Chapter 48: The Newlyweds?

They were led into the Jade Bamboo Room and seated. After pouring the tea, the waitress named Qingzhu bowed slightly and asked Lin Ye if he wanted to start ordering dishes right away.

Upon receiving an affirmative reply, she left the not-so-large private room.

Lin Ye and his sister took this moment to glance around the room. Everywhere the eye could see—whether the tables, chairs, or decorations—was adorned with abundant jade bamboo reliefs.

One entire wall was made of one-way glass, allowing a clear view from inside to the vast bamboo forest outside.

“Big brother, where did you strike it rich? This place looks like eating here won’t be cheap,” his sister remarked, sipping the bamboo-scented tea in front of her. Her delicate little face immediately scrunched up in slight displeasure.

It wasn’t that the tea tasted bad; it was just that she wasn’t fond of the pure, natural bamboo flavor—after all, she wasn’t a giant panda.

“Have you messaged Mom and Dad since you arrived?” Lin Ye asked. Although he had already sent a message to their parents when he picked her up, he wasn’t sure how expensive this meal would be, so he tried to change the subject.

Besides, they hadn’t ordered any dishes yet. Could Old Zhang really be so thoughtful as to not only reserve the table but also pre-order the food?

Fortunately, the dishes arrived quickly, one after another, and Lin Ye’s first impression was that the food was indeed quite exquisite.

The plates were beautiful, but the food barely filled half of each dish. Lin Ye was about to tell his sister to start eating when—

“Wait! Let me take a photo first.”

His sister pulled out her phone, stood up, and spent three minutes fiddling to find the perfect angle before finishing her photo session.

Lin Ye quietly sat by the table, watching his sister so focused. His narrow eyes softened as memories from a few years ago flooded back—when he had returned home from college for vacation.

Back then, he had taken his sister out to eat, and just like now, she always took photos of the food before eating.

He remembered asking her why she liked to photograph the meal beforehand, as the dishes weren’t particularly picturesque. She responded with a radiant smile.

“Big brother only comes home once in a while, so I want to capture the happy moments we share eating together. Later, when you go back to school, I can look at these photos from time to time!”

His wandering thoughts gradually returned to the present, following the sound of his sister’s voice.

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“Big brother, how did I do with the pictures?” she asked, waving the phone with a bright smile that revealed a cute little tiger tooth.

Lin Ye was momentarily stunned before opening WeChat Moments on his phone. The first post was from his sister, featuring photos of bamboo she had taken in the car, the dishes on the table, and Lin Ye sitting across from her.

“Today I totally splurged on my silly big brother!” was the caption.

Lin Ye chuckled from the bottom of his heart, then put down his phone. “Go ahead and eat. It’s been a long trip—you must be starving.”

“I’ve already arranged the place we’ll stay. After dinner, I’ll take you back so you can rest,” Lin Xiaoxi said, though her mouth was too busy enjoying the delicious food to speak much.

Compared to the quiet dining atmosphere between Lin Ye and his sister, the other side where Su Qi sat was much livelier. Unaccustomed to such a noisy environment, Su Qi stood up and found an excuse to briefly leave the banquet.

She splashed cold water on her face in the restroom. Had her mother not insisted that she attend this friend’s child’s full-month celebration, Su Qi wouldn’t have come at all.

Of course, if she hadn’t come, she wouldn’t have seen Lin Ye dining with a female companion.

The cool tap water helped clear her slightly dazed mind from the banquet’s rowdiness. Her thoughts began to stir: Should she… drop by Lin Ye’s private room?

Her excuse? “I just happened to see you here dining, so I came over to say hello.”

But she was his superior at work—would that excuse sound a bit forced?

…

Lin Ye barely ate much during this dinner, focusing instead on serving his sister. It wasn’t that the food wasn’t enough; although each dish’s portion was small, there were many dishes. Six dishes for two people was more than sufficient.

The cozy private room gradually dissolved the faint unfamiliarity between the siblings, bringing them closer in a way invisible to the eye.

His sister, eagerly eating from her seemingly bottomless bowl, animatedly recounted amusing things that had happened while Lin Ye was away.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Lin Ye and his sister both looked toward the entrance.

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“Please come in.”

Who could be visiting at this hour and place?

Su Qi pushed the door open. From this angle, she could clearly see the girl’s face inside the room.

Tsk, while this girl’s looks didn’t quite match up to Xiao Qing’s, the youthful vitality she radiated was something Xiao Qing couldn’t compete with.

“Director Su? What a surprise to see you here,” Lin Ye said, rising with genuine astonishment. He hadn’t expected to run into his boss while dining with his sister.

“Oh, I’m here attending a banquet too. When I saw a familiar silhouette, I couldn’t help but come over to confirm my guess,” Su Qi replied, winking at Lin Ye to lend credibility to her words.

It had to be said that Su Qi usually carried a mature, dignified aura, so this sudden girlish wink made Lin Ye feel a bit uneasy.

“Oh, Director Su, have you eaten? Would you like to sit down…” Lin Ye instinctively ignored her playful gesture and politely invited her to join them for a meal, even though he knew she wouldn’t stay.

“No, Lin Ye, I have other matters. I just came to verify my guess. I won’t disturb your little family time,” Su Qi said.

Lin Ye was momentarily speechless and about to explain when his sister wiped her mouth with a napkin and calmly spoke: “Pretty sister, you’re mistaken~ I’m his sister, and my brother doesn’t have a girlfriend yet.”

Lin Xiaoxi looked directly into Su Qi’s eyes. She felt no reverence toward this woman Lin Ye called Director Su. On the contrary, she sensed something strange emanating from her.

Especially the way this woman looked at her. From the moment she entered, though Su Qi had been speaking to Lin Ye, Lin Xiaoxi was certain that for most of the time, Su Qi’s gaze was fixed on herself.