Chapter 184 - "Mommy, are you making dinner for that uncle today?" (1)
Shu Yan was not considering a boyfriend anytime in the near future and definitely not about getting remarried. These all seem sort of far away to her. She only meant to thank Feng Zeyu when she prepared dinner for him.
The next afternoon, Shu Yan returned to the restaurant where she had lunch with Hu Ruixue and booked a private room. She waited around the bus stop for a little while after work and saw Feng Zeyu showed up somewhere not too far away from her.
“My friend brought me here before and I quite like it. I hope the food is acceptable to you.” Shu Yan sat down with Feng Zeyu. Worried that the atmosphere would be awkward, she decided to talk about food.
“I am not a picky eater.” Feng Zeyu quietly disinfected their bowls and chopsticks with hot water before he laid them out neatly.
Shu Yan had always heard that those who had been in the military has obsessive-compulsive disorder. She wondered whether he was one of them.
Shu Yan thanked him and the atmosphere returned to being awkward again. All the way until the server brought their dishes.
“Here, try some. I have forgotten to ask you your preference,” said Shu Yan, a bit embarrassed.
“I’m not a picky eater,” said Feng Zeyu once again.
Shu Yan paused for a little bit and quietly picked out a chopstick-full of food. The two seemed to have run out of things to talk about again.
“That, I have invited you here today because I want to ask about the human traffickers. What have been going on?” How long did she need to live like this?
“I was just about to let you know that my comrade had already informed me that they had captured their partners and were even able to save a few children and women. You won’t need to worry about your safety going forward.” When Feng Zeyu said that, he felt a slight hint of disappointment along with the feeling of relief. He couldn’t explain why he felt how he felt. Perhaps he really enjoyed her cooking a lot.
They’ve captured the human traffickers? Shu Yan hadn’t expected it to have happened so quickly. She felt that a burden had been lifted off of her shoulder and let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much for all your trouble during this period of time. Had you and your friends didn’t come to protect my children and I, I might not even be able to stomach any food.”
“That was my responsibility. Speaking of, I have never formally thanked you for saving Duoduo. He had already left the hospital and returned to his home in City Han. Duoduo’s family had been wanting to come and thank you but I had stopped them from doing so. Now that all of the traffickers had been captured, I can’t stop them anymore. They will probably be here in the next couple of days.” Feng Zeyu genuinely appreciated Shu Yan for standing up. There were many nice people in the world but most people would still choose to turn a blind eye.
Hearing that Duoduo’s family would be coming, Shu Yan was startled.
“That won’t be necessary. Please let them know that I understand their appreciation and they don’t need to pay me a visit.” Shu Yan had always been uncomfortable around these types of enthusiasm. She never knew how to act around super enthusiastic people.
After their slight awkward lunch, Shu Yan returned to her shop and saw that both Zhang Huaxiu and Yingying were busy. Yingying was the same as before. Zhang Huaxiu seemed to be the same, but felt less affectionate.
Shu Yan sighed. Now she understood the difficulty of being a boss. One couldn’t be too close with their employees. It made it difficult to say anything to them when they made a mistake. A tense relationship was also bad. The employee would have no sense of loyalty and would just up and go at any given time. Striking that perfect balance was easier said than done.
She had reflected upon her own mistakes. First of all, she shouldn’t have given Zhang Huaxiu full power to make all decisions when she was away. After a few times, it’d give her the sense that she was the owner and that she could make all decision. Secondly, she was being too blunt yesterday. She could have expressed herself in a different and more roundabout way.
Shu Yan planned to talk to Zhang Huaxiu again to smooth things out some but Zhang Huaxiu reached out to her first.