Risa rose up from her seat and was about to walk out of Li Xiqing"s office. She saw that Karl also stood up and started to walk with her. She eyed him suspiciously.
"What are you doing?" She asked him while grabbing the paper bag and her purse in one hand.
Karl smirked, while swiping his blonde wavy hair with one hand, "I am in charge of escorting you out, milady."
Risa looked at him suspiciously. She squinted her eyes while saying, "You don"t have to, I know the way out. And besides, aren"t you supposed to check the room and see if I take anything?" She smirked back at him and turned around to open the door. He thought her ponytail swayed cheekily at him.
Karl quickly walked over to her side and held the door for her, "Sweetheart, I had my eyes on you the whole time. I know every single detail of what you were doing. Pfft.. the only thing you stole from here is my heart." And then he winked at her cheekily, causing Risa to go speechless.
Sherolled her eyes dramatically, and she quickly turned around to walk further.
"Why oh why did I have to meet another crazy dude in my life," she lamented as both of them walked together to the elevator lobby.
"So what is your angle here, beauty?" Karl asked as he pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton. He put both hands into his pants pocket and tilted his head to look at her.
"I know that you"re not evil," his calm blue eyes stared at her intently, "and I definitely know when you"re actually only testing them in there." He pointed his chin to the direction of Li Xiqing"s office, he was referring the the "show" just now.
Risa tilted her head and squinted her eyes at Karl, "You"re smart, huh? No wonder Daniel appreciates you a lot."
Karl grinned, "It"s easy to see, well, at least for me. You went from a Holly Molly seductive fox with revealing dress to a..." he ran his eyes up and down all over her, "to an attractive elegant angel, all polite and covered."
She smiled and then she continued, "You"ll find out soon. Next week, all of you will get the answer that you have been waiting for."
Karl suddenly was thrown into an amused laughter. He crossed both arms in front of him and looked at her, "Risa Yamaguchi. Very interesting character." And then he swiftly offered his hand out, "Let"s be friend, Risa Yamaguchi."
Risa was utterly surprised by this very straightforward and cheerful person. She eyed him skeptically, but still offered her hand and only briefly touched his hand before she quickly retracted it back.
Li Xiqing drove for a while, and they finally arrived at a quaint j.a.panese restaurant. The restaurant was actually occupying a building that was formerly a j.a.panese consulate. When the owner of the restaurant purchased the building, he tried to keep the original structure as much as possible, to get the original j.a.panese vibe. The original signboard of the consulate was even still there; the metal plate was hung securely on the stone wall with words carved in j.a.panese, Mandarin and English.
From the outside, people would not know that this building is actually an eatery. The architecture resembled an old house, with its unique display of arched stone roof and sliding wooden doors at the front.
Huge, but properly trimmed j.a.panese trees were lined up neatly at the left and right of each sides of the building, creating a false sense of greenery gate that welcomed the guest to another realm.
Once Shao Yan stepped into the building, a server dressed in a white and purple j.a.panese kimono was greeting them at the entrance. She gave a little bow to the couple, "Welcome, before you enter, please take off your shoes and store it in the locker room over here," both of her hands were palms up and extended to the right side, showing the direction of the lockers. She had a very warm smile all the time she was speaking to them with broken Mandarin.
The locker room itself was actually multiple shelves just big enough as shoe compartment with a door that was secured with a unique wooden key. Each door had each own key and none was alike. The lady came over to place two pairs of j.a.panese sandals for them to put on.
Shao Yan was curious on the whole thing, she tried to remember every single detail of the interior and exterior layout, and also the mannerism of the lady. She beamed at Li Xiqing, "Now, I can"t wait to go to j.a.pan next month," she smiled brightly at him, her big round eyes sparkled attractively and her lips slowly curved into a childish soft grin; melting his heart.
He requested for a private room, and they were quickly escorted to a section beside a small garden. The whole flooring from the front door all the way to their room were covered in dark shade hard wood flooring. Shao Yan whispered slowly while tugging onto his hand, "Xiqing, the owner of this place is amazing, they really paid attention to every single details."
Li Xiqing was holding her hand while walking along the corridor. He was smiling at her while his eyes were tracing every line of her face. They were walking by rows of bamboo sliding doors separating the dining room and the courtyard.
The sun rays shone in through the ruffles of leaves and the wooden frames, casting a soft light over her features. One side of herself glittered like the morning dew basked under the glowing sun and he got distracted for few seconds.
"Uh yeah, um" he gave a soft cough, "Let me introduce you to the owner next time she"s here, alright?" And then he pointed to the garden with his other hand, "After lunch, let"s walk out there, I can show you some of their collections. You can actually see some rare j.a.panese trees." He then turned his face to look at Yan Yan, "My mother planted them herself when she visited here last time."