After recognizing Xu Le’s voice, Alex’s eyebrows relaxed and the hostility on his face dissipated. He rubbed his temples and said, “Xu Le, how long has it been since you last contacted me? I thought you wouldn’t acknowledge me as a friend once you returned to the country.”

He thought carefully for a while. “There’s indeed a publicity campaign. It said that something is wrong, but it’s indeed an item. Well…”

Xu Le heard the hesitation in his words and asked, “Ah? Is that an object or a person?”

“It can be considered both and neither.”

Alex wasn’t trying to keep him in suspense. He sighed and said, “To be honest, I definitely can’t reveal much since the confidentiality agreement was signed and it is in the early stages of the publicity, but what I said just now wasn’t a lie. They’re going to release the publicity next week. It should have been planned in advance and will be released online to everyone. Don’t worry about it, you’ll know soon.”

“…Alright.” Xu Le wouldn’t force him.

Alex sat up straight in delight and said, “I watched you compete. The red thing you made looks so tempting. The next time we meet, you must make it for me.”

“No problem. Let’s talk next time.”

“Hey, don’t be in a hurry to hang up. Good luck in the finals…”

As soon as Alex started talking, he rambled for more than half an hour before saying goodbye.

After he hung up, Xu Le turned around and widened his eyes.

“When did you guys come in?”

Lu Yuxi was sitting at the entrance with a tall young man beside her. He was handsome and fair, but his skin was abnormally fair, as if he was a little malnourished.

“I didn’t want to disturb you when you were on the phone.” Lu Yuxi waved the room card in her hand and said, “Are you going out for supper? This is also my university classmate. He’s one year younger than me and from the same club. I gave him a blood transfusion previously.”

With that, Lu Yuxi poked the young man beside her with her elbow and said, “Introduce yourself. What are you waiting for?”

Only then did Li Shengsheng return to its senses. He nodded and waved at him with a smile. “My name is Li Shengsheng. It’s been a long time… Ah, no, it’s our first time meeting. Please take care of me.”

He couldn’t help but mutter ‘long time no see’. This was the first time he and Xu Le had met. He couldn’t help but feel happy, as if he had reunited with an ‘old friend’.

“Yes, hello, I’m Xu Le.”

Xu Le looked at the friendly person in front of him. He avoided his gaze and pretended that he was not familiar with him. He said, “I just had lunch and am not hungry at all. But if you want to have supper, we can go out together.”

The few of them were about to drive to the nearby night market when they bumped into Xu Zhexian. He took off his glasses and smiled. “Lele, are you going out with your friends?”

“Mmm.”

“It’s so late. Come back early.”

“Okay.”

Just as Xu Le responded, Shen Hui rushed out of the house. When she saw the three of them, she subconsciously frowned and said unhappily, “Lele, don’t forget that you still have a competition.”

What she meant was that he should not waste time and focus on preparing for the competition.

Xu Le replied calmly, “Mom, there’s no way to revise at the last minute in this competition. I’ll go out and play with my friends. Just take it that I’m looking for inspiration.”

At this point, Shen Hui could not stop him. She could only nod and look at Lu Yuxi meaningfully. “Come back soon.”

After they left, she turned to Xu Zhexian and said, “Hubby, do you think Lele is different?”

“Huh?” Xu Zhexian smiled and said, “No, when we were not at home, Lele took good care of Tiantian. Everything was handled in an orderly manner…”

“Yes, it’s because of this.”

Shen Hui frowned even more and said, “Lele even opened a shop. He participated in so many competitions. Where did he get his capital from?”

If she continued to probe, there would be no end to it. Xu Zhexian still had a smile on his face as he said, “Didn’t you also win many awards at such a young age? It’s normal for Lele to inherit Mom’s good genes.”

He dismissed the uneasiness in his wife’s heart with a joking tone. Shen Hui nudged him gently and rebuked, “You talk too much.”

The night market closest to the competition venue was extremely popular. It was already past 10pm. There were all kinds of barbecue skewers, spicy hotpot, fried rice, and smelly tofu. There was also a chain of milk tea shops.

Lu Yuxi looked excitedly and said, “I know a particularly delicious wonton shop. Let’s go and eat wontons first.”

Xu Le also knew where the shop she was talking about was. After all, the night market was right beside their university and contained many memories.

“No, I want to eat skewers first.” Li Shengsheng pointed in the opposite direction from Lu Yuxi and said, “Go eat the Three Prawn Noodles.”

Lu Yuxi turned around and glared at him.

Li Shengsheng stiffened his neck and refused to let go.

“Xu Le, let’s go.”

Lu Yuxi led the way and walked into the narrow and dark alley. Xu Le was amused when he saw Li Shengsheng speechless. After a while, the two of them passed through the winding alley and stopped in front of two dark wooden doors.

There were two red lanterns hanging at the door. It could not withstand the wind and rain and its surface had long cracked. The dark yellow bulb inside swayed in the direction of the wind.

“You guys are really disloyal. Why didn’t you wait for me!”

Li Shengsheng caught up from behind. Afraid of the dark, he immediately jumped between the two of them and said, “Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s find Old Bai first.”

“Uncle Bai.”

As soon as he pushed the door open and entered, he said at the top of his voice, “Three bowls of wontons. No onions, no chilli oil.”

“Hey, I knew it was you.”

A kind-looking old man walked out from the shadows. Although his face was wrinkled, he looked shrewd and gentle. He smiled and said, “Miss, oh, you must have come often in the past. I know you.”

While chatting, he quickly boiled the big bone soup in the pot.

“Let me tell you, Uncle Bai’s wonton shop is very delicious. Ordinary people can’t find it.”

The low tables were all placed in the courtyard, and the sides were sparsely filled with people. Uncle Bai and his wife were extremely busy.

Li Shengsheng went to the washroom and Xu Le raised his hand. “Boss, I want another xiaolongbao and a serving of fried peanut, salty flavored.”

“Alright!”

After Li Shengsheng returned, Xu Le also got up to wash his hands.

Li Shengsheng said, “When I was studying in the past, I had a very good friend who often came to Uncle Bai’s place for supper in the middle of the night. Everytime, he would order fried peanuts. He was so silly. What’s so good about salty food? Fried peanuts should be sprinkled with white sugar, don’t you think so?”

After he finished speaking, he looked down at the xiaolongbao and fried peanuts Uncle Bai brought over and said hesitantly, “You ordered them?”

Lu Yuxi’s eyelashes trembled, and intense sorrow suddenly surged in her eyes. She waved her hand to indicate that she was fine, but tears rolled down uncontrollably.