My Wife, So Fierce! - Chapter 49

Once decided, Zheng Yao freshened up a bit. While driving to the restaurant, she couldn’t help but wonder how Shen Baiyi would react upon seeing her.

She wasn’t sure whether her arrival would be a pleasant surprise or a shock to Shen Baiyi. But given how much Shen Baiyi liked her, it should probably be more of a pleasant surprise, right?

At this thought, an unconscious smile crept onto her face.

What she didn’t expect was that Shen Baiyi wasn’t in the kitchen, nor was she washing dishes or carrying plates. Instead, she was standing stiffly at the front desk, wearing the hotel’s uniform.

She looked completely different from the tired and overworked image Zheng Yao had imagined in fact, she seemed quite relaxed.

“Sister?”

Shen Baiyi was clearly startled to see her, but then her face blossomed into a wide smile: “Did Sister come specifically to see me?”

Zheng Yao naturally wouldn’t admit it: “How could that be?”

She said with a straight face: “I have an appointment with Dr. Zhuang.”

As she spoke, she looked inside. She had arrived early, so there should still be seats available, right?

Her attention was completely focused on finding a seat, so she failed to notice Shen Baiyi’s expression darkening abruptly after hearing her words.

“Sister is going on another date with Dr. Zhuang?”

Shen Baiyi practically spat out the word “date” through gritted teeth, with obvious resentment.

Zheng Yao looked at her in surprise: “Are you unhappy?”

After saying this, she suddenly realized. Of course, while she was here to enjoy good food and drink, Shen Baiyi had to stand here working as a waitress. That probably didn’t sit well with her.

“I wasn’t considerate enough,” she immediately said. “Actually, I came partly to check on you. Since you seem to be doing fine here, then I’ll—”

Before she could finish, Shen Baiyi interrupted gloomily: “I’m not unhappy.”

“…”

That was really hard to believe.

But since Shen Baiyi said so, Zheng Yao had no choice but to take her word for it. She nodded seriously: “Good that you’re not unhappy.”

“Sister, you can go in now. There are still seats available.”

Shen Baiyi said proactively, lowering her gaze. If her sister was going to date Dr. Zhuang no matter what, she’d rather it happen right under her watch than somewhere she couldn’t see, leaving her to imagine all sorts of things.

Zheng Yao didn’t agree immediately. After studying Shen Baiyi for a few seconds, she asked: “Do you want to join us for something to eat?”

“Sister is a customer, and I’m a waitress. How could we eat together?” Shen Baiyi sighed. “Sister, go ahead. Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright then.”

Zheng Yao wasn’t so naive as to think having Shen Baiyi sit with her would be appropriate, it would only make things difficult for Shen Baiyi here.

So she found a seat by herself.

Dr. Zhuang arrived about ten minutes later than scheduled, sweating profusely and full of apologies: “Sorry, sorry! Something came up earlier and delayed me. Have you been waiting long?”

“Not at all, I just got here,” Zheng Yao said, pouring her a cup of tea and pushing it over. “Have some water.”

“Thank you.” Zhuang Liulan didn’t stand on ceremony, downing the tea in a few gulps. She looked at Zheng Yao: “Why is Baiyi here?”

“She’s working part-time here.”

As she spoke, Zheng Yao glanced in Shen Baiyi’s direction. Unexpectedly, the other person was also looking her way. Their eyes met, and Zheng Yao blinked, feeling another wave of guilt rise in her heart before quickly averting her gaze.

“Is that so?” Zhuang Liulan chuckled. “I should’ve had Yangyang come too, to see if the restaurant is still hiring.”

As she said this, she instinctively glanced toward the front desk.

When her gaze met that unmistakably hostile stare, Zhuang Liulan paused but didn’t look away.

“They might be hiring. Your Yangyang could give it a try,” Zheng Yao said casually, swirling the tea in her cup. “But having kids work outside always gives me a bit of guilt, like we’re exploiting children.”

