(9)

The first night I met my crush in person, I didn’t sleep well.

I tossed and turned until dawn, then rushed to the nine o’clock class the next day.

My gaze was blank, I’m afraid my face probably looked like a zombie. The classmate next to me kept asking,

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, thank you. And you[tn content=?]This dialogue and the one above it was English in raw.[/tn]”

Who said the English learned during compulsory education is useless?

See, it’s being put to use now.

After class, I raced to the library to find the friend who organized the party yesterday.

Xu Pengpeng was sitting at the café outside the library, sipping a matcha latte, propping up his MacBook Pro, with his brows furrowed.

I thought he was studying, so I walked over quietly.

But when I got closer—

“One Piece ah? I’ve already seen this episode.”

Xu Pengpeng was startled, his eyes widening even more.

“What are you doing here?”

“Here to study ah.”

With a serious face, I patted the second-hand textbook I was holding and pretended.

“Stop messing around. It’s still a long way to finals.”

Xu Pengpeng didn’t believe me.

He still weirdly knew me well; worthy of being one of my bad friends.

“Ai,” I leaned in to close the distance between our hearts, “How do you know Yan Han?”

“Last semester, I took an elective class and hugged his thigh. He’s pretty famous in the business school, a really good thigh.”

Xu Pengpeng shared his experience with me, but after thinking for a moment, he said, “Hey, something’s wrong ah. You’re from the Architecture Department. Why are you asking about him?”

“No reason.”

I was three parts nonchalant, three parts indifferent, and three parts pretending.

But that was the truth.

“I just want to make a friend.”

(10)

I don’t know if it was some kind of telepathy, but on the fifth day of my sleepless nights thinking about him, Yan Han sent me a message.

“Are you free Friday night? Want to come to my place for dinner?”

After a burst of wailing, punching, and kicking, I picked up my phone from the floor and calmly replied.

“Sure ya.”

Of course, I couldn’t go empty-handed. That evening, I went to the supermarket and picked out a bottle of red wine that cost over 80 dollars.

Do you understand what it means for someone who usually only drinks 20-dollar red wine to buy one that costs over 80?

It was the highest level of courtesy, is all I could say.

I put on my shirt which had the one that when unbuttoned by two buttons, reveals my collarbones. I was hesitating over the cologne when Ma Jiaming called.

“Qingqing, are you also going to Yan Han’s place? Come pick me up.”

???

“He invited you too?”

I know that [tn content=liuzi]Someone who studies abroad.[/tn] gatherings are usually in groups, but I honestly didn’t expect even Ma Jiaming to be invited.

Guess I made your relationship too good.

My bad. (smile.jpg)

I drove to pick up Ma Jiaming. He saw the paper bag on the back seat and took out the bottle of wine.

“You really know how to be polite ah.”

Ma Jiaming clicked his tongue. “I didn’t bring anything. What should I do?”

I was just about to throw in a sarcastic remark.

“Can we say it’s from both of us?”

I pulled the car over to a parking spot by the roadside.

“Ma Jiaming!”

I almost forgot I still owe you a beating!

(11)

I just found out that Yan Han lives in a riverside flat apartment.

When I arrived, he was standing on the driveway waiting for me, dressed in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants, with a very handsome bright smile.

He guided me to the parking spot and then reached out to help me open the door.

I quickly grabbed the gift from Ma Jiaming’s lap and handed it to him.

“This is for you.”

He seemed genuinely surprised and took out the wine bottle to have a look.

“You got exactly what I like.”

He smiled so happily.

I instantly believed him.

“Then… we can drink it tonight.”

My face was probably red. I could feel the heat so intense it could cook an egg.

“There are a lot of people tonight. I’ll save this to drink on my own.”

He winked and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

My ears are about to burn off!

(12)

“Hey, bro!”

Ma Jiaming got out of the car and warmly hugged Yan Han. Ma Jiaming was so tall and sturdy that he completely blocked my view of my crush.

Leaving me, the short guy, standing to the side, speechless and peeking around.

It really was pretty speechless.

However, after hugging him briefly, Yan Han put one arm around Ma Jiaming’s shoulder and the other around mine.

