After the meal, Su Ying looked at the spotless plates on the table and felt a little embarrassed.
Most of the dishes her senior brother had ordered had ended up in her stomach, and even so, she had only just managed to fill herself up.
“I’m sorry, Senior Brother…” Su Ying scratched her head sheepishly. “I’ve put you out today.”
“It’s only right to treat my junior sister to a meal.” Su Jiayu’s lips remained curved in a smile, his tone so natural it was as though the two had truly grown up together as senior and junior siblings.
“Have you finished eating, junior sister?”
Su Ying was still lost in thought; upon hearing this, she hurriedly nodded. “I’m done, I’m done.”
“Then I’ll go and settle the bill.”
Su Jiayu stood up as he spoke. Watching the figure rise before her as if plucked from the ground, a phrase suddenly flashed through Su Ying’s mind—
A towering building rises from the ground.
Su Ying asked, somewhat uncertainly, “Senior Brother… how tall are you?”
Su Jiayu raised an eyebrow. “183 centimetres.”
Su Ying looked at him sceptically. “Is it really only 183 centimetres…?”
Su Jiayu seemed quite pleased with her reaction and said with a smile, “I told you ages ago that I’m 183 centimetres tall and have eight-pack abs, but you just wouldn’t believe me.”
Su Ying was screaming inside: When on earth did you say that! How was I ever supposed to believe you!
Watching Su Jiayu stride towards the reception desk on his long legs, Su Ying hurriedly stood up to follow him.
Walking behind him, she quietly stood on tiptoe to gauge the difference in their heights.
At 163 cm, she couldn’t even reach his shoulders.
So 183cm really is quite tall? It’s just that so many men now lie about their height, leading her to have a misconception about those over 180cm?
Su Jiayue was settling the bill. Su Ying glanced at the receipt and gasped inwardly: Good heavens, this single meal cost over 800 yuan! That was more than her weekly wage used to be!
She glanced at the packed dining hall and couldn’t help but grit her teeth: ‘There are so many rich people in Chun City, why can’t there be just one more—me!’
Just as the two were about to leave, a waiter came running after them, holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Excuse me, did you leave this bouquet behind?”
It was a beautifully wrapped bouquet of blue roses, with delicate petals—clearly not the sort you’d find on Meituan for 49 yuan.
Su Jiayu gave it a casual glance: “No, thank you. Please just dispose of it. Thank you.”
Su Ying stared at the bouquet, a pang of unease suddenly welling up inside her. This was meant to be for her blind date, wasn’t it…
What others didn’t want was precisely what she could never have, no matter how much she wanted it.
A single bouquet cost at least 200 yuan; add in the cost of the meal and it came to over 1,000. So it was true what they said online—a blind date really does cost 1,000 yuan.
It was simply that she was too poor to ever have any contact with that sort of world.
“Junior sister?,” Su Jiayu called softly.
Su Ying snapped back to reality: “Eh?”
Su Jiayu raised his hand to check his watch and said with a smile, “It’s only half past eight. Do you have any plans for later, junior sister?”
“No…” No sooner had Su Ying said this than alarm bells went off in her head!
Surely her senior brother wasn’t… planning to do something unsuitable for minors? After all, with a meal costing so much, it would be only natural for him to expect some return on his investment.
But then again, Senior Brother is so handsome; even if something did happen, she wouldn’t exactly be at a loss, would she?
Still, to do this on their very first meeting—wasn’t that a bit too soon?
In the space of mere seconds, a whole drama had played out in Su Ying’s mind, and finally, the words slipped out: “I’m willing!”
“?”
Seeing the glaring question mark on Su Jiayu’s face, the big yellow-haired girl instantly blushed all the way to her neck, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
The two walked one behind the other along the park path. The dim streetlights cast Su Jiayu’s shadow long behind him; with his hands in his pockets, he walked at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow.
Su Ying followed behind him, quietly stretching out her hand so that her shadow could link arms with his.
