6. Summer Night Breeze
To Vivian's surprise, Eric didn't ask her to meet him at a Japanese or French restaurant, where she needed to dress up elegantly. Instead, he asked her to meet him at a moderately priced Sichuan restaurant. She was very surprised when she received the address.
She couldn't even decide what to wear.
"Please be considerate of me this time. It's been a long time since I've had authentic Sichuan cuisine. Okay?"
I had no choice but to agree. In fact, I didn't know him at all, and certainly not to the point where I could show him my displeasure.
This was not the date she had imagined.
Finally, she put on a loose white linen skirt and flat shoes and went out, and the formal outfit she had put together the day before was thrown back into the closet.
She didn't want to dress up too hard, as that would not only be out of tune with the environment, but would also seem to make her pay too much attention to him.
Just like when we first met, he was still wearing a thin white linen shirt with a slightly low collar, faintly revealing the outline of his light brown muscles.
She burst out laughing. How come this person likes to show off more than her?
His shirt was wrinkled, which naturally reminded her of what Yi Shu said in her novel: only truly beautiful people wear linen, because "the clothes may be wrinkled, but the person himself is not wrinkled."
"Why are you wearing matching outfits with me?" Eric saw that she was wearing all white.
"You're crazy." She rolled her eyes at him.
Although it is a Sichuan restaurant and not a fashionable place, it is very popular. It is still very busy on weekdays, and the queue at the door is so long that it is impossible to get in. Fortunately, he had reserved a table in advance, so they were able to get through the bustling queue.
"Wouldn't you like to try this?"
Vivian looked at the thinly sliced fat on the plate and shook her head slightly: "So greasy."
"No, try it?" He took another pair of chopsticks, picked up a piece, and stretched out his hand.
She lowered her head, her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart. He immediately understood and put it on her plate.
"Has anyone ever told you that you particularly like to bow your head?" This was a strange question, and it really shouldn't have come from him, who was almost a stranger when they met for the second time.
"You say that as if you know me very well." Vivian didn't buy it.
"Anyway, it's different from the first time I met you."
"It means I'm two-faced."
He ignored her deliberate interruption and said, "When we first met, I thought you were very versatile."
"What now?"
"It's like I have a lot on my mind, I'm tense and easily get angry."
Her expression changed slightly: "Nonsense."
She hated being seen through.
He had an expression that said, "Look, am I right?"
The meal wasn't as exciting as she'd imagined. Sichuan restaurants weren't exactly the kind of place for flirtation. They'd just been chatting idly and bickering from time to time. His words were occasionally a bit aggressive, but he knew when to back off, so as not to truly irritate her.
Vivian thought this guy was a little strange. Actually, they had only just met briefly at a social gathering and exchanged a few words, like strangers. Yet, he was so familiar with her.
Usually, when a man tries to get close to a woman, he is just testing the waters, but he doesn't say anything frivolous.
After dinner, they didn't continue chatting. The table next to them had already finished two bottles of baijiu, and the atmosphere was as lively as a night market, which was really wrong.
The hotel he stayed in was not far from Vivian's home, so he gave her a ride home and did not invite her to change to the second table or have another drink, as if she was just a dining companion he had known for many years.
She was a little confused.
This guy is so strange. Although having a meal is not a big deal, urban men and women are very savvy. If they are not real dining companions with no distractions, or if they really have something to talk about, they will not meet up alone for no reason.
What are we going to do together? Are we really going to have a one-night stand and talk about romance and life philosophy?
*
In their fleeting encounter, Vivian hadn't had time to unleash her charm on him. That night, her target was Qiu Fang. Although she only realized later that she was the prey, she'd mistakenly thought she was the hunter. Qiu Fang, however, was the one who profited.
But that fleeting glimpse was enough to make her remember his beautiful face. He truly had a captivating body. Even in the tacky, noisy Sichuan restaurant, her mind would occasionally wander while she was talking to him, staring at his arms wrapped in a white shirt, his hands, slightly bony but not overly prominent, and whispering to herself, "You know, your hands are really beautiful."
But she hid it well.
When around the opposite sex, Vivian was accustomed to being reserved. Even if she appeared cheerful and cheerful on the surface, she was always tense inside. But at this moment, sitting in the dark carriage with this person she was only meeting for the second time, she felt a rare sense of relaxation and openness.
Miriam Yeung's songs started playing in her head. She was in love with him along the way, like running away in the carriage, and she wouldn't let go no matter how crowded it was.
