35. Buy Coke
Deng Shilang hung up the phone, walked to his parking space, unlocked the door, and slid into the driver's seat, ready to start the engine and drive in front of Chen Li'er. Just then, a car headlight flashed, slowing down as it passed. The two cars' fronts collided. Liang Litang slowly braked to a stop and rolled down the window. Deng Shilang saw that he had something to say, so he rolled down his window as well.
Liang Litang looked over the window and asked, "Where are you going back to?"
"My apartment." Deng Shilang answered and then asked, "Why don't you stay with your family?"
Liang Litang said: "My dad sent them to grandma's house. Rosalie seems to have friends coming to Hong Kong, so I'll take her there."
Deng Shilang nodded. He didn't know if she had any friends coming to Hong Kong, but he shouldn't ask. He simply rolled up the window, signaling Liang Litang to give way. Liang Litang saw this, adjusted himself, and drove forward. Deng Shilang followed behind him, turning the steering wheel to get out of the parking space.
Yao Ling had already emerged from the elevator and was standing with Chen Li'er, chatting. Their two cars pulled up one after another, and Deng Shilang could see her smile from behind Liang Litang's car. Her expression and words remained unaffected. Her phone call didn't seem to be about jealousy or concern, but rather about mocking the childishness he had exposed. He shouldn't have had any expectations of her in the first place; it was impossible for her to care about him.
Yao Ling got into Liang Litang's car, which started and drove farther and farther away from them, from the lighted garage to the darker road.
The movement of cars left a large gap ahead. After Deng Shilang picked up Chen Li'er, he slowly drove uphill and parked behind them at the parking gate. The gate opened, and they drove around to an intersection before separating.
Yao Ling glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed they'd pulled away from the rear of the car. She handed the phone back to Liang Litang, then remembered that Pierre had been in Hong Kong for over an hour. Coincidentally, just as she finished thinking about it, she received a call from him. This time, she picked up her own phone and responded in Italian, sprinkling in English.
Liang Litang rarely heard her speak Italian, and he found her voice and intonation natural and fluent. After she hung up, he noticed her phone had only one bar of battery. He handed her a line and asked, "What's your friend's name?"
Yao Ling was charging her phone and said, "Pierre, my SP."
"That French guy," Liang Litang remembered what she had said at his house, raising an eyebrow in interest. He sat in the right-hand driving position, his left earring facing her, and asked, "So, should I take you to his hotel now?"
Yao Ling shook her head and said, "Just go to Grandma's house. He flew for almost twelve hours and must be very tired. Besides, we're not in any rush."
Liang Litang smiled and shrugged, understanding her meaning, and drove to his grandmother's house to congratulate them until the last second of the day before going home.
At eight o'clock the next morning, Yao Ling opened Pierre's WhatsApp message. He briefly wrote down his schedule for the day. In the morning, he would go to the Chinese University of Hong Kong to attend a literary seminar, and in the afternoon he would go to the book fair in Central. He would only have time to have dinner with her and do other things in the evening.
At the same time, Tracy had sent her a website for a high-end jewelry brand. She discovered it was owned by a diamond company. The front page featured photos she had taken of a model wearing a necklace, earrings, and rings, gleaming in the sunlight of Repulse Bay. She had been in Hong Kong for so long, and this was her only job in the fashion business. She expressed her gratitude to Tracy for giving her the chance to add a new photograph to her portfolio.
Pierre, a man who enjoys romance, was chatting with a friend about where to relax. His friend recommended a few places near Central, and he let Yao Ling choose from them. After all, he always went wherever she went. He wanted her to enjoy the experience, too.
Yao Ling saw a familiar place name and chose Central. Pierre had done the same, teasing them about their telepathic connection, even their choice of location. However, she chose Central because she was thinking only of Deng Shilang. The kiss she'd witnessed the night before was still fresh in her mind. She grabbed her phone and slammed it against the table, not replying. In the past, she wouldn't have cared; it wouldn't bother her, and she wouldn't have been so fussy. But she had noticed a change.
At 6 p.m., Yao Ling met Pierre at the Avenue of Stars. They were both dressed in a matching European minimalist style.
Yao Ling stood beside the statue of the goddess. The afterglow of Victoria Harbour curled up behind her head, the light filtering through the edges of her sunglasses like a long golden needle thread. Her hair was tied into a bun, high above her head. Her superior bone structure and facial features could support the close-fitting hairstyles of Fashion Week. Her small face was matched with a pair of large-framed sunglasses.
Dressed like this today, she exuded a certain air somewhere between aloofness and playfulness. Within a ten-mile radius, her smile was the Anatolia Rose in Pierre's love story, an innocent girl in love. But when she didn't smile, she was a capable, rebellious, and deadly woman, too beautiful to be approached.
Pierre still has a dandy temperament, wearing a gray hunting jacket over a denim shirt. Fortunately, he is very young, with a white and clean face without any beard and wearing glasses, so such a tough hunting jacket also looks youthful and elegant on him.
The two of them standing together attracted a lot of attention. They had chosen this place where the stars shone brightly, and they also happened to see the sunset.
