Yin Tianyu bowed to me and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "I am only a first-level Taekwondo practitioner, which is usually referred to as a red belt with black stripes. I haven't done much, but that scumbag might just become impotent from now on."
We looked at each other and burst out laughing. Yin Tianyu put his arm around my shoulder and said, "Come on, heroine, let's have a good meal together. It's been so long since I've felt this good."
"Won't you run into trouble if you do this?" I was a little worried.
"Don't worry, all those injuries are included in your account," Yin Tianyu said with a clear conscience.
Amidst the flashing swords and clashing blades, Yin Tianyu's scream could be heard: "Don't think I really don't hit women! If you come at me again, I'll really fight back!"
It seemed like we drove around in circles until I was completely disoriented before Yin Tianyu finally stopped the car. I then realized I had been taken to a roadside food stall: "You little rascal, have you been acting really badly lately? You actually invited me to eat at a place like this."
"Try the teppanyaki mussels here before you criticize me." Yin Tianyu sat down and skillfully picked up the teapot on the table, poured the boiling tea into the bowl in front of me, washed all the bowls, chopsticks, cups and plates, and then washed his own.
The proprietress, a woman in her thirties, swayed her large hips as she walked over and greeted him warmly: "Handsome, you're here."
Yin Tianyu said with a cheerful laugh, "If the mussels are fresh today, I'll have one, and also plum-flavored pork knuckle, and..."
"Alright, alright, it'll be a waste if we can't finish it! Just give us this much." I interrupted him and said to the proprietress, just in time to receive the remaining half of a flirtatious wink from her.
"Why? I'm treating, you don't have to pay the bill." Yin Tianyu said unwillingly.
“This has nothing to do with money. I can’t stand seeing chefs’ hard work wasted, even if I paid them to buy it.” I argued.
"It's okay, it's okay, you can take the leftovers home." The proprietress was so angry that she burped, seeing that she had this easy target but I ruined it at the last minute.
"Fine, give me two more bottles of beer," Yin Tianyu conceded.
"But you're driving, why would you drink? Sorry, I don't want the beer." I waved my hand at the proprietress.
"My God! What kind of woman are you?! Only Willson could put up with you. I really thank God for letting that brooding, unlucky Willson win you over, otherwise I would have been dead in your hands!"
"Fall into my hands? Hmph, you're not that lucky, you sour grapes! But I'm warning you, don't you dare speak ill of me like that in front of Willson, or I'll chop you to pieces!"
"Alright, alright, I see a happy bluebird perched on your shoulder. But to be honest, I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Willson." We almost kicked over the food stall table.
"You really don't know how to be grateful. I just got off the plane and got home less than an hour ago, and I rushed out to save you."
"Just got off the plane? Where have you been poisoning those naive young girls again?"
"Hey! You're all done now. What do you mean, 'poisonous, ignorant girl'? I went to Angkor Wat in Cambodia."
"Hey, you keep traveling all over the world like this without ever getting tired, don't you get tired?" I couldn't help but ask him, a question that had been bothering me for a long time.
"No, it's very simple. For you, work is your life's work, but for me, enjoying life is my work."
"You won't know the hardships of the mortal world until you can't even afford three meals a day. Then you'll know what a life's work is all about." I scoffed.
"Why do you always underestimate me? I travel the world with all my hard-earned money. Do you think I'm always out hunting for women with the company's checkbook in my pocket?"
"Don't think you can make me respect you. In my eyes, you're just a complete playboy."
"Hey, that's called prejudice. Can't you be fair? In your eyes, is Wilson the only man?"
"Of course, and he's a perfect man. I see what POWER means in him."
"You're dead! You're dead! You're so deeply poisoned, if Willson breaks up with you one day, you won't throw water on him, will you?"
"Of course I'll splash him, but not him, I'll splash you! Who told you to be such a jinx!" I was so angry I gritted my teeth, and took another swig of my beer.
“And a rather erotic crow at that,” I added, swallowing my drink. “I suspect someone like you wouldn’t even spare a female mosquito.”
"What? I'm not that tasteless. I just love all the beautiful things in life, like the 1978 Taittinger champagne label, cream cheese, or the romantic cherry blossoms under Mount Fuji in March, the paving stones of Genoa... including beautiful women. All these beautiful things allow me to truly experience that living is real and joyful."
"But there are always times when people are not in control of their own lives, right? What do you do then?"
"So, I will spend one-third of my time working like a slave and two-thirds of my time enjoying life to the fullest."
"So you work very little? No wonder I had to make so many trips for a single check."
"Please, why are you holding a grudge? It's your own bad luck. There were some issues at your company in Taiwan at that time, which delayed your arrival, okay?"
"I don't care, in my eyes you're just irresponsible." I picked up my glass and took another sip. "But, sigh, what right do I have to talk about you? I'm much worse than you, I even stole someone else's girlfriend. I don't know how I ended up being the other woman on my first date!"
"You're talking nonsense. You didn't steal anyone's partner. This was a consensual relationship. As long as you two are serious, the other person is the real third party."
“When I’m with Willson, I can’t think of anything else, but when I’m alone, I can’t help but think of that girl named Cui Wuyue. Actually, I feel guilty. I really, really, really doubt whether I did something wrong. But when I think about breaking up with Willson, this place,” I pointed to my heart, “will hurt a lot.”
“Miss, you’re overthinking it. It’s not that serious. It seems you’ve never dated before. Let me tell you, I once dated a girl who had a boyfriend, and I even got into a fight with him in Ximending. I ended up in the hospital for two weeks.”
"Huh? What? Didn't you tell me you were a Taekwondo Level 1?" I couldn't help but laugh as I imagined him being beaten into a Transformer.
"But the other person is the Taipei Sanda King. However, he wasn't much better off than me; he stayed in the hospital five or six days longer than I did."
"I'm impressed. You even made a point of comparing how short your hospital stay was to pick up girls. And then what happened?"
"Later? Later I became friends with the Sanda King, and that girl married a surgeon at that hospital."
"You're kidding, I don't believe you!" I laughed until tears streamed down my face.
"If you don't believe me, I'll introduce you to him next time I have the chance." Yin Tianyu looked very hurt.
"Keep your word."
"It's a deal, cheers." I picked up my beer glass, clinked it against his bottle, and took another swig. By the time I realized I was drunk, I couldn't remember who had ordered the beer; there were only three or four empty bottles scattered haphazardly at my feet.
I have absolutely no recollection of how I got home. The next morning, I was reluctantly woken up by a phone call; the hangover headache was no joke. I sat up, clutching my head, and when I pulled my phone out from under my pillow, it was still ringing. The person on the other end was really patient.
Hello, who is this?