45 Chapter 45: Dinner and Joel

Since nobody's home, Shen Jun Shan went down to eat outside – alone.

It has been a long time since he had dinner alone. Usually, his sister will accompany him, but seeing that his sister is going out for date now, Shen Jun Shan felt that it was time for him to eat alone again.

As Shen Jun Shan reached the parking lot, someone approached him. It was Yu Jing.

Since the day Yu Jing pretended to faint, and Qiao An tried calling the ambulance for her, Shen Jun Shan have not seen her since then. Maybe Yu Jing purposely avoids them or, perhaps, their time to go out clashed with each other.

Shen Jun Shan acted normally when he saw her. Just because Yu Jing was caught doing something absurd, he was not about to make her remember that. Shen Jun Shan was a gentleman.

"Jun Shan!" Yu Jing's eyes perked up.

Shen Jun Shan knew that look. The I-can't-wait-to-tell-you-something look.

Yu Jing looked like she had just arrived at the parking lot from exercising. She was still in her yoga outfit.

"Jun Shan, just now I saw Qiao An with a man. Is that her real boyfriend?" Yu Jing has been staring at his face like she was trying to find something -something like the sign of a heartbreak.

One might never guess the reason for Yu Jing to do so. Maybe she wanted Shen Jun Shan to suffer, or perhaps she wanted to create an unfavorable impression of Qiao An for Shen Jun Shan. Also, maybe, just maybe, she was just telling him for no reason at all.

"Maybe, I'm not too sure." Shen Jun Shan walked by Yu Jing, refusing to hear any more stories from her.

"But I thought you like her? That's why I am telling you this." Yu Jing stood still in her position. There was a hint of pity in her voice.

"Yu Jing." Shen Jun Shan turned his back to face Yu Jing, his voice tense. "That is not for you to say. Don't get involved with things between An An and me."

He was cruel, of course. He was considering that maybe, Yu Jing was just acting nice. But Shen Jun Shan could not tolerate being deprived of things that should be his. The confession and his feeling, he wants Qiao An to hear them first.

Shen Jun Shan left Yu Jing to herself, and he did not care if Yu Jing cried or hated him at this moment.

The most important thing he understood from Yu Jing was that Qiao An was out with someone else. Someone that is not him.

Shen Jun Shan was so disturbed by that, so he decided to send a message to Qiao An. He might sound necessarily clingy for someone who has no real relationship with Qiao An, but at least he tried to calm his heart rather than overthinking about this heart matters.

"An An, what are you doing?" Shen Jun Shan typed in his phone but deleted everything back. He sounded crazy, and it was so not like him to do that.

His understanding of Qiao An could be shallow, but he knew one thing – Qiao An would not just go out with everyone. She will only go out with those whom she fell comfortable with. Because Qiao An went out alone with the man, then she must be close to him. Perhaps, an old friend?

Shen Jun Shan pulled his hair and shook his head. He should just trust his understanding of Qiao An and did his best to win her heart.

With that in mind, Shen Jun Shan put away his phone and head to a restaurant to eat dinner. After dinner, he then went to the supermarket to buy groceries. Some people will be eating in instead of eating out the next few days.

Shen Jun Shan did not know what to get, so he took everything that he thinks Qiao An will like. Because of that, he ended up with grocery bags more than he could handle alone.

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As Joel drove, Qiao An was curious as to where Joel will bring her for dinner.

Qiao An did not care where they went for dinner. As long as there were not too many people around, she was okay with anything.

Joel talked a lot in the car as if he tried so hard to catch up with everything that happened in several years. Qiao An could not comprehend most of it because Joel was talking about a lot of things.

The car stopped in a parking lot, and that was when Qiao An realized that Joel was bringing her to eat dinner in the Wu Hotel.

From what Qiao An could barely catch, Joel is a local in City L. His family came from the outskirt village of City L. That was why Joel rented a house in the same apartment complex as Qiao An.

Even though Joel was her senior in the English Language Studies, he did not become a teacher. Instead, he opened an internet café in the city. A lot of people came to his internet café to play games and other things. The profit was quite good, so Joel never thought of leaving his business aside to go to school and teach.

The table booked by Joel was at the corner of the restaurant. Qiao An did not know whether this was done because Joel knew she did not like bumping with people or, perhaps, it could be coincident.

"I never thought that I would see you in City L. Wow… this is so unreal." Joel put all his attention to Qiao An right after he was done ordering.

Qiao An gave him a short reply, like how she usually does with people. Joel did not mind the quick response because he knew that Qiao An was a lady with few words.

"We should do this often. It's not every day that I get to meet people from the university. Most of them work in a big city. City L is nothing for them." Joel ate his food while trying to converse casually.

For Qiao An, of course, it is good to catch up with an old friend but having to eat dinner with Joel every day? She was not really into that idea.

"Actually… I have everything planned. Today is an exception." Qiao An did not want to reject him straightaway. After all, they are friends.

"Are you still with Li Rang?" That question kept on playing in Joel's mind right after he met Qiao An. He was dying to know.

Qiao An shook her head.

Joel smiled. Naturally, he knew about Qiao An and her routine. Even during their university day, Qiao An was always like that – planning everything beforehand.

He knew because he was always looking for Qiao An from afar when they were assigned in one group. Joel did not know when it started, but he fell in love with Qiao An while doing their theatre together.

Maybe it was the way Qiao An looked at him as if she could read him easily. Or perhaps because the way Qiao An smiled whenever she thought he was not looking at her.

In that one semester with Qiao An, Joel decided to stop pursuing Qiao An because apparently, Qiao An found herself a boyfriend while they were busy with theatre preparation. Still, since she did not have a boyfriend anymore, Joel thought that maybe he has a chance.

"I moved on."

The answer from Qiao An was short, and it filled Joel's heart with hope.