Chapter 16: Blind Date
Lu Qiaoge felt that Old Lu made sense.
Comrade Old Lu had always been so confident.
This era had one advantage: the wealth gap wasn’t very large.
Moreover, admiring vanity and not embracing hardship and simplicity was wrong and would be criticized.
Otherwise, how could the Liang Family wait until now? The engagement would have been canceled long ago.
Old Mrs. Lu said to Meng Xia: “Don’t fuss with useless things, hurry and help Qiao Ling pick clothes and tidy up properly.”
Old Lu was an open-minded family elder and said to his third daughter: “No need to be too deliberate, just keep a normal mindset.”
He also specifically named Lu Qiaoge: “His family has Sister Zhao Jinbao coming along, we as parents from our family won’t go, you accompany Qiao Ling to the blind date.”
Lu Qiaoling happily grabbed Lu Qiaoge’s arm: “Second Sister, with you accompanying me, I’m not afraid anymore.”
If it were before, Lu Qiaoling might not have said this.
But today, witnessing Second Sister’s grace, she was truly convinced, impressed beyond words.
—
Chunfeng State-run Restaurant was an old restaurant with a hundred years of history.
Both inside and out retained the European style of the past.
Old-fashioned ceiling fans slowly turned under the stained glass dome, and bicycle bells rang from the tree shadows outside the window.
It was Lu Qiaoling’s first time here; besides being tense, she felt more novelty.
Lu Qiaoge was also here for the first time; she hadn’t expected the Zhao Family’s arranged meeting place to be here.
It seemed they attached great importance to this blind date.
Lu Qiaoling nervously asked Lu Qiaoge: “Second Sister, how do I look today?”
Lu Qiaoge observed carefully and gave a satisfied appraisal: “Bright eyes and white teeth, graceful and elegant.”
Today’s Lu Qiaoling wore a goose-yellow floral dress.
The eighteen-year-old little girl was like a blooming forsythia flower.
In the 1970s, most people around eighteen or nineteen found partners and got married.
She said to Lu Qiaoling: “Wait for me a moment, I’ll go ask the waitress if they’ve arrived.”
If Zhao Jinbao hadn’t arrived, it wouldn’t seem right for them to enter first.
“Comrade, I’d like to ask you something.” Lu Qiaoge stopped a waitress Sister at the staircase, but the other glanced at her and understood somewhat.
The young woman before her had a slender figure, amber pupils floating with fragmented light, eyes slightly upturned adding a bit of charm, especially a pair of peach blossom eyes like rippling autumn water, and when smiling, like a crescent moon, lively yet gentle.
So moving and delicate, she could tell at a glance this was the young woman that the distinguished guest in the private room was waiting for.
She smiled and asked: “What is your honorable surname, Comrade?”
Lu Qiaoge hesitated a bit and politely replied: “My humble surname is Lu.”
“Ah, you really are Comrade Lu?” Before Lu Qiaoge could finish, the preconceived waitress Sister didn’t notice the difference between the second and fourth tones in pronunciation.
She enthusiastically led the way: “Please follow me.”
Just now she had privately guessed what the person the guest in Qingsong Private Room was waiting for looked like, but now felt it should be someone like Lu Qiaoge.
At this time, the enthusiastic waitress Sister had gone up half the staircase, but Lu Qiaoge felt something was off.
She turned back to call Lu Qiaoling, but Lu Qiaoling suddenly got tense, clutching her stomach with sweat beading on her forehead: “Second Sister, wait for me a few minutes, I’ll be right back.”
With that, she ran off like a wisp of smoke.
Lu Qiaoge was speechless, just as Grandmother had said—lazy donkey grinding dung and urine a lot.
Lu Qiaoge didn’t want to meet Zhao Jinbao and his family alone, so she planned to wait for her younger sister to return and go together.
Unexpectedly, the waitress Sister called to her: “Comrade Lu, come with me. Let me tell you, for the first meeting, although we’re the female side, it’s not good to keep the male comrade waiting too long, right?”
