Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Saturday 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 assistant 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 prick!”

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 assistant 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 grass.

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 sexy.  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 blushing.  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  passes 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 glass 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 glass 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  pushing 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.