“Let’s go, go inside. It’s pretty cold out here.”

When he used the access card to open the door, he let go of Ma Jiaming but kept his arm around me.

“You’re wearing so little, aren’t you cold?”

He looked down at me, his gaze pausing.

I felt triumphant.

He must’ve seen my collarbones.

My effort of wearing a silk shirt on a twenty-degree day wasn’t in vain. (smile.jpg)

Ah… Achoo…

(13)

After entering, Yan Han went ahead into the room, leaving the two of us in place.

There weren’t many people besides Ma Jiaming and me, who just entered. There were two others sitting on the carpet playing Xbox.

One of them was a guy with a round head. I could guess who he was just by looking at the back of his head, that [tn content=Tony]A playful and somewhat joking way of referring to hairdressers in China.[/tn] had failed to shave.

“Xu Pengpeng!”

As soon as I called out, the high-ponytailed girl sitting next to him turned her head, staring at me in shock.

Good job, Liu Leyao.

My bestie from Yumi province.

I sneered.

So, everyone knows my crush but they just won’t let me get to know him, right?

“Qingze, here, it’s a bit cold inside.”

Yan Han walked over and handed me a gray knitted cardigan.

I took it with a smile, my eyes curving, pretending to be all obedient.

But when I turned around, I shot a cold glance at the other three close friends.

Luckily, I put in enough effort myself.

(14)

The cardigan was so soft, carrying the scent of fabric softener.

It was oversized on me, with long sleeves and broad shoulders.

It felt like wearing a boyfriend’s clothes.

(15)

Yay, that’s awesome!

(16)

Dinner was personally cooked by Yan Han. I wasn’t surprised that he could cook.

After all, going abroad makes you a ‘liuzi,’ but coming back home turns you into a ‘[tn content=chuzi]Chef. It’s a playful way to refer someone who, after returning home, ends up cooking a lot.[/tn].’

If you don’t have some cooking skills yourself, eating fish and chips every day in this developed country would eventually starve you to death.

But I didn’t expect…

His cooking was way too delicious—oh my god!

The medium-rare steak had beautiful grill marks. When sliced open, the inside revealed tender, pink meat, but the juices had already set. It was perfectly cooked.

The plate was garnished with rosemary and a few pan-seared cherry tomatoes. The rich aroma of butter and herbs wafted into the air.

I haven’t tasted any Michelin cuisine, but I feel like this is definitely Michelin one-star quality!

I said it, no arguments allowed!

“Is it good?” He leaned over and asked me, his smile bright.

“Mm, mm-hmm!” My mouth was stuffed with meat as I nodded vigorously.

He smiled and grabbed the wine bottle with one hand, pouring white wine into the goblet in front of me.

“This meat is so tender.” Xu Pengpeng was busy eating and asked, “Where did you buy it? I want to get some too.”

Yan Han roughly described the place. “Ordered from that butcher shop. Just ask for Wagyu beef when you go there. They rarely have it in stock, so you might need to wait a few days to pick it up.”

Xu Pengpeng responded with a couple of ‘oh, oh’ sounds, indicating he remembered it.

(17)

Later, Xu Pengpeng and I specifically went to find that butcher shop.

Fortunately, the steak Yan Han mentioned was in stock.

It was sold by the piece.

“Two hundred dollars.”

Xu Pengpeng and I thought we heard it wrong. We looked at each other, our eyes gradually widening.

The shop owner was a Cantonese guy, and he repeated it in accented Mandarin.

“One piece, two hundred [tn content=dāolè]For this one, instead of saying it in English (as the previous “two hundred dollars” was English in the raw) I went to use the pinyin so as to show how he said it.[/tn] lah.”

I could tell that Xu Pengpeng was also struggling, so I simply added fuel to the fire and asked him, “Is this the steak you wanted?”

Xu Pengpeng started acting, pretending to scrutinize it before clicking his tongue. “Doesn’t seem to be this.”

After saying that, we quickly turned around and left.

I could just imagine how exaggerated the shop owner’s eye-roll must’ve been.

We are never coming back to this butcher shop again (smile.jpg).