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T
lease be more serious, hello!’ Yin Ting greeted him loudly on the phone, calling her nickname for him without reserve. She was particularly spirited tonight. Zhengqing thought that this girl was taking an “I have a lot of spirit every day!”drug.
 
‘How are you and what do you need my help for?’ Yin Ting asked directly.
 
He laughed, ‘Why do you think I need your help?’
 
 ‘You won’t be calling me about work and you don’t gossip, so the most likely reason you’re calling is to ask for assistance with something,’ Yin Ting said in one breath.
 
 He smiled, ‘Aside from work, what do you and your friends talk about?’
 
 ‘Ah, yes, we talk about lots of things, but mostly about eating and drinking, nothing you’ll be interested in.’
 
It really sounded like they had nothing in common, Zhengqing coughed and said, ‘Well, last time when we had dinner with Mao Huizhi, you said that the restaurant is not appropriate…’
 
‘Who is Mao Huizhi?’ she asked interrupting him.
 
‘Zoe.’
 
‘Oh so her Chinese name is Mao Huizhi, her parents must love her. The pearl of wisdom. People should be more than their name, and Zoe is very capable and beautiful. A good name is really important,’ she said giggling.
 
Zhengqing guessed what she was thinking so he said, ‘So I am very serious, right?’
 
Zhenqing had lived thirty-three years; his very nice name had turned into something slightly crooked upon meeting her. It was the first time his name had been twisted like this.
 
 Yin Ting laughed, ‘You’re really humorous.’
 
What was funny about that? He chose not to reply but returned to his reason for calling her, ‘Last time you said the restaurant I picked was not appropriate for dating. So I was looking on the internet and I came across a prolific reviewer and decided to ask her directly which restaurant she recommends for my next date.’
 
‘Who is this reviewer?’ she asked, it had not yet dawned on her, ‘This person could be sponsored by restaurants even though her columns are in foodie magazines. They are simply for publicity. You have to make sure that the reviewer declares whether they’ve been sponsored or not. High popularity of a restaurant is not necessarily the truth. This kind of thing is subjective, everyone likes different things.’
 
Zhengqing was silent during her drivel. She talked for so long. He just figured that she had a talent for talking incessantly.
 
‘Tingting YuLi 413,’ he replied. He was indirectly asking if the ID was her.
 
‘Oh my, that is me! You are really discerning. My reviews are truly red.’
 
This girl was not modest at all.
 
Yin Ting was very excited, ‘Wow! Wow! We are really destined. You see, that red string is really divine. It guided you to find my restaurant reviews for dates. The ones I recommended are very good. You can go to any of them, I don’t take advertising or sponsorship from the restaurant, I pay my own way.’
 
Zhengqing's fingers silently drummed on the table; it wasn’t just about eating was it? She had specified the restaurants good for dating and love, restaurants suited to break ups, the one suited to take a fool to. The chocking girl was not his style so Zhengqing did not say anything (Zuben: There is no need to mention that she’s not your type, dear or are you beginning to consider her?)
 
‘Which do you recommend?’ he asked.
 
‘Who are you going with?’ she asked in reply.
 
‘That is not important.’ He said, he did not want to tell her to keep her from asking questions from East to West.
 
‘Oh,’ she did not sound disappointed but pressed on, ‘Are you at the dallying stage or maintaining a stable relationship stage?
 
Zhengqing frowned, his forehead darkening. What does this have to do with the choice of restaurant? Moreover, he did not have time or inclination to be going into every specific detail that she wanted.
He remained silent so Yin Ting said, ‘I see you’re shy,’ she named a restaurant. She said it had nice atmosphere, the food was good and it wasn’t too much. The owner was named Yin, and he had another restaurant, but that was more high-end.
 
Listening to Yin Ting, she seemed to be winding down so he quickly said, ‘I’ve heard of the restaurant, I’ll check online.’ He said as he typed on the search bar. "Tingting Yuli 413" also highly recommended this place and even recommended several dishes on the menu.
 
