C7 Invited to Dinner

Three thousand meters of running in a circle was something Su didn't expect. Even in college, she couldn't avoid the devilish training of a PE teacher, and when the second round of the eight-hundred-meter schoolyard came to an end, she was half-kneeling, exhausted, resting with her hands on her knees.

Beads of sweat dripped down her cheeks, and the shadow that had caught up with her suddenly stopped beside her. She gasped and looked up to see Gao Ming staring straight ahead, doing a simple stretching motion.

"I haven't thanked you for what happened that day," he said.

Su Qian guessed that he was talking to her.

Since that day, he hadn't come to school for two days. Looking at his usual face today, Su Qian guessed that he was fine.

"You're welcome. We're all in the same boat. It's only right for us to help each other," Su Qian replied calmly.

"I'll treat you to a meal after school. Wait for me at the school gate." He casually turned around and looked at Su Chang-Jun.

Su Qian quickly shook her head, "There's really no need. I still have to go home early after school."

Her mother's inner demons always flared up at night. Over the years, she had long been used to arranging her life into three lines.

But Gao Ming showed a very strange look. In the end, he simply changed his tone to command, "It's settled. See you at the school gate at 5: 30."

After that, he started to walk and ran away alone.

Su Qianyun watched him go and was debating whether or not she should go when she heard the coach's urgent whistle from the side of the track.

The truth was that she couldn't find a more convincing reason. Thus, when the bell rang at five o'clock, she arrived at the school gate on time and waited.

After about ten minutes, the familiar silver-gray car stopped steadily in front of her. She looked at Gao Ming's cold face through the car window. Nono opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat.

They drove at a hundred kilometers an hour until they reached a Chinese restaurant in the more prosperous part of the city center. When they parked, Su Changfa and Gao Ming walked into the restaurant.

The waiter who led the way first asked if they had an appointment. After confirming the end of the phone number with Gao Ming, he led them to table 13 and sat down.

"I don't know what you like to eat, so I think a Chinese restaurant would be more suitable for you," Gao Ming said lightly as he took a seat across from him.

It was an antique restaurant. The rich Chinese style and comfortable living environment were all showing off the luxurious quality of the restaurant in the center of the city.

The waiter showed Gao Ming a standard smile and attitude. He handed Gao Ming an exquisite and thick menu. As he flipped through it, he asked Su Qian, "Do you want to eat fish?"

Su Qian nodded.

After ordering a serving of beer fish, he added two side dishes and some snacks before the meal. Then he changed the menu and handed it to Su Qian.

"Take a look and add two more dishes."

Su Piaoan just glanced at the price. Any of the dishes was more than three times the normal market price. Besides, Gao Ming had ordered enough. They had enough to eat.

"That's enough. That's it," she said.

When Gao Ming heard her say that, he returned the menu to the waiter and added another dish before giving up.

Both of them were silent. Su Qian could only look out of the window with her eyes that had no place to rest. She looked at the crowd of people and the cars going to and fro.

A teasing voice came from the other side, "I'm not that scary, am I? Treating you to a meal makes you feel like you're in jail?"

Su Qian looked back at him innocently and hurriedly explained, "That's not what I meant. It's just that I'm used to going home after school. I'm worried that my mom will be worried if she can't wait for me..."

He suddenly smiled and skillfully poured a cup of tea for him and Su Qian.

"You're really a good girl who follows the rules," he said with a smile.

Su Qian blushed and banged her head on the table. It wasn't just him.

"So I didn't scare you that day, did I?" asked Gao Ming, smiling, his long fingers resting on the blue porcelain cup, the soft color blending perfectly with his thin red lips.

Su Qian shook her head. After thinking for a while, she asked, "Is there no other way to resolve it?"

After all, the Blood Spirit Fox that had cast the curse on her mother had died, but Uncle Su Yan still gave her a pot of budding Five Poison Flower.

On Gao Ming's calm face, it was more like he was used to disappointment, but his deep eyes were always covered with a layer of mist, making it impossible to see what he was thinking. "If there was, Gao Zhenhui would have done it long ago." If there was, Gao Zhenhui would have done it long ago.

The Gao Zhenhui he spoke of must be his father. Su Qian wondered why he would say that Gao Zhenhui was not a good father.

"I heard from Brother Ze Zhe that Uncle Gao rarely comes home because of work. In fact, sometimes we should be more considerate of them..." While Su Qian was speaking up for Father Gao, she carefully glanced at Gao Ming. Fortunately, there was no displeasure on his indifferent face. Instead, he sneered after listening.

