9
Su Qiong clutched the blankets and very skillfully sat on the three-legged chair.
“What’s your name?” Lin Fu asked
Su Qiong said earnestly: “My name is Su Qiong?”
Lin Fu asked casually: “Which characters? The Qiong as in ‘fine jade’, or the Qiong as in ‘high and lofty’?”
Su Qiong beamed: “Neither. It’s the Qiong as in ‘the exhaustive burden of abject poverty’.”
Lin Fu quietly took a deep breath.
Who gave him this name? Were they braindead?
Su Qiong ducked his head bashfully: “I gave myself this name because I think it really suits me.”
Lin Fu gazed at him, pained.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“That’s probably my assistant. I’ll grab it.” Lin Fu saw that Su Qiong was not too mobile, as he was wrapped in the blanket, so he rushed to open the door.
His assistant, Xiao Zhang, was standing at the door with shopping bags in hand. He greeted him respectfully: “Director Lin, I have purchased the pants.”
“Pass them to me.” Lin Fu took the shopping bags and gave them to Su Qiong, “We’re still not sure if they fit, so we’ll wait while you try them on.”
Having not worn a pair of new pants in two years, Su Qiong’s eyes lit up like a child tearing open a present. Inside the shopping bag was a pair of skin-tight leather pants with a vertical zipper on the back…
Lin Fu suddenly felt like a pervert. He slanted a look at Xiao Zhang and swiftly passed the buck: “I didn’t tell you to buy this style.”
Xiao Zhng stood coldly off to the side: “I apologize, Director Lin. There are other styles, as well.”
… A miscalculation. I thought he was a wretched seductress.
…
Su Qiong flushed red and quickly gave the leather pants back. Then, he pulled a simple pair of jeans out of the second bag.
“I’ll wear this one.” Su Qiong said as he carressed the brand-new pair of pants like they were a treasure. His eyes twinkled with a joyful light.
“…Alright.” Lin Fu was dazed. He quickly pulled Xiao Zhang to the door and turned around as they waited for Su Qiong to change.
Su Qiong removed the padded quilt that he had worn for the whole morning. He put on the new pair of pants and walked around in them a bit. He said happily: “Do they look good?”
“Yes…” Lin Fu hesitated a little. He was about to tell him to look at himself in the mirror, but he swallowed the words. Su Qiong’s home, it seems, does not have a mirror.
“You can take the rest back.” Su Qiong passed the other shopping bags over to Xiao Zhang, “I only ruined one pair of pants. You don’t need to repay me with this many pairs.”
“…” Xiao Zhang took the bags expressionlessly.
Tsk. Man, are you trying to catch our Director Lin’s attention?
…
Lin Fu nodded helplessly. He pulled out his cellphone and said: “May I have your contact info?”
Su Qiong replied timidly: “You still want to contact me later?”
“Yes.” Lin Fu’s brow twitched, “Our company might have a few part-time positions open.”
Su Qiong said embarrassedly: “I don’t have a cellphone.”
Lin Fu replied quickly: “Landline.”
As soon as the words left his mouth he knew it was useless.
As expected, Su Qiong said apologetically: “I don’t have a landline, either.”
Lin Fu: “…”
Su Qiong saw that Lin Fu’s expression did not look too good, so he rushed to say a string of numbers and added: “You can call my neighbor, Auntie Li, and tell her that you’re looking for Su Qiong.”
“Alright.” Lin Fu’s expression softened lightly. He lowered his head to record the number.
Su Qiong said very cautiously: “But if there isn’t any reason, it’s better not to call. It could bother Auntie Li.”
Lin Fu looked pained: “…”
Xiao Zhang supported Lin Fu by the arm: “Director Lin, take care.”
Interesting. You’re the first person brave enough to speak to our Director Lin like that.
…
Lin Fu calmed down a bit. He made another attempt: “At the very least, let me treat you to a meal as an apology. This shouldn’t be too much, should it?”
Su Qiong’s little face beamed: “Okay.”
Lin Fu released a breath, then turned his head and instructed Xiao Zhang quietly: “Reserve a private room at La Seine.”
It was an expensive, family-owned French restaurant.
But Su Qiong did not get it.
“Could we have…roast duck?” Su Qiong gulped, full of expectation, “There’s a market nearby that sells it. I always smell it on my way home. It smells delicious.”
“We can.” Lin Fu’s eyes pricked slightly. He turned to Xiao Zhang, “Don’t book it. We’re going to eat roast duck.”
Xiao Zhang: “Understood, Director Lin.”
Congratulations, our Director Lin has paid attention to you.
