Soon, Xiao Luo cooked up a dish made up of chopped mixed greens and diced yam, which resembled a very thick rice porridge in texture. He also prepared a Chinese-style fried tomato omelet, and both dishes would be served along with rice.
"What's this?" Su Li asked, pointing at the porridge-like dish.
"It's a specialty from my hometown, it's what we call 'green taro paste.'"
Su Li scooped a small portion of the gruel with a spoon and wondered if it was palatable, or even edible!
She had never seen such dishes before, but she saw that he prepared this dish by chopping up the greens, mixing it with boiled yam, and allowing it to simmer in a pot, before mashing them into a paste.
"Why don't you try it? It goes pretty well with rice," Xiao Luo said. He did not say too much and went back to the kitchen to clean up.
Growl~
Su Li's stomach seemed to be complaining again, and she was promptly reminded of how hungry she really was.
She decided to dig in and worry about it after the meal.
She scooped herself a bowl of rice and tried the tomato omelet first, which looked more familiar than the green taro paste.
She was a little skeptical initially, expecting the food to taste terrible, but she was mistaken and immediately realized how wrong she was the moment she took the first bite. She had had plenty of Chinese-style tomato omelets before, but the one Xiao Luo had prepared was quite special. It had a unique flavor, and although it didn't look as appealing as those made by restaurant chefs, it had a silky smooth texture and its taste was heavenly.
She couldn't stop after the first bite and soon gorged herself indulgently.
Before she knew it, she had polished off the entire plate of fried tomato omelet.
When Su Li realized it, she was astounded as she had not expected to finish everything. She certainly felt somewhat embarrassed by it.
She looked at the empty plate in disbelief, for, regardless of the circumstances and no matter how delicious the dishes were, she would usually leave a portion behind as etiquette, and for the sake of her image.
She put it down to the hunger... yes, that was it, she was famished!
At least, that was what she kept telling herself...
Then, her eyes shifted over to the green taro paste. Su Li held her spoon ready to scoop a portion, then she hesitated, unsure if she should eat it. But, as the fried tomato omelet tasted delicious, she decided that this dish may not disappoint.
She scooped some of the green taro paste tentatively and put it into her bowl of rice. But, as she was about to try the dish, she felt a wave of excitement from its aroma, and, in her anticipation, even her pinky was sticking upward.
The moment Su Li put the spoon in her mouth, it almost seemed like she was about to frown, but within moments, a look of pure ecstasy formed on her face. The green taro paste was divinely delicious, it was fresh and light, and a treat on the palate. She enjoyed the dish immensely and continued scooping more of the taro paste from the bowl.
After Xiao Luo had cleaned up in the kitchen, he returned to the hall and saw that Su Li had finished her late dinner. She was already gracefully wiping her mouth with a serviette.
She looked contented, and the two empty dishes sat conspicuously in front of her.
"You've finished everything?"
Xiao Luo looked slightly surprised as the portions he had prepared were quite large, even for an adult male; therefore, he had not expected Su Li to finish everything.
Su Li blushed, feeling a little embarrassed, and felt a tinge of regret that she'd been unable to resist her temptation to finish every bit of the delicacy. But, she suppressed the thought, and she was curious about how Xiao Luo had managed to cook so well. As she neatly placed the serviette on the table, she asked, "How did you make this green taro paste? Did you just mix chopped greens and yam together put it to a simmer?"
"Yes."
Xiao Luo said and nodded slightly.
"I must say, the fried tomato omelet was superb too. Did you attend any cooking lessons before?" Su Li asked.
"No, I am a self-taught cook."
Xiao Luo answered in candor as he used to do much cooking during his stay in Jiangcheng, and was quite experienced in preparing these everyday dishes.
"It does seem like you know a thing or two about life," Su Li said and broke into a rare smile.
Xiao Luo returned her smile and said, "You can clean up the utensils, I'm going back."
"Wait a minute."
Su Li stood up, paused for a moment, and said, "Let's chat."
"Chat?"
Xiao Luo was caught off guard as he had never expected that this ice queen would even want to chat with him.
"About Su Xiaobei."
Su Li blinked, and she blushed again as she was reminded of that night. "I'm pretty sure that you know Su Xiaobei and I are not related by blood."
Xiao Luo nodded as he vividly recalled Su Li's first time that fateful night, which was irrevocable proof that she was not Su Xiaobei's biological mother.
"She is the daughter of my sister, Su Meiling."
When Su Li mentioned her sister's name, she suddenly looked dejected, and the light in her pretty face, the envy of countless women, seemed to dim. "Two months after giving birth to Su Xiaobei, my sister discovered that her husband had cheated on her," she explained, "and they had a big row over it. Things got physical during their argument, and that man accidentally pushed her off from the top level of a fifteen-story high building."
