Chapter 45: A Date with a Female Celebrity

"Bye-bye, my friends."

Just as they drove off the elevated highway and entered the downtown area, sensing they were about to arrive at their dining destination, Gu Yin finally reached out and detached the livestreaming camera for *Reconciliation with Life* from his chest to protect Xia Qianyi's privacy and her identity as a celebrity.

"And you had the nerve to say no one watches your show?" The young woman took off her hat, her delicate hand running through her short, glossy black hair to tidy it up. Perhaps because she was about to go to a restaurant for dinner, she had suddenly started to care about her image.

She even pulled out a compact powder case from a white designer bag of an unknown brand sitting nearby, patting it gently onto her face.

At this moment, Xia Qianyi didn't feel to Gu Yin like a high-and-mighty female celebrity; instead, she seemed much more like a young girl touching up her makeup while out on a date with a guy.

"What are you looking at?" Gu Yin's silent stare made Xia Qianyi feel a little self-conscious.

"Looking at how pretty you are, figured I'd take a few extra glances." Gu Yin answered honestly.

"As if I needed you to tell me?" Xia Qianyi claimed she was long tired of hearing compliments about her looks, but for some reason...

Being complimented by Gu Yin made the corners of her mouth curl up in a smile she found harder to suppress than an anti-aircraft gun.

"Where are we going?" Gu Yin asked.

They were approaching Quancheng Road, the busiest district in the downtown area. Parking fees around here were far from cheap, with spaces near the World Trade Center costing ten yuan an hour.

There were some spending waivers, though; rumor had it that if you accumulated one million yuan in consumption within the mall over a year, you could enjoy eight hours of free parking daily. To Gu Yin, that sounded like absolute fantasy...

If he really had the financial muscle to spend one million a year, would he give a damn about an eighty-yuan daily parking fee?

"The mall, I suppose." Xia Qianyi directed him down the road and asked, "Are you used to eating Japanese food?"

"You mean salmon, tuna, and that sort of stuff?" Gu Yin raised an eyebrow slightly. "To be honest, I can manage salmon, but the rest aren't really my thing, especially fish roe. But Japanese cuisine isn't just raw fish, right? I'm fine with things like grilled eel or tamagoyaki. It would be even better if there's Japanese bone-broth ramen or sukiyaki."

"You really know your food, don't you?" Xia Qianyi hadn't expected Gu Yin to be so well-versed in Japanese cuisine. This driving instructor from a small county really was starting to impress her a little.

"Even if I haven't eaten pork, I've seen a pig run, right?" Gu Yin replied that he occasionally watched food and travel shows in his spare time.

Xia Qianyi let out a light laugh and said, "A friend of mine owns a Japanese restaurant on the top floor of the mall, and I hold some shares in it too. It's a bit more private there, so it's more convenient for me to eat at her place."

Being a female celebrity, even though her hometown of Quancheng was a second-tier city, there were always paparazzi and scalpers tracking her down from elsewhere. Therefore, "discretion" was always Xia Qianyi's top priority when going out to eat.

"Mm-hmm, alright, no problem with me." As he drove into the mall's underground parking garage and the security barrier lifted, Gu Yin casually asked, "You're covering the parking fee, right?"

"...I'll cover it." Veins bulged on Xia Qianyi's forehead.

It was currently around six or seven in the evening, and since it was Saturday, the mall was naturally packed with foot traffic—especially during this peak hour. They had managed to drive into the garage, but from the first basement level down to the second, the digital sign showed not a single empty parking space.

It was only after circling around several times in the deepest third basement level that they finally managed to spot an empty spot tucked away in a corner.

"That wasn't easy," Gu Yin muttered, scratching his head. "And that's why I always say driving to downtown is a hassle..."

The only reason was that he was dropping Xia Qianyi home and having dinner along the way; otherwise, if Gu Yin came downtown by himself—unless he was driving for a ride-hailing service—he wouldn't drive here for all the tea in China.

Taking a taxi from his place to downtown only cost fifty or sixty yuan. If he were going to wander around a mall and stay for a while, the parking fee alone would end up being more expensive than the taxi fare!

"Let's go."

Her short hair had grown out enough to be tied up, so Xia Qianyi used a cute gray hair tie to gather her locks at the back of her head into a neat little bun, topping it off with a gray beret. The entire look instantly elevated her presence.

With all her hair swept back, every single feature on her exquisite melon seed-shaped face was fully exposed to the air. An ultimate sense of refinement seemed to wash over Gu Yin, leaving him unable to resist a sigh of admiration:

"True to being a female celebrity."

"Then how come I've barely ever seen you treat me like one?" Xia Qianyi rolled her eyes, the memory of Gu Yin treating her mercilessly during their driving lesson earlier flashing back to anger her all over again.

"Because I don't chase after stars." Gu Yin shrugged.

"Such a sharp tongue..." Xia Qianyi shook her head.

Chatting along the way, the two of them arrived at the direct elevator near the mall entrance.

While waiting for the elevator, several other customers heading into the mall joined them. It was indeed peak entry time, and the descending elevators were completely packed. Some people, worried that the cars coming all the way up from the third basement level would already be full, started trying to board from the first and second baselines...

As a result, passengers inside the elevator had a tremendously hard time getting out.

It took quite an effort for Gu Yin and Xia Qianyi to finally squeeze into the elevator...

With so many people, Xia Qianyi found herself flustered by the crowding. Fortunately, at that moment, Gu Yin grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the corner behind him, shielding her so that the surrounding crowd wouldn't press against her.

"You've got quite an eye for details, huh?" the young woman whispered softly in Gu Yin's ear.

"Of course," Gu Yin replied with confidence.

The corners of her mouth hidden beneath a black face mask curved upward slightly. Through her sunglasses, Xia Qianyi could clearly see Gu Yin's back—it wasn't broad, and was even somewhat slender, but for some reason, it inexplicably gave off a sense of reliability.

The elevator went straight up to the fifth floor. Emerging from the elevator, guided by Xia Qianyi, the two of them walked all the way to a Japanese restaurant.

The restaurant's sign was written in Japanese characters that Gu Yin couldn't read. He wanted to ask Xia Qianyi, but considering how eloquently he had talked about Japanese cuisine earlier, he felt it would be too embarrassing to admit he couldn't read the signboard, so he simply swallowed the question.

"You go on in, I need to use the restroom," the young woman's voice sounded by his ear. "Go in and look for Sister Panpan, and tell her table number 33, the reserved one."

The mall had its air conditioning running, and perhaps feeling a bit warm, the young woman took off her gray overcoat and handed it to Gu Yin along with her white chained shoulder bag.

"Oh, okay." Gu Yin nodded, naturally taking the clothes handed to him by Xia Qianyi. They still retained the warmth and faint fragrance of the young girl's body. For some reason, at that very moment, as he watched Xia Qianyi's slender figure walk away, he suddenly felt that the two of them looked rather like a young couple out on a date...

"Heh-heh-heh."

The feeling was rather pleasant, and Gu Yin couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle.

"A date?"

Going on a date with a female celebrity—just thinking about it made his vanity skyrocket.