was slightly worried. “Can you manage by yourself?”

“What do you think? Am I incapable of taking care of myself?” Xie Mianzhi really wanted to roll her eyes. Was the little kid looking down on her? Although she had nearly fallen several times recently.

Jing Yuan still emphasized very solemnly, “Then be careful.”

She then sat back down.

Xie Mianzhi burst into laughter.

“What are you laughing at?” Jing Yuan was helpless at the other’s sudden amusement.

“I’m laughing at how much you worry about me. Relax, I won’t fall again. There’s no wind here.” Xie Mianzhi seized the moment while Jing Yuan was stunned and casually ruffled the other person’s hair. The next second, following Jing Yuan’s widened eyes, she quickly walked to the restroom, giving Jing Yuan no chance to protest.

Jing Yuan looked at Miss Xie Mianzhi’s retreating back, tidied the hair that the other had intentionally messed up, and sighed helplessly.

Only Xie Mianzhi dared to be so reckless with her.

And was that considered worry? Probably, perhaps, yes, hmm.

After thinking about this, Jing Yuan’s ear tips turned red as she stared at the drink in front of her, lost in thought.

She wanted to wait and drink it with Xie Mianzhi.

Just then, as a woman passed by very suddenly, the glass cup on her table nearly tipped over.

“!!”

Fortunately, she reacted quickly and caught it, but the lychee drink in the cup spilled onto the tabletop.

A portion of it also splashed onto Jing Yuan’s sleeve.

“Oh dear, oh dear, sorry! I was walking too fast and didn’t see it!” A very fashionably dressed woman said coquettishly to Jing Yuan.

Jing Yuan picked up a tissue to wipe the table, not looking up at the woman, and just waved her hand to indicate it was fine.

**

“I’m seriously so mad. Brother Lin booked me that spot at the restaurant, but that ridiculous manager said the spot was taken.”

“Hong Mei-jie, that bump you just did, was it on purpose?”

Inside the restroom, two women were touching up their makeup in front of the mirror, and their conversation clearly expressed dissatisfaction with the seating arrangement at the high-end restaurant.

“Of course! I really don’t get it. Do you know how much I wanted to sit there and take photos! You can photograph the whole of Linxi from there. But did you see what that person was wearing? How can such a country bumpkin even consume here? Can she afford it?”

The woman named Hong Mei-jie was too angry to hold back. She had deliberately walked past the woman sitting in the best spot. She originally wanted to knock over the cup, preferably shattering it on the floor to make fun of that person, but she didn’t succeed.

“She looked like she was waiting for someone,” the other woman chimed in.

“Who can’t tell that? Probably brought by some tacky nouveau riche. Look how tightly she’s covered up, and her face is as pale and scary as a dead person’s. She’s wearing a high neck in this heat and covering her arms and everything. It’s creepy. Do you think that woman has a skin disease? Ugh, so unlucky…”

Hong Mei spoke with increasing excitement, her annoyed voice unrestrained and loud as she spewed insults.

The woman accompanying her quickly urged her to quiet down and not get angry over a meal. After they finished their makeup, they left the restroom.

As the sound of high heels faded, the inner restroom door instantly opened.

Xie Mianzhi slowly turned on the faucet, washing her hands with cold water, looking at the continuously flowing stream, her face shadowed with anger.

**

“Did you wait long?”

About ten minutes later.

Xie Mianzhi gently sat down across from Jing Yuan, smiling as she asked the little savior who had been silently waiting.

As she passed, she clearly saw a wet spot on the tablecloth in front of Jing Yuan. If nothing else, that must be it.

“I wasn’t anxious.” Jing Yuan saw Xie Mianzhi return. The other person had smoothed her long, wind-blown hair with water, looking as bright and beautiful as usual—very pretty.

“That’s good,” Xie Mianzhi suppressed her inner frustration, maintaining a smile and nodding.

Finally, she subtly looked at Jing Yuan and asked indirectly, “Did anything happen just now?”

“Hmm?”

“While I was gone,” Xie Mianzhi asked, her gaze already sweeping toward a side table where two women were dining. They must have sat down after she left.

Xie Mianzhi then brought her sight back, gently asking, “The tablecloth in front of you, and”—Xie Mianzhi narrowed her eyes, only now noticing that Jing Yuan’s sleeve was also damp in one spot—”your sleeve.”

