"Who just called you?"
"It's a friend."
"A friend? A friend that I don't know of?
Are you sure it's not Li Wei? It won't be shocking to me if I find out that you both are together and you just choose not to say anything about it to me."
"That's not true. I think I have said something about this person to you before, but you haven't seen him once."
"I don't think you have."
"Okay then. I'm not going to take this call. He is the one who brought me back home the day I was at Wei's office. I could not get a cab that very day, and he offered to give me a free ride."
That was He Jinyong calling. While Fang was trying to explain to Min who was calling, the call went out again, and the next call that came in was Chang's own.
"Ooh, that's nice. So you released your number because he brought you back home and you felt it was okay to release your number. That's not a bad idea, though."
"Min. Chang is calling.
"Take the call, and please don't say no to his request to hang out with us."
"Hello! This is Chang. How are you doing this evening?"
"I'm doing pretty good. I hope you are good too."
"Yes. How is Min doing?"
"She's okay."
"That is good. Is she there with you?"
"Yes. She is here. Do I give her the phone?"
"Yes. But that should be after I am done talking to you."
"Alright."
"What about my request to hang out with you girls for dinner tomorrow?"
"About that. I don't think that would be... She was about to give him a no for an answer. Min noticed that and immediately snatched the phone from Fang.
"You can't be serious, Fang. What were you trying to say?" She gave Fang a deadly look. If only looks could kill, Fang would have been dead by now.
"Hello! This is Min. Please fix the time and venue for us to meet. We talked about it before your call came in, and we have agreed to hang out with you." Min spoke to Chang.
"Are you sure Fang is in support of this? I think she was just about to turn down my request before you collected the phone from her."
"Please don't let that bother you. Just text the venue and time to her right after this call."
"Okay then. I'll do just that immediately. Bye for now."
"You know what? You are a pest. How did we even become friends in the first place? Fang asked rhetorically:
"The question should be how we managed to cope with each other as friends since our childhood days till date. Because I do ask myself that question almost every day.
We are so different in our doings."
"I overlook all your bad sides; that's how we've been able to cope with each other."
"Look who is talking; you are a pin on my flesh. You won't let me have peace of mind." You always keep things to yourself, and when everything isn't turning out well the way you initially thought, you then hit me up with the sad news, thereby giving me sleepless nights."
"I hate you, Min." Fang Retorted
"And who likes you? Fang, you are weird. You know that I am the only person who can tell you the truth to your face, so you had better start behaving well because I am too caring to be friends with someone like you," Min responded angrily.
While they were still arguing, a text popped into Fang's phone, and Min opened it to check the content of it. It was a text from Chang containing the venue and time for the dinner hangout.
"Here is the venue; I'm sure you know this place."
"You should know because you agreed to hang out with him and I am not going with you," Fang responded.
"That had better be a joke, because if you try it, be ready to go on a break from our friendship. Why are you acting this weird?" Min warned with all seriousness.
"I have no idea why I act this way."
Min was only trying to make Fang see reasons why they should hang out with Chang to get to know him better. But Fang, on the other hand, was being too rigid.
Min had to threaten her with their friendship to make her stick to their initial agreement of getting to know how Chang came about.
***********
Sunday evening was already here. At exactly 5 p.m., Chang was already at Fang's residence.
He didn't tell the girls that he was coming to pick them up. He only sent them the location where they would meet.
Although he reached out to them by 3 p.m. to remind them of the time and the venue,
He was inside his car when they stepped out of the house and were about to walk to the bus stop to get a cab.
Immediately after he saw them, he honked his car to announce his presence.
He got out of his car and asked them to hop in.
At first, Fang was surprised to see him with a car. So why had he not been following her around in his car?
While she was still standing, Min had gotten to the back seat of the car so that Fang would be in front with Chang.
They got to the venue, and Fang could not believe what she was seeing and where she had been taken by Chang.
She almost acted surprised and confused at the same time as to why Chang had brought her to Divino Bar and Restaurant.
This was the same place Jinyong had brought her for lunch.
Now she is beginning to have mixed feelings about this whole thing. Maybe Chang was sent by Jinyong instead. It was so wrong of her to suspect Li Wei in the first place.
Seeing that Min was observing the way she was behaving, she quickly got herself together and feigned a smile.
Min wasn't moved by such a smile coming from her friend. She knew it was fake, and something wasn't just right about her friend's sudden reaction to the venue.
