Honey Stewed Squid

Thus, when SP’s Greater China and Europe divisions’ big boss, Solo, saw Gun’s girlfriend for the first time, he felt as if he was sitting across from a cooked shrimp…

Solo’s exact thoughts were:

“Sure enough, after straying and wandering in circles for all these years, in the end, what you love the most is still one who wishes there were twenty-five hours in a day to cling to you; who sticks to you, docilely obeys you, and occasionally paws you to get a little smile and love; and is… a tiny-sized… cat or person.”

Tong Nian’s entire head was still flooded with—

How could he be like that?

How could he…

Her mind was still in a state of tumult, filled with image after image of the scenes from before they had left the hotel room… Her fingers anxiously gripped the seat as she sat in a state of disbelief.

You’re so bad, Han Shangyan. Such a ruffian…

Perceiving that she was still feeling all sorts of after-the-fact embarrassment and bashfulness, Gun gave a lift of his brows, then poured himself a full glass to drink.

This particular restaurant was very small.

Yeah, it was clean, but truly, it was very small.

It did not belong to the off-the-beaten-path-but-good-food type of restaurant, either. It was simply a random eatery in an alley just off the street. At first, when the dishes were being served, Tong Nian had thought that the food in this place must be quite good, but after taking a couple of bites, she found there was nothing special about it.

She could not help stealing an extra glimpse at Solo.

She had sat in on a few of the matches Gun’s team had participated in but had never seen this boss of SP before.

Solo. His friend from ten years ago.

Such a gentle man. Although he was not very conversational, when his eyes looked at people, they were warm and kind. He was not as tall as Gun, nor did he emit that sharp aura that Gun carried, but it was still evident that he was once the captain of a team. He belonged to that type of person who… so long as he was sitting there, even if beyond the window the heavens were falling and the earth was cracking, you would not be afraid because he was present.

Hmm…

If Yaya was here, she would probably go crazy again.

For this dinner, on that side was Solo and on this side was Gun.

It was just… Could people die drinking the way they were?

Her eyes brushed over the empty bottles on the table.

Beer. Two, four, six… seven bottles. Baijiu[1] [traditional Chinese alcoholic drink]. Another one, two… two and a half bottles…

Tong Nian began to plan ahead. In the future, before he went to meet-up with Solo, she would first need to buy some King Drink[2].

While she was at it, she also began to do a Baidu search: how to persuade men not to drink…

A sound of ding rang out.

Yaya’s WeChat message popped up: Hey, hey! You promised you’d give me live updates.

Her: I saw Solo. 0.0

Yaya: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!

Her: ……

Yaya: The ancient legend. My ancient legend… T.T… Dang you! You must have saved the entire galaxy in your previous life…

Two hours later, she and Gun called a taxi and brought Solo back to his place first. After returning to their own hotel, they first made a stop at a convenience store to buy some beverages.

As Tong Nian, with her bag on her back, stood in front of the cooler and browsed over each item, she realized that she still did not know what he liked to drink. Gun’s head was lowered and pulling out the three mobile phones from his pocket, he powered each one on. The succinct alert tones from the countless messages and emails that were coming in flooded their ears. She cast a glance at him.

He made a gesture to indicate that he was stepping out first to make a phone call.

She nodded. After doing a full sweep from the cooler to the shelves in the snack aisles, she stepped back outside with a large bag of stuff dangling from her hand.

With a ding dong, the glass door opened.

He was standing in front of the entrance, head down as he unhurriedly unwrapped a green fruit candy and put it in his mouth. Seeing the things she was carrying, he stretched out his right arm.

Obediently, she hung the bag onto it. “Han Shangyan?”

“Hmm?” He crushed the candy between his teeth as he gave a muffled response.

It was not clear from where, but in a solemn manner, she pulled out a card and, with both hands, handed it to him.

His deep black eyes slid over it. What was that? A bank card?

“This is all my savings from since I was little. All sorts of lucky money[3] from various New Year’s, plus the money earned from going to expos and signing events and from selling albums, plus what I earned doing any commercial-type performances, plus scholarship money…” she explained a little self-consciously. “76,973 RMB.”

Not a small amount at all.

Gun thought, the kid needed to dress herself up prettily each day, so to still be able to save up so much money was really not an easy thing. While giving his silent approval for her money-saving abilities, he wadded the candy wrapper in his hand into a ball.

Calculating based on length, for that chain wrapped around her wrist, her funds would be able to buy… two or three millimetres of it?

“I’m giving it to you.” With all seriousness, she handed over every last bit of her wealth.

Grandfather doesn’t support you. Auntie doesn’t support you. It doesn’t matter. You still have me.

