I

t was late when Zhengqing finally

brought Yin Ting home. They hadn’t gone anywhere else, they just sat in the

parking lot starring at each other, giggling and kissing.

Zhengqing was of the mind that a kiss

was a very good thing; sweet, pleasant and intimate. When he kissed Yin Ting,

she blushed and her eyes twinkled, her lips were soft and supple, and her every

reaction told him that she liked him and she liked his kisses.

It made him feel self-satisfaction

and contentment. (Zuben: You haven’t done anything yet)

He was glad that he had spent his

thirty-three years, working hard and had had no time to care for himself,

otherwise he would be married with children and would never met have her. He

was thankful for her broken bicycle, although, that day was rather

embarra.s.sing, but it brought into his life the kind angel who gave him a red

thread of love. (Zuben: Urgh)

He felt the hand of fate, that red

thread was really magical. He was grateful. (Zuben: Celebrate when you get

married, dear. Even then, celebrate when you make it to fifty years)

But Time was a really repugnant

fellow. It was already eleven, and he really needed to get her home, and he

also had work tomorrow.

The car drove up to Yin Ting street

entrance, but she could not bear to leave, she said to him,

‘When you get back home, give me a

call. Let me know you’ve got home safe,’ (Zuben: I’ve just got a boyfriend. I

don’t want him to die!)

‘Very well,’

‘Before I come to get you tomorrow,

I’ll give you a call, so you can let me know beforehand if you’re too busy.

Also, you need to take a break between, don’t stare at the computer screen too

long. Drink lots of water, have a good lunch…’ (Zuben: Yada yada yada…)

‘Yes,’ Zhengqing could not help but

laugh.

‘Why are you laughing?’ she asked

blus.h.i.+ng, but she was still reluctant to go. This was their first date, it felt

so short. It was already time to part.

‘Because, you’re not acting like a

girlfriend,’

Yin Ting stared at him, ‘Don’t you

dare say mother!’ (Zuben: Well…)

‘You’re acting like a wife,’

‘...’ Yin Ting suddenly lost

momentum and her face bloomed red.

‘Your area is really nice, ah.’ He said

changing the subject.

‘My Mother chose the area, and the

style of house, and the decor, but she didn’t live long enough to see my Dad

buy it.’

‘I should visit one of these days.

Why don’t we take a walk for now?’

Yin Ting laughed and nodded. So he

could not bear to leave either, she thought as she happily led him to the park.

They strolled around the pond and

rockery, and down a tree lined path. She told him this was here she fed

Miao-dada, she’d put out a bowl for the cat which it came to everyday. She led

him to a small hill, near which, was a small woodland, where she found Miao-dada.

‘I held onto my confidence and

didn’t give up on him.’ She blinked and looked at Zhengqing. It had been like

looking for a boyfriend, she refused to give up. When one relations.h.i.+p did not

work out, she looked to the next, thinking surely she would soon find her

happiness. Sure enough, through lots of twists and turns, she was with someone

who made her happy. (Zuben: Lud!)

She leaned against Zhengqing as he

laughed. She wanted to tell him her thoughts, but he bent over and kissed her.

She rose on her tiptoes to hold him

closer as they kissed. How many times they had kissed this evening, she did not

remember. She only knew she liked his kisses. He hugged her to him tightly and

kissed her deeply. As the night went on, he got more skilled and…bolder.  

Zhengqing pulled back a little, as

the two of them were gasping for air. She looked up to eyes and could see the

warmth, and it warmed her too. She said to him,

‘I should tell you that I am very

healthy and my body is very good. I exercise regularly and have a medical

examination every year. I will try to be healthy and keep you for a long time. I

know quite well the toll an ill family member takes on the family. I have

looked after my father, who after all this time, has not let go of my mother’s

shadow. I will try hard to be well, and accompany you for a very long time, so

that you won’t be sad.’

 Zhengqing was moved and held her tightly in

his arms. He felt his eyes burning with unshed tears. He did not have close family;

Xiaoting will be his only one. And he knew that she said she would not make him

sad. (Zuben: Please tell me how she can guarantee that?)

