Please Be More Serious | Chapter 23

Yin Ting has finished yet another dance. Qiu Zheng Qing really couldn’t hold back and steps forward to ask her, “Do you want to leave now?”

“Okay,” she answers, her voice full of warmth and joy. She waves goodbye to her friends and then follows him to take leave from Gu Ying Jie and Qin Yu Fei. Before leaving, she is even having a hushed, secret conversation with Gu Ying Jie. He glances at Qin Yu Fei that princess, is she not showing off her status as the girlfriend? Control your man a little please, is it appropriate to allow your boyfriend to have a private conversation with someone who used to like him?

On the contrary, Qin Yu Fei is outgoing and doesn’t mind them at all.

The conversation is finally over, and Yin Ting leaves with Qiu Zheng Qing.

Yin Ting’s spirits are still high. She is practically skipping while humming softly. She turns and ask him, “You rejected Shen Jia Qi, didn’t you?”

“She told you?”

“Yes,” she says, nodding. “I congratulated her, saying I’m happy for her.”

He bursts into laughter.

“She said she’d be getting a boyfriend sooner than I would anyway.” She shakes her head. “Say, why is it that no one likes me?” His heart skips. How is it possible that there is none? But that was just a rhetorical question. Without waiting for an answer, she runs to his car and waits for him beside the passenger’s door.

He feels like he should say something but he couldn’t think anyway for now. In negotiating business, there is one principle that says that if one doesn’t know his bargaining chips, he shouldn’t make a decision easily. He shouldn’t make an offer, shouldn’t make a promise, to prevent regrets in the future. So he ends up not saying anything, submerging himself in silence. He opens the doors and watches Yin Ting happily sit inside.

“I’m troubling you again, thank you.” She cutely clasps her hand together in gratitude.

“You’re welcome.” He only manages to come up with these three words after a long time.

He starts the engine and turns on the radio, allowing music to drift gently among them. The space in the car is really too small, he can feel her presence vividly. Her presence invades every corner, enveloping him. When he begins driving, he feels a little stiff. That nervous feeling is here again, the same nervous feeling that attacked him when he was working part-time in university and when he was in an interview.

“How is it going with you and Zoe?” Yin Ting suddenly asks.

“Nothing special,” he answers almost immediately. When he sees her glancing at him, he clears his throat and tries again. “She is not my girlfriend.” Only now does he remember that he has not yet give Mao Hui Zhu any response regarding her dating request. When he was deliberating angel’s sale order earlier, he actually completely tossed Mao Hui Zhu out from his mind.

The most ideal sale order, he does not consider. Instead it is the worst sale order that he really wants. This is a really terrible situation.

“You have a new girlfriend, don’t you? That’s why you rejected Shen Jia Qi?”

“New girlfriend?”

“My brother said you and your friend came to his pub, apparently it’s a long-time admirer.”

“She’s the one admiring me,” he speedily clarifies.

She rolls her eyes at him. “So arrogant, why do you need to emphasize that it’s the girl who likes you.”

“No.” He is speechless, he just doesn’t want her to misunderstand. “The truth is that she is the one who has a crush on me, I didn’t admire her.” Damn, this mouth. Putting it that way makes him sound even more arrogant, how shameless.

Yin Ting is tickled by his expression. He is obviously saying something arrogant but his expression is so stricken. “That’s not a problem. Most importantly you can get along well with her. Are you thinking that she is more suitable compared to Zoe? I mean, do you have more feelings for her? Really curious how does she look like.”

He manages to calm himself and tries again. “One, I didn’t date her. I only saw her when I went to your brother’s pub. Her friend brought up the past and said she once admired me. Your brother just happened to hear that part. After I left that company a few years ago, I never once met that colleague. We just happened to meet that day. Second, she is not my girlfriend. Neither is my new girlfriend because I don’t have ex-girlfriends. Third, Zoe is fine but we are not dating. She did mentioned about it but I have not made up my mind yet. So we remain as friends.”

Wow, he really did say everything in one breath. Yin Ting blinks. They are just making casual talk, why is he making it seem like he is doing a report. Qiu Zheng Qing is really too serious.

“Then number four?” she asks.

“What number four?”

“And you rejecting Shen Jia Qi’s date, isn’t that number four?”

Speechless. He has no relationship with Shen Jia Qi at all, she is not one of the participants in his romantic life.

