Chapter 97: Chapter 97: An Awkward Invitation

After checking on Luo Wei and Lele’s recoveries and finishing up two surgical reports, Yan Feifan went home to get more sleep.

He slept straight through until nearly six in the evening, when Yan Ziruo woke him up, telling him it was time for dinner.

After Yan Feifan washed up and fully woke himself up, he was dismayed to see the dining table was completely bare.

“Sis, you woke me up for dinner, but you want me to cook it first?”

Yan Ziruo giggled. “My dear brother, how could I ever do something so cruel?”

“Come on, we’re going out for a feast.”

“I’m treating you to some barbecue to celebrate our latest hundred-thousand windfall.”

Yan Feifan was quite happy with the suggestion of getting barbecue.

He laid down some ground rules. “Barbecue is fine, but let’s get one thing straight: I am not going shopping with you at the mall!”

Yan Ziruo shot him a glare and said disdainfully, “You’re so high-maintenance. Hurry up. I made a reservation with a group coupon, and we’re going to be late.”

The two of them went downstairs, left their complex, and began strolling toward the “nearby” barbecue place Yan Ziruo had mentioned.

But after walking for a full twenty minutes, they still hadn’t arrived.

“Sis, how much farther is it? If I’d known it was this far, we should’ve grabbed a share bike.”

“We’re almost there, really! It’s just a little ways ahead!”

Yan Ziruo brushed him off again, her bright eyes lingering wistfully on the clothes, shoes, and hats displayed in the storefront windows.

“Hey, Feifan, look! Those two foreigners are really tall.”

Yan Feifan followed his sister’s gaze to the sidewalk across the street, where two white men, both at least two meters tall, were approaching.

He glanced at the two men for a few seconds before lecturing his sister. “The average height for Caucasians from Europe and America is over 1.8 meters. It’s not that unusual to see someone over two meters tall.”

Yan Ziruo pulled her gaze away from the men. “Well, people always say ’big oaf’ this and ’big oaf’ that.”

“Feifan, those foreigners are so tall, and their economies are so developed. They must be pretty smart, too.”

Yan Feifan continued his lecture. “In terms of IQ alone, the average for China, Japan, and Korea is 105. For Europeans, it’s 100. For Southeast Asians, 87, South Asians, 84, and for Black people in Africa, it’s 67.”

“However, the current level of economic development in any given country is the result of many combined factors.”

“But if you measure and predict from the broader perspective of human history, bolstered by advantages such as a higher average IQ, China is destined to become the most powerful country in the world.”

Yan Ziruo linked her arm through her brother’s and said with a hint of exasperation, “Feifan, do you know why you have so few friends?”

“Someone tries to make small talk, and you turn it into a dead-serious lecture full of statistics. Who wants to be friends with someone so boring!”

Yan Feifan snorted. “People who walk different paths can’t make plans together. Besides, I’d rather they didn’t waste my time.”

Yan Ziruo sighed. “Oh, Feifan, I’m so worried you’re going to live and die alone.”

Yan Feifan muttered under his breath, “I won’t be lonely. Having you for a sister is already more than enough trouble for me…”

“What are you muttering?”

Yan Feifan quickly shook his head. “Nothing…”

“Hey, Sis…”

Yan Feifan pointed to a vertical neon sign up ahead that read “Korean Barbecue.” “Is that the one?”

Yan Ziruo pulled out her phone, found the group coupon page, and checked it. “Yep, this is the one!” she said happily.

In Yan Feifan’s opinion, the restaurant’s decor was decent. At the very least, it looked clean and tidy.

The dozen or so tables on the first floor were already mostly full.

A waiter led the pair to a relatively secluded two-person table on the second floor.

Since they were using a group coupon, Yan Ziruo wasn’t going to be too picky—as long as the restaurant didn’t skimp on the food, of course.

When the waiter brought over plates piled high with pork belly and beef, Yan Ziruo was quite satisfied.

As for the manual labor of grilling the meat, that task naturally fell to the more dexterous Yan Feifan…

“This morning, Mr. Wang took Yanyan, me, Xiaoyu, and that mischievous Helen hiking to see the sights…”

Yan Ziruo described their fun time at the villa on Phoenix Tail Mountain, her lips glistening with oil from the food.

“Feifan, the scenery on the mountain is just gorgeous right now. Green trees, red flowers, fresh air, a warm breeze… it’s so relaxing and refreshing…”

“Too bad you weren’t there.”

Yan Feifan picked up a piece of grilled pork belly, dipped it in some sauce, wrapped it in a lettuce leaf, and popped it into his mouth…

After swallowing, he took a sip of barley tea. “Sis, no matter how beautiful the scenery, it’s still just scenery. You’d get sick of it if you saw it every day.”

Yan Ziruo snorted. “Isn’t that what traveling is? Going from a place you’re sick of to a place someone else is sick of.”

