Chapter 19: Group Meal

The restaurant Tang Yi-Bai had chosen was a specialty restaurant whose selling point was greens and organic food. The restaurant claimed to be collaborating with an organic farm — all their plant-based foods were free from chemical fertilizers and pesticides, their meats were sourced from animals fed with organic feed, and all their eggs and dairy were certified safe and secure.

As the cost for these food products was high, the price-range of this restaurant was also very high.

When Yun Duo arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, Tang Yi-Bai and company had also just arrived. The five people in his group had taken two cars over, and the tall men unfolded themselves out of the cars one by one. Tang Yi-Bai saw Yun Duo and waved at her.

Yun Duo walked over and asked curiously, "With so many of you, why didn't you all borrow a car from the team? Wouldn't that be more convenient?"

"Ahem," Tang Yi-Bai seemed rather embarrassed, "We are all unlicensed."

So that's how it was.

Yun Duo saw that two of the five people were sporting sunglasses and face masks, their entire visage covered up securely. Although she couldn't see their faces clearly, Yun Duo could identify one of them as Qi Rui-Feng from the person's height. As for the other person, they were a head shorter than Qi Rui-Feng, about the same height as Ming Tian; Yun Duo really had no clue who it could be.

Tang Yi-Bai introduced her. "This is Elder Sister Yang, you've seen her before."

"... ah?"

That person waved to Yun Duo, "Hello, I'm Xiang Yang-Yang." The person's voice was somewhat muffled coming from behind the mask.

Yun Duo gaped. So she would be eating together with two Olympic champions and three national champions today? She suddenly felt like she was standing at the peak of life ...

Qi Rui-Feng noticed Yun Duo spacing out, and in his typically arrogant tone, he said, "You should be honoured to eat with us. What is there for you to be dissatisfied with?"

Whack! Xiang Yang-Yang's palm thumped onto Qi Rui-Feng's head. "You're butting in here for a free meal. Be a little more humble, will you!"

Yun Duo's eyes were as wide as saucers — Xiang Yang-Yang actually smacked Qi Rui-Feng's head? She had swung her palm freely and cleanly, without any hesitation whatsoever. How domineering! That's Qi Rui-Feng, you know!

Qi Rui-Feng rubbed his head and grumbled, "Can you stop hitting my head?"

"That's fine. I'll spank your butt next time."

Qi Rui-Feng: "..."

Yun Duo stared at Xiang Yang-Yang with a look of worship until Xiang Yang-Yang felt a little embarrassed and explained, "I've never spanked him before."

Qi Rui-Feng felt that a childish word like 'spanking' was really damaging to his heroic image. He ignored the two women and took the lead to walk towards the restaurant. "Let's go. I'm starving!"

The shortest ones among the group was Ming Tian and Xiang Yang-Yang, and they were still at least 1.7 to 1.8 metres tall. Walking amongst them, Yun Duo felt as if she had stumbled into the world of giants.

Qi Rui-Feng and Xiang Yang-Yang were carefully covered up, obviously concerned about being recognised. They were public figures after all, these were the kind of things they always had to worry about. They had believed that even their mothers would not be able to recognise them dressed up like this, that they would be able to rest easy ... unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the restaurant, they were recognised.

Oh, not them, but him — Tang Yi-Bai.

As soon as the lady receptionist in her pretty cheongsam saw them, her hands flew to her face and she squealed, "Ah, Tang Yi-Bai!"

Tang Yi-Bai was taken aback. He took a closer look at the girl and then asked dubiously, "Do I know you?"

"No. I'm a fan of yours."

Tang Yi-Bai was a little surprised. So he had fans now?

The lady then looked at the tall man next to Tang Yi-Bai and she instantly realised, "You're Qi —"

"Shhh —!" Tang Yi-Bai made a shushing motion at her, his index finger before his lips. "We're just here to eat. Please don't make a scene."

The girl looked at his clear lake-water eyes and her face reddened. She stammered, "S-sorry."

"It's fine, thank you."

"Y-you're, um, welcome. Then, can- can I ..."

