Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Arguments aside, the facts and logic still needed to be laid out clearly.

I held the Little Green Tea’s WeChat chat history up in front of Ma Chenxuan. First, I explained the situation and apologized for looking through his messages without permission. Then, I meticulously analyzed every move she had made. After a long explanation, I finally managed to get one fact through his head.

Ma Chenxuan: “So, what you’re saying is, she likes me?”

Me: “Possibly.”

Ma Chenxuan: “The point of her saying all this to me is to pursue me?”

Me: “She might be pursuing you, or she might just be flirting.”

Ma Chenxuan rubbed his chin, looking puzzled. “Why can’t I feel it?”

Me: “…Try harder.”

Ma Chenxuan tried very hard to feel it.

Ma Chenxuan: “I feel a bit dazed, a bit stupid, a bit disgusted, and a bit dizzy.”

Ma Chenxuan: “I’m also a bit hungry. Should we go get the braised chicken on the third floor for lunch?”

Me: “…I asked you to use your brain, not your digestive tract.”

Ma Chenxuan continued to press for answers.

Ma Chenxuan: “If she wants to pursue me, why is she always asking me to do things for her? Shouldn’t she be doing things for me?”

Me: “Doesn’t this junior look pitiful and delicate? Doesn’t she speak softly, move like a willow swaying in the breeze, and act as bashful as a water lily bowing before a cool wind?”

Ma Chenxuan: “How should I know?”

Me: “Shouldn’t you have seen her during your club dinners?”

Ma Chenxuan looked at me strangely, as if I had asked something preposterous.

“I pay fifty yuan for every dinner to figure out exactly how many crab legs make it into my stomach, to figure out whether the cod or the squid tastes better, and to see how many steaks each person is limited to. Not to figure out what someone looks like.”

Me: “…Fine. Most men like women who show weakness; it triggers their protective instinct and makes them feel more impressive and powerful.”

Ma Chenxuan found this hard to understand. “Why would they think like that? If their image needs someone else to ‘make’ them look powerful, doesn’t that just prove they’re actually weak?”

Ma Chenxuan: “If someone steals their wallet, do they think, ‘Wow, I must be really rich’?”

Ma Chenxuan: “I don’t like that type. I like the strong and healthy ones. I don’t want a water lily; I want a desert onion blooming in the middle of the Great Gobi-bright green and good for making cold appetizers.”

Ma Chenxuan looked at me affectionately. “Like you, for example. You can eat two pounds of braised beef in one sitting. I really adore that about you.”

My mouth twitched.

I couldn’t decide if he was being stupid or just brutally honest.

I took his hand. “Let’s go. Time to head to the ‘docks’ for some braised chicken.”