Chapter Fourteen: A Hidden Crush

  Xu Fei had heard about Xia Chuchu's personality, knowing that she was straightforward and casual, and had a clear distinction between love and hate. There were several colleagues in the provincial bureau who got along well with him, but when they tried to get close to and fawn over Xia Chuchu, they were all rebuffed by her, leaving them red-faced. Today, she didn't give herself a slap in the face on the spot, which was already quite good.

  Xia Chuchu brought Ye Ming and Xu Fei to the VIP dining hall on the second floor of "Furong Hotel", stepping on the thick camel hair carpet, walking into room 8.

  The box is not very big, but it is decorated with luxury and elegance. In the middle of the box is an antique red wood round table, near the window there is a tea table, and several genuine leather sofas, which are places for guests to drink tea and chat before and after meals.

  After the three people sat down, a leader wearing a cheongsam walked in with a menu and smiled to ask if they were ready to order.

  Xia Chuchu took over the menu from the leader, flipping through the page and looking at the dish names, hesitating in her mind about how to order: She originally thought Ye Ming was just a worker, planning to bring him to a high-end place, then ordering a few more affordable dishes, spending a few hundred yuan would be enough.

  However, she didn't expect this kid to bring a deputy director from the Provincial Land Tax Bureau over, and she had no idea how he knew the deputy director. Suddenly, it put her in a difficult position: A deputy director of the Provincial Land Tax Bureau must have seen the world. Since they brought them to such a high-end place, they would definitely need to order some higher-end dishes, and maybe even drink a bottle of high-end wine. In this case, it's likely that several thousand yuan won't be enough to leave the private room.

  But I, who never liked carrying a lot of cash on me, with bank cards all left at home, only had over a thousand yuan in cash in my bag this time. What if the dishes we ordered weren't good or those two wanted to drink, then I'd be out of luck...

  At the moment when she was hesitating with the menu, Xu Fei, who was sitting on her right side, seemed to be intentionally opposing her and smiled at her saying: "Chu Chu, I have eaten here several times and I know their signature dishes. Let me take care of it, you don't need to look at the menu!"

  Xia Chuchu heard that he wanted to order the specialty dish here, and secretly cursed in his heart: Specialty dish, specialty dish, what a load of crap! Do you think I don't know what the specialty dish is here? Honestly...

  Xu Fei thought she agreed, so he smiled and said to the manager: "Beauty, we're only three people, don't order too much food. How about this: first, let's have a 'Chicken Floss Large Platter', then each of us will have a bowl of 'Jade Basin Snow Scallop Soup', followed by a Mongolian beef dish, a garlic lettuce stem, and a tender chicken mouth mushroom soup. These five dishes should be enough... Ah, Chu Chu, what kind of wine do you want to drink? White wine or red wine?"

  Xia Chuchu almost fainted on the spot when he ordered: "Chicken Floss Big Prawn" and "Jade Bowl Snow Scallop Cup" were indeed this restaurant's signature dishes. However, one serving of "Chicken Floss Big Prawn" cost 2888 yuan, and one bowl of "Jade Bowl Snow Scallop Cup" cost 888 yuan, three bowls would be over 2600 yuan, and he still wanted to order wine - wasn't this going to make him lose face on the spot?

  Fortunately, Xu Fei's next sentence saved her from her state of being out of it: "Chu Chu, I was originally planning to invite my younger brother here for dinner today, and it just so happens that you also invited him to this place. Our ideas can be said to be in perfect harmony. So, I'll take advantage of my younger brother's presence and have the honor of inviting a big star like you to dinner. Don't be polite! What would you like to drink? Just order whatever you want."

  Xia Chuchu heard that he was treating, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, suddenly having a feeling of going from hell to heaven. She quickly closed the menu, a sweet smile spreading across her face, saying: "Director Xu, I don't drink alcohol, you and Xiao Ye can have it, I'll just have a soft drink!"

  At this moment, Ye Ming's mobile phone rang. He took a look at the number and it was Li Runji's, so he quickly pressed the answer button.

  "Xiao Ye, can you come over for a moment? Later, the Provincial Bureau's Director Xia is coming to my place, I want to introduce you to him."

  Ye Ming was startled and subconsciously glanced at Xia Chuchu beside him, then hastily said: "Secretary Li, I'm having dinner with two friends right now, can't leave for the time being. Maybe next time we'll have a chance to meet Director Xia again!"

  "Okay, you go ahead and eat first. I'll talk to him about your situation so he has an idea."

  Xia Chuchu listened to him on the phone, sometimes saying "Secretary Li" and sometimes "Director Xia", and asked strangely: "The Secretary Li and Director Xia you mentioned, which unit are they from? Didn't you say you were a migrant worker?"

  Xu Fei chimed in from the side: "Chu Chu, the Li Secretary he's talking about is Li Runji, the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission, and Xia Director is your dad."

  "What?"

  Xia Chuchu's eyes widened as she stared at Ye Ming, her face full of incredulous expressions: "How do you know Uncle Li and my dad? What kind of person are you?"

  Ye Ming's true identity was exposed, and he was extremely embarrassed. He had no choice but to tell the truth: "I'm from Xinleng County Tax Bureau. When I met you at the hospital this afternoon, I actually just came out of Secretary Li's ward."

  "So you're the big hero who saved Old Man Li's life? Are you Ye Ming?"

  Xia Chuchu was so excited that she almost stood up and asked impatiently.

  Ye Ming nodded and said: "Right, I am Ye Ming."

  Xia Chuchu stared at him with her eyes wide open for a long time, and an unusual luster gradually appeared in her eyes...

  It wasn't until much later that she suddenly remembered: in the afternoon at the hospital entrance, she had mentioned that "young hero" to the boy in front of her with a tone of great admiration. At that time, she had even compared him to that "young hero". Now thinking about it, it was really ridiculous.

  No wonder he laughed so hard when he heard her words at that time, it turned out that he had really made a joke himself...

  She felt her face slightly burning, and with a gaze that was both reproachful and pleased, she glanced at Ye Ming and said in a tone that was somewhat resentful: "Why didn't you tell me the truth just now? Were you intentionally trying to make fun of me?"

  "Miss Xia, this can't be blamed on me. You didn't ask who I was at the time, and it's not like I could just say: 'Miss, I'm the person who saved Secretary Li of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee.' If I said that, you'd think I'm crazy! Later, when you compared me to Ye Ming and praised him so highly as a young hero, I felt even more embarrassed to admit that I was actually Ye Ming. Haha!"

  Xia Chuchu thought for a moment and also felt that this matter was both laughable and unbelievable, and couldn't help but purse her lips and smile.

  Xu Fei observed her words and expressions, discovering that this proud little princess, the star host, seemed to have a good impression of Ye Ming. Especially when she looked at Ye Ming with eyes that were both admiring and appreciative, it was as if she was a girl who had just fallen in love, revealing an expression of affection on her face...

  This made Xufei both surprised and secretly delighted: if Xia Chuchu really had a crush on Ye Ming, that would be a huge piece of good news for himself!