7 Taking Advantage
Page (1/3)
Zhang Xingxu took his seat and answered casually, “I guessed.”
Wen Dong looked suspicious. “Really?”
Meeting her probing gaze, Zhang Xingxu fell silent for two seconds before explaining, “You changed shoes three times before leaving today, and spent eight minutes tying your hair—six of them debating the color of your hair tie. A restaurant you could choose without hesitation must be somewhere you know very well.”
Judging by the way she spoke to the server and how familiar she was with the surrounding area, she had to be at least a regular here.
Wen Dong was surprised that he had said so much in one go. Her eyebrows rose expressively as she picked up a piece of chicken and popped it into her mouth. “You’re pretty good at guessing.”
The spicy chicken, wrapped in the fragrance of dried chilies, danced across her taste buds. The flavor was exquisite. It was so delicious that her eyes narrowed, and she did not deny what he had said. “Though I really do have trouble making decisions.”
Zhang Xingxu pulled out his chopsticks just as she asked, “Oh, right. I added two more dishes earlier. Do you want to order anything else?”
“No need. I don’t eat much.”
Wen Dong looked at him. “What? You don’t have much of an appetite?”
“No.”
Seeing that he did not want to elaborate, Wen Dong did not press him. She merely lifted her chin. “What took you so long to buy water?”
The slim glass bottle bore the red English lettering of Evina. Its design was simple yet indescribably luxurious, almost like a wine bottle.
It looked vaguely familiar.
“They didn’t have it at the convenience store here, so I went to the supermarket.” Zhang Xingxu handed one of the bottles to her.
Wen Dong took it and glanced at the silver lettering, all in capital letters.
“Who would’ve thought you drank fancy mineral water?” she remarked.
“I’m used to it.”
What a show-off.
Still, since he was paying, he could show off all he wanted.
Wen Dong weighed the bottle in her hand and turned it around. “This would make a lovely vase if I took it home.”
Zhang Xingxu did not respond. He rinsed the bowls and chopsticks with hot tea, poured the tea into the cup, and only then began eating.
Wen Dong had no resistance to good food. She ate with gusto and enjoyed everything she tried. Every so often, she would bite into a Sichuan peppercorn, scrunching her nose and eyebrows together as she fanned her mouth with one hand.
Mealtimes were probably when she spoke the least.
As she put it, “Say two fewer words and you can eat two more bites.”
In contrast, Zhang Xingxu ate with the delicacy of someone embroidering. Perhaps the food was too spicy for him; after finishing the spicy chicken, he did not touch his chopsticks for quite some time.
Wen Dong noticed and took advantage of the pause to ask, “The food doesn’t suit your taste?”
Zhang Xingxu set down his mineral water. “It’s not that.”
His bottle was already empty. Wen Dong handed him hers and exposed him without mercy. “I can see the sweat the spice has brought out on the tip of your nose.”
Then she moved the braised pork knuckle in front of him. “Eat this. It isn’t spicy.”
There was chili oil at the corner of her mouth, probably from when she had gnawed on the rabbit head earlier without noticing.
Strangely enough, despite being so absorbed in her food, she had still noticed that something was wrong with him.
Zhang Xingxu did not refuse. As he twisted open the bottle cap, he said, “I’ll buy you another one later.”
Wen Dong shoveled in a mouthful of rice and nodded as she chewed.
She had a good appetite, and she ate quickly.
By the time she had finished and set down her chopsticks, Zhang Xingxu was ladling soup.
Wen Dong folded several tissues together, stood up, and wiped her mouth. “I’m going to pay. Wait here.”
She walked to the front counter. The young server who had greeted them earlier was leaning against the register, chatting with someone else.
When he saw her approach, he waved and pulled a QR code from his apron pocket. “Come on, Wen Dong. Scan this.”
“What is it?” she asked, even as her phone gave a soft beep and automatically opened the relevant app.
“There’s a special International Women’s Day group-buy coupon. Spend a hundred and get twenty off. Claim it before you pay.”
The moment she scanned the code and paid, Wen Dong suddenly remembered that she still had not transferred yesterday’s taxi fare to Li Manyue.
How much had the fare been?
Four hundred?
She had a terrible memory. Usually, whenever she remembered something, she did it immediately, lest she forget again.
She had just transferred the money to Li Manyue when the other woman accepted it instantly and replied:
“Trying to buy me off with this little money?”