As Zhengqing read her review online, he listened to Yin Ting go on about the restaurant, she had to tell him which dishes were good and suitable for two. He did not stop her, her commentary began to almost match her online review.
 
Zhengqing suddenly began to feel weird; her family couldn't be the stuffy types, could they? Her father and brother seemed to listen to her lively conversation. It must be very nice. He thought that Yin Ting must eat the “I am lively every day” pill, and he smiled to himself.
 
Sunday afternoon rolled round.
 
Zhengqing was going to have dinner with Huizhu but she informed him the day before that she had some work to do on Sunday evening, for some executives that were coming to review her branch on Monday. So dinner changed to lunch, which was fine by him.
 
Zhengqing arrived at the restaurant first. He got out of his car and headed for the door when he saw a familiar figure with three children not far from the restaurant. Zhengqing stood for a while looking carefully, it really was Yin Ting.
 
She was wearing a tee shirt and jeans, her bicycle was nearby. She was holding a box that was colourfully decorated, but he could not see it clearly. At her side were, three children who looked to be between the ages of six and eight, two of them were holding post cards, while a slightly larger child was also carrying a box.
 
Zhengqing was wondering what they were doing, when Yin Ting caught sight of him. She cheered and ran over, followed by the children.
 
Zhengqing was caught short and his scared feet did not move. But he stepped forward a little bit, he must have caught a boldness disease.
 
He did not need to walk far, for Yin Ting soon came up to him, ‘Qiu zong! Hello!’
 
‘Hello,’ the children mimicked kind of loudly.
 
Very good, he felt a little pleased that little Yin Ting did not call her nickname for him in
 
‘Hello,’ he greeted politely.
 
‘We are fundraising for charity by selling postcards,’ Yin Ting supplied without waiting for him to ask.
 
Now he could see clearly the box she was holding. It had “Charity Postcards Sale” drawn colourfully, one card for two yuan and 15 for ten yuan.
 
The youngest looking child, a girl, nodded furiously, ‘It’s for good cause,’
 
Yin Ting laughed at the child and turned to him, ‘They are children of an orphanage.’
Zhengqing nodded and guessed that they were raising money for the orphanage. He was about to buy a postcard, when someone called from behind.
 
He turned to see Huizhu walking up to him, he waved to her. Huizhu saw Yin Ting and raised an eyebrow, but her phone rang, she frowned. This last two days her phone had not stopped ringing; Monday was going to be a mess for everyone. Nothing was clear and easy, suddenly wanting this report and that report, many of which are not readily available. They needed time to collate the data and write the reports. Huizhu was annoyed by these things, but she had made an appointment with Zhengqing, and did not want to miss it. But the issues with work were running roughshod over her anticipation, so she was irritable.
 
She quickly said a few words to her colleagues directing them on what to do and went to Zhengqings side, just in time to hear Yin Ting say to Zhengqing, ‘Support us and buy two sets of postcards,’
Huizhu brows tightened as Zhengqing readily said, ‘Sure.’
 
Zhengqing reached for his wallet, Yin Ting smiled to Huizhu as she drew near, ‘Miss Zoe, hello.’
Three children followed and shouted, ‘Hello, Miss!’
 
Huizhu was quite unhappy, shouting lady who? Curse it? She did not care to hide her expression as Zhengqing gave Yin Ting some money, and Yin Ting found him change and handed him two sets of post cards. She turned to the restaurant and whispered to him,
 
‘I’ll go ahead,’ and she was gone.
 
Yin Ting watched her leave and said to Zhengqing, ‘She looks tired, there may be trouble at work. She’s tired yet still came to the appointment. It is very good. You have to be patient Oh.’ They had heard Huizhu on the phone earlier, so he nodded, expressing his understanding. He took his postcards and thanked her.
 
