Yao Jingjing coughed while pounding her chest vigorously. After dislodging the food stuck in her throat, she finally managed to save her own life.
She grabbed the nearby water glass and gulped it down, then slammed the glass on the table with a look of anguish. “Big Brother, are you serious? If you had thoughts of trying this out, you should have said so earlier! Why did I have to act so rudely? I’m quite elegant in public, you know!”
Lu Ze’s mouth twitched slightly. “If you weren’t so crude, I might not have wanted to give it a try.”
Yao Jingjing’s eyes widened, and she clicked her tongue. “Your preferences are quite unusual!”
Lu Ze picked up his chopsticks and pretentiously picked up a cashew, elegantly using his other hand to support the chopsticks from below as he brought it to his mouth. He then put down the chopsticks, picked up a napkin to dab the corner of his mouth, and slowly leaned back in his chair. After making an almost imperceptible chewing and swallowing motion, he asked in a low, deep voice, “How is it unusual?”
Yao Jingjing felt a bit dazzled. She thought this Big Brother was too damn capable; his mannerisms were like something out of a TV drama. Also, she wondered if he had swallowed the whole cashew without chewing to maintain his smooth, elegant movements. She could hardly see any obvious chewing motions.
This chaotic life always has some people who appear glamorous in public but privately suffer in ways only they know.
Yao Jingjing collected herself and answered Lu Ze’s question: “You’re not interested in gentle, demure girls, but instead pick a crude, big-eating woman. Isn’t that unusual enough?”
As she finished speaking, she unconsciously picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a cashew.
She silently imitated his eating method from earlier. After trying it, she almost burst into tears.
“Big Brother, can you tell me how you’ve managed to survive? Eating in such an affected way, it’s a miracle you haven’t starved to death! This is simply unbelievable!”
After the main course, Lu Ze called the waiter to bring a pot of Pu’er tea.
The two of them drank tea.
Lu Ze suddenly spoke up: “So, what do you think?”
Yao Jingjing sipped her tea and said, “Not bad, not bad! I ate a bit too much meat today, this helps clean out the oil in my gut!”
Lu Ze also picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip, his voice sounding a bit casual, “I meant about the blind date. What do you think about it?”
Yao Jingjing was taken aback, “Big Brother, you’re serious? I thought you were just joking with me!”
Lu Ze slightly furrowed his brow, “Do I look like someone with a great sense of humor?”
Yao Jingjing burst out laughing, “It’s rare that you have such self-awareness!” After wiping her mouth, she asked, “You want to give it a try with me?”
Lu Ze looked at her, unblinking, his eyes like black obsidian, bright and deep.
“Mm.” He made the simplest possible sound.
Yao Jingjing squinted at him, “Let me tell you, I’m not usually an easy person!”
Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow, “Oh?”
Still insanely concise, he didn’t even change the word from his previous answer, just altered the tone.
Yao Jingjing said, “What I mean is, you’d better think it through. If we don’t have any relationship, I’m truly not an easy person. But once you give me a chance, I might become unreasonably easygoing! I’ll ask you one last time, have you thought it through? Are you serious?”
Lu Ze picked up his teacup, took another sip, and gave his answer.
“Mm.”
Yao Jingjing held her teacup, incredibly excited, “Big Brother, can you say anything other than ‘Mm’ and ‘Oh’? Can you dare to say two words in one sentence!”
Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow again as if to say: Of course.
Then he snapped his fingers, calling the waiter. His voice was directed at the waiter, but his eyes were on Yao Jingjing as he clearly said two words: “Check, please.”
Yao Jingjing felt like she was about to cry.
After paying the bill, the two of them stood up, ready to leave.
Lu Ze asked Yao Jingjing, “How did you get here?”
Yao Jingjing said, “By taxi.” Then she asked, “What about you? Do you need me to share a taxi with you for part of the way?”
Lu Ze answered her, “I drove myself.” After a pause, he said, “I can consider giving you a ride.”
Yao Jingjing scoffed and said with a pout, “No need to consider, just do it! I won’t let you lose out! The taxi here cost me forty-nine yuan, with about thirty minutes of traffic. When we get there, I’ll throw you twenty yuan, no need for change. When you think of that one yuan, just consider yourself having seen Lei Feng!”
Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow and narrowed his eyes.
As they reached the entrance, Lu Ze took out a remote control and pressed it. Yao Jingjing looked around and saw a Ferrari worth no less than five million yuan light up diagonally in front of them.
She gaped at the rich man beside her, “Aren’t you showing off a bit too much? You’re just here to help your friend turn down a blind date, did you need to drive such an expensive car?”
Lu Ze looked down at her, “You’re right, I’m just here to help. So, this is the cheapest car I drove out today.”
