The restaurant was situated in a popular area, so during normal dinning hours, there would be a large crowd. In order to save on staff, there was a paper menu on each table for the customers to tick and send to the counter. 

Lu Jinnian glanced over at Qiao Anhao, and when he realized that she wasn’t going to tick anything on the menu, he grabbed a pen at the side and tossed it to her. 

Qiao Anhao jumped, lifting her head to glance at him. She widened her eyes in shock, her gaze clear and harmless. 

Even though there wasn’t much expression on his face, his tone softened without conscious thought. “Tick whatever you want to eat.” 

“Oh.” Qiao Anhao picked up the pen and scrutinized the menu. Out of habit, she started to chew on the tip of the pen . Occasionally, when she saw something she wanted, she would lightly tick the menu. 

Lu Jinnian’s gaze turned blurry as he remembered an event from the past. It was after their physical education lesson, and while hugging a soccer ball, he had deliberately pa.s.sed by Qiao Anhao’s cla.s.s. She was having a quiz and had been allocated a seat at the far end of the cla.s.sroom, but he could still spot her at a glance.

At that time, she was still in third cla.s.s. When she couldn’t solve the question, she would start to chew on her pen, just as she was doing right now, but with a frown etched on her face. After a long while, she would release the pen to tick her choice. 

Even though it wasn’t much, he stopped outside her cla.s.s and stared for at least ten minutes. It was only when Xu Jiamu, drenched in sweat, came running to him did he finally avert his gaze. 

Some people and some memories would constantly be hovering around despite any attempts to forget them. In the past four months, he never once thought about her affairs, but now, her unconscious action was able to awaken the past that he had sealed. 

Lu Jinnian had already eaten his dinner and Qiao Anhao couldn’t eat much, so she only chose one dish after a long time of contemplation. Finally, she placed the pen back down and pa.s.sed the menu back to Lu Jinnian. 

Her act snapped his attention back to the present, and coldness and remoteness clouded his eyes. Casually, he flipped through the menu. When he saw that she had only picked one dish, he frowned. Without bothering to consult her, he picked up the pen and quickly ticked a few other boxes before standing to place the order. 

It was after dinner hours, so the crowd had started to leave. The dishes were served quickly. 

Qiao Anhao realized that the items he had picked so swiftly – four dishes, a soup, and dessert were all her favorite. 

The long email that he had written to his a.s.sistant came to her mind, dampening her spirits slightly. 

When he ticked the menu just now, he seemed to be very familiar with the positions of the dishes… Did that mean he was a regular and would always pick these few dishes? Did he always patronize the restaurant alone to eat her favorite dishes? 

She could feel a slight sting in her eyes. Biting down on her lips, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”