Wen Dong explained that it was the taxi fare.
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
She put away her phone and went into the restroom to touch up her lipstick. The more she thought about it, the less right it seemed.
The taxi fare had been 392 yuan, and Zhang Xingxu had transferred eight yuan extra.
But where had the money for the grilled sausage she had sold to the driver gone?
That was a whole twenty-yuan bill!
Enough for a large bowl of beef noodles and a fried egg.
Her hand slipped, and the lipstick went beyond the corner of her mouth. She carelessly smoothed it out with her fingertip, planning to have a serious talk with Zhang Xingxu about how, after all that confusion, he had somehow let the driver come out ahead.
As soon as she stepped outside, she saw Zhang Xingxu pouring mint candies into his palm and eating them the same way he had yesterday.
He was seriously strange.
She approached and, without a word, squeezed past him and forced him farther inside.
Zhang Xingxu instinctively moved aside. Then he clenched his hand, snapping the little metal tin shut with a loud click. Wen Dong glanced over. He immediately slipped it into his pocket, treating it as though it were something precious.
His voice was cold and stiff. “Do you need something?”
Facing him, Wen Dong braced one hand on the table and gripped the back of his chair with the other, blocking him in.
Now that she had finally finished calculating the figures in her head, she narrowed her eyes. “Did you transfer the money for my grilled sausage to the driver yesterday?”
Zhang Xingxu paused. “What?”
Wen Dong held her breath. “I knew you’d forgotten!”
She counted on her fingers as she explained. “Look. The fare was 392, the seat fee was 50, and the driver owed me 20. He should have collected 422. But you transferred 400 to me and 50 to him, while my friend paid the actual 392 through the platform. Not a single cent of my sausage money ended up in my pocket! He ate the whole thing!”
She spoke quickly, both hands moving back and forth as if she were performing a spell.
Zhang Xingxu understood at once and reached for his phone. “Then I’ll transfer you twenty.”
Wen Dong pressed down on his hand. “How are you still missing the point? Is this something you’re supposed to pay for?”
Zhang Xingxu fell silent.
The electronic watch beeped twice, tearing through the quiet between them.
Wen Dong glanced at it. “Is that your alarm? It goes off at this time every day.”
It had done the same thing yesterday in the cable car.
Zhang Xingxu turned it off and brought the conversation back to the matter at hand. “How do you want to resolve it?”
Wen Dong folded her arms, her expression slightly unnatural. Her gaze drifted over the table before shifting away.
“Well…” she began hesitantly. Her eyes swept back again, and she pointed with her chin at the plastic container. “If you’re not going to eat that rabbit head—”
“You eat it,” Zhang Xingxu interrupted.
Wen Dong’s face instantly bloomed into a smile. She reached out with both hands and pulled the container toward herself. “Thank you, best roommate in China. You really understand me.”
After she left, Zhang Xingxu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up the unfinished bottle of water and stood.
Wen Dong followed him out.
When they reached the pedestrian plaza, Zhang Xingxu suddenly turned around. Wen Dong nearly ran into him.
He produced a box of medicine from somewhere and handed it to her. Wen Dong looked down. It was red flower oil.
She was surprised. “When did you buy this?”
Zhang Xingxu looked away. “Forget it if you don’t want it.”
He started to take it back, but Wen Dong quickly snatched it from his hand. “What are you doing? I was only asking.”
She lifted her skirt and bent down to examine her knee. “Though it doesn’t seem to hurt as much anymore.”
“Come this way.”
Zhang Xingxu turned ahead and followed a cobblestone path into the park.
After applying the medicine on a bench, Wen Dong waved her hands, trying to dispel the smell. “I should’ve bought some wet wipes.”
“I’ll go.”
Wen Dong did not manage to stop him.
He was far too quick to act.
He returned within just a few minutes.
A packet of cucumber moisturizing wipes landed in Wen Dong’s arms, but his eyes passed over her and fixed on something behind her. Then he turned sideways, as though hiding from someone.
Wen Dong tore open the packet and wiped her hands. She glanced back as well, but saw only a few people strolling through the park.
“By the way, weren’t you here as a tourist? What made you decide to rent a place?” Wen Dong lowered her head and smelled her hand, then pulled out another wipe.
“Why do you care so much about me?” Zhang Xingxu asked.
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
Wen Dong froze. She pointed at herself, then at him, and spread both hands. “I was just asking.”
