It was his first kiss; so what?!
After all, it was her first kiss, too!
Xu Ai was about to retort when her cellphone burned black with a ding.
She looked down and found her cell phone battery was out of juice.
Last night, the sockets in her room were out of order. After Su Xuan blew her hair dry, she went to bed directly and forgot to recharge her cellphone. This morning, she went to Ting's home and the cellphone finally ran out of juice. To think of it, the battery had lasted long enough.
Frustrated, she put down the cellphone, with her cell phone powered off, her anger evaporated.
Not in the mood to recharge the battery and call Su Xuan to berate him, she decided to ignore him.
Su Xuan waited quietly for Xu Ai's response to his announcement that it was his first kiss. Receiving no response, he looked down and found the call had ended. He was surprised at first and then a thought struck him, making him chuckle.
The car behind him honked. Su Xuan put down the cellphone and turned his attention back to driving.
Sitting on the ground, Xu Ai fell asleep leaning against the table leg. When she woke up, it was dark outside.
It wasn't the hottest time of the summer yet and the night breezes felt cool.
Standing before the window for a while, she woke up from her nap completely. Grabbing her bag, she slipped the cellphone into it and walked out of the room.
Downstairs, Han Ye had finished his shift; Zhang Qi had taken his position behind the counter.
When Xu Ai opened the coffeehouse, she had done everything by herself, including the purchase of the shopfront, the interior design and staff hiring. The only exception was the coffee beans and the coffee maker; Cloud Nine had gotten them from abroad for her.
The two waiters at the counter, Han Ye and Zhang Qi, were college students from poor families. They were handsome, cheerful and friendly.
Xu Ai had only one rule for them: they were not allowed to tell anyone that she was the boss of the coffeehouse.
In the past three years, they had kept the secret and became her friends.
Seeing Xu Ai come downstairs, Zhang Qi walked up and greeted her in a low voice, "Sister Ai, I've not seen you for days. Han Ye said you came with your boyfriend."
Xu Ai rolled her eyes. "He's not my boyfriend."
Zhang Qi was surprised. "Han Ye lied to me? He said you brought Young Master Su of Empyrean to have coffee. Is it not true?"
"Su Xuan came. But he's not my boyfriend." Xu Ai felt a headache whenever she heard Su Xuan's name.
Zhang Qi blinked in puzzlement. "The news on the tabloids are false? It's said you and he have met each other's family. Students from the colleges around here were all talking about it. It's not true?"
"Not true!" Xu Ai swung her bag at his head with a scowl. "Don't waste time reading tabloids on your cell phone. Or I'll deduct your pay."
Zhang Qi hugged his head; shaking head repeatedly, he swore, "I never browse news on my cellphone when I'm working. The shop is busy, and I don't have time for that…" Before he could finish, a couple came in hand-in-hand. Immediately, he went over to greet them.
Xu Ai walked out of the coffeehouse.
The news about billions of yuan had died down but the topic about her and Su Xuan was still hot.
As she walked back to school, people, no matter whether they knew her or not, said hello to her warmly. After she passed, she could hear them lament that the girlfriend of Empyrean's Su Xuan was a student of the school.
They sounded disbelieving, envious and even jealous.
Ignoring the gossip, she continued walking in frustration and exasperation.
There was still one year to go before graduation. If the gossip continued, how pathetic her life would be?
"Xu Ai!" As she walked with her head lowered, Zhao Yang's cheerful voice came to her ears.
She looked up and saw he ran to her with a basketball in his hand. Wearing a tank top and shorts, he was drenched in sweat. She stopped and waited for him to come closer.
"I saw you from the distance. You just returned?" Zhao Yang wiped sweat from his face as he held the basketball with the other hand.
Xu Ai nodded. "You went to play basketball, huh?"
"Yeah. I went to the neighboring school for it." Zhao Yang grinned. "Coming back at this hour, you haven't had supper, right? Let's go and eat!"
Xi Ai shook her head and said sullenly, "I don't want to go to the cafeteria."
"What's wrong? You look low in spirits." Zhao Yang leaned closer to her and asked.
Before she could reply, two students said hello to them in passing; as they walked away, she could hear them mention her name and Su Xuan's name.
Xu Ai said in resentment, "How can I have a good mood?!"
Zhao Yang said "Aha" and continued, "I know why you're sullen. You're now a big celebrity. I think you should stop your study in business and become an actress. With your popularity, you'll earn big money as an actress."
"Get out!" Xu Ai kicked him.
Despite his quick duck, her foot still connected with his calf.
With a loud "Auch", he sat on the ground ridiculously. Holding the basketball with one arm, he hugged his calf with the other hand, saying sulkily, "Girl, are you a martial arts master? I moved so fast and you still got me. Awesome! It's a pity that you didn't do shows of it."
Xu Ai gave him a dirty look and walked forward. "I don't like it when you're so flippant."
Zhao Yang stood up immediately and caught up with her with hurt on his face. "I wanted to lighten your mood. As a friend, I don't want to see you so sulky."
She pursed her lips; she'd never be cheerful if she couldn't get rid of Su Xuan.
"Don't take the talk about you and Young Master Su to heart. It's no big deal. Countless girls want to be his girlfriend but can't. In this modern age, people are free to be with anyone they want. Let them talk; you didn't do anything wrong anyway! Be yourself; when people are tired of gossiping about you and turn their attention to something new, they'll stop."
Xu Ai paused her steps but didn't speak.
"Isn't it true? I'm not good at academic study, but I know how to comfort people. We must live as happily as we can while we're alive; don't think of the unhappy stuff. Besides, this is not so bad anyway. It's no big deal to be talked about as the girlfriend of Young Master Su of Empyrean."
