The two of them walked into the hotpot restaurant and found a seat in a corner to sit down.
Su Ling curled up slightly to the side.
“What is it?”
“No, it’s nothing…”
Nangong Wan sighed, stood up, and moved toward Ye Jin’s side.
Ye Jin immediately snapped out of his daze. His body shrank back, and his eyes watched her uneasily.
“Do not be afraid, I am not going to do anything to you.”
Su Ling did not speak, but he continued to watch her warily.
“I just came over to ask, do you want to go see a movie after we finish eating?”
Su Ling remained silent. He did not want to do anything. ‘If there was anything I wanted to do, the thing I wanted most right now was to go back.’
Nangong Wan was very clear about this. She naturally knew that if Ye Jin went back now, it would be extremely difficult for her to ask him out again in the future. At the very least, she had to make Ye Jin lower his guard against her.
Just then, the hotpot was brought out. She had ordered a split pot, mainly because she was afraid Ye Jin could not eat spicy food.
Smelling the fragrance of the hotpot drifting through the air, Su Ling’s nose twitched, and his eyes brightened a few shades.
Nangong Wan took everything in and breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
Ye Jin was still the same Ye Jin; he had no resistance against food. This was why she wanted to bring him to eat as the first priority. It was not just because she was hungry, but because food could quickly make Ye Jin lower his guard.
“Wow, it smells great. Can you eat spicy food?”
“I can…” Su Ling swallowed his saliva and spoke in a low voice.
“That is good. I will put more ingredients into the spicy side then.”
“Mhm.”
Su Ling gave a soft reply. He actually could not handle spicy food very well, but he loved the taste of it.
While waiting for the food to come to a boil, Nangong Wan picked up her mobile phone and waved it in front of Su Ling.
“Want to play a game together?”
Su Ling picked up his own mobile phone, looked at it, hesitated, and then shook his head.
The games on his phone were all single-player games with no internet connection, and this phone could not download anything. He had tried before, but every time he tried to download something, a prompt would pop up saying he had insufficient permissions. He eventually gave up.
“You do not want to play?” Nangong Wan asked with some confusion after seeing the trace of hesitation on Ye Jin’s face.
Su Ling opened his mouth but did not know how to explain. He could only lower his head, a sense of indescribable discomfort blooming in his heart.
“What is wrong? Is something the matter?”
“Can you tell me about it?”
Su Ling remained silent.
“Are we friends?”
Hearing this, Su Ling slowly raised his head, a faint layer of mist covering his eyes.
“If we are friends, then if you have something on your mind, you can tell me instead of keeping it from me.”
“I…” Su Ling bit his lip and looked down at his mobile phone. “My phone… cannot play online games…”
“How can that be? Can I see it?”
Nangong Wan took Su Ling’s mobile phone and inspected it carefully. A moment later, her face turned ashen.
That fellow Ye Moran was going too far! This mobile phone was actually a sub-device. All operations required authorization from the master phone. He could do nothing without permission, and the master phone would even know everything done on this device!
‘What does she take Su Ling for? Her property?’
Thinking carefully, Su Ling had actually lived with such a twisted person for so long. They had even been brother and sister once, which made her feel a bit suffocated!
Her determination to snatch Ye Jin away from Ye Moran intensified!
She took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in her heart, and spoke softly.
“Sit here for a moment. I am going out for a bit!”
Before Su Ling could nod, she had already stood up and left.
He felt a bit dejected, but that disappointment was quickly dispelled by the aroma wafting from the hotpot.
Gulp!
He wanted to eat.
He picked up his chopsticks and glanced around cautiously. ‘It should be fine to eat just a little, right?’
But holding the chopsticks, he found himself unable to make a move.
‘Forget it…’ Su Ling muttered softly. Even though he really wanted to eat, this was something someone else was treating him to. Since she had not started yet, it would be very impolite for him to eat first.
He put down his chopsticks and forced himself not to look at the hotpot. He looked elsewhere, but the scent of the hotpot still tempted him, making his mouth water again and again.
“What are you thinking about?”
As soon as Nangong Wan returned, she saw Ye Jin propping his head up with one hand as if looking at the scenery outside.
Su Ling immediately turned back, but because he moved too quickly, the saliva in his mouth almost escaped the corner of his lips. He immediately covered his mouth. He lowered his head, not daring to look at her in his flustered state.
“What is it?”
“Here, take this. You can use this from now on.”
Nangong Wan smiled and pushed a brand-new mobile phone in front of Su Ling.
Su Ling blinked, looking at her in confusion.
“I bought you a new phone. The restrictions on your old one are too much, you cannot do anything with it. You can use this one to play games or do whatever you want.”
“There is already a SIM card inside that I set up. You do not have to worry about data or anything; you can use it as much as you like.”
Nangong Wan tried to keep her tone as casual as possible so that Ye Jin would find it easier to accept.
Su Ling looked at the phone in front of him, then at her, and pushed the phone back.
“I do not need it. I have a phone.”
“Just take it. Think of it as a gift from me. We haven’t seen each other in a long time, so what is wrong with giving you a gift? Or are you rejecting it?”
“No, no, I am not rejecting it, but…”
Hearing her words, Su Ling panicked and shook his head immediately, fearing she would misunderstand.
“Then take it, there are no ‘buts.’ Alright, the hotpot is almost overcooked. Hurry up and eat!”
Nangong Wan waved her hand and casually picked up a piece of cooked shrimp paste with her chopsticks, placing it in Ye Jin’s bowl.
Su Ling looked at the shrimp paste in his bowl, hesitated for a moment, and chose to eat first. ‘I will talk about the other things after I finish eating!’
Thinking this, he picked up his chopsticks and quickly grabbed the shrimp paste, taking a gentle bite. The fresh, tender, and springy texture made him close his eyes in instant enjoyment!
His entire body relaxed at that moment, and even the lingering sense of fatigue seemed to lessen slightly!
“Do you like it?”
“I like it!”
“Eat more if you like it. This is quite good.”
As Nangong Wan spoke, she picked up another portion of food and placed it in the little fellow’s bowl.
“You… you eat too…”
Su Ling saw that she kept adding food to his bowl. Realizing she had not eaten for the entire day, he could not help but speak up.
“Do not worry, there is plenty left. I will not starve. Besides, I am a grown person; how could I let myself go hungry?”
Su Ling thought about it and realized she was right. She was not like him. When he was hungry, he did not even know how to get food.
At this thought, he began to eat without any more burden in his heart. He ate very happily. He actually had not eaten much of the meal Ye Moran prepared at noon. Before he could finish, his Elder Sister had pounced on him, and the food had been knocked to the floor, leaving him with nothing to eat!
Seeing Su Ling eating happily, Nangong Wan could not help but move a bit closer while continuously chatting, causing Su Ling’s guard to lower further.
By the end of the meal, Su Ling had completely let down most of his guard. He even flashed a happy smile at Nangong Wan!
“Are we going to see a movie next, or do something else?”
“Did you not want to buy something?”
Su Ling blinked in confusion. He had wanted to ask earlier. Before she arrived, she clearly said she had something to buy. Why was she talking about going to a movie now?