After a while, Wang Zhongling returned to the private room with a grim expression.
"What's wrong?" Du Fei asked in a low voice.
Wang Zhongling first glanced at Ou Xiangrong opposite them, then leaned close to Du Fei's ear and whispered to him.
It turned out that the phone call Wang Zhongling had just received was from her mother. Her mother had repeatedly instructed Wang Zhongling to get along well with Du Fei, saying that Ou Xiangrong was an exceptionally good child.
Furthermore, her parents had also gotten along very well with Ou Xiangrong's parents, and they had become good friends. Everyone hoped that they would end up together.
"Du Fei, tell me, what kind of parents are these? It's the 21st century, and they're still arranging marriages. This is simply a restriction on my freedom!" Wang Zhongling's tone was full of complaints.
"Uh, I have two pieces of news I want to tell you, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?" Du Fei said after Wang Zhongling finished complaining.
Wang Zhongling looked at Du Fei suspiciously. She had only stepped out for a phone call. What had happened during this time?
"What good news could there be at this time? Fine, just tell me the bad news." Without a second thought, Wang Zhongling directly said she wanted to hear the bad news.
Du Fei tried to keep his expression as natural as possible and then said, "Well, Ou Xiangrong saw through our relationship. He's already guessed that I'm not your boyfriend!"
"What!" Wang Zhongling exclaimed, her voice unintentionally rising. She didn't care if Ou Xiangrong could hear her. She angrily pointed at Du Fei, "Du Fei! I only went out for a phone call, and you blew our cover? And you can still smile about it?"
Her carefully concocted plan had been ruined by Du Fei in minutes. And yet, this guy had the nerve to smile about it? If Ou Xiangrong weren't here, Wang Zhongling would have punched him.
"Miss Wang, didn't I just say I have good news too? Don't you want to hear it before saying anything?" Seeing Wang Zhongling's reaction, Du Fei knew he couldn't tease her anymore, or it might get troublesome if she took it out on him.
Pretending to be Du Fei's girlfriend, only to be seen through by Ou Xiangrong. If this guy told her mother, she would be so angry she'd fly back to China to scold her. Thinking of this, Wang Zhongling became agitated. She said impatiently, "Go on, say it."
"The good news is..." Du Fei quickly recounted what Ou Xiangrong had said.
"Damn it! Du Fei, you tricked me!" Wang Zhongling exclaimed, letting out a curse in her excitement. Immediately, the fists that had been held back were rained down on Du Fei.
"Hey, hey, hey, why are you hitting me? I told you there was good news, but you didn't listen. Can you blame me?" Wang Zhongling's punches were like tickles to Du Fei. After hitting him for a good few minutes, Wang Zhongling finally complained, "Du Fei, you look quite thin, but you have quite a bit of muscle. My hands are sore from hitting you."
Then, Wang Zhongling turned to look at Ou Xiangrong.
Ten minutes later, as Wang Zhongling and Du Fei left the private room, Wang Zhongling was humming happily, a smile on her face. The two had reached an alliance: Wang Zhongling would continue her single life, and Ou Xiangrong would continue dating his girlfriend. As for their parents, they would coordinate their stories and report their progress to them. Du Fei asked Wang Zhongling what they would do if they were discovered one day. Wang Zhongling rolled her eyes and said they would deal with it when that day came. At worst, she would run away from home, and Du Fei would have to take her in. Du Fei immediately nodded, indicating that it was no problem.
After leaving the hotel, Wang Zhongling didn't want to go back yet. Since Du Fei had nothing else to do, he decided to accompany her for a walk. As they chatted and walked, Wang Zhongling soon spotted a night market ahead.
"It's so lively up ahead. Let's go take a look." Upon entering the night market, Wang Zhongling was like a curious baby. She looked at one stall and then another, and when she saw something she liked, she would ask the vendor about the price. After browsing for over ten minutes, her hands were full of things, mostly cute or interesting trinkets.
"Du Fei, I'm a bit hungry. Let's find a place to eat." Wang Zhongling hadn't had any appetite at the hotel, as she was preoccupied with the blind date. Now, after walking around, she felt hungry.
Du Fei asked Wang Zhongling what she wanted to eat. Her eyes lit up, and she pointed to a large roadside stall not far away.
"Boss, another pitcher of draft beer."
"Boss, add ten pounds of lobster to my table."
"Boss, bring me the menu."
As Du Fei and Wang Zhongling approached, they heard shouts from the roadside stall. The boss was constantly on the move, rushing to wherever he was called.
"It looks like the food here must be good." Seeing that the roadside stall was almost full, Du Fei figured the taste must be decent, otherwise, it wouldn't attract so many people. They found an empty corner to sit down. After a while, the boss finally had time to attend to them.
"Two handsome guys and beauties, what would you like to eat? How about a pitcher of beer to start?" The boss set out disposable cutlery and gave them a menu. Usually, customers at roadside stalls would order beer, eat some barbecue or lobster, and chat over drinks, which was very pleasant.
Wang Zhongling quickly scanned the menu and ordered some lobster and barbecue. She then asked Du Fei if he wanted to add anything else. Du Fei thought it was enough.
"That's all. We don't want beer."
"Alright, please wait a moment." The boss handed their order to the chef and then rushed to the new customers.
"You probably haven't been to a place like this before, have you? Oh, right, I forgot Old Wang said you're a young lady from a wealthy family, so you probably frequent high-end clubs and the like." Ever since they entered the night market, Wang Zhongling had shown great interest. Now, sitting at the roadside stall, she kept looking around, as if everything was novel to her.
Wang Zhongling rolled her eyes at Du Fei. "What you're saying makes me sound like I don't belong in this world. I went abroad with my parents after finishing middle school. Although I've been to many nightclubs and bars abroad as I grew up, I still quite like places with this much local flavor, where people sit together to eat and chat."
Just then, a song drifted into their ears. Looking up, they saw a girl holding a microphone a couple of tables away, singing to the dining customers. This was also a unique feature of roadside stalls. Ordering a song cost around thirty to fifty yuan, not expensive. Eating while listening to music could make customers happy and also promote consumption. Therefore, most roadside stalls would have singers.