The Heartbeat at the Tip of the Tongue

Word count: 2698

Scream Zone

Lin Ke Song pulled Jiang Qian Fan into the car. Miller turned his head back and asked Jiang Qian Fan, “Sir, where will we go now?

“Coney Island.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah?”

Miller and Lin Ke Song were taken aback.

What would they do on Coney Island? Were there any fine dining restaurants there? Or had Jiang Qian Fan invested in a new restaurant property?

“Scream Zone.” Jiang Qian Fan heard the question in Lin Ke Song’s voice and answered.

“Scream…Zone…”  Lin Ke Song wasn’t sure whether the Scream Zone she thought of was the same as Jiang Qian Fan’s. The ‘Scream Zone’ Lin Ke Song knew of was a large-scale amusement park, and the Soarin’ Eagle inside was extremely famous. There were many tourists who rode this rollercoaster and ended up losing their voices from screaming.

“Are you scared?” Jiang Qian fan asked.

“I’m…I’m not scared at all!”

Who was she kidding…was there any rollercoaster she hadn’t ridden before? Although she always ended up with a pale face and trembling legs from the fright and had even once directly puked into a trash can and was mocked by that guy Song Yi Ran, she still really enjoyed the rotating and swooping experience.

“I’m not afraid.” Jiang Qian Fan lightly replied.

Lin Ke Song was stunned.

……Sir, of course you’re not afraid. Isn’t it because you can’t see?!

But upon thinking about how Jiang Qian Fan wanted to take her to an amusement park, Lin Ke Song was inexplicably happy. In the past, she had thought he did not pursue anything other than food in his life. Yet, in fact, Jiang Qian Fan was also a person who knew how to live.

They didn’t hold hands and watch those romance movies, nor did he buy any expensive jewellery and dress her up like a Christmas tree. The words passed between them both was also not many. However, every sentence that he spoke, everything that he did, would always cause her heart to jump.

Today, there were quite a lot of people at the Scream Zone. Colourful balloons floated around the place, and there were many clowns and staff dressed up as cartoon characters performing. The air was filled with the aroma of popcorn and cotton candy, and the screams of those in the rollercoaster as it rushed towards the sky made people glance up every time.

“What do you want to eat? Popcorn, cotton candy, fries, or hot dogs?” Jiang Qian Fan asked.

“You would let me eat these?”

Weren’t these junk food in Jiang Qian Fan’s eyes?

“Well, you’ll end up vomiting it all out when you come down from the rollercoaster anyway.”

Jiang Qian Fan held his cane and walked towards the direction of the screams.

“I won’t vomit! Just wait and see!” Lin Ke Song stepped forward and wound her arm around his elbow. But when her line of sight fell upon the corner of his lips, she couldn’t help but cry out, “Where you smiling just then?”

“No.”

“I saw it clearly! Even though your lips only tilted up a tiny bit!”

“When you really do vomit, then I will smile.”

When they were sitting on the rollercoaster with their legs hanging in the air, Lin Ke Song’s lingering fear from the past arose.

She could imagine the feeling of herself being thrown out.

She grasped the safety levers tightly with her hands, but Jiang Qian Fan next to her was calm, as if he was merely sitting on a sight-seeing cable car. He touched Lin Ke Song’s wrist and said coolly, “Your heartbeat is very fast.”

“That’s because a male god is sitting next to me.” Lin Ke Song openly lied with her eyes wide open.

“Oh, my pleasure.”

Their legs lightly shook for a while as the rollercoaster slowly climbed up. When they reached the highest point, Lin Ke Song’s heart felt pinched and her breath was suppressed is her chest. It was that kind of feeling where one lost complete control and didn’t know where the heaven and earth were.

Other than the screams, the whistling sound of the wind was also present by their ears.

Her entire body was spread out, and even though Lin Ke Song knew that she would not fall out, she held onto the safety rode with all her strength.

She didn’t even dare to open her eyes, and only screamed wildly.

Beside her, Jiang Qian fan was calm.

Lin Ke Song was simply unable to bear it. Reaching out her hand, she grasped his fingers and clenched them firmly. Even though he wasn’t scared at all, she still wanted him to feel this pain!

When they finally came to the end, most of the people’s faces were dead white.

Lin Ke Song clambered down from the rollercoaster and felt that the world was spinning. She knew that she would definitely not be able to walk in a straight line.

And she really wanted to vomit…

She had to endure, she had to endure…

After all, Jiang Qian Fan, that guy, was listening.