One of the boys said, ‘We are working hard to fundraise, so we can study well. As long as we’re willing to work hard, when we grow up we will be able to live our own life.’ (Zuben: Random but okay…)
 
‘Thank you, uncle,’ the children shouted in unison.
 
Zhengqing smiled at them and went into the restaurant. He looked for Huizhu, there were many people in the restaurant but their seats were at the second row of windows. He turned to see Yin Ting outside laughing with the children, he felt good. He watched as they returned to the intersection. A middle aged woman walked by, and the little girl went up to her with a post card, bravely asking her to buy, but the woman shook her head and walked on.
 
The little girl’s face collapsed in frustration and turned to Yin Ting, but Yin Ying gave her a thumbs-up. It seemed to cheer the little girl up, because she laughed, and the other boys patted her shoulder. And then they went to accost another passer-by.
 
‘How did you meet, so clever?’ Huizhu asked curtly. She had finished a text message and looked outside to see the situation, her heart was unhappy. Yin Ting did not leave her with a good impression the last time they met. Now she was forcing sales on people. There were many charitable fundraisers in operation, and they ask for money from their acquaintances, some time with high pressure sale tactics, but where does the money all go? Huizhu had encountered such things several times and her mood today was very bad, so it was not a good expression on her face.
 
‘Very clever,’ he replied, ‘Are things okay at work?’ he asked caring about her welfare.
 
 Huizhu rubbed her forehead, ‘Not good. I have so much to do. My boss has gone mental; I don’t know where he’s going to attack from this time, so I’m trying to prepare everything. Hopefully it should all be fine in a few days. Let’s order quickly so I can get back.’
 
‘Alright,’ he said as he called for the waiter. Their orders were simple; fried rice and a pasta. As Zhengqing ate, he thought of the children with Yin Ting and wondered if they’d eaten. So he texted Yin Ting about getting the kids something to eat. Especially since they were standing near a restaurant, they must be salivating looking at what others are eating.
 
Yin Ting soon replied, ‘No need, we’ve already eaten. We will take some snacks back to the orphanage later. If I get them western food, they will go back and tell the other children and they would feel unfair.’
 
He read the text, and sent back, ‘Alright,’ he can understand. Life was already unfair to children in this situation; there was no need to add another thing. He looked at Huizhu, she was texting furiously. She seemed to be sending an email. Zhengqing checked his inbox to see if anything was waiting for his attention.
 
There was a text message, it was Yin Ting, ‘There’s a situation, I see May Shen coming. You couldn’t have made two appointments, right?’
 
Zhengqing’s forehead darkened, Yin Ting’s expression full of contempt appeared in his mind, he quickly replied, ‘I haven’t been in contact with her.’
 
Yin Ting quickly replied, ‘I’ll try to help you head her off.’
 
 
Zhengqing almost banged his head on the table. He really did not need this today. This girl and her “I am very brave” medicine, she didn’t need to stop May, he has done nothing wrong.
he day after the dinner was a Saturday. As was usual, Zhengqing worked at home in his study. While he was working, there was a prompt that an email had come in. He quickly read it; the sender turned out to be May Shen.
 
Shen Jiaqi.
 
Zhengqing looked at the message, it really was Shen Jiaqi. She thanked Zhengqing for coming to the banquet and she had been very happy chatting with him, and was hoping to be friends. She gave him her social media account ID, hoping Zhengqing would add her.
 
Zhengqing immediately added her, not because he was over-eager to be friends, but because he was one to get things done quickly. If he let things drag on, they were liable to be missed. Once he was done, he returned to the documents he was studying. A chat box pinged.
 
Zhengqing looked at the computer. It was Shen Jiaqi, ‘You’re actually in?’ she asked.
 
‘Yes ah,’ Zhengqing replied.
 
‘Working?’
 
‘Yes,’
 
‘You’re really dedicated.’
 
‘I have to be, ah,’ Zhengqing answered seriously.
 