"He was married to another woman and had a bastard less than two years after my mother's death, and in all those years he never felt guilty about what he had done to his son. If it hadn't been for Li Zezhe, I would have been dead." The lively atmosphere became cold and stiff when he mentioned his biological father and stepmother.

Su Qian suddenly remembered the family portrait that was full of tenderness. Perhaps Gao Ming's father had played a part in Gao Ming's current personality, but this was someone else's family matter, so she couldn't say anything.

Fortunately, at this time, the waiter brought the snacks and the first cold dish.

The unhappiness from just now was immediately swept away by Gao Ming. He called Su Qian to start eating, "The main dish may have to wait a little longer. Drink some cimirot first."

"Thank you."

He ignored Su's courtesy, and though he called her to dessert, he didn't eat a bite of the cimirot in his own bowl. It wasn't hard to imagine that his natural skill in ordering was largely due to other girls.

Su Qian thought that she should know who it was.

After dinner with Gao Ming, Su Qian insisted on taking a taxi home. Gao Ming was not a naggy person, so he drove away first.

In the dimly lit house, the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the only window in the living room, shining golden light on the brown-patterned floor.

Su Chang-Hao picked up the flower-pot, which had been sitting on the windowsill in the sun. It had been growing for some time, and had begun to sprout green buds.

She had put the potted plants in a wooden box on the table to protect them from rats or insects at night when she saw her mother coming out of the kitchen with a tray of food.

"You're back," her mother's face was fair and delicate after she had returned to normal. She had the gentle beauty of an Eastern woman, and her almond eyes were especially beautiful when she smiled.

Su Qian brought the dishes to the table and filled a bowl of rice for her mother. Her mother finally noticed the faint smile on her face when she entered the room.

"You said you were having dinner with your classmates outside. Are you a boy?" Her mother teased. Her eyes lit up.

Su Qian knew what she was thinking. To prevent unnecessary misunderstandings, she felt that it was necessary to explain further, "Mom, don't think too much about it. It's just an ordinary classmate's meal."

"What ordinary friend can ask you out for a meal alone? Last year, you said the same thing about Lil'Wang. Don't try to fool your mom again." As expected, the little old lady didn't believe him. She even used Wang Tong, a first-year student who had been chasing after Su Qian, as an example.

Su Qian shook her head helplessly and did not know whether to laugh or cry, "Why would I lie to you? Besides, he already has someone he likes."

She should have told her mother that Gao Ming had invited her to dinner only because she had saved his life, but she was afraid that her mother would blame her for leaking blood.

"Our family is shallow and not worse than others. They can't see it. It's their bad luck." Her mother complained to herself and lost interest. Finally, she started to eat.

Su Qian smiled faintly. She knew her own limits and compared to the popular campus belle An Wei'er, she was far worse.

"Okay, I still have some homework to do, so I'll go back to my room first. You can eat slowly and leave the dishes to me." After she finished speaking, she took her bag and returned to her room.

It was Su Qian's habit to forget the time because of revision.

She had been reading too late last night, so she was absent-minded early in the morning. As soon as she entered the classroom, she bumped into someone.

"Ouch!"

The other party immediately cried out in pain. She scattered the documents that she had been holding in her arms all over the floor.

"Sorry, sorry." Su Qianfan didn't have the time to pick up the information as she quickly bowed and apologized.

But he rubbed his aching shoulder, put his expensive sneakers on the pages she had worked so hard to write, and shouted at her: "Are you blind? Are you in a hurry to be reborn?"

"I'm sorry." Su Qian could only humbly apologize again.

After the other party angrily glared at her, he cursed, "Country bumpkin!" and walked out of the classroom.

Su Qian looked at the information that was full of shoe prints and sighed in her heart. She squatted down to pick it up.

The students in the class were silent about this. Some of them sat on the side and watched the show. The person she bumped into just now was Zhang Manwen, the daughter of the director of the Public Security Bureau.

She had thought that a student like herself, who had entered a prestigious school with her own skills, would earn the respect of the other students, but the truth was that a girl from a poor family like her was a country girl in the eyes of these rich second generations, who looked down on her and would not associate with her.

From time to time there would be jeers and sneers coming from all around her, piercing her heart. It was the first time she had ever felt so much lower than these people.

"Ignore them."

A figure suddenly landed beside her. He picked up the remaining papers for her and handed them to her.