Huai Shi widened his eyes, quickly grabbed the milk tea before him, and took two hearty slurps, "Who said that? I love milk tea the most, three cups a day!"
Ai Qing said nothing, silently watched his face, seemingly discerning lies, after a long while, slightly nodded, "Is that so?"
"Yes, yes, that’s right!" Huai Shi nodded firmly.
"Then why did you roll your eyes?" Ai Qing asked ambiguously.
"It’s because I haven’t drunk enough!" Huai Shi slapped his thigh, then directly picked up his milk tea and gulped it down, angrily denouncing the unscrupulous store: "The extra-large size is just this much? So stingy!"
"Still want more?" Ai Qing asked.
Huai Shi nodded frantically.
So, Ai Qing lifted her hand, pushed her cup in front of Huai Shi, and said considerately: "Then you drink more."
"Uh, this..."
Huai Shi froze in place, dumbfounded, as he stared at the milk tea with extra pearls still steaming in front of him and the straw on top.
A faint red mark.
"You, you... you’re not drinking?"
"It’s okay, I’m on a diet recently, just tasting the flavor is enough." Ai Qing showed a gentle ’smile’, "No need to be polite, please go ahead."
In the silence, Huai Shi lowered his head, looking at the milk tea before him, gulped.
Feeling a chill.
Death Perception.
It’s just a cup of milk tea, why does he feel like he’ll die if he doesn’t drink it? Hard to understand, but his intuition was sending a crazy warning—choosing the wrong path here meant disaster!
Finally, under the ’expectant’ and ’gentle’ gaze, Huai Shi forced out a smile:
"Then, I won’t be polite..."
With trembling fingers, he picked up the milk tea Ai Qing handed over and then... took the straw from his own cup, inserted another hole, and took a deep sip.
In one breath, he gulped down everything in the cup and set it down.
Feeling the sense of crisis gradually receding, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then, the rich sweet taste remaining in his throat spread, finally bringing a wave of bitterness.
So cloying!
"You’ve sweated a lot," Ai Qing said.
"It’s hot, hot!" Huai Shi coughed dryly, his gaze shifting: "The calorie content of this milk tea is insanely high, you were right not to drink it, it’s too ruinous to the figure."
Ai Qing shook her head, too lazy to make things difficult for him, placing a cup of lemon water with still some ice before him.
"Go ahead and drink, I haven’t touched this one," she said, "Try learning some lessons, if you’re going to talk business with someone, don’t come to a milk tea shop like those that con high school girls."
"My fault, my fault."
Huai Shi raised his hands in surrender, shrugged, "I just thought that way you’d feel more relaxed."
In the silence, Ai Qing looked up, glancing around.
Under the final fading light of the evening sunset, the display windows lit up with a soft glow, illuminating the hurried passersby around, along with their cheerful smiles.
Not far away, behind the tables, girls who found a place after school to hold additional study sessions chatted and laughed lightly, holding milk tea, gossiping about campus heartthrobs and boyfriends between physics and algebra.
Music sounded in the distance.
Unlike the hilarity soaked in alcohol from nightclubs and bars, this showcased a lively scene that was absent in the eternally solemn and silent decision room, and the steady and expressionless faces there never had so many genuine smiles.
After a long silence, Ai Qing slowly retracted her gaze and shook her head slightly.
"No need, Huai Shi."
She examined that bewildered face, telling him: "I’m already quite relaxed."
Then, she took out a piece of paper from her pocket and placed it in front of Huai Shi.
"Since the tea is finished, I should go back to work overtime—however, if you still have that itching desire and are determined to get involved in this matter, report here tomorrow morning, don’t be late."
"Uh? Leaving just like that?" Huai Shi tried to keep her, "No dinner? I just found a well-rated restaurant nearby..."
"To avoid stomach aches and getting overheated, let’s skip it."
Ai Qing cast Huai Shi a meaningful glance, turned, and left.
Leaving only Huai Shi standing there, not understanding what she meant.
"Tsk, trash man!"
A voice filled with righteous indignation came from beside him: "You broke her heart!"
Huai Shi grew furious, glared over: "What heinous act did I commit this time?"
"The heinous act is exactly because you did nothing! And you even rolled your eyes at her just now!"
Tong Ji scolded as one would an iron that just wouldn’t heat up: "At that moment, you should have lunged forward, hugged her, tilted her chin, looked into her eyes, told her I miss you so much, I don’t want you to leave, and then kissed her deeply..."
"And then have my balls crushed by her? What is this, some overbearing CEO script?"
Huai Shi rolled his eyes again, sideways glancing at her skipping around, "And why do you always pop up from strange places?"
"Listen to you talk, isn’t this the care from your big sister?"
Tong Ji hopped onto his shoulder, raised her wings to pat his head: "I think as your Contractor, my presence lately has been a bit weak, to alleviate your homesickness, I’ve decided to appear from time to time, to soothe your soul hurt by this cruel world.
Come now, want some milk tea? It’s for you—"
Before Huai Shi could react, she stuck the straw right into his mouth.
But the cup was already drained by a certain black-hearted woman, not a single pearl left, much like his balance thoroughly emptied.
Huai Shi felt his heart was once again wounded.
Tears involuntarily welled up and flowed.