Chapter 593
Are We Going to Separate?
Tang Xinyi blushed slightly at Shi Tou's teasing, but she was already used to it. She had been coming here a lot lately and had become quite familiar with Shi Tou and the others, so they joked around without any restraint.
"I didn't come here to ask about Jiang Nian! Can't I just come to see you all?"
Tang Xinyi, who was being teased, quickly regained her composure and asked a question in return.
"Sure, of course! Come on, our company commander has been kind enough to give us an extra meal today. You can eat with us!"
Shi Tou warmly invited Tang Xinyi to have dinner at the repair company.
Tang Xinyi originally wanted to refuse, since no matter how much extra food the repair company provided, it was still far from meeting her own food standards.
But for some reason, she hesitated for a moment this time, but finally agreed.
"Great! I haven't eaten either, so I'll eat with you guys!"
With a feeling she couldn't quite explain, Tang Xinyi followed Shi Tou and the others toward the repair company's canteen.
At this moment, Jiang Nian was unaware that Tang Xinyi had already followed Shi Tou this way. He was just busy gnawing on a chicken leg.
Anyway, this time, he added two big chicken drumsticks.
When Tang Xinyi walked into the cafeteria, this was the scene she saw—Jiang Nian was happily eating a chicken leg.
The moment I saw Jiang Nian, everything around me seemed to disappear, leaving only the person in front of me.
Shi Tou, who was walking behind, didn't see Jiang Nian sitting there eating. When he saw Tang Xinyi suddenly stop, he was puzzled and asked, "Why did you stop?"
Since everyone was already familiar with each other, Shi Tou was usually quite casual with Tang Xinyi, except for occasionally calling her "leader".
Tang Xinyi didn't hear Shi Tou's words at all; she only had eyes for Jiang Nian.
As if afraid that what she was seeing was just an illusion, she stood there motionless, not daring to even blink.
Stone was quite puzzled when he didn't receive a response, and he wondered to himself: What's wrong with this beautiful Tang Xinyi? Surely she's not unfamiliar with this kind of cafeteria?
Walking past Tang Xinyi, Shi Tou thought to himself, "Even if the leaders don't eat, they have a small canteen. But if they don't eat, they have nowhere to cook for themselves!" So he decided to ignore Tang Xinyi and go eat first!
As a result, Shi Tou also saw Jiang Nian sitting there gnawing on a chicken leg.
"Boss, you're finally back!"
Unlike Tang Xinyi, who harbored complicated feelings for Jiang Nian, Shi Tou was overjoyed and immediately rushed to Jiang Nian's side.
Jiang Nian was gnawing on a chicken leg when Shi Tou shouted at him, and unsurprisingly, he choked and coughed violently.
"Cough, cough... What are you doing? Why are you shouting so loudly? You're making me choke. Do you want to inherit my chicken leg?"
Jiang Nian rolled his eyes at Shi Tou in annoyance, showing no joy at the long-awaited reunion with his good brother, only speechless complaints.
Stone wondered, how come his boss had changed so much after not seeing him for so long?
"Boss, I would never steal your chicken leg, would I? And even inherit your chicken leg? Come on, you can have mine later too!"
Knowing that Jiang Nian loves chicken drumsticks, Shi Tou readily agreed that he would rather share his own chicken drumstick with Jiang Nian than risk choking him to death over a chicken drumstick.
"You said it, I'm waiting for your chicken leg, you absolutely have to give it to me."
Hearing what Shi Tou said, Jiang Nian, adhering to the principle that free chicken legs are always delicious, accepted it without hesitation.
Stone rolled his eyes this time—the boss is still the boss, no matter what identity he becomes, his love for the big chicken legs in their cafeteria hasn't changed at all.
"Oh, by the way, boss, a beautiful girl is looking for you!"
Shi Tou finally remembered Tang Xinyi and whispered something in Jiang Nian's ear.
Jiang Nian kept his head down, gnawing on a chicken leg, and didn't even notice that Tang Xinyi was standing not far in front of him.
Hearing Shi Tou say this, he was stunned for a moment: "What nonsense are you talking about? I just got back, nobody knows, how could any beautiful girl be looking for me? You, are you getting lazy because I've been gone for so long? See you on the training field later, I'll give you a good beating!"
Thinking that Shi Tou was teasing Jiang Nian, he said without any politeness.
Stone felt that his good intentions had been betrayed, and he didn't want to say anything at all.
After all, he knew Jiang Nian's skills very well.
The people on their team were all trained by Jiang Nian.
Just thinking about Jiang Nian sparring with him and giving him a "tight skin" made Shi Tou shudder involuntarily.