Hearing Zheng Yao’s description, Zhuang Liulan laughed. She withdrew her gaze, deliberately ignoring Shen Baiyi’s hostile stare, and said calmly, “It’s good experience for them. Besides, it’s not like you’re forcing her to go.”

Soon, she changed the subject.

Zhuang Liulan was a comfortable person to be around she knew exactly when to advance and retreat, never letting the atmosphere turn awkward. Zheng Yao quickly relaxed as well.

Just as she was happily chatting with Dr. Zhuang, a voice suddenly interrupted: “Sister, let me refill your tea.”

With that, her empty cup was promptly filled.

Even though Shen Baiyi had just started working today, she looked quite professional not only refilling Zheng Yao’s cup but also topping up the teapot.

However, the plain cold water had suddenly turned into sour and astringent lemon tea. Zheng Yao paused mid-sip, her reaction relatively mild, but Dr. Zhuang’s face twisted from the sourness.

“Are you okay?” Zheng Yao asked with concern.

“I’m fine.”

Zhuang Liulan’s entire face was scrunched up from the sourness, completely losing her usual calm and mature composure.

“Why is it lemon tea?” Zheng Yao looked up at Shen Baiyi.

“This is hand-squeezed lemon tea I made for you to try, sister,” Shen Baiyi said, her face growing slightly anxious. “Sister, what’s wrong? Is my lemon tea not good?”

Hearing this, Zheng Yao couldn’t say much else: “It’s alright.”

She initially thought Shen Baiyi had just come to refill tea, but during her conversation with Dr. Zhuang, Shen Baiyi kept occasionally approaching.

At first, Zheng Yao thought she wanted to sit and join them, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Shen Baiyi would just come over to ask if everything was okay, then leave not only for their table but for the entire hall.

Her service attitude was impeccable.

Even the dishes for their table were served by Shen Baiyi.

The plates looked large and heavy, making Shen Baiyi’s slender wrists show bone outlines. Zheng Yao watched with concern and grabbed her hand as she was about to leave: “Xiao Bai.”

“What is it, sister?”

Shen Baiyi’s smile remained unchanged.

“Didn’t your boss assign you to front desk duties?” Zheng Yao said sternly. “Stop hovering around me and go stand properly at the front desk.”

Seeing she’d been caught, Shen Baiyi put on a pitiful expression: “I just wanted to see more of you.”

“Can’t you see me from the front desk?” Zheng Yao wouldn’t be swayed by her sweet talk.

Hadn’t Shen Baiyi deliberately seated her here precisely because this spot could be easily monitored from the front desk?

She chuckled softly: “You’re like a supervisor watching me from the side. If you keep this up, how can I eat? I’m starving.”

Shen Baiyi initially wanted to argue further, but upon hearing the last sentence, she gradually relented and sighed: “Fine.”

After that, she behaved properly and didn’t approach Zheng Yao again.

Of course, she also became busy with work.

It was currently mealtime, and the restaurant was bustling with many diners. There was even a wedding banquet for a newlywed couple being held there, making the place lively and, of course, very busy.

Although Shen Baiyi had been placed at the front desk as the face of the establishment, she couldn’t just stand around idly.

Noticing Zheng Yao staring intently in that direction, Zhuang Liulan smiled and said, “You and your sister have a good relationship.”

“Not really,” Zheng Yao immediately denied. “Our relationship is just average.”

Zhuang Liulan didn’t comment further but hesitated for a moment before asking, “Earlier, you mentioned she was staying at your place because of the college entrance exams. Shouldn’t she be returning to her own home now?”

The question was a bit blunt, but given their closer relationship, Zheng Yao didn’t take offense. Recalling her recent house-hunting efforts, she glanced at Zhuang Liulan and said, “She won’t be going back to her hometown. I’ve been looking at properties lately, planning to buy an apartment for her near A University.”

Buying or renting would both work, the area around A University was quite good.

“You’re planning to buy a place there too?” Zhuang Liulan was taken aback.

Hearing this, Zheng Yao’s eyes lit up. “Are you planning to buy one for Zhuang Yang too?”

