Meanwhile, far away on the other side, Ye Wen couldn’t sleep at all.

Wrapped in a soft robe, Ye Wen lay curled up in bed, wiggling her small, jade-like white feet. Her fair fingers gently swiped at her phone screen, reading through her chat history with Huang Tao over and over again.

She could never get tired of it...

In her mind, she savored the wonderful sensation of "wiping cream" from tonight...

As she extended the finger that had smeared cream on Huang Tao’s face, a trace of a smile appeared in her eyes, and her pretty face couldn’t help but turn red.

She hadn’t expected herself to be so bold back then, doing such an intimate gesture to Huang Tao in front of so many people...

Thinking of this.

She shyly buried her face into the pillow, pressing her face down with her arms as if trying to smother herself.

But in the pitch blackness, Huang Tao’s tall figure was still all she could see...

Without a doubt, she was completely infatuated...

Buzz~

She felt the phone in her hand vibrate twice.

A message had come in.

She checked it under the covers...

It was a message from her best friend, Liu Menglin.

"Wen, how did things go with your crush tonight?"

As soon as Huang Tao was mentioned.

Ye Wen’s heart, which had calmed down a little, started beating faster, and her lips couldn’t help but curve into a smile.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, she quickly replied: "Um~ I took the initiative to smear cream on his face tonight."

Meng Lin eagerly asked: "And then what?"

Ye Wen: "That’s it."

Huh?

That’s it?

Liu Menglin quickly gave a baffled expression of "I went through all the trouble, and this is all I get?"

"And what about him? Did he do anything?"

Ye Wen: "He... he drove me home tonight."

Liu Menglin gave a gossipy smile: "He’s quite the gentleman, but did you guys... have that goodbye kiss?"

Ye Wen: "..."

That... she didn’t even dare to think about it!

Besides, even if she wanted to, she didn’t have the guts for it!

Ye Wen: "No... we haven’t reached that level yet."

However, she felt that this was pretty good as it was.

They could basically see each other every day.

Occasionally, they could even have a meal together.

But Liu Menglin was a bit impatient and suggested: "Ye Wen, I think... you should just confess to him!"

"Just go for it!"

Ye Wen: "I think I’ll wait a little longer."

To confess, she had thought about it!

But the more she liked him, the harder it was to say it out loud.

What if she got rejected?

Wouldn’t it be super awkward to see each other afterward...

Liu Menglin gave a look of disbelief.

The goddess in the eyes of countless students was actually worried about being rejected by confessing!

It’s just ridiculous!

Ye Wen: "It’s getting late, I’m going to sleep. I have work tomorrow! You should sleep early too!"

Liu Menglin teased: "Sleep, sleep, you’ll have everything in your dreams. Hope you dream of kissing your Huang Tao."

"Hmph~"

Honestly, she wasn’t angry at all, and was even inexplicably a little expectant...

By the way.

Would he dream about me too?

And then towards her...

"Ahh~ what am I thinking! So embarrassing~"

She immediately stopped indulging in those unrealistic fantasies, then turned off the lights. With her graceful figure lying in bed, she still couldn’t fall asleep,

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night...

...

Ring ring ring~

Just as Huang Tao’s eyelids were fighting fiercely, and he was about to fall asleep, the phone under his pillow rang at an inopportune moment.

Ah~

Uh oh~

Afraid that the ringtone would wake Xuanxuan, Huang Tao quickly reached for his phone under the pillow without checking the caller ID, and answered in a low voice, "Hello."

Uh~

Did she disturb his rest?

Or did he not save her number at all?

Hearing Huang Tao’s emotionless voice, Lin Manli felt a mix of emotions, and the eagerness and joy she felt before making the call vanished.

Not wanting Huang Tao to sense her emotional fluctuations, she adjusted her mood and said calmly, "It’s me, Boss Huang. Are you asleep?"

"I know, Chief Editor Lin, I was just about to sleep. Do you need something?"

Huang Tao glanced at Xuanxuan, seeing her sleeping soundly and not woken up, he felt relieved.

Lin Manli’s voice came through the phone again: "I just wanted to wish you a belated... happy birthday."

She had just browsed her magazine’s official Weibo account, and casually checked the Delicious Restaurant’s Weibo account, discovering from netizens’ comments that it was Huang Tao’s birthday today.

