Chapter 39
Chapter 39 – Chance encounter
Not the first time they met?
Gao Yu Lan was surprised . “But I don’t remember meeting you before . ”
Yin Ze gave her an irritated glance and then put on a sad expression . “So when I realized you were so heartless not to recognize me, my heart shattered into pieces on the floor . ”
“Unable to visualize . ” Gao Yu Lan poked his face…… . acting again…… . and also his heart shattered . . … . .
“Oh, you poked my face . That proves you love me very much . ” Yin Ze used his face to rub against her hand . “You poked my face to make me look ugly so that other people won’t like me then you can achieve your purpose of solely monopolizing me, is that it?”
“Are you going to tell me when was our first meeting?” Gao Yu Lan poked his face again .
This man loves acting too much!
Yin Ze laughed loudly and caught her hand . “Do you remember, three years ago, ah……it should be more than three years . I think it should be in April, in C-city’s Qing Song Park . ”
She quietened down…… . April……of course, she remembered . It was the time she was slapped and was called a slut . She was framed by college classmates, she was slandered by her bosom girlfriend and she was dumped by her boyfriend whom she had loved for seven years .
Of course, she remembers!
But Qing Song Park…… .
“You were drunk . ” Yin Ze reminded her .
She let out a sound ‘Ah!’……yes, she was very sad at that time . Her friends had alienated her and she did not even have anyone whom she could pour out her sorrow . One day she felt particularly sad and bought some beer . After she had drunk, she was afraid to go home and wanted to look for a place to cry . But did she go to Qing Song Park? She did not seem to be able to remember .
Yin Ze looked askance at her . “Look, you have amnesia after getting drunk, right?”
“No, not right . ” She blushed . She had only gotten drunk twice in her life, so how can he determine she will lose her memory once she is drunk?
“Then tell me, after you had snatched Mantou at that time if I didn’t come to your house the next day, can you remember what happened the night before?”
She could not remember and she even thought she had snatched a man .
“Humph, look at you! In the future, you’re not allowed to drink except when you’re with me . You’re a target that is very easy to abduct and I’ve to keep a tighter watch on you . ”
“You talk a lot of nonsense . Are you going to continue?”
“It was because you were drunk and at Qing Song Park you did this and that…… . and then did that and this . After the incident, you waved your sleeves at me and left me alone in sadness . Then three years later, you appeared again and disrupted my pond of spring water . ”
Gao Yu Lan listened with her mouth agape . She wanted to say…… . that can’t be, right? Could it be she had wanted to act roguish but did not actually do it? That year when she was still young and fresh, she had tried to do something to him? She was so heartbroken that she fled after committing the crime and because debt has to be paid, God arranged for them to meet again three years later . So now she had fallen into the hands of others?
This cannot be blamed on her rich imagination . All these had indeed happened to her and a lot of exaggerated things had also happened to her . Um…… . did she really do something like this and that?…… . . and like that and this?…… . .
A few thoughts instantly flashed across her mind and when she saw Yin Ze’s smile, she immediately remembered that this guy had always spoken with exaggeration and half-truths .
“Liar . ”
“Every word is the truth . ”
“So, what is – – ‘this and that……and that and this’? You must be more specific . ”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes . ”
“It’s very embarrassing . ” Yin Ze covered his face .
“Start talking!” Gao Yu Lan felt she had become more and more imposing .
Yin Ze put down his hands and his head that was resting on her lap snuggled to find a comfortable position . When his eyes met hers, he smiled and held her hand to play with her fingers . Then slowly he started to say . “That time, my restaurant business was not good and the farm business just started to pick up . I had to take care of the restaurant and my sister’s shop……there was not enough money and I was under a lot of pressure . ”
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She nodded…… . she understood .
Yin Ze continued . “That time I was in an awkward position . If I were to close down the restaurant and my sister’s shop, my burden would be very much less . But that time, my sister’s condition had just turned a little better and Niu Niu was not even two years old . It was the time that Niu Niu just started to be clingy and cute . My sister could take care of her child every day and at the same time make herself busy in the shop . My sister had just found her mental and emotional support in life . Don’t be deceived by her current appearance . Those years I was really worried . I had already lost my parents and I couldn’t afford to lose her as well . ”
Yin Ze pinched her hand and held her hand over his heart . Every time he talks about the past, Gao Yu Lan felt particularly soft-hearted . Yin Ze carried on . “So that time when I saw she was happy and full of life, I was very hesitant . I don’t want to close down the shop, whether it’s the restaurant or the book bar and if I really did close them, she would be worried . Once I give up and slacken and admit defeat, I think I will never have the courage to start another shop again . I didn’t want to admit defeat . ”
Gao Yu Lan could only see the current business success of Food Restaurant but did not expect that the restaurant had once faced the reality of failure in the past .
