Chapter 2（The Devil at Table Nine）
1604 Words
Wednesday.
Su Wan lied to her grandmother—said a friend was treating her to lunch—and slipped out of the house right at eleven.
The restaurant was Lu Feng’s choice. A newly opened shopping mall downtown, a barbecue place so popular there was always a line.
Even without traffic, the ride took half an hour.
In the back seat, Su Wan scrolled through her chat history with Lu Feng.
Polite. Reserved. Complimented her photo, invited her to dinner—then stopped. No flirting. No pressure. No excessive enthusiasm.
Was he simply well-mannered…
or, like her, just going through the motions?
Either way, she didn’t mind.
If he wasn’t interested, she lost nothing.
If he was—then the initiative would be hers.
The traffic was smooth. At 11:30, the car stopped.
With time to spare before noon, Su Wan wandered through a women’s clothing store upstairs. The mall was warm, spring collections already filling the windows with color.
At 11:50, her phone vibrated.
Lu Feng: I’m here. Table 9. The waiter will take you over.
Su Wan: Okay. See you soon.
She put her phone away and took the escalator up.
At lunchtime, the barbecue restaurant already had a long queue outside.
He must’ve arrived early, she thought.
“Hi,” she told the hostess. “My friend is at Table Nine.”
“Of course. This way, please.”
The restaurant buzzed with voices. The scent of grilled meat and oil rose into the warm lights before being sucked away by the exhaust fans.
Meeting a complete stranger—lying if she said she wasn’t nervous.
Su Wan took a deep breath. Her fingertips were cold.
“Just around the corner,” the server said.
Instinctively, Su Wan put on her professional smile—the one that calmed anxious patients.
Then she turned the corner.
And the smile froze.
A man stood there.
Black clothes.
Violent aura.
Built like a wall—dark, solid, immovable.
Su Wan’s mind went blank.
She forgot to smile. Forgot to walk. Didn’t even dare register his features. Her soul nearly jumped out of her body.
Her gaze snapped away like she’d been electrocuted. She hurriedly looked down, pulled out her phone, pretending to check something.
Don’t look at me. Please don’t look at me.
“This is the table,” the server said, stopping.
Su Wan lifted her head.
Table sign: 9.
Then she looked across the table.
That wall—
No. That man.
The server vanished instantly.
Su Wan was completely stunned.
How could it be him?
“Su Wan?”
He spoke. Rose to his feet. His voice landed like a dull strike against stone.
Hearing her name from his mouth sent a shiver across her scalp. Any last hope died.
This was the man the head nurse had introduced.
Her heart was in chaos, but she forced a smile, struggling to keep her voice steady.
“Hi. Sorry—did you wait long?”
“Not really,” Lu Feng said. “I just got here. Please, sit.”
She nodded and sat opposite him, stiff as a board.
Her eyes stayed glued to the tabletop. She didn’t dare let them cross that stretch of black fabric at the edge of her vision.
Lu Feng understood immediately.
When his aunt said the nurse agreed to meet, he’d assumed she was brave.
Turns out… she’d been tricked.
He slid his phone across the table. On the screen was a photo.
“This is the one I sent my aunt,” he said. “Is this not what she showed you?”
The man in the photo sat on a sofa, full face visible. Expressionless.
Bronzed skin. High brow ridge. Deep-set eyes. A gaze that hit hard and heavy. Every line of his face screamed not someone to mess with.
The sense of danger seeped straight through the screen.
Su Wan’s hands twisted together in her lap.
In all the crime dramas she’d seen, the so-called mob bosses looked like children playing dress-up compared to this man.
Proof?
The surrounding tables had gone noticeably quieter. Laughter faded. In a packed barbecue restaurant, the area around him felt unnaturally still.
Not to mention his nearly six-foot-four frame—casual shirt unable to hide the solid muscle beneath.
“N-no,” Su Wan said softly, shaking her head.
“What did she show you?” Lu Feng asked.
She described it briefly.
Lu Feng paused.
“Then that must be a photo from when I was in college. About ten years ago. She’s used that one before. I apologize.”
Su Wan: …
Ten years ago?
She didn’t believe it for a second. That presence had nothing to do with a twenty-year-old college student.
