Chapter 33

 

At this moment, Ming Xi was standing at a night stall on a street corner in Haigang’s old district, surrounded by old, now-decrepit tube-shaped buildings built in the 1980s. Because the area was packed with tiny cheap eateries, the sewer covers between the buildings had long accumulated a thick layer of greasy grime. If you stepped on one carelessly, you could easily slip.

Yet the warm glow of the old yellow streetlights made everything feel cozy, even intimate.

A bit of dirt meant nothing. To ordinary people, it actually made the place feel safe.

Not far away, the group of friends from Yicheng were already starving, staring anxiously at the boss, hoping the clay-pot casseroles would arrive soon.

It was almost eight o’clock when the boss finally arrived with two steaming hot clay-pots.

“There are still two beef vermicelli bowls coming—need to wait a bit, okay? One with extra chili and vinegar, and the other only vinegar, no chili, right?” the boss confirmed with a grin, speaking in a Yicheng accent.

“Yes! Boss, please hurry up, please!” Cai Ni clasped her hands together, her face pleading.

“Okay, okay…” the portly boss, also from Yicheng, responded repeatedly, then hurried back into the busy stall.

With nowhere else to eat, Han Junjun called his eldest cousin, who recommended this clay pot stall at the alley entrance of the night market, saying the owner was also from Yicheng.

After all the fuss over the French teppanyaki, the four of them realized they didn’t want to try anything new. They just wanted the most familiar, filling, and familiar food.

Like Yicheng-style street-stall clay pot.

Fine dining had its own elegant atmosphere, while night stalls have their own unique, down-to-earth flavor.

After the hilarious incident at Ghana Restaurant, Cai Ni teased Dezi and Han Junjun the whole way here.

Ming Xi had been smiling the whole time, but the moment she mentioned the price of the lobster and beef on the menu, Han Junjun’s face instantly turned red—while Dezi’s face went pale.

“My goodness! We walked into a rip-off restaurant! Luckily we left quickly, otherwise, the bill would’ve been terrifying!”

“You two would have been scared to death,” Cai Ni retorted bluntly

“It’s just we couldn’t afford it,” Dezi, used to Cai Ni’s sharp tongue, smiled and patted his chest as if calming down his terror. Then he pressed his palms together at Ming Xi in mock gratitude and said, “Thank you, Auntie Ming Xi, for saving my wallet. I have nothing to repay such a favor—so I can only offer myself!”

“You call that repayment? That’s clearly revenge!” Cai Ni rolled her eyes and shot back for Ming Xi.

Han Junjun, who was standing to the side with his hands in his pockets, spoke boldly, “We can’t afford it now, but it doesn’t mean we can’t afford it in the future. Since that restaurant can be opened, there must be people who can afford it.”

Compared to Dezi’s shamelessness, Junjun was more ambitious. Encouraged, Cai Ni nodded in agreement.

She might still not be able to afford it in the future, but as long as one of the four of them could afford it, she could eat it too!

Thinking like that, Cai Ni suddenly felt cheerful again.

Ming Xi too, wore a carefree, pauper’s smile.

They were chatting, half spirited and half sour at life, when an unexpected phone call rang.

Ming Xi walked out of the stall, raised her hand to tuck her hair that was messed up by the evening breeze behind her ears, and pressed the answer button.

The spring night breeze still carried a hint of coolness, brushing softly across her cheek. The aroma from the clay pot stall not far away filled the air, making her mouth water. However, Ming Xi’s stomach had been painfully empty a second ago, but after hearing Liang Jiancheng’s three questions, she was suddenly not hungry anymore.

…No, she was practically full from anger.

She naturally fell silent and did not respond for a while.

It turned out that he had seen all the embarrassing situations of her and Cai Ni going in and out of the Ghana restaurant before… And he had the nerve to call himself a friend. If he saw them embarrassed, why didn’t he come down and help?

Was he blind?