She felt a secret thrill of joy.
Su Ying followed Su Jiayue to the car park. Spotting the letters on the rear of the black car, she murmured, “P, A, S, S…”
“A Volkswagen Passat,” Su Jiayu finished for her.
“Oh.” Su Ying hurriedly opened the door and got in.
Once seated, she reached for the seatbelt but found she couldn’t pull it out. Panic set in; she stole a glance at Su Jiayu, who was fastening his own, then gave it another tug—still to no avail.
Goodness me! Had she broken the seatbelt? She’d be right up there with the girl who blocked the toilet on her first visit to her boyfriend’s house!
Just as she was on the verge of tears, Su Jiayu, who was already preparing to start the car, looked over at her.
“Senior…” Su Ying was on the verge of tears. “I’m so sorry, this seatbelt… I think I’ve broken it…”
Su Jiayu’s lips curved into a smile. He leaned forward, his towering figure instantly casting a shadow over Su Ying, his warm breath brushing against her cheek.
With one hand on the seatbelt buckle and the other gently tugging the strap upwards, Su Jiayu said, “The seatbelts in this car sometimes get stuck. Just pull it up a little like this.”
Su Ying froze in her seat, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender and pressing them tightly against the back of the seat. She dared not move a muscle, holding her breath as well.
Su Jiayue casually fastened the seatbelt for her before returning to the driver’s seat.
The time seemed to drag on as if a century had passed. Su Ying slowly relaxed and quietly exhaled.
When the car pulled into the Central Mall’s underground car park, Su Ying felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
It seemed her senior brother was indeed a decent fellow.
The two of them arrived on the ground floor of the mall, and Su Ying followed Su Jiayue into a bubble tea shop.
Su Jiayue turned his head and asked her, “What would you like to drink, junior sister?”
“The roasted brown sugar bubble milk tea, I suppose…” It didn’t contain tea, so she wouldn’t lose sleep if she drank it in the evening.
Wait a minute. The alarm bells went off in Su Ying’s head: Here it comes, the classic trope! Judging whether she’s on her period by whether she orders a hot or cold drink!
“Two roasted brown sugar bubble milk teas, hot.”
No! Su Ying whipped her head round, looking at Su Jiayu in confusion. This wasn’t how the script went.
Su Jiayu caught Su Ying’s gaze and frowned slightly. “It’s freezing out here—are you really going to have an iced drink?”
Su Ying slowly turned her head back.
Right, she’d just been thinking too dirty.
Su Ying followed behind Su Jiayu, holding her steaming milk tea. He seemed to be busy, typing away furiously on his mobile.
Noticing Su Ying’s gaze, Su Jiayu put his phone away and asked with a smile, “Fancy playing a game for a bit?”
Su Ying shook her head. “I haven’t downloaded Blade of Jianghu on my phone…”
In fact, she’d downloaded it as soon as she got her new phone, but the moment she opened the game, the phone would get unbearably hot. After all, it was her first ever iPhone, so Su Ying was using it very carefully and uninstalled the game straight away.
“Never mind,” said Su Jiayue. “Let’s play some console games.”
There were shared gaming consoles on the ground floor of the shopping centre, but Su Ying had never played them before. Apart from the PC game Sword of Jianghu, she’d only ever played Happy Match and Farming Simulator.
“I don’t know how to play…” Su Ying wasn’t exactly a whizz with games to begin with, and console games sounded like they required even more skill.
“It’s fine,” said Su Jiayu, having already picked out a spot and sat down. “Just have a bit of a go.”
Su Jiayu was scanning the QR code when Su Ying leaned in: “How much is it… 38 yuan for half an hour? That’s daylight robbery!”
Su Jiayu had already paid and looked up at her with a smile: “It’s alright, it’s not like we play every day.”
The two of them sat down. Su Ying knew absolutely nothing about these things, so Su Jiayu randomly picked a little game called It Takes Two; the graphics were actually quite cute.
