This was the first time that Wen Liang had come to Xiangji Kitchen since Qi Shu had been imprisoned. However, it looked like the restaurant was always packed with people and business was booming. It did not disappear from Qingzhou just because it lost its boss.
Of course, Wen Liang didn’t know that Qi Shu was just one of the two partners of Xiangji Kitchen. With another person secretly in charge, it would be hard not to be popular!
Zhang Qiyun was still wearing a pair of glasses, standing at the entrance to greet guests. When he saw Wen Liang was stunned for a moment, he hurried over and said with a smile on his face, "Young Master Wen hasn't been here for a long time."
Wen Liang smiled and said, "I'm afraid you'll spit in my food..."
Zhang Qiyun said awkwardly: "Young Master Wen, you are joking. Come in, please."
Wen Liang took a few steps, turned his head and said seriously: "You guys are not really going to mess with the food, are you?"
Zhang Qiyun was sweating profusely and said, "I'll go and watch it myself later, Young Master Wen, don't worry!"
The box was already full of people, including Xie Yan, Yang Yang, Xu Yao, Ji Su, Xiao Ning, Meng Ke, Ren Yi, Zhihe, Tan Yu, Zhang Song and others. They were the same people from the New Year's Day party, but the only person missing was Bemi.
For a girl like Bemi, perhaps no one would care whether she was there or not, except one person.
As soon as Wen Liang appeared, a banana flew straight to his face. He reached out to catch it, peeled it, took a bite, and said, "Brother Ren, is this how you welcome a distinguished guest who has come from afar?"
Ren Yi jumped up and stood on the stool, shouting, "How dare you, a fugitive, call yourself noble? Do you have elegant blonde hair, charming big eyes, or sexy abdominal muscles?"
Wen Liang had rarely appeared on campus recently, and he didn't know what Ren Yi was obsessed with. However, from this description, it seemed to be related to the big foreign horse. He smiled and said, "It's just a meal, there's no need to sell your body, right?"
Liu Zhihe started to make fun of you, "Brother Wen, if you were in ancient times, you would be a maid. If you want to sell your body, you need someone willing to be the scapegoat. Don't you agree?"
Everyone agreed. Wen Liang said angrily, "I strongly despise your aesthetics. If my brother's face was put in Qinhuai River, he would be at least a brothel owner, not an otaku, right?"
A group of boys burst out laughing, especially Ren Yi, who was about to pound the table. Yang Yang asked in confusion, "What is a madam?"
Ning Xiaoning said coldly: "Ignore them, those are not good words."
Yang Yang nodded, not quite understanding, and pinched Liu Zhihe's waist with her little hand. Fatty Liu was in so much pain that he shouted, "What does it have to do with me? What does it have to do with me..."
After the excitement, Wen Liang sat next to Xu Yao, nodded to Xie Yan who was a few seats away, and said with a smile: "There will be an exam tomorrow, how are you preparing?"
Xie Yan was a little nervous, his face flushed, and he seemed a little afraid to look at Wen Liang. He kept his head down, but he couldn't hide the surprise between his eyebrows. He said, "I'm really afraid that I won't do well in the exam..."
"It doesn't matter. When I took the high school entrance exam, I thought I could only go to a vocational high school with my grades, but I didn't expect to get into Qingyi High School. So the saying 'You have to cry before the exam so you can smile after it' is a truth that can't be truer!"
Ji Su chuckled and said, "So what you mean is that our Xie Yan's grades are also very bad?"
"Student Ji Su, what you are doing is sowing discord. You must keep your distance from Xu Yao in the future, otherwise you will learn bad things... Um, student Xu Yao, student Xu Yao?"
"Ah, what?"
Xu Yao had been staring at Wen Liang since he entered the room. Ever since that kiss on the top of the mountain, the two of them had very little time to meet, let alone the chance to be alone together. She was distracted for a moment and didn't hear what Wen Liang had just said.
Wen Liang waved his hand in front of her eyes and said, "Stop sleepwalking. I'm not used to you not getting mad..."
Xu Yao seemed to have just woken up. She looked around in confusion and said, "Why would I get mad?"
Meng Ke quickly started to tell tales, saying, "Wen Liang just said something bad about you!"
"Really?" Xu Yao rolled her eyes at Wen Liang, her eyes as gentle as water, and said, "If he wants to say it, just say it. I won't argue with him."
Everyone was stunned. Only those who were close to her, such as Ji Suning and Xiao Ning, knew that Xu Yao had changed a lot since she spent her birthday night alone with Wen Liang. She would often sit in a daze alone, grinning foolishly. Sometimes she would climb on the railing of the teaching building and look down at the albizzia flowers in the courtyard. Her pretty face was set against the glow of the setting sun, almost freezing the incomparable beauty of the 18-year-old girl.
Wen Liang smiled at her, and their eyes met. They both clearly saw their own reflections in the depths of each other's eyes. The feeling was indescribable.
"Back to the question raised by Ji Su just now. According to my theory, Xie Yan's grades are already very good, but she is still afraid of not doing well in the exam. What does this mean? It means that her test scores can only be better than usual! So, no drinking today," Wen Liang raised the teacup in his hand and said, "We will use tea instead of wine to congratulate Xie Yan in advance on getting admitted to Tsinghua University and becoming a role model and example for our generation!"
"cheers!"
"cheers!"
