The following morning Gu Jing and Peng Cheng Gui ate breakfast together at the studio.
‘Confess. How was last night?’ Peng Cheng Gui asked.
Gu Jing slurped her noodle broth. ‘Huh? What about last night?’
Peng Cheng Gui’s finger pointed in the direction of the cafe. ‘What happened last night at the cafe?’
‘Oh… the lobster buns were delicious!’ Gu Jing said.
‘Who’s asking you about lobster buns?’ Peng Cheng Gui asked.
Gu Jing rubbed her stomach. ‘Oh… the seafood fried rice was delicious!’
Peng Cheng Gui pinched Gu Jing’s cheeks. ‘I’m asking you about your first blind date. How was he?’
‘I don’t remember,’ Gu Jing said.
‘You don’t remember? Then what do you remember?’ Peng Cheng Gui asked.
Gu Jing sighed. She remembered Zhen Lang ate the juicy steak last night. ‘Oh… I remember the steak looked juicy!’
Peng Cheng Gui pa.s.sed her untouched bowl of noodles to Gu Jing. ‘Gu Jing… what else do you remember?’
‘Mmm… he said he can afford for his wife to stay at home and she doesn’t need to work,’ Gu Jing said and she stuffed more noodles into her mouth.
‘Wow! You met a golden turtle on your first date?’ Peng Cheng Gui said.
‘Mmm… he said he’ll give his wife a two hundred Yuan monthly allowance and he wants his wife to be thrifty,’ Gu Jing said.
Peng Cheng Gui laughed. ‘Hehe… two hundred Yuan?’
Gu Jing slurped more noodle broth. ‘Um, two hundred Yuan.’
‘Why would such a stingy man buy you lobster buns and seafood fried rice? Don’t tell me you paid for dinner?’ Peng Cheng Gui asked.
Gu Jing laughed. ‘Hehe… I stole Zhen Lang’s lobster buns and seafood fried rice. Hehe… he was hungry in the middle of the night.’
Peng Cheng Gui’s eyes lit up. ‘How did Zhen Lang react last night?’
‘That jinx! He knew I wanted to be on my best behaviour. But he purposely sat at the table in front of me and ate the juicy steak!’ Gu Jing said.
‘Don’t tell me you spent your first date admiring Zhen Lang’s steak?’ Peng Cheng Gui asked.
Gu Jing frowned. She didn’t want to admit Peng Cheng Gui was right.
Peng Cheng Gui sighed. ‘Where was your brain last night? Didn’t you think about what Zhen Lang was doing?’
‘Like he wanted to follow me and eat food he knew I wanted to eat but couldn’t eat so my stomach would suffer?’ Gu Jing asked.
‘Miss Gu Pig! He used food to lure your attention away from your blind date!’ Peng Cheng Gui said.
Gu Jing fisted her hands and she silently cursed the jinx.
Peng Cheng Gui hugged the new round gla.s.s coffee table. ‘Last time I reminded you, don’t break another table!’
Gu Jing looked at the hospital opposite the studio. ‘I won’t break another table. Do you think if he’s a patient in the hospital he works at, will it be embarra.s.sing for him?’
‘Gu Jing, before your second blind date tonight, eat before you go on your date. Then Zhen Lang can’t distract you from your date,’ Peng Cheng Gui said.
Gu Jing immediately ordered for food delivery to arrive at the studio before dinner.
Combination rice and steaks were delivered to the studio later that afternoon.
Gu Jing lifted her head from her bowl of combination rice when she heard the front door opened. ‘What are you doing here?’
Zhen Lang brushed a piece of rice off his shirt. ‘I came here to see you.’
‘Huh? Do you want to die?’ Gu Jing asked. She waved a steak bone in the direction of the front door. ‘If not, stay far away.’
Zhen Lang smiled and he sat on a chair opposite Gu Jing. He silently watched her eat.
Gu Jing ate another steak. ‘Tonight, don’t think you can distract me with food.’
Gu Jing ate everything on the coffee table. She felt like she ate too much, but she wasn’t going to give Zhen Lang the satisfaction of knowing she was too full. She smiled brightly. ‘We can go to the cafe now.’
‘Oh… I forgot, tonight I have a consultation with a new patient. I came here to tell you that you’ll be going on your second blind date by yourself,’ Zhen Lang said.
Gu Jing wanted to throw up on Zhen Lang. She ate pointlessly before her date, because Zhen Lang wasn’t going to be sitting opposite her table and eating her favourite food.
‘You! Why didn’t you tell me before?’ Gu Jing said.
‘Before wasn’t it you who didn’t let me speak?’ Zhen Lang asked.
Gu Jing cheeks bloated and she wanted to throw up.
‘In the past you ate too much cake icing and now you don’t eat anything sweet. Don’t tell me that you ate too much so you won’t eat in the future?’ Zhen Lang said.
‘I’m going to kick you to death!’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing stood and she aimed her leg at Zhen Lang’s face.
Zhen Lang stood and he avoided Gu Jing’s leg aimed at his face.
Peng Cheng Gui rushed down stairs when she heard a loud noise… she saw a shoe dent in the wall one centimetre from Zhen Lang’s calm face.
‘Gu Jing, do you have anything else to say? If not, I need to go to my consultation,’ Zhen Lang said.
Gu Jing regretted her shoe didn’t smash Zhen Lang’s smug face into one thousand pieces. ‘Wait until my mum leaves. Then we’ll settle our score.’
Gu Jing didn’t escort Zhen Lang to the front door. She turned around and she saw Peng Cheng Gui was furious. ‘You’re not allowed to kick the walls, doors or anything else in this studio! If you do, I’ll deduct it from your service fee.’
Gu Jing nodded her head and she slowly walked to the cafe.
Inside the cafe Gu Jing sat opposite her second blind date. She suppressed her urge to throw up, but the food aromas in the cafe made it harder for her to keep her mouth closed.
‘Miss Gu, the steak here are famous. Can I order us the steaks and desserts?’ the gentle man said.
Gu Jing nodded her head. Her throat was alarmed when two plate of steaks and chocolate cakes arrived at her table. She watched her date cut the steak into pieces, and she wanted to escape. She vowed she wasn’t going to eat meat for the next three days.
‘Miss Gu, did I order the wrong dishes? If you like, I can order something else. Do you like eastern or western dishes?’ the gentle man asked.
‘No, you don’t have to,’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing smeared the icing from the top of her chocolate cake onto her steak. She cut the steak into pieces and she forced her mouth to chew a piece of sweet steak. She was on the verge of throwing up whilst her date happily ate his dinner.
Gu Jing comforted her throat that compared to her first blind date, her second blind date wasn’t bad.
‘Miss Gu, I know this is our first meeting… I’m sorry to ask you directly… but are you a virgin?’ the gentle man asked.
Gu Jing’s head nearly fell onto her plate of sweet steak from shock.
‘I’m ok if you’re not a virgin as long as you agree to undergo a hymen repair procedure. These days plastic surgeons provide st.i.tching of the hymen membrane services,’ the gentle man said.
Gu Jing spat out the piece of sweet steak she chewed for a long time. She judged her second blind date as a gentle man too soon!
End of Chapter Fifteen