Achu: "Could the opponent be a bot? This is the fastest game I've ever won."
Chai Qianning took a sip of tea: "See? The moment I joined, the enemy trembled and let us win."
The other three: "..."
By this time, the waiter had already served several dishes. Everyone put down their phones to eat, chatting and laughing about everything from games to life, and then to gossip.
Half an hour later, everyone had almost finished eating and sat down to rest, planning to go to the e-sports city later.
A group of men and women walked in noisily.
Each table in this shop is separated by a screen with a hollowed-out pattern. The group of people were sitting at the table next to Chai Qianning's. Judging from their conversation, it sounded like a group of teachers from an office had come out for a meal.
After finishing her meal, Chai Qianning leaned back lazily in her chair, occasionally taking a small sip of the orange juice on the table, her eyes occasionally glancing at the table next to her.
Where is Teacher Sheng?
"She went to the restroom."
Upon hearing the name "Teacher Sheng," Chai Qianning subconsciously raised her eyes and saw Sheng Muxi walking towards her from the direction of the restroom.
The other person seemed to have seen her too, their gaze lingered for a few seconds, and then they walked to the next table.
Chai Qianning lowered her eyes and sent a message to Sheng Muxi: [Going out for dinner with colleagues?]
Sheng Muxi: [Mmm.]
She knew it.
When she looked up again, she saw a young male teacher next to Sheng Muxi, who kindly pushed a set of bowls and chopsticks that had been rinsed with tea water towards Sheng Muxi.
A fine wrinkle appeared on Chai Qianning's eyebrows.
"Hey, A-Ning, are you coming to the arcade with us?"
"A-Ning?"
"Hey."
Her friend called her several times before she snapped out of her daze: "Huh? I'm not going."
Su Ye sighed, "She's been hopelessly in love lately."
On the other side of the screen, the young male teacher kept turning his head to talk to Sheng Muxi.
Because Sheng Muxi was sitting with her back to the screen, Chai Qianning could only see her back and not her expression.
But she could see the male teacher's beaming smile and the look in his eyes that clearly showed he was interested in Sheng Muxi when he turned his head to talk to her.
After paying the bill, Chai Qianning went home first.
Su Ye, A Chu, and Guo Dong went to the arcade.
Everyone was chatting happily at the table. Amidst the noise, Sheng Muxi glanced back and noticed that Chai Qianning's table had been cleared away, and new guests were gradually taking their seats.
She turned her gaze away and overheard an older teacher say, "In our office, apart from a few who are married, Teacher Lin is now married, and Teacher Ouyang and Teacher Xu both have partners. The only ones missing are Teacher Sheng and Teacher Zhang."
"Yes, yes, Teacher Zhang, when can we get some of your wedding candy?"
The young teacher sitting next to Sheng Muxi is Teacher Zhang.
Teacher Zhang glanced at Sheng Muxi, scratched his head and smiled: "Actually, my family is also urging me to get married."
Sheng Muxi didn't say anything, but she still couldn't help but get caught up in the topic.
Someone suggested, "Why don't you and Teacher Sheng team up? One of you teaches math, and the other teaches English. Math and English would be a great combination."
Upon hearing this, the other teachers also joined in the commotion.
Teacher Zhang smiled silently, but kept glancing at Sheng Muxi's changing expressions out of the corner of her eye.
"Teacher Sheng."
Hearing someone call her name, Sheng Muxi half-raised her eyelashes.
“Teacher Zhang is about your age and good-looking. You two might be a good match.”
This wasn't the first time Sheng Muxi had experienced older people worrying about her marriage. Before, a director at her school had jokingly told her that he wanted to marry his son to her.
In the past, when this matter was mentioned, Sheng Muxi would just smile and remain silent.
Suddenly, the screen of her phone, which was on the table, lit up.
Chai Qianning: [It's raining and thundering (emoji)...]
The subsequent messages did not appear, and fearing that others might see them, she immediately turned off the screen.
The people at the table continued their previous conversation.
"Teacher Sheng, didn't I hear from Teacher Shi that your family arranged for you to go on a blind date?"
Teacher Zhang turned to look at Sheng Muxi: "Teacher Sheng, you've been going on blind dates lately too."
