At first, Tang Yuanyuan had planned to eat something simple at the cafeteria. So, she didn’t know what to eat now that Yishu was bringing her out for dinner. They were walking along the crowded street. At that moment, the sky was still bright, and the setting sun shone across half of the buildings and half the road.
The young lady’s hand was being held by the person she liked. As they crossed the zebra crossing and walked by the various shops along the road, her heart felt warmer than the sun shining down on them.
“What do you want to eat?” Yuchi Yishu’s voice was indifferent as he asked her this and his gaze landed on her face.
For some reason, she felt shy; her face blushed slightly. “Anything’s fine.”
“Anything’s fine? Then, what about this place behind you?”
She did not even bother to look at what restaurant was behind her as she nodded immediately in response. In her heart, she was sure that whatever she ate together with him would be delicious.
“Let’s go.” He pulled her in the direction of the shop. When they entered the shop, she realized that it was a grilled fish restaurant.
Grilled fish?
She suddenly regretted agreeing to his suggestion so casually. No matter what they ate, anything would be better than fish. When she was younger, she didn’t know how to spit out the fishbones while eating fish. Due to that, she once had a fishbone stuck in her throat and that incident had left a deep impression on her. At the time, the fishbone could not be removed easily and she had to go to the hospital to get it out.
Afterward, that incident became a traumatic experience that haunted her to this day. The incident occurred at the Ye residence, so Yishu knew of it too. Besides, he was also aware that she did not eat fish. Why did he bring me here?
Could it be that Yishu has forgotten about my trauma of eating fish? Then, a small sense of grievance began to grow in her heart at the thought. After mulling over it, she felt that she was being too unreasonable. It only happened once. Furthermore, that was an incident from when we were still children. Yishu was still young at the time; how could he possibly remember it? It’s quite normal to forget about something like that.
Soon, Tang Yuanyuan managed to comfort herself and dispel her negative thoughts. Not long after, a waitress brought them up to the second floor and seated them at a table next to a window.
“Please have a look. What kind of fish would you like to eat?”
Tang Yuanyuan was just about to take the menu from the waitress. However, as her hand touched a corner of the menu, she realized that Yuchi Yishu had already taken hold of the menu. Thus, she withdrew her hand. “Yishu, I’ll leave the ordering to you then.”
Then, Yuchi Yishu handed the menu to her and turned his head toward the waitress, saying, “Please get us another menu.”
“Sure.” Soon, the waitress came back with another menu for them.
“Have a look; what do you want to eat?”
What do I want to eat? When you come to a grilled fish restaurant, grilled fish is usually what you order. She flipped open the menu.
“We have a lot of different fishes as well as flavors. Please take a look; what flavors would you like?”
Listening to the waitress’ recommendation, Tang Yuanyuan nervously broke out in a cold sweat. Then, she asked the waitress in a soft voice, “Um, do you only serve fish here? Are there any other side dishes or something?”
“Of course, we do. Please flip to the back of the menu. You can order some side dishes to go with it. These can be added to the cooking. Other than that, we also have some snacks, including fried foods and desserts. By the way, we recently came out with a new dish—beer-cooked crayfish. Would you like to order a portion to try?”
She glanced at the menu and saw that everything on the menu was high in calories. Still, she really liked crayfish. Chewing on her lower lip, she resisted the urge and ordered several lightly-flavored vegetables and snacks.
“Young lady, won’t you try our crayfish? Most of the young ladies that come to our restaurant enjoy them very much. Are you worried that our crayfish wouldn’t suit your taste?”
“That’s not it. Recently, I’ve—”
“Get her one of those.” At that moment, Yuchi Yishu answered in her stead.
“Sure.”
“And a Basa fish cooked in a spicy sauce.”
Afterward, he continued to order other dishes. Listening to him, Tang Yuanyuan realized that it was all food that she liked to eat. She blinked her eyes, then whispered, “Yishu, don’t order so much. It’s so late at night; we can’t finish that much food.”
“Okay. Add on two bowls of rice, and that will be all.”
“Sure. Please wait a while.”
After the waitress left, Tang Yuanyuan couldn’t help saying, “Yishu, you’ve ordered too much! What if we can’t finish the food?”
“Can’t finish the food?” Yuchi Yishu raised his eyebrows and glanced sideways at her in amusement. “Didn’t you use to love eating? Is there anything you can’t finish eating?”
His words made her face flush red for some reason. It sounded as if she was a big-eater. The Tang Yuanyuan of the past might not have been bothered, but it was no longer the case now.
“O-Of course, I can’t finish that much food! Nowadays, I have a much smaller appetite than before!” Then, she confidently continued, “I have not eaten more than a bowl of rice in half a year!”
This was the truth. Except for the other day when she drank so much milk tea that she threw up, she had practiced self-restraint ever since she decided to lose weight during the new year. At the beginning of her diet, she felt like she was starving. As time slowly passed, she stopped being so gluttonous.
He poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of her, then said in a deep voice, “You are not yet an adult. Your body is still growing. It’s best if you don’t go on a diet.”
She pouted after listening to his words. “It’s soon. I’m going to be an adult in half a year. Besides, I’m not on a diet; I’m just trying to train my body.”
“Are you worried that I will be repulsed by you?”
She did not reply. His question was so sudden that she didn’t know how to answer it. “N-No. Do you think I’m trying to lose weight for you?”
Yuchi Yishu, who was sitting across from her, lifted his eyebrows. He didn’t say anything and only watched her quietly. He knew that this was enough to make her lose herself with anxiety and spiral out of control.
Sure enough, when she noticed him keeping silent, she began to explain herself guiltily, “I didn’t lose weight for you, and I’m not worried that you will be repulsed by me.”
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, but he still didn’t say anything.
She began to panic slightly and exclaimed in a gruff voice, “Yishu! I’m talking to you! Are you listening?”
“Sigh. I heard you. Since you aren’t losing weight for me, there’s no need to explain further. Why are you panicking?”
“Who’s panicking?”
At first, she was not anxious. However, she began to panic after he pointed it out to her. Whenever she felt anxious, her ears turned red easily. He noticed that her ears were completely red and knew that he couldn’t continue teasing her anymore. Thus, he reeled his words back in.
“Alright; I was joking. Drink some tea to quench your thirst. The fish will be here soon.”
Even so, Tang Yuanyuan had panicked on her own after listening to his words. For that reason, she felt embarrassed that he even had to throw out a lifeline to her. Fortunately, the waitress served up the fish at that moment. As the grilled fish was wrapped in aluminum foil and grilled in a square pot, the bottom of it needed to be lit up. Therefore, he got up and sat down next to her, using his large body to protect her from the flames.
“That’s enough,” Yuchi Yishu said indifferently. “Please serve up some snacks.”
The snacks were quickly brought over. Most of it was desserts. Tang Yuanyuan glanced at the snacks but didn’t dare to eat them. Sweets were the highest in calories. If she willfully ate a lot of it, it would setback most of her hard work thus far. I should resist eating them.
“These are all for you. If you won’t eat them, then it will all go to waste.”
