Chapter 243: Chapter 243

The hot pot restaurant was bustling with activity, smoke swirling around.

Bai Su and the others had met Bai Tingxun before, and with no dramatic recognition scenes at the dining table, they went straight to ordering. Jiang Gujun wanted to order a spicy pot, but Bai Su kicked him under the table. The words he was about to say changed to "Yuan Yang Pot."

Jiang Gujun pressed his lips together, feeling a slight pain in his shin.

Rong Jiazze saw his momentarily darkened face and covered her mouth, secretly laughing.

Bai Tingxun placed the menu below her eyes. The table was semi-open, and she happened to sit by the aisle, discreetly spying on the big shots in front of her.

Soon, the waiter brought up the pot base and dishes. Rong Zhi slightly lowered her head, the overly long strands of hair fell before her eyes, affecting her vision. She casually brushed it aside, thinking she’d make time to cut it tomorrow.

A cool touch landed on the back of her neck.

Bai Su slid the black hair tie he’d been wearing on his wrist to his fingertips, gathered the young lady’s hair with his left hand, and spoke gently, "Lower your head."

Rong Zhi paused, lowered her head, and let him proceed.

The slightly calloused fingertips brushed softly past her forehead, pushing the bangs back, and her hair was soon tied up.

Compared to the beginning, Bai Su now easily tied a bun.

With the annoying stray hairs gone from sight, Rong Zhi turned her face and softly said, "Thank you."

Bai Su playfully pinched the tidy tooth mark on her face, laughing casually, his tone mischievous, "Remember what I said? If you’re going to thank me... hmm."

A shrimp ball was stuffed into his mouth.

Bai Su’s watery peach blossom eyes blinked, his long lashes trembling slightly.

He rolled the shrimp ball in his mouth, his thin lips curving into a pleased smile.

The shrimp ball was soft, tender, and springy.

Rong Zhi had put it in while he was tying her hair; it cooked just right in time.

Bai Su chewed it slowly for quite a while until Rong Zhi couldn’t stand it anymore, scooping up other cooked vegetables from the pot into his bowl, saying straightforwardly, "Eat."

He laughed lowly, saying gently and indulgently, "Alright."

No matter how much he ate later, he found the taste bland.

Bai Su’s deep peach blossom eyes glimmered, his smile impossible to suppress.

The group ate until their bellies were full and satisfied. Rong Jiazze, being young, wanted to sleep when full. Rong Zhi asked Jiang Gujun to take him home first, then got up to go to the restroom herself.

The young man’s slender fingers held a phone, opening the WeChat payment page, speaking faintly, "Table 122, please settle the bill."

The front desk lady quickly produced the bill for Table 122, wearing a standard smile, "Hello, the total is 3,654 yuan. Will you be paying cash or card?"

"Alright, I’ll scan you."

Rong Zhi turned her phone towards the front desk scanner.

The mechanical sound of a successful payment sounded, and her fingertip accidentally clicked into it.

While the front desk lady was preparing the bill, a lazy figure emerged from the corner, seeing her and raising a handsome brow, "Found you."

Rong Zhi asked calmly, "Why didn’t you wait over there?"

"The bathroom was empty, and I couldn’t find you, so I figured you’d be here."

Bai Su walked to her side, lowering his eyes slightly, noticing she hadn’t exited the payment page, chuckling lightly, "Worried about her?"

Rong Zhi shook her head, leisurely putting her phone away and sticking her hands in her pockets, "No, she just started working, doesn’t have extra money now."

Bai Tingxun’s family wasn’t wealthy. Despite having work, expenses like rent in Beijing were quite high, so saving wherever she could would be better.

"But you paid for her. What if she feels like she didn’t treat you this time and wants to next time?" Bai Su couldn’t help but reach out, ruffling her hair indulgently, "Why not tell her we got a discount, let her pay part of it."

Rong Zhi caught his hand causing trouble on her head, only for him to twist his wrist and hold it back.

Her expression didn’t change much, "There are other ways."

- The source of this content ɪs novel·fire·net

Once everyone was ready to leave, Bai Tingxun went to settle the bill. Rong Zhi and Bai Su stood at the hotpot restaurant entrance waiting for her.

Bai Tingxun came out with a face practically overflowing with surprise.

"Third Young Master!"

She waved the receipt at Rong Zhi, her joyous voice infectious to those around her.

With a few quick steps to the young man, she spread the receipt between her hands, making a ’dun dun’ sound, "Third Young Master, look, we actually won an exemption! And it’s the only one today. Ah! I’m definitely a lucky charm!"

Bai Su, knowing the truth, calmly glanced at the receipt in Bai Tingxun’s hand, casually stimulating the young man’s palm in his jacket pocket, smiling without speaking.

Rong Zhi nodded, his tone quite surprised, "Really? Then congratulations."

Bai Tingxun eagerly nodded, then took a photo to post on WeChat Moments.

In the evening, Rong Zhi was going to the Mechanical Engineering Institute. After dropping Bai Tingxun home, she planned to turn the car around and go to Tingshan Villa with Bai Su.

Bai Su pressed the steering wheel, peeling a lollipop and putting it to her lips, "I’ll go with you, and check out where you work; I haven’t been there before."

Rong Zhi quietly looked at him for a while, then opened her lips to bite the candy into her mouth, muttering indistinctly, "Hold on."

Driving through Beijing in the cold winter after nine, with hardly any cars, the road piled with snow, the off-road vehicle like a swift leopard of the grassland, tearing through the winter night, rushing toward its target.

Only after being in Rong Zhi’s car could one appreciate her underlying and outward flamboyance.

Because there was an outsider, entering the Engineering College took some time, arriving at the third-floor lab already at ten-thirty at night.

The mechanical door opened without disturbing the people busily working inside.

Rong Zhi walked in slowly, intending to retrieve information on her initial research project, passing a table piled with precision instruments when someone recording data behind the desk suddenly lifted their head.

Four eyes met, the other initially surprised, then looked puzzled at the man behind her.

But that didn’t stop him from being happy.

"Dr. Rong! You’re finally here?!"

This loud call jolted all the researchers working diligently.

Rong Zhi rubbed her forehead in frustration, pulling Bai Su along, "Just grabbing something, keep busy."

Bai Su obediently followed behind her, letting his gaze meet the researchers’ shocked stares, giving a slightly apologetic nod, his appearance clean and refined, his demeanor elegant and noble.

I think I just discovered some big secret.

Rong Zhi pulled Bai Su to the back laboratory, found her workstation, and started sorting through documents.

To their surprise, there were still people in the lab who hadn’t left, looking bewildered for a moment when seeing someone come in, then calling out again, "Teacher Rong?"

Don’t these people ever leave work?!

She turned to look at Lu Si, her brows furrowing, "How many days have you not slept?"

Lu Si "Ah?" he said, involuntarily touching his eyes, belatedly realizing the meaning in Rong Zhi’s words, nonchalantly waving his hand, "No worries, no worries. The first phase research results are about to be released. I’m finalizing data with Professor Liu, didn’t dare to sleep."

Rong Zhi sorted the documents she needed, about to pick them up when a distinct hand moved faster than hers.

Her fingertips paused, then unobtrusively withdrew, getting up to look at Lu Si and speaking softly, "Nervous?"

Lu Si nodded earnestly, "Mm-hmm."