Chapter 443: 467 Liu Zhimin VS Lin Yun'er??? (Seeking subscriptions and monthly votes)

465 Liu Zhimin VS Lin Yun'er??? (Seeking subscriptions and monthly votes)

After getting past that slightly bumpy little interlude, dinner continued.

Only this time, the atmosphere at the dining table was clearly different from just a moment ago.

The most obvious thing was that Lin Xiuyuan could no longer chat too freely with Pei Zhuxuan; he would subconsciously filter his words in his mind before speaking, and his tone was much more restrained.

The reason was simple: the married woman sitting next to Pei Zhuxuan had been observing this side the entire time.

Park Hyomin's gaze wasn't deliberate, nor was she staring straight at them, but it was that kind of observation style where she would sweep over every now and then—watching even when you thought she wasn't.

While chatting with her friend En-hee, she kept her peripheral vision on the movements between Lin Xiuyuan and Pei Zhuxuan, like a cat lying on a windowsill with its eyes half-closed; it looked lazy, but in reality, its ears were always twitching.

Lin Xiuyuan, whose senses were already sharp, could naturally feel that gaze.

So he could only sit there honestly, and the content of their conversation shifted from the previous banter to a safer range; he no longer teased Pei Zhuxuan at every turn, nor did he take advantage of the situation to ask her to introduce friends.

Soon, another dish was served.

Lying on the plate was a piece of salmon belly sushi; the belly portion was cut very thick, and the vinegared rice was pressed firmly yet remained soft, warm, and carried a faint fragrance of vinegar.

Lin Xiuyuan looked at the sushi on the plate and was just about to reach out to take it; his right hand was already raised, and his fingertips were almost touching the sushi.

Just at this moment, a sentence drifted clearly into his ears.

"Looks pretty delicious."

The voice wasn't loud, and the tone was very casual, as if talking to herself, or perhaps sharing her thoughts with the friend beside her.

But Lin Xiuyuan could tell that the target of this sentence was the piece of sushi in front of him.

This was because when Park Hyomin said this, her gaze was fixed on the plate in front of him, a faint, elusive smile at the corners of her mouth, and a hint of small anticipation in her eyes.

And so, Lin Xiuyuan's hand, which had already reached out, stopped in mid-air like that, paused for about a second, and then retracted.

He turned his head to look at Park Hyomin, who was sitting on the other side of Pei Zhuxuan, with a somewhat amused and helpless expression on his face.

"Then I'll let you have it."

"Really? Then I won't be polite."

"So this is what you call 'not being polite'?" Lin Xiuyuan looked at her, feeling somewhat between laughter and tears.

Because although Park Hyomin had said that earlier, as if she were still seeking his consent, her small hand had already, under Pei Zhuxuan's shocked gaze, unceremoniously reached across in front of Pei Zhuxuan and over to Lin Xiuyuan's side.

Her fingers pinched the sides of the sushi, lifted it gently, dipped it in a bit of wasabi soy sauce, then brought the sushi back to herself, tilted her head slightly, and slowly put the entire piece of sushi into her mouth.

Pei Zhuxuan, who had witnessed the entire process, had her eyes visibly widen; sitting between the two of them, she served as a human bridge.

She even subconsciously leaned back in her chair to give Park Hyomin more room to operate, the expression on her face written with shock and surprise, along with even more complexity and absurdity.

And after Park Hyomin finished eating, she closed her eyes to enjoy it for two seconds, a very satisfied expression appearing on her face.

Then she turned her head to look at her friend En-hee sitting on her other side, her tone carrying a sincere appreciation, "I really was a bit hungry; it's quite delicious. En-hee, this place you recommended is really good."

Originally, Park Hyomin had come out to eat today only because En-hee said she had discovered a good place and wanted to bring her to try it; she hadn't expected it to be the right choice, and to have encountered Lin Xiuyuan and Pei Zhuxuan—one could only say it was surprise after surprise.

"I thought it was pretty good, which is why I brought you here; I didn't expect to have brought you to the right place."

The friend referred to as En-hee replied with a smile.

Her full name was Li En-hee, a friend outside the industry whom Park Hyomin had known for a long time; the two had always had a good relationship and often made plans to eat and shop together.

This restaurant today was one she had seen highly rated online and had reserved several days in advance.