Yao Jingjing’s legs went weak, and she nearly fainted.
His shameless display of wealth instantly made her, a common Beijing drifter, feel utterly defeated.
Yao Jingjing tremblingly got into the car, shakily fastened her seatbelt, and then stuttered, “I’ve thought about it carefully, and now I feel that with you driving such a nice car if I throw you twenty yuan when I get out, wouldn’t that be a bit insulting to you?”
Lu Ze started the car, glanced at her, then turned back to look at the road ahead, saying in a low, deep voice, “If you feel it’s too little, just throw down a bit more. I don’t mind if you give me fifty.”
Yao Jingjing quickly shook her head, “No, no, no! You misunderstood my meaning! What I meant was, for someone of your status, quibbling over twenty or fifty yuan diminishes your worth! For the sake of your dignity, I’ve decided not to talk about money with you at all! If I gave you money, how would that be any different from slapping you in the face, don’t you agree?”
While Yao Jingjing was saying all this, gesticulating wildly, she completely missed the driver next to her twitching the corner of his mouth several times.
The car reached an intersection and encountered a red light. While stopped waiting, Lu Ze tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and asked Yao Jingjing, who was lowering her head to play with her phone, “Do you think we’re suitable to develop further?”
Yao Jingjing looked up, “Absolutely suitable!”
Lu Ze turned his face to look at her askance, “Oh? How so?”
Yao Jingjing said emphatically, “You’re rich, I love money, isn’t that suitable? It’s a match made in heaven, okay!”
Lu Ze looked at her and twitched the corner of his mouth.
Following Yao Jingjing’s chaotic directions, Lu Ze circled Chang’an Street three times before finally dropping her off at her place.
After stopping the car and turning off the engine in front of her building, Lu Ze frowned and said, “Your sense of direction is pretty bad.”
Yao Jingjing, while unbuckling her seatbelt, said, “No, no, no, this has nothing to do with a poor sense of direction. I wanted to ride in this five-million-plus luxury car and circle Tiananmen Square a few more times under Chairman Mao’s watchful eye, just to soak up some of that 100 yuan bill’s aura!”
Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow, “You’re quite stubborn.”
Yao Jingjing chuckled and said, “I’m a bit face-conscious, understand? Compared to having a poor sense of direction, I’d rather be seen as a money-grubber! Because the former indicates an intelligence problem, while the latter is just a simple interest and hobby.”
The corner of Lu Ze’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly again.
Yao Jingjing pushed open the car door, “I’m off then! Thanks for the ride!” She got out of the car.
Just as she was about to help close the car door, Lu Ze called out to her.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Yao Jingjing stared at him blankly, “…Huh?”
Lu Ze silently returned her gaze, with an expression that seemed to say, “Think about it until you understand.”
Yao Jingjing scratched her head, and after a while, she let out an “Oh!” as if suddenly realizing something. “Oh man, you’re particular! Okay, here’s twenty yuan!” She started rummaging through her bag for her wallet. “No, not twenty, after all, we circled Tiananmen three times! Here’s fifty! No need for change, just call me Lei Feng!”
She pulled out a fifty-yuan note and handed it to Lu Ze.
Lu Ze, half-leaning on the steering wheel, looked at her and said, “I wasn’t talking about money.”
Yao Jingjing let out another “Huh?”
Lu Ze narrowed his eyes, “We’ve officially become a blind date couple, right?”
Yao Jingjing nodded, “I’m willing to cooperate with your proactive request.”
Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow, “Then before you leave, shouldn’t we exchange contact information?”
Yao Jingjing slapped her forehead, “Oh, right! I get a bit disoriented when I ride in cars!” She started rummaging through her bag again and pulled out a marker.
Then she climbed back into the car, sat in the passenger seat, and without warning, grabbed Lu Ze’s right hand, turned it over, and scribbled a row of numbers on his palm.
“You seem to have everything in your bag,” Lu Ze said, feeling a tingling sensation in his palm, a mix of itchiness and comfort.
“I swiped this from my best friend when she was moving. I had a feeling it might come in handy someday, and look, it’s proven useful today!” she said while handing the pen to Lu Ze. “Now it’s your turn to write for me!”
She held out her palm, blinking her eyes and smiling as she waited.
Lu Ze took the pen and stared at the fair, delicate palm for a moment before writing his phone number on the soft flesh.
After finishing, he returned the pen to Yao Jingjing and asked, “Why not just save it directly on your phone?”
Yao Jingjing was blowing on her palm to dry the ink when she heard his question. She froze, “Oh yeah, why didn’t we just save it on our phones?”
She tried hard to recall the fundamental reason for her actions, and after a long while, she finally remembered.