Su Ying followed Su Jiayu’s lead, completely clueless throughout, but to her surprise, she found it quite fun and even felt a little reluctant to stop.
However, she also noticed that whilst playing, Su Jiayu kept glancing at his watch from time to time, as if he were very conscious of the time.
Su Ying’s heart began to race: was she so hopeless at the game that her senior felt embarrassed, which was why he kept checking the time?
The more she tried to prove herself, the less her hands would obey her, and she kept making mistakes.
“It’s all right,” Su Jiayu reassured her softly. “For a first time, you’re doing very well.”
Su Ying stared at Su Jiayu’s hands gripping the controller—pale and slender, with well-defined knuckles; the controller looked like a miniature toy in his hands.
Half an hour passed quickly. Seeing Su Ying still staring at the screen as if she hadn’t had enough, Su Jiayu smiled and said, “If you like it, Junior Sister, you can buy a copy on Steam. Then we can play online together in future.”
Su Ying gave a soft “Mm” and hung her head dejectedly.
Just then, Su Jiayu’s phone rang. He answered it and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Right, I’m by Gate 3. I’ll be right over…”
Su Jiayu hung up and said to Su Ying, “I’m stepping out for a moment. I’ll be back in a sec.
Su Ying shifted to let him pass, craning her neck to watch his retreating figure. She saw him take a bouquet of flowers from a delivery courier.
Her heart suddenly began to pound.
Su Jiayu held the bouquet, walking step by step back towards her.
“For you.” He held the flowers out to her—a small, delicate bouquet of yellow roses. “Thank you for having dinner with me, junior. It meant I wasn’t left all alone after my blind date left.”
Su Ying opened her mouth, momentarily at a loss for words; she took the flowers somewhat blankly.
“It’s half past nine now. Shall I take you home?” Su Jiayu asked.
“…Mm.”
When Su Jiayu said he’d take her home, he truly did just that—he didn’t even ask to come in for a while.
Back home, Su Ying unwrapped the rose and placed it in a clean milk tea cup. She leaned her head on the table, gazing at the delicate, vibrant bloom in the lamplight.
She picked up her phone to look it up: the language of yellow roses is ‘good luck and blessings’, expressing wishes for a pure friendship.
Had it not been for the last-minute invitation, and had it not been for the yellow roses symbolising friendship, today would have been almost a perfect date for Su Ying.
But life rarely goes as planned; to have had an evening like this was already more than enough.
Just before going to sleep, Su Ying glanced at the bouquet of roses once more and suddenly felt like counting how many there were.
“1, 2, 3… 11, 11 blooms… It really can’t compare to that bouquet of blue roses at the restaurant…”
She slipped under the duvet, and that tiny pang of disappointment was soon washed away by the warm memories of the day.
Little did she know that if she’d scrolled just a little further down the search page, she would have seen the yellow rose’s other meaning: love that waits.
I’m willing to wait for you until you discover my true feelings.
Author’s Note: A little interlude:
Su Ying reached out from under the duvet and quickly unplugged her phone, which was charging on the bedside table, intending to read two of her treasured manga. However, since changing her phone, she’d lost the URLs for the manga.
Frantic with worry, Su Ying posted frantic messages across every social media platform: ‘Does anyone have the link for the iOS version? Does anyone have the link for the iOS version? Does anyone have the link for the iOS version?’
Finally, grinding her teeth in frustration—after all, a living person can’t exactly die from holding their bladder—she posted a reward: ‘50 yuan for the iOS link to the manga!!!’
Where there’s a will, there’s a way—almost instantly, someone added her on WeChat.
Su Ying didn’t waste any time and transferred the 50 yuan straight away.
Su Ying: Where’s the link?
After a long silence, with no reply, Su Ying tapped the question mark.
A red exclamation mark popped up:
“The other party has enabled friend verification; you are not yet their friend.”