Chapter 26: Chapter 26 You were... really handsome just now!
Zhang Jingdong only let go of An Lu's fragrant shoulders when they finally got into the taxi.
Along the way, neither of them spoke.
Zhang Jingdong was pondering whether his earlier threats could truly intimidate Liu Guokang, and what to do if that guy were to retaliate against him or An Lu in the future.
But he struggled for a long time without coming up with a foolproof plan.
For now, the only thing he could do was to rely on the system to quickly enhance his own strength.
Meanwhile, An Lu initially kept replaying the scene where Zhang Jingdong subdued those people, but later on, she couldn't help but start recalling the moment when he was walking with his arms around her.
To be honest, she felt her heart was about to leap out!
Partly because she was nervous.
And partly because she was a little confused, eventually attributing it to probably being the first time she had such intimate contact with a man in public.
Thinking of this, she unconsciously blushed.
And then she couldn't help but recall how he held her last night, and the feeling when he touched her there...
Now, An Lu was almost caught between laughing and crying, thinking to herself how she had suddenly run into such a... nemesis!
It took her a while to come up with the term "nemesis", mainly because she previously had almost no impression of this man.
Then, last night she had first met him and exchanged a few words, and afterwards, he took various liberties with her.
Moreover, since he did it all to save her, not only could she not be angry with him, but she also had to thank him!
Especially since he had just saved her again, and she had been taken advantage of once more by him, and soon she would have to thank him again!
Thinking of this, An Lu cautiously turned her head to glance at Zhang Jingdong.
She then discovered he was deeply engrossed in thought, completely unaware that she was observing him, so she took a few more peeks.
And when she stealthily looked at him once again, she suddenly found him staring right back at her!
She quickly turned away, but soon realized that behaving like that made her appear guilty, so she turned her head back.
Just as she was about to explain, Zhang Jingdong beat her to it: "What, do you think I looked cool just now?"
An Lu was clearly caught off guard by Zhang Jingdong actually saying this, and was momentarily at a loss: "I just... you..."
Zhang Jingdong struggled to hold back his laughter: "I mean, when I subdued those guys just now, wasn't my kung fu impressive?"
Although An Lu knew he was doing it on purpose, she couldn't deny that his kung fu indeed looked very impressive, especially since he had fought them to help her.
So, she pursed her lips: "Alright, you did look quite handsome just now, satisfied?"
Zhang Jingdong sighed: "Although it doesn't sound very sincere, I choose to believe you this time."
Perhaps An Lu wanted to make amends; she curiously asked, "Who did you learn that kung fu from? It's really impressive!"
"Have you seen Bruce Lee movies?"
"Of course, I've seen every single one."
"You don't think my movements just then resembled Bruce Lee's in the movies?"
An Lu nodded subconsciously: "It really did seem so."
"I originally learned it bit by bit by following his movements in the movies."
An Lu suddenly realized: "So that's it, no wonder!"
Another twenty minutes passed, and the car slowly stopped in front of the gate of Lu Ming Garden.
Zhang Jingdong naturally followed her out of the car.
This time, An Lu did not hesitate at all; she even felt a little joy in her heart.
The two of them remained silent on the way, but both felt tonight's atmosphere was distinctly different from the previous night.
Especially An Lu, her lips curving up in a faint smile the whole time.
Without realizing it, they arrived under building number 8.
An Lu sincerely said: "Thank you for what you did today, I really don't know what I would have done without you!"
"Host successfully received sincere thanks from the target person, reward 20,000 yuan!"
Zhang Jingdong joked: "This verbal thanks actually doesn't have much sincerity, if you really want to thank me, invite me to a meal another day."
Caught off guard, An Lu quickly recovered and chuckled: "Okay, I'll do as you say!"
Zhang Jingdong saw her agree, then said: "I'll call you another day."
An Lu nodded, "Okay."
"That's settled... Alright, go upstairs!"
An Lu took a deep look at Zhang Jingdong, then turned and went upstairs.
Zhang Jingdong watched her receding figure, a playful smile gradually forming on his lips.
...
Friday morning, there was only one English class.
Zhang Jingdong attended half of it, then took advantage of the break to slip out the back door.
He first toured the store that was being renovated.
The progress of the renovation had far exceeded his expectations.
He chatted with Liu Jinhui for a few moments, who told him that everything could be settled as soon as next Wednesday.
Zhang Jingdong was quite pleased and nodded, then left the store.
He then went to the house he rented, grabbed a handmade bag, and headed straight to the pedestrian street.
Since it wasn't the weekend, he didn't call Lin Hui.
It took him over two hours by himself to successfully interview 10 target individuals and earned 64,000 yuan.
After finishing, he relied on memories from his past life and visited a nearby Hunan cuisine restaurant.
He ordered Mao's Braised Pork and Chopped Pepper Fish Head because these two dishes almost best represent a chef's skill.
After the dishes were served, he savored them carefully and mentally gave them an 8 out of 10.
Then he paid the bill and headed straight to another Hunan cuisine restaurant.
The reason he did this was that he planned to headhunt.
He intended to taste-test 10 well-known Hunan cuisine restaurants in Jiangdu, then recruit with high salaries.
This was the fastest and most effective way he could think of to form his own restaurant's chef team.
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In the next two hours, he visited two other Hunan cuisine restaurants, ordering the same two dishes, and his scoring for them also did not exceed 8.
Seeing it was past one o'clock, he then took a taxi to the front of the McDonald's he visited the day before.
After waiting less than 10 minutes, Li Yiran appeared.
Zhang Jingdong smiled and said, "Today is a culinary journey, do you like Hunan cuisine?"
"Cilantro?" Li Yiran was a bit confused: "Are you talking about eating it raw?"
Zhang Jingdong laughed: "I'm talking about Xiangnan cuisine, commonly known as Hunan cuisine."
Li Yiran couldn't help but smile: "Oh, that Hunan cuisine... I love it, my grandmother is from Changsha, so I've been eating Hunan food since I was little."
Hearing this, Zhang Jingdong immediately said, "That's great, our task for the next two days is to try all the delicious Hunan restaurants in Jiangdu."
No one can resist the lure of delicious food, especially when faced with their favorite cuisine.
So Li Yiran happily nodded: "Okay."
Seeing Li Yiran was interested, Zhang Jingdong then asked, "Do you know any good Hunan restaurants? We can start with those."
Without much hesitation, Li Yiran promptly said, "Near our place, there's a restaurant called Xiangman Building, I think their Hunan cuisine is quite tasty."
"And my grandmother always says that their dishes have the authentic Xiangnan flavor."
"Really..." Zhang Jingdong suddenly became interested: "Then let's start with that one."
Zhang Jingdong was about to hail a cab when Li Yiran said, "That restaurant is nearby, we can get there in about ten minutes by walking."
Zhang Jingdong immediately turned around, "Alright, let's do what you suggest."
Halfway there, Zhang Jingdong suddenly curiously said, "So your home is nearby, no wonder you used to set up a stall here."
Li Yiran's face turned slightly red and she softly hummed in response.
Seeing this, Zhang Jingdong didn't ask further.
Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, the sign for "Xiangman Building" appeared not far ahead.
However, to Zhang Jingdong's surprise, the restaurant was not very big, it didn't even have steps, it was just a semi-basement.
But he instinctively remembered Chen Xiaoqing once mentioned that the best food is actually found in alleys, so he felt a bit more anticipation inside.