When I stepped out of the room, I saw Xiao Jue waiting outside.
“Where should we eat?” I asked him.
“Anywhere you’d like,” he replied.
“In two years, I’ll stop doing network marketing,” I said. I thought to myself, When I’m earning a better salary, and Xiao Jue is making money too, I won’t need to do this kind of servant-like work anymore.
“I got paid today,” I told him.
“Really?”
He seemed uninterested.
When he walked me home, I asked, “Is something wrong today?”
“No,” he replied.
He seemed more burdened with thoughts than before.
For the next two months, Xiao Jue frequently said he had to work overtime, and we barely saw each other.
“Can I come to your place for dinner tonight?” I asked him over the phone one day.
“Mm,” he said.
That evening, I had dinner at his house, but he didn’t come home to eat. I waited until midnight before he finally returned.
“You’re still here?” he asked.
“Busy day?” I asked.
He nodded.
“I’ll head home then—you don’t need to walk me.”
“Mm,” he replied.
I hadn’t expected him to actually let me leave alone.
“Are you very busy lately?” I asked.
“Mm,” he said, closing his eyes.
“Take care of your health. Don’t overwork yourself.”
I tucked him in before leaving.
Just as I left his home, Meng Meng called. Feeling restless, I decided to meet her for coffee in Tsim Sha Tsui.
“I did it with Hu Tiehan,” she said.
“Did what?” I was puzzled.
“You know… that,” she said, winking at me.
“No way! When did this start?”
“When you went to the UK. I was bored, so I asked him out. Yu De Ren wasn’t free, so it was just the two of us. We talked a lot, and it turns out that although we’ve known each other for years, we didn’t really understand each other.”
“That night, you slept with him?”
“No.”
“One day, I went to pick him up from the police station after his shift, and he came out holding a huge bouquet of ginger flowers for me. Who gives ginger flowers to a girl? That’s just the kind of guy he is.”
“Sounds like you’ve had a crush on him for a while,” I teased.
“And that’s how we ended up in bed, surrounded by the scent of ginger flowers.”
She had a nostalgic, dreamy expression on her face.
“Why do you look so down?” she asked me.
“I feel like Xiao Jue has changed since he came back,” I replied.
“Has he fallen out of love with you?”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“We’re all so young. How can we expect anything to stay the same forever?”
“But you and Tiehan still ended up together. Childhood bonds are strong,” I said.
“Has Gao Hai Ming contacted you?” she asked.
“No, he hasn’t.”
“Why do men like women’s breasts so much?” Meng Meng suddenly blurted out. It was clear she hadn’t been listening to me—her mind was still on Tiehan.
“How would I know? I’m not a man,” I said with a laugh.
“Do you think it’s because they don’t have any themselves?”
“Maybe it’s because they lack a sense of security.”
“Women lack security too!”
“Well, a woman’s breasts are like a man’s shoulders,” I said.
“That sounds so comforting,” Meng Meng said with a sweet, dreamy tone.
Since Xiao Jue came back to Hong Kong, we had only been intimate three times.
“Don’t worry. Maybe he’s just grown up. Everyone grows up—it’s unavoidable,” Meng Meng said.
Maybe Xiao Jue had grown up. I needed time to understand this new version of him.
“This weekend, Tiehan is graduating from the police academy. I’ve booked a table for dinner, and you both must come!” Meng Meng said.
“Of course,” I replied.
“What gift should we get for Tiehan?” I asked Xiao Jue over the phone.
“You decide. I don’t have time this week,” he said.
“Xiao Jue, is there something wrong between us?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“What do you mean?” he asked in return.
“Maybe it’s just me overthinking. See you this weekend.”
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