NOVPUBChapter 219: Chapter 219: Western Restaurant
Chapter 219 -219: Western Restaurant
“Since you’re off work now, let’s go out for a meal together. After all, you need to eat lunch, or else how can you work in the afternoon?” Wei Shufen’s tone was very gentle, yet absolutely not warm; her detachment seeped through her bones.
Bai Xiao thought it over and agreed. She still had to work in the afternoon. How could she work on an empty stomach?
Her job was not like others. Every patient who came to her naturally needed acupuncture. Even though she now had some control over her special ability, the absorption of heat and energy was absolutely essential. No matter how minimal the energy consumption, she was still consuming energy.
She certainly didn’t want to find herself suffering from the aftereffects of excessive use of her special ability due to a lack of energy in the afternoon. It’s not like she could just freeze to death and call An Zhiyuan to come warm her up.
If that happened, others would laugh their heads off.
She nodded, “Okay, I’ll change my clothes, and then we can go together. We have a cafeteria here. If you want to eat something else, we can go outside. However, there aren’t any particularly delicious small restaurants nearby.”
After changing, Bai Xiao came out, and Wei Shufen and Ding Min stood up. “Let’s go. There’s a car at the door, and not far from here is a Western restaurant. Let’s go there. It’s really quiet, good for us to talk.”
A smile played at the corner of Bai Xiao’s mouth. A Western restaurant?
Oh, they were still trying to intimidate her, to make her understand the gap between herself and them.
She shook her head. They were relentless.
“Alright.”
The three of them went downstairs, and indeed there was a black Hongqi sedan parked at the hospital entrance.
Bai Xiao was even more sure in her heart. It seemed An Zhiyuan’s identity was indeed substantial; this guy was not straightforward!
The problem was she hadn’t noticed anything different about An Zhiyuan that set him apart from others. If he was a high-ranking official’s son, this son of a high-ranking official was truly down-to-earth, washing clothes, cooking meals, and doing chores—she had never seen such a cadre’s child who could do everything.
If she thought she was mistaken, that couldn’t be possible! After all, they had sought her out, and even knew she was called Bai Xiao; there was no mistake.
Without investigating, she had no right to speak.
When they arrived at the Western restaurant and sat down, Bai Xiao was quiet throughout, not out of tranquility but because she was troubled with her personal worries.
She had originally hoped to find an ordinary man and live a normal life, but now she was potentially entering a family of officials. This was almost an insurmountable issue. If they looked down upon her, that was almost guaranteed.
If not because An Zhiyuan’s treatment for her special ability’s aftereffects was the best, she wouldn’t have rashly agreed to marry him. She had just agreed to get married, and immediately, she had concluded that this man was completely different from the honest and straightforward An Zhiyuan she knew.
She needed some time to adjust.
Wei Shufen handed the menu to Bai Xiao, “Doctor Bai, take a look. What would you like to eat?”
“You guys pick, I’m not picky.”
Now, she couldn’t care less about Wei Shufen’s taunts.
Ding Min snorted coldly. Just pick anything—was it because she couldn’t understand the menu and didn’t know how to order?
Bumpkin!
Wei Shufen ordered a salad, cream of mushroom soup for each person, sirloin steak with spaghetti for each, and a cup of coffee per person.
Once the waiter left, the atmosphere quieted down.
Wei Shufen cleared her throat, “Doctor Bai, I just introduced myself, I am An Zhiyuan’s mother, but Ayuan hasn’t told us about your engagement, so it was quite rude of me to visit so abruptly.”
“It’s okay, truth be told, An Zhiyuan also didn’t mention anything about you all to me, so neither of us knew about the other, and there’s nothing rude about that.” Bai Xiao stated the truth—Wei Shufen’s intent was very clear, to put her down.
She did not want to pretend to be polite.
“It seems that you and Ayuan still need to deepen your understanding of each other. This child sometimes just doesn’t like to talk about family matters, but since I’m here, you Doctor Bai, being such a smart woman, must surely understand my purpose. I’ll speak frankly, you and An Zhiyuan are not suitable.”
“Auntie, only the foot knows whether the shoe fits; similarly, only the two of us can really know whether An Zhiyuan and I are suitable or not. No one else can substitute our feelings,” Bai Xiao smiled.
However, it was quite unexpected for An Zhiyuan’s biological mother to be so young.
“Doctor Bai, when I say you’re not suitable, I’m not referring to the feelings between you two. An Zhiyuan’s father, An Cheng, is a district leader, and Ayuan is his second and favorite son. Being a part of such a family, Doctor Bai, must be a lot of pressure for you, I presume.
I can tell, Doctor Bai, that you are a girl who strives for independence and strength, and it’s evident that your pride is strong. Facing such a family, even if I don’t mention it, you must understand the enormous gap between your rural family and a family like ours. Wouldn’t you feel uncomfortable dealing with a mother-in-law like me everyday?” Wei Shufen was very adept at grasping one’s psychological weak spots.
During the conversation, the salad and soup were served.
Following which, the steaks were also served.
Wei Shufen picked up her knife and fork, elegantly began to slice her steak. Ding Min smiled slightly, also lifted her knife and fork, and gently cut the steak in front of her into neat pieces, picking one up with her fork and placing it into her mouth.
Her slanting gaze carried a sense of defiance and arrogance, unapologetically flaunting a superior air.
Wei Shufen observed that Bai Xiao hadn’t started eating, raised her eyebrows, “Doctor Bai, why don’t you eat from my plate? Give me yours and let me slice it for you.” Although her tone was amicable, every gesture and expression she made was filled with malice.
It was just short of outright saying, “Doctor Bai, since you can’t slice the steak, let me help you.”
Bai Xiao slowly picked up the knife and fork on the table, Ding Min sneered—they had just watched them cut steak, imitating them correctly, but sadly, merely imitating the actions doesn’t guarantee skill in doing it well the first try.
Bai Xiao effortlessly sliced her steak in front of her into neat pieces, dipped them into the sauce in front of her, and placed them into her mouth with grace that was flawlessly unchallengeable, as if she had performed such an act thousands of times before.
Ding Min looked as though she had seen a ghost, observing Bai Xiao carefully from her hair to her fingertips, with no pretense in her movements, and the size and proportion of the steak she sliced by herself were completely even. Moreover, her movements were so graceful, as if eating Western meals was her usual pastime.
Such proficient movements were certainly not feigned.
Ding Min grew uneasy—how could their crude bumpkin suddenly outshine a white swan in elegance? What was happening here?
With this, how could they possibly make Bai Xiao back down?
