…Seeing that Ye Xiaoxian was being cold towards him he was somewhat surprised, so he asked, “What makes you unhappy today, miss?”
“Young Master Zhang, you’re here to eat food so you might as well just order your dishes and don’t have to worry about the rest of my business,” said Ye Xiaoxian.
However, Young Master Zhang thought that Ye Xiaoxian was playing hard to get and trying to attract his attention by treating him coldly. He involuntarily chuckled. “Miss, do you blame me for coming a bit too late? If so, I’ll come earlier tomorrow. By the way, can I go to the kitchen, I’d like to have a word with you privately.”
“Just say it here!” Ye Xiaoxian was already sick of what Young Master Zhang had said so far.
“It is not…very convenient here.” Young Master Zhang grinned.
“If it’s not convenient, maybe you don’t have to say it at all. I’m busy in the kitchen so I have to go back now. Excuse me.” Ye Xiaoxian said.
To someone like Young Master Zhang, since she had already ripped him off twice, that should be enough. If she ripped him off every time she saw him she would be a bit too dishonest and also, she did not have much energy to socialize with him.
Young Master Zhang wanted to hook up with Ye Xiaoxian but he felt too self-conscious to say it directly as there were so many people eating there. He intended to keep it low key, since it was an affair after all.
After Ye Xiaoxian went back to the kitchen, Young Master Zhang started coming up with plans.
He had already done the first two moves and the last one was to let Ye Xiaoxian understand what he felt towards her. He pondered for a while, hurriedly asking Fatty to borrow a pen and a paper from the counter and then scribbled a sentence: I wonder how well I have impressed you, miss. From Young Master Zhang, respectfully.
After he’d finished he asked Li Hongmei to come over again and to pass this note to Ye Xiaoxian.
Right after Li Hongmei went into the kitchen she said furiously, “Young Master Zhang has really gone too far. Little Ye, you have to think of a strong move to make him have no more illusions about you and to never come here to find you.”
Ye Xiaoxian unfolded the note and also considered how to reply.
Li Hongmei asked again, “By the way, have you cooked Scholar Wong’s dishes? He ordered a stir fried seasonal vegetables and a sweet and sour ribs.”
“Is Scholar Wong also here?” asked Ye Xiaoxian.
“Yes, he’s at the booth upstairs,” said Li Hongmei.
“Ma, can you go and ask Scholar Wong not to leave after he finishes eating as I have something to talk to him about,” said Ye Xiaoxian.
“You want to talk to him? Is it something about Baofeng?” asked Li Hongmei.
“Or anything else?” Ye Xiaoxian smiled, feeling that Li Hongmei was a bit too sensitive.
Li Hongmei also smiled. “Ah, I didn’t mean anything. I’m just afraid that…that Baoshan will be jealous.”
Ye Xiaoxian smiled slightly, asking a pen and paper from the counter and, after another thought, she wrote down two poetic verses:-
Before leaving the courtyard, thy forehead hath already reached the painting hall;
A drop of lovesick tears from last year hath not yet reached your chin for now.
…Li Hongmei took the note and gave it to Young Master Zhang and then went upstairs to find Scholar Wong.
Scholar Wong was drinking tea peacefully as well as paying attention to Young Master Zhang beneath him.
When Young Master Zhang unfolded the note, Scholar Wong also saw the two verses and he could not helping smiling. Baofeng’s sister-in-law was indeed a sophisticated person who actually quoted a poem to mock Young Master Zhang.
Meanwhile, Scholar Wong admired Ye Xiaoxian even more.
At the moment, Li Hongmei also carried Scholar Wong’s dishes and came upstairs. While she was putting the dishes down in front of Scholar Wong she spoke with a smile, “Mr. Wong, Little Ye asked if you could not leave after you finish your food? She has something to talk with you about.”
Scholar Wong felt flattered in surprise. Ye Xiaoxian was looking for him?
Li Hongmei then smiled and explained. “It’s about Baofeng but I don’t know the details. Maybe she wants to talk about Baofeng’s studies in school. Well, I don’t know anything about study at all so it’s all thanks to my little Ye and also you, Mr. Wong.”
“Don’t mention it, Mrs. Xiao, I’m just doing my job as a teacher,” Scholar Wong said modestly.
“Then enjoy your food, Mr. Wong and I’ll tell little Ye to come over later.”
…When Young Master Zhang downstairs unfolded the note he was not really sure about the meaning of the poem, but he could read alright. Seeing that there were some expressions like “lovesick tears”, “courtyard” and other words, he then turned to Skinny and Fatty. “Say, does Miss Ye secretly miss me? Look at the “lovesick” and “courtyard”, which means that she has been always thinking about me in the courtyard. What do you say?”
Fatty did not even know how to read and Skinny could only read letters, but still they pretended that they were masters and nodded constantly. “That’s right, that chef lady must be deeply in love with you.”
Young Master Zhang’s tiny eyes started rolling up and down. “So, it means I’ve got a chance. I might as well ask Miss Ye out and then…”
Fatty said quickly, “Young Master Zhang, which lodge would you like to go to? Tongfu Lodge or Yuelai Lodge? Feel free to choose any lodge in our town and I’ll book a room for you in advance.”
Young Master Zhang actually started thinking about choosing a lodge. “The floor of Tongfu Lodge is always being waxed and I nearly slipped last time, and the landlady of Yuelai Lodge wears too much perfume and the odor makes me sneeze. Junlai Lodge will be fine…”
Scholar Wong upstairs heard Young Master Zhang’s remarks and knitted his eyebrows.
Ye Xiaoxian was smart though she thought too highly of Young Master Zhang’s intelligence, so Scholar Wong thought that he was obliged to go downstairs and enlighten them.
He put down his chopsticks and went straight downstairs. When he reached Young Master Zhang, he bowed politely and said, “Sir, I’m also dining here and just heard the three of you were reciting poems. I’m just a humble scholar and would like to borrow your poem to have a little read, if I may?”
Young Master Zhang had just been about to find a scholar to interpret the poem for him and since Scholar Wong came downstairs he passed the note immediately to Scholar Wong. “Then hurry up and explain these sentences to me. What do they mean?”
Scholar Wong pretended to read for a short while and then said, “Right, I know these verses which came from an anecdote of the famous poet Su Shi and his young sister Su Xiaomei. The first line, ‘Before leaving the courtyard, thy forehead hath already reached the painting hall’, talks of a man who has a protruding forehead. As he hasn’t reached the gate yet his forehead has already knocked on the door. As for the second line, ‘A drop of lovesick tears from last year hath not yet reached your chin by now’, talks of a man whose face is as large as a basin, hence why the tear he shed last year has not yet reached his chin.”
After hearing this, Young Master Zhang was in a daze for a moment and then was enraged. He stood up all of a sudden and gripped Scholar Wong’s collar. “Is this true?”
Scholar Wong said, “I’m a scholar, why would I lie to you? If you don’t believe me, you can ask any other scholar and the explanation will be the same.”
Young Master Zhang loosened his grip, still furious, let Scholar Wong go and then rebuked, “Piss off!”
Scholar Wong then returned to his booth.
However, behind the counter, Xiao Baozhu had been watching Scholar Wong from the very beginning and knew that he had done this on purpose.