The Alchemists

When her office hours ended, Finland immediately prepared herself to pick Caspar - or Heinrich Schneider - up at NUS for their dinner appointment. Unexpectedly, in front of her office, the black Maybach was already waiting for her and Caspar's driver respectfully welcomed her by opening the car door.

"Why did you come to pick me up? " Finland asked in surprise.

"Master said I have to take Miss home and to change clothes, then drive you to NUS to pick him up." replied Ben respectfully. He was Caspar's regular driver.

Wow…

Caspar must have thought they were going to an expensive and fancy restaurant.

Finland felt bad. Driving a car this fancy to the hawker center to eat chicken rice would definitely create a scene.

Technically Finland did not cheat because they were going to eat at a one starred Michelin restaurant, but Liao Fan Chicken Rice is an exception in the culinary world. The price per serving was only 2 dollars therefore the queue could be very long …

"Ben, I don't need to change my clothes. We go directly to NUS."

Finally, Finland decided to stick to the original plan and have dinner at Liao Fan Chicken Rice. She was not willing to spend a large fraction of her bonus just to eat dinner at the more expensive Michelin restaurants. The important thing is that she kept her promise to Caspar.

Ben followed Finland's orders and took her directly to NUS.

[We are at the parking lot.]

[Class is almost finished. Wait for me in the car.]

Finland waited patiently in the car while chatting Jean via WhatsApp.

[I finally got the full name of our mysterious guy. His name is Heinrich Schneider. Boring though, not much information about him on Google]

Jean sent a screen shot of his search results to Finland 10 minutes later.

[I got many hits for Heinrich Schneider. Can you tell me which one he is on Google Images? There are too many different people on the picture.]

Finland examined the photos one by one and shook her head.

[None of them. All Heinrich Schneiders found on Google are not him. How is that possible? I thought we can find anyone on Google. If I type your name, for example, I can find a lot of information about you. See, I just typed Jean Pierre Wang, and I see lots of your pictures online; I can even see your show schedule last month.]

[The very rich and powerful people are able to block news about themselves on the internet. That's why you won't be able to find them on the Internet. If we really cannot find any information or photos about Caspar... it means that he is indeed a rich and powerful person. I think he is legit.]

Finland was stunned. She began to see Caspar differently.

The guy was so rich and powerful, he could even block news and photos of him on the internet. Finland didn't even know that such thing was possible. She thought only the FBI or Interpol can do something like that…

Then, what did a person as important and powerful as he want from Finland? Finland didn't have anything…

Before she could think further, the car door opened and Caspar entered. His hair and clothes were a bit wet because it was raining outside. Finland was not aware it had been raining for the past 5 minutes.

"Please pass me a towel from the small cabinet over there," Caspar asked Finland while pointing to the small shelf to Finland's right. She obeyed and handed him a white towel.

Caspar unbuttoned his shirt, then dried his hair with a towel. He then pointed to the other shelf on Finland's left, "Please get me a shirt from that cabinet."

He casually took off his wet shirt in front of the stunned girl. Finland, not knowing how to react, subconsciously took a new shirt from the shelf on her left and handed it to the guy.

"What's wrong with you?" Caspar asked in surprise. "Have you never seen a man change clothes before?"

"Not yet..."

"Oh ... didn't you go to swimming lessons in school?"

"That's different," Finland protested quickly.

"Why?"

Finland did not answer.

Caspar suddenly thought of something. He squinted his eyes and brought his face closer to Finland to see the girl better. "You... have you never slept with a man?"

"Geez, I have never had a boyfriend. And even if I have one, I will not sleep with him," Finland said curtly. "Who do you think I am?"

Finland knew the cultural differences between Westerners and Asians. For westerners, having sex before marriage was normal; for Asians it was not. She did not know how many women Caspar had slept with nor did she care. She did not, however, want Caspar to think of her that way.

She was born without a father, and the last thing Finland wanted was date a handsome European man and get pregnant out of wedlock like her mother. If Caspar only wants to sleep with her, then Finland had set her heart to make this dinner their last meeting.

She didn't want to get too attached to Caspar because, she realized, they lived in such different circumstances. It would seem almost impossible that Caspar wanted a serious relationship with her.

"Why are you angry? I asked because in this modern times, many people are in casual relationships. It's nothing to be mad about." Caspar shrugged, "A girl as beautiful as you, I think, must have had many lovers."

"Thanks. I don't have time to date. I have to work to make money," Finland answered flatly. "What's your deal, by the way? What do you really want from me?"

"I like you. I think you are beautiful and attractive. You are tough and hard-hearted. So, it's only natural that I am attracted to you," Caspar answered sincerely.

"But you can be with anyone you want! You can date beautiful celebrities like actors or models, or girls from wealthy families. I am a nobody. Why would you want to spend time with me?

"I've lived for so long and I have met so many women, but I've never been in love. You, Finland, are my life's anomaly." Caspar touched Finland's chin and looked at her deeply. "I'm not usually this nice with women. For you I genuinely try to be patient and understanding. I think I'm in love with you."

Finland pretended not to hear that Caspar mentioned the word 'love' in his sentence just now. Seriously, they barely knew each other. She just knew his full name this afternoon. This may be a trick he used to all women.

Thinking about it disgusted Finland . She blinked and turned her gaze outside the car window.

"We're going to Chinatown, Ben," she said later.

"You pretended not to hear my love confession just now," Caspar said with a smile and shook his head. "You're very thick skinned. How could your expression remain so flat? Any other women would be crying buckets when they hear me professing my love..."

"You have been saying all sorts of silly things ever since we met. You talked about buying a hotel, you said that you had been a surgeon for decades and can do your work with eyes closed, and all other blah blah blahs..." Finland said while shrugging, "And now you tell me that you love me? How am I supposed to take your words seriously?"

Caspar looked at Finland in disbelief. This girl was very stubborn.

Finland continued to look out the window, avoiding the love topic Caspar brought up.

"We stop here," she said as soon as they arrived in Chinatown. "We should walk a little. It would cause too much chaos if this car went all the way to the restaurant."

Caspar was surprised, but he just followed Finland. They both walked a little towards a hawker center stall, and the closer they got, the more confused Caspar's face became.

"The line starts here," Finland said, stopping. Caspar looked at Finland, then at the long queue in front of them, then at his fancy clothes, then at the sign board above the chicken rice stall …

"The Cheapest Michelin-starred Restaurant in the World." Finland read the writing on the signboard proudly.

He looked at Finland for a long time and finally shook his head in disbelief.