I'm Done with the Elite Marriage - Chapter 49

Following the trending topic, Food and Color restaurant’s popularity soared beyond expectations. Zhou Youling, the owner of Food and Color, became somewhat of a minor celebrity, or as the current lingo would have it, an internet sensation.

Zhou Youling didn’t pay much attention to the virtual world and its illusions. She was determined to run her restaurant well and devoted herself wholeheartedly to its success.

Recently, the booming business at Food and Color felt almost surreal to Zhou Youling. She had imagined her restaurant being either quiet or bustling, but never anticipated the current scenario-a long queue outside Food and Color that took hours to shorten.

As the New Year approached, the success of Food and Color was a delightful surprise for Zhou Youling, seemingly heralding a smooth year ahead.

With experience in handling high customer flow, Zhou Youling wasn’t fazed. However, Huo Lianghan’s repeated visits with collaboration invitations left her feeling overwhelmed.

Huo Lianghan was genuinely sincere, even presenting Zhou Youling with a detailed production plan, expressing his willingness to stake everything on her, with the motto “succeed or die trying.”

This put immense psychological pressure on Zhou Youling. Truth be told, she wasn’t particularly tempted by the salary Huo Lianghan offered; she was more concerned about disappointing his earnest intentions.

Thus, Zhou Youling politely declined Huo Lianghan’s invitation.

However, Zhou Youling hadn’t anticipated Huo Lianghan’s persistence, akin to the legendary “three visits to the cottage,” determined to secure her agreement for the collaboration.

After the lunch rush, Zhou Youling noticed Huo Lianghan still sitting at the restaurant’s entrance. She couldn’t help but sigh and invited him inside.

The waiter quickly brought over two drinks. Zhou Youling handed one to Huo Lianghan with a smile, saying, “It’s a new creation, give it a try.”

Constantly innovating was something Zhou Youling had been focusing on lately.

“Thank you,” Huo Lianghan said shyly, adjusting his black-framed glasses as he accepted the drink.

“This is the third day,” Zhou Youling said directly.

Huo Lianghan paused, took a sip of the drink, and replied evasively, “The new drink is really good.”

Zhou Youling nodded, maintaining her gentle smile as she looked at Huo Lianghan.

Feeling uneasy under her gaze, Huo Lianghan raised his hands in surrender, “Alright, I hope you don’t dislike me. I’m genuinely sincere about wanting to collaborate with you.”

The collaboration Huo Lianghan referred to was filming culinary short films with Zhou Youling.

The content of the culinary short films would be similar to their previous production, with potential changes in post-production but not drastically different. In Huo Lianghan’s plan, he intended to release a short film every two weeks, initially preparing for a quarter’s worth of episodes. He even envisioned a promising future where, once Zhou Youling’s culinary short films gained influence, they could establish their own brand, among other possibilities.

“Please don’t rush to reject me. You can take some time to think it over, alright?” Huo Lianghan looked at Zhou Youling with hopeful eyes.

Zhou Youling pondered for a moment and nodded, “Alright, I’ll think about it.”

After Huo Lianghan left, Zhou Youling genuinely pondered over the proposal. However, her contemplation was interrupted by a call from Bai Lingxue.

Bai Lingxue, immersed in her romance, rarely found time to call Zhou Youling unless it was about matters of the heart. Today was no exception; she called because of a minor tiff with Luo Hang.

When Zhou Youling asked Bai Lingxue about the reason, Bai Lingxue hesitated to answer directly, instead suggesting they go shopping since it had been a while.

With plenty of time in the afternoon and having been absorbed in the restaurant lately, Zhou Youling thought a shopping trip might be a good idea.

Their meeting spot was the usual place, Hongnan Square.

By the time Zhou Youling arrived, Bai Lingxue was already waiting in a café.

“Why didn’t you come to the restaurant to find…” Zhou Youling started to say but paused halfway.

Bai Lingxue was wearing oversized sunglasses, but it was clear she had a bruise on her forehead.

“What happened? Did that guy lay a hand on you?” Zhou Youling asked anxiously.

Bai Lingxue pulled Zhou Youling to sit down and shook her head, “No, no, I accidentally bumped into the corner of a table.”

Zhou Youling’s expression turned serious, “Bai Lingxue, you’d better not lie to me.”

Bai Lingxue gave a wry smile, “It’s true, he didn’t hit me. We had a small argument, I held onto him, he pushed me away, and I accidentally hit the table corner.”

Zhou Youling was skeptical but couldn’t dwell on it too much. She carefully checked Bai Lingxue’s injury and was relieved to find it wasn’t serious.

“You almost hit your eye; the consequences could have been unimaginable,” Zhou Youling said.

Bai Lingxue sipped her coffee and looked up at Zhou Youling, “Do you think I’m foolish?”

“Why would you say that?” Zhou Youling asked.

Bai Lingxue replied, “I’ve ended up like this over a college student.”

Zhou Youling asked, “Where is he now?”

Bai Lingxue hesitated, “I… don’t know.”

It was Sunday, a day when a college student should have free time. Yet, he wasn’t spending it with his girlfriend. Not being together was one thing, but Bai Lingxue didn’t even know his whereabouts. What was that about?

Zhou Youling felt a surge of anger but understood that as an onlooker, she had no right to interfere in matters of the heart.

In a moment of distraction, Zhou Youling suddenly realized how much Bai Lingxue resembled her former self. Except, she and Fu Xunzhou never argued; perhaps for Fu Xunzhou, it wasn’t worth wasting time on disputes.

Zhou Youling held Bai Lingxue’s hand, trying to offer some comfort.

Bai Lingxue, however, smiled back at Zhou Youling, “Let’s go shopping, get a spa, and forget about all this nonsense.”

