After ordering three main dishes plus a glass of cranberry juice, He Ling also ordered a sea bass ukha, a red cabbage borscht, an apple pie, garlic bread, beef patties, potato latkes, and the restaurant’s signature salad before she finally shut the menu.
“That’s all.”
The server then looked at me. We might not even be able to finish all the food, so I let Xiao Qin choose a drink and told them they could start serving the food.
“I’ll take a ginger orange juice.” Xiao Qin said while carefully holding the menu, “It’s ¥20 for a glass, that’s expensive.”
He Ling spoke with scorn: “Isn’t your mom a world MMA champion, and now works as a martial arts director in an American movie? You should have a lot of money.”
I’m not sure if Xiao Qin wanted to put on an act of being a perfect woman in front of He Ling, but she replied quietly and respectfully:
“My mom doesn’t let me spend money recklessly.”
He Ling’s face seemed as if she didn’t really believe her. After she saw Xiao Qin’s arm wasn’t even as thick as hers, she asked:
“Didn’t you learn any martial arts from your mom?”
Xiao Qin shook her head, “I’ve always had a frail body, so I can’t learn martial arts.”
He Ling seemed to be extra pleased.
Do you feel more superior in front of someone who doesn’t know martial arts because you learned a bit of taekwondo? Don’t be naive, Xiao Qin has exponentially more martial arts skill and talent than you!
Soon after, the signature salad arrived. I tasted it and it was both refreshing and crispy, no wonder it was their signature dish.
He Ling looked at me with dissatisfaction, “Shouldn’t you let the guests go first as the host?”
I joked: “Since the name of the dish is ‘boy salad’, I thought girls don’t eat it.”
He Ling didn’t respond to my humor and began to criticize my clothes:
“Your attire is not bad, but you’re fundamentally still a bumpkin.”
“Hey.” I clanked my dinner knife against the plate, “Why don’t you focus on eating, didn’t Uncle He tell you there are still people starving in North Korea?”
He Ling cut off a corner of her sirloin, “What does that have to do with me, it’s not like I’m Kim Jong Un.”
“Well, that’s true, you’re He Ling.”
The color on He Ling’s face changed, “Call me sis He Ling. Didn’t I already tell you to call me sis, don’t blame me if I don’t return the necklace.”
She said as she glanced at Xiao Qin. He Ling still had to feel a bit bad for taking her mother’s lost necklace hostage. It was good Xiao Qin was focused on eating the salad and didn’t seem to be offended.
“Okay, sis He Ling.” I reached my hand out, “Can you return the necklace now?”
I leaned my upper body back then seriously lowered my head.
“Sis He Ling, I’m sorry for thoroughly beating you at the dojo and embarrassing you in front of the other students. Please forgive me considering our fathers’ friendship and please return the necklace.”
He Ling pursed her lips and considered it for a while. Then she stared into my eyes as if to check my sincerity, then she shrugged and said:
“I guess you pass. If you can keep the same attitude, I’ll return the necklace after dinner.”
I was a bit dissatisfied when she said she would return it after dinner, but it was still acceptable.
“Ye Lin classmate, I’ve picked all the bones out of the fish, have a bite.”
Xiao Qin earnestly passed me a piece of fish.
I didn’t hold back and began eating with my fork. The flavor was a bit to the bland side, but it had a novel exotic taste.
“Don’t only eat vegetables.” I said to Xiao Qin, “The braised beef is great, have a taste.”
Xiao Qin blushed and said: “I’ll eat anything as long as Ye Lin classmate feeds me.”
“Okay, I’ll feed you.” I put a piece of beef in my fork and raised it in the air. Xiao Qin’s face was brimming with happiness as she opened her mouth to accept the offering.
He Ling couldn’t help but begin trembling her hands as she saw Xiao Qin and I make public displays of affection. It looks like she was pretty mad.
He Ling sized up Xiao Qin as if she was trying to look for faults. She then widened her eyes like she made a new discovery.
Her lips were curved into a faint smile the next time she spoke.