Could he not see they had left because they couldn’t afford it?!

Of course, she wouldn’t hold it against Liang Jiancheng for not understanding them, these poor people.

But he clearly witnessed them escape in humiliation, then called just to question her afterward—what kind of behaviour was that?

A tiny rebellious streak flared inside Ming Xi, and she spoke with a smile still etched in her voice. “Mr. Liang, let me tell you something. We were just curious about teppanyaki and wanted to take a look—we never planned to eat. It’s very embarrassing… and you even saw us. How come we didn’t see you?”

Liang Jiancheng chuckled. Either he missed the irritation buried in her tone, or he chose to ignore it. He simply answered her last question: “You didn’t see me because I was upstairs.”

“Oh, then I’m sure you must have eaten well by now,” she replied.

Probably eaten so well he was calling out of sheer boredom, she thought—but didn’t say aloud.

“I haven’t eaten yet… so I called to ask where you went for dinner.”

Liang Jiancheng’s voice was low and gentle, like a soft spring breeze. Every word held a quiet warmth that brushed right into her chest.

After hearing his words, Ming Xi completely understood Liang Jiancheng’s reason for calling—

He was anticipating her invitation, hoping to join them.

Ming Xi held her phone and paused. She turned to glance back at the stall—Cai Ni, Dezi, and Han Junjun were still goofing around noisily.

She averted her gaze and said seriously, “Mr. Liang, we’d love to invite you, but right now we’re eating at a street food stall… would that be okay for you? Can you handle it?”

In other words—this isn’t your kind of setting. Don’t force it.

“Street food stall? Now that you mention it, I’m even more eager to come,” Liang Jiancheng’s voice echoed through the phone.

Since he was coming, Ming Xi hurried a few steps toward the street corner, tilting her head up to read the road sign while still holding the phone. “We’re at the entrance of Ping’an Alley on Fumin Road—there’s a place here called Fumin Clay-Pot…”

“I think I know where that is,” Liang Jiancheng told her.

Now that he was joining, Ming Xi spoke more politely. She said: “You have to order the clay pot in advance. Mr. Liang, would you like noodles or vermicelli? You can add all sorts of toppings…”

“What options are available at the stall?” Liang Jiancheng asked.

Ming Xi hurried back to the stall and briefly described the various clay pot combinations listed there.

The call was still connected, and worried about the phone bill, she naturally sped up her speech.

“…”

“Alright then—no chili and no vinegar, right?” Ming Xi quickly confirmed.

“Add some vinegar, I can handle that,” Liang Jiancheng said, his final instruction before hanging up.

Ming Xi was slightly startled:

Oh, so this guy can eat vinegar after all.

Still holding her phone, she smiled and turned to the stall owner again.
“Boss, please add another bowl of vermicelli clay pot. No need for extra toppings—just add more vinegar.”

To make a good impression, she deliberately used the Yicheng dialect.

The boss, busy as a bee, glanced up, his eyes lit up, and readily agreed.

Ming Xi returned to her seat. Cai Ni’s face was filled with disbelief, and she couldn’t help shaking her head. “Good lord, even if Dezi and Junjun are treating us, you’re not planning to eat two bowls, right?” After a pause, she sighed solemnly and worriedly, “You’re giving them way too much face. At this rate, we’re probably destined to eat street-stall noodles for the rest of our lives.”

Ming Xi calmly sat down and glanced around the stall. All the tables were square except for one round table, which was still empty. She looked over and said: “Someone else will come later, let’s move to a bigger table.”

“Huh?” Cai Ni raised an eyebrow, curiously asking, “Who’s coming?”

Ming Xi pondered for a moment. Cai Ni probably hadn’t seen Liang Jiancheng since the Yicheng Market. She replied, “Professor Liang’s son.”

What?! Cai Ni’s jaw dropped.

Dezi, still paying attention to their conversation while slurping his noodles, suddenly approached Cai Ni with a scoundrelly look, narrowing his eyes and asking, “You know him too?”

