Chapter 22

"Boss." Su Li held the square-shaped object.

"Hmm?" Zhao Jiu lowered his gaze.

Su Li: "I'm just about to start, I haven't actually started yet, I'm just taking precautions."

Gouzi froze for a moment, immediately took the item back, stuffed it into his pocket, pretended nothing had happened, and prepared to go back.

Su Li hurriedly grabbed his hand that had stuffed the item away with both of hers.

"Why are you stuffing it back?"

Zhao Jiu took a deep breath: "Didn't you say you hadn't started yet!"

Su Li looked up: "But even if I haven't started, you wouldn't be able to use it anyway."

Zhao Jiu paused, then obediently let go; Su Li reached into his pocket with one hand, fished the item out, and stuffed it into her own pocket.

The boss was still very thoughtful.

Su Li pulled the slightly uncomfortable boss back inside again.

Inside, Cheng Yu had already started swishing meat: "What did you two go do?"

Zhao Jiu pulled out a chair: "Nothing."

Cheng Yu looked at his boss with grievance; did he have secrets from him now?

Su Li sat back down, recalling the first time Zhao Jiu helped her buy sanitary pads; at that time, there were four or five people in the company, but they were all men, and all from other countries. As her only fellow countryman, Zhao Jiu had been flustered and at a loss, searching online while inexplicably feeling her forehead.

It seemed the impression left on Gouzi back when she was in pain was a bit too deep.

Su Li fished out a fully cooked shrimp, lowered her head to peel it, and then placed it into the bowl of Gouzi, who was keeping his mouth shut after making a blunder.

Zhao Jiu leaned against the back of his chair, looked at the shrimp in his bowl for a long while, and only then picked up his chopsticks to pick up the shrimp.

The other three stared at the shrimp under Zhao Jiu's chopsticks and looked over in condemnation.

Since when was the boss so lazy?

Zhao Jiu raised an eyebrow; why were these three looking at him like that?

Then he shoved the shrimp into his mouth, and under the gaze of the three people, chewed it and swallowed.

The three: "..."

Downstairs, Su Cheng and the others had finished eating; Jiang Xiangnan got up to pay, and the others followed.

Xu Lian tugged at Su Cheng, who was still sitting blankly in her seat.

Su Cheng came back to her senses, looked at Xu Lian who was pulling her, and lightly bit her lip.

Judging from Jiang Jiawei's attitude, and the fact that the manager had come out specifically to greet them, the boy Jiang Jiawei called Yu Ge did not have a low status, yet such a boy was willing to follow behind Zhao Jiu?

Then wouldn't Zhao Jiu be...

Su Cheng gripped her backpack strap tightly with one hand, trying hard not to let herself think that Zhao Jiu might have a better family background than Jiang Xiangnan, then stood up and followed.

Just then, Hu Xiao was still curious; he had been holding it in for a long time and finally couldn't help but ask Jiang Xiangnan: "Brother Jiang, who exactly is that Zhao Jiu?"

Su Cheng stopped in her tracks, nervously squeezed her hand, and looked at Jiang Xiangnan; she wanted to hear him say that Zhao Jiu was just an ordinary, slightly wealthy first-generation rich man.

"It looks like his background is really not small." Hu Xiao was a bit dazed; Zhao Jiu didn't even look at Jiang Jiawei, as if he wasn't qualified to enter his eyes, which made it seem like the difference between them and Zhao Jiu's group was that of sparrows and hawks.

Jiang Xiangnan finished paying, his deep eyes looking toward the first floor; the only one who could make his uncle fawn and Jiang Jiawei suck up to him was that one from Shengde, who was treated like a crown prince.

"The Zhao Family of Beijing." Jiang Xiangnan lifted his foot and walked out.

Those four short words—Hu Xiao and the others didn't quite understand, but it seemed very impressive.

Su Cheng didn't know any Zhao Family either, but for Jiang Xiangnan to say it like that, it was likely at a level that even the Jiang Family had to climb to reach.

Her head buzzed, and she stiffly turned back to look upstairs.

Su Li knew such a person?

Su Cheng felt unwilling; she reached into her pocket, gripped her phone tightly, hesitated repeatedly, then took it out and sent a message.

"Dad, I saw Su Li eating with some boys from Shengde at the Yu Ji Hot Pot Restaurant. Those boys seem very rich. I tried to persuade her to come home, but she won't come back with me."

After she sent it, she shook her hand and stuffed the phone back into her pocket.

Yu Yangfei looked back and noticed Su Cheng's abnormal expression, guessing she was in a bad mood, but they would probably be in a bad mood too if it were them.

Having suffered outside for many years, only to finally return home and discover that her own younger sister was the parents' darling, lively and cheerful, and with grades so much better than hers—yet everything Su Li possessed was because she had been abandoned, and the parents were compensating Su Li for it.

She suffered while Su Li enjoyed the blessings.

But now, Su Li just had better luck than her; no matter how they messed with Su Li, she still had noble people to help her.

"Su Cheng, let's go." Yu Yangfei said.

Su Cheng nodded.

Suddenly, her phone rang; it was a call from Su Lin. She looked at the phone, pressed the answer button, and her tone became a bit lighter: "Okay, Dad."

Xu Lian looked back and said: "What's wrong?"

Su Cheng put away her phone and said: "You guys go ahead, my dad said he's nearby and will come to pick me up in a bit."

Hu Xiao: "Then we'll head home first."

If they didn't go back now, their parents would be coming to look for them.

Jiang Xiangnan: "Take care of yourself."

Su Cheng nodded and sat at the entrance, watching them leave.

Su Li must have met that Zhao Jiu before she returned home; if she hadn't been abandoned, would Su Li have had this opportunity to meet Zhao Jiu?

