Chapter 19: Near

Qiao Lan is not wearing her fat, dark blue school uniform today, she is wearing the uniform of the staff at the Western Restaurant.

Her hair is simply coiffed, revealing a long, beautiful neckline, a western-style chambray, a white single-necked blouse gathered in a short skirt, outlining an extremely slim waist.

She wore a pair of soft-soled black leather shoes, which increasingly set off her calves, slender and straight, and her body moved lightly through this western restaurant, very busy, yet very skilled.

Tan Father really can't get his head around this son.

He has always loved this western restaurant, the ambience is good, the service is good and the food tastes fantastic.

But whether Tan Mo liked it or not he couldn't guess, seeing that Tan Mo didn't move from his wheelchair, his brow furrowed invisibly, "I come here often, it's not bad, but if you don't like it, we can change it", Tan Father said, "or you don't want to eat western food? Or don't you want Western food? What would you like to eat?"

Tan Mo's eyes still fell straight on Qiao Lan's back and he spat out three short words.

"Just this one."

Tan Father's eyebrows are relaxed.

Tan Father has been here quite a few times, he is a regular customer, and he is very generous, so most of the staff here know him.

He looked down at the young man in the wheelchair who had followed Tan Father.

The face is excessively pale and the hair is a little too long to cover the eyes to see the whole picture, in short it is a little odd.

But in the end, she was a good professional, and the welcome lady still came over with a smile on her face, "I'll push you in."

The teenager's voice was cold and stern as he looked at the welcome lady who was just a metre away, "No need."

The welcome lady's smile stiffened and Father Tan explained that his son was not used to being too close to strangers, and she then busied herself with restoring her smile.

Tan Father glanced back at Tan Mo, "Come on, you don't like the noise, let's go inside."

Tan Mo turned his head and his eyes fell on the familiar back again, "You go first."

Tan Father frowned, but Tan Mo ignored him, and Tan Father followed Tan Mo's gaze.

"Forget it," Tan Father said. Just tell the waiter to bring him over later.

Qiao Lan has had a busy day today.

The business at this Western restaurant, which was surprisingly good, would have been too much to cope with if it hadn't been for previous experience working in a Western restaurant.

When the table she was in charge of left, Qiao Lan finally had a moment to rest and walked with a sigh of relief to the small, uncrowded corridor, where she squatted down and squeezed her calves.

But before a minute's break, a girl in the same small suit as Qiao Lan walks straight up to her, pointing impatiently at the two newcomers and telling Qiao Lan to order quickly and not to slack off.

The girl's name is Meng Xue.

As soon as Qiao Lan arrived today, she could feel Meng Xue's hostility, her condescending attitude and the way she was always telling Qiao Lan to run around.

The reason for this is not difficult to guess, as it was Meng Xue who was absent last night and Qiao Lan worked in her place for the night.

When she first arrived in the morning, Meng Xue even made a fool of Qiao Lan by asking her to order for some foreigners when she found out that Qiao Lan was only in her first year of high school.

However, Meng Xue never expected that Qiao Lan, who was just a senior, would speak better English than she did, and after ordering smoothly, the foreigners gave Qiao Lan a tip.

Meng Xue's guts are blue with regret.

After that, Qiao Lan was targeted for a whole day.

Meng Xue was a little reluctant to go when Xiao Liu, who had just greeted the guests, brought them in and told her to order quickly.

This restaurant has a high level of consumption, and a large proportion of those who can come here are rich, so after staying here for a long time, you can gradually tell the financial situation of the customers from their clothes, watches and bags.

Anyone who prefers to be in charge of those who have money, because they order more, get a bigger commission and are not allowed to tip.

Two tables have just come in. One table is occupied by a gentleman named Tan who comes here regularly and spends a lot of money every time. But the head waiter put her in charge of the other table, and Meng Xue didn't find a single luxury item on that customer, so naturally she didn't want to go.

Turning to Qiao Lan for a small break, he immediately passed the customer to Qiao Lan and tried to take Mr. Tan's order himself.

Qiao Lan looked at Meng Xue for a moment and stood up, "Got it."

Meng Xue smiles with satisfaction and turns around in a good mood, only to turn her head and bump into a teenager in a wheelchair.

Qiao Lan's pupils flinched and she rushed over to the wheelchair before she could react, grabbing it as she looked at the young man who had appeared here for some reason. "

Tan Mo pushes Meng Xue away and the wheelchair bumps back against the wall.

Tan Mo can't help but feel repulsed and disgusted by the sudden approach of a stranger.

