Under the guidance of the waiter, Gao Sijin and Yu Qingxue entered the restaurant.
As with any French restaurant in his memory, the interior was magnificent. Beneath the bright crystal chandeliers were tablecloths as white as holy snow, and the wallpapered walls were adorned with paintings that looked incredibly expensive.
The wine cabinets were filled with various high-end red wines, and almost every corner of the restaurant was permeated with a decadent yet pleasant scent of capitalism.
Typical couples might find themselves enchanted by it.
Gao Sijin, however, smelled a different scent — the scent of money flowing away like water.
Although Yu Qingxue had said earlier that she was willing to foot the bill, on second thought, letting a woman pay for a meal was just too pathetic. Gao Sijin was, after all, a working professional. Even if he had to pay in installments, he couldn’t let a woman treat him.
But as he felt the phone in his pocket that hadn’t been replaced in three years, Gao Sijin’s palms were slick with sweat. The source of his fear was unknown; this was his first time dining at such a high-end Western restaurant. At the thought of spending a vast amount of money, he felt a sharp sting of regret in his heart.
“Oh, not bad. That was quite the gentlemanly performance just now,” Yu Qingxue laughed softly. “You even knew to pull out my seat for me. Just for that, I should give you some extra points.”
“I know the basics of table etiquette.”
Recalling the times he wrote about male leads eating Western food, Gao Sijin had specifically looked up reference materials. Not long ago, he had even watched the British drama *Downton Abbey*. The amount of table etiquette in that show was enough to make one’s head throb, but thanks to that, Gao Sijin didn’t embarrass himself too much.
The music drifting through the restaurant sounded like a piano piece by Chopin, but as for which specific piece it was, Gao Sijin couldn’t tell at all.
The waiter brought the menus. Unlike Chinese cuisine, French meals were usually ordered individually.
This proved difficult for Gao Sijin. Although there were Chinese subtitles beneath the French text, there were no pictures. For a moment, he didn’t know what to order.
In contrast, Yu Qingxue ordered in fluent French. ‘Didn’t she go to J Nation? Why is her French so fluent?’
After ordering, Yu Qingxue cast a surprised glance at Gao Sijin. Her glamorous red lips parted slightly, like a blooming rose. “Aren’t you hungry? Why haven’t you ordered yet?”
Gao Sijin looked at Yu Qingxue, then at the waiter standing tall, and said, “I’ll have the same as this lady.”
The waiter respectfully took the menus away.
When Gao Sijin realized that this single meal cost more than half a month’s salary, his mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.
Beside him, Yu Qingxue covered her mouth, seemingly trying to stifle a laugh.
Seeing her face turn red from the effort, Gao Sijin said resentfully, “You’re going too far. You’re actually laughing at me.”
“Sorry, I’ve had professional training, but your talent for comedy is beyond my capacity to handle. I couldn’t hold it in. You’re such a fun guy — everything is written all over your face. You don’t seem like an adult at all.”
Looking at the girl who was laughing so hard that tears were almost coming out, Gao Sijin felt quite ashamed. But considering how beautiful she looked when she laughed, he ultimately decided to be merciful and forgive her.
“Miss Yu, there’s a question I want to ask you.”
While waiting for the food, Gao Sijin was the first to speak.
“Qingxue.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t call me Miss Yu. If you’re going to call me something, call me Qingxue. Why do you have to act so formal? Are you a CEO from an 8:00 PM soap opera?”
Gao Sijin felt very relaxed spending time with Yu Qingxue. He had originally thought that most girls who went on blind dates at French restaurants would be “little princesses” with unrealistic expectations who looked down on everyone. However, Yu Qingxue’s every word and action was incredibly straightforward and devoid of any falsehood.
So far, this blind date with Yu Qingxue was the best experience he had ever had.
“I wanted to ask you, why did you come on a blind date?”
“Why? Is there some special regulation in this country that forbids a girl like me from going on a blind date?” Yu Qingxue leaned her cheek on her hand, her eyes dancing with a smile.
“Not at all. First of all, you’re only 20 years old. You’re so young, there’s no need to rush into marriage. Furthermore, you’re an international student at Tokyo University, and you’re so beautiful it makes me feel inferior. Someone as perfect as you shouldn’t be lacking suitors,” Gao Sijin said with a frown.
“From my experience as a working professional, people who attend blind dates are almost always ‘defective products’ like me who can’t find a partner and come here to find someone to settle down with. You really don’t seem like a defective product, so why exactly?”
At that moment, the waiter brought over a bottle of high-end red wine that had been decanted and poured it into Gao Sijin’s and Yu Qingxue’s glasses.
Yu Qingxue held her glass, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Sijin, have you ever heard the saying that curiosity killed the cat?”
“I’m just asking casually. Am I really going to end up as a dead cat?”
“Fine, I’ll tell you the truth. My purpose for this blind date is to kidnap you and take you abroad. Satisfied?”
Yu Qingxue tied on her napkin and took a sip of the red wine.
Gao Sijin was stunned. He truly hadn’t expected her to answer like that.
“It’s just a Japanese-style cold joke I learned abroad. Don’t take it seriously.”
“I definitely won’t take it seriously. How could a 20-year-old girl like you kidnap a working man like me? I never lost a single fight back in high school.”
Incidentally, that was the truth. Because Gao Sijin had never been in a fight in his entire life.
Yu Qingxue chuckled. “True. Generally speaking, girls are usually the vulnerable group.”
Just then, the waiter brought the appetizers. Yu Qingxue skillfully used her knife and fork to cut a small piece of Foie Gras and placed it in her mouth. “Hmm, not bad. I didn’t expect Bincheng to have such authentic French cuisine. You should try some too, Sijin. There’s a mellow aroma of rum in the Foie Gras; the aftertaste is endless.”
Gao Sijin also tried the Foie Gras, but he found it a bit fishy.
Perhaps his tongue was better suited for barbecue and spicy hot pot.
He took a sip of the red wine and felt it go straight to his head.
“I’m mainly here on this blind date to observe humanity,” she said. “And you happen to be one of my samples. Your every move is so interesting that it’s enough for me to pass the boring time.”
“You’re quite the chuuni, but as it happens, my goal is pretty much the same.”
Although one of Gao Sijin’s goals for the blind date was to appease Director Zhang, there was another reason — to gather material.
Most of his works were set in worlds of swords and magic where blind dates barely existed, because the boys usually had a harem of wives and concubines before they even reached 20, and their children were already 3 and a half years old.
However, meeting different girls, understanding their inner thoughts, and recognizing their vanity and worldliness were important treasures for Gao Sijin’s writing.
Writing comes from life; that was essentially how it worked.
The main course was a 21-day dry-aged M9 Tomahawk Steak.
During this time, Yu Qingxue never asked Gao Sijin where he worked, what school he graduated from, or how much money he made. She only spoke about topics related to their interests.
Through their conversation, Gao Sijin learned that she was a girl with an incredibly rich personal life.
The sea in Stockholm, the mountains in Yunnan, the wind of the Pampas Grasslands, and the snow in Hokkaido — she had been to almost every place one could go. She was the wealthy girl from a social media feed who lived an exquisite life.
In contrast, the snapshot of Gao Sijin’s life had long been fixed on the commute between work and home. He was either working at the company or writing novels at home.
The gap in their status made Gao Sijin realize that he and she were people on two parallel lines. She was the line on top, and he was the one below.