Jiaqi replied with a long line of, ‘Ha ha ha ha ha ha,’ followed by, ‘you’re really funny.’
 
Mental black lines hung over Zhengqing, he was confused. Where was the humour? He really was working and he really was dedicated. She asked him and he answered. What was so humorous about it? He did not know how to answer so he remained quiet.
 
Jiaqi then said, ‘When others are boasting for you, you should be modest.’
 
He thought of this sentence, he wanted to reply, ‘But you were praising me, right?’, but that may be considered that he was not modest, instead he said, ‘Alright,’
 
Jiaqi replied with another line of, ‘Ha ha ha ha ha,’
 
He frowned, what the hell was so funny? Where was this conversation going?
 
‘Alright…’ Jiaqi began,
 
He was still troubled, what was she alright about? He waited and Jiaqi continued ‘I am really happy to chat with you.’
 
Zhengqing raised his eyebrows and shrugged, at least one of them was happy, ‘Thank you,’ he replied. She said he was funny, he should thank her.
 
Jiaqi sent a smiling emoticon instead of “ha ha ha.” Zhengqing did not respond. He had to look over his documents, but at the same time he was wondering what she wanted.
 
Fortunately, Jiaqi had a sense of discretion, ‘Are you busy?’ she asked.
 
‘I’m looking over a few documents,’ he wrote. He intended to add that he would talk to her another day but she was faster than him,
 
‘Qin Shu is really blessed to have someone conscientious and capable as you. I will stop bothering you. Talk later.’
 
Zhengqing deleted the text and wrote, ‘Okay, goodbye.’
 
 Jiaqi sent a smiling face with ‘Goodbye,
Zhengqing breathed a sigh of relief, he could continue working. He dived into his work and eventually finished. As he tidied up he thought of Yin Ting, she also liked to type out, “ha ha has.”
 
 He really did not understand women.
 
With nothing on the next day, he went to the gym that evening.
 
Zhengqing lived a predictable life; he went to the gym twice a week, the shops for food once a week, and worked seven days a week. It has been this way for many years.
 
❀❀❀
 
The next day, he went to the supermarket to get his weekly shopping.
 
When shopping, Zhengqing was very efficient. He did not dally, he had a list of items and he went directly to their shelves to get it. After the supermarket, he went to the local market to get fruit. He rarely cooked at home, so he did not buy much. He picked apples, pears and grapes (Zuben: So boring).
 
He was ready to go when he saw grapefruit (Zuben: No don’t do it!), the memory of the nice tasting grapefruit still lingered so he bought one.
 
Back home, he made dumplings he bought from the supermarket for dinner, and then he turned to the grapefruit and decided eating the fruit while watching TV would be a good idea.
 
As he watched TV, he peeled the fruit slowly, little by little until it was clean. It took a while but it was really fun to do. He happily took off a few segments to eat and put the rest in the fridge.  
 
He took his seat and took a bite out of the fruit.
 
    ...
 
He screwed his face up and his teeth protested.
 
There was only one thing: sour.
 
So very sour.
 
Zhengqing still swallowed.
 
Oh shit. He swore. This was the same fruit, how can it taste so differently from one fruit to another. (Zuben: You don’t eat fruit very much do you?)
 
He stared at the rest, he’d completely lost interest in eating. They were placed so neatly. More annoyingly, he was a child of a poor family, his creed was never to waste food. (Zuben: You need to let go of the shackles of poverty, classily of course)
 
Although this unruly grapefruit is not really food, he could not bring himself to throw it away.
So with a heavy heart, Zhengqing ate each piece of grapefruit. But it was unbearable. So he threw the rest in the fridge. He should call Yin Ting to come and eat it, he thought annoyed.  He would never have bought grape fruit if it hadn’t been for her giving him a nice one.
 
 
❀❀❀
 
 
Monday was a very happy day for Zhengqing, unusually, not this Monday.
 