“And number five?”

“Where did number five come from!” He almost jumps from his seat. If she says “you haven’t explained your feelings for me,” he would definitely slam on the steering wheel.

“No more? There’s only four?” She makes a mental calculation.

“There’s no number four.”

“Didn’t you say until number four?” She counts on her fingers. “Zoe, that girl who admired you, Shen Jia Qi… and eh, who else?”

“No more!” He can’t be bothered with her. Only by including her that he would have four. But this is a secret that he cannot tell her. No, incorrect. Why is there even three? Other than Mao Hui Zhu who he has considered seriously, the rest are practically strangers.

“How did we calculated four just now?” Yin Ting asks.

He doesn’t even want to reply her. He is not the one doing the calculation.

“Oh right, there’s only three.” She regains her liveliness. “Three is also a lot, you really have the potential to be a womanizer [fickle-minded/unfaithful radish].”

He is quiet. He now understands that angels are on earth to torment humans.

“You have quite a lot of love entanglements,” the angel comments.

“Thank you,” he answers seriously. After a while, unable to help himself, he adds, “And another matter, I am not unfaithful. Thank you.”

“En. I’m also not unfaithful. Even though I have confessed to quite a few guys but I’m always serious. If they don’t like me, and I have no boyfriend, finding a new target is also quite normal. Isn’t that right?” she says, airing some of her grievance.

A hint of jealousy appears in his heart again. Don’t tell him stuff like this.

“My brother actually said I’m unfaithful, that’s totally the number one injustice in the world.”

He doesn’t comment. He feels like he is suffering even more injustice.

Yin Ting continues, “Sigh, I suddenly remember we’re once again allies.”

Could it be allies of injustice sufferers this time?

“Not unfaithful allies.”

“…” Qiu Zheng Qing desperately tries to control the expression on his face.

“Ah, incorrect.”

Of course it is incorrect! Who is allies with you, what not unfaithful allies!

“We should be radish allies instead. We’re not unfaithful, so radish rallies it is.”

Still radish, so many radishes!

“Have you considered leaving the plant kingdom?” he asks.

Yin Ting digests his words for a moment before laughing happily. “You’re really funny.”

No, he is not funny at all. He is asking her seriously.

Yin Ting quiets down and then asks, “Qiu Serious, am I being too pointless?”

He ponders this. How should he reply? According to logic, she is really quite pointless, but he thinks that she is pointless to the point of being adorable. On one side, he wants to ridicule her by saying yes but on the other side, his heart is bursting pink [romance] bubbles. How should he reply her under such circumstances?

 “Why are you not talking? Not talking means you’re silently assenting.” She sounds a little depressed. “You must definitely think I’m pointless. Guys must think of me this way, that’s why I’m never successful in courting any of them.”

He clears his throat, why does he feel like not wanting to comfort her at all? One should be generous, so fine. He will comfort her a little. “Every radish has their own fated ones. It’s not your problem, it’s just that they have types that they like.”

She sighs. “That’s true too. There are guys who want to date me too but I don’t like them.”

“What type of guys do you like?” he couldn’t help but ask.

Yin Ting suddenly regains her enthusiasm. “Gentle and attentive, funny and straightforward, likes good food and travelling,” she answers. Angels indeed are here on earth to torment humans. He is not at all a fit for her type.

“But being good-looking has first-place privilege,” she adds.

But the good-looking ones have already found their radishes. It is like how everyone compliments Qin Yu Fei for being pretty but he finds her just average. Instead he feels that Yin Ting is prettier. Therefore, does his looks worth first-place privilege in her eyes?

“Do you have any suitable candidates to introduce to me?” she asks, eyes big and bright.

“No.” His answer is incredibly matter-of-fact.

She sighs. “My red thread is not working at all, but why is yours so effective?”

Being too sensitive is also a problem, such problems won’t be understood by angels. Qiu Zheng Qing also sighs.

It is at this time that Yin Ting’s phone rings. She searches her bag for her phone. It is her father calling to ask when is she coming home. She sweetly answers that she is on her way and that a friend is sending her home. When she hangs up, she seems like she suddenly recalls something. She continues to search her bag before taking out a card and putting it on his car’s dashboard. “I keep on forgetting to give you this, my brother’s pub VIP card.” He is embarrassed to say that he has no intention of returning to that noisy place so he eventually just says, “Thanks.”