After saying this, Li En-hee's gaze swept back and forth between the three people beside her, and the curve of her mouth could no longer be suppressed; her expression was truly spectacular and joyful.

She was the only pure spectator of today's chance encounter; she didn't participate in the performance, only responsible for watching the show.

And because she was an outsider, she knew nothing about the twists and turns between these artists, so she actually watched it the most easily.

She only felt that this meal today was worth it; not only was the food delicious, but it also came with a live-action emotional mini-drama—this kind of treatment wasn't something one got every day.

And someone who had a similar expression to Li En-hee was Pei Zhuxuan.

It was just that Pei Zhuxuan's spectator mindset wasn't as pure, because she herself was one of the participants in this play.

After she quickly finished the piece of salmon belly sushi in front of her, she turned her body, leaned toward Park Hyomin's side, and cautiously lowered her voice to ask a question.

"Unnie, should we switch seats?"

When she said this, her voice was very soft, and only Park Hyomin and she could hear it. Her tone carried a sincere suggestion, and also a hint of probing. Her eyes darted quickly between Park Hyomin and Lin Xiuyuan, the meaning expressed very clearly—if you want to sit over there, I can give up my seat.

After Park Hyomin heard this, her heart did indeed stir.

To be honest, she really wanted to.

If this were a private occasion with only her and Lin Xiuyuan, she probably would have sat over there directly, and might even have made further moves.

But this scenario right now wouldn't work.

Although there weren't many customers in the restaurant at this moment, it was, after all, a public place with so many eyes and surveillance cameras watching; if she really switched seats with Pei Zhuxuan and sat directly next to Lin Xiuyuan, the nature of it would be completely different.

The previous actions could all be explained away as "messing around between friends."

Everyone was an adult; friends joking around, bickering, or grabbing a piece of sushi to eat was the most normal thing in the world, and no one who saw it would think anything more of it.

But her current status, when it came down to it, was still that of a formal married woman.

This status was like an invisible chain; usually, one could pretend not to see it, but once it involved certain specific actions, that chain would tighten sharply, reminding her of what she could do and what she couldn't.

So if she really switched seats and sat over there, it wouldn't be something that could be explained away as just messing around; that would be called crossing the line.

She didn't dare, and she didn't want Lin Xiuyuan to be dragged into that muddy water by her.

So she just smiled, reached out and patted the back of Pei Zhuxuan's hand, and said in a relaxed tone, "No need, no need. Zhuxuan, don't overthink it; I'm just messing around with him. Right, Xiuyuan?"

Lin Xiuyuan, who had been named, hurriedly nodded and cooperated with a smile.

"Right, right, right, just messing around."

Afterwards, as the time grew later, the number of customers in the restaurant gradually increased.

The door curtain was lifted more and more frequently; each time, new customers were guided in by the waiter, the seats in front of the bar were filled one by one, and the previously quiet space was filled with the sounds of conversation in various languages.

In the air, besides the fragrance of food, there was a bit more human vitality.

In such an environment, the conversation of Lin Xiuyuan and the others also became much more restrained; they could no longer say whatever came to mind like they had just a moment ago.

After all, one didn't know who was sitting nearby; if something that shouldn't be heard were overheard, that would be troublesome.

The topic also shifted from the private sphere to gourmet food, chatting about how the dishes at this restaurant were, chatting about which restaurant they had eaten at before that was better, and chatting about the difference between sushi in Tokyo and sushi in Seoul.

Safe, appropriate, and suitable for anyone to hear.

It was just that as they chatted, Park Hyomin's gaze would still involuntarily fall upon Lin Xiuyuan.

This repeated several times.

Finally, when Lin Xiuyuan unplugged the power bank from his phone and handed it to Pei Zhuxuan for her to use, Park Hyomin seized this opportunity and spoke in a roundabout way.

"By the way, Xiuyuan, you say, if some people don't answer the phone when called, what do you think their phone is for?"

Pei Zhuxuan, who had just lowered her head to take a sip of white wine, paused slightly with the hand holding the wine glass after hearing this sentence, and then she slowly raised her head and glanced at Lin Xiuyuan beside her.

Both were smart people; how could they not hear the implication of this sentence?

Her gaze lingered on Lin Xiuyuan's profile for a moment before withdrawing, and she continued to lower her head to drink, but her ears were already pricked up, waiting to hear how Lin Xiuyuan would answer.

