Chen Jing: "..."
The others: "..."
Sheng Kuang's thumb paused slightly against his phone.
Lin Jing thought for two seconds, then blinked. "You didn't say I couldn't vote, so I thought everyone present."
The girl had large eyes, with soft, long, curled lashes. When she blinked, she looked harmless and innocent.
Her demeanor made everyone momentarily forget that the person who had been aggressively slamming the table just now was her.
It even made them feel like they had bullied her.
Lan Bowen "opened his mouth, about to say 'you didn't say you couldn't'."
Lin Jing met everyone's gaze and slowly spoke again. "If I can't, then just void my vote. Anyway, everyone else is just here to fill the numbers. Whether I vote or not, Sheng Kuang is the captain."
The others: "?"
Why the sudden comparison?
And why did her tone sound a little proud?
"Also," Lin Jing met Chen Jing's eyes and glared at him fiercely. "I'm not a ghost."
Chen Jing: "??"
The others couldn't help but laugh.
Even Sheng Kuang let out a soft, low chuckle.
Hearing his laugh, Lin Jing suppressed the rest of her retort, "You're the ghost," continued to glare at Chen Jing for a while, then reluctantly looked away.
After everyone finished laughing, Jiang Xin got back to the point. "Alright, alright, Sheng Kuang, say a few words."
Sheng Kuang leaned back against his chair, lazily raising his head. "You really want me to say something?"
"You must! Do you know what this is? It's called ceremony!" With that, Jiang Xin, just like before, started clapping enthusiastically. "Now, let's welcome our Captain Sheng with applause to say a few words."
The entire restaurant erupted in warm applause.
Even Sheng Kuang, sitting next to Lin Jing, symbolically raised his hands and clapped for himself a couple of times.
Lin Jing felt the scene was a bit too chuunibyo, making her want to go back upstairs immediately out of embarrassment.
But thinking it was something important to Sheng Kuang, she reluctantly gave up the idea of leaving and cooperatively raised her hands to clap a couple of times as well.
Sheng Kuang glanced at Lin Jing's clapping hands. Her fingers were fair and slender. He blinked his eyelashes slightly, and as if he couldn't refuse the overwhelming sentiment, he lowered his eyelids and thought for a few seconds. "Alright then, I'll just say a few simple words."
"Thank you, little friend Lin Jing, for your vote."
Silence fell over the restaurant, and everyone looked at Sheng Kuang.
After about ten seconds, Chen Jing couldn't take it anymore. "And then?"
Sheng Kuang raised an eyelid. "Didn't I already say a couple of words?"
Chen Jing: "?"
The others: "?"
Lin Jing took two seconds to react. She realized his "couple of words" were "Alright then, I'll just say a few simple words" and "Thank you, little friend Lin Jing, for your vote."
Buddy, are you here to tell dad jokes? You're freezing me to death.
Lin Jing twitched the corner of her lips, almost genuinely applauding Sheng Kuang again.
"Damn it," Chen Jing, having figured it out, couldn't help but curse Sheng Kuang. He turned to Lan Bowen. "I want to terminate my contract! I want to terminate it right now! I can't take it anymore. The thought of having to spend all my time with such a playboy in the future suffocates me, makes me gasp for air, constricts my chest, and leaves me short of breath."
Ignoring Chen Jing's outburst, Lan Bowen turned to Sheng Kuang. "Don't just thank Lin Jing, say something to everyone else too."
Sheng Kuang thought for a moment. "Alright."
He looked at Li Xiaozhou of the second team first. "Keep it up." Then at He Wang. "Keep it up." Then at Qin Yu. "Keep it up."
Then, he looked at Chen Jing. "Keep it up..." He paused, and Sheng Kuang couldn't help but add, "Triple the liquidated damages."
Chen Jing: "You bastard."
The others burst into laughter.
Sheng Kuang, with his composure unshaken, landed his gaze on Jiang Zui, who was laughing the hardest. "Keep it up... Also, you're being mocked."
Jiang Zui's laughter gradually froze. "Mocked, mocked me for what?"
Sheng Kuang didn't quite remember. He turned and asked Lin Jing, "What were they mocking him for?"
Lin Jing saw Jiang Zui's gaze and, using her superhuman memory, repeated Yang Sinian's fans' words verbatim. "In short, they were mocking you for being bad, mocking you for being poor, mocking you for having a low rank, and mocking you for being some random nobody pulled off the street by yLs."
"I'm not eating anymore, I'm going to play games." Jiang Zui slammed down his chopsticks and left.
It was getting late. After Jiang Zui left, the boisterous group didn't stay much longer and also dispersed. Su Dan Novel Network.
Lin Jing was tired. She yawned and was slowly walking out of the restaurant when she suddenly spotted a pile of folded paper scraps scattered on the counter of the Western restaurant next to her. She quickly stopped yawning and called out to Lan Bowen, who was walking ahead. "Um, coach."
Lan Bowen turned around. "What is it?"
Lin Jing pointed to the paper scraps on the counter and the chef's station. "Are these all going to be thrown away? When the aunt comes tomorrow, can I have her clear them all out?"
Lan Bowen: "Yeah, they're not needed anymore."
Lin Jing nodded and said nothing, following everyone else into the elevator as if it were normal.
Back upstairs, after showering, Lin Jing unhurriedly brushed her teeth again. Then she climbed onto the balcony and looked down, confirming that the lights on the first floor were out. Only then did she quietly sneak downstairs.
Lin Jing headed straight for the Western restaurant's chef's station. The sensor light turned on. In the light, she went through the paper scraps one by one. Then, she compared them to Sheng Kuang's signature printed on the back of her phone case. She quietly folded the paper scrap that took up most of the white space and had the most flamboyant handwriting. She clutched it in her palm and returned upstairs.
ps: Not long after, Sheng Kuang pried open Lin Jing's phone case and found this paper scrap.