"Ah, alright then... You... don't want anything else in return?" Chen Ai Yu asked. Liu Jun Yi shook his head. She nodded and her attention switched to the menu. She tried her best not to look at the price and just order whatever she wanted, but that... kind of flopped. She'd look at something and think it seemed pretty delicious then, on instinct, she would look at the price.
In the end, she still ordered most of the cheaper ones. Even so, she still did order food that she liked. When Jun Yi got the receipt, he was a little disappointed. He ate there so often that he knew the food she ordered were those which weren't as expensive as the other foods, so he decided to ask her about it. "Are these really food that you like? Or..." "Yea, they are. They might be cheaper, but I still enjoy eating them," Ai Yu already knew he was gonna ask that, so she cut him off. "...Alright. Just know if we ever eat out again, you can order whatever you want, no matter the price," Jun Yi said.
The food didn't take long to arrive. Jun Yi took a look at all the food that Ai Yu had ordered. She had ordered potatoes, some choy sum [1], and dark sauce chicken to go with her rice. The part of the chicken was the wing and her choice of soup was lotus soup. He took note of all of them.
Jun Yi finished his meal before Ai Yu did. He watched her eat in silence. How come he spends so much on this little lady before him? Even he himself didn't know, his heart just told him he should do it. Since his mind did not disagree, he decided, why not?
He snapped out of his thoughts when Ai Yu finished her meal and placed her utensils down. "May I take a look around the garden?" Ai Yu asked. Jun Yi replied, "Sure. May I join you?" She nodded and they got up together.
The scene of the two walking together in the garden was witnessed by many people in the restaurant. Many took pictures, but none had the guts to post it and start rumours. They were much too scared of the Liu family to try anything. All they could do was admire the perfect looking couple from afar.
"Is that the lady from before? They look so good together!"
"One could easily mistake her for his girlfriend... Do you think they are dating?"
"They just need a child and they'd look like the perfect family! They look so perfect..."
"They suit each other so well..."
The discussion in the restaurant went on for a long time. Meanwhile, Ai Yu and Jun Yi first started walking in silence, but after a while, Ai Yu started speaking. "Look... aren't these Chrysanthemums? I loved to drink Chrysanthemum tea when I was a kid, and I still love them..." She said as she bent down to take a closer look at the yellow flower. Jun Yi unconsciously smiled. "Have you seen Peonies before? Come," Jun Yi said as he walked towards the other side of the garden.
Ai Yu followed closely behind. The mention of Peonies had spiked her interest. In China, Peonies symbolises riches, prosperity and honour. The Peony before them was a light pink Peony with white slowly bleeding into the pink from its tips. Ai yu was mesmerised by the flower. She had never seen such a beautiful flower before.
"Do you like them?" Jun Yi asked, he didn't look at the flower at all, his eyes were glued to the girl staring at them. "Yea... they're absolutely beautiful..." Ai Yu said, her attention was mostly on the Peonies.
After Ai Yu finally agreed to leaving the Peonies, Jun Yi showed her the different flowers in the garden. They took a tour of the entire garden before returning to their private dining room. Jun Yi paid for the dinner and they left.
While driving, Jun Yi asked, "Ai Yu, do you have any where you want to go? It's only around 8, we still have some time." She though for a while before answering, "No... not really." They had gotten closer, but Ai Yu still hadn't opened up her door. She was still slightly afraid. After all, she's been hurt and betrayed so many times before. Who said Jin Yi wasn't another in line to hurt her?
The car ride soon became silent. All that was heard were rain drops lightly hitting the car. It started as a small drizzle, but didn't take long for it to start pouring.
Unfortunately, Jun Yi didn't have an umbrella in his car. He had forgotten to take it back to the car after using it one rainy day. This thought had already popped into Ai Yu mind. She looked around the car but spotted no umbrella.
"I'll call Chang Chang to come down with an umbrella. Do you need to borrow one?" Ai Yu silently cringed when she asked that question. He was rich! Of course he had a garage, why would he need an umbrella? To her surprise, he answered, "Yes please." "Oh! Alright..."
Ai Yu dialled Chang Chang's number on her phone.
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
...
"Sorry, the number you have called...."
Ai Yu called again, but the same thing happened. "Not picking up?" Jun Yi asked, his eyes still on the road. "Mmhmm... Do you... do you think anything happened to her?" She asked. She was looking down at her phone, but from her voice, Jun Yi could tell she was thinking about negative things. He took a side glance at Ai Yu and replied, "Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine. After all, Chanming has already got off of work right? If something were to happen, I'm sure he would've already contacted you."
Ai Yu nodded. His words comforted her, but they also helped her confirm he was treating her this nice because they were both Chanming's friends. If they weren't close friends, why would he know about Chanming's work schedule? She felt a little disappointed, but she wasn't sure why. It took some time before they reached Ai Yu's house. She decided she would try calling Chang Chang one last time. She... didn't pick up. Ai Yu sighed and looked out of the blurry window of the car. "I guess I'm running in the rain then," she said as she was about to get out.
"Wait, look, there's an umbrella over there. I'll go over and grab it, then come back and bring you over," Jun Yi said. He got out before Ai Yu could retaliate. The rain was pouring hard, but Jun Yi still looked cool as he walked towards the abandoned umbrella.
He wasted no time, the moment he got the umbrella, he opened it and hurriedly walked over to fetch Ai Yu. "Stay close..." Jun Yi said as Ai Yu got under the umbrella. The rain was loud, so she didn't hear what he had said. "What?" "Nothing," he swiftly replied. Ai Yu couldn't hear that either, so she stood on her tip toes and moved closer towards Jun Yi's face. Just as she did, Jun Yi was about to say something again and turned his head towards her.
That resulted in the collision of their faces. To put it clearer, they had kissed. It was a small peck though. "Ah..." Ai Yu mumbled as they pulled away from each other. Jun Yi just continued walking. They reached the sheltered area and Jun Yi put the umbrella down.
"Do you want to stay over today? You already parked your car, and the rain is really bad... Plus, you're completely wet!" Ai Yu said as she ruffled his messy hair. "Do you have any clothes that would fit me?" Jun Yi replied with a question. "We can always borrow Chanming's. Your builds should be just about the same, so it should be good. Come on, if you stay out for too long, you're gonna catch a fever," she said, walking towards the lift.
At this point, Jun Yi wasn't given much of a choice. What Ai Yu said was completely right, so he decided he'd stay. They reached the 7th floor and Ai Yu pulled out her apartment keys. Her fingers shook a little as she inserted the key into the door lock and Jun Yi saw. He remembered she was afraid that something might've happened to Mo Chang Chang. How pessimistic Ai Yu's thinking was tugged at his heartstrings, and that's when he gave himself a mission — to brighten up Ai Yu's life.
[1] Choy sum (also spelled choi sum or "Cai Xin" in modern Pinyin) is a leafy vegetable commonly used in Chinese cuisine. It is a member of the genus Brassica of the mustard family, Brassicaceae (Brassica rapa var. parachinensis or Brassica chinensis var. ... It is also known as Chinese Flowering Cabbage.