《Cafe 109》Chapter 4

"Don't you want to know how she's doing now?" I asked Zhang Yue-sheng. "Knowing, seeing her, what good would it do?" Zhang Yue-sheng retorted, "Maybe she doesn't even remember who I am anymore." "Since you think that way, why can't you let go?" He looked up and gazed at me, saying, "What about you? You understand these truths too, so why can't you let go of Kai-jie and start a new relationship?" "It's not that I can't let go, it's just that I haven't met a suitable person," I replied. He didn't say anything more, cleared the coffee cups from the table, and turned to take them to the counter. I watched his back, feeling it strongly resembled Kai-jie's. On a weekend evening, Jing-xin and Su-yue arranged to meet me at the cafe. Jing-xin stared intently at Zhang Yue-sheng, who was preparing food for us in the kitchen, practically drooling. "Staring at him like that, you'll scare him," I said, patting her shoulder. "How could I? He doesn't have eyes on the back of his head, how would he know I'm staring lecherously?" Jing-xin's gaze remained fixed on Zhang Yue-sheng. "He can feel it," I said seriously. Jing-xin and Su-yue were both my primary school classmates. We went to the same middle school, graduated together, and then started working together. Our friendship has always been strong. Among the three of us, Jing-xin had the most colorful love life. She changed boyfriends as often as she changed clothes. Because of this, Su-yue and I couldn't remember how many boyfriends she'd had. As for Su-yue, she had delicate features and a gentle personality, but for some reason, she couldn't find a boyfriend. She was a kindergarten teacher, so maybe she had fewer opportunities to meet men, plus she was usually quiet. Jing-xin analyzed that this was why Su-yue couldn't find a boyfriend. Or perhaps it wasn't that Su-yue couldn't find a boyfriend, but that she couldn't find the boyfriend she wanted. I remembered a few boys pursued her in middle school, but nothing came of it. Some things in this world just can't be explained. "You're truly a 'love-at-first-sight' phenomenon!" Jing-xin turned her head and smiled mischievously at me. "What do you mean, 'love-at-first-sight' phenomenon?" I didn't understand her. "Either you don't fall in love for years, or when you do, you find a man who's presentable, good in the kitchen, handsome, and tall. I really admire you," Jing-xin said, hugging me and patting my back gently. "Don't talk nonsense! It'll be so awkward if he hears you!" I pushed her away and said, "We're just friends." "I don't believe you," Jing-xin said. Just then, Zhang Yue-sheng came over to us with two bowls of noodles. He placed the noodles in front of us and glanced at Jing-xin and me. At that moment, I suddenly dared not meet his gaze. "What kind of noodles are these? Aren't we having pasta?" Jing-xin asked, looking at the two bowls of soup noodles. "Tomato soup noodles. Tomatoes are good for beauty and skin," Zhang Yue-sheng said. "Perfect for me," Jing-xin said, unceremoniously picking up her chopsticks and spoon. "Sour and very appetizing," Jing-xin said after taking a sip of the soup. "Before, every time I came here, I'd eat those extremely plain vegetarian tomato spaghetti that Yun-si cooked. Now it's great, there's something new to eat." "What do you mean 'extremely plain vegetarian'? This place sells vegetarian food," I said. "Don't you always complain about wanting to lose weight? Isn't eating light good?" "But what you cooked was really too bland. Look at this bowl of tomato soup noodles; it has vegetables and tofu, it's also vegetarian, but it tastes so much better," Jing-xin said, eating and praising. "I think it tastes great too," Su-yue, who had been sitting quietly, chimed in. I had nothing to refute. Undeniably, Zhang Yue-sheng's tomato soup noodles were indeed much tastier than my spaghetti. To be continued.