Chapter 1140: Chapter 494: The Awkward Shared Table at the Hot Pot Restaurant (Part 2)

How did you guys make up so quickly?

After leaving the school, there were significantly fewer students around. The group considered several options and finally decided to go to the newly opened Haidilao across from the school.

As Zheng Yanyan put it, although Haidilao is a bit pricey, the service is great!

“Right, hubby?” Zheng Yanyan asked with a smile.

“If you want to go, let’s go.”

Zhou Yuwen said indifferently. Back in 2014, Haidilao’s service was indeed unique in the hotpot market. They relied on their service to grow bigger in the hotpot industry, even becoming famous nationwide. But honestly, over the next ten years, the food and beverage industry will have changed a lot, at least in terms of hotpot. Several brands offer good services now, making Haidilao not very cost-effective.

As soon as they reached the entrance of the hotpot restaurant, several staff members surrounded them, apologizing and informing them that it was crowded and they might need to wait for a table.

“Please wait here for a while, we have free snacks and drinks available.”

“We also have chess, Chinese checkers, and Go games.”

“We offer free manicures here. Any ladies interested?”

The one-stop service really hit the mark for these university students. At least for now, most of those queuing outside were local students. They declined the services and found a place to sit down.

Shen Yu curiously asked Zheng Yanyan, “Don’t you like getting manicures?

Why not try it out?”

Zheng Yanyan told Shen Yu that the manicures here don’t look good and use the cheapest materials.

“I usually go to Gold Eagle for manicures; the salon there is really high-end. Hey, Shen Yu, if you want to get your nails done, I’ll take you there!” Zheng Yanyan said with a grin.

When Shen Yu heard that they had to go all the way to Gold Eagle for a manicure, she immediately waved her hand and said, “Forget it.”

“It’s too much hassle; it takes two hours by subway.”

“What subway? I’ll drive you there!” Zheng Yanyan blinked her eyes.

Hearing this, Shen Yu smiled bitterly, realizing that their lives are now fundamentally different.

They expected to wait a long time, but just after a short while, a waiter came over apologetically, saying they were sorry for the wait.

“We just happened to have a private room available, but it’s for eight to ten people, and there’s another group of five. Would you mind sharing the table?”

Before Zhou Yuwen and the others could answer, the waiter quickly added, “The private room has two hotpot stoves, so you can eat separately.”

Zheng Yanyan turned her head to glance at Zhou Yuwen, wanting to know his opinion.

Actually, Zhou Yuwen didn’t mind, but thinking about how he was with three lovely ladies, sharing a table with strangers felt awkward. He considered eating elsewhere.

But when he looked up, he saw that the group waiting was Li Shiqi and her friends.

“Hey! Shiqi, it’s your boyfriend!”

Li Shiqi’s roommate, Wang Meng, saw Zhou Yuwen standing out among the crowd with his height of 1.83 meters and excitedly shouted.

One sentence made Li Shiqi feel embarrassed, and she quickly buried her head in her clothes.

Well, she had actually already spotted Zhou Yuwen.

She originally thought about walking past quickly and avoiding them.

Who would’ve thought her roommate was so intense?

As for Li Shiqi, meeting Zhou Yuwen again put her in an awkward spot. After all, everyone knew about her pretending to be Zhou Yuwen’s girlfriend over the past few days.

Moreover, Zhou Yuwen hadn’t contacted her.

Li Shiqi knew Zhou Yuwen must be angry with her.

She figured they’d never cross paths again in this lifetime.

These days have been tough for Li Shiqi.

Since her name suddenly became a hot topic, at the student council, senior students would often greet her warmly and then casually mention, “Your boyfriend is Zhou Yuwen, huh!”

In response to such remarks, Li Shiqi could only manage an awkward smile, neither confirming nor denying it.

At night, she would sneak into her bed countless times to check Zhou Yuwen’s WeChat moments, fearful it would suddenly show two dashes, indicating she’d been deleted.

