Under the moonlight

The restaurant where they had lunch was owned by Chen Zhixuan and was very upscale. It was Huang Meng's first time in such a restaurant, and it gave her the feeling that she was about to discuss a business deal worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, which made her a little nervous.

Zhao Meng watched her curious eyes darting back and forth, a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. He smiled and whispered in her ear, "This is my first time here too. Chen Zhi is such a show-off; he even picks such an awkward place to eat." Hearing this, Huang Meng felt less nervous. It turned out she wasn't the only one with this kind of eccentric behavior. Thank goodness. She looked up and smiled at Zhao Meng.

"Come, over here." Chen Zhi led the two of them to the private room he had reserved and sat them down. Then a waiter came over. Chen Zhi handed the menu to Zhao Meng, who then passed it to Huang Meng, gesturing for her to take a look first.

Before Zhao Meng's old classmate arrived, Huang Meng glanced at the menu. She was shocked to find that a simple stir-fried vegetable dish cost 180 yuan. Huang Meng handed the menu back to Chen Zhi with a humble expression that said, "You pay, you pay." Zhao Meng looked at her easygoing and playful appearance, and his smile deepened.

Chen Zhi glanced at the time and realized it was getting late, so he stopped making excuses, took the menu, and ordered a few dishes, leaving the rest for the guests to order when they arrived. Huang Meng, seeing Chen Zhi's composed demeanor, couldn't help but tease him, "Chen Zhi, you're something else! You usually seem so carefree and irresponsible, but you're quite reliable when it comes to serious matters."

Hearing Huang Meng praise him, he was overjoyed and said with a smile, "That's right, I'm a reliable person, otherwise how could my brother Meng and I be friends?" He looked at Zhao Meng smugly, but the latter gave him a sour face and rolled his eyes. "Hehe, my brother is just shy."

"Who's your brother!" Chen Zhi had barely finished speaking when Zhao Meng reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Huang Meng, seeing his displeasure, realized he was still the same as before; whenever he was unhappy, he acted like a cat with its fur standing on end. "Why are you still the same as before? The moment someone says something you don't want to hear, you act like a cat with its fur standing on end, haha~"

"Really? Was I like that before?" Zhao Meng asked Huang Meng with a smile.

“Yes, if you don’t believe me, ask Chen Zhi. Your temper has made the class monitor cry several times!” Huang Meng didn’t know why he asked her this, and thought he didn’t believe her, so she said seriously.

"So you did hear me clearly, didn't you? You've been thinking about me all this time?" Huang Meng didn't expect him to say that suddenly. After a moment of reaction, she looked at him with a pout and said, "Tch, I wasn't thinking about you." But as soon as she said that, Zhao Meng's smile deepened. This made him even happier than if he had just admitted it. Even Chen Zhi was watching the two of them with a gossipy smile.

Just as Huang Meng was regretting that she should have not explained at all, Zhao Meng's phone rang. "Okay, sure." After hanging up, Zhao Meng said that he was already at the door. Huang Meng and Chen Zhi quickly got up, and soon they heard voices outside the door: "Is this the place? Oh, Zhao Meng, long time no see!"

Huang Meng looked at Xu Xinyi as she entered. It had indeed been a long time since she had seen her. The tomboy from her school days had now blossomed into a graceful and elegant young woman.

"And this is..." Huang Meng stood there somewhat awkwardly. Although they were elementary school classmates, they hadn't seen each other for many years, so it was normal that the other person didn't recognize her. Huang Meng quickly said, "Hello!"

She then extended her hand to shake hands with her, but something even more embarrassing happened. Xu Xinyi simply smiled and looked her up and down, then pulled out a chair and sat down next to Zhao Meng, saying with a smile, "Hello." After saying that, she sat down, leaving her standing there.

Zhao Meng frowned and glanced at Xu Xinyi, then reached for the cup in front of him and handed it to Huang Meng, saying with a smile, "How did you know I wanted to drink water?" Chen Zhi, sitting opposite them, quickly came over with a water bottle and said with a smile, "Oh, come on, come on, pour some for our CEO Zhao."

Huang Meng held the cup, looking at Xu Xinyi. For a moment, she even felt that this was not the Xu Xinyi she knew at all. There are many people in this world with the same name. How could this be the tomboy who played with her in elementary school? How could this be the Xu Xinyi who was so carefree and generous?

Huang Meng was preoccupied with other things, letting Chen Zhi take the cup from her hand. She could hear Chen Zhi whispering to her under the guise of pouring water, "Don't take it to heart, people change."