‘I think if you are far away from

the kitchen, this goal is very easy to achieve.’ He said teasing her.

He laughed when she pinched him in

retaliation.

‘Please be more serious, your

personality was so serious, but you are such a strange old man. But, it doesn’t

matter; I have experience dealing with strange old men such as my father. You

can feel rest a.s.sured.’ She said.

‘Not serious enough young lady,

going by your personality, you’re definitely a mischievous one even when you

get old. But don’t worry, I have experience dealing with Miao-dada, therefore,

you can feel relieved.’ He replied.

Yin Ying laughed, so they were an

inborn pair?

She sighed sadly and muttered, ‘I

don’t want to go home.’

‘Me neither,’ he wanted to kiss her

again.

‘But my family has a strange old

man,’ she said, ‘so I have to go home.’

It’s a pity, but there was nothing

they could do.

So he said, ‘I’ll walk you to doors

of your building.’ Just to be with her a little longer.

‘Alright.’ She said happily.

They strolled as slowly as possible

to her apartment building. At the entrance, he decided to accompany her to the

elevators. At the elevators, he still did not let her go but told her he hoped

the day he could come with her to her family home would arrive soon.

Yin Ting got on the elevator, as

the doors closed she looked at Zhengqing, he had a forlorn expression on his

face. She hurriedly stopped the doors, and gave him a quick kiss and ran back

into the lifts. Laughing she said, ‘I’ll tell my Dad, so it can happen

quickly.’ (Zuben: Would it? We’ll see…)

The door finally closed and

Zhengqing watched the LED screen count floors until it stopped. He waited for

the time that Yin Ting would leave the elevator and whispered, ‘Good night,’

❀❀

When he got home, he hugged Miao-dada

for a good while. In his absence, Yin Ting had bought lots of things for the

cat. In the cat’s room, there were new cabinets with sets of cat’s clothes,

collars, a lead, and various types of snacks and toys. (Zuben: No wonder the

cat got fat.)

‘She is going to spoil you,’ he

said to the cat. But the cat did not pay him any mind; it was more interested

in the snack drawer Zhengqing had opened. He closed it. He was also going to be

spoiled by her, he thought.

He lay down on the carpet and

thought of Xiaoting’s kisses and his body felt aglow. It all felt like a dream,

this was the best Christmas he’s ever had since he’d been born.

 Yin Ting arrived home in a

floaty self-satisfied haze. Yin s.h.i.+ was still at his bar. Her father, Yin Guohao,

had gone to sleep. Their housekeeper came out to ask her if she wanted to have

anything before she slept. But she shook her head and smiled foolishly as she

went to her room.

In her room, she pulled out

Zhengqing’s present and placed it on a prominent shelf. She started the

slideshow again. As she read, she collapsed onto her bed and covered her face

with her quilt from shyness.

She liked his kisses. His body was

firm and strong, and his arms around her made her feel peaceful and secure. He

hands were large and warm but he was very gentle. His eyes twinkled brightly

and his looks stirred something within her.

He said he wanted to come and visit

her home soon.

She giggled, he was so impatient.

So loveable.

She wanted to give him a gift,

something clever and touching like his photo frame. (Zuben: Would you be

viewing any power point presentations?) She must think about it deeply. She

thought about the way he looked at her today, so pa.s.sionate, it made her feel

shy.

She was giggling to herself, when

her phone rang. She looked to see it was Zhengqing so she quickly picked up,

‘Are you home?’ she asked

‘Yes, for a while.’

‘How are you?’

‘Very good,’ he’d played with the

cat a lot, now he was resting. It wasn’t good to have a fat cat.

‘What are you doing now?’ she asked

He was just lying on his bed, ‘Not

doing anything,’ he said, a bit embarra.s.sed to tell the truth, ‘What are you

doing? Asleep, yet?’ he asked in return.

‘Nothing,’ lying on her bed,

missing him already wasn’t something she could say so easily. Not yet. Then she

remembered,

‘I still have your house keys.’