Yin Ting smiles sweetly at him. “You’re welcome. Feel free to come and play.”

He hurriedly drives to their destination. Her smile made his heartbeat a little too erratic and nervousness overwhelming. Good thing they are about to reach her house. She gets off in the neighbourhood’s entrance and thanks him. “See you again if there’s an opportunity.”

“See you,” he answers, a little sad.

See you again ‘if there’s an opportunity’. Right. If they want to meet, they really need ‘an opportunity’. He doesn’t even know when will be the next time he sees her again.

He doesn’t immediately drive away. From his rearview mirror, he watches as Yin Ting walks towards the entrance. He wonders if she will return like she did the last two times, suddenly turning around and throwing herself at his window. If so, he wants to tell her, “We met again so soon.”

But in the end she doesn’t. She doesn’t turn around and continues walking. She even starts running. He wants to roll down his window and looks out, he wants to ask her why is she running, isn’t she scared of falling? Then he faintly hears her call out, “Dada!” Or perhaps it is “Baba [father]!”

He thinks it must be “Baba.” Maybe her father is waiting at the entrance for her. But she has run away too far for him to see. Under the dim street light, he can no longer even trace her figure. He also cannot see anyone else.

He sighs. He straightens himself and blanks out for a moment. This is really terrible. He is actually beginning to miss her. In the past month he would be constantly frustrated, so it is because he is missing her. He starts the journey back home, his moods completely on the low.

Frustrated!

He cannot stomach reading reports any longer, neither does the economy programmes on TV interests him. So he ends up going to bed early. Lying on the bed for almost half an hour, sleep has yet to catch up. He thinks back on how Yin Ting said “see you again if there’s an opportunity,” thinks back on how she danced with other guys, thinks back on how Gu Ying Jie earnestly promised to introduce her to his guy friends. His mood is, really, really, BAD!

He gets up and goes for a cold shower. It helps him cool down.

Returning to bed, he thinks about Yin Ting again.

“See you again if there’s an opportunity.”

He closes his eyes. He suddenly makes a decision. He is saying if, just if, one day they can meet again in one week’s time– not intentionally, not the way he purposely went to the party to meet her – just coincidentally, then he will positively consider the possibility of such a project.

Thinking like this, he feels his mood improving. He thinks he can finally sleep.

After a while, he thinks that one week is too short, why not just make it two weeks. Oh right, so he can measure their progress more conveniently, he decides on the date November 15.

Right, November 15 it is. It is easier to remember that way.

He finally falls asleep.

The next day is a Sunday, a day to replenish his supplies. He leaves home around noon time, he plans to go to the supermarket to get a fast food lunch and buy some other stuff as well. When he gets into his car, he realizes there is a phone sitting on his passenger seat.

Yin Ting’s phone, he recalls.

She left her phone at his car?

He cannot resist the feeling of joy sweeping overwhelming him. He picks up the phone. When he turns it on, he sees that there are at least ten phone calls from someone tagged Brother. The calls are all made this afternoon.

He guesses that she only realized that her phone is missing this morning, and then used Yin Shi’s phone to call hers. He quickly calls back, his heart beating in an erratic pace. He clears his throat, and then clears it again.

The call is connected.

His heartbeat stops for a beat, his voice a faked calmness. “Is this Yin Shi? I’m Qiu Zheng Qing. Yin Ting’s phone is dropped in my car.”

Yin Shi didn’t reply, but he can hear the sound of him talking to someone next to him, and then the sound of Yin Ting’s voice. She sounds bright and obviously excited. “Qiu Serious, you’re really too good! We’re really not allies for nothing! I thought I dropped it at the entrance, couldn’t even find it after half a day!”

What allies? Single allies, nonsensical allies, radish allies? Or – I-miss-you allies?

He knows he is smiling, he must have been affected by her joy. But why would she thought she dropped it at the neighbourhood’s entrance? How careless is she? She is really quite terrible, what exactly is it that he likes about her? But when he heard her voice, he is very happy. He is also very happy to know that they have ‘an opportunity’ to meet very soon.

“How can I pass you the phone? I’ll go to your place?” His voice is very steady.

“No, no, I’m not at home. I’m buying a new phone with my brother. Can you come out? I want to treat you to lunch!” she says. “Okay,” he agrees readily.

He also wants to have lunch with her.