For a moment she even wanted to lean on his shoulder and take a rest.
Unfortunately, I didn't drink that night, so I can't use alcohol as an excuse for my misconduct.
The car was approaching her neighborhood. "That's it, driver, please stop for a moment," she said two blocks ahead.
The car stopped, and he got out and opened the door for her. She looked up at him, still trying to figure out what to say—something that would be humorous, lighthearted, yet also suggestive, leaving him feeling distracted and lost in thought. But he had already reached out, gently patted her head, and said goodbye, "Thank you for taking the time to have dinner with me tonight. See you next time."
She gave him a reproachful look and said, "Get in the car, good night." She was not in a hurry to go home.
After watching the car drive away, she breathed a sigh of relief and walked forward.
She particularly likes taking walks at night, taking thousands of steps in the dark shadows of trees, as if meditating to calm her troubled mind and clear out the garbage and negative emotions in her brain.
But tonight she got off the bus early, not for a walk.
She didn't live in the upscale neighborhood where the car stopped, but in an older residential complex not far away. Although only two hundred meters away, the scene was very different.
She had visited that upscale community before buying a house. A high wall kept the hustle and bustle at bay, and lush green grass marked the tranquility of the downtown area. The price per unit wasn't exaggerating, but all the units were over 150 square meters. Naturally, Vivian couldn't afford it at the time.
She eventually bought a two-bedroom apartment in a nearby old neighborhood, meticulously designing and decorating it in Japanese style—a perfect fit for a small apartment, after all, the Japanese are known for creating conveniences in small spaces. But even the coziness of the home couldn't change the old hallways and noisy neighbors. Occasionally, cockroaches even visited—those resilient creatures who'd seen dinosaurs—and their presence filled her with trepidation.
*
The summer night breeze brushed against her bare legs like silk, and she felt a wave of sadness. Not sadness, just a subtle sadness mixed with joy, like she had just watched a sad love movie, her heartstrings trembling and lingering.
If only he liked her too. They would have made a lovely couple.
I had underestimated his charm before. She sighed deeply to herself.
During this time, Vivian's immediate supervisor, Jia Lan, was on a business trip in the United States, and she didn't have much urgent work to do. So the next day, she found an excuse to ask Feng Simiao in a roundabout way who Eric was.
Feng Simiao worked in her own company, unsupervised, and was bored, eager for gossip. She told Vivian that Eric and Lin Yang had known each other for years, but they weren't very close then. Not long ago, Lin Yang's father sent him to Hong Kong for a while, and Eric happened to be working there. They often played ball and had meals together, and they became even closer.
Eric's parents divorced when he was young, and he never mentioned what they did for a living. He grew up in his aunt's home, where his aunt took him in because she felt sorry for her lonely nephew. His aunt and uncle's family were in the real estate business. Feng Simiao didn't ask about anything else.
"Are you interested in him? If so, I can ask Lao Lin to arrange a double date."
"No, no, no, stop it."
"You've been so pure and aloof all year, not even going out on dates. Are you trying to become an immortal?"
“Work hard and retire early.”
"How old are you? You act so old."
Feng Simiao has no worries in life, never having to worry about making a living, and her love life is sweet and stable. Helping her bestie find a reliable man is also a great pleasure for her.
Feng Simiao is just like that, without any ulterior motives.
Vivian knew that Feng Simiao liked her because he thought she was a little smart, knew when to advance and when to retreat, was a good student in school, a good employee in the workplace, was likable, had good judgment, would not flatter Feng Simiao too much, and did not love money too much.
Feng Simiao only knew a small part of Vivian's personality. Often, the seemingly smooth conversations between the two of them were just Vivian providing emotional value.
Feng Simiao wasn't unintelligent, but she was in a higher position and didn't notice or care about many things. Just like every boss assumes that their subordinates' flattery is genuine.
The two best friends seemed to share a common understanding, but Vivian wasn't forthcoming about Qiu Fang and Eric. She never mentioned a single word about him. She wasn't interested in discussing Qiu Fang herself. As for Eric, she simply felt a strange charm about him, a kind of affection that made her want to pity him.
After listening to Feng Simiao's story, everything made sense. Having experienced family changes and living under someone else's roof when he was young, things naturally became much more complicated.
Feng Simiao needs someone to cover for his naivety.
Vivian actually felt a bit of pity for him at this moment. She quickly warned herself: pitying a man is the beginning of bad luck, so don't go astray.
But Feng Simiao refused to give up and was determined to bring them together.
///
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