Cai Ni pushed Dezi away with disdain and said proudly, “Of course! Anyone Ming Xi knows, I know too!”

She just didn’t know what kind of relationship between Ming Xi and that handsome guy…

Cai Ni spoke with conviction, but her smile was a little stiff. She stole a glance at Ming Xi, then a subtle glance at Han Junjun. If she was honest, Ming Xi would never look at someone like Han Junjun romantically—but all four of them belonged to the same world.

Cai Ni had only met Professor Liang’s son once, and her only impression was that he was from a completely different world. When Ming Xi said he was coming over for street-stall clay pot, it felt like two completely different worlds was about to collide.

Was he really coming…

Really going?

Liang Jiancheng had asked himself the same question as he drove over. He was always clear-headed and had a clear understanding of himself; he could hardly deceive himself about whether his actions were driven by boredom or impulse.

Calling Ming Xi tonight wasn’t boredom for him; it was impulse.

…

Compared to Ming Xi and Cai Ni walking all the way here, Liang Jiancheng drove in less than ten minutes.

In those days when there were still more people than cars, it was not difficult to find a parking space on the roadside even at Haigang.

When Liang Jiancheng parked the car and got out wearing a leather jacket, Ming Xi and Cai Ni naturally tilted their heads to look over.

Apparently, every man this year was wearing leather jackets…

Not even Liang Jiancheng was spared.

It was not uncommon for men to wear the same clothes, but with leather jackets, the quality of the leather was obvious at a glance. A good jacket had a subtle, soft sheen—the one on Liang Jiancheng tonight was clearly high-grade cowhide, definitely designer.

While others were stiff, dyed unevenly, and rubbed off color when touched….

Cai Ni looked away immediately, worried the comparison would crush Dezi’s self-esteem. At moments like this, she still had Dezi in her heart—they had grown up together, after all.

“Sorry to disturb,” Liang Jiancheng walked over casually and sat down naturally. Facing the table full of Yicheng faces, he introduced himself with refreshing directness: “My name is Liang Jiancheng, and I’m Ming Xi’s friend.”

He didn’t even need Ming Xi to speak—he provided his own introduction.

Ming Xi was a step too slow.

If she was the one that introduced him, she would have simply emphasized that he was Professor Liang’s son, or mentioned some other aspect of his identity…

But tonight, coming here, there was only one identity that fit: a friend.

“Hello, do you remember me? Liang… Boss,” Cai Ni smiled brightly, adding, “We meet again.”

Liang Jiancheng nodded and called out her name: “Hello, Cai Ni.”

Cai Ni was surprised and a little apprehensive…

No wonder he had such presence—turns out he was a boss.

Dezi observed silently, not in a hurry to speak.

Han Junjun couldn’t sit still any longer. A sense of crisis inexplicably welled up inside him. Compared to the social-butterfly Dezi, he actually the first to nodded at Liang Jiancheng and said the shortest sentence imaginable: “My surname is Han.”

Dezi, ever the sarcastic one, put down his chopsticks and immediately jumped in: “Classmate Han, why did you only give your surname?”

Because… Han Junjun felt a surge of shame and glanced at Dezi helplessly, said: “…My name is Han Jun. Hello, Boss Liang.” He deliberately left off the final syllable.

But Dezi refused to cut him some slack and loudly filled in the missing part: “He’s too shy to say it, so I’ll say it. His name is Han Junjun. ABB-style name—easy to remember!”

He then flashed Han Junjun a grin.

Han Junjun: …

Han Junjun and Dezi were now practically business partners. At this moment, Han Junjun wished he could immediately break up the partnership!

Who could stand such a “traitorous” partner! Couldn’t he see this polished big shot was clearly here for Ming Xi? Instead of helping him save face, he was stepping on him!

Sure enough—

Liang Jiancheng smiled faintly and addressed him the same way: “Hello, Boss Junjun.”

