Hearing him mention the blind date, Tan Jing raised a brow. Word traveled fast.
“The blind date was just my dad’s idea. Once only, won’t happen again.”
“I get it, I get it. You’ve already got someone you like.” He Siheng put on a “bros understand” face. “So, you in for dinner or not?”
He’d gone to great lengths to scam some “sponsorship” from Boss He.
Tan Jing looked at him for a few seconds, confirming he hadn’t grasped the implication of his promise at all.
Or rather, this guy hadn’t taken the blind date seriously to begin with.
Tan Jing sighed.
Reluctant, yet helpless.
From childhood to now, only the person in front of him could make him feel this defeated.
“I’ll treat you.” Tan Jing said. “We already agreed on it before.”
He Siheng heard him say he would treat, and thought there was no harm in a free meal, so he agreed without hesitation. “Alright, then tonight…”
“This Saturday,” Tan Jing said flatly. “There’s a Western restaurant at West Street Intersection. I heard from Tan Wan that their steaks are pretty good, but you need to book in advance.”
He Siheng let out a yo. “Western food? Making it all fancy.”
Tan Jing smiled faintly. “Has to be.”
After the bad luck of running into Lu Xinshu, He Siheng didn’t tell Zhou Yu. After all, the whole backstory and twists involving Tan Jing—if Zhou Yu the bigmouth found out, it would be as good as the entire fan club group knowing about Tan Jing’s backup plans.
Fortunately, Zhou Yu was easy to fool. During the big break for the flag-raising ceremony, when he saw the bandage on He Siheng’s hand and asked what happened, He Siheng brushed it off with the same excuse he’d used on Lady Shu Qiu.
He managed to gloss over that incident, but he slipped up on another matter.
It started when Zhou Yu excitedly invited He Siheng to see the new horror movie that Saturday. He Siheng realized the timing clashed with the dinner with Tan Jing and rejected it without thinking, blurting out the first half: “No can do, this Saturday I’ve got to go with Tan Jing…”
By the time he realized, it was too late. Flames of gossip were already blazing in Zhou Yu’s eyes.
“What are you and the Class Monitor going to do?”
“You two going out on a big weekend for what?”
“Just the two of you?”
He Siheng: “…”
He Siheng closed his eyes. Fine, one more lie wouldn’t hurt.
“Last time I owed him a favor, so I’m treating him to a meal.”
Zhou Yu was half-believing. “Just a meal?”
“Yeah,” He Siheng said helplessly. “Just casually eating at that Western restaurant on West Street Intersection…” He paused…
Before he could finish, he turned and saw Zhou Yu’s weird expression.
Zhou Yu looked at him with a mix of pity and exasperation. “The Western restaurant on West Street Intersection? You’re going to that* place?”
He Siheng was baffled. “Yeah, what’s wrong? Is the food bad there?”
“No, it’s not that…” Zhou Yu hesitated, then decided to spill it. “The Western restaurant you’re talking about is the famous couples’ dating spot.”
“…”
“You two aren’t going on a date, are you? When did you get together behind my back? Spill the truth!”
“…………”
He Siheng was silent for a moment, then turned and walked away.
Zhou Yu chased after him from behind. “Heng Bro, where are you going!”
He Siheng stopped, twisted his head back fiercely. “To settle accounts!”
“…”
He Siheng stormed back to the classroom with murderous intent.
Tan Jing had already returned to the classroom ahead of him. He sat at his desk, unusually not reading or doing problems. One hand lazily propped up his cheek, the other held his phone, as if searching for something.
He looked completely relaxed.
As soon as He Siheng entered the classroom, he marched straight over, stood in front of Tan Jing’s desk, and called his name without ceremony. “Tan Jing!”
The slender fingers sliding on the phone screen suddenly paused. He flipped the screen face-down on the desk, then lifted his head, his pitch-black eyes looking toward him. “Hm?”
He seemed to be in a good mood, his gaze carrying a faint, relaxed amusement.
He Siheng had come to interrogate him, to ask when this guy would stop being so mischievous—dragging him to some couples’ dating spot for dinner.
But when he met those pitch-black, pretty eyes, he suddenly lost his nerve.
Maybe Tan Jing didn’t know it was a dating spot. He might have just heard from Tan Wan that the steaks were good and invited him to try them. Tan Wan had a partner, so it wasn’t weird for her to scout out a couples’ spot.
With that thought, He Siheng suddenly couldn’t bring himself to question him.
But the two of them going alone to that place felt a bit too subtle. He might not have cared before, but now, for some reason, he did…
He Siheng thought it over, circled back to his own seat, pulled out the chair, sat down, and suggested in a negotiating tone, “I’ve suddenly lost interest in Western food. How about Hunan cuisine instead? I’ll treat. I’ll bring Zhou Yu, you bring Song Lin and Wang Yizhou. We can make it your belated birthday celebration. More people, more lively to celebrate with you?”
Tan Jing paused, the amusement in his eyes fading a bit.
He didn’t answer right away. His index finger slowly tapped three times on the face-down phone, as if pondering something.
He Siheng watched his gaze suddenly cool and inexplicably felt uneasy.
The next moment, he heard Tan Jing softly hum in agreement, and He Siheng immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
“Then it’s settled.”
With that matter resolved, He Siheng returned to his seat feeling light as a feather. Just then, the class bell rang. The teacher entered, and they stood to salute. Even his “Good morning, teacher!” was full of cheer.
Meanwhile, he didn’t notice.
Beside him, Tan Jing pressed his lips together, shoved the phone full of dating strategies back into his desk drawer amid the chorus of drawn-out greetings, and let out a heavy tsk.
Very annoyed.
![The Coveted Pretty Wife [Quick Transmigration]](https://i0.wp.com/dobynovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/w.jpg?resize=151,215 "The Coveted Pretty Wife [Quick Transmigration]")