“Alright, let’s go!”

Having not gone shopping for a long time, Zhou Youling saw it as a chance to indulge.

Since moving out of the Fu Family, Zhou Youling had donated most of her belongings, and now her wardrobe was filled with pre-marriage clothes and accessories.

As the successful boss of the popular Food and Color restaurant, Zhou Youling was far from lacking funds. So she shopped without restraint, moving from skincare stores to makeup shops, from luxury boutiques to niche outlets.

Feeling a sudden burst of inspiration, Zhou Youling decided to buy a gift for every employee at her restaurant. The gifts didn’t need to be expensive, just practical, and she, being someone who appreciated beauty, wanted them to look nice as well.

Bai Lingxue suggested, “Nothing’s more practical than money. You might as well just give them cash.”

Zhou Youling disagreed, “Giving money seems a bit too impersonal.”

Lingxue nodded, “True, if you give too little, it seems stingy; too much, and it might not be appropriate. Being a boss isn’t easy.”

With that, she pulled Zhou Youling towards the supermarket in the mall’s basement. “Let’s go, we’ll find something there.”

When it came to practicality, Zhou Youling could think of plenty of items-pots, pans, bedding sets. Considering it was winter, she thought about buying a down comforter for each employee.

The supermarket was enormous, offering just about everything one could need. As they reached the bedding section, Zhou Youling was captivated by the variety of bed linens.

She had always loved buying different kinds of bedding, believing that since a third of life is spent in bed, having pleasing and comfortable linens could significantly enhance one’s happiness.

While Bai Lingxue busied herself looking at down comforters for the employees, Zhou Youling suddenly stood frozen in place.

“What are you staring at?” Lingxue playfully tapped Zhou Youling’s shoulder.

Zhou Youling instinctively tried to steer Lingxue towards another aisle. “Oh, nothing, just saw some nice bedding.”

“What kind of nice bedding has you staring so long? Let me see too…” Lingxue laughed, raising her head, only to spot Luo Hang not far away.

Zhou Youling tried to divert Lingxue’s attention as they moved away. “How are the comforters? Are there a hundred? I have a hundred employees at the restaurant, can’t leave anyone out…”

But Lingxue wasn’t listening. She pulled away from Zhou Youling, staring ahead. “He’s with a girl. They’re hugging, and he kissed her on the cheek. Am I seeing things?”

Zhou Youling sighed softly.

Not far away, Luo Hang and the girl seemed to be picking out bedding, looking very much like a couple, clearly more than just friends.

Without a word, Lingxue walked up to Luo Hang.

Luo Hang was visibly startled by Lingxue’s sudden appearance. He paused, then asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Who is she?” Lingxue glanced at the girl beside Luo Hang.

Luo Hang scratched his neck, looking annoyed. “What do you want to say?”

“Who is she?” Lingxue repeated.

Luo Hang rolled his eyes, muttering, “A friend.”

The so-called friend chuckled, “Luo Hang, you didn’t call me a friend in bed yesterday.”

“Friend?” Lingxue said, trying to separate them. “Why are you holding hands with a friend? Why are you hugging her?”

“Have you had enough?” Luo Hang forcefully shook off Lingxue. Being a man, he was stronger and pushed Lingxue hard.

Caught off guard, Lingxue almost fell to the ground.

Zhou Youling stepped forward, standing beside Bai Lingxue to support her.

Luo Hang seemed unsatisfied, approaching Bai Lingxue and said, “You’ve seen it all, so I won’t hold back.”

“What do you want to say?” Bai Lingxue’s eyes reddened.

Luo Hang replied, “Be sensible. I don’t want to make things awkward.”

“Awkward?” Tears fell from Bai Lingxue’s eyes as she reached out, intending to slap Luo Hang.

Quick as a flash, Luo Hang tried to slap Bai Lingxue back.

Unable to bear it any longer, Zhou Youling grabbed Luo Hang’s hand, “Try touching her, I dare you.”

Luo Hang tilted his head to glance at Zhou Youling, chuckling, “Beautiful elder sister, stay out of this, or I won’t be nice to you either.”

“Are you even a man?” Zhou Youling asked.

Luo Hang laughed, “Want to find out?”

Bai Lingxue couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted at Luo Hang, “Scumbag! Shut up! Don’t insult my friend.”

Luo Hang turned to Bai Lingxue, sighed, and said, “Why bother? We could have been happy. I can give you everything you want, play the perfect boyfriend. Just turn a blind eye.”

Bai Lingxue trembled, seemingly unable to believe what she was hearing.

Zhou Youling reached out to hold Bai Lingxue’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Bai Lingxue closed her eyes and asked Luo Hang, “Did you ever truly like me? Were you sincere when we were together?”

Luo Hang sighed, “Elder sister, stop dreaming like a teenager, will you? Look at how old you are.”

Bai Lingxue couldn’t hold back any longer, reaching out to slap Luo Hang, only to have her wrist caught.

Luo Hang extended his other hand, poised to hit Bai Lingxue.

Zhou Youling grabbed Luo Hang’s hand again, “I told you, don’t touch her.”

Luo Hang laughed, “What if I want to hit her today?”

With that, he forcefully pushed Zhou Youling aside, stepped forward, and slapped Bai Lingxue across the face with a loud “smack.”

“Scumbag!” Zhou Youling exclaimed, then swiftly flipped Luo Hang over her shoulder, slamming him hard onto the ground.

A man standing 1.8 meters tall was thrown to the ground, completely disoriented and unable to react.

After slamming Luo Hang to the ground, Zhou Youling placed her foot on his face, “You hit my best friend! Go to hell!”