Han Junjun: …

He felt insulted, but he had no proof.

Compared to Han Junjun, Dezi was more socially adept. Having warmed up the atmosphere and established rapport, he began to take the initiative. Like a shrewd veteran, he extended his hand to Liang Jiancheng with a beaming smile and said, “Hello, hello! I’m Ming Xi and Cai Ni’s childhood friend. My name is Yang Kangde—Kang as in ‘health,’ and De as in ‘virtue.’ Your name is Liang Jiancheng? Which ‘jian’ and which ‘cheng’ is that?”

Liang Jiancheng smiled calmly and explained his name in detail: “Jian as in ‘to see,’ and Cheng is the character with the gold radical plus the character for success.”

“Cheng… what kind of character is that? Does such character even exists?” Dezi asked, full of doubt, without any shame about his lack of education.

Coming out into society, especially among accomplished people, it was not shameful to be a little uneducated; what shameful was pretending to be educated among educated people. Based on Dezi’s judgment of Liang Jiancheng earlier—he had heard that this person had money—he was certain that he must be a highly educated intellectual.

Compared to Dezi inquisitiveness, Cai Ni was more straightforward: “Illiterate! If Boss Liang says it exists, then it exists!”

“You think I’m the Kangxi Dictionary and know every single character? Right, Boss Liang?” Dezi laughed, turning to Liang Jiancheng.

Liang Jiancheng said slowly, “The character ‘Cheng’ (铖) isn’t very common. It doesn’t appear much in everyday texts or speech. Most people use it when naming.”

Dezi nodded, “So that’s it!”

Cai Ni continued: “So what does your name mean?”

Liang Jiancheng was not arrogant; he explained seriously: “‘Cheng’ refers to a kind of metal weapon. Using this character as a name mostly represents firmness, integrity, uprightness, and strength.” After a pause, he added, “My father gave me this name.”

Oh, Professor Liang named him, no wonder.

Cai Ni thought about her own name… it felt ordinary in comparison

So she turned to Ming Xi and asked: “Ming Xi, what does your name mean?”

Ming Xi shook her head. Her name, “Ming Xi,” was extremely ordinary, not given by anyone important, and had no special meaning. She had heard Ming Decheng mention before that If she had been a son, he would be named Ming Xi, the Xi (希) meaning “hope,” because a son would carry expectations. But she was just an unexpected daughter, so her father casually picked a name for her. (tn: the Xi (汐) in her name means “evening tides”)

Still, Ming Xi liked her own name. She believed that a person’s meaning wasn’t given by the person who named them, but rather something they had to stive for. She hoped she could live like a rushing tide, with her own vitality and rhythm, no matter how life rose or fell.

As soon as names were mentioned, Han Junjun couldn’t stay silent. Since he had nothing to add to the topic, he decided to seize the chance. He got up, went to the stall owner, and asked for a pot of hot water—planning to scald the unused bowls and utensils for Ming Xi.

Han Junjun’s sudden action confused Dezi, who suddenly looked as if he had become someone with a love for cleanliness.

Because his own name had no deep meaning either, Han Junjun could only act diligent to save face. Cai Ni turned her head away in second-hand embarrassment, nearly bursting into laughter.

Han Junjun sat back down silently and continued carefully scalding the bowl and chopsticks in front of Ming Xi.

Ming Xi felt helpless:

…Can you please not treat me differently?

Seeing this, Cai Ni quickly passed her own bowl and chopsticks over, grinning. “Thank you, Junjun! Do mine too.”

“Right, Junjun, Boss Liang is also a man of taste—better scald his as well,” Dezi added wickedly.

At the same time, he put on an ambiguous smile and wanted to catch Cai Ni’s eyes, but Cai Ni had already turned aside and chatted with Ming Xi without paying attention.

Han Junjun really didn’t want to serve this person who seemed to be his rival, but Dezi’s words put him on the spot, so he could only scalded Liang Jiancheng’s bowl and chopsticks.

