Chapter 93 - Nostalgic
Game over.
That was what the machine flashed before Xiu Mei’s eyes as the gun she was holding hung loosely from her hands.
"..."
"..."
God help her or she’ll really beat Lu Chen up right now.
Damn it! What kind of date was this? Was he really trying to date her or annoy her? He hadn’t even let her win a single game for the last 2 hours!
She frustratedly stuffed the gun back in its place after finishing the shooting game. She glared at Lu Chen for one last time before finally giving up on trying to gain a win from him. Seeing the triumphant smile on his face, she thought that Lu Chen now looked more like a teenager than his age.
"Happy?" She sarcastically asked him.
Sensing the tone of her voice, Lu Chen quickly wiped off the smile on his face and shook his head.
"No."
"You’ve won so many games, and you’re still not happy? So are you saying you still want to continue playing?"
"...Sorry."
Lu Chen finally returned to his senses. He bowed his head and apologized to her. Inside his mind, he scolded himself.
What a great date, Lu Chen ah. Making your wife angry at your date you planned to appease her. At this rate, he’s getting the opposite of the results he wanted.
Why was he also so competitive ah?
"Wife, let’s just go for dinner okay?" He held her hand and asked.
"Oh, can’t wait for me to pay for your meal?"
"..."
Damn it, the more he speaks the more he’s digging a pit for himself.
Seeing Lu Chen looking lost like he wasn’t sure what to do anymore, she chuckled. She wasn’t really that angry for consecutively losing games but making Lu Chen lose his composure like this is a rare chance for her to tease him.
"Let’s go." Feeling a bit hungry, she finally dragged him out of the arcade. He obediently followed after her.
She was looking around the area and spotted a Kebab streetfood stand. Smelling the scent of meat from afar, she finally chose kebab as their dinner for tonight.
"6 pieces of Kebab and one plate of dumplings please." She uttered as soon as they reach the food stand.
Before Xiu Mei could grab her wallet to get some cash, Lu Chen immediately handed over the vendor lady some cash as payment. She raised her eyebrows and sent a questioning look at him.
"I’m the one who pulled you out for a date so of course, I’ll pay for the food." He’s not that stingy that he has to let his wife really pay for their food. And he’s the one who pulled her out for the date so of course, he should be the one to pay.
"Oh? Are you feeling guilty?"
He shook his head and spoke. "How I can let my wife pay for my food?"
"But I didn’t see you treating me as a wife when you heartlessly defeated me while playing games awhile ago though?"
"..."
He really can’t say anything about that.
Lu Chen chose to shut his mouth instead of saying anything anymore. He realized that he’s just playing a losing game if he tries to argue with Xiu Mei especially when she’s angry.
After receiving their orders, the two of them looked for a bench to sit on and settled there. Placing the kebabs on their side, the two of them started eating their dinner.
"It feels like I’m back in college." Xiu Mei blurted out as she ate a piece of vegetable.
"Back then, there would be a lot of stuff to eat outside of my university and I would often go there to grab some snacks or meal."
Her mind flew back to the times when she was still in college. Since she already lived independently back then, she worked part-time jobs to earn some money to pay for her tuition and allowance.
She didn’t dare to try applying for a scholarship at all since she thought that there would be someone who’ll need it more than her. She thought that scholarship is for people who genuinely want to study but are having financial difficulties. Since she hails from a wealthy family, it would be terrible for her to compete with those students who aren’t financially stable and would greatly benefit if they have the scholarship right? Instead of getting a scholarship, won’t it be better if she just asks for money from her parents instead?
She lived in the dormitory and shared a room with other 3 people. She would sometimes go hang out with them when she has free time or spend the day studying with them since they were taking the same business course.
While reminiscing her college days, a piece of dumpling appeared in front of her. Glancing at Lu Chen who was holding up the dumpling with a stick, she finally opened her mouth and let him feed her.
"So how did you do in college?" She covered her mouth as she continued chewing on the food inside her mouth.
While looking at Lu Chen, she just realized that she didn’t really know much about him at all. She only knew him as the president of Lu Corporation and the father of Lu Qiang. But she didn’t know who ’Lu Chen’ really is and was.
"Hmmm... back then I didn’t have much money to spend so most of my time in the university is composed of working and studying." Lu Chen answered.
"Since I was lucky enough to get a scholarship, I didn’t need to work too much to earn some money. I just worked enough to get by every day and send some money to my cousin and his family."
Telling his story, he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. He remembered the days where he’ll stay up all night studying just to finish his homework and prepare for exams. During his free time, he’ll either go to work or spend the day in the library to do some advanced studying.
Then he’ll find some time on his schedule to visit the old man’s house at least once a week for physical training. He would return to the university late at night with bruises and all that the professors would sometimes call him to the office to question him if he was hanging out with some bad thugs in the city.
Back then, he lived a little bit happier despite not having much at all. And it was the past that not a lot of people know about him. They just see him as a genius as a businessman, but what they didn’t see was the hard work he had put in all those years. That his path to success wasn’t easy at all.
Xiu Mei who was observing Lu Chen saw the faint changes in his expression. His expression softened a little bit while he was telling his story. She couldn’t help but smile because of that.
She couldn’t help but pat his head while praising him.
"You did well for reaching this far." She remarked while Lu Chen stiffened for a second hearing those words.
He felt something scratching his heart as he took a look at the woman beside him. Somehow, Xiu Mei knew which words would affect him the most.
You did well.
It was something that he last heard before he graduated in the university and up to now, it was only Xiu Mei who praised him like this. So hearing those, he felt a bit emotional.
He placed the food he was holding on the seat and pulled the woman into his arms.
Xiu Mei got a bit startled with the action but eventually relaxed as she patted his back. She wasn’t exactly sure why Lu Chen suddenly hugged her like this but she didn’t push him away.
The two of them stayed in that position for almost a minute before pulling away.
"I think the sauce accidentally dripped on your shirt." She said before pulling away. She took a peek at his back and saw a drop of the sauce on the denim jacket he was wearing.
"That’s fine. We’ll be going home anyway so there’s no need for me to change." He responded as he picked up the unfinished kebab and resumed eating again.
"Hmm. Okay." She hummed in agreement.
The two of them resumed eating when Xiu Mei suddenly stopped her movements again.
"What? Is something wrong with the food?"
Xiu Mei didn’t answer her but just blinked twice at Lu Chen. She lowered her sight and stared at the watch he was wearing.
Lu Chen followed where she was looking at and bowed down to look at his watch. It read that it was already past 8 pm. But he couldn’t understand why Xiu Mei was staring hard at it.
"Wife?"
"...It’s already past 8."
"It is."
"...so we’re having dinner."
Lu Chen nodded in confusion. "Yeah, we are."
"..."
"..."
"...what about Lu Qiang?"
"..."
"..."
"...huh?"