Half an hour later, the few people upstairs were rubbing their stomachs, leaning against their chairs, not wanting to move.

"Stuffed." Cheng Yu said.

Zhao Jiu took a sip of his drink: "Let's go to the Cake Shop in a bit."

Cheng Yu looked at Zhao Jiu's flat stomach in horror; he wasn't full yet?

Oh, forgot, he wasn't one person anymore; he was a person with a partner, and girls seemed to like eating sweets.

"Then let's go to the Cake Shop, and then take Su Li home," Cheng Yu arranged the itinerary.

Su Li straightened her jacket, held it in her arms, and said, "Not home, back to school."

The three of them looked at Su Li in confusion. Su Li said, "The Midterm Exam is coming up soon, we still have to grind through practice problems on Saturday and Sunday."

The three of them looked at her in horror. Is she crazy?

Wait, "we"?

Cheng Yu looked up at Zhao Jiu: "Boss? You're not going home? I already told your housekeeper that you were going to be picked up."

Zhao Jiu leaned against his chair: "Not going back, studying."

The three of them: "???"

He's only been at No. 1 High School for two days, and he's already gone insane?

Zhao Jiu suspected that these three people weren't thinking of anything good.

"Alright, if you've rested enough, let's go. It's 8:30."

The group obediently prepared to stand up.

"Su Li!" A deep voice mixed with a hint of anger rang out at the entrance of the private room.

The group was startled and looked up to see a middle-aged man standing at the door at some point, staring at Su Li, then his gaze swept over them.

The three of them: "!!!"

This look!

One hundred percent Su Li's dad!

They hurriedly moved their chairs to the side. They weren't the ones trying to "cabbage" someone else's daughter, but after moving, they realized they couldn't be so disloyal, so they moved back to their original spots together.

Seeing Su Lin, Zhao Jiu immediately looked at Su Li. Su Li was clearly stunned for a moment.

It was impossible for Su Lin to appear here for no reason.

Unless someone notified him.

At this moment, Su Cheng appeared behind Su Lin and tugged on his clothes with one hand: "Dad, don't be angry. Xiao Li is just eating with them."

Su Lin had originally calmed down a bit when he saw they were really just eating, but with Su Cheng saying that, he remembered the text message Su Cheng had sent.

His gaze swept over the boys at the table and finally landed on Su Li: "A girl eating alone with a group of boys?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the smiles on Cheng Yu and the others' faces vanished, and their expressions gradually turned serious.

"Hey. What do you mean by that?" Zhang Zhuang's voice turned cold, adding a hint of aloofness that kept people at a distance.

Do you take us for those kinds of first-generation rich kids who trick little girls for fun?

Although they were all cheeky and unserious with Zhao Jiu, their family upbringing was strict.

When had they ever suffered such humiliation?

For the first time, Su Lin was looked at by a group of children with such cold, condescending eyes. He chose to ignore them directly and said in a deep voice, "Su Li, come home with me immediately!"

Su Li was stunned for a moment. Meeting Su Lin's angry and disappointed eyes, memories from over a decade ago intertwined with Su Lin's voice today.

"What kind of people are you hanging out with now?"

"Is this how we taught you?"

"You used to be so obedient, when did you become like this?"

"Su Li, how long do you intend to make your parents worry about you?"

Cheng Yu couldn't listen anymore; he slapped the table and stood up.

"Cheng Yu." Zhao Jiu squeezed his fingers heavily with one hand and looked up.

Cheng Yu looked at Zhao Jiu in confusion. When had they ever been this stifled?

He met Zhao Jiu's pitch-black eyes, endured it, and sat back down.

Su Lin looked at Zhao Jiu. The youth was sitting in the main seat, leaning against the chair with his hands folded. It was obvious at a glance that he was the leader of this group.

"At such a young age, relying on having a bit of money, you bring a girl out to eat late at night? Eating until nearly nine o'clock and still not going home?" Su Lin said coldly.

Listening to Su Lin's indiscriminate questioning, Su Li actually felt a sense of reality as if she were truly back eleven years ago.

Su Lin from eleven years ago...

She lowered her eyes, gripped the cup that had just been filled with hot water, and smashed it onto the floor.

The cup shattered with a "clatter."

Su Lin looked at her instinctively, and Cheng Yu and the others looked over as well.

Zhao Jiu watched Su Li. Her hand hanging at her side trembled slightly, her head was bowed, and there was a hint of mockery at the corners of her lips.

Zhao Jiu watched her for a long while, then finally said in a deep voice, "Let's go out."

Cheng Yu looked at him in shock: "Zhao Jiu?"

Zhao Jiu walked out. Cheng Yu and the others looked at Su Li, then at Zhao Jiu, and one after another picked up their things and stood up to follow him out.

The private rooms on the first floor were only simply partitioned, and at this moment, the nearby rooms were all looking over.

Zhao Jiu walked out. The manager hurried over upon hearing the commotion, wanting to ask what happened, only to see Zhao Jiu in the lead, his school uniform jacket draped over his wrist, his eyes pitch-black, and his voice tinged with coldness.

"Clear the floor."

The manager was stunned for a moment and hurriedly looked at Yu Qi. Yu Qi said with a dark face, "Clear it!"

"Understood." The manager hurriedly summoned the waiters to explain to each table, offering both free meals and coupons.

The entire first floor was filled with the sounds of waiters cautiously talking to customers. The diners all glanced at that table, their intuition telling them that the people at that table were not to be trifled with, and then they left in an orderly fashion one after another.

Su Lin noticed the commotion on the first floor outside, and his expression turned ugly. How much power and influence must one have to clear the floor so quickly?

Su Cheng looked at the respectful way those people were acting and bit her lip.

Su Li looked up, her eyes filled with coldness.