Meng Xue froze, and when she looked up, she met the teenager's extremely disgusted, cold-to-the-bone eyes.

"Fuck off."

Meng Xue's feet froze in place as she tried to move forward.

Anyone who is not a fool can hear the annoyance and disgust in Tan Mo's tone.

Meng Xue's face turned red, but she squeezed out a smile and hurried out of the place with her head down.

Qiao Lan looked at the young man he hadn't seen in days and hesitated to step forward.

A few days earlier, Tan Mo had told her in no uncertain terms that he liked to be alone and that he hated being approached.

And just now, Meng Xue was too close and Tan Mo's attitude was frightening.

Qiao Lan paused, stood two metres away from Tan Mo and asked him softly, "Are you okay?"

Tan Mo lifted his head and his gaze fell steadily on her face.

Just now, he had been watching her for a long time, but was afraid to come up to her. He always thought of the boy who had walked with Qiao Lan that day, and he was afraid that Qiao Lan would ignore him, would say that he would not bother him any more, just like that day, and then pass him by as if he were a stranger.

He couldn't understand the concern on her face, but the way Qiao Lan had just rushed over to pull the wheelchair away and the words "Are you okay", Tan Mo wondered carefully and cautiously in his mind, was that concern, was that caring?

Sort of.

But if it was a regular guest and she accidentally bumped into it, would she do the same and then ask if you were okay.

Tan Mo's heart, which had just fluctuated, suddenly tightened again, and the heart's momentary soreness felt like it was pulling at the whole body for a moment, and the arm that had just been hit, only vaguely hurt as an afterthought.

Tan Mo's face shows a few moments of unbearable pain.

Qiao Lan's face changed slightly, "Did you just hit it? Where did you hit?"

Tan Mo finally heard some urgency in this sentence, he looked up quickly at Qiao Lan and lowered his head again, just when Qiao Lan thought Tan Mo was resisting and rejecting her again, Tan Mo's voice pierced into Qiao Lan's eardrums in a shallow tone.

"The arm."

Qiao Lan froze, the teenager who said he didn't like it that day gradually overlapped with the slightly vulnerable Tan Mo at this moment, Qiao Lan took a small step forward tentatively and looked at Tan Mo carefully, "Is it serious."

Tan Mo didn't seem to hear this as he sat quietly, as if after a long thought process, he raised his head and met Qiao Lan's gaze, "What are you doing here?"

If Tan Mo had just answered her passively, would it be Tan Mo's initiative to ask her why she was here now?

It has been a month since I met Tan Mo and this is the first time Tan Mo has spoken to her voluntarily.

Tan Mo says he hates being approached, but if he's taking the initiative, does that mean he doesn't hate her approach?

Qiao Lan said, "I'm working part-time."

Working a job?

Tan Mo was still staring at her, "No school?"

"On, I'm only on weekends and evenings, normal classes during the week."

The first year of high school is not too easy, so why do you continue to work part-time even though you have a lot of work to do? Tan Mo has thought about it for a while and then she realised the reason.

"You're short of money?"

Qiao Lan was caught off guard by the straight ball.

Qiao Lan recalled a passage she read in a research on Asperger syndrome, which said that people with Asperger syndrome do not beat around the bush, they think in a very direct way and speak in a way that is embarrassing.

It was really straightforward and unlike anything else.

Qiao Lan chuckled softly, "It's a bit lacking."

If Tan Mo had a normal way of expressing his emotions, he would be frowning at this moment, and after a long silence, he finally spits out a surprising sentence.

Tan Mo said, "I'll give it to you."

Qiao Lan almost throws the order book out of her hand.

Normal people definitely don't think like that and normal people don't talk like that.

But Tan Mo is different.

There is nothing logically wrong with me giving you money because you are short of it and because I have it.

"No, no, it's not a huge shortage, and it's not a heavy class," Qiao Lan shook his head, but in case Tan Mo got in over his head, he hastily changed the subject, "What are you doing here, are you here for dinner?"

Tan Mo looked at Qiao Lan for a long time before he gave a slow "hmm".

"I'll take you there then," Qiao Lan said, glancing at Tan Mo's arm, "do you need me to push you there?"

Tan Mo subconsciously refused, "No."

But when he finished, Tan Mo was silent again.

After a little imagination, he realised that being pushed by Qiao Lan should not be as unacceptable as others.

Tan Mo pursed his lips, probably with some regret, and slowly rolled his wheelchair behind Qiao Lan, waiting for him to arrive before saying, "Order for me."

