The restaurant aboard the Seven Stars is located in Carriage No. 2, and it’s called Jupitor.
The exquisite dishes are all made from seasonal ingredients from around Kyushu and are prepared by Michelin-starred chefs. After dinner, this carriage transforms into a bar, where passengers can enjoy drinks throughout the night.
During dinner time, passengers are required to change into formal attire.
Lin Ran and his friends had brought their suits in advance, and when the time came, they all returned to their rooms to change.
Most of them were fine with this, but Xie Zhen was feeling a bit gloomy. Why did he have to be friends with someone like Lin Ran? He hated it!
Their formalwear for this trip had all been prepared by Lin Ran ahead of time. However, when Xie Zhen saw his suit, his mood instantly improved. Lin Ran had gotten him a burgundy satin suit, and the lapel pin was from his favorite racing driver’s brand.
Even the little bowtie seemed cute now.
Xie Zhen no longer hated it!
Grinning from ear to ear, he eagerly put on his new outfit.
Lin Ran had chosen a simple black suit for himself, with no decorations apart from a tie. He wasn’t fond of wearing this kind of attire.
Lin Ran was the first to get changed, and after doing so, he went to Sheng Qingxi and Lin Yanyan’s room to wait for them. Out of a bit of selfishness, he had also chosen a black dress for Sheng Qingxi.
Aside from the two of them, the rest of the group wore outfits of varying colors.
As he passed through the sensor door, Lin Ran leaned lazily against the doorframe of their room.
The overhead lights poured down, brightly illuminating the entire hallway.
People from the rear carriages had to walk through this hallway to reach the restaurant in Carriage No. 2. When Lin Ran heard the sensor door beep, he straightened up, letting them pass.
But he waited and waited, yet no footsteps approached.
Lin Ran lazily opened one eye and glanced to his right.
“Ahhh! He looked over!!”
“He’s so handsome!”
Excited squeals from two girls rang out.
Standing by the sensor door were two young girls, likely recent high school graduates on a trip as well. They whispered to each other while glancing at him, and when they saw him look their way, they bounced on the spot in excitement.
Lin Ran casually looked away, pretending not to notice.
Meanwhile, the two girls in the hallway were whispering.
“I really want to ask for his WeChat.”
“I think he has a girlfriend. This afternoon, they were sitting by the window in the lounge car.”
“Really? That’s his sister, right?”
“No way, I saw him holding that girl’s hand.”
“Ugh, who cares, I’ll go ask.”
…
Inside the room.
Lin Yanyan looked at her sparkly, golden fairy-like dress and then glanced at Sheng Qingxi’s pitch-black, completely unremarkable outfit. If not for the fact that the sizes fit perfectly, she would’ve thought they had swapped dresses by mistake.
Sheng Qingxi looked good in black too, but Lin Yanyan thought she’d look even better in something brighter.
Plus, the dress was such a hassle to wear, Lin Yanyan couldn’t figure out what was going through Lin Ran’s mind when he picked it out.
Once they were both dressed, they prepared to leave.
Lin Yanyan was the first to walk ahead, opening the bedroom door. As soon as she stepped out, she saw her brother, but standing in front of him was a girl. The next thing she heard was the girl’s slightly shy voice.
“Excuse me… would it be okay to add you on WeChat?”
Lin Yanyan paused, quickly stepping aside and gesturing to Sheng Qingxi, who was clueless about what was happening. “Sister Sheng, you go out first.”
Sheng Qingxi vaguely heard someone talking at the door but didn’t know who it was. Since Lin Yanyan told her to go out first, she didn’t ask why and simply walked toward the door.
Lin Ran remained silent, waiting for Sheng Qingxi to come out.
The moment he heard her approaching, without caring whether she understood what was going on, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her in front of him. With a soft chuckle, he asked, “Someone’s asking your boyfriend for his WeChat. What do you think, should your boyfriend give it?”
Sheng Qingxi: “…”
No wonder Lin Yanyan made her come out first.
Lin Ran was clearly still holding onto the grudge from what happened at the boxing gym last year. Her indifference that day had really ticked him off, and he hadn’t let it go since.
Sheng Qingxi glanced at the stunned girl in front of her, intentionally narrowing her eyes coldly. Flattening her tone to sound distant and intimidating, she said, “I’ll get angry. I suggest you don’t ask.”
The girl stood in silence for a moment, not saying another word.
She ran off.
In her previous life, Sheng Qingxi had interrogated plenty of suspects, so when it came to intimidating people, she did it convincingly.
Lin Ran raised his eyebrows and smiled, “Officer, I like that little stern face of yours. Treating her like a suspect, huh? How can you be so cute even when scaring someone?”
Lin Yanyan: “…”
She couldn’t hear this.
Sheng Qingxi glanced at Lin Ran, muttering quietly, “Petty guy.”
Lin Ran laughed as he grabbed Sheng Qingxi’s hand and led her forward, saying as they walked, “I am a petty guy. So what? Don’t you like petty guys? You were hugging your petty guy this afternoon, weren’t you?”
Lin Yanyan, being very tactful, stayed where she was and didn’t follow.
If she listened any longer, she might just jump off the train. Lin Yanyan could never have imagined that one day Lin Ran would become so sickeningly sweet. The image of him she had in her mind had completely shattered into pieces.
When He Mo and Xie Zhen arrived, they were greeted by Lin Yanyan standing at the door with a blank expression.
