Green Tea? She's Clearly a Hidden Gem!

Li Wang arrived with Zhao Qiulu, glanced at Jiang Linyuan sitting across:

“Sorry, could you move over a bit? We have something we want to talk to Xia Tao about.”

Jiang Linyuan looked at Xia Tao across the table.

She blinked like crazy, her eyelids practically taking off!

Handsome guy! Don’t leave! Don’t make me face hell alone!

“Why should he leave? Even now, are you still afraid of losing face? So many people are watching already, what difference does it make where he sits?”

Zhao Qiulu sat down next to Jiang Linyuan without any courtesy.

Li Wang scanned the shop. Ever since he and Zhao Qiulu entered, the tension between them had unconsciously drawn many customers’ attention.

“I guess…”

He sighed and sat beside Xia Tao.

No way! This seat is wrong! Why is Li Wang sitting next to me?

Why are you two lovers facing each other!

Xia Tao drew inward, deliberately putting some distance between herself and Li Wang, timidly saying:

“I, I need to go to the restroom…”

“Xia Tao, if you leave we’ll only argue louder, do me a favor.”

Li Wang looked at her and sighed helplessly.

“The problem isn’t Xia Tao, the problem is you, Li Wang!”

Zhao Qiulu stared at Li Wang, snorting.

“Xia Tao and I just grew up together, it’s pure friendship.”

Li Wang explained earnestly.

“Right, right, Senior Zhao, Li Wang and I really have nothing going on, we’re just ordinary friends,”

Xia Tao hurriedly clarified, cutting ties! Severing, hard!

She and Li Wang really had nothing; they hadn’t even had an ambiguous period. Otherwise she would have known earlier that he wasn’t single anymore, not only after the engagement.

Zhao Qiulu smiled faintly and looked at Xia Tao:

“Xia Tao, I know you. With your guts and ability, you wouldn’t do something like that.”

Senior Zhao is brilliant! Although it felt like a sneaky jab, a little hurt—why does that sting?

Xia Tao thought this and nodded vigorously.

“Li Wang, Xia Tao treats you as an ordinary friend. Do you treat her as an ordinary friend?”

Zhao Qiulu asked again.

“Of course.”

Li Wang was astonished.

Zhao Qiulu smiled, then her face darkened:

“Then what did you mean going to her house on New Year’s Eve!? On Lunar New Year’s Eve, when I went to pick you up to come to my home, you walked out from her house. And today, when we went out to the park, why did you insist on calling her out?”

Li Wang froze, then immediately explained:

“Xia Tao lives next door. My uncle and aunt are on good terms with her family, so I went to her house to pay respects, to see the elders. Today I only called Xia Tao to be the photographer.”

“Qiulu, you’re reading too much into this.”

“Reading too much? You spend New Year’s Eve with another girl and accuse me of overthinking! How could I not overthink?!”

Zhao Qiulu couldn’t help shouting.

Jiang Linyuan heard that and glanced at Su Muzhi and Shen Wanyu at the next table watching the scene.

Thank goodness, Xiao Su and the Department Head and I are just good friends, pure friendship!

“But at that time we still…”

Li Wang opened his mouth, looked at Zhao Qiulu, but was cut off.

“Still what? Don’t tell me you want to say back then I didn’t have the right to be jealous?”

Zhao Qiulu stared into his eyes, her voice suddenly very calm.

“No, not that…”

Li Wang sighed and retorted:

“Why can’t you give me more trust?”

“If I trusted you, why would I be engaged to you? It’s your behavior that made me hard to trust!”

“What more do you want from me? When I met you you already knew my relationship with Xia Tao! I didn’t hide anything from you!”

“That’s exactly why I hate it more! Don’t you realize? You have zero boundaries with her! It’s like she means more to you than I do!”

Their back-and-forth escalated, voices growing louder, words getting sharper.

“This is all your own imagination, right? You can trust me, just like I trust you!”

“I don’t have any childhood sweetheart, you can rest assured!”

“What about your other friends? I don’t know any of them! You never introduce me to them!”

At this point Li Wang couldn’t hold back and yelled in rebuttal.

He pointed at Jiang Linyuan:

“Take this guy for example! I never heard you have a handsome friend like him!”

Hey, and me?

Jiang Linyuan looked up at Li Wang, sighing, blame it on my handsome face.

Just as he was about to speak, Zhao Qiulu cut in:

“You’re being unreasonable! I only met him a few days ago! What do you take me for!?”

“You only met him a few days ago, what about your other friends?”