Gun had not at all guessed that the scene would play out like this.

Even when she had reported her total savings amount to him, he still had not guessed that it was for this purpose.

This time of night as well as his brain, which was already in a medium state of drunkenness, were both not suited for dealing with such a situation. She, her words, and even her pink bank card with a Hello Kitty picture on it all gave this feeling—that they were especially not suited for such sappy sentimentalism in this time, this moment. This type of act, one of handing over all of your heart and soul, he had done before as well. Talking about doing such a thing was quite simple, but very few people could actually carry through with it.

To maintain a sliver of a gap from one another, that was the safe distance between people, be it in friendship or love.

A person who rushed to offer up everything after only knowing someone for a few months was, to put it undiplomatically, an idiot.

……

Without uttering a word, he continued to feel around in his pants pocket, trying to find something that could stave those emotions that were on the verge of spiraling out of control.

Couldn’t find anything.

Nearby, several young boys were laughing as they walked past. Spotting Tong Nian standing in front of the convenience store, they could not help throwing a couple extra looks in her direction. However, intimidated by the person beside the little girlie, they curled their lips into a pout and, after a ding dong rang out, walked in through the glass doors.

Inside, it was filled with the merry laughter of young people.

She never did pay attention at all to other people, nor was she sensitive enough to be able to detect how many people were interested in her.

And this was the she that Gun liked. Offhandedly squeezing her little ear between his fingers, he told her, “You can forget the cash. Just give me your entire person.”

“……”

“Whenever you’re not scared anymore, just give me a little hint.”

“……” Big lecher! You’ve clearly already…

“I shall be respectfully awaiting you at any time.”

“……” She was about to snap the card from grasping it so tightly.

From the corner of his eye, Gun noticed that the boys in the convenience store were still ogling her through the glass. Rather irked, he slid the white plastic bag off his arm and held it in his left hand while his right hand slipped into the pocket of his jacket. “Let’s go.”

Huh? Oh, okay.

He stepped away first. Following behind, Tong Nian reached a hand out and tugged on the end of his sleeve.

Gun turned his head to the side.

He watched as she, her cheeks glowing rosily, let her hand glide down from the edge of his sleeve into the side pocket of his track jacket. He could feel when her hand contacted his. Then, tucking her fingers in, she stuffed her fist into his palm.

This moment…

There were taxicabs and busses passing by them.

The raucous sounds of honking horns, the noise of driving vehicles as well as people on bicycles, all sped past beside them… He stood noiselessly, waiting for her to successfully nestle her little fist into his palm. And then, he gave a faint, almost indiscernible smile.

Still on his face was an indifferent expression, one that stated he could not be bothered with dealing with anything. But, firmly, he took that little hand into his secure grasp.

Off in the distance, those grown boys inside the convenience store…

“Whoa, the cutie little girlie is making the first move? Dang it, is there any justice in that?”

“Such a pretentious jerk. If you’re going to hold hands, then so be it. Hiding it in the coat pocket and all—can you be any more obvious, huh?!!”

“Damn you! Think you’re so awesome with your long legs? Slow down a bit. The cutie can’t keep up…”

“Darn! ‘All the good cabbage has been wasted on the pigs[4]’ [all the hotties have been wasted on the jerks, idiots, and uglies].”

“Doesn’t even love and dote on his wifey at all…”

[1] 白酒 “bai jiu.” Baijiu literally means “white alcohol.” This traditional Chinese alcoholic beverage is technically classified as a spirit and is made from sorghum and other grains. Those who did not grow up exposed to baijiu will often, on their first taste of it, describe it with adjectives such as “strong,” “fiery,” “harsh,” “biting,” etc. It has a high alcohol by volume (ABV), typically in the range of 40-60%. (For comparison, a typical wine is ~9-15%, vodka is 40%.)

[2] 海王金樽 “Hai Wang Jin Zun.” Hai Wang Jin Zun, which has the English name, King Drink, is a pre-packaged Chinese health product that allegedly can prevent alcohol poisoning and cure hangovers.
King Drink (image credit: jd.com)

[3]压岁钱 “ya sui qian.” During the Lunar New Year period, money, called “ya sui qian,” is given in red envelopes by elders to young people . It represents blessing and well wishes for the year. It is referred to as “lucky money” in English.

[4] 好白菜都被猪拱了. This saying literally means “the good veggies have been wasted and given to the pigs to nudge around with their snouts.” It describes a situation where something good has been wasted. In the context of relationships, it is saying a good girl has been wasted on a guy who isn’t worthy of her, with the veiled jeer that the man is like a pig.