Xie Zhen scratched his head and called out, “Yanyan, what are you doing standing there? Come on, let’s go eat.”
He Mo glanced at her but said nothing.
Lin Yanyan responded with a sullen face, “Mm.”
After that, she ignored them and walked off on her own.
Xie Zhen, still baffled, stared at her back and muttered, “What’s up with Yanyan now? She didn’t have a fight with Brother Ran, did she? She couldn’t possibly be mad at the fairy, though.”
He Mo lazily threw an arm over the chubby boy’s shoulder as they walked forward, replying, “Probably just got a bit overwhelmed.”
Xie Zhen: “Huh?”
He couldn’t understand a single word they were saying.
…
Inside the carriage, the warm yellow lights glowed softly. The soothing melody of a violin accompanied the rhythm of the moving train, while the liquid in the glasses shimmered under the light, and the aroma of the food filled the air.
Xie Zhen, He Mo, and Lin Yanyan sat at a distance, not wanting to get involved in the excitement. They made sure to stay far away from Lin Ran and Sheng Qingxi.
It had only been a day, and they were already fed up with Lin Ran’s lovey-dovey behavior.
The wooden dining table was set with beautiful sushi, all made from ingredients delivered that very day. The eel rice Xie Zhen had been clamoring for was also laid out on the table.
Lin Ran had a glass of red wine in front of him, while Sheng Qingxi had a crystal-clear peach juice, its soft pink color looking quite beautiful.
Sheng Qingxi glanced at Lin Ran’s drink, then at her own, and couldn’t help but murmur, “Lin Ran, I want to drink too.”
Lin Ran glanced at her, his eyes filled with a mix of amusement and interest. His tone was lazy as he said, “You want to drink? Don’t you remember how you get all touchy when you’re drunk? Wasn’t this afternoon enough?”
At first, Sheng Qingxi didn’t say anything, just quietly looking at him.
Her large, clear eyes revealed no emotional fluctuations.
The more expressionless she was, the more uneasy Lin Ran felt. Thinking back to the afternoon, he realized he might have gone a bit too far. His dry fingertips had grazed over fabric so thin that with just a little force, it could have torn apart.
Recalling the dimly lit room from earlier, Lin Ran’s throat felt dry.
After a few seconds of staring at him, Sheng Qingxi finally spoke in a serious tone, “I don’t just kiss anyone. I only kiss you.”
Lin Ran: “…”
Damn.
He suddenly wanted to drag her back to their room and never let her leave again. Whether it was the beautiful scenery outside the train window or the lively atmosphere in the dining car, nothing could compare to Sheng Qingxi.
Lin Ran forced himself to look away, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.
Later. He needed to be patient.
In front of him, the sushi looked stunning. The rice was plump and translucent, shaped into soft little mounds, with the fish slices lying lazily on top. The colors were so tempting, it made one’s mouth water.
After Sheng Qingxi finished speaking, she shifted her focus back to the meal.
She intended to enjoy her dinner properly.
Compared to Sheng Qingxi’s serious attitude toward eating, Lin Ran seemed much less interested in the food. But it wasn’t really his fault—no matter where they were, his attention was always on Sheng Qingxi.
After the great fire, Lin Ran hadn’t taken the time to really think things through.
This trip was supposed to give him the opportunity to reflect on their future together—how they would live after getting together, their future, and even their wedding.
If it were legal at their age, Lin Ran would have married Sheng Qingxi in a heartbeat.
Even if people often said that marriage was a grave, Lin Ran thought, well, it would be a grave with Sheng Qingxi in it.
Wherever she was, that’s where he’d be.
Every dish at dinner tasted great. Sheng Qingxi finished an entire small bowl of eel rice, and the pink peach juice next to her was half-drunk. Rubbing her little belly, she leaned back in her chair to rest.
It was only at that moment that she finally began to feel like she was truly on vacation.
Relaxed and at ease, with Lin Ran by her side.
Lin Ran hadn’t planned on drinking much, but seeing Sheng Qingxi behave so well and eat so much tonight, he ended up having a couple more glasses. It wasn’t enough to get him drunk—not even tipsy, really.
But in Sheng Qingxi’s eyes, Lin Ran seemed drunk. His gaze appeared to carry a faint trace of alcohol.
After finishing his meal, Lin Ran neither spoke nor moved. He just leaned his head slightly to the side and stared at her with a calm, cold expression, though his focus was entirely on her. His slender fingers lazily rested on the table, just inches away from the wine glass.
Sheng Qingxi hesitated for a moment before softly asking, “Lin Ran, are you drunk?”
Lin Ran instinctively wanted to say no, but when he remembered what Sheng Qingxi had said earlier, “I only kiss you,” he swallowed his words and answered in a low voice, “Mm.”
The original plan for the evening was for them to hang out in Carriage No. 2. Xie Zhen and He Mo were interested in the small bar, while Lin Yanyan wanted to go back and watch a movie.
Sheng Qingxi had planned to accompany Lin Yanyan, but now that Lin Ran was supposedly drunk, she figured she should take him back to his room first.
She leaned forward slightly and reached out to touch Lin Ran’s hand. The next second, Lin Ran caught her hand in his palm. She pressed her lips into a small smile, her tone as if coaxing a child, “Lin Ran, let me help you back to your room to lie down, okay?”