Hi again!
Here a new one-shot!
I hope you'll enjoy it (and there are no too many mistakes)
I don't know why but today it's impossible to download pictures so here a video to explain how to cook sweet and sour pork ribs! Good appetite!
What happened to the nineteen catering dishes left?
Everything in the room seemed to be frozen. Her hair, her face and a part of her clothes were covered with sweet and sour pork ribs and rice. Shancai stared right in his eyes – and it was almost unbearable.
Shaking with fury, she looked at him, without a word, her eyes expressing a thousand feelings like anger, humiliation, challenge, and hatred. Her eyes were already big but they seemed so huge at that moment, wet with tears, making her even more fascinating.
His heart was racing without knowing why. Daoming Si looked away, couldn't bear to look at her anymore. For the first time in his life, he felt infinitely guilty, he hated himself for what he just had done, for the state in which she was because of him.
Then there was something else – her eyes. He wanted to hug her, to press her against him, to beg her for her pardon until all her anger and her tears disappeared. He wanted to erase all the damage he had just done, to protect her. All these feelings oppressed his chest and it was hard for him to breath.
He took a deep breath and, his back still turned, burst out: "You insulted me first."
Silence.
"You deserve it."
Still this silence. He still couldn't look at her. Then he heard her footsteps going away and he turned back to see her running away in the stairs, disappearing.
He had this deep urge to run after her, to catch her up, to take her arm, her hand and to tell her – to tell her what exactly?
What could I tell her?
What do I want to tell her?
Honestly, he hadn't a clue but he wanted to erase this feeling rooted in him, that feeling which hurts him!
But how?
And why am I not able to move? Why can't I move?
The time he managed to come around, he realized that Shancai was surely already riding her bike and might be far away. His legs weakening, he held back on the billiard table and collapsed on the first smashed armchair he found.
What was wrong with him?
He saw, laying on the floor, the remains of the dish he threw at her face.
A real mess.
It looks tasteful by the way.
He dropped his head in his hands. He felt bad again, very bad, worse than ever and he tried to forget Shancai's stare before she disappeared in the stairs.
He looked again at the nineteen catering dishes left. He stood up and came nearer to the piled-up boxes. He grabbed one of them and opened it. Immediately a delicious smell tickled his nostrils and he couldn't help but smile.
Delicious, without a doubt.
When he thought about the "delicious" word, Shancai's face popped up in his mind and he tried to get it out. He turned again toward the nineteen catering dishes. He couldn't waste all that food, could he? He would gladly eat some of them but – he hadn't chopsticks nor forks! He thought for a moment then had an idea. He hastily took his phone and called the first number he saw on the screen.
"Yeah – Ximen? Come right now. Halftime Cafe. Yes. Right now. Bring some chopsticks – or forks – or both."
Then he hung up with no more preamble. "Yeah – Meizuo? Come right now. Halftime Cafe. You cancel everything you planned. No choice. See you. And bring some chopsticks or forks or both."
Then he hung up again without waiting for his friend's answer. "Yeah – Lei? Come right now. Halftime Cafe. But – you were taking a nap? I don't care. Wake up and come right now! And bring cutlery – no, not knives, why knives?"
And he hung up, ignoring Lei exasperated sigh.
Waiting for his friends to come, Daoming Si walked around the room over one hundred time, recounted the catering dishes, smelled them one by one, insulted his friends in the air, insulted Shancai's beautiful eyes because they were still in his mind, insulted the walls because they were too ugly and insulted his stupid hands which threw that food on the young woman's face.
Ximen and Meizuo arrived at the same time with a bag filled with cutlery and alcohol in each hand.
"Why are you so late?" attacked immediately Daoming Si. "And why alcohol?"
Meizuo and Ximen stared at each other, blasé. "You asked us to bring some cutlery, we understood we were going to a party, weren't we?" Then, spotting the catering dishes, they exclaimed. "Whoa! Did you invite a lot of people? Will there be some girls?" They asked at the same time.
Daoming Si shrugged and turned his back to them. "No, just us." He said briefly. "Where is Lei? What he is doing?"
Ximen and Meizuo stared at each other, lost. "Why there is so much food?" Insisted Meizuo, frowning.
Without a word, Ximen smirked, caught a box and showed it to Meizuo. "Ooooh! Dong? That's the caterer's name? Well, I understand now." Said Meizuo maliciously.
"Did the caterer's daughter brought the dishes?" Asked Ximen, ready to laugh.
Daoming Si just growled, shrugging, turning his back to them. Ximen and Meizuo stared at each other, a knowing look on their faces. "She came!" They said in unison.
Then they spotted the food – pieces of pork and rice – scattered on the floor. They both sighed. "And you messed up!" they concluded, tired. "Daoming Si, you have to learn how to behave with girls!"
Daoming Si frowned, growing more irritated, trying to hide the uneasiness he felt each time he heard about Shancai. That is when Lei came into the room. "Ah, you're here at last!" exclaimed Daoming Si, abruptly standing to. "Why were you so long?"
Lei didn't answer and just glared at him without a word. His three friends remained silent, really surprised to see this usually calm and impassive man being so furious. He noticed the pieces of pork and rice laying on the floor and clenched his fists, angrier.
