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In order to surprise Noland, Jin Shiya chose a food street behind the school as their meeting spot. While waiting for Noland and playing with her phone, she already imagined how Noland would react when he saw the food tonight.

She envisioned him freezing for a moment, his face cracking with disdain and surprise, followed by a look of "you brought me here to eat this?" and a string of sarcastic remarks.

This dinner had been carefully discussed with her roommates, and Jin Shiya had been shocked when one of them suggested, "You should take him to the snack street behind our school. I bet he’s never had food like that!" She had grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth, and street food had always been banned by her family. She’d never had street snacks before.

But tonight, she was going to act like a seasoned street food connoisseur. She had done her homework, getting recommendations from her roommates about which dishes were best. She was ready to watch Noland’s expression fall apart.

It didn’t take long before a car pulled up, and Noland stepped out from the back seat.

This man’s sense of style was completely to Jin Shiya’s liking.

She had to admit, tonight’s Noland looked incredibly charming. He wore a low-V t-shirt underneath a dark blue casual blazer with sleeves rolled up to expose his wrists. A deep blue and light blue woven scarf hung around his neck, matching a similar braided bracelet on his left wrist and a sapphire watch on his right. His black jeans were ripped at the thighs, with white stitching creating a distressed look. On his feet were high-top, deep blue canvas sneakers. Tonight, he looked unusually youthful.

He was a 29-year-old man—why couldn’t he dress more maturely?

After meeting him several times, the only time he had worn a suit was the first meeting in the office. He had been impeccably dressed then, with his hair neatly combed back. But since then, he had always dressed casually, with his bangs left to fall naturally. Normally, it was hard to gauge the age of foreigners, and today with his youthful style and big black-frame glasses, he looked like a university student. If someone had said he was a college student, people might have believed it.

“Did you wait long?” Noland, looking particularly young today, stood in front of Jin Shiya, and her face stiffened.

“No, I just got here,” she said, though inside, she was already getting nervous. She hoped no one from her school would see them together tonight—how could she explain that he was just an older acquaintance?

While Jin Shiya was still lost in her thoughts, Noland had already started walking ahead, his long legs easily covering ground. He seemed far more familiar with the place than Jin Shiya, who was still dazed.

He adjusted his glasses slightly, today choosing a pair with large black frames to help cover his dark circles. He hadn’t slept well the night before, and though Olivia had helped him cover it up with makeup, he still felt he looked particularly worn-out. To prevent Jin Shiya from noticing, he put on the glasses, hoping they would distract her.

But judging by Jin Shiya’s reaction, it seemed she didn’t even notice his exhaustion—she was too distracted to notice anything.

“Aren’t you taking me out for dinner? What are we eating?” Noland asked, looking at her.

Without thinking, Jin Shiya responded, “Spicy sour noodles.”

That was one of the snacks her roommates had strongly recommended. The shop was located just a short way into the food street, and its sign was very noticeable.

It was easy to find, but as Jin Shiya looked toward the spicy sour noodles shop in the distance, she suddenly felt uncertain.