Luckily, she hadn’t been deleted these days.

But it might also be that Zhou Yuwen doesn’t use WeChat at all.

Initially, she and Zhou Yuwen weren’t even a real couple.

Yet Wang Meng was shouting and making a scene in front of Zhou Yuwen, talking about boyfriends and girlfriends.

“Hi, Zhou Yuwen, we didn’t expect we’d be sharing a table with you guys. We were worried about sharing with the wrong people, but if it’s you all, there’s definitely no problem, right, Shiqi?” Wang Meng winked toward Li Shiqi and pushed her in front of Zhou Yuwen.

At this moment, Li Shiqi’s face was burning red, and she didn’t dare lift her head.

This was truly a social death scene.

If she could dig a hole, she’d unhesitatingly excavate a three-room, one-lounge right there and hide inside.

She tightly clenched the hem of her clothes nervously, fearing that Zhou Yuwen might expose her clumsy trick.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yuwen just glanced at her and simply said, “Having dinner with your roommates?”

“?”

Li Shiqi found it hard to believe that Zhou Yuwen hadn’t called her out. She cautiously looked up at him.

But Zhou Yuwen’s expression remained normal.

“Yeah…” Li Shiqi nodded.

Zhou Yuwen said, “Since we know each other, let’s share the table then.”

“Yay~ I’m so happy to dine with successful people!” Wang Meng said cheerfully, and the rest of Li Shiqi’s group also laughed.

Li Shiqi’s group consisted of three girls and two boys; they were part of the student council’s core team.

The freshman welcoming party was mostly concentrated today, and after the event, groups often gathered for a meal. Typically, Li Shiqi didn’t join such gatherings.

This year, because everyone knew she was Zhou Yuwen’s girlfriend, they figured they’d need to befriend her over dinner.

So, this peculiar dining arrangement was formed.

Of course, throughout, Zheng Yanyan did not show Li Shiqi any friendly expressions.

In fact, from the moment Li Shiqi appeared, Zheng Yanyan’s face turned frosty.

Several times, she was about to question when exactly Li Shiqi became Zhou Yuwen’s girlfriend?

But she was stopped by Lu Lin each time.

Lu Lin signaled her with her eyes not to say anything.

This annoyed Zheng Yanyan greatly.

What irritated her even more was Li Shiqi’s roommate, Wang Meng.

The whole time, Wang Meng acted overly familiar.

Jokingly, she said Zhou Yuwen stealthily snatched away the most beautiful girl in their dorm and should treat them to a meal for it.

What she said was indeed abrupt.

Li Shiqi felt like she was dancing on the edge of a blade hearing this.

After all, the girlfriend thing was fake.

And Zhou Yuwen had to treat them to a meal?

Yet Zhou Yuwen casually said, “Then I’ll treat you all today.”

“Uh, I was just kidding!” Wang Meng quickly laughed and said.

Zhou Yuwen said it was alright.

His words left Wang Meng embarrassed, but she still praised, “Wow, Shiqi, I’m so envious of you for having such a handsome and generous boyfriend. Hey, Shiqi, why are you avoiding? You should sit with your boyfriend!”

Once inside the private room, Li Shiqi wanted to find a corner seat to hide herself completely, hoping no one would notice her presence.

But, was that even possible?

Just as she was about to escape, Wang Meng grabbed her back and forced her to sit next to Zhou Yuwen.

“Excuse me, please, let them sit together!” Zheng Yanyan was about to sit next to Zhou Yuwen but was pushed away by Wang Meng. Wang Meng winked at Zheng Yanyan as if to say, “You get it, right?”

I get it, my foot!

Zheng Yanyan was fuming inside.

Lu Lin quickly grabbed Zheng Yanyan, saying, “You sit over here.”

Zheng Yanyan gave Lu Lin a resentful look.

Lu Lin said, “You wanted hotpot, didn’t you? Just enjoy your meal.”