CH 14.1

The Fourteenth Cup of Coffee Part 1

“What did you call me?”

“Madam, isn’t that how you use it?”

Jiang Ying took a deep breath and looked away, and said in a strange tone, “Yes, that’s how you use it. You’re so smart.”

Jiang Ying saw that Yun Xian had parked the car in the service area, so she asked, “Do you want to get out of the car and have a cigarette?”

“I don’t smoke. Do you want to smoke?”

Jiang Ying remembered that she didn’t seem to have ever seen Yun Xian smoke, and shook her head. “No, I’m quitting.”

Yun Xian suggested, “Let’s get out of the car and walk around. We’ve been sitting the entire time.”

Jiang Ying agreed.

Jiang Ying went to the bathroom in the service area. Yun Xian bought a cup of oden outside. He saw Jiang Ying come out and handed her the cup.

“I’m actually not hungry,” Jiang Ying held the warm oden. The tasty smell accompanied by the sour and sweet tomato sauce infiltrated her nose. She was half full at most from the sandwich, but she didn’t want Yun Xian to think she could eat a lot.

Yun Xian pursed his lips and glanced at her. He couldn’t tell her the truth. “I bought it for myself. I’m hungry. Help me hold it please.”

With that, he opened the door and got into the car. Jiang Ying stood in place for a few seconds, secretly scolding herself for imagining things, and slowly climbed into the car with embarrassment.

Back in the car, Jiang Ying sat upright with the cup of oden, like she was the car’s mascot.

Yun Xian took a stick of Arctic wings and neatly bit it into his mouth. He chewed carefully and started the car to get back on the road again.

The car kept moving forward on the highway. Jiang Ying felt that the cup of oden would be cold if he didn’t eat it. So,  she took a stick of fish balls and put them near Yun Xian’s mouth.

Yun Xian looked down at the fish ball in front of him, and quickly looked forward again. His head leaned forward slightly and he bit into a ball.

Jiang Ying offered the wooden stick over again when she saw that he had finished chewing.

After eating a stick of fish balls, Yun Xian laughed and joked, “This is the first time I felt that having someone next to me while I drive is great. When I am hungry, she can feed me.”

Jiang Ying continued to give him a stick of deep fried fish cake. “Yes, we can talk, too.”

Yun Xian said he was full after eating two sticks. Jiang Ying happily took on the job of eating the remaining food based on her principle of not wasting food.

“Jiang Ying,” Yun Xian suddenly said her name. “There is water in the back seat. Help me get one.”

“Oh, okay.” Jiang Ying reached for the mineral water bottle. She unscrewed the cap and carefully put it to his mouth.

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Yun Xian raised his head slightly to match her movements. Without a good idea of how high to go, Jiang Ying lifted the bottle a little higher than she should have, and water flowed down the corner of Yun Xian’s lips. As it was about to drip from his chin, Jiang Ying wiped it on the back with her hand.

This action wasn’t processed through her brain at all. When the skin on the back of the hand touched Yun Xian’s lower lip, Jiang Ying immediately retracted her hand as if she had been scalded.

She cleared her throat and sat up straight again. There was still a bit of water on the back of her left hand. Jiang Ying did not dare to touch it and did not know how to deal with it.

Yun Xian took a napkin from the glove box and handed it to her.

Jiang Ying took it and said, “Thank you.”

While she wiped her hands with the paper towel, Jiang Ying thought of the soft touch.

There seemed to be a bug crawling on the back of her left hand. It was itchy. She wiped it and put the napkin in her hand.

She felt aroused and had naughty thoughts.

Jiang Ying shook her head vigorously, as if she was trying to drive out all the images that appeared in her mind.

——

They reached the hotel they had booked in Shanghai. It was almost seven o’clock in the evening. First, they went to their rooms to put away their luggage. After a short rest, Jiang Ying took Yun Xian to a baked fish1 restaurant she used to go to when she was in college.

She had not been here for a long time. As soon as Jiang Ying entered the restaurant and smelled the air, her stomach became ready. After the food was served, she took one bite after another, and her chopsticks couldn’t stop at all.

Yun Xian picked up the fishbone in the bowl and asked her, “Didn’t you say you were going to lose weight?”

Jiang Ying grabbed a piece of cold seaweed 2 and said, “I’ll walk around the hotel a few times later. I can digest it.”

Yun Xian smiled and put the deboned fish from the tray to her plate. “You’re not fat, eat more.”

After eating, Jiang Ying touched his stomach and suggested, “Do you want to go for a walk by the river? It’s quite close to here.”

Before Yun Xian spoke, she snapped at herself, “Forget it, let’s not go.”

Yun Xian asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, let’s go back. I’m a little tired.” Jiang Ying looked like she had completely lost her interest.

Yun Xian didn’t say anything else. He picked up the cup of water on the table and drank it.

If it had been some other day, Jiang Ying would not have responded so badly.

Unfortunately, tomorrow was Lu Tingyang’s birthday and his wedding day.