Chapter 176 – Taking The Heavenly Queen Shopping
It was getting dark, the street lights on both sides of the street were on, and night was about to fall.
Lu Chen drove his Zhonghua X7 and was traveling at a speed of no more than 10 km per hour in the rolling traffic.
Although Beijing was no longer labeled as “clogged city” for a few years now, the roads in Beijing’s Second and Third Ring Road were still very crowded during the late peak period and often congested, leaving people helpless. (TN: Clogged city means a city having severe traffic jam)
“Hello, dear listeners, this is Beijing Music Radio FM102.6…”
“The next song is “Happy Angel” by Chen Fei’er. I wish you all a good night!”
Listening to the FM radio from the car radio, Lu Chen couldn’t help but turn his head to the right.
Sitting in the co-pilot’s position, there was a woman wearing a t-shirt and jeans.
The white t-shirt, that was as wide as bat sleeves, were printed with large and small English letters, and was full of postmodernist exaggeration under the multi-color contrast of splash ink style, which was exactly the style that fashionable young people like nowadays.
The material of the black and blue jeans is very thin, and there are many rips on the surface, exposing the white jade skin inside.
She has a fluffy ponytail, a thick purple eye shadow on her face, a pair of color-framed flat glasses mounted on the delicate bridge of her nose, her red lips like fire, and long purple gold silk rings dangling on her left and right earlobes, shining under the flashing headlights from time to time.
This kind of style is very common in the personal space of WeChat group and QQ group. Basically, it comes from those post-90s girls who are crazy about selfies, who chase fashion and color and like personalized decoration.
Even if it seems very exaggerated.
However, this…
Lu Chen was really speechless. He never dreamed that Chen Fei’er could dress up like this!
If the entertainment reporters get a picture of Chen Fei’er’s appearance, moreover, she left all her assistants and entourage behind, and went shopping and have dinner with him, it was estimated that this will certainly be able to make the headlines tomorrow.
Her image would be completely ruined!
Queen of Sweet Song? Beautiful lady boss? The goddess that attracts a lot of attention?
It’s all going to vanish!
Lu Chen felt that his eggs hurt and he was under a lot of pressure.
Why did he agree?
Well, Lu Chen has to admit that the temptation to take the Heavenly Queen to go shopping made him unable to refuse.
This was obviously not the first time that Chen Fei’er play like this. Earlier, when he got out of the Mercedes-Benz business car, he only waited outside for half an hour to see that the Heavenly Queen had completely changed her appearance.
Even if she walks openly on a bustling street, perhaps no one could tell who she really was!
Chen Fei’er noticed Lu Chen’s gaze, as if she knew what he was thinking, she said softly, “People like us have no life of their own. It feels like we are living for others. The surface is bright and beautiful, but underneath it, others don’t know how much pressure we’re bearing.”
“I’m not surprised that Brother Wang Bin had an accident, because he started doing that a long time ago and couldn’t control it.”
“I don’t want to use that kind of self-destructive way to relieve stress, so when I have a chance, I will run out and just be an ordinary person, go shopping for clothes, eat food that I don’t normally dare to eat, go to the amusement park to ride the roller coaster, or go to the amusement arcade to play games.” (TN: Amusement arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as claw cranes), etc.)
She told her story softly, blending with her singing from the radio.
Lu Chen was silent.
After a moment, he asked curiously, “Sister Fei, you running out with me like this, isn’t it…?”
Isn’t Chen Fei’er afraid or worried? After all, he is a young and vigorous man!
If she really suffered a loss, she would probably have to swallow it by herself.
“What are you thinking?”
Chen Fei’er pretended to be angry and said, “I think of you as a younger brother. My younger brother is as old as you!”
She pouted and said with a smile “If I were ten years younger, I could really consider you.”
Chen Fei’er has never been shy about saying her age. She is 30 years old, 8 years older than Lu Chen.
She has a favorable impression on Lu Chen and appreciates his talent. And believe in his character.
Lu Chen rubbed his nose with a wry smile, speechless.
Chen Fei’er blinked and asked, “Lu Chen, you still don’t have a girlfriend?”
Lu Chen nodded: “Yes. I don’t have such thought for the time being.”
Chen Fei’er sighed: “It’s also true that us artist are different from ordinary people when it comes to relationship. Us artists are always exposed to the flashing light. Moreover, artists don’t have much time to be with their love one and always have an on and off relationship.”
She suddenly said, “Xiaochu likes you very much. You don’t consider her? She is a lovely girl!”
Xiaochu?
Lu Chen froze for a while, and soon realized that Chen Fei’er was talking about Mu Xiaochu.
He shook his head: “I think of Xiaochu as a younger sister.”
Hearing Lu Chen’s answer, Chen Fei’er immediately smiled – she had just said that she thought of Lu Chen as a younger brother!
The Queen of Sweet Song smiled so beautifully that even heavy makeup couldn’t cover it.
The atmosphere inside the car became warm and harmonious.
The stagnant traffic started moving.
When Lu Chen parked his car in the parking lot near Shichahai, it was already dark.
In the evening, it was agreed that Chen Fei’er will treat him to dinner, but she didn’t want to go to any luxury five-star hotel restaurant. Instead, she wanted to eat the special snacks of the old capital, so she went to Shichahai.
