Chapter 739: Chapter 739
Rain in the private room didn’t know that the sky outside had already clouded over.
He genuinely had a mystical air about him, especially after his rebirth.
Certain events always seemed to coincide with rain.
It had been so on the autumn outing night, and during the ’Sneaking in with the Wind, Sneaking in with the Leaves,’ and also on the ’Fox Subduing Night’ in Shanghai.
Now, in the private room, they had started with the thirteen-spiced crayfish, ordered mild.
When ordering, Qiqi had specifically asked Cheng Zhu if he could handle spicy food, and after getting a positive response, had ordered another dish—stir-fried with a medium level of spice.
While putting on gloves, Qiqi dramatically wore no less than four disposable gloves on each hand.
Cheng Zhu knew many people wore two gloves, but it was his first time seeing someone wear four.
"That junior... the gloves provided by this restaurant are of average quality, and the oil seeps through easily at the nails," she said.
"Oh, I see," Cheng Zhu replied, mimicking her but only wore three gloves on one hand.
All the crayfish in the restaurant were pre-cut along the back.
Some people liked to grab the crayfish with chopsticks and gnaw directly from the shell, praising the skillful lip work involved, which also made the dish tastier.
But Cheng Zhu still preferred to peel the crayfish with his hands.
Now that Qiqi was more concerned about her image, she wouldn’t eat directly with her mouth either.
"How is it after signing with Ancient Mountain Culture?" Cheng Zhu asked.
"Busier than before, I feel like there’s endless work every day, but I do feel fulfilled," Qiqi honestly replied.
"Are you tired? Should I speak to Zhu Youwei about it, so the company doesn’t schedule things so tightly?" Cheng Zhu casually said.
"No need, no need at all, junior," Qiqi promptly refused.
She turned her head towards Cheng Zhu and said, "I know in my heart that Mr. Zhu is willing to give me this level of contract partly because I’m quite close to you."
"What are you on about, senior?" Cheng Zhu turned towards her as well, their eyes met, and he said, "Zhu Youwei values you because he sees your potential, believes that you can become a top internet celebrity, and it has nothing to do with me."
He was too lazy to take credit, and he didn’t want to either.
In truth, a man who really deserves credit doesn’t want to flaunt it, as it might come across as cheap.
Just like the men sitting in the hall eating crayfish, probably a good many of them would start boasting loudly after a few drinks.
Conversely, Cheng Zhu had a different approach by outwardly deflecting, and it gave people a different impression.
Having merit is a fact, and not hogging the credit makes it seem all the more light and breezy, a mere trifle.
In fact, he really hadn’t done anything.
It was Zhu Youwei who was eager to please him, to court his favor.
After opening up the conversation, they kept talking while eating.
Cheng Zhu was naturally a good conversationalist with girls, often making Qiqi laugh, sometimes making her so annoyed that she wanted to hit him. But since everyone was wearing gloves to eat the crayfish, she chose to lightly nudge him with her shoulder.
After several times, it was almost as if she was deliberately snuggling into his arms.
The advantage of eating crayfish was thus displayed.
Regarding this, Qiqi was secretly delighted.
She suddenly felt fortunate that that day, on an impulse in the startup building, she had kissed him, establishing a ’lip friendship.’
After elevating their friendship, some smaller, more intimate contacts could naturally occur, and subconsciously, no one would think much of it.
The internet celebrity campus beauty, in her hearty laughter, would lean half her body against Cheng Zhu.
And he followed the "three no’s principle" — not initiating anything, but also not dodging.
While eating the thirteen-spiced dish, Qiqi did not frequently drink the bayberry wine, clinking glasses with Cheng Zhu’s cola only once.
By the time the medium-spiced stir-fry was brought in by the lady boss, she started exclaiming, "Hiss— so spicy, so spicy!"
"Is it really that spicy?"
"Really, it’s super spicy, try it if you don’t believe," she said as she peeled a crayfish and naturally raised her hand to feed Cheng Zhu.
Cheng Zhu, of course, was not one to refuse, and then he said, "It’s not too bad."
"You handle spice better than I do!"
She kept pretending it was too spicy, which made her drink even more frequently.
And clearly, Qiqi’s tolerance for alcohol wasn’t all that great.
Of course, the alcohol content in bayberry wine wasn’t especially low either.
Soon, her cheeks started to show a light flush, and her gaze became slightly more hazy than before.
Outside the crayfish restaurant, suddenly a clap of thunder sounded, its rumbling echoed clearly even inside the private room.
"Huh? Is it going to rain?" Cheng Zhu glanced at Qiqi, only to find her tipsy gaze almost melting.
"Junior, I’m full already, let me peel for you," Qiqi said.
She was highly disciplined on normal days, rarely eating late night snacks.
Thus, even though she broke her rule today, it was only a little.
"There’s no need, I can do it myself."
"It’s fine, I’m not busy."
But as she peeled, Cheng Zhu noticed that she would stop her motions, sometimes becoming distracted, and just freeze there.
He could tell it wasn’t an act, she really had drunk too much.
"This woman probably wanted to drink a bit more, to do something bold under the influence, but she overestimated her alcohol tolerance!"
The one pretending to be drunk ended up truly drunk.
"Senior, have you drunk a bit too much?" Cheng Zhu asked.
"Huh?" She looked up, a bit dazed, and met Cheng Zhu’s eyes: "No... no."
After finishing the meal, Cheng Zhu went to pay the bill, only to be informed that it had already been paid.