So she immediately called to express her wishes.

"Thank you."

Huang Tao was a bit surprised; he didn’t expect that Chief Editor Lin knew about his birthday and would specifically call to congratulate him.

He had to admit, today’s surprises were really quite abundant.

"Why thank me? I should be the one thanking you. Because of you, this issue of my food magazine saw a significant increase in sales and received a warm response!"

Lin Manli couldn’t help but show a charming and joyful smile.

The magazine they shot at Huang Tao’s restaurant last time became very successful upon release, outshining many other food magazines, thus making her "Food and Beauty" magazine the most popular food magazine.

Huang Tao joked, "Is that so? Then it seems I played a significant role in the success of this issue!"

"Indeed!"

Lin Manli confirmed with confidence, and after thinking for a moment, she continued, "Why don’t we go out to celebrate sometime? My treat."

"Huh?"

This took Huang Tao by surprise.

Lin Manli timidly asked, "Is it inconvenient?"

Huang Tao nodded, "It’s indeed a bit inconvenient, my daughter is already asleep, and I wouldn’t feel at ease leaving her alone at home. Besides, it’s too late now."

"That’s my oversight!"

Hearing this, for some reason, Lin Manli felt a bit disappointed. She said helplessly, "Then we’ll do it next time! You must give me a chance to treat you then!"

"Alright! Let’s leave it at that, goodnight..."

After ending the conversation with Lin Manli, Huang Tao found himself unable to sleep.

So he started browsing on his phone.

Naturally, his own Weibo was first.

Upon opening the comments, he saw many customers lamenting under the latest post:

Slapping your hypocritical heart: Tapping a big bowl with chopsticks, I heard there will be new Squirrel Mandarin Fish tomorrow at noon? Waiting for it to launch.

Living like a queen without you: Boss, you have no mercy! You didn’t mention your birthday today! Are you afraid we’d come and eat the Squirrel Mandarin Fish you’ve meticulously prepared?

Desire tempts the heart*: Wuwuwu, I’m craving so much I can’t sleep tonight, whose fault is it!!! Boss, compensate! Compensate by letting me smoothly buy Squirrel Mandarin Fish at noon tomorrow, wuwuwu...

No need to guess, he knew it was his employees who leaked the news about the Squirrel Mandarin Fish and his birthday in advance. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

These days, it’s amazing how customers urge new dishes to come out!

Fortunately, he took photos of the Squirrel Mandarin Fish last night, so he edited them and posted on Weibo.

Super delicious Delicious Restaurant: I heard you all can’t sleep because you’re craving Squirrel Mandarin Fish, so here’s some more late-night temptation from the editor! The ingredients for the Squirrel Mandarin Fish you’ve been waiting for are ready, launching at noon tomorrow, limited quantity, first come first served~ pic.jpg.

In the picture, the vibrant red Squirrel Mandarin Fish with its tail up was placed on an exquisite plate, with a bit of cilantro as garnish beside it,

The red sauce envelops the golden fried fish body and squirrel head, making it indeed look like a squirrel.

The alternating golden yellow and deep red of the fish’s back emits wisps of steam, with even glistening sauce slowly flowing from the fish onto the plate, giving the body a fluffy appearance, as if the squirrel was covering itself with its own tail.

Even through the screen, it made people drool!

At this hour, there were countless night owls, and shortly after the post about Squirrel Mandarin Fish was published, numerous comments appeared.

At the street corner~ Wishing you: Just this? Just this? You still have the nerve to say "limited quantity"? With this amount... don’t let it be not enough for us brothers to share!

Look up and smile, as bright as a sunflower: Ahhhh finally the official Squirrel Mandarin Fish announcement, but boss, if you could replace "limited quantity, first come first served" with "everyone gets a share," that would be perfect.

∞ Trending this year, single: Yes yes, if it could be that every dish in Delicious Restaurant is freely available, I could even laugh in my dreams.

I have four dorans, the opponents are all food: The one above, you better wash up and go to sleep, you can dream about anything there!

灬 Dance of flowers, tears shed as they fall: So tomorrow at noon is another competition of speed, huh? Pity us office workers! Always missing out on the new dishes (sigh)