Shichahai’s snack street is famous throughout Beijing. There are dozens of century-old brands such as Yueshengzhai, deep fried tripe, Tea Soup Li, rice cake money, Cheese Wei, Wei Yangtou Horse, soft bean curd and so on.
Originally, Shichahai’s snack street was hidden in Xiaoyou alley next to Soong Qingling’s former residence. It was a square courtyard, and at most it could only accommodate a few hundred customers at the same time.
Later, because business was too hot, the government made some re-planning in the construction, connecting the old alley with the new pedestrian street, adding more food and snacks from all over the country and even from abroad, and combined with the surrounding modern shopping malls to form an integrated pattern of eating, drinking, playing and buying.
Business is booming here every day. Especially at six or seven o’clock, when there are too many people.
“I want to eat deep fried tripe, rice cake and soft bean curd…”
Chen Fei’er wasn’t polite. She held Lu Chen’s arm and said, “There are also lamb skewers, shumai, soup steamed buns and lemon juice!” (TN: Not being polite here means that she didn’t treat Lu Chen as an outsider. They are familiar with each other.)
Walking in the antique old street, the two followed the crowd, just like an ordinary couple.
Chen Fei’er is more than 1.7 meters tall. Even if she wasn’t wearing high heels, the two matched well together.
Lu Chen was surprised: “Are you okay with eating this kind of food? Aren’t you afraid of getting fat?”
Chen Fei’er said with a smile, “I’m not afraid. I only eat it once or twice every a few months.”
Lu Chen also let loose: “If you’re not afraid, then let’s open our belly and have a good time. Eat whatever you want!” (TN: Open the belly – eat to your heart’s content)
Chen Fei’er wasn’t afraid. What was she afraid of?
“That’s right.”
Chen Fei’er said with a smile, “If we came out to relax, we shouldn’t think too much. Being happy is the most important thing.”
In other words, be unrestrained!
So, two unrestrained people first ran to a stall selling lamb skewers. Lu Chen asked the boss for 10 skewers.
“Make it a little spicy!”
“All right!”
The boss quickly counted 10 skewers that had just been roasted, and sprinkled it skillfully with chili powder: “That would be 50 yuan.”
A single lamb skewer costs 5 yuan. Lu Chen took the lamb skewers but didn’t pay for it.
It was Chen Fei’er who paid for it.
She took out the money from her small bag, which was only 50 yuan, and handed them to her boss.
“Thank you for your patronage!”
When the boss took the money, he gave Lu Chen a look of contempt.
Such a handsome boy. How could he let the girl pay for their food?
He’s either a soft egg or soft rice. (TN: Soft egg – timid person. Soft rice – a man depending on woman for a living)
You have such a good appearance in vain!
Lu Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
On the way, Chen Fei’er emphasized that he was responsible for picking what to buy and holding things, and she was responsible for paying.
As a result, he was despised.
Chen Fei’er smiled and divided several lamb skewers from Lu Chen’s hand and couldn’t wait to stuff them into her mouth.
As soon as she chewed a few pieces of meat, she opened her mouth and breathed hard: “so spicy, so spicy!”
Her face showing a pained expression.
Lu Chen hurriedly bought freshly squeezed orange juice next to the lamb skewer stall and handed it to Chen Fei’er.
“This is good!”
Chen Fei’er was obviously not very good at eating spicy food, but after a mouthful of juice, she continued to eat lamb skewers.
Lu Chen admired this kind of spirit.
It’s just that if her image of eating and drinking so unscrupulously and without any ladylike demeanor was seen by her fans, it is unknown how many people will be heartbroken!
While eating lamb skewers, the two strolled on and stopped when they saw anything they wanted to eat.
Rice cake, soft bean curd, shumai, soup steamed stuffed bun…
Eating all the way, without having to think about anything else, they just ate.
As a result, they were only halfway through the snack street, Chen Fei’er had already eaten so much that she could hardly walk!
She also felt regrettable: “There are a lot of delicious food in the back.”
Lu Chen said with a smile, “We’ll come back here and eat again. Let’s go to the pedestrian street and have a rest first.”
Ahead of them is the intersection of snack street and pedestrian street. Turning right will lead to the shopping mall.
The pedestrian street that leads directly to the mall was less crowded. There were open-air teahouses and coffee shops on both sides.
There were also benches for tourists to rest on.
Lu Chen and Chen Fei’er found an empty chair to sit down. They were not tired, just a little bit full.
Chen Fei’er ordered a lot of things greedily. Then she tasted each of them and gave the rest to Lu Chen.
Lu Chen’s stomach capacity was also limited.
“Huh?”
Chen Fei’er’s eyes suddenly brightened and nudged Lu Chen with her elbow: “Listen!”
Lu Chen listened.
“The brightest star in the night sky, can you hear clearly, the endless sighs from lonely souls looking up…”
Unexpectedly, someone was singing “The Brightest Star In The Night Sky”!
He couldn’t help turning his head and looking in the direction of the song.
Just a dozen meters away, in the middle of the pedestrian street, a street singer was playing an instrument and singing.
Singing Lu Chen’s song.
“Will the brightest star in the night sky recall, my companion, whose shadow melt into the wind!”
Lu Chen couldn’t help smiling.
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TN: About the title. It’s shopping for food
TN: If you like my translations support me in ko-fi: Here.
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