He opened his cane and using his ears, recognised Lin Ke Song’s footsteps among the other tourists who had come and went. He followed her at a distance that was neither close nor far.

“If you want to vomit, you should. Get it out of your stomach, and then you can eat something delicious.”

Lin Ke Song was unable to endure anyway and rushed to the bin, holding it as she vomited everything out.

Jiang Qian Fan stood behind her and touched her shoulder. He stroked her back lightly, then handed her a paper towel.

Lin Ke Song wiped her mouth then sat on a bench, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

Jiang Qian Fan sat next to her and said, “I seem to smell hot dogs.”

“It’s about ten meters to your six o’clock.”

“Then I’ll go and buy a hot dog while you rest here.”

“Ah? There are too many tourists here! I’ll go instead.”

Jiang Qian Fan stood up, and headed over to the direction Lin Ke Song had said.

She was feeling extremely faint, but Jiang Qian fan’s figure was like a frozen landscape. Even if the world was turned upside down, he was still there.

Occasionally, there would be tourists passing by and her sight would be blocked. She would then get up nervously, worried she would lose him. A child scampered by him, and she worried that he would accidentally be knocked. But Jiang Qian had long heard it, and he avoided it and stood to the side.

Lin Ke Song exhaled.

She had never gazed at someone’s back this way, worried that he would be hurt, afraid that she would lose him.

When Jiang Qian Fan walked towards her with a hotdog in a paper box in his left hand and a coke hanging in the bag on his arm, Lin Ke Song felt a joy as if she had just retrieved something she lost.

He handed the paper box to her, and she opened it. Then she deliberately lifted the hot dog towards him, “I’ll let you have the first bite!”

He opened his mouth, and even though it was merely common food, there was a kind of aristocratic elegance.

As she expected, the sauce in the hotdog was squeezed out form both sides and stuck to his cheeks. Lin Ke Song smiled then took out her phone, taking a few pictures.

“Are you going to post that on Facebook?”

“I won’t! This is a private collection!” Lin Ke Song answered in a solemn manner.

The truth was…..she didn’t have Facebook.

“Can I wipe the sauce off my face now?” Jiang Qian Fan’s expression reflected his seriousness towards this question.

Lin Ke Song grinned then carefully wiped his face. If was only when her fingers touched Jiang Qian fan’s cheek over the paper towel that she realised this man actually knew everything, whether that was her thoughts or her ideas of creating mischief. But he didn’t care, and even used himself to make her happy.

They had fun at the amusement park until both their backs were drenched with sweat before finally leaving.

Although she didn’t speak, there was a constant smile on Lin Ke Song’s face.

“You had a lot of fun today.”

“Yes. The Soarin’ Eagle rollercoaster in the Scream Zone was really amazing!”

“So it turns out that you like rollercoasters. Then let’s go to Dubai together next time. There is a Ferrari themed park there, where the rollercoaster will rush out at the high speed of a Ferrari. It’s known as the “body flying out in front, and the soul chasing from behind.”

Lin Ke Song glanced over at Jiang Qian Fan’s face, confirming whether that guy was actually being serious. He must really love seeing her vomit!

Jiang Qian Fan then proceeded to send her home. He kissed her forehead then said ‘good night’.

Lin Ke Song touched her forehead, and only then realised that Jiang Qian Fan did not mention anything about cooking or comment on the competition and her unexpected failure.

In fact, during the time when she was on the rollercoaster and it had abruptly dropped, Lin Ke Song suddenly realised that understanding the art of cooking not only required one to have a balanced taste, they also had to have that kind of surprise which could break open the restrictions on people’s taste buds.

Just like how he had suddenly appeared in her life.

***

That night, Jiang Qian Fan sat on the terrace as a cool breeze blew past. Mayer proceeded to read several documents to him for Jiang Qian Fan to sign.

“Mayer.”

“What’s wrong, sir? Is there a problem with the document?”

“Thank you for your care towards me and the Jiang Group.  You are the one I trust the most.”

“What’s the matter, sir? Why are you saying such words to me all of a sudden?”

“I know that you are worried Ke Song losing in the ‘Master’s Competition’ against Viktor will impact me. However, I don’t want to give her pressure because I don’t want to pull her into the fight between the Jiang and Quentin group. I hope you can trust me, and I have prepared for this for a long time.”

Mayer bowed slightly, then answered calmly, “I understand, sir.”