Li Wang straightened as if finally able to vent, shouting:

“Are you afraid I won’t measure up so you don’t introduce me to your so-called circle of friends? Or do you have other plans? Zhao Qiulu, you and your father both look down on people!”

Splash!

Zhao Qiulu lifted her milk tea and splashed it right into Li Wang’s face.

Drip, drip.

Liquid slid down the table.

Her eyes were red. She extended her left hand, the engagement ring on her middle finger shining:

“Li Wang, you really disappoint me.”

As she spoke, she slowly took off the ring and pushed it across to Li Wang:

“I think you need to calm down.”

If she really despised me, why would she be engaged to me in the first place?

Li Wang was silent for a moment, took the ring, and walked out of the shop, leaving behind: 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“Sorry, I’m going to the restroom.”

Xia Tao hugged her milk tea at the table, neither able to drink nor leave it alone.

Jiang Linyuan’s face turned unpleasant.

Because the milk tea Zhao Qiulu threw at Li Wang was his—he had only taken a few sips!

A waiter rushed over to clean the table. The group stood up and moved to another table.

“Sorry for causing trouble.”

Zhao Qiulu took out a tissue, wiped her eyes, and said to Jiang Linyuan beside her.

“Just get me another milk tea.”

Jiang Linyuan said.

“Do you think I was a bit excessive, overthinking?”

Zhao Qiulu looked at Jiang Linyuan and asked.

Not even close. If there’s a girlfriend spot, Miss Zhao, you’ve already restrained yourself a lot.

If one day I turn a good friend into a girlfriend,

then no more childhood sweetheart—straight to Spring Bamboo and Plum Mom.

Maybe Xiao Yilin would be better.

“Why don’t you just ask her?”

Jiang Linyuan pointed at Xia Tao.

He felt Miss Zhao was indeed acting oddly; this Xia Tao seemed eager to stay far from Li Wang, so why worry at all?

“She…”

Zhao Qiulu glanced at the frozen Xia Tao, then shook her head:

“Asking would be pointless.”

“Then why are you worried at all?”

Jiang Linyuan asked.

“It hurts…”

Zhao Qiulu sighed:

“There wasn’t anything between Li Wang and Xia Tao, but I can’t tolerate him placing Xia Tao ahead of me.”

“And he does it unconsciously! Today when Xia Tao ran over to catch up with you guys, he didn’t even look back at me before chasing after her!”

“Later I asked him why he did that. I’m his girlfriend! Did he consider my feelings?”

She said this and forced a smile:

“He actually said he was afraid Xia Tao would be bumped into, so he instinctively chased after her and forgot me?!”

“Then break up with him.”

Jiang Linyuan said casually.

“You want me to break up with him?”

Zhao Qiulu shot back.

Huh? Impressive. She acted like she valued the boyfriend earlier; now what’s this?

Cornered and clamping down?

Just clamp!

“Don’t be silly. I always advise breakups, not make-ups.”

Jiang Linyuan said, pointing at Su Muzhi and Shen Wanyu not far off:

“You can’t tell me you don’t see I’m on good terms with them.”

Zhao Qiulu glanced at them and fell silent for a moment:

“How can you stand Su Muzhi?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you met her parents? Has she introduced you into her circle?”

More than that, she even kissed me right in front of everyone, like she wanted to announce to the whole world that this person is mine.

Jiang Linyuan thought this, then said:

“What does tolerating her have to do with it?”

“Three words: matching backgrounds, the Su Family…”

Halfway through, Zhao Qiulu seemed to recall something:

“I almost forgot. With Su Muzhi, choosing a live-in son-in-law means it doesn’t have to be about matching backgrounds, but you wouldn’t be comfortable either.”

“You seem to look down on the live-in son-in-law status? It’s the 21st century.”

“It’s not looking down, it’s just that being a live-in son-in-law brings a lot of pressure, especially with the Su Family’s background.”

Zhao Qiulu explained:

“Wouldn’t it feel like you’re living under someone else’s roof?”

“Say it plainly.”

“Living off a woman—wouldn’t that make you feel bad?”

“Different strokes for different folks. As for me, I’d be delighted.”

Jiang Linyuan said bluntly.

The Vice Principal isn’t living a bad life either; it’s just the post-marriage dynamics are a bit unbalanced.

“I wish Li Wang saw it like you do.”

Zhao Qiulu sighed again.

“Your family wants him to be a live-in son-in-law?”

“Yeah, to be precise, for someone around the same age, anyone willing to come live in would be welcomed by my father.”

Zhao Qiulu lengthened her tone.

“But if he marries me, he needs to value the bride’s family background.”

