The pushover offended a top-tier boss

Ye Zhenzhen was stunned for a moment, then realized: "It's over there! Just around the corner."

"Let's go." Zhou Huaijin had already started walking.

"Then you're treating." Ye Zhenzhen jogged after him, her voice filled with excitement.

That barbecue restaurant is run by a woman from Northeast China who married into a family in Nanjing. It's authentic Qiqihar barbecue and has been open for over ten years. It's cheap, the portions are large, the flavor is delicious, and it's charcoal-grilled, giving it a strong smoky, homey feel.

It was lunchtime and the restaurant was packed, with several tables lined up outside. Ye Zhenzhen didn't want to wait, so she pulled him to sit at an outdoor table. The early spring evening was still a bit chilly, but the grill was hot, and the red glow of the charcoal fire warmed their faces, so they didn't feel cold while eating.

The marinated beef sizzled on the grill, its aroma filling the evening air with a hint of charred fragrance. Ye Zhenzhen held the tongs, flipped the meat over, and saw that the other side had developed beautiful brown marbling. A smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

"Their beef is a specialty; it's marinated beforehand and tastes good even without dipping sauce." She picked up a piece of grilled meat, rolled it in the dry dipping sauce, coated it with chili powder and crushed peanuts, and popped it into her mouth. It was so hot that she was panting heavily, but her eyes were squinting, and she looked completely satisfied. "And this sausage, it puffs up as soon as it's grilled, and it bursts with juice when you bite into it."

She was happy whenever there was something delicious to eat.

She wrapped a piece of meat in a perilla leaf, rolled it into a sturdy little bun, and held it to Zhou Huaijin's mouth.

"Boss, please try it, I made it really well."

Zhou Huaijin looked down at the vegetable bun, then at her face which seemed to say, "Eat it, eat it!" She opened her mouth and took a bite.

"Does it smell good?" She rested her chin on her hand, looking at him expectantly.

"Hmm, not bad," Zhou Huaijin replied.

Ye Zhenzhen was truly exasperated. This person always used only "Hmm, not bad," "Not bad," "Alright," "Not bad," and never used any other adjectives. If it's delicious, it's delicious; if it smells good, it smells good. Would it kill them to say something nice?

She grilled a few more slices of meat, rolled him a vegetable bun, and put a piece of grilled mushroom in his bowl.

As long as there's delicious food, everything else is forgotten. The meat sizzles on the grill, her eyes are bright, the corners of her mouth are turned up, and she exudes satisfaction.

She poured herself another glass of soda, took a big gulp, let out a small burp, and continued eating her meat.

Towards the end of the meal, Ye Zhenzhen ordered another bowl of cold noodles. The noodles were made of buckwheat and were chewy and springy. She ate a couple of bites, felt full, and pushed the bowl to the opposite side.

"I can't eat."

Zhou Huaijin glanced at the bowl of cold noodles that had barely been touched: "You can't eat it, yet you still order?"

"You've already eaten it." Ye Zhenzhen pushed the bowl in front of him again. "It's really delicious, sweet and sour, it cuts through the greasiness. Grilled meat and cold noodles are a perfect match."

She was talking, with a piece of roast beef between her fingers, her cheeks bulging.

"Ye Zhenzhen".

A male voice came from behind.

Ye Zhenzhen turned her head suspiciously.

A young man stood under the streetlamp. He wore a designer down jacket with a large logo, black trousers, and gleaming leather shoes. He wore glasses, and his hair, styled with gel, reflected the light under the streetlamp. His face looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.

She actually has some face blindness. She can't recognize someone she's only met briefly once, unless that person has some particularly distinctive features.

"Why are you pretending not to know me?" Li Ming took two steps forward, hands in his pockets, chin slightly raised, a smile he thought was handsome playing on his lips. "We just went on a blind date during the New Year, and you blocked me. You're really something."

Ye Zhenzhen finally remembered.

The son of the deputy director of the traffic management bureau, the one who studied abroad, the one who went on a blind date at the coffee shop...

She felt a chill run down her back.

Li Ming's gaze shifted from her to the man opposite her.

"Oh, is this your new boyfriend?" Li Ming's gaze swept over Zhou Huaijin from head to toe, his tone deliberately dismissive. "He looks like he's not young anymore, is he?"

Ye Zhenzhen's anger flared up instantly.

