Plus, the only one who would end up suffering was herself.
So, she couldn't be bothered to save any face or put on airs. She would never let herself suffer a loss for no reason.
If it was a more convenient option, she would happily take it and save herself the trouble instead of taking the high road.
Zhao Jun chuckled again.
"I am finding you more and more likeable, Miss Tang. Please dig in and see if the chef's skills are any good," he gestured at the meals, inviting her to try them.
Tang Lin found herself lost in his smile for a second.
Why did she feel like he was coming off as very different from their first meeting.
The first time she met him at the audition, with all the security detail and the way that Mr. Chen interacted with him, she expected that he would be the typically cold, hard-to-talk-to Young Master who could not be bothered talking to them mere peasants.
Yet here he was, talking a lot. Smiling a whole lot.
He was so easy-going that she almost thought the one in front of her was a body double.
Because, this one definitely couldn't be the Young Master Zhao of one of the leading families in Beijing.
Who, are all wealthy Young Masters so easy to talk to these days?
When she heard his invitation to try out the meals, she did her best to tamp down the desire to quibble with him and began to scan the table for anything that looked good.
"Sure. Thank you for having me."
Zhao Jun smiled and swallowed before saying, "Of course. After all I'm looking forward to you treating me, too."
And Tang Lin, who had not expected him to take her offhanded offer to treat him to a meal seriously, was caught off guard by his comment.
She even almost choked on the noodle soup that she had just bent her head to slurp off the spoon.
She glared at him.
And here she was thinking that she should try her best to be cordial with him.
Look at that annoying smile of his!
Probably trying to wordlessly murder her and dispose of the body because he didn't want to directly soil his hands with her blood.
Or maybe he wanted to save money on poison.
Hmph, what a shameless and evil capitalist!
(Hsu Jin again: Please, Miss Tang. Can't your thoughts be a little normal?)
With a fake smile that barely concealed her annoyance, she said through gritted teeth, "fine. I'm sure you have my contact information. Let me know when you are free."
Zhao Jun leaned back in his chair to watch her eat, his eyes dancing with amusement.
It was a strange and crazy feeling, but he could not hold back his desire to rile her up.
Having lived his entire life with minimal contact with the outside world, this was a foreign feeling to him.
One that he did not hate. It was a feeling that he wanted to savour and explore, until he could make sense of it.
(Hsu Jin who was standing in a corner of the living room in the shadows: Miss Tang, sorry that you have to be on the receiving end of our Young Master's fun.)
For Zhao Jun, growing up in seclusion did not mean that he did not understand the nuances of human interaction.
On the contrary, he had been exposed to all kinds of superior standards of education, he had devoured countless books on human psychology and social interactions.
In theory, he knew an awful lot about how people communicated, flirted, argued and everything in-between.
However, what he did not have was the opportunity to participate and put everything he had learned to practice.
With Tang Lin, he felt an inexplicable pull to engage. It felt like he had finally found a sparring partner after years of self-taught boxing training.
The occasional spark in her eyes, and the fire in her bones every time she argued with him was refreshingly intriguing.
Compared to the all-encompassing rigid "Yes, Young Master", "No, Young Master", etc, that he was used to, every exchange with Tang Lin felt essential and… indispensable.
Tang Lin continued to eat, paying him no mind. The meal was really good so she did not hold back at all.
"Only if I had enough money, I would have poached him over to my apartment," she sat there muttering under her breath.
Zhao Jun being a martial arts practitioner with a hearing better than most immediately heard her and decided that it was a good opportunity to mess with her one last time.
"You like their meals so much?" he asked when he saw her stuffing her mouth with as much as it could carry per time.
She was currently looking like a hamster whose mouth was filled to the brim with nuts.
At this moment, facing food that she clearly liked, there was no Eagle Eyed Tang Lin.
There was only a beautiful lady who did not shy away from stuffing her face with delicious food.
Zhao Jun could feel his appetite increase significantly just watching her eat with gusto.
Tang Lin nodded her head and, as if she was just talking about the weather responded, "Sure. It's not bad."
Mirth danced in Zhao Jun's eyes as he observed, already envisioning her reaction to the bombshell he was about to drop on her:
"How about you marry me so that you can just move here with me and you get to eat the meals they make every day without needing to spend a dime poaching them?"