"I... uhh..." Xiao Gao stuttered, not expecting to be caught before her phone rang as if on cue. "Sorry, I have to take this."
"Hello?"
"What did I tell you about that Feng Shin?" Her mom yelled from the other end as she quickly lowered the volume of her phone. "I told you he wasn't a good person. His physiognomy says it all! I told you many times but you never listened to me!"
"Yes, Mom. I know now..." she replied. 'Ugh, here we go again...' she thought but didn't dare voice her thoughts. She internally cursed herself for not checking the caller ID before picking up.
She continued to listen to her mom rant about her relationship over the phone. She knew that it was her way of showing concern, but she couldn't help but feel bitter about it. Her mother had always been against her relationship and they had fought over it many times.
"Mom, it's late over there. You should get some rest. I'm going to have lunch," Xiao Gao said in an attempt to end the conversation.
"Isn't almost 2 over there? You still haven't had lunch?!" Was the reply on the other end.
"Yeah I'm starving," she lied. "I'll call you back tomorrow."
"Alright, take care of yourself," her mom said. She continued to lecture her for a couple of minutes about taking care of her health before finally hanging up.
She instantly regretted taking the train. What she thought was the start of a new journey turned out to be a jail she couldn't escape. Oh, how she wished she could jump off this train right now and find a hole to cry in. She put on her headphones and blasted some music to drown out her own thoughts. She bit her lower lip hard to prevent herself from crying. Adjusting her blanket and neck pillow, she tried to get some sleep.
She wasn't able to fall asleep. Instead, her brain decided to analyze her relationship to try to pinpoint what she did wrong. She did everything she could to support him, even if it meant dumbing herself down to boost his ego. She made sure they spent time together by clearing her schedule to work around his busy schedule. They never got into any huge fights. He never expressed any negativity or problems that she could think of. Was it because she couldn't cook? Was it because of her family status? Was it because she wasn't a lead actress?
She still couldn't believe she wasted 3 years of her life with him. 'Xiao Gao, you can do better. This is a blessing in disguise. Guangzhou will be a new beginning. You'll get your revenge soon,' she thought, trying to comfort herself.
"Ughh," she exclaimed out of frustration as she buried her head in her blanket. Xiao Gao decided to have some more snacks to cheer her up. She reached into her snack bag, only to come up empty-handed.
"Do you want to try some of this? It's my favourite snack," the man beside her ask. He was holding a bag of Oreo Pocky sticks. Seeing that she was hesitating, he shook the bag in front of her. "C'mon, don't be shy."
"Thanks," Xiao Gao said as she took one.
"Going through a breakup?"
Xiao Gao looked at the man beside her in shock. She opened her mouth to answer him, but couldn't decide what to say.
"Sorry, your mom was pretty loud on the phone. Didn't mean to eavesdrop," he shrugged. "You want to talk it out? There are 2 hours until we reach Guangzhou and I could use a break. Plus, it's not like we're going to bump into each other again after we get off."
"You understand Cantonese?"
"Yeah, my mother's side of the family is from Guangdong."
He was met with silence. Seeing no response, he was about to go back to his script when he heard her say, "He cheated on me. We... we were together for 3 years."
"Oh what a jerk. He couldn't financially support your eating habits?"
"What? No! I always ate a snack before we go out to restaurants so I don't..."
The man started chuckling. "Sorry, sorry! I just find it funny that you would go through all that trouble to hide your appetite. And for 3 years too? You must be quite the actress."
She slapped him on the arm. "There's nothing wrong with my eating habits."
"Exactly. So why feel the need to hide it then? You look cute when you eat. You could totally make it as a mukbanger. You don't know how hungry you made me looking at you eat for the last few hours."
She was flabbergasted.
"I say it was for the best. Why be in a relationship where you can't even eat like you want to? Were you going to hide this from him for your whole life? Find a man who is willing to cook all your favourite dishes for you instead."
"He always criticized people who don't look after themselves... I just wanted him to look at me in a good light."
"That's pretty shallow of him. Plus, you don't look like you've let yourself go."
Xiao Gao shrugged, "Good metabolism." She went and helped herself to another Pocky stick. "These are pretty good."
He chuckled as the train announced the last stop before Guangzhou. Some passengers got off and some boarded the train.
"Hey, isn't this seat 11B?" Someone asked.