‘I know, I had spare ones at work.’

He said smiling. ‘If I had forgotten about them, I would not have been able to

enter my house.’

She laughed and said, ‘The keys are

mine now.’

‘Xiaoting,’ he called quietly.

‘What is it?’

‘I have never had the experience of

ringing my own door bell. Thank you.’ He said, his voice was low and gentle.

She was touched.

He’d never rand the door bell of

his house, because, there had been no one to open the door for him. How lonely.

Yin Ting was sad for him.

‘Today made me very happy,’ he

said.

‘Me too,’ she said, her heart was

touched.

‘I better get some sleep, there’s a

lot of work tomorrow.’

‘Alright, have a good rest.’

‘You too. See you tomorrow

evening.’ He said to confirm that nothing had changed and feel at ease.

‘Yes, see you tomorrow.’

They rang off. Yin Ting was in a

strange mood, both happy and down. She wanted to be good to him, no, she wanted

to treat him the best and be more to him.

❀❀

The next day, Zhengqing arrived at

work. He seemed to be the topic of conversation for his colleagues especially

those who were Tingting YuLi 413 followers. Many offered him congratulations.

Even his micro-blog was lively with many new users following his page and

congratulating him. (Zuben: Weird people)

Many of those should also be Yin

Ting’s blog followers. Someone made a comment about the deletion of the initial

blog post, (Zuben: I’m really not sure about this line. It must be Chinese

internet speak)

Zhengqing frankly said, ‘Thank

you,’

The feeling was very new and fresh,

yet wonderful. He felt good. He got himself a cup of coffee and started his

work day. He took a photo of his coffee and posted it on his blog and shared it

with Tingting Yu Li 413’s circle.

One of colleagues rapidly

commented: ‘Boss, isn’t it too early in the morning to be showing off your love?’

Yin Ting replied quickly: ‘Let me

ask, can you let my boyfriend peacefully show love on my blog. Sofa! Please!’

followed by several sad faces (Zuben: This is nonsensical)

There was a reply: ‘Alright! The

boss has become a human beauty.’ Then he deleted his original message. (Zuben:

Why are there so many followers of Tingting YuLi in YongKai? It just seems to

implausible.)

Ying tIng also deleted her reply

and wrote: ‘Sofa!!!’ (Zuben: Maybe sometime soon as I translate the 11-19

chapters I will figure out what SOFA is)

Zhengqing covered his face and laughed.

He’d almost forgotten his sweet girlfriend could be feisty.

She sent him a message: ‘Work hard,

take breaks and drink plenty of water and eat lunch.’

The colleague appeared again, his

comment was a long line of ha-ha-has.

Yin Ting replied: ‘Thank you. Thank

you.’

After a bit, another colleague

commented: ‘Beauty, did you s.n.a.t.c.h the sofa to pursue our Vice President Qiu?’

Yin Ting replied to a peace hand

sign and a toothy grin emoticon.

Someone else asked, ‘Is Qiu zong

very serious in love as well?’ (Zuben: They’ve only been dating two weeks if

you count the long distance thing at the beginning.)

 Yin Ting replied: ‘I’m not

telling.’

Zhengqing thought if he did not

wade in, the situation would become chaotic, so he replied to his nosy

colleagues,

‘It seems that we are idle. Please

bring me the reports from the last two weeks.’

The comment section finally became

quiet.

Yin Ting left a smiling tongue out

emoticon and ran away. Other people came online to tease them. Zhengqing logged

off the micro-blog and dived into work.

(Zuben: If I had been reading this

chapter, I totally would have skipped this. So dull and cheesy. Why are his colleagues

her micro-blog followers?!)

At noon, Yin Ting called him

telling him to have lunch and take a break. He reported his doings for the day,

Yin Ting was satisfied. Chouzhengqing laughed and asked her what she ate. She

informed him that she was having lunch at home. Though her dad was now in good

health, she still went home to eat and have a nap. They talked for a bit more

then Ying Ting said she was off to eat and rang off.

