Rebirth: Daily Face Slaps - Chapter 5

“How to repay kindness? With straightforwardness to repay grievances and with virtue to repay kindness.” Lin Mengting said with a smile. After all, she had immediately told her parents about meeting Qin Mei and Qin Dong after recognizing them.

Given how worried her parents were about her, they had become good friends with the Qin family in just three months, despite not being particularly close before.

This was evident from the letters and phone calls filled with her parents’ advice to listen to Qin Mei, who was seen as an experienced and reliable girl.

Had it not been for this, would they have spoken such “threatening and warning” words?

Ultimately, Qin Mei and Qin Dong were banking on her parents’ kind and accommodating nature, which always sought harmony and minimized conflicts. However, they failed to consider that, as parents, they would always trust their own children more than outsiders.

Today’s events, though unexpected, allowed Lin Mengting to confirm the true nature of Qin Mei and Qin Dong and gave her further insight into her past life’s “fate.”

…

Unaware of Lin Mengting’s thoughts, Qin Mei pursed her lips and bent down to help Qin Dong up from the floor. Her eyes, as she looked at Lin Mengting’s retreating figure, held a hint of shame and resentment that even she didn’t notice.

Nevertheless, Qin Mei didn’t give up. “Tingting, since it’s like this, let me treat you to dinner tonight.”

“I’m not in the mood. You two go ahead,” Lin Mengting said without looking back. As someone forced to “temporarily compromise,” she should fully display her “true” nature to make them believe she was still as naive and gullible as ever.

Otherwise, how could the story continue as planned?!

“How could that be?” Seeing this, Qin Mei’s wariness and suspicion quietly dissipated, replaced by a feeling of self-deprecation.

It was just a “naive and sweet” girl; what was there to fear?

“You’re studying medicine, so you should know that ‘three meals a day, on time, is the way to good health.'”

“Come on! Let’s go together!” Qin Mei pulled Lin Mengting up from the bed and said, “Or are you still refusing to forgive us and don’t want to have dinner with us?”

Seeing that she couldn’t refuse, and fearing another kneeling episode from Qin Dong, Lin Mengting sighed and said, “Alright.”

“But I’ll treat dinner tonight.”

“That won’t do!” Qin Mei immediately replied. “If anyone should treat, it should be Qin Dong. He’s the one who lied and caused me to misunderstand you!”

Qin Dong chimed in, “Yes, Tingting, you like fish, right? I found a new restaurant with a chef who makes great boiled fish. They also have your favorite stir-fried shredded potatoes and cold eggplant salad. The food is excellent.”

[It seems Lin Mengting is still as naive as I remember. The way she lashed out earlier must have been like a cat whose tail got stepped on.]

[Just as the old saying goes, ‘Even a rabbit will bite when it’s cornered.’ It looks like I need to use the ‘slowly boiling frog’ method with her.]

[As long as I’m persistent, I’ll eventually win her over.]

“Alright,” Lin Mengting replied nonchalantly, her long eyelashes hiding the complexity in her eyes. “Once I get a job and receive my first paycheck, I’ll treat you both to dinner.”

At this moment, she finally understood why she had been so easily manipulated in her past life.

Her “carefree” or rather careless personality was undoubtedly the main reason.

Think about it, she had only worked at this base for nearly three months, and it took about two months to get familiar with Qin Mei and Qin Dong. Yet, they knew her so well!

The three of them soon arrived at the restaurant Qin Dong had mentioned.

After sitting down, Qin Dong waved away the menu the server handed him and ordered, “Boiled fish, stir-fried shredded potatoes, cold eggplant salad, and twice-cooked pork.”

How many times had they been here to know the menu by heart?

Thinking back to her previous life, when Qin Mei and Qin Dong would constantly complain about their poverty, leading her to eagerly pay the bill whenever they invited her out, Lin Mengting wanted to strangle her “stupid” past self!

“Can I see the menu?” she asked.

“Tingting, order anything you like.” Qin Dong waved his hand generously, showing a willingness to do anything for her.

“Yes!” Qin Mei laughed and asked for another menu from the server, “Since Qin Dong is treating, we should make the most of it and ‘bleed him dry’ for once!”

“Add a stir-fried green vegetable,” Qin Mei said, picking the most expensive item from the vegetable section. “No matter how much you love meat, you should eat some vegetables for your health.”

“If you don’t take care of yourself when you’re young, it’ll be too late when you’re older.”

“I know, sis!” Qin Dong raised his hands in surrender, his exaggerated expression and actions usually enough to make Lin Mengting laugh, but today…

“Hahaha…” After waiting for a while and seeing no reaction from Lin Mengting, Qin Mei covered her mouth and laughed helplessly.

Lin Mengting pretended not to hear and continued to peruse the menu as if it were an invaluable collection embedded with gold and jewels.

Five dishes for less than a hundred yuan!

Compared to prices more than ten years later, it brought tears to her eyes.

However, thinking of her salary now, it was clear why, in her previous life, she worked in S City for nearly ten years without saving a penny and became a “die-hard” member of the “moonlight clan”—those who spent their earnings every month.

In her previous life, after Qin Dong went to Beijing, she and Qin Mei grew closer, reaching a level of friendship where they shared everything like “sisters without blood relation.”

Of course, this was also because she never cared about money or material things, especially when sharing with Qin Mei, whom she regarded as her “sister in everything but blood.”