5:55 PM...
At Mingyu's house...
Mingyu is helping her momma prepare the noodles for the customers, including Junhao and Meiling. Fear had been running inside of her, as she constantly wish that she wouldn't get into any trouble with her momma. Now is the worst time to get into trouble with her.
After preparing for Junhao and Meiling's orders, Mingyu walks out of the kitchen and serves the two bowls of pork noodles and a plate of dumplings to the couple. She also serves their drinks, in which both of them had ordered warm tea.
"Enjoy your meal," Mingyu says.
"Thanks, Mingyu," Junhao smiles at Mingyu. She smiles back and turns to Meiling, only to be ignore by the shoulder lenght brown hair girl. She turns around and heads back to the kitchen, hoping inside that her friends would enjoy the meal.
Junhao starts eating his noodles. He had tasted Mingyu's noodles a few times before, so he is already familiar with its signature taste, which he finds delicious.
Meiling, on the other hand, stares at the bowl of noodle with a blank look. She takes her chopsticks and gives it a try, only to leave her looking unsatisfy.
"How is the noodle?" Junhao ask Meiling.
With an unsatisfy look, Meiling wipes her mouth with a tissue from the table, before taking a sip of her warm tea. Junhao notice the unsatisfy look on her face, which made his smile slowly fades at the awkward tension.
"Too mushy, if I have to say," Meiling states in a stern tone.
Junhao's face suddenly looks worried. He thought he just disappointed his girlfriend with a bad dinner, but other than that, he hope Mingyu's mom didn't hear whatever she said. Mingyu had told him before that if her mom gets any complain about the food or service, she'll surely blame Mingyu for it.
"Ah, I see. I'm so sorry about that, Baby," Junhao states, trying to hide how awkward he feels right now with a small laugh.
Meiling forms a small smile at her boyfriend. "Well, the chef should be the one to say sorry."
Hearing this made Junhao feel more worried. He knew that his girlfriend is not one who is afraid to speak her mind. Though her attitude was one of the things that got him attracted to her, yet this time he hoped that she wouldn't show any sign of dislikes that could cause Mingyu to get in trouble.
"Could your pity friend be the reason why you chose to take me here in the first place?" Meiling ask while staring into Junhao's eyes. Her lips forms a smirk, making him feel more uncomfortable.
Junhao takes a sip of his warm tea nervously. Her sentence made him feel guilty for both women, knowing that he had caused possible trouble.
"It was my intention to take you here. Mingyu never ask me to," Junhao says, trying to sound casual. He didn't want Meiling to think that Mingyu was the one who insisted that the couple have dinner at her noodle shop.
Meiling stares at her nervous boyfriend with a calm yet stern look. Her lips forms a small smile, before grabbing her cup of warm tea to take a sip.
At Yifei's house...
6:30 PM...
Yifei is peacefully having dinner with her mother, while her father is still in his office talking with Han. Following her order, Han really told her father that he'll be resigning, and for what Yifei gussed, her father didn't expected it coming, and was not really prepared. She knows that he doesn't have a replacement yet, in which she didn't mind because she already found the so-called "replacement".
"So, how is college, Dear?" Yifei's mom ask her.
"Good," Yifei says, before she continues with her dinner.
Not long after, a tall man who is wearing a suit walks into the dining room. He has cold look on his face, and pulls out an empty chair. He takes a seat and calls one of the maid to get him a cup of warm tea.
"Please get me some herb tea from the kitchen!"
"Yes, Mr Chen," the maid says.
"Thank you. Oh, and please tell Han that he may enter," Mr Chen says.
Hearing this, Yifei's mom turns to look at the man with a cold yet curious look. She wonders what kind of conversation her husband and Han had, that requires him to approach them tonight during dinner time. She didn't bother to ask him though, since they didn't have the best relationship, and prefers the silent treatment at every chance as they avoid unnecessary conflicts.
"Yes, Mr Chen," the maid says, before turning around to exit the dining room.
