Are You Trying to Mark Me? (GL, ABO) - Chapter 21
On the day Yu Ran fully recovered, Lu An surprisingly went to the supermarket and bought a lot of ingredients.
There was spinach, lotus root slices, meatballs, and meat rolls.
Yu Ran looked at the table full of meat, eggs, and vegetables, glanced at Lu An, and asked, “Are you just using the excuse of me getting better to come over and mooch a hotpot meal?”
Lu An carried the groceries out while arguing, “Am I that kind of person? I really just saw you working so hard, so I went to the supermarket to buy these delicious things for you. How could I be mooching your hotpot?”
Yu Ran didn’t believe him.
Ignoring her, Lu An happily and excitedly took out the unused double-flavored hotpot from his own kitchen, cleaned it, started cooking, and obediently sat down at the table.
Waiting to eat.
He said it was to celebrate for her, but wasn’t it really just to mooch a meal?
Yu Ran sighed while chopping vegetables. At least he bought the ingredients, so she didn’t complain.
Min Wenyi came downstairs and immediately smelled the spicy hotpot aroma.
A large double-flavored hotpot sat on the table, surrounded by plates of ingredients. It looked especially rich.
“You’re down?” she asked.
Yu Ran put some shrimp on the table and said, “Lu An said he wanted hotpot, so I dug through everything we had at home. It’s not that much.”
Min Wenyi glanced over—more than a dozen plates around one pot—and thought, “Not that much?”
Was this assistant raising them like pigs?
“That’s enough, that’s enough,” Lu An’s stomach growled loudly. “The pot’s boiling, come sit and eat!”
Min Wenyi sat across from Lu An. Yu Ran set the bowls and chopsticks for her, then sat beside her.
“Assistant, during the few days you were sick, Sister Wenyi hardly ate properly,” Lu An said between bites. “I was ordering takeout all along, but your cooking’s still better.”
Yu Ran smiled, “Who said before that my cooking was so-so?”
“No idea. Must have had bad taste.”
“…You’re such a smart mouth.”
Min Wenyi watched the two teasing each other and couldn’t help but chuckle. She took a bite of a meatball, and hot juice immediately burst out!
“Ah, careful, don’t burn yourself!” Yu Ran hurriedly said, “The meatballs just came out of the pot. I forgot to warn you!”
Min Wenyi frowned, touching the blister on her lip from the burn.
“I’ll get you some water.”
“No need.”
Min Wenyi said calmly, “It’s fine, I’ll just get it myself.”
Watching Min Wenyi get up and head to the kitchen, Yu Ran felt a little puzzled. Why was Min Wenyi especially… reasonable today?
Lu An glanced at her, biting his chopsticks, and said sullenly, “Assistant, did you put vinegar in the hotpot?”
“Huh? No.”
“Then why do I smell the stinky scent of love?”
Yu Ran blushed and looked at him. “You can’t even keep your mouth shut while eating.”
“Speaking of which,” Lu An quietly said to Yu Ran, “Sister Wenyi seems to be planning to start her own studio.”
Yu Ran looked at him confused, “A studio?”
“Yeah, the rumor is the company wants Sister Wenyi to hype up her relationship with some celebrity, but she refused and things with the company got really tense.”
When he mentioned this, Yu Ran remembered that man she saw once at the company meeting room door, looking like a peacock.
Was his last name Chu?
She recalled he said the company wanted to hype up a relationship between two people, but Min Wenyi rejected it. So, Lu An was probably talking about the same thing.
Seeing the thoughtful look on Yu Ran’s face, Lu An said, “Yu Ran, have you thought about where you’d go after Sister Wenyi starts her own studio?”
“I… can’t be an assistant anymore?”
“It’s common for celebrities to move from being in the spotlight to working behind the scenes. Some still hire assistants, but most prefer to live with their families and just have their agents handle work matters,”
Lu An said something Yu Ran was hearing for the first time.
Though she knew this job wouldn’t last long, Yu Ran didn’t feel worried.
“If the boss can do what she loves, I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Yu Ran smiled. “You can always find another job, but Wenyi’s happiness is what matters most.”
At the hotpot dinner, Lu An ate half of it, while Yu Ran and Min Wenyi shared the other half.
Yu Ran never expected that Lu An, who looked so skinny, could eat so much.
It was like a bottomless pit.
Cute, well-behaved, but such a big appetite.
That was Yu Ran’s new impression of Lu An.
Full and satisfied, Lu An didn’t plan to go home yet. He lay on the sofa, rubbing his round belly to help digest.
“I’m going out today,” Min Wenyi told Yu Ran, who was washing dishes in the kitchen. “Might be late coming back.”
Hearing that she’d be home late again, Yu Ran worriedly asked, “Late again?”
Min Wenyi had been going out early and coming home late all week, and Yu Ran had no idea what kept her so busy.
“Yeah, there’s a party tonight.”
“A party? So, you’ll be drinking?”
Min Wenyi glanced at Yu Ran, understanding what she wanted to say.
“I’ll get a designated driver.”
Yu Ran shook her head. She already had a free designated driver right there—how could she ask someone else?
Money isn’t meant to be spent like that.
“I’ll go with you,” Yu Ran said. “I’ll drop you off and wait in the car.”
Min Wenyi wanted to refuse at first but thought it over and agreed.
“Alright, you can come with me.”
The party started at 5 p.m., and it was still early. The trip would take less than half an hour, so Yu Ran planned to leave early to avoid traffic.
In the meantime, Yu Ran finished cleaning and made some cat food for Guazi before going downstairs with Min Wenyi.
Probably because it was the weekend, the roads weren’t very crowded. They arrived at the club before 5 p.m.
In front of the large, grand clubhouse was a fountain decorated with gold and silver carvings. Though it was late autumn, not a single leaf floated on the water.
At the guard post stood a doorman in a long suit. The surrounding parking lot was filled with luxury cars you could actually name.
At a glance, this was a place only wealthy families could afford.
Min Wenyi had just changed casually before leaving—her hair tied up quickly in a high ponytail, wearing a black V-neck blazer that made her look especially sharp.
Her lipstick, a bold “man-capturing” shade, made her lips stand out beautifully.
Yu Ran parked the car and looked at Min Wenyi in the rearview mirror.
“I’ll wait here. If you need anything, call me.”
“Mm.”
Without another word, Min Wenyi opened the door and got out.
Yu Ran wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but the moment Min Wenyi stepped out, she felt a faint, almost unnoticed look scanning her.
But then she thought, what could she possibly have that Min Wenyi would be looking at?