The housekeeper was setting the

table, her father Guohao, was sitting at the head of the table watching his

daughter smile sweetly at her phone. When the housekeeper came back with a

serving of food, Yin Ting said, ‘Aunty Chen, tomorrow I will learn how to cook

from you. I’ll give you the recipe, please help me buy the ingredients.’

The older woman smiled and agreed,

and returned to the kitchen.

Her father watched her quietly as

she served him some rice,

‘Dad,’ she began, ‘I have a boyfriend.

This time it is real. You’ve met him before, Qiu Zhengqing who works at YongKai.

You met him at the cemetery last Mid Autumn festival. Do you remember?’

‘Hmm.’ Guohao replied neither

warmly or coldly as he began to eat.

‘He doesn’t have any family and he’s

the only one at home. I want to learn how to cook, so I can make tasty dishes.

You and Ge-ge can’t laugh at me oh. Otherwise, I won’t maintain my enthusiasm for

learning.’

‘Do you have to do it?’ Guohao

asked, ‘Is he looking for a girlfriend or a cook?’

‘That I have no skill in this is

not good.’ At home, she would like to help Aunty Chen, but she didn’t because,

it felt like she want invading Aunty Chen’s domain in the kitchen, and she didn’t

want to do anything wrong, ‘This is something I want to do, he hasn’t asked me.

It’s not about being a housewife.’

Guohao remained silent.

‘When can you meet him, ah?’ she

asked.

Guohao ate a bit and then replied, ‘You

haven’t been dating for long. Right now, you think everything is great, when

you’ve both calmed down, stabilised and are seeing clearly, you can come and

talk to me.’ (Zuben: Thumbs up for daddykins.)

Yin Ting pouted and helped her father

dish out more vegetables, ‘You always eat meat and rice, and so little

vegetables. How long will it take to consider us stable?’

‘You will know when the time comes.’

Yin Ting thought that now was very

good, but since her father said so, she had to comply. They really had only

just started; she didn’t need to worry about it.

At five PM, TingTing called

Zhengqing to ask how things were progressing. And what time will he be leaving

work? He glanced at his desk covered in doc.u.ments, ‘There is a small meeting so…seven.’

He could leave just before seven, ‘You get some evening tea to pad your belly

first.’

‘Alright,’ she said and hung up.

Near six, she called again, ‘How is

it going? Do you think you will be done by seven?’

‘Well…possibly,’ he said, just then

another doc.u.ment was handed to him. He frowned; he had to deal with that.

‘I won’t come and pick you up. I

bought us dinner and I will take it to your place and wait for you with Dada.

When you finish, come home. So it won’t be too tiring.’

‘Good. Thanks. See you soon.’ He said

slightly relieved.

At seven-twenty four, Zhengqing

called Yin Ting and told her he was leaving work and heading home. She told him

she was waiting.

Waiting for him at home, ah. What a

wonderful feeling. (Zuben: How long till it becomes pressure?)

Half an hour later, Zhengqing stood

before his home. Though he had a door key, he still pressed the bell.

The door opened and Yin Ting greeted

him with a sweet smile, ‘You’re back!’ she cried. His fat cat also came over to

purr at his feet.

This felt so good, he thought as he

opened his arms and Yin Ting clung to him.

‘From now, how about if there is no

time to go out, I buy dinner and wait for you here?’ She asked him.

Zhengqing pulled back slightly and

looked at her eyes.

‘I like opening the door for you,’ she

said (Zuben: For how long?)

Zhengqing was speechless and pulled

her into a tight hug.

Someone was there to open the door.

Someone was home waiting for him.

Zuben: Dear readers, you must think

I must be some kind of grumpy pants with my oft derisive comments: I am. Since

I am not reading ahead, I am reacting as I would if someone told me about this

couple. I can’t decide if their insta-dependence is a plan by the author for

the story ahead or if this is what she wants their love to be like. Anyway,

we’ll find out as we go along.

This was a boring chapter for me.

So much pointless minutiae. I especially disliked the micro-blog part. Urgh.

❀ Chapter 44