It didn't took long for Han to walk inside the dining room. The man starts to feel more uncomfortable as he stood in the dining room with the gazes of three adults staring at him. While Yifei just stare at her former-chaffeur with a chill look, her father still looks speechless, while her mother looks confused.
"Sir, Madame, and Miss, it has been a wonderful time to work with you. I am grateful for all the experiences I've learned. However, now I must return to my hometown to take care of my parents," Han says. He bows down in front of the three adults.
"Han, what is all of this?" Yifei's mom ask.
"I am resigning, Madame. I must take care of my parents in my hometown. I apologize," Han says, feeling a bit guilty that he actually agreed with Yifei's plan, but after the amount of money she gave him to resign, he had no other choice but to agree.
"It was an honor to work for you. I shall leave now. Thank you, and goodbye," Han says. He turns around and walks out of the dining room, leaving Yifei's mom in confusion, while her father just sits in silent.
Yifei takes a sip of her tea elegantly. Her lips forms a small smirk at the thought of her plan is starting to come together. With Han out of the job, meaning her dad needs to find a replacement for the position of her chaffeur, she plans on telling him to hire Xiaoliang, knowing that the young boy could use a better job. Other than that, she wants to spend more time with Xiaoliang and keeps him away from the Mingyu.
Meanwhile...
At Mingyu's house...
6:40 PM...
Junhao and Meiling had just finished their dinner. Junhao gets up and heads over to the cashier to pay for the food, followed by Meiling.
"Thank you," Mingyu's mom says with a fake smile, since that was the only smile she could form. Having to deal with stress for years, she forgot how to actually form a real smile.
"You're welcome, Auntie Wang," Junhao replies while smiling.
"By the way, how was the food?" Mingyu's mom ask with curiousity. She is ready to smack her daughter at any time if she finds any customer to be unsatisfy with their food or service.
"Ah, the food was-"
"Kind of mushy, and too salty," Meiling says with an attitude. Junhao's eyes suddenly fills with fear upon hearing his girlfriend's statement.
"Ah, I apologized for the inconvinience," Mingyu's mom says, again with a fake smile.
Junhao turns his gaze to Meiling as fears starts running down his spines. He could feel his heart beat faster at the thought of the possible trouble that could happen. Mingyu then walks out of the kitchen to clean up the messy tables. Her mother stares at her with a furious look, making her feel anxious all of a sudden, while Meiling just stare at the girl with a victorious gaze as her lips forms a smirk. Junhao's face suddenly turns pale as he looks at Mingyu with a worry look.
"Well, Auntie, we shall go now," Meiling says, while grabbing Junhao's arm. "Let's go, Baby!"
With that final word, Meiling drags the now worried Junhao out of the noodle shop, leaving Mingyu and her mother alone. Her mom turns the "open" sign to "closed", before turning around to face Mingyu with boiling fury.
"Idiot! What did I tell you about cooking? We could lose our customers if you keep messing things up!" her mother screams at her face, making her shiver with fear.
"I did everything like you said. I didn't expect it to turn out bad," Mingyu stutters. She could feel her anxiety getting worse.
"Nonsense!" her mother screams. Without any warning, she slaps Mingyu as hard as she could, making her tear up.
Mingyu starts to tear up as she holds her painful cheek due to the slap. Again she could feel fear running inside of her as her anxiety gets worse.
"Clean this up and go to your room. I had enough of seeing your ugly face around here," her mother says, before walking away to clean the kitchen, leaving Mingyu crying alone while holding the pain from the slap.
The next day...
8 AM...
At Xiaoliang's house...
Xiaoliang's POV...
"So what did the doctor said yesterday?" I ask my grandma as I pour her a cup of herb tea.
"He said that my condition is better," Grandma answers, before taking a sip of her tea.
"That's good to hear," I say. I also pour a cup for myself. After that, I put the tea pot away, before going to the kitchen to get some congee for my grandma and I.
