37 Lunch with Mr. Playboy

Now that the athletic meet was over, employees began to leave the basketball court - some heading home, others to lunch.

"Let's go have lunch," one employee told his friend as they headed out together, "I'm starving!"

Lai looked at Na, who let out a long sigh.

"Let's add Lai to our Cube group chat," Zhenya suggested, grabbing her tote bag and pulling out her phone.

She smiled at Lai.

"Yeah," Lingxin agreed, "Although she's not part of the Sales Department, she helped us out a lot like a member of our department."

Na nodded and smiled.

"You can consider us your friends from now on," Jingyi stated.

Zhenya opened her Cube profile, scrolled to their group chat, and added Lai, whose username for the Cube was CleverFlower.

"There," Zhenya smiled, placing her phone back in her bag.

"Thanks for your hard work, Lai," Na bowed.

"Yeah, thanks a lot," Lingxin nodded.

Jingyi and Zhenya smiled, nodding in agreement.

"You really became our savior," Zhenya said.

Lai softly chuckled.

"Thank you for having me on your team," she told them, "And for trusting and believing in me."

They all nodded.

"Well," Na began, stretching her hands, "We are heading out for lunch. It's on me today."

"Yes!" Jingyi and Zhenya exclaimed.

"We'll stay in touch with you, Lai," Lingxin told her.

The Sales Department waved her goodbye and began to walk away, heading for the exit. Fan Qing walked towards her, a broad grin on his face.

"Hi!" he quipped, slightly waving his hand at her, "Shall we head out to lunch?"

"Yeah. Sure," she answered, darting her eyes to where Bai was.

She discovered him giving her a blank stare. She mouthed that she would go out for lunch and head home afterward.

He didn't reply and just continued to give her a blank look.

'Oh well,' she shrugged, 'At least I told him - not that I had to anyway.'

Min observed as Lai and Fan Qing strolled out the door, side by side. He knew how much of a flirt Fan Qing was. After all, the guy was famous for his good looks and way with words.

He could fool anyone, male or female.

Lai was surprised that Fan Qing was taking her to a nearby restaurant. It was a tiny restaurant with black and white decorated chairs encircling small and large rectangular tables.

Fan Qing pulled out a chair for her, acting like a total gentleman.

"Thanks," she sat down as he grinned.

He sat across from her. A young waitress approached them, a professional smile on her lips.

"Hi and welcome to The Eastern Vine," the waitress greeted, "Here are your menus."

She handed them two black leather-covered menus.

"Please call me when you're ready to order," she informed them.

They nodded, and she walked away. Lai flipped through the menu.

"I think I'll have chicken and some beer," she concluded, "To celebrate the Sales Department winning."

Fan Qing chuckled. Now that she took a good look at him, the guy really looked like a sculpture.

"Ah! Don't rub salt into my already wounded heart," he jokingly cried, throwing his head back, placing both hands on his heart, and contorting his face as if he's hurt.

His black, flowing hair slightly covered his furrowed, warm face as he paged through the menu. Glinting silver eyes, set lightly within their sockets, scanned each menu page until they rested on a particular spot.

Lai noticed a sword tattoo was tattooed just above his shoulder blade. He lifted his hand up to signal the waitress to come to take their orders. The waitress held out her notebook and smiled as she stood before them.

"We'll have the fried chicken combo, four beers, two bottles of water, two slices of this carrot cake," Fan Qing began as he pointed to the dishes on the menu, "Large fries and two chicken burgers."

The waitress nodded, grabbed the menus, and strode away to place their order. Lai was surprised that he ordered so much food, not that she was complaining.

She was both famished and starving - even eating a large cow would be possible.

"Let me formally," Fan Qing began, causing her to look up from the table, "introduce myself. My name is Fan Qing. I work as an accountant in the Finance Department."

He stretched out his hand, and she shook it.

"My name is Xiulan Lai," she told him, "I just started working as Mr. Ying's PA. Nice to meet you, Mr. Fan."

"Please," he immediately beamed, leaning forward, "Call me Qing. We are gonna be friends, so there is no need to be so formal."

Lai let go of his hand.

"But you are older than me, so..." she paused.

Fan Qing shook his head.

"I'm only twenty-six years old," he told her.

"Oh," she smiled, "You have a very young-looking face which does not make it seem like you're twenty-six. I thought we might be the same age."

Fan Qing smirked.

"Oh really?" he asked, raising his eyebrow in amusement, "Is that a compliment?"

She stared at him, his face eager to know her answer.

"Yeah. It's a compliment."

Although she thought things would be awkward, they had a lot to talk about.

"Oh right," he said, pulling out his phone, "Could I add you on the Cube, if you don't mind me asking?"

She shrugged and gave him her username, thinking there was no harm in doing so. They shared similar interests in sports, as they were both vice presidents of their athletic club in high school.

He was also a fan of horror movies. To her surprise, he was pleasant to talk to if one ignored the cheesy flirtatious lines he uttered every now and again.

"Here are your meals," the waitress returned with their food, placing them on the table.

The waitress returned to the kitchen to bring the rest of their food. Lai smiled upon eyeing the fried chicken. She felt her mouth salivate like she was a hungry wolf that had caught sight of a helpless sheep.

The remaining food and drinks were placed on the table.

"Do enjoy," the waitress spoke, clasping her hands in front of her, "Call me if you need anything."

Lai and Fan Qing nodded.

"I'll go wash my hands first," Lai stated, standing up and heading for one of the taps stationed by the restaurant's corner.

She came back, and Fan Qing went to wash his hands. She wiped her hands on a serviette, waiting for him to return. Fan Qing came back and sat down with a smile.

"Please eat to your heart's content," he told her, "This one's on me."

Lai opened her mouth to say how she couldn't possibly let him pay for all of it. She would pay half the bill.

But he raised his left hand, telling her not to say anything.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled, "You can make it up to me by having lunch with me next time again."

He grabbed a can of beer and handed it to her, grabbing another one for himself, "Cheers?"

She looked into his silver eyes. Clinking the canned beer in her hand to his, she nodded and smiled.

"Cheers!"