Jiang Linyuan thought for a moment and asked:

“Why tell me all this?”

“Just think of me venting, am I talking too much?”

Zhao Qiulu’s tone softened.

“If you tell me all this, when your boyfriend comes out he’ll get mad again.”

Jiang Linyuan teased.

Zhao Qiulu let out a short laugh and waved a hand:

“Not that bad.”

“Why? His earlier reaction didn’t look like that.”

“Because you have a girlfriend like Su Muzhi. When she and I stand together, I’m just the foil; only a fool would think you’d choose me over her.”

Zhao Qiulu lifted her chin, self-mocking.

“In high school too?”

Jiang Linyuan asked abruptly.

Zhao Qiulu’s eyes went distant for a moment, then she smiled and asked:

“Yes. In high school, Su Muzhi and Shen Wanyu stole the show. No one could beat them in looks, and family background too…”

“They two were at odds back then?”

Jiang Linyuan took the chance to bring it up.

Xiao Su and the Department Head’s relationship is too stiff; need to find a way to smooth it.

“Yeah, it’s like that. Seeing them peacefully sitting at the same table now feels unbelievable.”

Zhao Qiulu looked toward Su Muzhi and Shen Wanyu not far off.

They seemed to be whispering about something.

“I heard their fallout was because of a public confession.”

Zhao Qiulu quickly looked back, staring at Jiang Linyuan’s face with a sharpness for an instant, then softening, sounding surprised:

“You actually know about that.”

“A bit. Want me to tell it from a third-party view?”

“You go ahead, I’ll add if needed.”

Zhao Qiulu looked at Jiang Linyuan kindly.

“A girl publicly confessed to Xiao Su and it was gross, so Xiao Su’s family forced that girl to transfer schools.”

Jiang Linyuan said it simply, not mentioning Shen Wanyu’s role.

He mainly wanted to see Zhao Qiulu’s reaction.

“Mm, that’s about it.”

Zhao Qiulu was quiet a moment, then smiled and added:

“Actually, I didn’t know much either, I was just an onlooker then.”

She then became a little cautious:

“Don’t you think Xiao Su is a bit domineering?”

Jiang Linyuan glanced at her:

“I think that’s normal.”

Being forced to accept someone you hate hits Xiao Su’s trigger.

That kind of incident also stepped on Auntie Shaqima’s trigger.

Being forced to transfer? Not a big deal.

“Is that so? You thought the same.”

Zhao Qiulu chuckled softly.

That’s great.

“You sound like you want to defend the girl. Were you close with the transfer girl?”

Jiang Linyuan asked directly.

Zhao Qiulu paused, then smiled faintly:

“No. I was class monitor. I felt a bit reluctant whenever anyone left the class.”

Jiang Linyuan watched her for a while, then said:

“You were a proper class monitor then.”

Zhao Qiulu’s smile stayed the same:

“That was then. Hey, can I gossip about your romantic history with Xiao Su?”

“Uh, no.”

Jiang Linyuan waved a finger, shaking his head lightly.

“Really? Suddenly feels a little sad.”

Zhao Qiulu lifted her chin and said that.

“How so?”

Jiang Linyuan asked.

“My own love life is a complete mess, while yours is sweet enough to make people envious.”

Zhao Qiulu extended her left hand into the light; her middle finger showed nothing.

“Xiao Su is so lucky—good family, good looks, and even such a good boyfriend. It’s like the whole world revolves around her.”

“Do you think she’s happy like that?”

Jiang Linyuan asked, glancing at Su Muzhi.

She was chatting with Shen Wanyu. Catching Jiang Linyuan’s gaze, she squinted and waved at him with a smile.

“You can tell by her expression, she looks so cheerful…”

Zhao Qiulu also looked over.

“If only I could be like that… smiling so happily.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Jiang Linyuan asked.

“Just muttering to myself.”

Zhao Qiulu looked at him and smiled.

“Your boyfriend’s back, I won’t bother you. Go talk.”

Jiang Linyuan nodded toward Li Wang, who had just come out of the restroom, then stood and walked over to Su Muzhi’s table.

Watching his departing back, Zhao Qiulu’s smile slowly faded.

“Um, Senior Zhao, can I leave now?”

Xia Tao asked softly, staring at Zhao Qiulu’s face growing icy. She felt Senior Zhao was even scarier than when she fought with Li Wang earlier.

“Yeah, you can go. Stay here, it’s none of your business anymore.”

Zhao Qiulu waved, and Xia Tao ran off as if relieved.

You not going with them would have made things a lot more troublesome for me.