A few minutes passed, and we eventually finish our breakfast. I grab the dirty dishes and starts washing them in the sink, when I hear my phone starts ringing.
"Ah, Xiaoliang, your phone is ringing," Grandma says.
"Yeah, I'll check it out after this," I say as I continue to wash the dishes.
I eventually finish washing the dishes. I wash my hands, dry my hands, and walks over to check out my phone. I have a miscalled from Yifei. Hmm...I wonder what she wanted to talk about. Without anymore thinking, I call her back and waits for her to answer.
"Hello, Xiaoliang!"
"Hi, Yifei. Sorry, I was busy doing something that I didn't pick up," I say through the phone.
"Ah, don't sweat it! By the way, I was wondering if we could meet up this evening? There's something I want to talk about," Yifei says.
"I already have plans for this evening. I'm truly sorry," I say. I can't meet up with her this evening, because I'll be going out with Mingyu.
"Ah, ok. I understand. Then how about tomorrow?" Yifei ask.
I wonder what she wanted to talk about, and thought about that I could meet her up.
"Ok, where?" I ask her.
"3 PM, at Bubble-C.ha. Not too far from you, and me," Yifei says.
"Ok. See you tomorrow," I say to her.
"Sure. Bye bye!" Yifei says, before ending the call.
After our call end, I put my phone down on the table and starts preparing the medicines for Grandma. She hasn't had her medicines this morning.
11 AM...
At Mingyu's house...
Mingyu's POV...
"Enjoy your dish."
"Thank you, Miss," the old man says as he gives me a warm a smile.
I smile back at the man, before turning away to return to the kitchen serve more orders. It was a miracle that my mom didn't scream at my face this morning when I told her that I'll be going out with Xiaoliang this evening, even after what happened last night. It's really hard to understand her mood, when she can barely be predict.
A few hours later...
4:30 PM...
At Mingyu's room...
I told my mom that I'll be taking a shower now. She ignored me, but at least she didn't scream. I took a quick shower and I'm now busy trying to cover the dark circles under my eyes with make-up. I had enough of people saying I looked sick and pale. Well, I can't blame them. If I was them, I would have assumed that I was sick due to my appearance. You could say I look like a zombie at some points.
After I finished my make-up, I walk over to my cupboard. I pull out a gray sweater and some black jeans. I put on the outfit and heads over to the mirror to brush my hair.
4:54 PM...
Xiaoliang's POV...
After preparing for dinner and the medicines for Grandma, I told her that I'll be going out with a friend for a while, in which she was happy to hear. She even thought that it was a date congratulated me all of a sudden. I told her that it's not a date and that I'm only going out with a friend. For now, I haven't had any plans to get into a more serious relationship other than normal friendship. I have to focus on my studies and work, so that my little family could have a better future.
I hope Mingyu wouldn't mind that I'll arrive a few minutes early. I continue to drive as I search for her house. It didn't took long for me to find it, since she has a signboard of her noodle shop in front of her house.
Wang's Noodle Shop. This is the place. I read the signboard, realizing that I have arrived.
After I parked my car, I walk out of the car and enters her house. As I walk inside the place, I could see that the place is pretty crowded. I try to search for Mingyu in the room, when I spot a girl in a ponytail serving a bowl of wonton noodles to a woman. Yup, that's Mingyu.
"Hey!" I say, getting her attention.
She turns her head to see me and forms a small smile.
"Hi! I'll put this away first," she says before rushing to the kitchen to put the empty tray.
After a few minutes, she rushes back to meet me in the dining room. I happened to see her mom also serving the customers, and decided to call the middle age lady.
"Good evening, Auntie. Mingyu and I will be going out a for a while," I say to her, trying to sound polite.
"Oh sure. Have fun," the woman replies in a busy tone. She does look busy taking orders from the customers.
I turn my head to see Mingyu, in which she stated her mom is busy and that we should go. We walk out of the house and enter my car, ready to drive off to our first stop tonight.
To be continue...