Chapter 501: Chapter 501: Meeting Leon Zeller
The carving tool print that Jasper Quill had Ashley Shaw work on was completed a long time ago, and she even bought a few more to continue practicing with Jocelyn Hayes.
Later, somehow Jasper found out she had given herself some "extra" assignments, and when they met again, he had a lot more to say to her.
After a few more interactions, Jasper finally recognized her as his last female disciple from the bottom of his heart.
There’s no one who doesn’t like hardworking people.
This time, Jasper assigned her the task of memorizing the human skeletal system.
There are more bones in the human body than she imagined; remembering their names required a lot of time.
Before the National Day, Jasper gave her a puzzle—one that depicted the human skeletal system.
Ashley Shaw had assembled and disassembled this puzzle so many times that it was practically second nature to her.
Ariana Grant, seeing her still "playing" with the puzzle, yawned and asked when she was going to sleep.
"I’ll sleep after I do it one more time. You go ahead and turn off the lights; I’ll use the bedside lamp."
"Okay. But you should rest soon too; I’m going to bed."
"Alright."
...
The next day arrived in a flash. It was the day Leon Zeller and Ariana Grant were meeting in person for the first time after their online relationship.
Ariana chose a black hoodie that made her look slimmer, along with black jeans, which complimented her long, straight legs.
Ariana’s height was slightly taller than Ashley’s. In this outfit, you couldn’t tell her weight at all.
However, she was still very nervous.
"Do you think there’s any outfit that makes me look slimmer?"
"Nope! Just this one, and I think it looks great. Put on some makeup, and you’ll dazzle him to death."
Ariana gave a bitter laugh. "Stop teasing me. I’m about to die from the nerves."
"Don’t worry! It’s just like I said: whether you stick your neck out or keep it in, it’s just one cut. Be bold and go for it!"
"Okay then..."
They planned to meet for lunch, and by 10:30, Ariana was fully dressed and wearing a light, natural makeup. She wore a baseball cap that flattered her face shape, looking every bit like a young beauty.
But just before leaving, Ariana couldn’t help but feel very anxious.
She clung to Ashley’s arm and said, "Ashley, can you... come with me?"
Ashley joked, "Why don’t I help you with the dating part as well?"
Ariana nodded without hesitation, "Sure! What’s mine is yours, right?"
Ashley rolled her eyes. "You might agree, but Leon might not. Go on, don’t be late. If you take a cab now, you’ll just make it in time."
Ariana gritted her teeth, picked up the gift she had prepared for Leon, and headed out.
Walking down the stairs, she met some classmates on the first floor who all looked surprised.
"Ariana, you look so much slimmer!"
"Dressed up so beautifully, are you going on a date?"
Blushing, Ariana replied, "No, just going out with a friend."
"Well, go on then!"
Ariana waved goodbye, and as she walked out, she could vaguely hear them saying she looked quite pretty, even prettier than before, which gave her a bit of confidence and eased her nerves.
The place they agreed to meet was the Starbucks on the first floor of Veridia Mall nearby.
Upon entering, Ariana immediately noticed a boy in a baseball cap sitting by the window.
The "signal" they had agreed upon was wearing a black hat.
Even though he hadn’t looked up, Ariana was certain that he was Leon.
Just as she was about to muster the courage to walk over, the boy suddenly looked up, revealing a face full of acne—a total stranger.
Startled, Ariana instinctively turned around, only to crash into what felt like a human wall.
"Ouch—"
She rubbed her forehead after hitting it hard and was about to chide the person for not watching where they were going, only to meet a face that was familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.
Thick eyebrows, dark eyes, a prominent nose bridge, although he was a shade darker and looked much leaner—who else could it be but Leon?
"Boom—"
It was as if a silent thunderclap exploded in her ears, leaving her heart in chaos.
She never imagined meeting like this would be such a hit-or-miss.
How embarrassing. Maybe she should just run?
Ariana got cold feet and was about to turn away when Leon called out, "Please, wait a minute..."
She pretended not to hear him and kept walking.
Leon quickly caught up with her, his tall frame blocking her path.
"May I ask if you are..."
"I’m not! You’ve got the wrong person!"
Ariana replied hastily.
Leon looked a bit helpless and hurt.
"I didn’t even say who I was looking for yet."
"Hehe... I thought you were looking for someone, but you’ve definitely got the wrong person."
Leon stared directly into her eyes, saying, "I might mistake a person, but not a voice. It’s you, Ariana, isn’t it?"
Ariana’s face went from pale to red, finally nodding resignedly, "It’s me..."
"Why did you pretend not to recognize me?"
Now that Ariana had calmed down, she confessed, "How was I supposed to know my online boyfriend is a gaming god? The Wolves, misleading me, was that fun for you?"
Her own guilt made her drag him into being guilty too.
As expected, Leon awkwardly tugged at his lips but soon earnestly said, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hide it from you. When... when did you find out?"
"A few days before you left for the reality show filming."
Leon was momentarily surprised, about to say something, when two girls ran over.
"Excuse me, are you from The Wolves?"
"No, you’ve mistaken me for someone else." He said, keeping his head down, then swiftly grabbed Ariana’s hand and led her outside.
Ariana was bewildered as she was pulled along, and it wasn’t until she recovered that she quickly took her hand back from Leon’s grip.
The warmth from Leon’s hand lingered in her palm, a mere touch yet it had the power to burn.
Leon also realized his abruptness and quickly apologized, "Sorry... I was just afraid they’d recognize me."
"It’s fine." Ariana asked, "Where are we going now?"
"I know a restaurant where we won’t easily be disturbed. It serves Taravan cuisine. Do you like it?" Leon asked cautiously, worried that his preparations might go to waste if she didn’t agree.
Seeing Ariana nod, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and led her to that Thai restaurant.
The restaurant indeed offered privacy, with each table in its own space, making conversation easy.
Leon apologized again, "I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you before, afraid you’d think I was a scammer. Also... because I’ve encountered people who knew who I was and deliberately deceived me before."
"Was it a girl?"
Leon shook his head, "A guy, trying to scam me out of money, not to scam me personally."
"So were you afraid I might scam you for money?"
"N-no..."
In his haste, Leon’s tongue seemed to tie itself in knots, and his cheeks gradually turned red.
