60 Another of His Pet Peeves

Quan Rui noticed her gaze and he, too, scrutinized her from head to toe, before he said slowly, "Sit."

When Bai Ran heard this, she was feeling slightly nervous by the present atmosphere, but she still decided to do as he asked and took a seat.

"I owe him my life now… I can't be as stubborn as I was before. I need to learn to restrain myself."

Bai Ran sat by his side cautiously, quietly. After a pause, she looked down and realized that there was actually a bowl and chopsticks prepared for her. She was instantly moved by this simple gesture…

"This Master Quan doesn't seem to be as scary as what I've heard he could be. He even prepared lunch for me, knowing that I haven't eaten anything since last night."

Bai Ran reached out her hand and picked up the bowl and chopsticks. Then she reached out with her chopsticks put the side dishes into her rice. But before she could touch the dishes, a maid walked over from the side. She was holding out another set of dishes and placed it next to Bai Ran's hand. She spoke to her softly, "Young Mistress, this is yours."

Bai Ran was stunned for a moment, but subsequently, she noticed that the tray the maid was holding had the exact same dishes as the ones that were on the table in front of Quan Rui.

However, Bai Ran did not understand why they had to prepare an extra set just for her.

"Can't we eat together?"

"Oh..." Bai Ran was puzzled but she kept her questions to herself and did not ask. Leaning to the side, she let the maid put the side dishes in front of her and thanked her for doing so.

The maid did not expect the Young Mistress to thank her. It made her feel instantly flattered and she quickly retreated.

While this was happening, Quan Rui continued to eat in silence.

Finally, curiosity overwhelmed her, and Bai Ran could not help herself and blurted out, "Why can't we eat together?

"There's only the two of us at the dining table and yet we separate the dishes into two sets and eat on our own. Isn't this very strange?"

Quan Rui, on the other hand, was very much at ease and did not seem to find it strange at all. Even after Bai Ran asked this question, he did not proceed to explain anything. Instead, he responded with another question, "You want to eat with me?"

"...!"

"When he told me to have a meal with him, isn't that what it means? Having a meal with someone means eating together, doesn't it?"

Bai Ran felt a little embarrassed by the look Quan Rui was giving her and she nodded her head foolishly. "Yea..."

"Alright then." Quan Rui did not turn her down. Instead, he reached out one hand to point at the seat directly beside his, and commanded, "Come here."

His voice was a little hushed and deep, and it sounded slightly stiff.

Bai Ran never expected that conversation with Quan Rui could be so simple and straightforward. She sat down next to him and began to eat.

Bai Ran was actually feeling famished, and she really wanted gulp down her lunch quickly!

But Quan Rui, who was beside her, was really... "How is he eating so slowly? Even his actions seem to be so graceful."

As Bai Ran watched him, she thought that perhaps she was admiring a piece of art!

Since he set such a high standard for eating in a refined manner beside her, she could only eat slowly as well.

After some silence, Bai Ran remembered that she had not yet thanked Quan Rui officially for lending her a helping hand when things went south.

"In that case, why don't I make use of this mealtime now to show him my gratitude?"

As this thought crossed Bai Ran's mind, she picked up a piece of bamboo shoot from her plate of side dishes and placed it in Quan Rui's bowl cautiously. She flashed him a fawning smile. "Hey... Thanks for helping me out. The bamboo shoot tastes delicious, you should eat more of it..."

Quan Rui was actually very focused on eating his meal.

He had a very precise schedule to follow. Furthermore, he was also very particular and hated being disturbed during his meals.

This time, he had made an exception and agreed to eat with Bai Ran. It was already something very different from his usual way of doing things. But she was making things harder for him by triggering another of his pet peeves.