Chapter 19 (1/2)

Supercilious Punk

Half an hour later, Jiang Ru-Yi’s car pulled up to a Western restaurant by the sea. There were not many diners in the afternoon and the restaurant had only around ten people.

Jiang Ru-Yi and Xia Lei sat at a table close to the French windows, where they had a nice view of a stretch of clean beach and blue sea.

Xia Lei was a little clumsy since it was his first time eating a Western meal but he quickly adjusted.

“Lei, I really must thank you,” Jiang Ru-Yi raised her glass of red wine, “A toast, to you.”

Xia Lei smiled, “Order a lobster if you really want to thank me.”

Jiang Ru-Yi suddenly took off her high heels, raised a leg and kicked at the space between Xia Lei’s thighs.

Xia Lei had no time to dodge so he hurriedly pressed his legs together as he spoke anxiously, “What are you doing? This is a restaurant.”

Jiang Ru-Yi retracted her kicking leg but Xia Lei kept his legs closed in fear of another attack. The two of them pushed and pulled and neither side could tell what the other was going to do. It was so embarrassing they could die but it was also nerve-wracking. After a few bouts, Xia Lei suddenly loosened his thighs. Jiang Ru-Yi’s leg swung down due to inertia and smacked Xia Lei’s ‘that thing’ hard.

There were no meteorites or explosions at contact between the sole of the foot and the not-foot, but it was like a violent chemical reaction and the movements of the two of them stilled in that moment.

“You…” Xia Lei’s mouth opened but no other words came out. The foot on his manly region did not give him an uncomfortable feeling. It was too comfortable, too stimulating, such that he could not speak.

There was no spot left on Jiang Ru-Yi’s face that wasn’t red. She froze, then hurriedly retracted her foot and avoided Xia Lei’s eyes. She looked down but found herself thinking of the strange feeling that had gone through her at that contact. It was like an electric shock – numb and tingling. Images of certain vegetables and fruits popped up in her pretty little head, like bananas, cucumber, and the like.

In the midst of their extreme embarrassment, a suit-clad young man walked over to their table.

The handsome and elegant youth looked to have a good temperament and a charming smile. Even his voice had a magnetic, charming quality, “Ru-Yi, it really is you! You’ve become so beautiful I hardly recognised you.”

“You’re…” Jiang Ru-Yi looked at the handsome young man’s face, then remembered and spoke delightedly, “Xu Lang! It’s you! Where did you get assigned to?”

“I was assigned to an office in Jing-Du after graduation. I’ve transferred back this time.” Xu Lang maintained the charming smile. “I hear you cracked a big case and also became the Chief of North Police Station. That’s amazing! Why didn’t we see you display your greatness during our time at the Police Academy?”

From their conversation, Xia Lei gathered that this Xu Lang guy was Jiang Ru-Yi’s university classmate. He was a little out of place with the two old classmates. He shot a look at Jiang Ru-Yi and was preparing to find an excuse to leave when Xu Lang held out his hand to him.

“Are you Ru-Yi’s boyfriend?” Xu Lang spoke elegantly, “Hello, I am Xu Lang. May I ask your name, sir?”

Xu Lang was standing so Xia Lei did not feel right sitting down and stood out of courtesy. He stretched out his hand and shook Xu Lang’s hand as he said, “Spare the formalities. I’m Xia, Xia Lei.” He smiled and added, “But I’m not Ru-Yi’s boyfriend. We are childhood friends who played together since we were kids.”

“I see. Nice to meet you.” Xu Lang released his hand. His mouth spoke politely but his eyes were scrutinising Xia Lei’s palms.

Xia Lei was not a rich man’s son nor was his line of work of the relaxing office variety since his palms were thickly callused. Observant people could easily tell the nature of his work, guess his rank in society and his net worth.

Xu Lang seemed to have guessed all of the above and his brow wrinkled slightly.

This change in expression was slight but Xia Lei’s current eye power was not normal. He caught the expression change when Xu Lang looked at his hands and understood what it meant.

What supercilious behaviour had he not seen in the years spent working in the real world? This Xu Lang was courteous in the beginning but frowned when he discovered his calluses – was this not looking down on blue-collar workers like himself? However, he did not mind it. He had tolerance.

“Sit and chat.” Jiang Ru-Yi invited Xu Lang to take a seat at their table, “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Let’s eat together, then. My treat.”

Xu Lang smiled, “It should be on me, then. How can girls do the paying? I’m not alone, though; I’m waiting for my uncle.”

“Your uncle?” Jiang Ru-Yi thought for a bit. “I remember! Isn’t your uncle Director Xu Zheng-Yi? Is he coming too? Where is he?”

At that moment, Xu Zheng-Yi walked through the doors of the restaurant. Xu Lang waved and he spotted him, and he made his way toward them.

“Hello, Director Xu.” Jiang Ru-Yi stood and greeted Xu Zheng-Yi.

Xu Zheng-Yi waved it away and spoke softly, “Don’t address me so formally outside the workplace. It doesn’t look good.”

Jiang Ru-Yi smiled awkwardly and moved a chair for Xu Zheng-Yi.

Xu Lang spoke up, “Uncle, I did not expect to bump into Ru-Yi here. We were classmates in the Police Academy. Why don’t we sit together?”

Xu Zheng-Yi nodded and seated himself. He looked at Xia Lei but did not greet him.

Xia Lei was about to greet him but thought twice, since they had only met once before and he did not even greet him the first time. He had his pride too. He would not specially try to curry favor even if Xu Zheng-Yi was a Governor.

Xu Lang waved and a waiter brought the menu.

“What would you like to have, sir?” The waiter was very respectful.

“Three lobsters and a five-year-old red wine – Edinburgh will do,” said Xu Lang.

“Of course, sir. Noted.”

Xu Lang then looked at Xia Lei and said, “Mr. Xia, it’s our first time meeting so I don’t know your preferences. What do you like? I’ll order it for you.”