“Don’t be silent. Give me some advice. What should I do now?” Seeing I didn’t say anything, Ying Hua asked anxiously again.
“Ying, why don’t we find somewhere to sit down and talk about it?” I laughed.
“He owns all the stores around here, and I’m not going in there. He’s just trying to make me uncomfortable.” Ying said excitedly again.
“Ying, just forget the grudges. If there’s a guy, buying the shops around here just wanted to create more opportunities to get closer to you, wouldn’t you be moved?”
Ying thought about it, “I hadn’t thought about that.”
“You would definitely be moved. I’m sure if a young girl was treated like this, she would be moved to cry. But you now think that Mr. Chen is giving you a hard time, which is only because you subjectively hate him.”
“He pushed me off the cliff. Shouldn’t I hate him?” Ying asked me back.
I shook my head, “Ying, that’s a different matter. Whether you should hate him or not is another thing and we don’t judge at the moment. I mean if the cliff thing never happened, these actions done by Mr. Chen’s are not malicious, which you shouldn’t be so sensitive.”
Ying shook her head, shaking it more violently than I did, “You don’t understand. He’s provoking me by doing this even though he knows I hate him. It’s not what you’re saying.”
I didn’t know what to say for a moment.
She called me here, and naturally I was obliged to enlighten her, but what I said she didn’t listen at all. What else could I do?
“Well, don’t be depressed. I know you have a good relationship with Mu Chen, so you don’t want to hear me say bad things about him.”
“Ying, I’m not depressed. Mr. Chen. I do have some personal friendships, but it’s not as good as you think. We had a competition only a while ago. I’m on your side, so don’t doubt my loyalty.” I said pitifully.
Only then did Ying smile and grabbed my shoulder in a very manly way, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to that little restaurant. He shouldn’t have come over today. Let’s go and eat there, secretly. It’s so delicious.”
She had just said she hated going into Chen’s shops, and now she was taking me to eat there? How fast she changed.
A few minutes’ walk, we entered a neat shop that specialized in seaside food. As soon as we got into it, the smell of food conquered us.
“Miss Hua, this way please. What do you want to eat today?” The staff came right over, all smiles.
“Look, isn’t he too much? Everyone here knows me?” Ying said.
“Sis, this isn’t ill-intentioned, this is well-intentioned, OK?” I laughed.
Ying ordered some wontons, soup, and a bowl of porridge, and then said to me mysteriously, “What is sold here seems to be exactly based on my taste. Each one suits my taste. The owner is the one who owned a restaurant we used to eat. It’s surprising that he moved here from the south of the city! It was also Mu who asked him to move here, and I heard that he partnered up to rent the restaurant and the owner is in charge of making food. The two of them split the profits equally!”
I nodded my head, “So you’re going to tell people that they have bad intentions? It is obviously that he is just trying to make you eat better and eat the way you like. This is too sweet. If Leon was one tenth as good as Mu, I could die without any regret!”
“Nonsense. You’re still young, why die? I think he is provoking me!” Although Ying said this, her eyes were actually gentle.
“Okay, Ying, don’t be arrogant. This is called being in a good place, but you don’t cherish. Mr. Chen is just worried that you can’t eat well at work, so he gathered all your favorite foods around here so that you can easily eat what you want! You should be grateful.”
The order came up during the conversation. I tried it and the taste was really good, much better than those fancy restaurants.
Ying also enjoyed, “Do you know that since he had bought all these shops, I feel like I’m being watched by him every day when I’m working at the medical clinic!”
I smiled and lowered my head to eat. Then I looked up and saw Mu, dressed all in black, walking into the restaurant.
The owner was about to say hello, but Mu signaled him to be quiet, then signaled me to keep eating.
Ying’s back was to the door, unaware that Mu was gently sitting at the table behind her.
“What’s your opinion? Do you think he has ulterior motives, bad intentions, or good intentions? In short, he’s invading my life, which goes against my willing.” Ying said while eating.
I didn’t answer it. I wanted to remind her that Mu was right behind her and wanted her to pay attention to what she was saying. But I was afraid that Mu would say I didn’t help him, so I just kept signaling Ying with my eyes.
“What, doesn’t it taste good? You look weird.” Ying said, looking at me.
“No, it’s delicious.” I said distractedly, “The traffic is so bad. I don’t know how long it will take me to get home later.”
“It does taste good, just the same as we used to eat. Our family was strict with me and Leon and we were not allowed to eat in those little shops, but we didn’t listen to our parents, so he took us eat everywhere. Though some places didn’t look good, they had delicious food.”
I nodded, “Yeah, so what you’re eating now is all about the memories.”
Ying smiled and I could clearly see the tears shining in her eyes. “Memories? Don’t be sentimental. Let’s go for a drink later. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a drink.”
I knew that once I got together with her, I would inevitably have to drink.
She’s a lady from a noble family, but she’s a woman enjoying normal and casual life.
“Where to go? I’ll buy.” Mu said in a deep voice.
When Ying looked back, she saw Mu and looked back at me angrily, “Nala, what a traitor!”
I made an innocent face, “Sis, I gave you the hint soon as he arrived, but you didn’t care. What can I do?”
“I didn’t eavesdrop on your conversation.” Mu said indifferently.
“Don’t you shame on yourself? Isn’t that eavesdropping?” Ying raged.
I quickly made some reactions to let Ying feel I was on her side, so I followed her to scold Mu, “What do you call eavesdropping if you sit behind someone and don’t make a sound?”
“I just happened to hear your conversation. I’m sitting here upright, not lying under the table, so it’s not called eavesdropping.” Mu took a easy sip of tea.
“Let’s go.” Ying stood up, “We can’t stay here.”
“Wait, please.” Mu stopped her, “You’re so afraid of me that you’re going to leave as soon as I come? Where’s your courage?”
“I’m afraid of you? Why?” Hua Ying said disdainfully.
“If you’re not afraid of me, so why are you leaving? I bought this restaurant so that you can eat your favorite food whenever you want. No other intentions.”
“I don’t appreciate it,” Ying shouted.
“I didn’t say I wanted you to appreciate it either.” Mu held up his glasses, “I wish you happy.”
I thought to myself—was this a fight, or a public display of affection?