Chapter 83: Coincidence

Busy until 6:00 PM.

Tang Song stood up, stretched, and laughed, "You've worked hard, Accountant Gao. How about I treat you to a big meal?"

Gao Mengting blinked at him and said, "Sorry, I have an appointment today. I'll keep this meal on record, and you can treat me another day."

"Oh? A guy or a girl?"

Gao Mengting froze for a moment and looked away unnaturally, "It's that junior of mine. She put a lot of effort into it and produced 6 versions in 3 days. I took a huge advantage of her with this 1,500 yuan design fee, so I thought I'd treat her to a meal to compensate."

With her design level, it would start at 5,000 at a design company.

And she would also be responsible for various later modifications and maintenance of sizes and formats. 1,500 yuan was definitely a super friendly price.

"OK." Tang Song gave her a handsome smile, "Don't forget to get an invoice. Expenses like this related to the company can be reimbursed."

"President Tang is generous!" Gao Mengting covered her mouth and chuckled.

Just then, Gao Mengting's phone rang suddenly.

Tang Song glanced at it; the caller was noted as "Qiuqiu".

"Hey, Qiuqiu, I'm getting off work soon, you can leave now."

"Mm-hmm, bye~"

……

The sun was gradually sinking to the west.

The black BMW 330 drove along the orange-yellow street, exiting the South Second Ring Road along the main road.

After making a few turns, lush locust trees appeared on both sides of the road.

A familiar feeling welled up in his heart.

Dazzling shops, colorful light signs, various snack bars, roadside stalls, bookstores, accessory shops...

The crowds coming and going on the roadside were mostly young men and women, carrying a thick sense of vitality.

They walked in groups of three or five on the street, chatting, laughing, or playing, full of youthful energy.

This was the commercial street outside Yancheng University of Technology, and also the place where he had lived for 4 years.

After graduation, he had been rushing around busily and had never come back.

On his way home from work today, he didn't know why he had a sudden whim to come here and taste the familiar food.

Parking the car, Tang Song stood on the roadside and looked around for a while before stepping forward.

Fried chicken, grilled cold noodles, stinky tofu, candied haws...

Before he knew it, Tang Song was carrying several bags in his hands.

Finally, he entered an authentic beef noodle shop.

He often came here to eat during college. 3 years had passed, and it was still the same old way.

Not caring whether he could finish it or not, he ordered a large bowl of wide noodles and added bean curd skin, braised pork, meatballs, and eggs.

He found a seat by the window, eating the delicious food while observing the college students coming and going.

The sky outside the shop gradually darkened, and the lights on the roadside suddenly lit up, dyeing the outside world a warm yellow.

Tang Song paused in his eating. For some reason, he had a feeling as if it were yesterday.

In his impression, there seemed to have been such a scene, but that was already several years ago.

……

On the bustling street.

Li Shumin pouted and said, "I still want to eat snail rice noodles, what should I do?"

Zhang Jiahong said irritably, "You've been eating them for two days in a row, now every time you fart, it smells like that!"

"You... you're talking nonsense, as if you don't have smelly farts!"

The two argued for a few sentences.

Li Shumin shook Yao Lingling's arm, "Lingling, why don't you decide what to eat tonight? I'm starving to death."

Yao Lingling's gaze swept over the row of shops on the roadside and pointed to one of them, "Then let's eat noodles. The portions are large and filling, and you can add toppings."

"Fine, then hurry up."

"I want eggs and meatballs."

"Look at your lack of ambition, I want braised pork!"

The three walked into the shop chatting and laughing.

They chatted warmly with the boss at the counter and ordered their respective meals.

Since it was a holiday evening, there were no empty tables at this time, so they had to share a table with others.

Li Shumin scanned the area and pointed to a table in the corner, whispering, "There's a handsome guy over there, all by himself, hehe, it's perfect for the three of us to share a table!"

From their position, they could only see his side and back, but from his figure, outfit, and silhouette, it was clear he was definitely a handsome young man.

Eating, after all, is better if there's a handsome guy to admire.

The three girls smiled at each other and walked directly toward that side.

In this kind of small shop, everyone sits together, so there's no such thing as disturbing or not.

Li Shumin and Zhang Jiahong sat down directly opposite, secretly sizing up the boy's face.

Yao Lingling patted the boy on the shoulder generously and smiled, "Handsome, excuse me, I'll sit inside."

Hearing the familiar voice, Tang Song, who was slurping noodles, looked up in surprise.

Immediately after, all four of them froze.

After a moment of silence, Yao Lingling widened her eyes and shouted, "April! Damn, this is too coincidental, right!?"

Li Shumin and Zhang Jiahong looked at each other blankly.

The amateur blogger they had been following online had actually appeared right in front of them.

It felt like a "meet-up" in real life.

And they had just video-chatted yesterday; it was too coincidental!

"It really is a coincidence. Does this count as fate? Yancheng is so big, and we actually ran into each other in such a small shop." Tang Song sighed, moved to the seat inside, and said to Lingling, "Sit down and chat."

Yao Lingling sat down quickly.

Tang Song smiled and greeted them, "Lingling, Minmin, and Little Red Riding Hood, good evening."

As he smiled, all three girls were dazzled. They looked him up and down, their eyes full of wonder and amazement.

Tang Song felt uncomfortable under their gaze, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yao Lingling resisted the urge to pinch his face and tutted, "April, you're even more handsome than you look online."

"Yeah, yeah."

"That's right, that's right, your transformation is definitely the most successful case I've ever seen."

Li Shumin and Zhang Jiahong also nodded desperately in agreement.

When they video-chatted before, they felt this guy was quite handsome, but seeing him in person exceeded their expectations.

Especially his mouth, red lips and white teeth, he looked super gentle when he smiled, so handsome!

Tang Song blushed slightly and smiled, "Stop calling me by my screen name, just call me by my real name, which is my WeChat nickname, Tang Song."

"Let's formally introduce ourselves, my name is Yao Lingling."

"I'm Li Shumin."

…

The four chatted for a few sentences, which counted as re-introducing themselves.

Tang Song put the pile of snacks he had bought on the table in the middle and smiled, "Perfect, I bought too much and couldn't finish it, now I don't have to worry."

Looking at the dazzling array of snacks, the three girls swallowed their saliva in unison.

"Is this really okay?"

"It's fine, we're all friends, and I really couldn't finish it."

"Tang Song, you should know, I'm your loyal fan, so I won't stand on ceremony." Li Shumin licked her lips, grabbed a chicken leg, took a big bite, and said with satisfaction, "Is this the crispy fried chicken from the street corner? It's so delicious!"

"The stinky tofu is also very delicious."

The noodles were served quickly.

The four chatted and ate.

The three girls were all lively, chatting about him and the food, and Tang Song couldn't even get a word in.

After chatting for a while.

Yao Lingling explained, "The three of us are students from Yancheng University of Technology. We just graduated last year. Because we were familiar with the area around the school, we rented a house together in the Starry Garden residential complex nearby and often eat here. The price is cheap and the portions are large."

Tang Song froze for a moment, then smiled, "So you're my juniors! I graduated in '20. When you enrolled, I should have just been a junior. Maybe we even saw each other on campus before." ===== CHAPTER 84 =====