The private room was in chaos afterwards, with people gathering in groups of three or four to chat, laugh and have fun. Zhang Qiyun came over personally and directed the waiters to serve the dishes. He was very considerate and attentive. He was obviously frightened by the half-truthful words that Wen Liang said when he just came in. He was afraid that something would happen out of nothing and that Wen Liang would use that as an excuse to make trouble.
In fact, Wen Liang was just joking with him. Not to mention that Qi Shu was already in prison, even if he was still working under Gu Shitong, he would not be interested in making things difficult for a small restaurant.
When he and Tan Yu went out to the bathroom halfway through the trip and were flushing, Wen Liang remembered that only Beimi was missing from the group, so he whispered, "Have you seen Beimi again?"
Tan Yu shook his head and said, "She transferred to another school and we haven't been in touch since."
"Transferred to another school?" Wen Liang really didn't know the news. Liu Zhihe and Ren Yi should have known about it, but they never took Bemi seriously, so they naturally didn't think it was a big deal that required them to mention it specifically.
"Well," Tan Yu sighed and said, "Although I still think about the past sometimes, but... after all, it's all in the past!"
They both shook themselves at the same time, looked at each other, laughed out loud, then hooked their arms around each other's shoulders, hummed a song, and turned back.
After finishing the meal, when they went out, Xie Yan deliberately walked at the end with Wen Liang. Seeing this, Xu Yao pulled Xiao Ning and Ji Su and walked ahead with a smile, leaving them space to talk.
Wen Liang smiled and said, "Don't be nervous tomorrow, just perform at your normal level. Your grades are usually so good, there won't be any mistakes."
Xie Yan nodded, his chin almost touching his chest, and said, "But I don't want to go to Tsinghua..."
Perhaps because the voice was too soft, Wen Liang didn't hear clearly, and smiled and asked back: "What?"
Xie Yan stopped and, as if mustering up his courage, said, "I, I want to apply to Jiangdong University!"
Wen Liang was stunned for a moment, remembering the conversation he had with Xie Yan during the Chinese New Year, and said softly: "Xie Yan, university may be one of the most important choices in everyone's life. Don't be impulsive or blind. You have to ask yourself what kind of life and job you want in the future, and then you can move forward unswervingly towards this goal until you succeed in the end."
"I understand that you may not have a clear plan for the future, and you may not know what you really want. But I think that when Tsinghua University and Jiangnan University are both in front of you, giving up the former and choosing the latter may not be a rational choice!"
Xie Yan did not hesitate at all this time. Perhaps it was the first time since they met that he refuted Wen Liang's words. He raised his head and looked directly into his jade-like eyes, saying, "I think I know what I want..."
The girl's eyes were clear and innocent, but her words were firm, as if she had eternal faith. Wen Liang said nothing more. He put his hand on her shoulder, patted her lightly twice, and said, "Come on!"
The three days of the college entrance examination passed quickly. According to the estimated score, Xie Yan performed quite well, and should be a little higher than usual. If there are no major mistakes, he will become a strong contender for the top scorer in Qingzhou's college entrance examination this year.
The final exams for the first and second year of high school were coming up. Wen Liang stayed at school for ten days, studying hard and doing the questions seriously. He got a pretty good score in the exam. But he couldn't count on being the top student in the grade. After being suppressed for a year, Ji Xiaoling finally regained the throne. It was said that she almost cried with joy when she got the transcript.
As for Cheng Haijun, no one knew what had happened to him. He did not regain the title of eternal runner-up just because of Wen Liang's withdrawal. Instead, he was squeezed to third place by one point. It was said that he went to Pufang Temple in Tianlou Mountain to worship Buddha the next day.
When Ye Yuting announced the summer vacation on the last day, cheers rang out in the classroom. Wen Liang asked Ren Yi about his summer vacation plans, and the boy actually started playing Tai Chi, avoiding the question, with a nervous look but also anticipation, as if he was brewing some big plan.
Wen Liang thought for a moment and thought it might be related to the idea Meng Ke gave him to pursue Song Wan. He said, "If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me. You are disloyal, but I cannot be ruthless as a brother. I sincerely wish Brother Ren all his wishes come true and he will win the battle."
Ren Yi was filled with gratitude, bowed to the ground, and said: "The mountains and clouds are vast, the rivers are mighty, and your style is as high as the mountains and as long as the rivers!"
Meng Ke covered his cheek and cried, "Ouch, ouch, my teeth are about to fall out."
"Mr. Meng, I personally think that you need to improve your understanding and respect for traditional culture. What a beautiful and moving sentence. Ah, Mr. Meng's style is as high as the mountains and as long as the rivers..."
"You're going to die. If you dare to be so rude to me again, I'll see if I can help you get in..."
Ji Su sorted the books on the table, put the homework he needed for the summer vacation into his schoolbag, turned to look at Wen Liang, and said, "What about you, are you going out during the summer vacation?"
Wen Liang shrugged and said, "I don't know. Maybe I'll stay at home and read a book, or maybe I'll travel around the country. It depends on the situation!"
"If you are free, come to Guanshan. My mother and I will go to accompany my father for a while. Yaoyao will also go back to live for two months. If you come, we can go shopping and climb mountains together."
The most unbearable thing is to break a girl's dream. Unfortunately, sometimes, God is always so ruthless! (To be continued)