Tang Yi-Bai helped her finish her thought, "Get an autograph?"

"Yup!"

"Okay. Where should I sign?"

The girl ran to the front desk to get a pen and a pastel-coloured purse. "Please sign on the purse!"

Tang Yi-Bai signed then returned the pen to her. Then, Qi Rui-Feng sauntered up coolly and asked, "Need me to sign?"

The girl was smiling blissfully as she cradled the purse in her hands. "No need!"

Qi Rui-Feng's broad back stiffened for a moment, looking ever so cold, bleak, and lonely.

Yun Duo smothered a smile. Even though Qi Rui-Feng was wearing a face mask, she could just imagine his expression right now. All this while, he was the one who had refused to sign autographs, but this time, he was unexpectedly the one to be refused.

Their private room had been booked in advance. The overall decor of the room was retro in tone. Upon entry, the first thing they saw was a carved screen. After making their way past the screen, the original wood-coloured walls and ash-grey woven carpet came into sight. Right in the middle of the room was an old-fashioned table set for eight八仙桌椅: Think this, but bigger maybe, and the chairs could have backs.
, and there was a cabinet and an antique rack in the corners of the room. Several imitation craftworks were displayed on the rack. The ceiling was slightly darker in colour than the walls, and several egg-shell ceramic flower lampsSomething like this ...
of varying sizes hung down from it at varying heights. Filtered through the egg-shell thin porcelain, the lamp light was soft and delicate, and the lotus motifs painted on the porcelain was exceptionally bright and beautiful.

Ming Tian cupped his cheeks and sighed, "This place is really very posh and nice. Big bro Yi-Bai was really thoughtful!"

Yun Duo walked over to a window, and there she saw a short ceramic pot with a diameter of about half a metre. In the pot, water lilies were planted. The verdant round leaves floated on the surface of the clear water, and a few pale pink lotus blossoms raised their heads up proudly from their midst, like young maidens shrouding their bashful faces. Yun Duo cried out in surprise, "These water lilies are actually real! No wonder I could smell something fragrant!"

Xiang Yang-Yang came over to see as well, and the two of them stared at the pot of water lilies in curious fascination. It should be noted that water lilies were a little more delicate and fussy — they had very strict requirements in terms of water temperature. It was really quite troublesome and difficult to get water lilies to bloom in winter. Right now, the temperature outside was below zero; the entire world outside was grey and dreary. Entering this room to see this pot of blooming water lilies was truly a great boost to one's mood.

"Yun Duo, Sister Yang, come sit," Tang Yi-Bai called out to them.

He had already pulled out chairs for them. Yun Duo and Xiang Yang-Yang were seated next to each other, with Qi Rui-Feng on the other side of Xiang Yang-Yang and Tang Yi-Bai on the other side of Yun Duo. The two Olympic champions had already removed their face masks and their sunglasses. Xiang Yang-Yang sported a clean bob, and she had dark eyebrows and large eyes, cool and charming.

After they were seated, Tang Yi-Bai said to Yun Duo, "If you like them so much, why not raise a pot of your own."

When Yun Duo heard this, she sighed. "Too poor."

"Are water lilies very expensive?"

"It's not water lilies that are expensive. It's rent. The house I'm living at right now is very small, and I'm still sharing it with other people. If I want to keep some water lilies, I think I can probably only keep them in the toilet bowl ..."

Almost every youth who first steps foot into society would have experienced the dilemma of being short on cash, and Yun Duo was no exception. This was why her current goal was just to save and save and save, so that she would have enough money to upgrade to a house with better conditions next year.

Tang Yi-Bai looked at her contemplatively for a moment and then asked carefully, "Do you need help?"

"No need, no need. I'll move next year. Speaking of which, my article made the headlines last time, giving me quite some reward money. If you want to help me, then make it onto the headlines more. Hahaha."

Tang Yi-Bai smiled. "Okay, let's work hard together."

The dishes they ordered were served one by one, and the young people chatted as they ate. Perhaps due to the ingredients, the dishes were all very delicious.