Yin Ze continued . “So I decided to work harder and find out the reason why the business was not profitable . That time I was selling my home cooking with marginal profits . My food was good and there were repeat customers but as you know this location is good, so the rental is also high . I also have some special dishes but the cost of the raw ingredients is high and once the prices of the raw ingredients go up then the selling price will not reap profits . After thinking hard and mulling over for a long time, finally, I still think it was because I didn’t have any special branding . So I went everywhere to look for well-known restaurants to taste their food, learn about their selling points, and taste their recommended dishes . But I still didn’t have any clue . I don’t know how to improve my restaurant and the time began to drag longer and longer and my money in hand was fast running out . ”
Gao Yu Lan was listening attentively . This is Yin Ze’s entrepreneurial history and compared to her dog blood story of being dumped, this is more exciting .
“What happened after that?” She asked .
“Then one day, I went to C-city . On Jiang Bin Road, there was a shop called ‘Ah Fu Braised Pork’ . The shop was not big with only a few varieties of food but the business was booming and their name had spread outside of the city . I went there to learn from the shop on purpose . ”
“So that shop inspired you?”
“You can say that . ”
“What was it that inspired you?”
“Well, in fact, the braised pork that the shop was selling was not any better than mine . ”
Such an arrogant man, ah……Gao Yu Lan pinched his face and Yin Ze smiled . “What I said is the truth . ”
“‘Not better than yours’…… . you call that inspiration?”
“No, it’s not that . That time I was thinking, I could do the same thing but why was my braised pork not as famous as theirs . ”
“That is an old shop . ” As a child, Gao Yu Lan already knew of the shop . It is an old business, an old brand and it is normal for it to be famous .
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“It was the hype . ” Yin Ze said . “Even I, who had never been to C-city would even go there to have a taste, so can you see how successful is a hyped reputation?”
“So you also wanted to rely on hype?”
“I didn’t know what to hype . ” Yin Ze said . “That night, I was walking in C-city as I pondered over it . I walked and walked until I felt tired and when I looked up, I saw the sign ‘Qing Song Park’, so I went in and sat down . ”
This Qing Song Park is just a park that is only a slightly larger garden in the city center with free admission . It is open to the public to take a rest or for casual strolls . Gao Yu Lan knew the location of the park which is quite far from her home .
“I sat for a while and still couldn’t think of any good ideas . I felt irritated and started to smoke . At this time a drunk cat came along……”
“How can a cat be drunk?”
“It is just a metaphor . ”
“Oh, so it means the cat walked and swayed like it was drunk……” So Yin Ze picked up a cat? He really likes to pick up things .
“No, I used a cat to compare with a person!” Yin Ze felt exasperated . Is this girl’s brain all knotted up?
“Oh, oh…… . then you should have just said a ‘drunkard’ came over . ”
“Okay…… . then there was a drunkard who came over and sat down next to me while holding a can of beer and crying . ”
“Yi… . ” Gao Yu Lan suddenly reacted and asked . “Do you mean me?”
Yin Ze ignored her and continued to say . “I wanted to change seats at that time and when I looked around, there were no other seats . I was very tired and didn’t want to move, so I ignored her and continued to smoke . ”
“Are you talking about me?”
“That drunkard’s whole body reeked of alcohol . She was grumbling and crying as she opened cans of beer to drink . After she had finished drinking, she just randomly threw away the cans without any sense of public morality . Then as she cried, her snot and saliva flowed, she was so dirty . ”
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“Hey!” Gao Yu Lan slapped him . The way he said it was too much and she was sure he was referring to her .
Yin Ze laughed . “Why did you hit me? Every word is the truth . ”
“I’m sure you are deliberately defaming me . ”
“Really, I didn’t . That time I should have taken a photo to let you see . ”
She pouted and stretched out her hand to pinch him . Yin Ze laughed and caught her hand . “Do you still want to hear?”
“Continue!”
“Then I really couldn’t stand it anymore and was about to leave when the drunkard pulled my clothes and asked me whether I had any paper towels . I had some on me, so I gave them to her . She wiped her face clean then continued to cry and drink again and eventually her face became dirty again . Then after several rounds, the paper towels had run out and she asked me again . When I told her I didn’t have anymore, she scolded me and said I was stingy . She said I was unhygienic and also scolded me for not carrying paper towels with me . ”
She listened foolishly and shook her head . “That is definitely not me . ”
“You feel it was too much, right?”
She did not answer and even if she dies, she would not admit it . Anyway, she really had no impression at all so, it should not be her .
“Let me tell you, she was even more excessive . After scolding me, she gave me a few punches and then casually took out paper towels from her own bag…… . . ”
Gao Yu Lan’s face was full of black lines . This is even more unlike her, so that person is definitely not her!
“Lan Lan, what are your views on this?”
When Yin Ze looked at Gao Yu Lan’s face, he started to laugh . That time she was just like now……very embarrassed . Whenever he thought back, he would laugh so much . Now looking at her embarrassed expression, he wanted very much to tease her .
She gritted her teeth and thought for a long time……what views can she have?
“You are useless! You didn’t leave even when I hit you?”