Chapter 32: Dumbfounded!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Do you really understand English?” Li Boyang asked another question, “And can you speak it fluently?”

“Mmhmm.” Ye Zhuo nodded.

Li Boyang’s gaze was filled with mockery and contempt when he replied, “Honesty is the wonderful tradition of China; I hope that we can continue to pass on this tradition.”

It would be fine if she admitted that she did not understand English because no one would make fun of her anyway. However, a hypocrite girl like Ye Zhuo was destined to be like this for the rest of her life.

Ye Zhuo was confused by his remark. Was Li Boyang insinuating that she was not honest`?

She suspected that Li Boyang had been influenced by rumors that he heard, dreaming up something and creating something out of nothing… At this point, though, she could prove that she was right.

“Boyang!” Qian Lingyu’s voice was heard coming from the inside.

“Coming.” Li Boyang walked into the house.

“I thought I told you not to talk to her anymore? Why won’t you remember that!?” Qian Lingyu’s tone sounded very unpleasant.

“We were only greeting each other. Mom, you overthink!”

Qian Lingyu heaved a sigh.

She was not overthinking. All this was because Ye Zhuo was too beautiful to the point where she was afraid that Li Boyang would not be able to control his feelings.

After all, Li Boyang was restless from hitting puberty.

Qian Lingyu said in a sincere tone, “Boyang, I’m a very open-minded parent, and I know that children of your age are more sensitive. As a result, I’m not opposed to letting you socialize with others. There’s an old saying that birds of a feather flock together. Boyang, the person that you should date is not Little Ye but someone similar to your classmate, Zhao Xuehua. Did I say anything when I see you traveling home with Zhao Xuehua after school every day?”

Zhao Xuehua was a typical rich kid. She was chauffeured in various luxury cars after school every day.

Every once in a while, Zhao Xuehua would choose to walk home with Li Boyang when she was in the mood.

Zhao Xuehua was the daughter of a wealthy family in the city, but who was Ye Zhuo?

“Noted.” Li Boyang nodded.

Meanwhile, Sister Liu came running in while gasping for air. “Lingyu! Lingyu!”

“What’s going on?” Qian Lingyu asked.

Sister Liu said, “There’s a table of foreign customers seated at Zone C. I can’t speak English… What do I do?”

The barbecue shop was located in a rather good area.

Foreigners would frequently come to the shop to have meals, but most of the time, they were able to converse in the Chinese language. It was a rare occasion to encounter foreigners who could not speak Chinese.

At this point, Sister Liu had noticed Li Boyang standing next to Qian Lingyu. Her eyes suddenly lit up. “Boyang! I remember that you’re a class representative in your English class, right?”

Upon hearing that, Qian Lingyu smiled and said, “That’s right! Our Boyang does really well in English! He’ll do fine!”

Li Boyang was blushing ever so slightly. “Uh, uh, then I shall give it a try then.” It was a good opportunity for him to practice his spoken language.

Based on his capability, Li Boyang felt that it should not be a problem for him to communicate with foreigners.

There was genuinely a table of foreign customers seated in Zone C where a total of seven people, four males and three females, sat.

Li Boyang stepped forward and greeted them, “Hello, what would you like to order?” He was a high school student, after all, and he was doing rather outstandingly. Such a simple day-to-day conversation was not an issue for him.

Nonetheless, the tip of Li Boyang’s nose was still sweating a little. He was a little nervous. It was Li Boyang’s first time communicating face-to-face with foreigners using only English.

Sister Liu said to Qian Lingyu softly, “He is not illiterate like us; he is a scholar, after all.”

Qian Lingyu’s eyes were filled with pride. “Why would I say that education is the only way out, huh!? Nevertheless, it also depends on the person. Not everyone is capable of doing what he’s doing! In summary, my son Boyang is smart.”

Sister Liu nodded and acknowledged, “You’re right.”

Realizing that someone could finally communicate with them, the female foreigner seated in the center who was giving the order felt rather relieved. She smiled and said, “Can you please explain to us what kind of meat this is? Also, there are some of us here who are allergic to raw ginger and fish. Will you please inform the kitchen to be careful when preparing the food? Oh right, do you sell Australian spiny lobster here? We’d like to order an Australian spiny lobster. Please steam half of it using China’s way of steaming it in clear soup and serve the other half raw.”