Xu Ai remained silent.
"The famous guy…um…Shakespeare described time as 'the inaudible and noiseless foot'." Zhao Yang bounced the basketball twice and caught it before continuing, "It means time flows like water in a swoosh. So, don't waste your life on sulking."
Xu Ai laughed out loud. "You're good at persuasion. With your glib tongue and brazenness, you'll be a great salesman."
"After graduation, if no big company hires me as an interpreter, I'll go and do sales. Even though we're from famous universities, we still need to squeeze into the work market to find a job like those from ordinary schools." Zhao Yang snorted. "I'll discard my pride for the sake of bread."
Xu Ai nodded. "That's the spirit."
"Of course." He pushed the basketball into her hands. "Take this for me. I'll return to my room to shower and change clothes. Wait for me at the cafeteria entrance. I lightened your mood and you must buy me a meal."
Without waiting for an answer, he ran toward his dormitory building.
"Hey!" Xu Ai yelled at him. "Take it back to your room!"
"I guess you need to vent out your frustration. After supper, I'll take you to play basketball and get the frustration out. If you are angry at someone, just think he's the ball and take your anger out on it."
As he ran away, she looked down on her dress and high heels, feeling exasperated.
How could she play basketball dressed like this?
With his good social skills, Zhao Yang was indeed a popular guy in the Foreign Language College, the Student Council and even other colleges. He wasn't likable at first glance, but if he wanted, he could make anyone his friend.
Someone like him would gain success in any career he chose after graduation.
After all, lots of people made a living on their communication skills and were quite successful.
Xu Ai walked toward the cafeteria with the basketball in her arms.
As she stood at the entrance waiting for Zhao Yang, people walking in and out of the cafeteria could see her clearly.
She tolerated their stare gracefully and responded to those who said hello to her. As Zhao Yang said, it was useless to hide from people and feel sulky. Since she couldn't stop people from talking, she must get used to it.
Besides, she still had one year to go before graduation.
Once their enthusiasm about the topic wore out, they'd stop talking.
A moment later, Zhao Yang ran to her in a clean T-shirt and sports pants, saying, "I want rice with spicy chicken."
"Fine. Go and get us a table!" Xu Ai tossed the ball to him and went to the window to buy food.
It was Sunday, and the hour was quite late for supper, so she didn't need to wait in line. Soon, she got the food.
Zhao Yang had chosen a table near the windows.
She walked over with the food and sat down; then Zhao Yang whispered, "Lin Shen is here."
Xu Ai's hand holding the drinks paused; she looked up and glanced around but saw no sign of him.
"Out of the window." Zhao Yang knocked on the window frame. "Look, he's walking toward the cafeteria."
Xu Ai looked out of the window. Sure enough, Lin Shen was walking toward the cafeteria carrying his laptop bag. It seemed he had just returned to the school, dressed in the same clothes as he wore in Sun Pinting's home this morning.
Even though the lighting was dim outside the window, she could still picture him in her mind.
Suddenly, she wondered what he'd look like if Lin Corporation hadn't gone broke. Would he look like Su Xuan who had never gone through hardships? Like Su Xuan, he'd also treat everyone with smiles, casual elegance and be favored by everyone.
Since Lin corporations had collapsed, she'd never know.
Looking away, she picked up chopsticks silently.
Zhao Yang looked away, too. He wanted to say something, but his guts told him that this wasn't the right time. If he misspoke, she'd kick him again.
A moment later, Lin Shen entered the cafeteria and made a beeline to the window. When he passed Xu Ai and Zhao Yang, he stopped and turned to look at them.
With chopsticks in his hand, Zhao Yang said, "Hey, Lin She, you came late for supper too."
Lin Shen nodded. He glanced at them and rested his eyes on Xu Ai, saying in a deep voice, "I called you, but your phone was powered off."
Surprised, Xu Ai said immediately, "My battery died. I haven't recharged it, yet."
Lin Shen saw she was dressed in the same clothes as he had seen in Sun Pinting's home this morning. "I need to talk to you."
Seeing his tightly pressed lips, she asked tentatively, "About work?"
After a pause, Lin Shen didn't confirm or deny it. "We'll talk after lunch at our usual place."
Xu Ai's fingers tightened on the chopsticks as she said with a smile, "Good. I need to talk to you, too."
Nodding, Lin Shen walked toward the window.
Xu Ai's smile vanished as she lowered head to eat.
Zhao Yang blinked. Looking at Lin Shen who was standing at the window and then at Xu Ai who was eating silently, he hesitated and then whispered, "Xu Ai, as your friend, I must remind you that you'd better keep distance from Lin Shen now that you're Su Xuan's girlfriend."
Xu Ai looked up at him.
He scratched his head and raised his hand. "Don't be mad at me. I'm serious. From my perspective as a man, all men are jealous even though some have more tolerance than others. Young Master Su seems to be a broad-minded guy but if you continue doing this, he'll not put up with it. Then you'll be in trouble.
Xu Ai smirked and looked away.
"Hey, mind my words." Seeing her indifference, he knocked on the table with his chopsticks. "This is wise advice from the bottom of my heart." He continued in a low voice, "You like Lin Shen, right? Anyone can see it from the way you look at him. Young Master Su is very smart; he can put up with it for a while, but…"
Xu Ai looked up abruptly and stared at him.
Zhao Yang swallowed back his words; putting down his chopsticks, he raised his hands in surrender. "Don't be mad. I won't say a word about it anymore."
Xu Ai turned to look at the window and saw Lin Shen was walking toward their table with food. She looked down and said in a small voice, "I'm not mad. Yeah, I like Lin Shen; everyone can see it. So what?"