“Haha, you guys are only in the second year of middle school, isn’t it a bit too early to be dating?”
“It’s not early.” Xiao Qin said emotionally, “I couldn’t wait to be with Ye Lin classmate.”
“It’s not early? But it might be a bit early for your body.” He Ling said as she landed her sight on Xiao Qin’s flat chest.
She straightened her body at the same time and showed off her breasts that were comparable to Xiong YaoYue’s.
Did she wear a bra today? My imagination ran wild because she wasn’t wearing one at the dojo.
He Ling pretended to turn her body to look at a painting after she realized she caught my attention. The turn of her body caused her breasts to shake slightly.
Damn, how thirsty is she? I could tell from my angle that she wasn’t wearing a bra again!
Xiao Qin looked at He Ling’s breasts, then looked down at her own. She sighed then looked at me with a pitiful gaze to look for sympathy.
Once He Ling found an area where Xiao Qin was inferior to her, she continued to mock her.
She rubbed the red table cloth and said: “The table is pretty flat.”
Then she used her fork and stabbed a cherry tomato in her salad and said: “It has tomato in its name, but it’s so small.”
As she saw me pouring yogurt on my potato latkes, He Ling covered her mouth and said with a chuckle:
“Wow you poured so much, it seems Ye Lin is someone who likes milk. But someone may not be able to provide enough…”
Please be more scientific. I’m poring yogurt on my potato cakes, even if you can provide enough, it’s not like you can directly make yogurt.
Xiao Qin couldn’t control her emotions well after taking three jabs from He ling about her flat chest.
“Stop… stop laughing at my chest. I like Ye Lin classmate a lot, even if I don’t have big breasts, Ye Lin classmate will still like me.”
“Not necessarily. As they said in the move ‘Love Is Not Blind’, men get bored with the same old thing. Not only do you have a flat chest, you’re also frail, so there’s no way you can satisfy someone as strong as Ye Lin. You might as well break up now and leave a good memory.”
What, you’re already persuading Xiao Qin to break up with me when we’re not even 30 min into the meal? What do you get if Xiao Qin breaks up with me? Do you think you can satisfy me?
Now it was time for Xiao Qin to tremble.
“Ah, I need to go to the washroom.” He Ling got up with a victorious smile.
“Me too.” Xiao Qin stood up and I realized she had a scary dark smile.
He Ling still didn’t realized something was off with Xiao Qin and headed to the washroom with her.
The two of them still hadn’t returned after 15 minutes.
Although I knew female washrooms were always overcrowded, but it was too long. I had already almost finished all the potato cakes.
After a while, the two girls who walked down the stairs had completely opposite expressions.
Xiao Qin smiled at me and all the darkness on her face had vanished. He Ling, on the other hand, had an ashen face as if she was caught cheating on a test.
Also… why could I see He Ling’s freckles, didn’t she use concealer? Plus the tips of her nose and hair was wet, even her forehead was red.
If I add that onto Xiao Qin’s strangely bright smile… did Xiao Qin hold down He Ling’s head in the sink and force her to remove her makeup?
It didn’t seem like that was the case because if she was abused by Xiao Qin, there was no way she would suddenly begin to worship her.
She followed behind Xiao Qin like she was her subordinate.
Xiao Qin sat back down and continued to eat like nothing happened. He Ling’s shoulders were drooped as she self reflected on her actions. Finally, she looked at me miserably and pleaded:
“Ye Lin, I… was wrong. Can you help me plea for mercy?”
“Mercy?” I was puzzled.
He Ling said with a bitter expression: “I… I never expected I would run into… sis Qin here… and she changed so much. Even though I saw her from far away before, but I can’t even recognize her anymore… If I knew it was her, I wouldn’t have dared to…”
Xiao Qin quietly sipped her juice as if He Ling was speaking about an unrelated person.
So you exposed your identity to He Ling? Was it because I told you earlier that He Ling was from Thousand Crane, so you knew you could scare her?
Not only did you expose your identity, you also taught her a lesson. Did you hold her head under the water while shouting: “That’s what you get for saying my breasts are small.”