***

Lin Ke Song sat down at the dinner table with her uncle and Lin Xiao Xue. Her uncle deliberately gave Lin Ke Song white porridge with some fresh fried vegetables. He also said specifically, “This porridge should be cooled down then eaten!”

Lin Xiao Xue grinned and said, “She didn’t win the competition round again……Didn’t we say that unless Viktor made a mistake in the next round, she wouldn’t have the chance to become the champion?”

“This has nothing to do with winning the round in the competition! Receiving second is also very amazing already. What about you? You can’t even fry an egg. Before mocking other people, take a couple of looks at yourself.” Her uncle shook his head helplessly.

Lin Xiao Xue felt gloomy, and ended up returning to her room after eating only a few bites.

As for Lin Ke Song, she had climbed into her quilt earlier than usual, deciding to have a good night’s sleep.

Not long after, she received a WeChat message on her phone from Song Yi Ran: I have been very busy these couple of days and was not able to go and cheer for you at the competition. I will go and watch the final competition.

Attached was an emoji with an ominous expression.

Lin Ke Song smiled and said: When I win, I will wear and cloak and red leather pants like Superman, then go to your restaurant to be the Head chef.

Song Yi Ran quickly replied: I look forward to it.

***

At this time, Lin Xiao Xue was playing games in her room and wanted to drink coke, but found that there wasn’t any at home.

She took the key and planned to go to the convenience store across the street.

Lin Xiao Xue had just walked out, when she saw a figure standing under the streetlights, texting on his mobile phone. He had a nose with a high bridge, and his eyelids were half shuttered. Under the dim light, he appeared soft and fragile.

“You…did you come to find my cousin? Why aren’t you going up……”

Lin Xiao Xue didn’t want to disturb this kind of Song Yi Ran, but she had already unconsciously asked him.

The man standing under the streetlight slowly raised his head and smiled slightly, “I’m only passing by.”

“I can see that you’re sending a text message.”

Song Yi Ran approached Lin Xiao Xue in an unpredictable manner then knocked the cell phone on her head. “You should learn when to pretend that you’re unaware.”

“……Do you still like Lin Ke Song? Don’t you know that she’s with Jiang Qian Fan?”

“Then why do you hate Ke Song? Why did you post that picture of her kissing Jiang Qian fan on your Facebook page?” Song Yi Ran asked with a smile.

“Because……I wanted you to see……”

The last part of the sentence, Lin Xiao Xue said quietly.

“So? Were you trying to make me give up on her, or trying to make me feel bad?”

Song Yi Ran’s tone of voice was as if he was speaking to an ignorant child. His expression right now was one that Lin Xiao Xue hated the most.

“I just don’t understand why you, my dad, and even Jiang Qian Fan all like her so much. Those who don’t know would think that she was goddess of a church or something!”

After restraining herself for so long, Lin Xiao Xue finally blurted out these words.

“Ah……you ask why? I don’t know why others like her, but I also know that not everyone likes her the way I do……I only remember that during the time I was in middle school, one of the classes organised a camp. My appendicitis suddenly flared up in the middle of the night, and the pain was nearly unbearable. The driver of the school bus was absent, and it would’ve taken time for the ambulance to arrive. Furthermore, it was difficult to describe our exact location. The only solution was to take a bicycle and send me to the nearest hospital. At that time, my class teacher was female, and she rode very slowly. Lin Ke Song followed the bicycle and speed walked beside us. She could have continued to sleep like the other students, but she chose to come along even though she ended up drenched in sweat. Finally, the teacher was unable to ride the bicycle any longer. And she, as a girl, continued instead, all the way to the hospital. My body was curled up from the pain, but I still gazed at her back determinedly. Exactly where did her strength and willpower come from?”

Lin Xiao Xue swallowed and stared blankly at Song Yi Ran.

“Later, many of my classmates learnt of my family background and became close to me. I had a lot more friends who would have fun together with me, but I knew very clearly that they deliberately became my friends. Not a single one of them would have been able to do what Ke Song did for me.”

“So you feel extremely grateful to Ke Song?”

Song Yi Ran smiled. “This isn’t gratitude, it’s understanding. If you want others to understand the good part of you and love you sincerely, then you must treat others with sincerity. Not every one of your efforts will be rewarded, and you won’t be able to get what you want each time. Once you accept this, then you will really have grown up.”

After saying this, Song Yi Ran turned around and left.

Lin Xiao Xue stared at his back under the dim lights and suddenly felt sad.

“Do you want me to be better towards her?”

“I just want you to become a little more likeable.”