The implication was clear: since our parents have been pressuring us to get married lately, why don't we give it a try?
The phone vibrated again. This time, Sheng Muxi put the phone on her lap, opened it, and glanced at it.
Chai Qianning: [Have you finished eating?]
Sheng Muxi raised her eyes and smiled gently at everyone: "I already have a boyfriend."
Chapter 43 Beloved Wife
Although she and Chai Qianning never explicitly said anything like "From now on, you are my official girlfriend," their interactions and actions, both overt and covert, were no different from those of a couple.
The statement that you have a partner is indeed a good way to shut some people up.
Teacher Zhang glanced at her with surprise, her expression somewhat complicated, revealing a hint of regret.
With a slight lift of her long eyelashes, Sheng Muxi glanced down again, then replied to Chai Qianning: "That's about it."
Chai Qianning: [What are the plans next?]
Sheng Muxi: [We're going to karaoke later.]
Chai Qianning: [Are you going?]
Sheng Muxi: [I'll probably go.]
She didn't have anything else to do later.
Chai Qianning: [Have you forgotten that you have a delicate, helpless wife at home?]
Upon seeing the words "beloved wife," Sheng Muxi's fingers subconsciously curled up.
Give me back my beautiful wife!
They're the same age!
Have you no shame?!
Besides, what the heck is this "beloved wife"?
A thought flickered in her mind: "You've lost your keys again?"
Chai Qianning: [No.]
Scrolling up through the chat messages, Sheng Muxi saw the first message Chai Qianning sent, "It's raining and thundering," focusing on the word "thunder."
Sheng Muxi asked: "Is it raining?"
The weather was perfectly fine when she arrived.
Chai Qianning: [Mmm-hmm!]
Their table was against the wall, and the window was on the other side. At that moment, the reflection of the crowd in the glass window made it impossible to see whether it was raining outside or not.
The restaurant was noisy, and she didn't hear any thunder. Besides, it was autumn, unlike summer when there would be sudden downpours with lightning and thunder. The autumn rain in City A was more of a gentle, continuous drizzle, dampening every corner of the city, low-key and peaceful.
Seeing the other party's confident tone, Sheng Muxi, who didn't care whether or not to go to karaoke, left after dinner, making an excuse that she had something to do.
Teacher Zhang came over and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Teacher Sheng, I didn't know you already had a boyfriend. Please don't take their jokes to heart."
"It's alright," Sheng Muxi said gently.
"Aren't you coming to karaoke with us later? Is your boyfriend coming to pick you up?"
Upon hearing the second half of the sentence, Sheng Muxi paused slightly, as if she were a married woman.
However, her current behavior of leaving early under the pretext of Chai Qianning's comment about rain and thunder does seem to have a hint of being married.
Moreover, in the past, when others tried to introduce her to potential partners, she wouldn't lie and say she had a boyfriend when she didn't have one. But she didn't want to refuse directly, so she would usually just smile and remain silent. This time, however, she said very naturally, "I already have a boyfriend."
God knows how she so naturally blurted out that sentence at the dinner table.
Has her mind been subtly influenced?
A few wisps of wind blew in from outside, and Sheng Muxi hummed in response.
Ms. Zhang gave an awkward "oh," but then brazenly asked, "Did you meet your partner through a blind date?"
"no."
After answering that question, Sheng Muxi smiled faintly at her: "Teacher Zhang, you guys have fun, I'll head back now."
Stepping out of the restaurant, Sheng Muxi stared at the dry cement pavement, puzzled for a long time. "I haven't seen a single drop of water, so where did the rain come from?"
She had hitched a ride with one of her colleagues at the dinner party today, so she flagged down a taxi on the street to go home.
After getting in the car, Sheng Muxi sent a message to Chai Qianning: [Are you sure it's raining?]
The other person's response was still: 【Mmm-hmm!】
Be careful on your way back, no need to rush.
Compared to the previous message, this one contained even more "hmm"s, and the tone seemed extremely urgent, urging her to come back, as if it would be inappropriate for her to stay there for even a second longer.
But why tell her not to rush? Who is actually more anxious?
But she was just having a meal with her colleagues.
Did the other party see something?
Sheng Muxi stared thoughtfully at the night view outside the car window.