Without knowing exactly why Daoming Si swallowed hard as Lei continued to darkly glare at him. "What?" he let out moody, trying to keep some composure.
"On my way, I ran into Shancai." He just said and Daoming Si couldn't help but pale.
There was a tensed silence and Meizuo stood up abruptly, catching a box. "Well, shall we eat?" he asked enthusiastically.
Daoming Si stood up as well. "Yes, we have to eat everything!" he exclaimed.
His three friends stared at him again, flabbergasted. "There are 20 boxes, Daoming Si!" Exclaimed Ximen. "Even if we are four, it will be difficult to eat everything!"
"Nineteen –" answered AhSi, then he met Lei's dark glare.
"You'd deserve to eat the one on the floor!" Let out the musical genius.
There was a new silence in the room and Daoming Si looked away like a little boy being scolded by his mother.
After a while, Meizuo cleared his throat. "Shall we begin to eat?"
Daoming Si immediately agreed, jumping from his chair and hastily took a box. His three friends observed him, stared à each other, then took their meal as well.
At the first bite, AhSi realized the dishes were indeed delicious. Maybe he shouldn't have told Shancai that it doesn't look terrible, but how to come back now?
Well, the dishes presentation didn't look appetizing and he wasn't used to so simple food. The starred chef cooked for him at home, he ate gourmet cuisine from around the world so, on the face of it, Dong's sour and sweet pork wasn't the best meal he could eat.
But that was that smell, then the taste – he had the feeling that his taste buds were going to go wild with excitement. He ate his first dish then catch a second one, then the third one, then a fourth one.
He was going to grab the fifth one when he noticed his three friends had a hard time to end their second plate and looked at him with a puzzled face. "So what?" AhSi defended himself. "That's delicious, isn't that?"
The three young men stared at each other, aghast. "That's indeed good –" Ended to say Meizuo, hesitating.
"But it's only sweet and sour pork with rice –" Added Ximen.
Lei didn't say anything, observing silently AhSi, with no more anger in his stare. Then, his lips slowly stretched out and a mysterious smile appeared, making his friends feel curious. "I would say that if AhSi liked so much these dishes – it's because they were brought by Dong Shancai!"
Daoming Si choked his rice and violently coughed, his cheeks reddening. Meizuo and Ximen stared at each other with a knowing look and Lei got more comfortable in an armchair, with a satisfied look, ready to watch the show.
Ximen took Meizuo's hands. "Shancai –" he said with a warm voice.
Meizuo looked away, hiding his face with a hand. "Daoming Si!" He moaned. "Don't look me like that, I'm blushing!"
Ximen removed his hand from his face and, taking his chin, turned him toward him, watching intensely at him. "You have some sweet and sour sauce on your face, sweet Shancai, let me wipe that!"
Meizuo batted his eyelashes several times, exclaiming with a feminine voice: "Oh AhSi! Don't embarrass me!" while Ximen took a handkerchief and wipe some invisible spots on his cheek. Daoming Si choked, making a disgusted face while Lei laughed out loud.
"Stop that right now!" Grumbled AhSi, wrinkling his nose. "That's disgusting! I would never do this to anyone! And least of all to Shancai!"
Then he imagines himself wiping Shancai's dirty face, brushing gently her hair while she slowly looked up at him and gave him a sweet smile – so he leaned down toward her lips and –
"AAAAAAARGH !!" he screamed, sweeping away these pictures from his head.
His friends stared at him, shrugged, and continued to eat.
***
AhSi paced impatiently in his living room. For the tenth time in five minutes, he looked at his watch. Liu Shu still wasn't coming back! What was he doing? It wasn't long to walk from the grocery to Daoming's Mansion!
He ran toward to the bay window, checking if he saw him coming – no, there is still no trace of his butler. "Damn it!" He grumbled.
Maybe he was talking with his nephew who worked there? He ground his teeth, buried his fists in his pockets and heavily collapsed in an armchair, pouting.
What an idea to ask to be delivered in the grocery where Liu Shu's family worked instead of Daoming's mansion! But he rightfully knew what would have happened if he gave his home address –
Someone slammed the front door and he jumped from his seat. The unfortunate butler had hardly time to come into the living room that AhSi rushed toward him, extracted the catering dishes he carried. "It's about time! I almost waited!"
Mister Liu sighed. "Young master, wouldn't that be simpler to ask our chef to cook you the same thing?"
Daoming Si shook his head, putting the dishes on the table and taking out the cutlery. "No, that wouldn't be the same thing." He said categorically.
Mister Liu spoke again. "Well, you should ask at least to deliver the dishes here, young master – it would be so much simpler."
AhSi shook his head again, making his butler sighed again. "She would recognize my address and would refuse to come and deliver!" he firmly answered, sitting down to dinner.
Liu Shu rolled his eyes and sighed an "Ah, young loves!" that Daoming Si decided to ignore. He opened one of the boxes and the sweet and sour pork smell invaded the room. Immediately, he saw Shancai in his mind, smiling, her eyes sparkling with mischief. His heart skipped a beat. He closed his eyes and sighed delightfully.
"Mister Liu?" he said after eating the first bite.
"Yes, Young Master?"
"Ask them to deliver some dishes again to the grocery tomorrow evening, please!"
And he took a second bite, happily sighing.
Fin