Su Yang looked at Chu Xia who was still blushing. Her thoughts must be running wild in her mind.
‘I think this is the first time she’s buying me dinner. I bought her dinner the last time but barely ate anything then. If she’s buying and I gobble a cow in front of her...’
Su Yang dared not even imagine what she would think of him after dinner.
He lost the mood to order. He simply pointed at two dishes before handing the menu back to Chu Xia. He then took his phone out and messaged Deeny via WeChat.
[Deeny! Deeny! Urgent!]
Deeny replied almost immediately: [What’s wrong, Master?]
Su Yang typed: [Help me ask Sanque how much of his roots do I need if I want to suppress my appetite?]
Ten seconds later, Deeny sent him an embarrassed emoji together with the answer: [Master. Sanque said you aren’t sick, so even if you ate him whole, you won’t satisfy your appetite. However...]
[However?]
[However, the lady in front of you...her menstrual cycle is a little bit off. All she needs is 1 cm of roots.]
[‘I DON’T CARE ABOUT CHU XIA’S MENSTRUAL CYCLE! Wait! Why do I even want to know anything about her menstrual cycle?!]
Since Sanque’s ginseng water could not save him, Su Yang decided to be honest with Chu Xia. He cleared his throat and said, “Chu Xia, I’m a little hungry today, so I might eat a little more than usual. Why don’t I pay for the meal instead?”
Chu Xia said brightly, “It’s fine. You are a guy, so it’s normal for you to have a big appetite. Besides,’ve got the coupon for a free meal. You can eat as much as you want as long as you are happy.”
Su Yang would never take Chu Xia’s words for granted.
‘A coupon for a free meal? Isn’t that a little too coincidental?’
As one of the best, if not the best liars around, Su Yang did not believe her, but he really could not control his appetite.
When the first place of grilled meat was served, his hunger tortured him even more. He skipped the chatter and dug in like a furious monster.
Then, Chu Xia witnessed the birth of a huge glutton.
First, Su Yang gobbled down the plate of grilled meat, but his furious eating did not stop there. He ordered another five sets of beef, three sets of pork belly, six sets of vegetables, and two sets of seafood.
Chu Xia was stunned from the start and barely ate anything.
After clearing the first wave, Su Yang felt sorry for his wallet for having ordered these many sets of grilled meat. He then switched to bibimbap, which was Korean mixed rice, and ate set after set.
His hunger finally eased down after five sets of bibimbap. He put his hand over his stomach and realized that it was not even bloated.
Su Yang was deeply impressed by the effect of the [Ally Halo].
‘I really can’t control it, and no matter how much I’ve eaten, my body doesn’t even change and the food I devoured doesn’t damage my body either. So, where did the food go? Did the food disappear after I ate it?’
Su Yang found it difficult to understand.
After he stopped eating, Chu Xia finally regained her senses. She sized him up carefully and asked, “A-are you okay? Is your stomach okay?’
Su Yang shook his head. “I’m fine. I think I’m 70% full.”
“Do you want some digestive medicine?” she offered.
Su Yang shook his head. “I’m really fine. You should eat more yourself.”
Chu Xia nodded stiffly. She looked at the leftovers, no, the empty plates, on the table, and then she touched her purse. After some thought, she said, “I-I think I’m...full.”
Su Yang did not persuade her whatsoever.”Okay. Excuse me while I go to the toilet.”
Nodding, she then started to count how much the meal cost and checked whether she had enough money. This Korean restaurant was rather expensive. She intended to treat Su Yang to a good meal, but she did not expect him to eat this much.
As for the coupon for a free meal, it had been a lie. She just wanted to take Su Yang out for dinner but was afraid that he might not be happy about it and pay for the meal instead, so she lied about the coupon.
Who would have expected him to have such a big appetite?
Five minutes later, Su Yang came back. He looked around sneakily before he moved closer to Chu Xia and whispered into her ear, “Not enough money?”
Chu Xia was surprised at first, but she responded quickly and tried her best to cover up. “It’s a free meal since I have a coupon for that. Not having enough money doesn’t matter.”
“Come on, I know what you are doing. This restaurant said they haven’t held any events that give out coupons lately,” he said softly.
Chu Xia blushed as she was embarrassed after her cover was blown.
Su Yang then softly pulled her arm and said, “Come with me.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked curiously.
Su Yang signaled her to be quiet before he grabbed her bag, and the two of them quietly walked out.
Chu Xia followed him to the entrance of the restaurant without knowing what had happened.
All of a sudden, Su Yang held her hand tightly and shouted, “Run!” He started to run for his life and even dragged Chu Xia along.
Chu Xia’s mind went blank as she was stupefied. Her heart pounded when Su Yang dragged her out of the restaurant. She had a glimpse at the waiter’s startled expression and heard the scolding that ensued.
She could not think at all. All she did was move her legs like a robot, sprinting behind Su Yang.
The night breeze whistled in her ears. Su Yang’s heavy pants and maniacal laughter overpowered her restless heartbeats in her ears.
He brought her running for a few hundred meters and they turned around several corners without pause. After he made sure no one was following them, he finally stopped. He let go of Chu Xia’s hand and panted heavily while laughing out loud.
Chu Xia could barely catch her breath either. Her mind was still blank as she panted like an idiot beside him.
When they caught their breaths, she finally reacted to the situation. She looked at Su Yang with a pounding heart and said in a weeping tone, “Did we just dine and dash?”
Su Yang nodded gleefully. “Yeah! You said the meal is free, didn’t you? So, all we had to do was run! How’s it? Exciting, wasn’t it?”
Chu Xia almost broke down in tears. “Are they going to call the police? We will be arrested, won’t we?”
She was nervous. As an obedient girl all her life, she had never even stolen a ride on a bus, let alone dine and dash. The first dine and dash in her life cost a few hundred yuan and it really made her anxious.
Su Yang laughed even louder when he saw the helpless look on Chu Xia’s face. “I’m just joking with you. I’ve already paid for the meal.”
Chu Xia was petrified. “You’ve paid?”
She spaced out for a moment before her tears trickled down her cheeks. She punched Su Yang angrily and said while crying, “You b*stard! Why can’t we just walk out like normal people if you already paid for the meal?! Why did we run?! You scared me!”
...
Maybe because Su Yang’s prank had gone overboard or maybe because Chu Xia was just venting her emotions, Su Yang had to spend some effort calming her down.
After that, she even dragged him back to the restaurant to confirm his words. The waiter confirmed that Su Yang had paid for the meal. Only then did they head back to campus.
Of course, Chu Xia flushed when she went back and exited the restaurant. The waiter and cashier giggled at them because of Su Yang’s little prank.
On the way back, she indignantly said, “Don’t you dare prank me like this the next time! Do you hear me?!”
Su Yang nodded seriously.
‘We will see about that. Playing a prank on you is really interesting.’
After he sent Chu Xia back to her dorm, he walked home. On the way back, he received a transfer via Alipay from her.
What followed was a message in WeChat.
[I know your Alipay account is your phone number. I can tell based on your profile picture. I said I’m buying you dinner, so don’t you dare give me back the money. I might not have a lot of money, but I can work part-time. Maybe I can also support Mr. President’s business empire! If you want to, you can buy me a meal the next time. A good one!]
Su Yang replied without the slightest courtesy: [I’m all good, I think I’ll pass on the next meal. Thank you for the dinner, Ms. Secretary.]
At the same time, in the female dorm of Shanghai University, Chu Xia received Su Yang’s shameless reply. She tossed her phone on her bed and grumbled in her heart, ‘Idiot!’