10
The three of them went downstairs.
The black car that had hit Su Qiong yesterday was parked by the curb. Xiao Zhang hurried over and opened the car door.
Su Qiong looked to be in a predicament: “Could we walk instead?”
Lin Fu asked: “Why?”
Su Qiong cautiously stood two meters away from the car, like he was afraid of staining it: “The car is so expensive, if I sit in it, it’ll most likely break down.”
Lin Fu smiled, clearly disregarding the idea: “That’s impossible.”
The staunch materialist is fearless, indeed!
“It’s true, my monetary fortunes are really bad. Anything I touch that’s expensive breaks.” Su Qiong stood firm, “It’s close, only a ten minute walk.”
Lin Fu did not want to keep debating this ridiculous subject. His expression grew serious and he said resolutely: “Get in.”
Su Qiong did not dare anger him, so he could only get in the car dejectedly. He shrank his arms and legs in, like he was trying to limit the area of the car that he had contact with.
…
The car turned on.
“See, it’s fine.” Lin Fu said gently.
Su Qiong blinked, looking at Lin Fu with eyes filled with sorrow.
Lin Fu attempted to uproot Su Qiong’s baffling superstition, and said earnestly: “You think that anything expensive you touch will break, but this doesn’t actually have any basis…”
He had not even finished speaking before a loud bang sounded and smoke started to pour out of the car’s hood.
Su Qiong pursed his lips and said apologetically: “The engine looks fried.”
Lin Fu: “…”
Su Qiong quickly got out of the car and stood three meters away. He lowered his head and pulled at the hem of his down jacket: “I should get out, or the car might explode.”
Lin Fu: “…”
…
“Find a way to fix the car.” Lin Fu dropped this task on the dumbfounded Xiao Zhang, then grabbed his jacket and exited the car, walking over to Su Qiong.
Su Qiong bit his lip, feeling quite bad about everything: “Sorry, I ruined your car.”
Lin Fu, the staunch materialist, shook his head and smiled consolingly: “It’s just a coincidence, nothing to do with you.”
Su Qiong’s head drooped listlessly: “It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have taken the chance…”
Lin Fu tilted his head down slightly to look at Su Qiong. His disheveled black hair was scattered over his white nape, making others want to touch it.
“Let’s go.” Lin Fu ruffled Su Qiong’s hair, then draped his jacket over his shoulder, “Lead the way.”
“Ah…okay.” Su Qiong was dazed by the ruffling of his hair.
Lin Fu glanced affectedly at the hand that had just touched Su Qiong’s hair, then teased: “My hand won’t break too, right?”
Su Qiong solemnly explained: “It won’t. It only works on inanimate objects.”
“…” Lin Fu closed his mouth silently.
…
Ten minutes later, Lin Fu, in his impeccable attire, tucked his long legs in and sat on a bright green, plastic folding chair. Wearing a pair of gloves, he tore off a greasy duck leg, placed it on a disposable foam plate, then passed it to Su Qiong. He said lightly: “Have some.”
“Thank you.” As if receiving imperial favor, Su Qiong accepted the plate and took a huge bite out of the duck leg. He chewed contentedly, his eyes shining like a little hamster gathering food.
Lin Fu glanced at him, then continued to focus on pulling apart the roasted duck, dipping it in the sauce, then rolling it up into the pancake[1]For reference, these pancakes, bing, are more like tortillas. You roll up the duck with sauce and sometimes add vegetables to eat it. Roast duck slaps, make sure to try it sometime and placing the rolls onto Su Qiong’s foam plate: “Eat a bit slower. We can always order more.”
“Okay.” Su Qiong agreed vaguely as he chewed. Then, he immediately hung his head.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Fu frowned. He took off his single-use gloves, then grasped Su Qiong’s jaw and lifted his head.
His pitiable little face was covered in tears, his mouth covered in shimmering oil and his cheeks bulging as he chewed. His eyes, while brimming with tears, were curved as he smiled.
“Roast duck is really good!” Su Qiong swallowed a mouthful with a gulp and said as he smiled tearfully, “You’re a good person. I’m so happy.”
“Then have some more.” Director Lin felt a stinging in his heart and just about started crying with him. He did not sense the strangeness in Su Qiong’s logic at all.
“Okay.” Su Qiong wiped away his tears. He nibbled meticulously on the side of a duck leg, eating even the cartilage around the bone.
At that moment, Lin Fu felt that duck bone jab him in the heart.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | For reference, these pancakes, bing, are more like tortillas. You roll up the duck with sauce and sometimes add vegetables to eat it. Roast duck slaps, make sure to try it sometime |
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