He knew that Jiang Nian meant what he said; if he said he would take action, he would never go back on his word.
Although he understood that Jiang Nian wanted to take the opportunity to check their training results, Shi Tou said that he really didn't want this kind of "pampering"!
But then Shi Tou thought again that compared to being beaten up by Jiang Nian, it would be worth it if he could see Jiang Nian make a fool of himself later.
So he decided to remain silent and not remind Jiang Nian anymore.
"I'll go get my food first, and I'll give you the chicken leg later."
Shi Tou didn't refute Jiang Nian anymore; he simply finished speaking and left.
Jiang Nian, who had expected Shi Tou to argue with her, raised an eyebrow in confusion this time—had Shi Tou changed his ways?
However, nothing is bigger than the giant chicken leg in front of him, so Jiang Nian said that once Shi Tou gets his food, he can eat his giant chicken leg, which is quite a good deal.
"Comrade Jiang Nian, it's been a long time."
Just as Jiang Nian picked up the chicken leg again and continued to gnaw on it, he suddenly heard a very familiar voice.
The big chicken leg in his mouth suddenly lost its appeal. Jiang Nian looked up in disbelief at the person standing in front of him.
At this moment, Tang Xinyi's eyes were slightly red, and she was somewhat unable to control her emotions.
Standing there watching Jiang Nian and Shi Tou chat happily, she thought Shi Tou would tell Jiang Nian her news, and Jiang Nian would come to see her.
To her utter surprise, Shi Tou went straight to get his food, while Jiang Nian continued eating on his own, without even glancing up at her.
Thinking of this, Tang Xinyi suddenly felt a little lost, and her eyes welled up with tears.
She knew she wanted to cry, but she couldn't let her emotions show in public. So Tang Xinyi looked up at the ceiling, forced back the tears welling up in her eyes, and walked up to Jiang Nian, speaking gently.
"Hmm...long time no see."
Jiang Nian stammered.
He truly hadn't expected Tang Xinyi to appear here.
The main reason is that Tang Xinyi, as a leader, wouldn't come to the repair company if she had nothing else to do. Could this really be fate?
"Boss, do you still want this chicken leg?"
Just as Tang Xinyi and Jiang Nian were looking at each other without saying a word, Shi Tou suddenly appeared between them, interrupting their gaze and naturally asking Jiang Nian a question.
For a fleeting moment, Jiang Nian wanted to throw the stone and give it a good beating.
Is this guy really that clueless?
Tang Xinyi was speechless. She felt that all her time spending so much time in the repair unit and being so nice to Shi Tou and the others had been wasted. This guy, she finally got to see Jiang Nian, and he actually had to squeeze in between the two of them—what a huge third wheel!
With the same thought in mind, Jiang Nian and Tang Xinyi turned to face the stone almost simultaneously, their eyes filled with resentment.
Shi Tou was startled by the two men staring at him like that: "B-boss, what's wrong with you? Didn't I just say you could have my chicken leg?"
Shi Tou shrank his neck, looked at Jiang Nian, and said cautiously.
Jiang Nian was completely speechless. He rubbed his forehead, feeling incredibly foolish to follow his brother—what if he wanted to find someone else?
Tang Xinyi's train of thought was interrupted by Shi Tou's words, and now she didn't know what to say.
But looking at the chicken leg on Jiang Nian's plate, and thinking about what Shi Tou had just said, Tang Xinyi couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Hearing Tang Xinyi's laughter, Jiang Nian looked up at her again, somewhat puzzled as to why she suddenly started laughing.
However, a beautiful woman's smile is always pleasing to the eye, especially since Tang Xinyi's smile carried a hint of teasing. This teasing made Jiang Nian suspicious. He looked around—was there something that Tang Xinyi found amusing?
Jiang Nian didn't understand why Tang Xinyi was laughing, and Shi Tou was even less clear. He looked at Tang Xinyi and then at Jiang Nian, and finally realized what was going on.
"Hey boss, you're having lunch with the leaders, I'm heading out now!"
After placing the large chicken leg on Jiang Nian's plate, Shi Tou promptly slipped away.
It has to be said that it's quite remarkable that he's regained this much-needed sense of observation; even when he left, he didn't forget to give Jiang Nian his chicken leg.
"So, you like chicken drumsticks."
After Shi Tou left, Tang Xinyi took a few steps forward and sat down opposite Jiang Nian before speaking.
"Yeah... the chicken drumsticks in our cafeteria are really good!"
Not knowing what to say for a moment, Jiang Nian could only answer like this.
"I've tried the chicken legs in your cafeteria, and they really do taste good."
