Chen Jin quickly waved his hand, feeling the waiter's fiery gaze. He added, "I've already eaten."
Lin Wan ordered a plate of fried chicken and a plate of cucumber and enoki mushrooms, much to Chen Jin's strong disapproval. But when he looked around, he saw that the menu didn't have much else. While waiting for the noodles, Lin Wan put on plastic gloves and started gnawing on a piece of chicken, deciding to ignore the pretentiousness. After all, he'd said he'd already eaten, so she'd just let him think that was true.
Chen Jin didn't argue. He'd never touch this kind of food, even when he had eaten it a few times in college while drinking with roommates. He found it greasy and pointless. Lin Wan, however, finished half the plate in no time, and with bones scattered around, she looked surprisingly delicate while eating.
When the large bowl of beef noodles finally arrived, Lin Wan had already almost finished the chicken and cold dishes. Seeing the steaming noodles, her face lit up with a rare expression of greed.
Chen Jin, who had been boredly flipping through his phone, was distracted by her expression. Then, glancing at the bowl of noodles, he almost wanted to shout at the waiter, "I'll pay an extra 50 yuan, can I get a few more slices of meat?" But, considering the attention he'd already attracted in this small shop, he held back and instead asked, "Is it that good?"
Lin Wan lifted her head, inhaling the white steam from the noodles, and said, "I think it's great. But, of course, for someone like you who uses shark fin to rinse your mouth, it might not be to your taste."
She never missed an opportunity to tease him. Chen Jin leaned back in his chair and continued to browse the web, silently frustrated. He'd come back early just to celebrate her birthday, with an empty stomach, only to see her enjoying the noodles like this. But after seeing her look, he couldn't help but feel like he needed to leave. However, looking at her again, he realized that she was the only one who could make him feel like this.
It wasn't long before half of the large bowl of noodles was gone, and Lin Wan was nearly full. But she had this bad habit—she couldn't stand wasting food, so…
Luckily, Chen Jin was a quick learner. Seeing that the enthusiastic look had long faded from her eyes, and the greedy light in them had already extinguished, but she was still struggling to pick at the noodles, he thought to himself that once she finished this bowl, she'd probably end up rolling her eyes from being so stuffed. He definitely didn't want to end up holding a big, bloated frog in his arms later. So, he reached over and stopped her hand holding the chopsticks. "Alright, stop eating."
Lin Wan looked up, looking unwilling. "I haven't finished yet."
Chen Jin thought to himself, if you finish it, you'll be done with it, but what came out of his mouth was: "Let me try a couple of bites."
Both of them froze, but Lin Wan reacted quickly and said, "How about we just order another bowl?"
"Forget it, it'll take too long to make. Too slow," Chen Jin said, and with a flick of his finger, he moved the large bowl toward himself, then grabbed a pair of disposable chopsticks from the cup and broke them apart.
"Wait a minute." Lin Wan snatched the disposable chopsticks from his hand, rubbed them together to smooth out the rough edges, then handed them back to him. Seeing his confused look, she suddenly realized how habitual her actions had become. She calmly explained, "These chopsticks are poorly made. If you don't rub them, the splinters will hurt your mouth."
"Why didn't you do this earlier?" Chen Jin asked, picking up a bite of noodles.
Lin Wan muttered under her breath, "I'm not scared."
She thought Chen Jin hadn't heard, but he smiled, raised his head, and blinked his eyes. "Who said that? Your mouth may be tough, but your lips are very soft."
Lin Wan's face flushed, and she immediately turned her head away.
Since Lin Wan had eaten so quickly earlier, the noodles were still warm, and they hadn't become soggy. Chen Jin thought as he ate, This woman really wasn't afraid of getting burned. Doesn't she know that eating hot food like this can cause esophageal cancer? I should educate her about this when I have time.
To be honest, the noodles didn't look impressive, but the flavor was pretty authentic, not much worse than those dishes that cost hundreds of yuan. No wonder so many people were eating here so happily. The noodles were hot, and once they went down, they warmed his stomach and even made his heart feel warm. It was just that the shabby fan in the small shop wasn't doing much, and after a few bites, sweat started beading on his forehead. He casually took off his suit jacket and draped it over the chair.
There was an old-fashioned television mounted high above the door, and after finishing her meal, Lin Wan rested her chin in her hand, staring at the idol drama that was airing. The plot was a bit cliché, but it was lighthearted and fun. However, after watching for just a few minutes, an advertisement interrupted.
Feeling frustrated, she slouched in her chair and noticed the three young girls at the next table glancing over at them from time to time. That look in their eyes—anyone who has been through that age would understand. Lin Wan turned her gaze toward them, feeling a little schadenfreude. Look at that, people who are used to air-conditioned rooms and cars, and now they're here looking like this. The poor guy is sweating buckets, almost like he's about to stick his tongue out.
But, objectively speaking, he did look quite mature with his white shirt rolled up to reveal a small part of his arm. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that his shirt had silver threaded stripes. Hmph, so he's a bit of a tease, Lin Wan thought, disdaining to roll her eyes. As a student of fine arts, she was particularly sensitive to lines and contours. She had always disliked him, hated him, and had never really paid attention to his appearance or physique. But just looking at his arm, the skin tone was healthy, and the muscles were strong… strong, indeed. Like steel and iron, no matter how much she struggled, she'd never escape the cage formed by those arms.
"What's wrong?" Chen Jin set down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with the napkin, and looked up to find Lin Wan staring at his arm, her expression vacant. It was a bit silly, but in a cute way.
Lin Wan snapped out of her daze, lowered her eyes, and muttered, "Nothing."
"Let's go. I'm done eating." Chen Jin stood up, took off his jacket, and reached for his wallet to pay. Lin Wan, however, was already on her feet and out the door. She really needed some cool air to clear her head. The greasy smell in the room was giving her a headache.