Yes, people change. Even if I'm not in X city for years, I don't believe she wouldn't remember me. But if she does remember, why is she acting like this? Am I wrong? Am I the only one who values ​​friendship, even friendship from many years ago?

Zhao Meng noticed that she seemed a little lost in thought, and gave Chen Zhi a wink.

"Oh, right, Huang Meng, come on, this restaurant has fresh seafood, let's pick one for our boss Zhao." Chen Zhi said as he pulled Huang Meng out. Just as they reached the door, Xu Xinyi, who hadn't said a word, smiled and said, "Hey, Huang Meng, help me pick out some fresh abalone, Zhao Meng's favorite."

Huang Meng turned to look at her, her face adorned with exquisite makeup, her smile feigned. "So you know my name, but you might as well have really forgotten it. That way I'd feel a little better."

Huang Meng thought this in her heart, but she held back from saying it. Today, she was a guest invited by Zhao Meng. It turned out that, without realizing it, their positions were no longer equal.

"Okay, sure." Huang Meng gave a dry laugh, then turned and left.

Zhao Meng looked at Huang Meng's retreating figure with a touch of heartache, then turned to Xu Xinyi with a hint of disgust in his eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that? Didn't you invite me to dinner?" Xu Xinyi wasn't oblivious to his gaze. This man was the type who least liked to hide his emotions. She liked him precisely because of this personality. No matter what kind of demon or monster you were, if he didn't like you, he wouldn't give you a kind look. This kind of man was much better than those men who were all sweet talk and two-faced.

"Don't you know who she is? Why did you act like that just now?" Zhao Meng asked, frowning.

"Hmph, so what? I'm not familiar with her. Even if we were classmates before, it was elementary school, so many years ago. Why should I smile at her just because of that little bit of friendship? I almost laughed myself silly yesterday because of that single. I don't smile at just anyone. You're different."

After Xu Xinyi finished speaking, she raised the back of her hand to touch Zhao Meng's face, but he dodged it.

"I called you here today to discuss business," Zhao Meng said seriously, his eyes filled with warning.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about?" Xu Xinyi knew his temper. If she angered him, not only would he not give in to her, but he would also never let her see him again in this lifetime. So she had no choice but to stop smiling and said calmly.

"I'd like to buy some goods from you."

"Don't you have your own production line?"

"Too slow, I need more."

"What are you going to do? This output is enough for you to earn. Be careful that you can't handle too much if you go too far."

"I know, and I don't need it right now, but you need to reserve the quantity I need in advance so that you can make sure it's ready to go when I need it."

"Yes, that's fine, I can do that. But you need to give me a rough timeframe for how long I need it and when I need it, otherwise it will affect my own shipments."

"It's only the period from the end of the year to the beginning of the new year; the rest of the time won't interfere with you."

"Okay, sure, that's fine."

"Tell me the price later." Xu Xinyi couldn't help but be tempted by his serious expression. She put her arm around his shoulder and smiled charmingly, "The price is negotiable. You know what I want; nothing else matters." She had lost count of how many times she had tried to entice him with benefits. What could she do? He was just so hard to seduce!

Zhao Meng turned his head and looked at her with her eyes narrowed, looking completely absorbed. He raised his hand, about to push away her arm that was on his shoulder, when Huang Meng and Chen Zhi walked in. Zhao Meng turned around and met Huang Meng's gaze.

Zhao Meng felt a sudden pang of panic and quickly stood up, looking at Huang Meng with an awkward smile, saying, "Have you made your choices?" Chen Zhi, who was following behind, was tall and had also witnessed the scene. He had known for a long time that Xu Xinyi admired Zhao Meng, but wasn't Zhao Meng supposed to be indifferent to her? That hand he was about to touch her! And he did that to Huang Meng, tsk tsk, this Zhao Meng is really a scoundrel!

Chen Zhi imagined it for a moment, then ignored Zhao Meng's question, sat down, and said irritably, "I've picked them all, they're all plump and delicious, I'll give you a good boost!"

Zhao Meng listened to the sarcasm in his words and was too lazy to argue with him. He cautiously looked at Huang Meng. Her face was indifferent, and he could not tell her emotions, but she still moved her seat two seats to the side, sitting a little further away from him.

Zhao Meng felt remorseful, but didn't know how to explain. The waiters continued to serve the dishes, so he could only say helplessly, "Let's eat, everyone is hungry."

Each of them was preoccupied with their own thoughts, and the meal was eaten awkwardly.