The restaurant was not far from the villa, its scale rivaling that of a shopping mall.
Su Nuo had already “scouted” the place two weeks ago, so as soon as they sat down, she naturally ordered several dishes.
She was familiar with the menu, while Lin Yingluo was more acquainted with the nature of the restaurant itself.
Not long after sitting, she called over a waiter to discuss the banquet arrangements for tomorrow.
“There won’t be many people—less than ten—but the food needs to be delivered to the house. Yes, just to the nearby villa area. There are six usable stoves at home, besides that…”
Lin Yingluo was busy placing the order, standing there with such a commanding presence that the waiter, who was supposed to introduce the dishes, was so intimidated he didn’t dare speak.
Su Nuo didn’t get involved.
After all, she only recognized about half the items on the menu.
This kind of technical business was better left to others. With nothing to do, she took out her phone to play around.
Then suddenly, she froze.
The first day of the holidays.
Normally, one would greet friends, check in on each other, right? But the problem now was there was no one to ask.
“Do you have any friends?” the girl asked herself silently.
Mengmei was just about to open sensory sharing and savor some food when she tilted her head at the question: “Friends?”
“Close friends, the kind you often hang out with and keep in touch with during holidays.”
“Oh, none.”
Simple and straightforward.
Su Nuo understood immediately—indeed, she had none.
Because according to the First Law of Su Xiaonuo—only hang out with rich and pretty girls.
But if she had already had friends fitting that law, she wouldn’t have needed to ask around for introductions and eventually turned to Lin Yingluo.
However, she did have one friend recently.
[Nuo Nuo: Are you there? How was your day? Still at school?]
She sent the message to her outstanding roommate, Lin Chu Xi, but there was no reply for a while.
Perhaps she was stuck with difficulties in the subject group.
“Do you think Lin Chu Xi’s behavior,” Su Xiao Nuo suddenly mused, “counts as a kind of overtime?”
“No,” Su Nuo replied instantly, “because she’s not getting paid.”
Though overtime doesn’t always come with extra pay, she didn’t even have that.
Su Xiao Nuo chuckled.
“You know, I think whether Lin Chu Xi herself is willing or not, the teacher probably just asked once, sincerely inviting her to participate, and she agreed.”
Su Nuo pursed her lips, remaining noncommittal.
“But that’s a good thing. Someone as polite as her—if we ever need help, you can just pretend to earnestly ask her, and she definitely won’t have the heart to refuse,” Su Xiao Nuo suggested.
Su Nuo instinctively nodded, then hesitated and added, “No need to pretend, just be genuinely sincere.”
In matters of social grace, there’s no pretense—it’s all real.
After a while, Lin Yingluo returned.
She’d been talking for a bit and her mouth felt dry, so she sat down and took a sip of tea.
“At least the meal for tomorrow is settled,” she said, “though a few minor issues remain.”
A banquet with fewer than ten people was obviously a scaled-down affair.
Originally, she wanted to invite more friends and acquaintances, but since her parents would be coming later, Lin Yingluo gave up on a grand event and switched to a small gathering.
Even so, the schedule was still too tight, and they couldn’t even wait for her younger sister to come back.
“What minor issues?”
Su Nuo asked.
“For example, desserts and pastries. If they’re made here and then delivered, the texture and flavor won’t be good,” Lin Yingluo explained.
That was indeed a serious problem since desserts and pastries at a banquet were like snacks—people always nibble on them when idle; otherwise, they’d just keep drinking tea.
“We can make them at home,” Su Nuo suddenly said.
Lin Yingluo paused mid-sip, surprised.
“At home?”
“Yes, I tried it before. The oven and other equipment—on the afternoon of the Test Period,” the girl blinked, “are all good and ready to use anytime.”
***
Lin Chu Xi really was stuck—not just her, but the entire subject group.
They had encountered a problem.
“In the following years of management, the club added many new positions to subdivide work, making everyone’s contributions visible and justifying assignments. Theoretically, that shouldn’t be an issue, but it didn’t improve the situation, and…” a girl said in confusion, “before that, the club had fewer people and fewer posts, yet still operated well.”
Another classmate added, “Well, the demands for videos and operations later were much higher. Founders, when not talking about originality, generally have lower technical demands than successors.”
Meaning, the founders just needed to think of creative ideas, but those who came later had to deal with audience fatigue and many other tasks.
Though it sounded a bit disrespectful, it was objectively true.
The girl shook her head.
“But they really had less than a tenth of the people they have now. The massive expansion and creation of many positions later made the whole club bloated and chaotic, which was one of the main reasons it eventually failed.”
No one argued with that.
The more people there are, the harder management becomes; every group has its factions.
Just then, a boy sitting in front of a computer said, “There’s a reply!”
The others immediately stopped arguing and looked over.
Though they couldn’t find that Senior Su, they had found other people from the club back then and asked about related matters.
Some doubts were finally clarified.
“‘Most things were done by little Su. Honestly, we never thought of growing big, let alone making a profit. Back then, Zhang Shushu didn’t even have an incentive plan. By the way, there isn’t one now either, right? Never mind, that’s not important. Anyway, we never needed that many people,’ the old senior said.”
For a moment, the students’ expressions were complicated.
Lin Chu Xi sat quietly in the corner, listening to the discussion.
She glanced at her phone to check the time and suddenly noticed an unread message from Su Nuo.
She hurriedly replied.
How should she respond?
First, apologize for the delay, explain why she hadn’t replied for so long, but would that seem too forced?
Online chatting usually means delayed replies are normal…
The girl was tangled in thought.
“Everything was done by that person? He fixed the dorm air conditioner, repaired the water dispenser, set up the campus network, and even performed cake sculpting in one episode!”
“Oh my, a thousand craftsman’s hands!”
***
Perhaps thanks to Su Xiao Nuo’s usual “training,” her hands, as smooth as jade, were very dexterous.
Combined with the skills ingrained deep in her soul, she crafted a vivid little jam rabbit.
“When I was little, when I was still in school, I once helped out at a cake shop on the street during a summer vacation,” the girl said, wearing a small apron and tilting her head.
“It’s been a long time since I last did it, so I’m a bit rusty.”
Lin Yingluo stood a little behind, watching Su Nuo’s small yet strong figure.
The air was filled with the scent of baking, like a sweet dream.
My wife knows so much!