That morning a colleague brought grapefruit to the office, to give their colleagues a taste (Zuben: Evil person). They were cut up in the tea room. Zhengqing being the highest office on the floor got given three pieces, how unlucky.
 
Zhengqing smiled courteously with thanks as his colleague gave him the fruit but he refused claiming he did not like grapefruit. In his heart, he could imagine his colleague cleaning the grapefruit, not thinking he would lose face. Well he had already lost face when he brought those grapefruit to work. He’s secretly mixed the bad tasting grapefruit to give to others. (Zuben: Despicable, it is! It’s a grapefruit conspiracy!) The generous colleague left the fruit in case he changed his mind. 
 
Back home, was his distasteful ones lying in his refrigerator waiting for him to come and solve it. (Zuben: Throw it away.)
 
Zhengqing's solution to the current problem was to surreptitiously place his grapefruit on another colleagues table.
 
When he went by again, the victim was eating the fruit. He felt greatly relieved. Alas, there were still the ones at home. The thought made him sad.
 
The next day, Zhengqing felt like he was suffused with grapefruit acid. He remained in low spirits till the afternoon. He should not be so wasteful, but he really wanted to throw them away.
 
His desk phone rang an internal call tone, it was his secretary announcing an arrival at the front desk. There was a Miss Shen Jiaqi visiting, she had no appointment. Would he like to see her?
 
Shen Jiaqi was not Yin Ting? He tried not to be disappointed. If it was Yin Ting, he would get her to eat the grapefruit, or destroy it. Whichever! She needed to take responsibility for what she’d caused. (Zuben: Bros, you’re an adult no one sent you to buy grapefruit. The sweet ones are rare as hen’s teeth)
 
‘Ask her to wait in the reception room for a bit, and offer her a drink,’ Zhengqing ordered - his mind still on Yin Ting. He could remember her expression like it was just yesterday as she said, ‘It may be sweet.’ But it was sour, he forgot too quickly.
 
He put it out of his mind and went to the reception room to see Jiaqi. She gave him a smile when she saw him, ‘I did not disturb you, did I?’
 
‘Not at all, the esteemed Miss Shen decided to visit, how can I be disturbed?’ Zhengqing said courteously.
 
‘I was just passing through and I decided to come and show you our company’s new products.’ She said as she picked up a paper gift bag with her company’s logo from the floor at her side and handed it to Zhengqing. These were high quality Chinese food items, which not only were sold in the domestic market but exported too.
 
‘Thank you,’ he said graciously, as long as there was no grapefruit in there, it was all good.
 
‘There are some business things I would like to ask Qiu Zong, but now might not be a good time,’ she said sweetly, ‘How about we make a date that is convenient for you?’
 
Zhengqing was about to answer, when Qin Yufei walked in.
 
‘Yo, who’s this?’ she asked leaning against the door nonchalantly.
 
Zhengqing turned quietly to her. Qin Yufei looked like she’d eaten a package of explosives. She seemed really angry.
 
‘How have you been, Yufei? I came to see Qiu Zing for a chat,’ Jiaqi said gracefully, but there was an undercurrent of bite.
 
‘Oh, excuse me? A chat? Or, you’re trying to win a popular employee with promises of higher pay and better benefits,’ Yufei said, ever straightforward, she did not lose to anyone.
 
‘Well I want to but I have not been successful,’ Jiaqi said, her expression and tone seemed to Zhengqing that she was trying not to antagonise Yufei.
 
‘Well you do have thick skin, you would recover well,’ Yufei said provocatively.
 
Zhengqing frowned, it seemed like the two elders want to have an ugly quarrel.
 
But Jiaqi laughed, ‘Xiao-Ting said that she was so annoyed she wanted to choke me, but she hasn't come to see me.’
 
 Zhengqing frowned, what was this about Yin Ting?
 
‘You’re very troublesome,’ Yufei snapped.
 