As for the one being asked, after shrinking his neck, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and reply, "I don't really get it, but if it were me, I probably wouldn't answer either; I'm not really used to answering people's calls."

"Why?" Now Pei Zhuxuan was a bit curious too.

She put down her wine glass and looked at Lin Xiuyuan curiously, her eyes filled with genuine confusion, because she truly couldn't understand it.

If the phone rings, you answer it; isn't that a very normal thing?

And Park Hyomin was also looking at him with a smile.

Seeing that both of them were staring at him waiting for an answer, Lin Xiuyuan knew he wouldn't get away with it today without giving an explanation, so he cleared his throat and answered with a straight face.

"Because the phone is for my convenience to find others, not for others' convenience to find me."

As soon as this sentence came out, it made the two people beside him laugh directly.

Pei Zhuxuan couldn't hold back first; the corners of her mouth curled up instantly, and then she shook her head, saying in a tone that was both exasperated and amused, "Sophistry."

But laughing aside, she actually felt in her heart that although this sounded outrageous, it seemed to have a little bit of logic, at least judging by Lin Xiuyuan's personality, he was indeed the type of person who could do such a thing.

And she also quite liked this way of doing things.

As for Park Hyomin, her reaction was not quite the same as Pei Zhuxuan's.

She was also laughing, but her eyes were slightly narrowed, her gaze falling on Lin Xiuyuan's face through the slits of her eyes, carrying a sense of scrutiny.

It was clear that this answer made her a bit unhappy.

After a moment of silence, just as this topic was about to be turned over and everyone was preparing to chat about other things, a vibration sound interrupted the atmosphere at the dining table.

It was Lin Xiuyuan's phone.

When he came in, he had politely set his phone to vibration mode and turned off all ringtones; now that the phone was ringing, it only emitted a buzzing low-frequency vibration, which was not too loud in the noisy restaurant.

But because he had placed it on the bar counter, the vibration was transmitted through the wooden surface, and those sitting close could still feel it.

At the same time, Pei Zhuxuan and Park Hyomin, who were sitting very close, saw the caller ID lighting up on his phone screen clearly.

And there was a photo and a name displayed on the incoming call interface.

The photo was a selfie of Liu Zhimin, pouting sideways at the camera, making a very cute expression; the background looked like it was inside a guest room, the light was very soft, and it illuminated her facial features very clearly.

Furthermore, this photo was clearly not the kind of official selfie or promotional photo that could be found on the internet; it was more like the kind of daily selfie between people in an ambiguous relationship.

After all, the amount of skin exposed by the camisole dress was very sexy and alluring.

And generally, only people who are close enough would set such a photo as their caller ID avatar.

At the same time, for a girl to send such a sexy pouting selfie to a guy and have the other party set it as a caller avatar already explained a lot of things in itself.

So much so that after seeing this scene, the one most touched should be Pei Zhuxuan.

Her gaze lingered on it for several seconds, and after confirming it repeatedly, she was finally certain she hadn't seen it wrong.

Thus, a very subtle feeling surged in her heart.

With such a relationship and interaction, that guy Lin Xiuyuan actually told her just now that he had nothing to do with the other party?

Then she remembered the sentence Park Hyomin said just now about "going out to play with Zhimin."

Putting these pieces of information together, the answer was actually already very obvious.

Linking this to the way the other party played dumb when she asked Lin Xiuyuan just now, Pei Zhuxuan only had one thought in her mind: this guy really takes her for a fool, doesn't he?

But what neither she nor Park Hyomin expected was that after Lin Xiuyuan glanced at the caller ID, he actually turned the phone screen over and covered it on the bar counter.

He didn't intend to answer.

Seeing this, Pei Zhuxuan looked at him with some surprise; just a moment ago, she thought what Lin Xiuyuan said was just a joke, but she didn't expect him to really not answer.

Thinking of this, she hurriedly nudged him lightly with her elbow and asked in a low voice, "You're really not answering?"

Her tone carried genuine surprise and a little bit of incomprehension.

"No rush, I'll just call back later," Lin Xiuyuan indicated.

"What if they have an emergency?" Pei Zhuxuan said again, her brows slightly furrowed, as if she were truly considering this possibility for him.