Zhuang Liulan nodded, a smile spreading across her face. “I was worried that Yangyang might feel too lonely living alone outside, but I didn’t expect you were also planning to buy a place for Baiyi.”

Zheng Yao caught something odd in her words. “Does Zhuang Yang not usually live on campus either?”

She had originally intended to buy a place so Shen Baiyi would have a home to return to during holidays.

Hearing this, Zhuang Liulan realized she had misunderstood. She explained, “Yangyang wasn’t very comfortable living in the dorm during high school. Now that she’s in university, I don’t want her to go through that hardship again.”

Actually, Zhuang Yang’s previous roommates had collectively isolated her, leaving quite a shadow, so she didn’t want to live in a shared dorm again.

Hardship…

These words made Zheng Yao waver once more.

With Shen Baiyi’s personality, she might indeed get bullied. Since they were going to buy a place anyway, maybe it would be fine to let Shen Baiyi live off-campus directly?

“But if we do that, she might have less interaction with her classmates,” Zheng Yao said, feeling a headache coming on.

Zhuang Liulan, however, didn’t seem concerned. “If they make good friends later and want to move back into the dorm, we can always arrange it then.”

Hearing this, Zheng Yao felt tempted. “Then I’ll go back and ask Xiao Bai what she thinks.”

“Alright,” Zhuang Liulan nodded, her smile deepening. “I have a friend in that area. If you and Baiyi don’t mind, I can help you both look together. That way, the two girls can live close by and look out for each other.”

“Then I’ll thank you in advance, Dr. Zhuang,” Zheng Yao said, her eyes brightening.

She had been stressing over the housing issue recently and hadn’t expected Dr. Zhuang to offer help so readily.

“Why stand on ceremony with me?” Seeing the other’s smiling expression, Zhuang Liulan felt a stir in her heart. She then changed the subject, saying, “I heard escape rooms are really popular lately. I’ve been wanting to try one. Are you interested?”

Escape rooms?!

Zheng Yao nodded. “I’m interested! Let’s go together!”

Once again, they were on the same page. After finishing their meal, they went to play an escape room game, and in the end, Dr. Zhuang even invited her to watch a movie.

“There’s a movie that’s been really popular lately,” Zhuang Liulan said, averting her gaze. Blushing and nervous, she added, “It’s called ‘Cramped.’ Have you heard of it?”

“…”

Zheng Yao fell silent. Not only had she heard of it, she had already seen it.

Recalling that blush-inducing intimate scene, and remembering how she had covered Shen Baiyi’s eyes to prevent her from watching holding Shen Baiyi’s entire head so close that she could feel the scorching breath against her neck.

Zheng Yao: !!!

Why was she still thinking about it!

“Let’s go watch it together,” she declared solemnly.

She would watch it again, overwriting all the memories of watching it with Shen Baiyi before!

Hearing this, Zhuang Liulan’s eyes flickered: “This film is about same-sex romance, with two female leads. Does that bother you?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Zheng Yao said indifferently, then suddenly remembering something, she looked up, “Dr. Zhuang shouldn’t mind either, right?”

Their eyes met.

The atmosphere suddenly became indescribable, gradually turning ambiguous.

Zhuang Liulan broke the silence first, curling her lips: “Of course not. If you like it, I can recommend a few more films with similar themes.”

Zhuang Liulan’s hint was already quite obvious.

Zheng Yao lowered her gaze and chuckled softly: “Alright, I’ve actually been somewhat interested in this genre of films lately.”She acknowledged Zhuang Liulan’s probing while also making her own stance clear.”

Their eyes met for a moment longer before they tacitly looked away.

Watching the movie with Zhuang Liulan was hard to describe.

It wasn’t exactly repulsive, but it certainly couldn’t be called liking or heart-fluttering either.

How to put it? It felt like watching a movie with a stranger even when their hands accidentally touched while reaching for popcorn, it didn’t stir the slightest ripple in her heart.

Clearly, although she quite liked Dr. Zhuang, it definitely wasn’t the kind of liking that could lead to romance.

She felt absolutely no spark.

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