What's remarkable is that Tang Xinyi echoed Jiang Nian's words.
It was her agreement that shocked Jiang Nian even more.
He suddenly felt his heart racing and became somewhat flustered in front of Tang Xinyi.
"Um, I'll go get you some food!"
After saying this, without waiting for Tang Xinyi's response, Jiang Nian hurriedly got up, grabbed a plate, and went to get food for Tang Xinyi.
Watching Jiang Nian's hurried departure, Tang Xinyi's smile deepened.
She suddenly discovered another side of Jiang Nian, at least one she had never seen before. Therefore, Tang Xinyi felt that the distance between them had shortened because of this different side of Jiang Nian!
She thanked herself again for her woman's intuition—she had to come to the cafeteria with Shi Tou today, otherwise, she thought she would never have been able to see Jiang Nian.
After all, even Stone himself didn't know that Jiang Nian was currently in the repair company.
Jiang Nian didn't spend much time getting her food, since the cafeteria was only so big and there weren't many people eating at the moment, so it didn't take too long.
He did want to take a while, but thinking of Tang Xinyi sitting there waiting for him, Jiang Nian felt that as a man, it wasn't good to make a woman wait too long, so he sped up.
"I didn't know what kind of food you liked, so I made a little of everything. Try it out."
Jiang Nian placed the plate in front of Tang Xinyi and said somewhat awkwardly.
He only realized when he was getting the food that he hadn't asked Tang Xinyi what she liked to eat first, so he just got a little of everything.
To be honest, only someone like Jiang Nian could enjoy this kind of treatment! If it were anyone else, they would absolutely not be allowed to try every dish—wasting food is the biggest taboo in the military.
"It's okay, I'm not a picky eater!"
Tang Xinyi actually wanted to say that even if she was a picky eater, she would eat the food as long as it was made by Jiang Nian.
However, saying that aloud would be too ambiguous, so Tang Xinyi simply changed her wording.
Both of them ate the meal somewhat absentmindedly.
Jiang Nian felt extremely embarrassed that her awkward situation had been witnessed by Tang Xinyi.
Tang Xinyi felt that it was a rare opportunity to see Jiang Nian, and since Jiang Nian was able to get her food, she just wanted to quietly enjoy the time they spent together, so she subconsciously slowed down her eating speed.
Another point is that Jiang Nian gave Tang Xinyi far too much food; she simply couldn't finish it all.
As Tang Xinyi ate slower and slower, and most of the food remained on her plate, Jiang Nian realized what was happening.
"Are you not full? It's okay, don't force yourself if you can't eat."
Hearing what Jiang Nian said, Tang Xinyi stopped forcing herself. "Um... there's really too much food. Although it's all my favorites, I really can't eat anymore."
Tang Xinyi said to Jiang Nian, feeling embarrassed.
After all, it was she who didn't refuse Jiang Nian for ordering so much food.
Looking at the half-eaten plate of food, Tang Xinyi was a little at a loss.
Even if she's a leader, she shouldn't waste so much food all at once.
Seeing Tang Xinyi's troubled expression, Jiang Nian quickly understood her concerns and, without hesitation, picked up Tang Xinyi's plate and poured the remaining food into his own plate.
Before Tang Xinyi could even react to what Jiang Nian was about to do, she stared in disbelief as Jiang Nian picked up his chopsticks and ate all the food she had left behind.
"Alright, now we haven't wasted any food. Let's go."
Under Tang Xinyi's astonished gaze, Jiang Nian stood up and calmly said, as if eating someone else's leftovers was nothing at all.
Tang Xinyi was so shocked that she didn't react to anything Jiang Nian said and just followed him out.
There was nothing Tang Xinyi could do; all she could think about was: Jiang Nian ate her leftovers. Jiang Nian actually ate her leftovers? Was that true?
Tang Xinyi even wondered if she had just had a beautiful dream!
Following behind Jiang Nian, Tang Xinyi secretly pinched her arm. Only when she felt the pain did she realize that she wasn't dreaming and that everything just now was real.
Jiang Nian was really bad at interacting with girls. After the initial awkwardness passed, he brought Tang Xinyi out, but he didn't know what to say, so he just slowly walked around the training ground.
Tang Xinyi, whose mind was not on this at all, just followed along.
The two walked around the training base again and again until the training bugle sounded again, and they suddenly came back to their senses.
"Um... are you going to training?"
Tang Xinyi asked Jiang Nian, somewhat stammering.
There was a hint of disappointment in her voice that she herself didn't even realize.
We've only just met Jiang Nian, less than half an hour, and we already have to part ways? (End of Chapter)