Chapter Twenty-Three: I Think You'll Like It
The stone-paved streets of the old town of Haojiang gleamed with a damp light in the night.
Cheng Yin followed half a step behind Li Yaodong. The silk shirt she was wearing billowed slightly in the night wind, revealing a small section of black lace trim at her waist, like a cat's tail flashing by in the night.
"Brother Dong! Bringing your wife here for a late-night snack?" The owner of the fruit stall by the roadside greeted him with a smile, holding half a mango that had been peeled in half.
Li Yaodong neither admitted nor denied it, but simply tossed a coin over and said, "A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, please."
When Cheng Yin took the orange juice, water droplets condensed on the cool glass.
She took a small sip, the sweet and sour taste exploding on her tongue. The boss was still praising her for being "very beautiful." Cheng Yin looked down at the fruit fibers floating in the orange juice, unsure how to respond to this vague compliment.
"Let's go." Li Yaodong gently put his arm around her waist, his warm palms radiating warmth through the fabric of her shirt. "If you praise her any more, she'll want to crawl into a hole."
After turning two corners, a cacophony of noise hit us.
"Brother Dong!" The proprietress in the floral shirt waved the greasy menu. "I've reserved your favorite spot!" The folding table in the corner was cleaner than the others and had a disposable plastic tablecloth on it.
Li Yaodong pulled out a chair for Cheng Yin to sit down, while he himself straddled the plastic stool next to him, his suit trousers creating an absurd contrast with the cheap furniture.
"We have fresh cockles today," the proprietress enthusiastically recommended. "And we also have Ah Dong's favorite salt and pepper flounder."
Li Yaodong nodded, pointed to a few places on the menu, and the entire conversation was conducted in Cantonese.
Cheng Yin listened quietly and noticed that his tone of voice was much softer than at the company, with a slight rise at the end of his sentences, occasionally interspersed with a few swear words, like a snake that has shed its skin, revealing the real scales underneath.
After ordering, the proprietress suddenly turned to Cheng Yin and praised her in broken Mandarin, "Dong Ge's girlfriend is so gentle and quiet, her skin is as white as milk pudding!"
Cheng Yin's fingertip traced a watermark on the orange juice glass.
Li Yaodong chuckled and took the beer glass from the proprietress: "She understands Cantonese."
"Oh, you should have said so earlier!" The proprietress immediately switched to Cantonese, speaking rapidly, "When Ah Dong brought a girl to my place for the first time, I thought she was some kind of celebrity..." She suddenly lowered her voice, "She's much more proper than that Cici from last time!"
Li Yaodong coughed, and the proprietress wisely shut up and went to urge the food order to be served.
Cheng Yin watched the water droplets roll down the glass and suddenly asked, "Cici was here too?"
"Hmm." Li Yaodong took a swig of beer. "It was too noisy. I brought it once and then stopped."
The first dish arrived: golden-brown salt and pepper nine-belly fish. Li Yaodong used his chopsticks to peel off the crispy outer skin, revealing the snow-white fish meat inside, and placed it in Cheng Yin's bowl: "While it's hot."
Cheng Yin took a small bite, and the fresh sweetness of the seafood immediately filled her mouth. She always ate very quietly, like a cautious cat, and you could hardly hear her chewing.
Looking at her slightly widened eyes, Li Yaodong's lips unconsciously curled up: "Is she pretty?"
“Yes.” Cheng Yin nodded.
Li Yaodong's smile deepened. He loosened his tie, rolled up his shirt cuffs, revealing his muscular forearms. In this noisy food stall, he was no longer the fearsome casino tycoon, but just an ordinary man taking a girl out for a late-night snack.
Li Yaodong would serve each dish to Cheng Yin before he started eating himself.
"Dong-ge really dotes on his girlfriend," a regular customer at the next table teased.
Li Yaodong kicked the man's plastic stool: "Did you eat my food?!"
Cheng Yin sipped her orange juice, observing the unfamiliar Li Yaodong through the rim of her glass. The curve of his Adam's apple as he tilted his head back to drink beer, the fine lines around his eyes when he mocked his friends, the tip of his tongue sticking out when he inhaled the spiciness...
All these small, real details are like seashells suddenly appearing on the beach...
"What are you looking at?" Li Yaodong suddenly leaned closer, the aroma of hops wafting over.
Cheng Yin's eyelashes trembled: "It's different from being at the company."
"What's different about 't'?"
“Here…” Cheng Yin pointed to the corner of his mouth, “more…relaxed?”
Li Yaodong paused for a moment, then laughed: "Accountant Cheng is very observant."
The proprietress served the last bowl of wonton noodles. The broth was clear, and the wontons floated on the surface of the soup like plump gold ingots.
Li Yaodong pushed the object towards Cheng Yin: "A reward."
"Why?"
"You passed today's homework. You said 'I am beautiful' quite well."
Cheng Yin lowered her head and stirred the noodles.