"Rosalie, I missed you." Pierre walked over, opening his arms. They went through the greeting ritual, kissing her three times on each cheek.
Yao Ling hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, completing the greeting ritual. She smelled the fruity fragrance, let go, took off her sunglasses, revealing her eyes, and said, "Even if you don't come to Hong Kong, I'm going to let you come."
"Why?" Pierre smiled happily, his teeth were neat and white, and he looked like a young man from a middle-class European family.
Yao Ling also laughed, "Anyway, I'm going to let you come and do it hard once."
After a short stroll, it was dark and the lights were on. They took a ferry across Victoria Harbour, from here to Central. Yao Ling had never taken one before, so she accompanied Pierre to experience it. They went up to the open-air floor and took seats near the edge. They passed the Bank of China Tower, its lights blazing brightly, traversing the entire building and shimmering into the harbor.
"Aren't you going to introduce your family and friends to me?" Pierre looked pitiful.
Yao Ling thought for a moment and said, "I'll call my cousin."
Pierre lay on the railing, looking like a French puppy, "Take your time. I like it here. It's very different from Europe."
Yao Ling smiled and lowered her head to scroll through her phone number. The wind blew across her forehead, barely lifting a strand of hair. It felt cool. At night, she didn't need sunglasses; even a pair pinned to the top of her head was a beautiful accessory. She called Liang Litang and told him to meet later. He said it was perfectly fine, and he'd play host and wait until they were finished with dinner.
When Pierre saw her finish the call, he said, "Just now you were standing by the sculpture. I want you to take my Dalmatian with you and take a picture. It can be put in a fashion magazine."
She accepted the compliment, leaning back against the ferry chair to enjoy the breeze. Victoria Harbour was suddenly vast, then narrow, Tsim Sha Tsui on one side, Central on the other. Such a large ferry, perched high above the water, felt relatively calm. On the yachts across the way, people were pouring champagne, showing off and celebrating.
Yao Ling finished reading and turned around, thinking that Pierre's presence could help alleviate the stimulation she was experiencing. Pierre enjoyed it and said, "I saw you posted here on Instagram."
Yao Ling nodded, "I recently shot on film, but it hasn't been developed yet."
After arriving at their destination, they disembarked and chose a Cantonese restaurant in Central for dinner, chatting about the weeks they hadn't seen each other and what their mutual friends were up to. Pierre had eaten Chinese food in Paris and Milan before, but he wasn't sure if it was authentic. However, Yao Ling said those restaurants were run by Chinese people and therefore had a more authentic flavor, while this one, with its Hong Kong Michelin rating, was more refined.
After dinner, Liang Litang called and asked to pick them up at the Ferris wheel. They were handsome and beautiful, like models in a fashion magazine. Fortunately, he was also tall, about the same height as Pierre. He took them to Lu An's bar for a while, then walked around.
Pierre admired Luan's bar, which was located in the financial center and had a terrace with very modern leather seats and parasols facing Victoria Harbour.
This time, they didn't sit inside, not at the bar, but on the terrace. Deng Shilang had noticed them the moment they entered. It was a coincidence; he hadn't been to the bar in a few days since returning to Hong Kong, but tonight he happened to see Yao Ling and the Frenchman with her. He had heard that this was her special. She was very beautiful, and he complemented her.
"Shall I help you order?" Liang Litang asked in English.
Yao Ling said, "I'll do it."
She walked over to the bar, sunglasses still on, and leaned in. Deng Shilang was wearing sunglasses today, too, just for decoration, like hers, worn backwards, perched on the back of his head, a very stylish look. He looked more relaxed than yesterday, a smart-casual style. She could understand his hobby of mixing drinks; it suited him perfectly.
"What would you like to drink?" Deng Shilang asked, leaning his hands on the bar.
Yao Ling made a sweet promise, making him think she was imitating Chen Li'er. He didn't move, but looked at her to see what she was going to do. She made another sweet promise. He finally got close, and she pointed at the people sitting outside on the terrace and whispered in his ear, "Make him a whiskey coke. I'm sending it to him."
Deng Shilang understood immediately. Whisky and Coke, buy the Coke. She was inviting her spouse to have sex with her tonight. He had no right to interfere, he couldn't control it, and he couldn't avoid it. She was here on purpose.
He knew she wouldn't let it go, and that she needed to vent her frustration before she could let it go. He couldn't fall for her tricks, so he suppressed his frustration and asked, "What are you drinking? I know Liang Litang's."
"Just a Spritz will do. After he finishes his whiskeycoke, give him a Spritz."
Deng Shilang nodded, first adjusted the Aperol orange light, and asked: "Qizi has this, have you seen it?"
"No."
He didn't reply, but adjusted the machine briskly. Then he said, "I'll send it over. You can go back and sit down."
Yao Ling clenched her hands, leaving marks on them. Her face turned stern, and she turned around, returning to her seat and sitting next to Pierre.
Seeing this, Liang Litang smiled sheepishly: "They are very unhappy with each other."
Pierre also noticed it and leaned closer to her, "Are you unhappy?"
"A little bit," Yao Ling said. It was impossible for him not to react at all, but he just didn't react now.
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