Her phone vibrated.
She shot to her feet like she’d been launched.
“Sorry—hospital call. I need to take this outside.”
Lu Feng nodded.
The moment she stepped out of the restaurant, Su Wan sagged against the wall, gasping.
How did someone end up looking like that?!
The call was from Head Nurse Li Mei, her voice faintly guilty.
“Xiao Wan… you met Lu Feng?”
Su Wan’s voice wobbled.
“I did. Teacher Li, you set me up.”
If she’d seen his real photo, she’d never have come.
“Oh dear—didn’t cry, did you?” Li Mei rushed to explain. “I’m sorry, really. But Xiao Wan, he’s truly a good person! He was just born with that face—takes after his father and grandfather. Three generations sitting together look like a mafia family reunion. I was terrified when I first met his father too. Took me years to get used to it.”
Su Wan pouted, kicking the tile at her feet.
She wanted to run. Right now.
“Honestly,” Li Mei continued, “it’s not that he’s unsociable. He’s very polite. But no one dared play with him as a child. As an adult, women avoid him even more. If we use real photos, no one agrees to meet. When we use side-profile shots… dinner happens, then nothing.”
Li Mei sighed.
“Xiao Wan, for my sake, could you at least finish this meal with him? He’s been rejected so many times he stopped agreeing to blind dates altogether. If you leave too… I’m afraid he might really shut himself off.”
Su Wan swallowed.
“I won’t leave. I’ll eat with him.”
Running off would be too cruel.
“Good. Eat first. We’ll talk later.”
The call ended.
Su Wan stared at the restaurant entrance, legs refusing to move.
This wasn’t a blind date.
This was an execution.
Just then, WeChat chimed.
Lu Feng: I’m sorry about the photo. I understand how you feel.
If you want to leave, that’s okay. I’ll explain to the head nurse. I won’t put you in a difficult position.
Her heart twisted.
This man… the contrast was unreal.
A face terrifying enough to make children cry—
yet words so considerate.
She couldn’t be rude.
Su Wan: I’m okay. Just… your presence startled me.
Lu Feng: Yes. Very few people aren’t afraid of me.
Su Wan: I’m coming back now.
Lu Feng: Okay.
Two minutes later, Su Wan sat back down across from him.
The courage she’d gathered outside leaked out the instant their eyes met.
She looked away immediately, burying herself in the menu.
“I ordered a few specialties,” Lu Feng said, handing it over. “See if you want anything else. Drinks aren’t decided yet.”
Six items were already marked.
She ordered only orange juice and slid the menu back.
“This is plenty.”
Lu Feng added two pumpkin porridges and a fruit platter.
When the server left, there was nothing left to look at.
Su Wan turned to study the wall art.
He watched her.
Beige coat. White sweater. Soft colors. Slightly curled hair resting quietly on her shoulders—like a well-behaved student.
Lu Feng had long stopped expecting anything from blind dates.
Being single was fine. Elders’ concern was easy to handle. Rejection never bothered him.
Until last weekend.
His aunt had sent him a video—of the new nurse in her department.
In it, Su Wan was laughing with a colleague. Eyes curved, cheeks slightly round, her smile pure and bright. She didn’t look like a nurse—more like a ripening fruit, sweet just to look at.
Su Wan felt his gaze and lifted her water, nerves tightening.
After she set it down, Lu Feng asked,
“I heard you worked in the capital for two years. Why come back?”
“My grandmother raised me,” she said softly. “She’s getting older. I wanted to be close.”
“How old is she?”
“Seventy.”
“That age… it’s good to have family around. Is she healthy?”
Su Wan smiled.
“Very. She goes square dancing every day.”
“Our old man is eighty,” Lu Feng said. “Still strong. Likes fishing by the lake.”
He slid his phone over.
The video showed an elderly man with white hair—and almost the exact same facial structure as Lu Feng. Time had softened the sharpness, but the authority remained.
“You really look alike,” Su Wan said, forcing cheer.
Lu Feng swiped.
A photo appeared.
Three generations.
Three Lu Fengs.
Large. Medium. Small.
All staring straight at the camera.
Expressionless.
Su Wan: …
She almost cried.
She was just being polite.
There was no need to be this honest.
- Writer