“It was accidentally bumped. It’s nothing,” Jing Yuan didn’t mind the collision. She thought it was a trivial matter, so she only mentioned it lightly.

However, she keenly noticed Xie Mianzhi’s abnormality. Even though the other person tried to conceal it, she immediately asked, “Did something happen in the restroom?”

Xie Mianzhi looked up, meeting Jing Yuan’s eyes—a golden ocean, pure and beautiful. The other person even asked about her with concern, without mentioning her own situation at all.

How can this person be so kind?

Xie Mianzhi took a deep breath, suppressing the surge of anger, and smiled, “No.”

She didn’t want this date to be ruined by some irrelevant smelly trash. She especially didn’t want Jing Yuan to be subjected to any negative interference.

She only cared about Jing Yuan’s feelings right now.

Xie Mianzhi pursed her lips and smiled, deciding not to bring it up again.

Just as she was about to change the subject, a sharp female voice broke the beauty of the floral garden setting.

“Waiter, can you open the skylight? I’m genuinely scared that the air might carry some kind of virus. If it weren’t for my boyfriend booking a spot at your restaurant, claiming it’s the city’s most comfortable dining experience with a view, I’d say you really let just anyone in, huh?”

The woman in the bright yellow dress was currently scolding the young waiter serving her.

Her voice was sharp and shrill, drawing the attention of many dining customers.

The young waiter was a bit nervous, clearly startled by the sudden increase in volume, and could only softly ask about the customer’s needs.

“Excuse me, are you finding the indoor air…”

“Call your manager over. I’m in a very bad mood right now.” It was still the woman named Hong Mei. She directly interrupted the waiter, clamoring aggressively.

“Hello, I don’t quite understand what you mean by opening the skylight. Are you suggesting the indoor air is making you uncomfortable?” Another, slightly more experienced waiter came forward to ask.

“Can’t you see there’s someone here who might have a skin disease? She’s wrapped up so tightly as if afraid of being seen. It’s really affecting my dining experience. How can such a high-end establishment like yours let any old person in? I’m very particular. Doesn’t your manager know who my boyfriend is? How could he book me this current lousy spot? I distinctly remember him booking that spot for me. What kind of experience is this…”

The older waiter listened and immediately understood which guest Miss Hong Mei was referring to: the best VIP seat near the window.

However, the woman clearly didn’t know who was sitting opposite that guest.

Moreover, this Hong Mei’s boyfriend had only booked the current side spot. Better seats required a higher dining price point.

“Miss Hong, I understand you are unhappy, but I still hope you can speak more gently. The seat your friend reserved is the one you are sitting in now; there is no mistake. And the temperature in our top-floor restaurant is optimal for a comfortable dining experience. If you feel uncomfortable, we can escort you to another floor to dine…”

The waiter explained softly, hoping the woman would not continue to make a scene.

“What do you mean by that? It’s not like I can’t afford to pay! I came here to dine, not to be upset! What if people like that contaminate my skin with a disease?”

…

Xie Mianzhi heard every word the woman deliberately amplified. She tried her best to maintain a gentle expression as she looked at the person opposite her—Jing Yuan, her angel.

If she could hear it, Jing Yuan could hear it too. The fact that the other person remained silent truly pained her.

She had finally met the person she had been longing for day and night, so why should this trash come and bully her person, right under her nose?

She had initially suppressed her anger. Why did they have to push it this far?

What the hell, fing sh.*

Xie Mianzhi tightly pursed her thin lips, and boundless fury burned in her heart. She then picked up her glass and told Jing Yuan kindly, “Jing Yuan, I’m going to get a glass of water.”

Jing Yuan looked up and saw Xie Mianzhi quickly stand up. She didn’t know what the other person was going to do, so she just obediently nodded.

Walking quickly to the side of the yellow-dress woman, Xie Mianzhi gave the woman no chance to speak, dumping the cold drink in her hand directly over the woman’s head.

Not a single drop was spared.

“Aah! My dress!!” A piercing scream echoed through the restaurant. Just as the yellow-dress woman, her face covered in water, was about to stand up in shock, Xie Mianzhi placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder, forcing her to sit back down.

She smiled and informed her in her ear: “Shut your mouth, or I won’t hesitate to play rough.”

“Aah—who do you think you are…” Just as the yellow-dress woman was about to scream a retort.

A fierce slap landed heavily on her face.

“When I smile and talk to you, do you think I’m joking, Miss Hong?”