"Do you have a boyfriend, Miss Chen?"
"Cough cough…" Chen Jing started coughing profusely.
"Is that question very hard to answer?"
"Not at all. And to answer your first question, yes, I have a boyfriend." Chen Jing lowered her head and sighed.
"What's wrong, Miss Chen?" Li Xueyi looked at her downcast eyes, guilty about having asked a question that ruined her mood. He knew she was sad but he only wanted her to share her burden with him instead of being sad like this but maybe it wasn't the right time. "I'm sorry," he said.
"No. It's alright. It's just that I was supposed to have dinner with him tonight. It got cancelled. Back then, we would stop everything to rush to each other. Just to meet once. Even if it was for just a glance at each other. But time changes, so does people," she said, barely stopping the tears in her eyes from spilling.
Chen Jing did not know why she said all these to the person sitting in front of her. After all, she never liked to share her troubles with people. The only exception was Lu Man.
Li Xueyi listened to her sad words but had nothing to say. As he pondered over how to console her, Chen Jing suddenly said, "This wonton is really good. I've never had such a wonton before. Reminds me of my mother's wontons."
"Glad you like it, Miss Chen. This wonton…" Li Xueyi's words were cut off by a sharp male voice.
"Jingjing!"
Chen Jing turned around to see the person she least expected to see here of all places—Yang Chen. Holding his arms was a young lady whom Chen Jing recognized as Zhao Mei Shi.
"Jingjing, what a coincidence. Chen said you were busy. Didn't know you were busy with…" Zhao Mei Shi did not finish her sentence but her meaning was clear.
Chen Jing paid her no attention. Her eyes was on Yang Chen who looked stupified at first but color was fast returning to his face.
He turned around to stare at Zhao Mei Shi. He continued her words, "another man."
Li Xueyi stared at the annoying duo in front of him. From the looks of Chen Jing's face and the annoying lady's words, he could deduce the identity of the man in front of him, but decided to play dumb.
"Miss Chen, care to introduce us?"
Yang Chen finally turned his head around to glance at the man. Li Xueyi? He internally screamed. Wasn't this the man Chen Jing said was more handsome than him? How dare she have a meal with a man he considered his romantic rival? Especially at such a place. He could only come here because of his father but what about Li Xueyi? Yang Chen knew that the Li family was influential. But weren't they low profile?
Yang Chen gritted his teeth and said, "Yang Chen. Jingjing's boyfriend. And you are?"
"Li Xueyi. Jingjing's friend."
"Friend? You make me laugh, Mr. Li. How long have you known my Jingjing?"
"Not long. But it feels like I've known her for years." Li Xueyi smiled. He caught the underlying meaning in Yang Chen's words but he was not the naive Li Xueyi from back then who would react to some stranger's words and push people away. He had learnt how to deal with such people.
As the two males tried to assert their silent dominance over Chen Jing, the two females were completely ignored. More like, Yang Chen tried to assert his dominance over Chen Jing and Zhao Mei Shi was completely ignored.
But it did not suit her for long. She batted her eyelids, trying to act cute, and extended her right hand towards Li Xueyi, saying, "I'm Zhao Mei Shi. Yang Chen's friend."
"Oh," said Li Xueyi, but he did not extend the same courtesy towards her.
After a minute or so of keeping her hand extended, Zhao Mei Shi lowered it with a red face as she glared at Chen Jing, as if it was all Chen Jing's fault.
Chen Jing finally collected her wits and said, "Yang Chen, why are you here?"
"To have dinner with me, of course," answered Zhao Mei Shi.
"You… Nevermind. You must be busy. We'll talk later, Chen."
"But Jingjing…"
Chen Jing ignored Yang Chen as she sat down and said, "Sorry about that, Mr. Li. Let's continue."
"Right, Miss Chen," Li Xueyi said. Then he turned towards the two people, indirectly asking them to leave.
Yang Chen pulled Zhao Mei Shi out of the room and left fuming. His girlfriend was having dinner with another man and asked him to leave. How dare she?
Inside the room, Li Xueyi peeked at Chen Jing as he sat down and said, "Do you wanna talk, Miss Chen? Sometimes, it's good to vent your emotions, lest they get a hold on you and mess you up."
Chen Jing took a deep breath and said, "Yang Chen and I studied in the same school. That was the start of our relationship. It has been 10 years since then. But things have started to change and I'm no longer sure about whether I want this or not. Yes, I love him. I do. In fact, I love him a lot. But somehow he has been taking me for granted. Moreover, his behavior has changed too. I don't know what he wants anymore."
The tears that she was holding back for a long time now started to fall.
Li Xueyi felt bad seeing her cry but he did not know how to console her. Neither did he want to say anything. He could see the pain in her eyes. She did not need consoling words right now. She just needed someone who would listen to her without judging anyone. Li Xueyi would return her favour by doing so today.
Finally, Chen Jing said, "Thanks Mr. Li. I feel better now. Also, you were saying something about the wontons before we were interrupted. Please continue."
"It's nothing. Someday, I'll introduce you to the person who made them. And, I'll let them know that my friend liked the dish."
Chen Jing nodded. Her cellphone started ringing. It was none other than Yang Chen. She felt a headache coming her way. Yang Chen would surely make a mountain out of a molehill this time. She did not want to think about anything. She was really tired.