Li Boyang could still understand the first half of the statement, though with great effort. However, the latter half of the statement was a little difficult.

The person was speaking too quickly. Additionally, due to Li Boyang’s nervousness, he only picked up the words ‘fish’ and ‘raw ginger’ out of the entire conversation.

“I’m sorry. Will you please re… repeat yourself?”

“It’s okay.” The middle-aged woman with blonde hair and blue eyes smiled and repeated what she had said. This time, she spoke at a slower speed.

Li Boyang still had trouble understanding, so he scratched his head and said, “Did you say that you prefer having fish?”

Upon hearing that, the middle-aged woman hastily waved her hand. “No, no, no, no! We don’t want to have fish; we’re allergic to fish and raw ginger! Allergic!”

It was possible that the more panicked he was, the more chaotic the situation got. In addition, Qian Lingyu and Sister Liu were standing next to him.

This time, Li Boyang could not hear a single thing clearly, and his face blushed scarlet from panic.

“I’m sorry, I’m still having trouble understanding….” Li Boyang was almost stuttering.

Fortunately, the middle-aged woman kept her cool and continued, “It’s fine. Don’t be nervous, okay? Is there anybody else here who can speak English?”

Even though Qian Lingyu did not understand English, she could tell that something did not feel right about the situation. She stretched out a hand and poked at Li Boyang’s shoulder. “What’s going on, Boyang?”

Li Boyang turned around with his face flushed scarlet. “Mom, is there anybody else in our shop who can speak English?”

“You can’t understand them?” Qian Lingyu looked at Li Boyang in astonishment.

Li Boyang scratched his head. “They have too many requests; I’m afraid that I might mess it up…”

Qian Lingyu had just boasted how impressive Li Boyang was to Sister Liu earlier. When Li Boyang suddenly came and delivered the blow, it made Qian Lingyu feel a little humiliated.

Meanwhile, Li Boyang suddenly remembered something. He raised his head and looked toward Qian Lingyu. “I heard that Ye Zhuo’s English is rather good; why don’t we let her give it a try?”

Upon hearing that, Qian Lingyu’s gaze was filled with contempt. “Her?”

Li Boyang nodded.

Even though he believed that Ye Zhuo did not understand English at all, he wanted to let Ye Zhuo give it a try.

Did Ye Zhuo not boast that her English was rather good just this evening?

He wanted to see how good she actually was.

Sister Liu said, “I shall get Little Ye now.”

Before Qian Lingyu could react to the situation, Sister Liu ran over to find Little Ye.

Soon, Sister Liu returned with Ye Zhuo.

Li Boyang felt relieved to see Ye Zhuo’s arrival.

He could finally stop worrying about him being an embarrassment since Ye Zhuo would be more embarrassing than him.

He could still hold a simple communication with the foreigners at the very least, could Ye Zhuo?

With the contrast set by Ye Zhuo, he would still be the outstanding, great student in Sister Liu and Qian Lingyu’s minds.

Noticing Ye Zhuo’s arrival, Qian Lingyu felt rather speechless. She said, “Sister Liu, so you really called her over, huh?”

Ye Zhuo walked to the customers right away with a smile on her lips. “How may I assist you?”

As soon as she spoke, the eyes of the middle-aged woman and a few other customers at the table lit up.

They were shocked by her pronunciation!

The middle-aged woman covered her mouth and said, “Oh my god! Are you a foreign citizen? Have you lived abroad before?”

Ye Zhuo shook her head ever so slightly. “I’m not a foreign citizen, but I’ve visited America before. It is a great country with rather enthusiastic people.”

The travelers that were out in another country would always enjoy hearing others praise their own country. Therefore, the smile on the middle-aged woman’s face grew wider. Then, she mentioned the requests that she had for the order.

Ye Zhuo wrote it down one by one.

Next to her, Qian Lingyu and Li Boyang were dumbfounded…