It is inevitably awkward to be exposed for pretending not to know each other, especially for the two who have already quietly crossed that line.
Due to some bizarre, unspoken mutual understanding, after Xu Ling left, the two remaining people did not speak for a full five minutes. They held their breath, engaged in a bit of a standoff.
Chen Jinshan was the first to make a move. Looking at the round back of her head, he dug into his jacket pocket and threw something onto the table.
He poked her with his elbow and said, “Eat it.”
Zhou Xiaqing looked up, took the two individually wrapped little bags in her hand, read the text on them, and asked, “Where did you get motion sickness pills?”
He had asked a Chinese person for them on the way over, relying on his thick skin; it was lucky that someone really had motion sickness pills with them.
“Are you going to eat them or not?” he asked instead of answering.
“No,” she replied decisively. “Don’t get involved in my business.”
She had disliked taking medicine since she was a child. Added to the fact that she had been taking medication for anxiety and insomnia recently, which was too harsh on her system, she now had a physiological aversion to all types of medication.
Chen Jinshan didn’t say much else. After a moment of silence, he spoke: “Then hold out your hand.”
Zhou Xiaqing remained in her posture of leaning against the chair with her eyes closed, turning a deaf ear to his words.
“Hand,” he emphasized again.
She took her headphones out of her bag and put them on, her entire aura broadcasting the words, “What are you going to do about it?”
“Zhou Xiaqing, you’re really something.”
Chen Jinshan was angered into a laugh by her indifferent attitude and stood up abruptly, making as if to leave.
Seeing that she was looking at her phone without looking aside, completely unmoved, he resigned himself and sat back down.
He sighed secretly, grabbed her hand with his large palm, and pulled it toward his chest.
“Let go.” Zhou Xiaqing wanted to pull her hand back, but the difference in strength between men and women was genuinely overwhelming; no matter how hard she tried, her hand remained firmly held by him.
Referencing the acupoint diagram on his phone, Chen Jinshan found the location of the Neiguan point. He locked her wrist with his left hand to prevent her from breaking free, and then began to press gently with the thumb of his right hand.
“Let go,” Zhou Xiaqing struggled again. “Chen Jinshan, are you listening?”
Chen Jinshan glanced at her from the side. Under her gaze, he stopped the circular massaging motion, took a pair of headphones out of his bag with one hand, turned them on, and then smiled very innocently as he stuffed the headphones into his ears.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Zhou Xiaqing behaved herself.
After pressing the Neiguan point, he pressed the Hegu point. In just a few minutes, Zhou Xiaqing felt that her nausea had clearly eased significantly, and her head didn’t feel as dizzy anymore.
Tickets are expensive and time is precious. Once her body felt less burdened, Zhou Xiaqing first sent a message to her mom, and then she and Chen Jinshan hurried to catch up with Xu Ling. Gao Zhiyang joined them later.
She didn’t dare to ride any more thrilling attractions. When she saw Xu Ling and Gao Zhiyang hanging upside down high in the air, she smiled and waved vigorously at them, while Chen Jinshan stood by, busy recording a video for them.
It really was a rare experience.
They ate pizza in the park for lunch and decided to go to a restaurant near their hotel for dinner.
Xu Ling picked a Wagyu yakiniku restaurant, which was only a ten-minute walk from the hotel.
After playing all day, Zhou Xiaqing was so tired that she was yawning. Her body’s energy was running low, and she was walking sluggishly.
Gao Zhiyang in front was talking to Xu Ling about something, his movements exaggerated and his energy high, which truly made her envious.
She suddenly thought of Cinderella’s encounter; after twelve o’clock, Cinderella would lose her gorgeous fairy dress. She wouldn’t turn back into that half-dead state before twelve o’clock, would she?
Seeing that the slight sense of death on her seemed to be making a comeback, Chen Jinshan, who had been silent, spoke up: “Are you tired or hungry?”
His tone was gentle in a way he hadn’t even noticed himself.
“Both tired and hungry.” Gao Zhiyang turned his head rapidly. “You care about me so much? Are you going to treat us to a meal?”
Was he asking you?
Xu Ling looked at him as if he were a fool.
Chen Jinshan nodded: “Sure, eat whatever you want, I’m paying.”
Gao Zhiyang: “You’re generous, Boss Chen. Then I won’t be polite later.”
He really wasn’t polite. Zhou Xiaqing didn’t have much of an appetite and finished after just a few bites; Xu Ling didn’t eat much either, and Chen Jinshan ate the portion size of a normal guy. Gao Zhiyang ate all the remaining meat.
The Wagyu meal cost nearly 7,000 RMB.
After finishing the bill and walking out, Zhou Xiaqing couldn’t help herself and asked Chen Jinshan in a low voice: “Does your wallet ache?”
Chen Jinshan feigned stretching his muscles and said: “My upper body muscles don’t ache much, but my leg muscles ache a bit from walking.”
“Keep pretending,” Zhou Xiaqing called his bluff. “I saw you gasp when you got the bill.”
“It’s alright, I was acting for Gao Zhiyang to see.” Chen Jinshan explained with a straight face: “You know, the more he feels like I’m struggling, the more grateful he’ll be, and the more he’ll call me ‘Foster Father’.”
“That’s a unique taste.” Zhou Xiaqing smiled from the bottom of her heart.
Chen Jinshan chuckled along with her, but as the curve of his mouth gradually disappeared, the look in his eyes slowly changed.
He turned to look at her; his clear, bright eyes seemed to be covered by a thin layer of mist, looking gray and murky, making it impossible to see through the emotions at the bottom of his eyes.
He looked serious and asked in a sincere tone: “Zhou Xiaqing, will you look down on me?”
“Look down on you? Not to that extent.” Zhou Xiaqing said. “Xu Ling and I purely thought that since this meal was so expensive, we were thinking of asking you if you wanted us to split our share with you; there isn’t…”
“That’s not it.” Chen Jinshan interrupted her.
“Then what is it?” Zhou Xiaqing looked puzzled.
Chen Jinshan felt as if there was something stuck in his throat.
He actually had a lot he wanted to say.
He wanted to ask why they slept together early this morning, yet acted like strangers during the day, pretending to be unacquainted and maintaining their previous tepid, indifferent relationship.
As a man, he hadn’t taken the initiative to talk to her about the nature of the situation, but instead, like her, had tacitly accepted this encounter as a one-night stand. He wondered if she thought he was irresponsible and lacked courage.
But the words turned a circle on the tip of his tongue and were swallowed back down.
Seeing them walking slowly, Gao Zhiyang and Xu Ling stopped specifically to wait for them. Xu Ling even pointed to a convenience store not far away and said to Zhou Xiaqing: “Do you still want to drink a banana milkshake?”
“Yes.” Zhou Xiaqing replied, then turned to look at Chen Jinshan, who was hesitating to speak. “What’s actually wrong?”
“Nothing.” Chen Jinshan changed to a relaxed demeanor. “I was just in a good mood and teasing you. I’m in an even better mood now.”
It didn’t seem like a good time now.
“You really are as boring as always.”
After Zhou Xiaqing said that, she walked over quickly.