"I'm so sorry to hear that. So, that's why you've taken the role of Su Xiaobei's mother?" Xiao Luo asked.
Su Li nodded and said, "I only hope she can have a meaningful childhood and grow up to be a happy and healthy person." She looked at Xiao Luo and continued, "I'm still not sure why she's so close to you and even consider you to be her father, but I have to believe that, sometimes, fate plays its hand in such arrangements."
Xiao Luo smiled as he felt a warm, fuzzy feeling welling up inside him when he thought of Su Xiaobei, and it was indeed a wonderful feeling.
Su Li was unsure if Xiao Luo understood what she actually meant for the "fate'" that she was referring to was not only confined to father and daughter but also to husband and wife.
However, Xiao Luo did not seem to get it, which frustrated her slightly, and she chose a more direct approach by changing the topic. "By the way, have you found a job?"
What? Why did she change the topic so suddenly?
Xiao Luo was a little stumped, and he just shook his head and replied, "No."
"You remember my friend, Shen Qingyan, don't you? Her company happens to be recruiting sales personnel, and you will be meeting her for an interview tomorrow," Su Li said, in no uncertain terms.
Xiao Luo did not appreciate being ordered around, and he rejected the suggestion outright. "I've said before that you should stay out of my work-related business, I can handle it."
"You have no choice, as I have already sent in your resume. Be at Huayao Corporation for the interview tomorrow at 9 p.m. sharp. If you really wish for what happened before our marriage to repeat itself, then you can choose to not go."
Su Li was a very determined person. Since she had been dealt such a hand in life, then Xiao Luo should face the same fate as her. She needed to make Xiao Luo develop himself as fast as possible, and while she'd not be able to achieve everything in one day, getting him a proper job would be a good start.
Xiao Luo was speechless, and he knew very well that this woman would always live up to her words. She jumped off the balcony without hesitation after their first time, which gave him a big scare. He was really tempted to tell her to suit herself, but, in truth, he did not have the heart to do so. He did not feel any particular connection between them, and she was undoubtedly different from all of the other women that he knew. He could not really make sense of it, but perhaps it was due to her being his first.
"Fine, but don't you hold hopes up too high as I can't promise you how I'll do in this interview," Xiao Luo responded, and already had a trick up his sleeve, which was to intentionally fail in the Huayao Corporation interview.
"Just do the best you can, that's all I ask."
Su Li said it casually, as she had already informed Shen Qingyan beforehand and was promised that, unless Xiao Luo performed terribly, he would definitely pass the interview.
Their eyes met briefly—they were hiding something from each other, and who the final victor would be in this duel of minds was still uncertain.
Xiao Luo then left, and Su Li remained at the table, staring at the empty dishes, feeling warm and fuzzy inside as she thought about him.
...
Sadly, it was a dysfunctional relationship, with only a marriage certificate binding two people who had no feelings for each other. Xiao Luo had no idea how Su Li felt about the marriage. Still, it was a strange union to him, and he only hoped that Su Li would meet someone that she fancied and end this relationship with him as soon as possible.
He had always believed that they would drift apart ultimately and become mere strangers with no strings attached, and therefore, he never took the trouble to tell Su Li more about himself.
He called Zhang Dashan after he got back to his apartment.
Zhang Dashan had not been very busy lately, so he frequently tried to get a date with Huang Ruoran. Unfortunately, Huang Ruoran showed no interest in him and even told him in his face that for them to date was simply out of the question.
"F*ck, I've sent her flowers a dozen times and even asked her out frequently, but she just won't give me a chance. What should I do, bro?" Zhang Dashan lamented.
Xiao Luo shook his head and replied, "What's the point of asking me? I thought you're more experienced in dating girls."
"F*ck, should I really do as what the Internet says? Rape her if you like her, and if that doesn't work, then just drug her. What's the worst scenario, end up in jail?" Zhang Dashan cried, feeling dejected and gloomy.
Xiao Luo raised his brows and joked, "Go to jail then, I'll visit."
"For f*ck's sake, can we just chat in peace? I'm hurting here..."
Xiao Luo sighed, not sure what he could say to Zhang Dashan to lift him. Then, another call came in, and it was his cousin, Ding Zhenyun.
"Just move on, okay. Anyway, I've got another call coming in."
"Fine."
Zhang Dashan ended the call on his end.
Xiao Luo swiped right on the calling button and picked up Ding Zhenyun's call.
"Cousin... help me, please... help me." Ding Zhenyun's anxious and frightened voice came through from the other end of the line.
Xiao Luo stood up immediately and asked, "Where are you?"
******
******
A forlorn figure dashed out from a dark alley into the quiet street at a corner of the Dongcheng area. He wore a gray leather jacket with a pair of black pants, the shirt he was wearing was hanging out, and his buttons were misaligned, making him appear unkempt. His face was severely bruised, covered with blood, and his mouth was slightly swollen. It was evident that this man had taken a beating—he was none other than Ding Zhenyun.
