Love in a Shanghai Summer

4: Oh, my god（我的天）

Word of the day: wǒ de tiān (我的天)

Literal translation: My sky / day / heaven / god

Definition: Common exclamation to express strong emotion. The Chinese equivalent of "Oh my god!"

Other relevant terms: tiān a! (天啊) - a shorter version of wǒ de tiān.

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Jisen jumped back as drops of milk tea went flying in the air. "Tiān a!  Yiwen, what are you doing?"

"Ah, I'm really sorry!" Wang Yiwen pulled out a tissue from the plastic bag she had with her and handed it to Jisen.

While Jisen dealt with the damage on his khaki pants and white shoes, Zi'an inched closer. The brush strokes in his mind worked overtime to paint this new picture of her. With her face devoid of any makeup, she looked guileless and far-removed from the woman he had met the other night. That woman was a doll in a sealed box. The one in front of him was more like a neighborhood sister. He liked the contrast.

Their eyes met over Jisen's bowed back.

"Were you that surprised to see me?" Jisen asked, straightening up. "Look at you. You look like you've seen a ghost."

Wang Yiwen pulled her gaze away from Zi'an. "I'm really sorry, Jisen. The, um, the cup just slipped out of my hand."

"Really?" Jisen picked the cup from where it landed, avoiding the liquid that still dripped from it. "Hey, Zi'an, maybe we should find a way to make these cups easier to hold. I think that's a good product idea."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

Zi'an forced himself to look at his friend, yet like a rubber band, his eyes snapped back to hers.

"Ugh, this is disgusting. Hang on, let me throw this cup away."

Neither Wang Yiwen nor Li Zi'an said a word in reply. Once Jisen was out of earshot, they both spoke at once.

"I..."

"Ji--"

Then, fell back into silence.

"So... I didn't expect to see you here," Zi'an said, after a while.

She stood, a brittle laugh escaping her lips. "Me too. I didn't expect to see you here, either. What a coincidence, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm happy to see you, though."

Zi'an watched as she tucked wisps of her hair behind her delicate ears. When the delicate shells turned pink, he held back a smile, moving his eyes back to her face in time to see tiny dimples reappearing on the edges of her lips.

"I'm not sure if I can say the same thing about you," she said.

"Still mad?"

She shook her head, then tugged at her clothes. "I look like cowshit."

"Actually, I like this look. You'd fit right in with those aunties dancing over there." He pointed his hand towards a group of middle-aged women a few feet away, grooving to the sound of popular music blasting from portable speakers.

"So you're saying I look like an aunty?"

"A very pretty one."

She glared at him.

He chuckled.

"Looks like you two are having fun," Jisen said, finally back from wherever he went.