“Oh my! I watched a movie yesterday and it must have subconsciously influenced me! The main characters in the movie exchanged numbers this way. I was in a daze earlier and didn’t think it through, I just got subtly influenced!”
Lu Ze’s shoulders moved slightly beside her.
Yao Jingjing shook her hand and got out of the car, “Well, I’ll be waiting for your call then!”
Lu Ze nodded at her.
She happily waved her hand and entered the building.
In the car, Lu Ze watched her silhouette disappear behind the electronic door, his lips twitching.
He had never met someone with such a simple personality who insisted on appearing complicated and worldly.
He raised his right hand and looked at the row of numbers on his palm.
As he looked, the smile that hadn’t yet faded from his lips suddenly froze.
He silently picked up his phone with his left hand and took a picture of his right palm.
After the blind date, Yao Jingjing waited for several days but didn’t receive a call from Lu Ze.
For the first two days, Yao Jingjing managed to stay calm, thinking that the other party might be playing it cool, deliberately keeping her in suspense.
After two more days without a call, Yao Jingjing started to feel restless.
The idea of turning the mistaken blind date into a real one was his suggestion, and he was the one who brought up exchanging contact information. So why was he now ignoring her? That’s not how playing hard to get works! You need to make a move at some point!
Five days later, Yao Jingjing decided to be a straightforward person. She decided to take the initiative and call to ask that expressionless rich guy what was going on.
If he had changed his mind, at least she could sell him a set of products before they parted ways, which would be a tangible transformation and closure for their relationship and potential affair that hadn’t even had a chance to bud.
She took a deep breath, scrolled through her phone to find the expressionless rich guy’s number, and sent him a text message.
“Big Brother, are you just messing with me? What happened to stay in touch? Can we still play together happily!”
Less than half a minute after sending the message, she received a picture message.
She opened it.
It was a photo of a male palm.
On the palm was written a string of ten digits.
Yao Jingjing felt that the string of numbers looked both familiar and a bit frustrating.
When she took a closer look, she couldn’t help but let out a loud “Ah!”
No wonder it looked frustrating! She had written her phone number with one digit missing!
Yao Jingjing texted Lu Ze: “Well, now that you know my correct number, aren’t you going to show some initiative?”
Half a minute later, she received a reply: “Such as?”
Yao Jingjing viciously jabbed at the screen with her finger: “Like asking me out!”
Half a minute later: “Okay.”
Yao Jingjing was about to collapse.
This is not how you chat! Every sentence is a conversation-ender. Even she, the queen of saving conversations, was about to be choked to death!
“If it’s okay, then ask me out!!!” Her emotions were running high, causing her hand to shake and type two extra exclamation marks.
On the other end of the phone, the cold-faced rich guy looked at his phone screen and slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth. He slowly and clumsily typed out a few words: “Then what should I ask you out to do?”
Yao Jingjing was completely defeated. She didn’t dare to save the conversation or herself anymore.
With a drooping face, she typed: “Let’s go to the National Library, cultivate our minds, discuss life goals, and learn knowledge to save the Earth in the future!”
Half a minute later, she received a text message with only two words: “Okay.”
Yao Jingjing went crazy!
Doesn’t this person have any awareness that he’s being sarcastically mocked?!
“Damn it, Big Brother, don’t be like this! I’m mocking you! Is your sense of humor zero?!” She angrily sent a text message.
Half a minute later, the reply arrived: “Women shouldn’t say ‘damn it.'”
Yao Jingjing: “The premise is that you treat me like a woman!”
Half a minute later: “Haven’t I?”
Yao Jingjing: “You take a woman to the National Library instead of watching a movie? Also, Big Brother, can you type faster? It takes you half a minute to write just a few words?!”
This time, it took almost a full minute before the reply came: “I understand. After work, I’ll ask you out to watch a movie. No.”
Yao Jingjing looked at her phone screen, feeling a mix of joy and worry.
Rich guy, you finally got it! You’ve finally learned the normal way to date women under the patient guidance of this intelligent beauty.
But rich guy, do you have to say “No” so confidently…
As Lu Ze was lowering his head to send text messages, his secretary knocked and entered.
Seeing what he was doing, the secretary, who had seen all sorts of situations, was instantly shocked.
“Boss, are you… texting? Didn’t you claim that texting is something only idiots and poor people do? Aren’t you the one who insists on making phone calls, whether in South America, North America, South Africa, North Africa, the South Pole, or the North Pole? I remember how your ex-girlfriend almost jumped off a building just to get a response from you, yet you refused!”
Lu Ze glanced up at his nearly frantic secretary and said, expressionless, “It depends on the person and the situation. If I encounter someone a bit silly, doing something slightly foolish now and then isn’t so bad.”
The secretary was completely stunned by his enigmatic words.