“Feifan, May Day is in a little over two weeks. For the past two years, I’ve been looking after you constantly…”

Yan Feifan just waved a hand. “Sis, you don’t have to say it. I get what you’re trying to say.”

“This May Day holiday, go wherever you want.”

“I probably won’t have time to go with you, though.”

Yan Ziruo grinned. “I wasn’t planning on asking you to come along. You’re so boring, you’d just be a buzzkill.”

“I’ll ask my girlfriends first and see if they have any fun plans…”

At this moment, Yan Feifan’s phone rang.

He picked up his phone and saw it was a video call from Mr. He from Happiness Garden.

When the image on the screen became clear, Yan Feifan saw a face covered in red dots.

It looked a little terrifying!

“Xiaoyan, take a look at my face. This just happened all of a sudden. What’s going on?”

Yan Feifan carefully examined the pockmark-like red dots all over his face and asked, “Mr. He, do you feel anything abnormal, like itching, swelling, or pain?”

“What were you doing or eating right before these red dots appeared?”

On the screen, Mr. He touched his face. “It doesn’t hurt or itch, and it’s not swollen. I don’t feel anything special.”

“I was just on the toilet. When I got up and saw myself in the mirror, I was like this. It gave me a huge shock.”

Hearing this, Yan Feifan understood. He asked for confirmation, “Mr. He, are you constipated again?”

“And were you straining very, very hard just now?”

Listening to the two of them discuss constipation in such detail, Yan Ziruo completely lost her appetite. She put down her chopsticks and glared resentfully at Yan Feifan.

Mr. He’s voice came through the phone again, reaching Yan Ziruo’s ears. “Yes, yes! I had no choice but to strain.”

“Xiaoyan, was this caused by my constipation?”

“It was caused by straining too hard!”

Yan Feifan elaborated, “When you strained so hard, you burst some of the capillaries in your face. Those are just little blood spots.”

“They’ll disappear on their own in a few hours.”

He then warned, “Mr. He, you can’t strain like that in the future. If you have a weak cardiovascular system or high blood pressure, you could easily trigger a heart attack, a brain hemorrhage, or another medical emergency.”

“Mr. He, take some medicine and adjust your diet.”

On the screen, Mr. He chuckled. “I’ll be careful.”

“These blood spots on my face really gave me a scare. I’m relieved to know it’s nothing serious.”

“Oh, Xiaoyan, where’s your sister?”

“Mr. He, I’m right here!”

Yan Ziruo took the phone from her brother and complained, “Mr. He, Feifan and I are out having dinner.”

“And you’ve completely ruined my appetite.”

“My bad, my bad! Next time I’ll treat you two to an even better meal. Ruoruo, I met a friend’s son this morning.”

“He’s thirty, about as tall as Xiaoyan, and pretty handsome. He’s just a little tan.”

“Ruoruo, want to meet him?”

Yan Ziruo’s eyes lit up and she nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“Mr. He, what does he do for a living?”

“He’s an engineer. Works on construction projects.”

Hearing this, Yan Ziruo’s expression stiffened. “Mr. He, never mind. Not if he works in construction!”

“Not in construction… Oh, all right, no one from construction. Ruoruo, I’ll find someone even better to introduce you to.”

Yan Ziruo smiled sweetly again. “Well, thank you in advance then, Mr. He…”

After Yan Ziruo ended the call with Mr. He, Yan Feifan said quietly, “Sis, you shouldn’t write off a whole group of people because of one bad experience.”

Yan Ziruo glared at him and snapped, “None of your business! Are you going to eat or not?”

Yan Feifan didn’t dare say another word and quickly picked up his chopsticks to resume eating…

The two of them left the barbecue restaurant at 7:40 PM.

On the way home, his sister would periodically drag Yan Feifan into one of the shops lining the street.

’Sometimes,’ Yan Feifan thought, ’it feels like she only picked that barbecue place so she could conveniently browse all the shops on the way.’

As he watched his sister enthusiastically listen to the sales clerk’s pitch, trying on this and that without buying anything, Yan Feifan thought to himself, ’The clerk is all smiles on the outside, but I bet they’re cursing her out on the inside.’

Just then, his phone rang again.

He pulled out his phone and saw it was an unfamiliar local number.

“Hello, who is this?”

He waited a moment, but there was no sound on the other end. Thinking it was a spam call, Yan Feifan was about to hang up when a voice finally came through.

“It’s Song Yi.”

“Oh,” Yan Feifan said into the phone.

After another pause, he heard Song Yi’s voice again. “Thanks for last time. I don’t know what would’ve happened otherwise.”

“Are you free right now? Can I buy you a drink at a bar?”

“I don’t drink,” Yan Feifan replied honestly.

“Coffee, then?”

“It’ll keep me up all night.”

“Dinner, then?”

“I just ate.”

Yan Feifan waited for another short while. Seeing as the other person still wasn’t speaking, he was about to say “Hello?” when he suddenly realized…

She had hung up.

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