Sat.u.r.day morning.
When Fu Ziyu received Bo Jinyan ’s call, he was having a tennis game with an attractive lady. “Come over for dinner.” Bo Jinyan said.
He was rather surprised by the call.
Since the multi talented a.s.sistant Jian Yao appeared in his life, Bo Jinyan seldom calls him anymore. There was even one occasion, where he tried to invite Bo Jinyan out for dinner, Bo Jinyan declined: “I won’t go. Jian Yao has prepared dinner…. There’s only enough food for the two of us. Don’t come over.”
What’s happened to Bo Jinyan ? Is he ‘dumped’ by Jian Yao?
This is more interesting than playing tennis with a pretty girl. So he excused himself quickly and went to Bo Jinyan ’s house.
————
When he enters Bo Jinyan ’s apartment, Fu Ziyu finds him sitting on the sofa, reading a book.
Bo Jinyan takes a brief glance at Fu Ziyu and returns to his book.
Fu Ziyu sits across from him: “Where are we going?”
“Your call.”
Fu Ziyu pours himself a cup of tea. Then he asks causally: “Should I ask Jian Yao to come along?”
Bo Jinyan turns over a page. Without lifting his head, he answers: “Whatever.”
It’s been a while since Fu Ziyu saw Jian Yao. He misses her. So he gets up from the sofa and heads to the front door.
When he’s waiting for the elevator, he notices Bo Jinyan is next to him.
“Why are you following me?”
“Mmm… Just to take a breather.” answers Bo Jinyan .
In the lift. Fu Ziyu looks at the numbers changing on the display panel, and turns around to look at Bo Jinyan . Take a breather? At a young lady’s apartment?
—————
The two men stand outside Jian Yao’s apartment.
Fu Ziyu rings the doorbell again. No one is answering.
He turns to look at Bo Jinyan : “Well, princess is not home. Call her.”
Bo Jinyan is looking at the peephole on the door, he sounds unwilling: “Why don’t you call her?”
Something sparks in Fu Ziyu ’s brain: ”What’s the matter with you two? Is she giving you the silent treatment?”
Bo Jinyan ’s frowns. He looks at Fu Ziyu and but doesn’t answer his question.
Somehow, seeing Bo Jinyan ‘suffer’ is quite a satisfying experience. Fu Ziyu smiles and takes out his mobile phone: “Hey, pretty girl. Where are you? O.. taking graduation photos…”
—————-
Fu Ziyu is trying to get the full story of what’s happened while driving to the University.
“So… she has not seen you for two days?”
Bo Jinyan is obviously in a foul mood. He utters: “Yea…”
Fu Ziyu is enjoying this conversation: “She has not called you…. or come down to your apartment…”
“Yea…”
“She has declined your invitations to dine together… not even talking to you…”
There’s a big smile on Fu Ziyu ’s face. He is gloating over his misfortunes. Bo Jinyan looks at him: “You childish p.r.i.c.k!”
Fu Ziyu laughs: “Who is the childish one here? Jian Yao is the most patient person I’ve ever known. You must have done something wrong to make her so angry. You should apologise to her.”
It’s Bo Jinyan ’s turn to be silent.
Fu Ziyu thinks for a while: “No… you don’t even know why she is angry with you?”
Bo Jinyan looks at him: “Of course I do. She is like a sheet of blank paper in front of me.”
Fu Ziyu looks at him seriously: “So what is she angry about?”
Bo Jinyan rests his arm on the door handle. He thinks for a while: “She doesn’t want to see me now, because she is choosing between me and Yin Ziqi.”
He explains the situation and Yin Ziqi’s offer to Fu Ziyu .
Fu Ziyu : “Ah… I see.”
Bo Jinyan : “Obviously, she is under pressure, so she doesn’t want to talk to me.”
Fu Ziyu thinks for a moment: “Yes, it will be a hard decision for her. She’s worked hard for a few years to get her degree. And you are asking her to forgo such a good opportunity for a job that’s is physically tiring and mentally taxing. If it is me, I will choose Yin Ziqi’s offer too.”
Bo Jinyan remembers her words at Yin Ziqi’s office: “I don’t belong to you…”
She did not choose him at the time.
Fu Ziyu taps his shoulder: “Do you know what you should do now?”
“What?”
“Woman needs to be coaxed and pampered. If you don’t want your a.s.sistant to run away, I suggest we’ll do whatever she wants for the next few days. Women are emotional creatures. If she feels touched, she will choose you.”
————-
The summer flowers fill the gardens in the University campus. There are graduates everywhere, proudly walking around in their regalia. The nicely manicured ground provides a nice backdrop for photos.
Fu Ziyu parks his car on the side of the road. They look out of the window and see a group of girls sitting on the gra.s.s.
The foreign language faculty is famous for pretty girls. Jian Yao is not the most outstanding beauty amongst them. But her long hair, elegance and poise still attract a lot of attention.
She is taking photos with her friends. They are posing like models in a magazine shooting. She has a sweet smile on her face.
The two men have not seen the energetic and lively side of her before. Fu Ziyu smiles: “This brings back memories of my student days.” He looks at Bo Jinyan . He has a smile on his face too.
Fu Ziyu asks: “I thought you hate woman who likes to pose.” When they were in university, a lot of girls were interested in Bo Jinyan . Some of them would deliberately walk past the boys or approach them, hoping he would take notice. Bo Jinyan refused to go out with any of them. He hates girls that try to make themselves look s.e.xy. He just thinks they are pathetic.
