Even when they were gossiping, she just listened with interest. She was especially entertained when their faces changed upon hearing Lu Jinnian's warning.
And in that instance, her lips were curled upwards into a smile.
But when Lu Jinnian returned to his seat, with an uneasy expression, reassuring her, "Qiao Qiao, don't listen to their..." At that moment, she paused, not able to continue smiling.
She remembered the night before, in Beijing hotel, when he had grabbed Xu Jiamu by the collar, she recalled the conversation he had with his assistant that she had overheard, in that moment, tears clouded her eyes.
Lu Jinnian started to panic, but luckily the server came over with the dishes. Lu Jinnian clumsily pulled the chopsticks from the tissue, passing them over to her. "Aren't you hungry? Have some food. What do you want to eat?"
Right after he asked, Qiao Anhao's gaze coincidentally stopped at the roast chicken. Lu Jinnian immediately placed a piece in her bowl.
The tears in her eyes flooded, streaming down into the bowl.
Lu Jinnian's hand trembled, dropping the chopsticks onto the floor. He hurriedly bent to pick them up, but the moment he touched the chopsticks, he seemed to have remembered something. He tossed them back to the ground and straightened, passing a tissue over to her.
Qiao Anhao, who was observing him, saw his hurried and messy actions. She chuckled, reaching over to take the tissue. As she wiped her tears, she spoke with a hint of a smile. "Lu Jinnian, why did you toss the chopsticks after picking them up?"
It was only then that Lu Jinnian realized what he had done. His lips curled upwards, breaking into a faint smile as he continued to focus his gaze on Qiao Anhao worriedly.
Qiao Anhao took a deep breath, calming her overwhelming emotions. She picked up the wine bottle and poured into both their glasses. Passing a glass over to Lu Jinnian, she raised her own glass. "Cheers!"
Throwing her head back, she downed the glass.
Lu Jinnian swallowed his saliva before raising his glass to down the contents.
Qiao Anhao lifted the wine bottle to refill the glasses. This time, she didn't down hers immediately. She gazed at Lu Jinnian before saying seriously, "Lu Jinnian, that glass was to thank you for what you have done recently."
"This glass, is to celebrate my return to being single." With a bright smile on her face, she gently touched her wine glass against the side of Lu Jinnian's and threw her head back to down the contents.
The second glass was to celebrate her being single... What did she mean? Lu Jinnian frowned, staring at her motionlessly.
Qiao Anhao placed the glass down and wiped her lips. When she saw that Lu Jinnian hadn't drunk, she nudged her jaw towards his glass. "Why aren't you drinking?"
Lu Jinnian blinked, ignoring her question. "What did your words mean?"
Qiao Anhao looked into his eyes for a few seconds before explaining, "It's as I said, Jiamu and I divorced today."