Qiao Lan glances at the order taker who is already standing by the table waiting.

Tan Mo looks like he doesn't even see it.

"You order."

The order taker looked at Qiao Lan, smiled and turned to leave, and Tan Father, who had been waiting for Tan Mo, looked at Qiao Lan in surprise.

Qiao Lan can only take out her order book and introduce Tan Father and Tan Mo to the must-haves with a professional smile.

Tan Father comes often, and the food is regular, and orders are quickly taken. Tan Mo looks at the menu, and orders one after another with a blank face, and the orders are all top dollar.

After ordering a fourth, Qiao Lan couldn't stand it, "If it's for two, the portion is slightly too big."

Tan Mo pauses in his movements, but his eyes are still on the caviar.

Tan Father doesn't think anything of it, Tan Mo's preferences are too hard to guess, and it's rare for him to take the initiative, so he can do whatever he wants, as Tan Family is not short of anything but money anyway.

"Order if you want."

So I added a caviar and a pudding and so on.

As they took the order to the back of the house, several of the order takers looked at Qiao Lan with envy.

In addition to the basic salary, the staff in the restaurant mainly rely on commission, and a small percentage of the meals ordered by the customer in charge will be given to the waiter in charge of the table.

The table Qiao Lan has just been in charge of is definitely in the 10,000s, and Qiao Lan will be able to take a few hundred dollars when the time comes, so how can he not be envious?

Qiao Lan's expression is even more subtle.

It's a bit presumptuous to think that, but it still seems to me that Tan Mo has something to do with the fact that she has so many points.

After all, Tan Mo had just offered to give her money and she had refused.

Holding the list in her hands, Qiao Lan's hands feel a little shaky.

One by one, Tan Mo ate only a little bit of the food and, as it turned out, Tan Mo didn't even finish a fifth of the pile he ordered.

Tan Mo is still expressionless, Tan Father gives her his card and tells her to swipe it, then returns to the table where Tan Mo and Tan Father have already left.

The foreman walked up to her with a surprised look on his face, " Mr. Tan swiped an extra thousand."

"?"

"There's a tip for you!"

Qiao Lan: ......

A 10%-15% service charge is usually paid for western food, but it is not usually necessary, especially if you order as much as Tan Mo, which is already included in the service charge itself.

Qiao Lan hurriedly looked out of the window, but Tan Mo had already gotten into a car and was gone in a flash.

Qiao Lan should have been happy to have made so much money in one day, but when she thought of Tan Mo, she felt the money was hot.

When she got home in the evening, Qiao's mother complained that she hadn't seen her all day and didn't know where she had gone, and that she didn't return until midnight.

After all, there are classes tomorrow morning.

Pei Ning and the two girls sitting at the back of the classroom said hello, Qiao Lan said good morning, and when she turned her head, she saw Chen Yaoyang looking over.

Chen Yaoyang, you're here so early?

Qiao Lan is suddenly feeling a bit stressed out.

Although she has the advantage of her previous foundation, Chen Yaoyang is after all the male lead, and it is said in the book that Chen Yaoyang is always the number one since he was a child.

Chen Yaoyang was already better than her in science and was learning it easily.

How can Qiao Lan not be nervous.

She's up for a scholarship.

Qiao Lan didn't dare to waste any time, so she rushed to the bottom of the building to fetch water after the morning study, and when she returned to the classroom, she saw Tan Mo.

After disappearing for two days last week, Tan Mo is finally back.

He still sat quietly, his head down, looking at his book.

Qiao Lan was cleaning today and when she came to Tan Mo's side, she saw that Tan Mo was reading a thick history handbook.

"Good morning," Qiao Lan said to Tan Mo with a smile, but Tan Mo looked up at Qiao Lan for a moment, but his eyes went over Qiao Lan's shoulder to the other students who were curiously looking over, and whispered to Qiao Lan, "Don't you talk to me."

Qiao Lan was stunned, and if she hadn't had so much money in her pocket, she would have thought that Tan Mo was a fake yesterday.

Tan Mo ducked his head again, and Qiao Lan walked away with a mop in his hand, glancing back after two steps.

What's wrong with this?

All day long it didn't make sense.

It wasn't until the afternoon when school ended that Qiao Lan rushed to the Western restaurant to change and a short while later, a familiar figure appeared in the restaurant, an old man pushing Tan Mo's wheelchair in.

Tan Mo's light brown eyes searched for Qiao Lan before her gaze fell on her.

"Order your meal."