When George found out that Duanmu Aotian was furious after Duanmu Zhe brought Duanmu Xue back home and she had finally gotten the punishment she deserved, he was happy deep down. Though, he started to get upset after that. No matter what, he had also spent years liking this woman. During those years, she was the light that he would follow wherever she went. Ultimately… his sincerity was trampled on until it was in pieces under her feet.
Taking out his cell phone, he took a look at the time. It was almost night now. He scrolled through his list of contacts and realized that he did not even have anyone to talk to right now.
George slumped into his seat, feeling as if he was a failure. After such a long time, he did not even have one close friend. If he called that b*stard, Yuchi Shen, he would probably tell him to get lost. While he was someone with whom one could have a heart-to-heart, he was not someone one could casually chat with.
After thinking for a while, George thought that it was better for him to just go drinking by himself. He drove out and saw shops selling all kinds of food. A woman’s face suddenly appeared before George’s eyes. She would be so moved while eating that she would look at him with tears in her eyes and say, “You’re so kind!” Should he invite this woman out for a meal? After all, she was the only person who would praise him for being kind over a meal.
Fifteen minutes later, Rory carried her bag into the hotel and after saying a word to the waiter, she was brought to a booth. As soon as she entered the booth, Rory got a whiff of the fragrant smell. The big table full of dishes exuded a delicious and tempting smell. George was sitting amongst these dishes.
Seeing George like this, he was far more attractive than a mere tall, handsome man. Rory quickly walked over, put down her bag, and asked aloud, “Why did you suddenly ask me out for a meal tonight?”
“You’re here!” George glanced at her and explained, “I’m in a good mood today, and I happened to think of you. That’s why I decided to invite you over for a meal.”
“But… there are so many dishes. Can we finish them all?”
“There’s no rush, so eat slowly. It doesn’t matter if you can’t finish it all.” He wanted to have someone accompany him today, anyway. Rory was a good choice.
Looking at his generous appearance, Rory swallowed subconsciously. “Can I pack the food up for takeaway if I can’t finish it?”
“Sure…” replied George.
Hearing his answer, Rory was immediately moved. “Thank you!” Then, she picked up a pair of chopsticks and began to eat. George just stared at her. When the food went into her mouth, her fair face showed a satisfied expression. Then, she appeared touched before she finally looked at him with tears in her eyes. “The food in this restaurant is simply too delicious! George, you’re too kind!” It had started again; she had begun praising him. As long as good food was involved, Rory would become an entirely different person.
Thinking of her fierce appearance earlier, George could not stop himself from teasing her. “Really? How good is it?”
Rory was stuffing food in her mouth as she muttered, “Very good! The best in the world!”
George could not help but laugh. “Then you should praise me. If you do it well, I’ll treat you to a feast every day for the next month.”
He was just asking for compliments, which was not a hard task for Rory. It was just that she did not like to flatter others, so she licked her lips and said, “Although the reward is very tempting, my conscience won’t let me praise you.”
Hearing this, the smile on George’s lip froze. He probably did not expect her to say that. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “Are you serious? Do I not have any strong points at all?” The expression on his face suddenly turned frustrated in the next second. Rory instantly felt embarrassed and muttered, “Actually, you also have your own merits.”
George seemed to lose hope in himself as he laughed bitterly. “Really?” Before this, he thought that Duanmu Xue did not have taste for rejecting him, but Rory’s words suddenly made him realize that maybe… he was useless after all?
Rory nodded. “Of course, everyone has their pros and cons. Although I used to hear a lot about you from other people, I realized that you have your own merits too after meeting you these few times.”
“Then tell me, what are my merits?”
“Sincerity. I feel that you’re sincere. Do you know how hard it is to get close to Muzi? Because we’re both Chinese, so that’s why I wanted to get closer to her. However, she was very wary in the beginning but I managed to move her with my sincerity. That’s why, if you can befriend her, that means you’re pretty sincere as well. Most importantly…” Rory paused for a moment when she had spoken halfway. She seemed hesitant. She raised her eyes to look at him after a while and said, “You’re quite compassionate.”
Compassionate?
Rory’s mood dropped significantly as she lowered her eyes and stopped stuffing food into her mouth. “I know you were just pitying me when you said you wanted to treat me to a feast. You said you’ll treat me first and I’ll treat you when I get rich. You only said those things to make me feel better.”
George was stunned as he did not expect her to realize this. At first, he simply wanted to treat her to apologize. After that, she cried after tasting the delicious food. He had sympathized with her and promised to treat her to feasts more often. He could not believe that she knew.
“Thank you.” She raised her head and looked at him seriously for the first time. “Before this, I would judge you every time I saw you, but I’ve realized that you can’t always believe in other peoples’ words. No matter what others say about you, they only see the surface. They don’t know the real you. So… you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
George did not know what to say. He finally came back to his senses after he was stunned for very long. He couldn’t believe that he was comforted by a little girl. Damn. He was even touched. George realized she was looking at him with widened eyes, and tears were glimmering on her lashes. Her tears glimmered brighter and her silhouette slowly became more vivid and lovely.
George was in a daze. When he came back to his senses, he could not help but criticize himself in his heart. A little girl like Rory was not his type. He liked gorgeous women like Duanmu Xue, but… just now, he actually found Rory attractive! Thinking about this, George rubbed his nose. Oh no!
“It’s fine, stop talking nonsense here. I’ll treat you to more good food even if you don’t praise me. Hurry up and dig in.”
Rory widened her eyes after hearing this. “Really? Why didn’t you say so sooner?”
George was confused.
“You should’ve said that earlier, then I wouldn’t need to put in so much effort to praise you.” After that, Rory shook her head and continued eating. She raised her head and reminded him again, “Don’t forget your promise.”
George was speechless for a moment. What could he do if he suddenly wanted to take back his words? Even though her praises were insincere, since she was already praising him, why could she not let him indulge in it a bit longer?
George felt that his heart was severely wounded. This is worse than a heartbreak!
Even so, the sadness from before had suddenly disappeared.
