Chapter 69

"Rising Sun" is one of the largest and most luxurious private rooms at Xingquan, and Shu Shu personally booked it.

The oversized round table inside the private room can accommodate forty or fifty people at once, just enough to seat all of Class 12.

Considering everyone is rather reserved and shy, Shu Shu voluntarily took on the task of ordering dishes; after asking all the children about their dietary restrictions, she nodded to signal the waiter waiting by the door to come over.

Afterwards, everyone had an immediate impression: it turns out listening to someone order dishes can also be a pleasing experience.

In the spacious private room.

The girls' calm voice sounded smoothly, from main dishes, to side dishes, to vegetables, to staples, to soups, to desserts, to fruits.

A large pile of both familiar and unfamiliar seafood was ordered, with varieties, individual weights, origins, and transportation methods listed, leaving listeners dazed and bewildered.

"... Shu Shu, you're not a transfer student from another city, are you? How come you're so familiar with the dishes at Xingquan Restaurant in Anshi?" Bolo Boy asked timidly.

Shu Shu replied fluently: "I've also come to Xingquan to eat a few times before."

"Oh oh, I see."

After ordering the dishes, during the brief waiting period, Shu Shu took Shu Lingchen alone to the side lounge.

"The Xingquan consumption card, you gave it to Chu Lian, right?" she said, arms crossed, eyes narrowed as she looked at him.

In a declarative tone.

Why would you ask that? The Chu Family mother and daughter have no money and no influence; how could they possibly afford to consume at Xingquan?

Shu Lingchen lowered his eyes, stood upright, and nodded honestly: "... Hmm."

He said that at that time, he felt sympathy and pity for the Chu Family mother and daughter's "tragic" situation, so he voluntarily brought them to Xingquan for a meal once.

The Chu Family mother and daughter experienced such a luxurious grand restaurant for the first time, and they both enjoyed that meal immensely.

Then the following year, Chu Lian's birthday wish was to be able to go to Xingquan for a meal every year thereafter.

At that time, Shu Lingchen was also pure and innocent; seeing Chu Lian's small face full of longing, looking pitiful, he without a word gave her the Xingquan consumption card, making her wish come true.

Now Shu Lingchen recalls his own foolish innocence, feeling ashamed and guilty to the point of being unable to face it, and in a low voice he apologized: "Sorry, Mom."

"What's there to apologize for, it's not a big deal." Shu Shu showed no sign of anger, her expression amused and relaxed, and she asked again: "Then what about my card—why didn't you give it out back then?"

Yes, the Xingquan consumption cards actually total two.

That year, on Shu Lingchen's second birthday, Shu Shu specially brought him to Xingquan for a meal.

At that time, the scale of Xingquan Restaurant was already enormous, with daily operations managed by a professional team carefully cultivated by the owner.

But it just so happened that on that day, the owner and his wife invited an old friend to dinner, and at a glance they saw Shu Shu and the infant Shu Lingchen in a baby seat sitting in the hall.

The owner and his wife knew that Shu Shu was pregnant, so when they asked her to write the inscription for the new store, they presented her with a pair of pure gold little locks in advance.

Although at that time they did not know that Shu Shu was carrying two children.

Overwhelmed by their kindness, Shu Shu accepted the gold locks, and thereafter, fearing the couple would still be thinking about wanting to "repay the favor," she insisted on not revealing contact details or her exact address, basically just showing up on her own to eat.

The owner's wife lovingly held and played with Shu Lingchen, constantly praising him as handsome and cute.

Shu Lingchen wasn't shy at all, giggling and wanting to show all his little teeth, he clung to the owner's wife's neck and called out in a baby voice, "Auntie, auntie!"

The owner told Shu Shu that after his wife's successful surgery and two years of recuperation, her body had fully recovered, and then he hinted that they would also be welcoming a new life next year.

Shu Shu smiled and congratulated them.

Perhaps also out of anticipation for his own future child, the owner looked at Shu Lingchen's expression and liked him more and more, immediately saying he wanted to give something to this child as a birthday gift.

Upon hearing this, Shu Shu knew it would be another valuable item.

She quickly thought of an alternative and said, "Or how about giving Shu Lingchen a Xingquan consumption card? The baby meals at Xingquan are also quite good, and Shu Lingchen especially loves them—he's just finished eating them all."

The couple could tell this was a polite refusal, feeling helpless, they could only agree.

Thus, that very day they issued a supplementary card for Shu Shu's consumption card.

A small supplementary card exclusive to Shu Lingchen.

It also had no spending limit.

But afterward Shu Shu would always emphasize to Shu Lingchen that his card could only be used once a year at Xingquan, and could not be used a second time, otherwise the police would arrest him and lock him up in a little black room.

To be arrested by the police, scary scary.

As a result, Shu Lingchen firmly remembered Shu Shu's words.

…

Shu Lingchen gave his own Xingquan consumption card to Chu Lian, and also told her this rule, but his mother's main card belongs to the category of his mother's "keepsake," and he has always kept it well preserved.

The Chu Family mother and daughter were unaware of the existence of the main card; they only knew that they could only consume at Xingquan once a year, and that Xingquan recognizes the card, not the person.

Precisely because of this, after Shu Lingchen lost the Yujingyuan house and the fifty-thousand living expenses, Chu Lian dumped him without hesitation.

Shu Shu was not angry about the Chu Family mother and daughter taking advantage of these external possessions for a small gain.

But she regretted that the owner's goodwill at Xingquan was being consumed by such people.

Shu Shu had already seen on the forum that Chu Lian intended to entertain guests at Xingquan over the weekend, and that day after school she went home and retrieved her main card from Shu Lingchen.

The main card is called the main card because it has the absolute authority to cancel the supplementary cards.

Chu Lian still wanted to step on Shu Lingchen to maintain the Eldest Young Lady persona; if so, she would let that persona collapse completely.

In front of everyone.

After leaving the lounge, Shu Shu had Shu Lingchen take the main card, go out of the private room door, and make a trip to the front desk.

…

Chu Lian's side, the private room they were in.

Chu Lian sat at the main seat of the round table, her position right next to Shi Jin on the side; she raised her hand in a ladylike manner to tuck a strand of black hair behind her ear, her face showing a gentle smile, she passed the menu to Shi Jin and asked if he had anything he wanted to eat.

Shi Jin said gently, he's not picky, anything is fine, let Chu Lian decide.

"Okay, then I'll do it."

Chu Lian waved to the waiter by the door, then skillfully began ordering dishes.

At that moment, a few individuals at the table began discussing again.

Speaking of Pei Muyin from Class 12, she originally belonged to our Class 1; if she hadn't transferred to Class 12, where could those people in Class 12 get to eat the Star Spring?

As for them, they can't even grasp their lessons; coming here, can they even understand what they're eating?

Take Shu Lingchen for example, a poor hooligan who still wants to chase Chu Lian; he's also turned his life around, now getting to mooch off Pei Muyin's meals and see the world.

"……"

Zhang Lu also came today; ever since being so "humiliated" by Shu Lingchen that day, she's been furious.

Upon hearing someone badmouth Shu Lingchen, her face lit up with a smug, venting expression.

Chu Lian naturally heard it too, but she was ordering dishes, acting as if she hadn't heard, and didn't express any stance.

Just then.

The waiter who had been lowering his head to add items on the tablet suddenly adjusted his earpiece.