He remained silent and moved quickly.

Sorry to put you on the spot…

Liang Jiancheng chucked inside.

In fact, he was not so particular. In the past, he had to sleep in the open air during his wilderness expeditions. For him, as long as the food was cooked, he could eat it.

Liang Jiancheng was a few years older than them and currently owned a foreign trade company. His job was communicating with people, and he understood these people perfectly. A brief chat was all it took to grasp the relationship between them.

He also realized that Han Junjun wasn’t very welcoming.

Liang Jiancheng was good at entertaining people but wouldn’t rush to befriend them.

Because not everyone could accept the closeness and friendliness shown by someone in a superior position. This was also Ming Xi’s genuine feeling.

Even though Liang Jiancheng behaved very frankly and gently in front of this Yicheng’s group of friends, once he sat at this table, Ming Xi keenly sensed a truth—

When Liang Jiancheng spoke with Dezi and Junjun, the air was filled with awkward stiffness.

And the source of that discomfort wasn’t Liang Jiancheng, but Dezi and Han Junjun.

The barrier between Liang Jiancheng and them wasn’t simply due to age difference, but also the gap created by their vastly different life circumstances.

Liang Jiancheng didn’t feel much of it himself—but for Dezi and Han Junjun, the difference was very real.

At this moment, all it took to break the awkward situation between Liang Jiancheng and Dezi was one sentence:

Dezi, your cousin who’s hooking up with a rich woman is Liang Jiancheng’s stepfather.

However, Ming Xi, the only one who knew about this, would never say it.

Even if someone pried her mouth open, she wouldn’t utter a single word on this matter.

However—secrets never stay buried, especially juicy ones.

The thing Ming Xi planned to swallow forever slipped out of Cai Ni’s mouth in the most casual yet shocking way—

“Dezi, guess what? Yesterday I saw your Brother Minwen!”

“Huh?” Dezi froze for a moment. “How did you run into him?”

Cai Ni hesitated briefly, then decided to be honest. “He helped me find a job.” She paused. “I didn’t expect he’d be so nice and so capable.”

Cai Ni answered too quickly, and didn’t notice the uncomfortable look on Ming Xi’s face beside her. Yesterday at the café, Yang Minwen had already said he would contact Dezi. Since that was the case, there was nothing wrong talking about it.

That was what Cai Ni thought.

But as soon as those words left her mouth, the other four all looked up.

She was thinking of changing the topic quickly and skipping over Yang Minwen, but unexpectedly Han Junjun’s memory was so good and immediately caught the key point: “Wait—isn’t that the guy who hooked up with a rich woman?”

Ming Xi: …

Great. Once those words were spoken, nothing she said could save it now.

Ming Xi just wanted to lower her head. Instinctively, she glanced at Liang Jiancheng beside her—only to see he had slowly put down his chopsticks.

Cai Ni frowned, feeling Han Junjun’s comment was disrespectful toward someone who had helped her. “Yes, it’s him, but don’t talk nonsense, okay? What if they really love each other?”

True love was the best excuse for any ill-fitting or socially questionable union. Yet the more one tried to cover it up, the more obvious it became that there was something to hide.

“Holy crap, what a coincidence!” Dezi exclaimed, almost jumping up.

Not only Dezi—even the people at the neighboring table began leaning over to eavesdrop. After all, the topic of “hooking up with a rich woman” was too irresistible a topic!

Of course, this also included the son of the rich woman at this table.

Liang Jiancheng.

From the moment he heard Yang Minwen’s name, he was surprised.

Even more surprising was that Yang Minwen’s young relative happened to be sitting right across from him.

But in a way, it made sense. Ming Xi’s job had originally been arranged by his mother through Yang Minwen: partly because Yang Minwen was good at handling things for her, and partly because he was from Yicheng—the same hometown as Ming Xi.

And the same hometown as all of them.

Previous     TOC     Next