Jiaqi laughed more, ‘Who told her to be so funny. She can be so slow, choked to speechlessness. Does not want to endure but can’t think of what to say and tries to put on a smile.’
 
‘You’re too much,’ Yufei growled.
 
‘Fine, fine, next time I’ll try not to bully her,’ Jiaqi said laughing. (Zuben: Jiaqi, you've spoiled the game here)
 
Zhengqing’s brows did not relax; he was confused; what was this weird change from enmity to sisterly friendliness?
 
‘Leave quickly, you’re not allowed to dig in our Yong Kai’s patch, or I’ll come digging in yours,’ Yufei said in a vicious tone.
 
Jiaqi did not look bothered but said, ‘I’m afraid ah,’ in a mock fearful tone, and she laughed and continued, ‘I can’t play with you too much today, I have you go.’
 
She rose and turned to Zhengqing, ‘Qiu Zong, I will see you soon.’
 
‘Ah see you,’ Yufei said waving at Jiaqi’s departing figure.
 
Yufei turned back to Zhengqing,
 
‘Don’t you get along?’ he asked.
 
‘We’re friends,’
 
‘Oh,’ he replied. The way these women displayed their friendship was quite special. Zhengqing wasn’t interested in gossip, so he went back to his office. As he settled back into his chair, he thought of Yin Ting, what was that about Xiao-Ting choking and not able to speak?
 
Ah forget it, he thought, he did not want to know.
 
That evening, Zhengqing got a call from Yin Ting; gossip was delivering itself.
 
‘I did tell you she was interested in you,’ Yin Ting said.
 
Zhengqing remained silent but he admitted that that might be the case. Perhaps it was male vanity, he was affected by Yin Ting’s suspicions, he was also sensitive to the situation. He was still not sure if Jiaqi was trying to win him over for her father’s company or for herself.
 
As he was preparing to leave work, he received an emoticon of a lovable ugly face that Jiaqi sent. It spoke of intimacy that was a bit overt.
 
‘I told you she would start a fierce attack, but you must act with restraint.’ She said to him, ‘she went to your company to look for you. Next step is to ask you for a meal, you must find an excuse to not go, you can’t comply easily.’
 
‘How did you know she came to see me?’ he asked, incredulous that she had found out.
 
‘Yufei told me.’
 
These women were really gossips.
 
‘Why shouldn’t I reply her easily?’ he asked.
 
 ‘Because whenever I try to go for a guy, she makes fun of me and says. “Being born with thick skin is advanced genetics, you recover very well.”’ Yin Ting said mimicking Jiaqi.
 
So it was originally a joke, ah.
 
‘You shouldn’t be too eager to go on a date with her or I will be sad,’ she continued. 
 
He was going to reply but then he remembered something, but for a moment it was gone from his mind, his mind turned to another thing, he said to Yin Ting, ‘People who are born with thick skin recover well.’
 
‘What?’ Yin Ting said at a loss.
 
‘You don’t have thick skin if you’re looking for revenge.’
 
‘Hey, right?! Say it again,’ Yin Ting said suddenly excited.
 
He sighed inwardly and repeated himself. Yin Ting laughed and said, ‘I will call her immediately, you don’t have to pretend to be modest and hold back, you can go out with her. Thank you!’ she said and she hung up, not waiting for Zhengqing to reply.
 
 Zhengqing stared  at the phone flabbergasted, what was this pretend modesty? He did not have this idea or plan. Moreover, other people cannot tell him what to do! This was his business; he did not need her permission!
 
Right? Right!
 
Then Zhengqing remembered the grapefruit left in his fridge, he groaned.
 
Damned grapefruit.
 
Would sending a courier with the rest of the grapefruit to Yin Ting be too much? He also helped her thing of a reply to her foe.
 
Zhengqing sighed in resignation and ate two pieced of the sour acidic fruit.
 

 

He was rather sad.



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