Lu Qiaoge felt the waitress Sister wasn’t entirely right, but it was very practical. Anyway, she had met Zhao Jinbao and Sister Zhao before, so Lu Qiaoge thanked her and hurriedly followed.
Stepping on the soft carpet, Lu Qiaoge’s gaze swept over the oil paintings on the restaurant walls.
These oil paintings had a long history; preserving them was truly not easy.
After just a dozen steps, appreciating two paintings, the waitress stopped at a door: “It’s right inside.”
With that, she opened the door. As it creaked lightly, the slanting sunlight pierced through the blinds, casting fragmented golden light on the man’s tall figure, making his stern brows and eyes seem a bit gentler.
Lu Qiaoge was stunned.
This was no Zhao Jinbao; this was Military Representative Qin Hengzhi?
He wasn’t wearing his military uniform, just a simple white shirt, sleeves casually rolled to the elbows, revealing the firm lines of his forearms.
“Comrade Lu?”
He seemed somewhat surprised, his lashes casting faint shadows under his eyes. Clearly a cold, deep voice, now tinged with warmth.
The waitress Sister suspected nothing and winked at Lu Qiaoge, thoughtfully closing the room door.
Before the door knocked, Qin Hengzhi had been deep in thought. He didn’t know the organization had selected over a dozen age-appropriate female comrades for him.
But when the female side’s information reached his hands, he knew Grandfather had made a special phone call.
Even though he stated he had no plans to marry currently, Grandfather still had a method to turn his personal matters into the top task target of some office.
Before the transfer order came down, he needed to find the most decent way to exit in this blind date, without disappointing Grandpa’s intentions.
However, he hadn’t expected the visitor to be Lu Qiaoge.
He frowned; the information didn’t have this young woman.
【The white-shirted man waiting for a blind date is named Lu Min; Lu Qiaoge, you’ve entered the wrong room!】
A familiar cheeky voice came from outside; surprisingly, it was the Naughty Swallow flapping its wings and jeering, pecking the stained glass with a ding-dong sound.
The calico cat squatting on the window sill also nodded in agreement.
Lu Qiaoge chuckled speechlessly.
Lu, Lu!
In some noisy environments, it was understandable that the waitress Sister couldn’t distinguish.
She stepped back half a pace, eyes crinkling into crescents: “Representative Qin, I’ve entered the wrong room, truly sorry!”
She hadn’t expected a person like him to also go on blind dates.
She heard the Qin Family was a Beidu family; Qin Hengzhi’s grandfather held high position and great authority, and his parents seemed to be technology big shots.
She didn’t know which family’s young lady was on the blind date with him.
Qin Hengzhi sat relaxed, seemingly casually asking: “Want to have a cup of tea before leaving?”
He saw the fine sweat beads on the little girl’s nose tip.
He also saw her unconsciously pursing her lips; she must be thirsty.
Lu Qiaoge knew it was just politeness and obediently said: “Thank you, I’m not thirsty. I still need to find my younger sister; I won’t disturb you!”
Qin Hengzhi naturally didn’t insist, calmly looking out the window.
Under the sunset, a swallow perched on the window frame, watching him?
An illusion?
Lu Qiaoge’s hand was on the door handle when she suddenly remembered something, hurriedly turning to explain for the waitress Sister: “I told the waitress my surname is Lu; maybe my pronunciation wasn’t accurate, or the environment was a bit noisy then, so the waitress didn’t hear clearly and led me in. Please don’t blame her.”
Qin Hengzhi turned his gaze, seeing the little girl earnestly explaining at the doorway. Rarely, a glint of teasing flashed in his eyes.
“Your speech is clear and standard; Lu and Lu can be distinguished if listened to carefully.”
Lu Qiaoge widened her eyes: “What, are you going to complain to the restaurant manager about her?”
Qin Hengzhi paused for an instant, nodding in agreement: “You’ve reminded me.”
Lu Qiaoge: …
So it was her mouth too quick?