To this, Lin Xiuyuan's answer was, "Then they should call a second time."

Pei Zhuxuan looked at him, her mouth moved, and then she looked at the phone that had stopped vibrating, remaining silent for two seconds.

Then she used the term Lin Xiuyuan had just given her and returned it exactly as it was, "You really are a scumbag, Xiuyuan."

"No, this..."

Facing this, just as Lin Xiuyuan was about to say something to explain or refute, the phone on the bar counter vibrated again before he could even start.

The buzzing sound came up from the wooden surface again; because the screen was facing down, light leaked out from the gap between the phone and the surface, forming a faint halo of light around it.

This vibration caught Lin Xiuyuan by surprise, and he lowered his head to look at the phone with slightly furrowed brows.

No way, there really is an emergency.

At the same time, two gazes were cast over from the side again.

Pei Zhuxuan was looking at him, and Park Hyomin was also looking at him; both of their eyes carried a sense of scrutiny.

Feeling the weight of those two gazes, Lin Xiuyuan hurriedly flipped the phone over, and the caller ID appeared before his eyes.

As it turned out, the caller ID on the screen had changed to someone else this time.

Upon seeing that photo of the other person, Lin Xiuyuan's expression changed almost instantly; his sword-like brows arched upward, and the look in his eyes shifted from his previous nonchalance to a very earnest focus.

Although that change in expression was very subtle, the two people sitting beside him saw it clearly.

Then, under the gaze of Pei Zhuxuan and Park Hyomin, he stood up slowly from his seat while holding his phone.

His movements were not fast but very decisive; after standing up, Lin Xiuyuan first bowed slightly toward Pei Zhuxuan and Park Hyomin, his face wearing an expression of sincere apology.

"Excuse me, I'm going to take a call."

Having said that, he turned around directly and walked quickly toward the restaurant entrance with his phone in hand.

His pace was brisk; in a few steps, he reached the door curtain, reached out to lift it, and stepped out sideways.

The curtain fell behind him, swaying a few times before coming to a stop, and his figure completely disappeared outside the curtain.

Watching that rapidly disappearing back, Park Hyomin blinked a few times, her gaze still lingering in the direction where the curtain was swaying.

After being stunned for a second or two, she slowly turned her head to look at Pei Zhuxuan beside her and asked in a tone of confirmation.

"He just said he doesn't like answering calls, I didn't mishear that, right?"

Pei Zhuxuan nodded, her expression also a bit dazed, and then her eyes looked toward the entrance again, even though there was nothing there anymore.

Then, Park Hyomin's voice reached her ears again, "It seems he doesn't dislike answering calls, it just depends on who it is; now it looks like neither of us compares to YoonA."

The muttering was very soft and faint, quiet enough that only she and Pei Zhuxuan beside her could hear it, carrying an indescribable tone, as if stating a fact that had just been confirmed, or as if she were talking to herself to digest some information she was not quite willing to accept.

As it turned out, the photo on the phone screen for that second call was none other than Lin Yun'er.

And Pei Zhuxuan and Park Hyomin had both seen the caller ID avatar that lit up on the screen.

In that photo, Lin Yun'er was smiling very naturally, her long hair hanging down, her fingertips holding the phone for a selfie, while her other hand held a hot drink.

A beige coat paired with a blue-brown patterned scarf, she still carried a bit of casual playfulness even without makeup, and combined with the faint smile at the corners of her lips, it was as if the spring breeze had been kneaded into the frame.

It was clear that it didn't look like a professional shoot at all, but rather a snapshot taken casually during some daily moment.

Both were private photos used as caller avatars.

But the difference was that he didn't answer the first call from Liu Zhimin, while for the second call from Lin Yun'er, he not only answered it but specifically stood up and went outside to take it.

Thinking of this, Pei Zhuxuan picked up her wine glass and finished the last drop of white wine in it.

The liquid slid down her throat with a slight acidity, different from the refreshing feeling when eating sushi earlier; this time, the sourness seemed to linger a bit long, and the aftertaste stayed on the tip of her tongue for quite a while without dissipating.

Finally, she placed the empty glass back on the bar counter, her fingers tracing a circle around the rim, and said nothing.

Behind the bar, the chef was still slicing fish with an expressionless face.

The sound of the blade falling was rhythmic.

Once, and then again.