Halfway through her noodles, a commotion suddenly erupted at the alley entrance. Several drunkards jostled past, one of them bumping into their table, causing the soup bowl to wobble and spill a few drops onto Cheng Yin's shirt.
The entire alley suddenly fell silent for a few seconds.
Li Yaodong didn't say anything, but simply took out a tissue and gently pressed it onto Cheng Yin's soiled clothes.
He moved with the utmost care, as if handling something fragile, but his gaze suddenly turned cold when he swept over the group of drunkards. "Get lost." Just one word. The drunkards, as if granted a pardon, slunk away.
The noise in the alley resumed, but Cheng Yin noticed that the people around her looked at her with more awe.
“They are afraid of you,” Cheng Yin stated the facts.
Li Yaodong crumpled the soiled tissue into a ball: "Isn't it good?"
Cheng Yin thought for a moment, but in the end, she shook her head without saying anything and continued to eat her noodles.
“Tell me in advance next time.” Li Yaodong put the chives from her bowl into his own. “Tell me what you don’t like or what you want.”
Cheng Yin's chopsticks stopped in mid-air: "Is that alright?"
"Give it a try." Li Yaodong poured beer into her empty glass. "Let's start tonight."
The pale yellow liquid foamed in the glass. Cheng Yin carefully took a sip and wrinkled her nose at the bitter taste.
Li Yaodong laughed loudly, his laughter drowned out by the noise of the alley, yet it clearly reached her ears.
“It doesn’t taste good,” she said honestly.
"Then no, I won't." Li Yaodong took back his wine glass. "What would you like to drink?"
Cheng Yin glanced at the coconut juice on the next table.
Lai Yiu-tung waved to the proprietress and naturally switched gears: "Excuse me, a glass of iced coconut juice." He paused, then added, "And a serving of mango pudding as well."
"I didn't say I wanted pudding."
“I know.” Li Yaodong gently tapped her nose with the end of his chopsticks. “But I guess you’ll like it.”
When the pudding arrived, Cheng Yin's eyes lit up. The dessert was served in a simple plastic bowl, but the rich aroma of mango reminded her of tropical sunshine.
She scooped up a spoonful, and the moment the sweetness melted on her tongue, the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up.
Lai Yiu-tung rested his chin on his hand and looked at her: "Is it sweet?"
“Sweet.” Cheng Yin nodded, then suddenly remembered something, hesitated for a moment, and added in plain language, “I really like it.” This was much more standard than saying “I’m so pretty.”
Li Yaodong's gaze softened, and he reached out to wipe a bit of cream from the corner of Cheng Yin's mouth.
On the way back, the lights in the old street gradually went out.
Cheng Yin's stilettos clicked crisply on the stone pavement. Li Yaodong walked beside her, his shadow stretched long by the streetlights, overlapping hers like two silhouettes embracing.
“Li Yaodong.” Cheng Yin suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"Um?"
Why did you bring me here?
Li Yaodong turned to face her. The night wind ruffled Cheng Yin's hair, a strand clinging to her lips. He reached out and brushed the strand away, his fingertips lingering on her lips for a second. "Because..." he paused, "I wanted you to see the real me."
Cheng Yin looked up at him; the neon light reflected on his sharply defined face, half bright and half shadowed.
“I saw it,” Cheng Yin said softly.
Li Yaodong smiled and said nothing more.
The two continued walking, their footsteps echoing in the quiet alley. The black lace beneath Cheng Yin's shirt gently brushed against her skin with each step, like a little secret known only to her.
It was already past midnight when I returned to apartment 3306.
When Cheng Yin came out of the shower, she found Li Yaodong standing on the balcony smoking, his suit jacket draped over the back of a chair and his tie loosely hanging around his neck.
She hesitated for a moment, then walked to his side.
Li Yaodong handed her a glass of warm water, and the two stood side by side without saying a word.
After a long while, Li Yaodong stubbed out his cigarette: "I'm going to Siam tomorrow."
Cheng Yin nodded: "A few days?"
“Three days.” Li Yaodong turned to her. “Lin Shirong will take care of you.”
Cheng Yin wanted to say that she didn't need to be looked after, but in the end she just nodded.
Li Yaodong's gaze fell on her, as if he wanted to say something, but he only reached out and ruffled her half-dry hair.
"Go to sleep." He turned and walked towards the guest room. "Good night."
Cheng Yin stood there watching his retreating figure, then suddenly spoke: "Li Yaodong."
"Um?"
"Good morning." She paused, then added softly, "Sweet dreams."
Li Yaodong paused slightly, but did not turn around.
Cheng Yin had already changed out of her black lace lingerie and neatly folded it in the drawer, but the feeling of being wrapped up still lingered on her skin, like a silent affirmation.
Outside the window, the lights of the Haojiang Tower have gone out.
She closed her eyes, the sweet taste of mango pudding still lingering on her tongue. The words "I love it" echoed softly in the darkness, perhaps knocking on someone's heart.
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