He glanced at her. Seeing that she had finished applying the medicine, he slipped both hands into his pockets and turned to leave.
Wen Dong picked up the rabbit head and followed him. “Come on, man. Are you some huge celebrity, hiding from paparazzi?”
Zhang Xingxu stopped short, focusing on the wrong part. “Do I look like a celebrity?”
Wen Dong was speechless. “Yes, you do. You look like Takuya Kimura. Happy now?”
Zhang Xingxu looked away again. “I don’t know who that is.”
Wen Dong: “…”
Then why had he asked?
The two of them left the park, one following the other. When they passed a print shop, Wen Dong dragged Zhang Xingxu inside.
“We haven’t signed our rental agreement yet. I may be the sublandlord, but to protect both our interests, it’s safer if we sign something.”
Once the contract had been printed, Wen Dong pointed to one of the clauses. “See? I didn’t lie to you. My previous roommate paid the same rent.”
The contract was two pages long. After reviewing all the terms, Zhang Xingxu took out his phone. “Send me an electronic copy.”
He uncapped a pen, signed, and then pressed his red fingerprint over his signature.
Wen Dong forwarded him the electronic copy and signed it herself.
“All done. There shouldn’t be any problems now.” Wen Dong placed the contract in a document sleeve and tapped it with a bent finger. “Let’s go home.”
Zhang Xingxu remained standing. “I need to buy a few things.”
Wen Dong tipped her head back to look at him. “What things?”
“Is there an IKEA nearby?”
“There is. It’s over there, not far.” Wen Dong pointed in a direction. “I’ll go with you.”
One of her many hobbies was browsing home-furnishing stores. She immediately took the lead, then turned around after only a few steps and walked backward with both hands clasped behind her, smiling brightly.
“Perfect timing. I need to buy a set of cups.”
When they reached their destination, however, she headed straight for the snack area on the second floor and vanished after one quick look around.
By the time Zhang Xingxu saw her again, she was running toward him with an ice cream in each hand, her eyes shining.
“Have you picked everything out yet?” she asked.
“I’m still looking.”
Wen Dong reached out. “Then wait a moment and pick an ice cream first. I want to take a picture.”
Zhang Xingxu chose chocolate. Wen Dong held mango. They leaned the two cones together like a passing of the sacred flame, and her phone proudly captured the moment in its album.
After taking the picture, Zhang Xingxu handed hers back to her, but Wen Dong did not take it.
“Eat it, or it’ll melt,” she said, then licked off the pointed tip in one bite.
A burst of cold shot straight to her temples, making even her heartbeat seem to pause for half a beat.
She waved at Zhang Xingxu and turned away, rubbing her forehead. “I’m going to sit on the sofa for a while. Come find me when you’re done.”
Zhang Xingxu had a clear objective. After choosing a four-piece bedding set, he bought a down comforter for the cooler nights, along with some everyday necessities.
When he passed the sofa section, Wen Dong was deep in conversation with two saleswomen. The moment she saw him, she hurriedly promised them, “When I get married, I’ll definitely come back for a bigger sofa.”
Then she sprinted over in two quick strides, stirring up a breeze. “Good thing you came. Those two ladies are incredibly chatty.”
Zhang Xingxu glanced down at her legs, then quickly looked away. “Is your leg better?”
“Not completely.” Wen Dong lifted her skirt and raised her knee slightly. “But it doesn’t hurt anymore. The real stuff really is different.”
“Oh, right. How much did that medicine cost? I’ll transfer it to you.”
“We’ll talk about it when we get back.” Zhang Xingxu walked on.
“Can you cook?” The subject changed abruptly.
Zhang Xingxu’s gaze remained fixed on the coffee machines in the distance. Once he realized what she had asked, he answered, “I can only boil noodles.”
“Huh?!” Wen Dong stared at him in disbelief, stars appearing in her eyes. “How did you know noodles are my favorite?”
“We just ran out of instant noodles at home.” She circled around behind Zhang Xingxu and pushed him forward, tilting her head as she asked, “What kind of noodles do you like?”
The coffee machines gradually disappeared from view.
A pair of hands pressed against his waist and pushed him forward. The force was not great, but it could not be ignored.
He caught Wen Dong’s hands and pulled them away. “Don’t touch me randomly.”
Wen Dong: “???”
What was wrong with him?!