Bo Jinyan says defensively: “She is so natural. You don’t have much of an idea what makes a woman beautiful. You should work on that.”
Excuse me? Some of my ex-girlfriends are famous super models! But Fu Ziyu decides not to argue with him.
As some of her friends start to leave, Fu Ziyu says to Bo Jinyan : “Go and sit in the backseat.”
“Why?”
“You might scare her away. You are not in her good books right now.”
Bo Jinyan reluctantly moves to the back.
“Keep the window up!” He continues to instruct Bo Jinyan .
Oh.. he is seldom so obliging. Fu Ziyu is very amused.
After the window is tightly closed, he waves and raises his voice: “Jian Yao!”
———
Jian Yao walks over to the car. She can see that someone is in the backseat. She pretends not to notice and says Hi to Fu Ziyu .
Actually, she is not deliberately trying to ignore Bo Jinyan for the past few days. She had to get ready for the graduation ceremony. And a lot of her friends are in town, so she’s been busy catching up with them.
But the truth is, she doesn’t want to see him anyway.
“Let go for a meal.” Fu Ziyu opens the car door for the lady: “I miss you so much!”
Jian Yao gives him a smile, and hops into the car.
————-
It’s the weekend. There arefewer cars on the road. Fu Ziyu ’s Lexus is driving at a nice and steady pace on the freeway.
Fu Ziyu puts the radio on. Often he sings along. Other times, he chats with Jian Yao. She asks him about his work at the hospital.
Bo Jinyan is very quiet. There’s no sound coming from the backseat. It’s as if he is not there at all. Jian Yao takes a peek at him in the rearview mirror His handsome face looks calm and collected.
“Jian Yao, where do you want to go for dinner?” Fu Ziyu asks again.
“Oh… I don’t mind. Why don’t you decide.” answers Jian Yao.
Mmm… why does she feel so uneasy?
She takes another peek at Bo Jinyan . He is staring at her through the rearview mirror. In fact, his eyes are fixed on her, following her every move.
How long has he been staring at her?
She feels her face is blus.h.i.+ng. She slides down the seat so that she would be out of sight for Bo Jinyan .
———-
They walk into a Cantonese restaurant. The waiter brings them to a table that can seat four people. A screen separates them from a nice outdoor garden. It’s a chic restaurant.
As Jian Yao is sitting down, Bo Jinyan automatically takes the seat next to her. Like he usually does.
Jian Yao refuses to look in his direction.
Fu Ziyu pa.s.ses the menu to Jian Yao. “You can do the ordering today.”
Jian Yao is happy to oblige. As she is doing the ordering, the men talked about the Flower Cannibal No.2 case.
“There’s two types of soups today, They are served individually. What would you like?” says Jian Yao to the guys: “Mushroom or tripe?”
“Tripe.” says Fu Ziyu .
Without looking up from the menu, Jian Yao asks “What about Jinyan?”
“Mushroom.” Bo Jinyan says with a contented voice.
Jian Yao deliberately keeps her eyes on the menu. She is turning the page to see what else she can order. “What about you, miss,” asks the waiter :”Which soup would you like?”
She prefers mushroom. She is about to answer ‘Tripe’ when she hears Bo Jinyan telling the waiter: “She wants mushroom soup too.”
Fu Ziyu looks at the two of them. Jian Yao lowers her head even more.
Love is in the air. He smiles.
———
Jian Yao’s gla.s.s is empty. Fu Ziyu gives Bo Jinyan a nudge with his arm, then looks at the jug of orange juice on the table.
Before Jian Yao reaches out for the jug, a long and slender hand appears in front of her, and gets hold of the handle.
She watches Bo Jinyan pour her a gla.s.s of orange juice, then brings it to her.
“Enjoy.” he says.
Jian Yao takes a look at him: “Thank you.”
This is the first time he has served her on the dinner table. Usually, he is the prince that does not lift a finger.
She is a little puzzled about his unusual behaviour.
As she is preoccupied, Jian Yao is more quiet than usual. Fu Ziyu gives Bo Jinyan another signal with eye contact: Talk to her. You’ve offended her. Do you expect her to initiate a conversation?
Bo Jinyan gives him a nod. Just as Fu Ziyu thought he understands what to do, Bo Jinyan looks at the dish of steamed fish in front of him. He takes a fork and spoon and starts to fiddle with the fish.
Fu Ziyu is speechless. There’s an awkward silence. He gives up on Bo Jinyan and starts chatting to Jian Yao.
Jian Yao takes a glance at Bo Jinyan . It’s obvious that he does not share the same affections she has for him. It’s time to walk away.
Fu Ziyu ’s phone rings. He takes the call. Jian Yao continues with her dinner.
Then there’s a tap on her shoulder.
She turns her head and sees Bo Jinyan pus.h.i.+ng a bowl towards her.
She is stunned.
Fish.
It’s piled with fish. Tiny pieces of fillet, deboned and carefully piled into a bowl.
“Enjoy.” he says again, while giving his fingers a good stretch after the ‘hard work’.
Jian Yao looks at him. Many things are running through her mind. She looks straight into his eyes: “What are you trying to do?”
Bo Jinyan looks at her: “You can’t tell?”
Jian Yao shakes her head.
Is it just an illusion or Bo Jinyan is feeling a little warm because of the weather… His face looks like it’s a little red. Though his eyes are still giving his usual indifferent and slightly cold gaze.
“I am coaxing and pampering you.” he smiles.