Among the six people, Zheng Ling-Ye was as quiet as ever, but what surprised Yun Duo was that Ming Tian also had very little to say this time. He sat quietly and ate calmly and sedately, looking very well-behaved. Yun Duo found it a little strange. "What's up with Ming Tian?"

Xiang Yang-Yang said, "His tooth is aching!"

So that's why. No wonder he wasn't sucking on a lollipop today. What a pitiful child. Yun Duo wanted to pass the bowl of beef stew in front of her to him. "Here, eat some meat. This one has been cooked till it's very soft."

But Tang Yi-Bai stopped her. "Don't give him meat."

"Why?"

Xiang Yang-Yang gave her a simple explanation. There was more and more meat containing Clenbuterol on the market these days, and there was stimulant-positive substances inside Clenbuterol. In other words, if one accidentally consumed meat with Clenbuterol in it, there was a risk of their urine testing positive for stimulants. Therefore, the national team had always discouraged their athletes from eating out. Especially during times when there were competitions, this discouragement was pretty much an outright rule.

The more Yun Duo heard, the more confused she was. "So why can you all eat then?"

"We're adults, so even if we occasionally happen to eat some meat with Clenbuterol in it, we'll be able to metabolize it very quickly. Ming Tian is still young and his body is still growing. Who knows whether any of that crap will remain in his body after he eats it. That's why we never let Ming Tian eat meat products outside, not even once. This is a matter of principle."

Yun Duo then asked, "Didn't the restaurant say that everything served here is green and organic?"

Qi Rui-Feng threw a contemptuous look at her. "You believe everything others tell you? How stupid!"

Alright, so she was being called 'stupid' by Qi Rui-Feng now. How rare. Yun Duo suddenly recalled that post she had seen not too long ago. Some netizens said that Qi Rui-Feng had "a face of someone with late-stage Chuunibyou syndrome, treatment not recommended". Now, as she looked at Qi Rui-Feng, the description made more and more sense, and so she could not help but giggle behind her hands.

Qi Rui-Feng huffed. "Don't look at me so adoringly."

... Fuck, what kind of description is this?!

At one side, Xiang Yang-Yang suddenly pushed aside the glasses filled with juice which had been set out on the table. "Why don't we drink something alcoholic?"

The eyes of the four boys lit up. Big sister had spoken! They would naturally obey. Very soon, the waitresses had brought over several bottles of beer and helped them pop the caps. Zheng Ling-Ye accepted the bottles and began pouring the beer out for everyone. Ming Tian had already poured away the juice in his glass, and filled with expectation, he moved forwards with his empty cup, especially quick. However, when the mouth of the bottle Zheng Ling-Ye was holding reached his glass, Zheng Ling-Ye directly skipped over it to pour for someone else.

Ming Tian: =.=

Xiang Yang-Yang said, "Ming Tian, you're still underage so you're not allowed to drink. Waitress, give him a glass of warm milk."

"Alright."

Ming Tian puffed out his cheek and said sulkily, "I don't drink milk."

"Be good and listen, or else I'll beat you up."

"..."

Yun Duo finally realised that Xiang Yang-Yang was pretty much the boss of the swimming team. Even Qi Rui-Feng dared not cross her — someone at Ming Tian's level was basically small fry.

When Zheng Ling-Ye moved to pour a drink for Yun Duo, Yun Duo took the bottle from him and said, "Thanks, thanks, thanks! Let me do it on my own!"

However, Tang Yi-Bai stopped her and took the bottle, and after pouring till her cup was about one-fifth full, he said, "This much will do. Girls shouldn't drink so much alcohol."

Yun Duo was indignant. She squinted at Xiang Yang-Yang's brimming glass and said, "Then what about sister Yang?"

"She's not a girl."

... fine.

Done pouring, Tang Yi-Bai stared at her. His eyes were as cool as the autumn waters under the light of the porcelain lamps. He asked softly, "Why were you laughing earlier?"

"Ah?"

"Just now, why were you laughing when you looked at big bro Feng?"

---

Previous: Chapter 18: Tang Yi-Bai Is Here
Next: Chapter 20

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