Has the Fallen Young Master Changed His Heart Today? - Chapter 4.2

Jiang Yanming stepped forward, lightly, then again, stopping just ahead of Gu Qingzhi.

He hesitated before speaking.

“Just think I’m bored with nothing to do. Ignore me.”

After saying this, he walked away, decisively, but paused further down the alley. His low voice carried with the breeze.

“Put on your jacket, you’ll catch a cold.”

Only his figure remained.

In the dark, rundown alley, barely wide enough for two to stand side by side, Gu Qingzhi stood there, his brows relaxing, the last words replaying in his mind.

He really didn’t want to see him again, didn’t want his life intruded upon, disrupted.

Really.

But why?

Why did he keep coming back…

Seconds later, Gu Qingzhi walked to where light shone, and at the alley’s end, he saw Jiang Yanming clearing a table.

His hands, meant for delicate work, were now handling dirty things.

Really, looking for trouble.

Gu Qingzhi returned to the shop, not glancing at Jiang Yanming again.

The shop stayed busy, with no interaction between them.

But Jiang Yanming would beat Gu Qingzhi to clean tables or take trays from his hands to deliver outside.

So, it seemed Gu Qingzhi was only handling payments, serving drinks and skewers inside. For the first time, he didn’t feel so tired.

Qin Yu, grilling, was swamped but curious, occasionally glancing at them, noticing the stranger taking tasks from Gu Qingzhi several times.

When Gu Qingzhi came over to check the bill, Qin Yu couldn’t help asking, “He your friend? Here to help?”

“Not close.”

He seemed indifferent, still fuming.

“He’s just got too much time.”

“Huh?” Qin Yu glanced again.

“Then he’s really got too much time. But an extra hand’s nice, helped a lot.”

He’d been helping for over two hours.

Gu Qingzhi picked up his phone, checking takeout orders.

“Should we pause takeout for a bit?”

“No need,” Qin Yu said. “We can manage, keep it open.”

“Okay.”

After checking, Gu Qingzhi was about to head outside, but a loud, accusing male voice came from a nearby booth.

He reacted instantly, walking over.

He first saw Jiang Yanming standing by the table.

Gu Qingzhi walked to his side, glanced up, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

It was the calmest tone he’d used with him so far.

The man in the chair asked directly, “You the boss?”

Gu Qingzhi turned.

“Yeah.”

The man pointed repeatedly at the plate, glaring fiercely at Gu Qingzhi, looking ready to explode.

“I said no lamb, no lamb! What’s this? It’s so gamey, how are we supposed to eat?”

His tone made Jiang Yanming’s face darken instantly, his lowered gaze cold, his sideways glance oppressive.

Gu Qingzhi, unfazed, glanced at the plate calmly.

“There’s no lamb here.”

Lamb skewers were distinct, easy to tell.

The man’s voice grew louder, shouting, as if volume could win.

“Then what’s this? Smell it, come smell it! If this isn’t lamb, what is?”

His face was red, with nine empty beer bottles on the table—clearly drunk.

Such incidents weren’t rare since opening.

Gu Qingzhi had seen many ill-tempered drunk customers, nothing unusual.

He patiently said, “It might’ve been grilled with lamb, so it picked up some flavor…”

He hadn’t finished, but the man shot up, yelling at Gu Qingzhi with a deceptively honest face, spitting.

“Whose fault is that? Can’t you be more careful when grilling?”

Gu Qingzhi didn’t respond right away, not because he had no words, but because the warm touch on his wrist froze his body.

As the man started to rise, Jiang Yanming swiftly grabbed Gu Qingzhi’s wrist, then stepped in front, blocking the man’s aggressive glare.

Gu Qingzhi slowly looked up, seeing the serious profile beside him, reassuring.

Just like before.

It made him dazed for a moment.

Snapping back, Gu Qingzhi calmly pulled his wrist free, stepped forward, and said evenly, “Sorry, I’ll take it back to regrill, and we’ll send a few beers. Is that okay?”

A woman holding the man back looked embarrassed.

Other companions, knowing he was drunk, said, “That’s fine, sorry for the trouble.”

The man, restrained and calmed, wasn’t going to speak, but a slight turn of his head caught Jiang Yanming’s unfriendly look.

His glare was like he wanted a fight, reigniting the man’s anger.

He redirected his target. “What are you staring at?”

Before Jiang Yanming could speak, Gu Qingzhi grabbed his sleeve, not looking at his expression, and pulled him out.

At the counter, Gu Qingzhi let go, paused for a second, about to tell Qin Yu to regrill some skewers, but a low voice beside him stopped him.

“Your temper’s gotten better.”

Gu Qingzhi turned, silent.

“Before, you’d have flipped the table.”

Hearing this, he looked, saying calmly, “It’s not before anymore. Hasn’t been for a long time.”