"Are you okay, Fang?" Min whispered to her friend.
Fang ignored her question after all; Min had forced her to do what she didn't want to do. She just wasn't happy about that.
She wasn't expecting Min to ask her if she was okay; after all, she knew she was not happy before they left the house.
A few minutes later, the three of them were seated, as they expected a waiter or waitress to come take their orders.
No one was saying anything; the silence was beginning to bore Min, and she could not hear it anymore.
"Why is no one saying anything? This calm state is not needed right now. Someone should say something." Min broke the silence.
"You just said something, didn't you?" Min asked with a voice that expressed anger.
With her response, Chang could deduce that Fang was not happy to be with him and that she had been compelled to do so by her friend Min.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Can I have your order, please?" A lady in a neatly dressed turtleneck with long sleeves and black Aphrodite trousers walked majestically to them to ask for their order.
"Good afternoon. Please take the lady's orders first."
The waitress turned to Min first. She was wearing a smile on her face, which made her seem friendly.
"What do you care for, Miss?" The waitress asked as she dished out a smile to Min in return.
Min quickly went through the menu and pointed out to the lady what she wanted.
The waitress turned to Fang and asked for her order.
"Let me have water." Fang requested
The waitress left immediately to get the ladies orders. She returned swiftly and placed their orders in front of them.
She turned to Chang.
"What do you care for, sir?"
"Let me have numbers 7 and 8 on the menu list."
In less than 5 minutes, his orders were brought to him.
"Fang, are you okay with just water?" Chang asked.
"I'm okay with my order. Thanks," Fang responded.
"Please don't feel shy about ordering anything you want." Chang Said
"What about you, Min? Is your order okay with you?"
"Yes. Thanks, Chang," Min responded.
"You are welcome. Fang, I noticed you've not been yourself since we got in here. Is anything bothering you? Chang asked with concern.
"I'm fine."
"If anything is troubling you, please feel free to share it with us," Min said jokingly.
She knew her friend would never talk to them about whatever was troubling her, even if she was in big trouble. Even if she wants to do that, not when Chang is there with them.
She would rather take her head off her body than tell Chang whatever is troubling her.
"So tell me, can I know more about you?" Chang directed that question to Fang.
"My name is Fang, as you already know. You know where I live already, even though I didn't tell you.
What else do you wish to know?"
"Okay. You know my name already, and I live on the same estate as you. Just three buildings away from you.
I would like to know you better if you don't mind."
"What exactly do you wish to know?"
"What's your level of education? What do you do for a living, and where are you originally from?"
"I stopped at the post-secondary short cycle. I work as a receptionist in a hotel and am originally from the northern part of Country B. Tiajin, to be precise."
"Nice. What about you, Min?"
"Well, I don't have much to say about me. I came from the same country as Fang, and I have a degree in economics. I'm self-employed."
"Wow! I guess it's time for me to introduce myself. You know my name already; I'm self-employed. I run a transport company of my own, and I also have a bachelor's degree in transportation and logistics. A master's degree in marine transport and a doctoral degree (Phd) in marine navigation and communication.
I'm originally from Country C."
"This is awesome. That is a great achievement, I must confess." Fang admitted
"Exactly! But you don't look like it at all. That is why it is said that it is wrong to judge a book by its cover.
If you hadn't said these things, one would have thought you were a tout." Min added.
"Exactly what crossed my mind the day he stopped me on my way to the market. I was surprised to see him with such a car this evening."Fang uttered.
"I know right. I love moving a lot without driving. Driving isn't just one of the things I find fun doing. Secondly, it pays off to live a normal life."
"You are right," Fang said.
Fang's mood was beginning to brighten up since she just found out Chang wasn't as bad as she initially thought. She had tagged him as a tout who was paid to follow her everywhere.
But on the contrary, the guy sitting right in front of her isn't a low-life human being who follows people around to get paid.
This was someone who owned his own transport company.
After much getting to know each other, Chang paid for their order, and they left for the car park where he had his car packed.
They got in and drove off. This time around, Fang was excited to sit in front of Chang.
He wasn't as bad as she had initially thought.
Chang drove them to Fang's house before and promised to talk to them on the phone at night before bedtime. He then drove off to his residential apartment.
At exactly 9:40 p.m., he called Fang's number and talked to her and her friend Min.
He reminded Fang of his intentions toward her.