"So what if I'm older? I can outshine you in every way!"

"Heh, you beat me in a second." Li Ming chuckled, with a condescending sense of superiority. "Just eating at a roadside stall, do you have a formal job? By the way, I've already joined our county's traffic management bureau, a permanent position, and I'll be promoted to deputy section chief next year."

He glanced at Zhou Huaijin again.

"Which organization does your partner work for?"

Zhou Huaijin put down his chopsticks and looked up. His expression remained calm, showing no change in emotion whatsoever.

"You joined this year and can be promoted to deputy section chief next year? Who recommended you?"

Li Mingyang gave a disdainful smile: "My dad is the deputy director. Let alone a deputy section chief, even a section chief is just a matter of a word for him."

Zhou Huaijin had already taken out his phone.

"What's your dad's name?" His voice remained unhurried.

"What, you still don't believe me?" Li Ming took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out and put it in his mouth. "My dad's name is Li Qingnian."

The call has been connected.

"Yang Guanyu, does the Nanjing County Traffic Management Bureau have a deputy director named Li Qingnian?" Zhou Huaijin's voice was flat, but its calmness was like a bottomless lake. "Give me a concrete result by tomorrow."

He said something on the other end of the phone, hummed in response, and hung up.

Ye Zhenzhen stood there, unsure of what to do with her hands and feet. She could clearly sense that Zhou Huaijin was angry.

Zhou Huaijin was naturally angry.

It's not just because of this person's arrogant and ignorant words.

He remembered it all along. On the day Ye Zhenzhen dressed up so beautifully for the New Year, she said, "I only put on makeup to see you," and added, "Girls are quick at putting on makeup."

She lied to him.

Ye Zhenzhen felt incredibly guilty. She stole a glance at him; his expression was calm, as if nothing had happened. But she knew this was just the calm before the storm.

"My family forced me to go," she explained softly, tugging at his sleeve as she followed behind him. "I didn't want to go either... I only stayed for a little while before leaving..."

Zhou Huaijin ignored her.

Ye Zhenzhen bit her lip and followed him closely.

"I didn't tell you because I was afraid you'd be angry..."

The man still ignored her.

Ye Zhenzhen refused her parents' offer to stay at their house for one night. There was also a newborn baby, Xiao Zhou, at home, and an even more difficult-to-please husband, Lao Zhou, by her side.

She had a headache, a really bad headache.

Before we were together, I kept apologizing; now I keep trying to appease him.

Ye Zhenzhen sighed. Life is too hard.

On the way back, the driver was driving. Ye Zhenzhen sat in the back seat, leaning closer to Zhou Huaijin in a fawning manner, and secretly glancing at him several times.

His thin lips were slightly pursed, and there was a faint frown between his brows. His gaze was fixed on the road ahead, and he never looked at her.

"Don't be angry," she finally couldn't hold back anymore, her voice soft. "Anger is bad for your health, it makes you age faster..."

The person next to him still had a gloomy face.

Ye Zhenzhen didn't know what to say.

After eating too much for dinner, Ye Zhenzhen felt dizzy and sleepy after driving for a short while.

She swayed and leaned to the side.

My head first touched his shoulder, then bounced away, then leaned in again, then bounced away again.

Zhou Huaijin looked down at the head resting on his shoulder and became even angrier.

He sulked the whole way, while she slept soundly the entire time!

When they arrived at Yu Garden, Ye Zhenzhen was still asleep.

Zhou Huaijin really wanted to just leave him in the car, but in the end, she coldly reminded her, "Ye Zhenzhen, we're home."

Ye Zhenzhen then woke up groggily.

Pushing open the door, Ye Zhenzhen couldn't find slippers when she changed her shoes, as could the person next to her.

Looking up, in the center of the living room, a woman's slipper lay askew on the carpet. A man's slipper was under the sofa, half its toe sticking out. The cat bowl was overturned, cat food spilled all over the floor, dry and wet mixed together.

The culprit was squatting on the coffee table, its tail held high, its light blue eyes wide open. When it saw someone come in, it meowed, jumped off the coffee table, ran to her feet, and rubbed against her calf.

When Ye Zhenzhen saw the mess on the ground, her head buzzed and she became completely awake.

Oh my god, the sky is falling.

Xiao Zhou, you're really causing your mom a lot of trouble...