146: Chapter 145 Xin Yaoqiao's Invitation

When a beauty extends an invitation, Su Bai has no reason to refuse.

The two of them walked along the street.

The streetlights stretched their shadows long, casting them onto the ground, where they overlapped, separated, and overlapped once more.

The barbecue restaurant was in a small alley behind the hospital. It wasn't large, but business was booming; the tables set out in front were all occupied.

The owner was a chubby middle-aged man, shirtless with a towel draped around his neck. He was flipping skewers over a charcoal grill, the firelight reflecting off his shiny, oily face.

The woman clearly knew the owner and greeted him. The owner pointed toward a corner, where there was an empty table.

The two of them walked over and sat down.

The woman took the menu from the waiter and ordered beef skewers, lamb skewers, chicken wings, grilled eggplant, grilled chives, and two bottles of beer.

Su Bai said, "I won't drink. I drove here."

The woman said, "Then I'll drink by myself. Thank you for helping me today."

The barbecue arrived quickly. The skewers sizzled on the iron plate, the oil still bubbling, and the scent of cumin and chili mixed together, drifting on the night breeze.

The woman picked up a beef skewer and handed it to Su Bai.

Su Bai took it and took a bite; the meat was tender and grilled to perfection.

The woman took one for herself, took a bite, chewed, swallowed, and then picked up the beer bottle, poured a glass, and took a large gulp.

"Thank you so much for today. If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have known what to do."

Su Bai smiled. "It's nothing."

The woman took another drink, set down her glass, and looked Su Bai over.

"Looking at you, you're still in school, right?"

Su Bai nodded.

"A university student?"

Su Bai nodded again.

The woman smiled. In that smile, there was exhaustion, gratitude, and something indescribable.

"My daughter is four this year. Her father passed away last year, and I'm raising her on my own."

She paused and took another drink.

"She's been frail since she was little and is always getting sick. I'm running to the hospital every few days."

Su Bai didn't speak; he just ate the skewers and listened to her.

The woman talked for a while, then, perhaps tired from speaking, she stopped, took another drink, and smiled.

"Am I talking too much?"

Su Bai said no.

The woman looked at him for a few seconds, then lowered her head and continued eating her skewers.

The two of them ate and drank, not speaking again.

The night breeze blew over, scattering the barbecue smoke, only to bring new smoke in its place.

The pedestrians on the street grew fewer and fewer, and the light under the streetlamps seemed to grow brighter.

The woman finished the last of her drink, set down her glass, and stood up.

"Let's go. It's getting late."

Su Bai also stood up and took out his phone to scan the QR code.

The woman stopped him. "I'll pay."

Su Bai looked at her and didn't insist.

The woman took some cash from her wallet, placed it on the table, and weighed it down with the salt shaker.

The two of them walked out of the barbecue restaurant and stood at the entrance of the alley.

The wind blew, and the woman's hair fluttered again; she reached up to smooth it back.

The two exchanged contact information.

The woman turned and walked away. After a few steps, she stopped and looked back at him.

"Su Bai, my name is Liu Shishi."

Su Bai was taken aback; he didn't think he had told her his name.

Liu Shishi smiled. There was a touch of craftiness in that smile, like a cat that had stolen a fish.

"I saw it when you were registering at the hospital."

Su Bai didn't speak.

Liu Shishi waved her hand and turned to leave.

Her high heels clicked against the concrete—tap, tap, tap—growing fainter until she turned a corner and disappeared at the end of the alley.

Su Bai stood there for a moment, then turned and walked toward the parking lot.

His car was still parked at the hospital entrance; the blue panamera gleamed under the streetlights.

He opened the car door, got in, and started the engine.

The car drove into the night. The streetlights receded one by one, trailing bands of orange light across the car windows.

When Su Bai arrived at school the next day, Li Longyu was already sitting at her desk.

She was looking down at a book, her school uniform collar turned up high, covering half her face.

Su Bai put down his bag, sat down, took a slip of paper from his pocket, and slid it in front of her.

Li Longyu looked down; the note had an address and a name written on it.

"Liusu Entertainment, receptionist. Just go on the weekend."

Li Longyu looked at the note, her brows slightly furrowed. "Liusu Entertainment... what do they do?"

Su Bai nodded. "Receptionist work. Daily pay, three hundred a day."

Li Longyu looked up at him. "Did you find this for me?"

Su Bai gave a hum of acknowledgment. Li Longyu looked at him for a few seconds, then folded the note and put it in her pocket.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

He didn't tell her that it was his own company.

Li Longyu didn't speak again and turned back to continue reading.

But Su Bai noticed that although she had flipped through several pages of the book, she hadn't actually read a single one.

During the break, Su Bai was resting with his eyes closed, slumped over his desk.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the hallway. Someone shouted, "Xin Yaoqiao is here!" and the boys who had been loitering in the corridor immediately cleared a path.

Su Bai opened his eyes; Xin Yaoqiao was already standing at their classroom door.

Today, she was wearing a white sweater and a grey pleated skirt, with white stockings on her legs and a pair of small black leather shoes on her feet.

She leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, tilting her head to look at Su Bai with a faint smile on her lips.

"Su Bai, come out."

The classroom went quiet for a moment, and everyone's gaze fell upon Su Bai.

Liu Hao turned around from the front seat and pushed up his glasses, his mouth open as if he wanted to ask something but didn't dare.

Li Longyu kept her head down reading, but the pen in her hand stopped moving.

Mu Qing sat at her desk, drawing circles on her paper with her pen. She didn't look up, but her ears were pricked.

Su Bai stood up and walked out of the classroom.

Xin Yaoqiao grabbed his sleeve and dragged him to the window at the end of the corridor.

Sunlight streamed in through the window and fell on her face, her eyes shining brightly.

"Come over to my place to hang out after school."

Su Bai looked at her and flatly refused. "No."

Xin Yaoqiao pouted. "Why?"

Su Bai said there was no reason; he just didn't want to go.

He was afraid of running into Mayor Xin.

Xin Yaoqiao looked at him, rolled her eyes, and then smiled.

There was a touch of craftiness, a hint of triumph, and a sliver of a threat in that smile.

"If you don't go, I'm going to tell everyone that you're my boyfriend."

Su Bai looked at her with a helpless expression.

Xin Yaoqiao also looked at him, her chin slightly raised, wearing an expression that said, "It's up to you."

Su Bai was silent for two seconds. "What time?"

Xin Yaoqiao smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "We'll leave right after school. I'll wait for you at the school gate."

She turned and left, her pleated skirt bouncing happily.

Su Bai stood in the corridor, watching her back disappear down the stairwell, then turned and walked back to the classroom.

Liu Hao immediately turned around, gossiping, "Why did Xin Yaoqiao come to find you?"

"It's nothing."

Liu Hao didn't believe him, but he didn't ask any further.