"Ding, you better come back with us obediently, if not you're going to get beaten up real bad!"
Behind him, there were four rascally-looking youths, and the one who had shouted at him was a well-built youngster with a knife scar across his face. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing his firm and muscular arms, and there was a scorpion tattoo on the back of his left hand.
Ding Zhenyun was trembling and trying his best to get away from them, but, as often was the case, when a person panicked, they made mistakes. Unfortunately for Ding Zhenyun, this applied to him as well, as he tripped over a hump on the street and fell hard on the ground.
Before he knew it, the four youths were on him, and he found himself encircled with his adversaries looking down at him fiercely.
"Keep running then... why don't you keep running, huh?"
The leader, a muscular youth thumped Ding Zhenyun in the stomach with a powerful kick, and Ding Zhenyun screamed in agony, his face twisted from the excruciating pain.
The muscular youth squatted down and grabbed Ding Zhenyun's hair, pulling his head up roughly, as the remaining three youths stepped on Ding Zhenyun's hands and leg. There was no way Ding Zhenyun could struggle free.
The muscular youth grinned and sneered, "I've said before, I will make sure that you become rich as long as you work for me obediently and without any question. You will become somebody in life, why did you run away from me?"
"You guys are...you guys are MLM..." Ding Zhenyun replied as he stared at the muscular youth in abject fear.
The muscular youth took out a cigarette and lighted it up, then he said, "So, what if we are part of the MLM scheme? It doesn't matter as long as we get the money, what's the problem? Look at you, previously you were so diligent in your work, simply by introducing a few friends to join, and you already earned five thousand bucks without investing a single cent. How great was that? If you can pull in a few more guys and work on them, get them to find even more people to join us, you can earn money without doing anything. Where else could you find an opportunity like this?"
"You guys are MLM, you guys are MLM..."
Ding Zhenyun kept repeating this line, and his eyes were glazed. He had never been so frightened in his life, and the only conscious thought he had in his mind was how he was going to get out of this alive.
"MLM, my *ss!"
The muscular youth scowled and removing his cigarette from his mouth, he cruelly pushed the smoldering tip into the sensitive part of Ding Zhenyun's inner arm.
The cigarette singed Ding Zhenyun's flesh, making him scream out horribly, and the pain caused him to bite through his tongue, staining his teeth red with blood.
The muscular youth pressed the cigarette against Ding Zhenyun's arm until it had been stubbed out completely.
A patch of red appeared on Ding Zhenyun's arm, around a blister that had form quickly from the searing cigarette burn.
"How's that, exciting?"
The muscular youth laughed mirthlessly as he stared at Ding Zhenyun's face, now distorted from the pain and in agony. "Rest assured, this is nothing but an appetizer. After we're back, then we'll have the main course. We haven't been beating the dog before the lion for a while, so it's great that you are sacrificing for the greater good." He stood up and ordered his men, "Take him!"
The other three men pulled Ding Zhenyun up and started to drag him off.
"Let go, I don't want to go back... let go, let me go!"
In Ding Zhenyun's frightened eyes, there was nothing but unbridled fear as he knew better than anyone, what awaited him when they returned. It would be a nightmare of hell and horror, and he would be subjected to relentless torture, pain, and desperation. He would not survive it, and he struggled with every ounce of strength he had left.
"F*ck you!"
The muscular youth threw a punch right into at Ding Zhenyun's face. His head was thrown to the side, and he was concussed. His head lolled, and he spat out mouthful blood and several teeth.
The muscular youth took out another cigarette, lit it up, took a deep puff, drew in the smoke into his lungs, and then exhaled. "In my eyes, you're nothing but a big fat pig. It's not up to you to decide your fate, and you better remember that," he said to Ding Zhenyun.
As they moved out from the alley, a shadowy figure appeared at the far end, walking silently toward them like a ghost.
The four youths felt a chill and shivered...
The muscular youth had served in the army before and quickly sense that, whoever this person was, he had some extraordinary abilities. Still, he did not think that this person was Ding Zhenyun's rescuer and only felt that he was merely passing by.
"Let's go that way."
He waved, and they moved in the opposite direction of the approaching figure. He did not wish to have any contact with this person, whoever he was.
The other three youths nodded and dragged Ding Zhenyun the other way.
However, just when they turned, the muscular youth felt a weight on his shoulder and noticed a large palm resting on it. He turned around and was stunned—in front of him stood the shadowy figure, which only moments ago, was more than a dozen meters away. He was met with a pair of cold, fearsome eyes...
"Huh?!"
The muscular youth gasped and broke into a cold sweat. How could this man suddenly appear before him within seconds when he had been a dozen meters away, had he just run into a ghost?