Then the car stopped outside the café. He came out of the car first and opened my side of the door, and I said, "Xiexie, Mr. Yuan." Then we both went inside the café and sat on the chairs in front of each other. Then the waiter came, and I ordered Nátiě Kāfēi (Latte) and one Xiāngjiāo Hétáo Dàngāo (Banana Walnut Loaf) and handed over the menu card to him, but he put down the menu card on the table and said to the waiter that whatever she ordered, make it double. Then the waiter said, "Okay sir, your order will be there within 15 minutes," and went from there.
Then I got a little busy on my phone, which made him pissed off a little. He said, "What are you looking at on your phone? I am sitting right in front of you and you are busy on your phone. Are you going to crack some deal?" I didn't answer anything, so within a second he snatched my phone from my hand and got shocked to see that I was watching his variety show. He said, "Why are you watching my variety show right now?"
I took my phone back from his hand and said, "Yuan, since all these years my phone is the only survivor for me. This phone is not only some phone for me, it's about you, Yuan. Everything about you. Since the moment I knew you, I have never missed a single video, variety show, or any Weibo live of you. I even watch your airport visuals too, where you went from Shanghai to Wuxi, Wuxi to Shanghai, just for work."
He became silent for a while, then our order came. We started eating it, but I asked Yuan why he didn't order something different for himself, why he ordered the same thing as mine. He smiled and said, "Because all these years I am eating whatever I liked to eat, but now I want to eat what you liked." I blushed.
"I like it when you blush this hard," he said.
"Isn't it so obvious that I blushed because you are right in front of me?" I said.
"Indeed it is," he said.
We started eating. I was eating in my usual style, in small, small and tiny bites. He noticed it and said, "Hey, you silly girl, you are eating like a little turtle. It is going to take a few more hours for us to finish your food."
I chuckled and said, "I always eat this slow, but don't worry, it won't take that much time."
Then he asked me, "Did you see my yesterday's Weibo live also?"
I said, "Of course, no live of yours gets escaped from me. I saw where you ate your food and enjoyed it so much, and also you told everyone that when you were little, everyone told you that eating fish would make you smarter. So I have one question for you—how does eating fish make you smarter? I mean, being smarter from the brain or being smarter from looks?" I asked.
"For you, in both ways," he replied.
But somewhere in my mind I was thinking that today Yuan noticed very small details of me, like how slow I eat, just like I used to notice him since all these years. I think today I have seen a version of me in him, but whatever it is, I liked it.
Then he tapped on my forehead with his spoon and asked, "Where are you lost, silly girl?"
"Nothing, just lost in your love," I said.
"Ooo, now you are being smarter, saying our drama series name, hm, isn't it?" he asked.
I chuckled and said, "No, Yuan, you are just so good today. I mean, just a perfect boyfriend," I said.
He smiled. "So your boyfriend is on duty, my secret girlfriend," he said.
Then the bill arrived and I was about to pay it, but he held my hand and paid it by himself through his phone. The waiter went from there after taking the bill. Then I asked him, "Yuan, why didn't you let me pay the bill at least? Well, Dutch the payment equally."
He smiled and said, "Today's date is on me. You can do it on some other day."
Today's date… it means today we went on our official first date. I can't even imagine it, I really can't, I thought in my mind.
His voice broke my self-thinking and he said, "Miss loser, again lost somewhere?"
I smiled and said, "If ever lost somewhere, then it will definitely be in you."
He blushed and said, "Ooo, being so cheesy you are."
I smiled and said, "Didn't you be the one who said earlier that I am a Margherita pizza, hm?" I asked him.
"But I didn't eat my Margherita pizza yet," he said.
"Yuan, I know you are flirting. Just get up from here, we are done now. I need to go back to my dorm and prepare for my class tests."
He smiled and said, "Can't I flirt with my own girlfriend? Is this a crime?" he asked.
I said, "No, you can," but I blushed harder while saying it.
Then we both got out of the café, walking towards the car. Then I said to him midway, "So, Mr. Yuan Yuan, you are invited tomorrow on a date with me, and tomorrow's date is on me, so be on time."
He smiled and said, "So dramatic."
"I am serious. You are invited for tomorrow evening, and the place and exact time I'll text you on WeChat, so be on time and be smarter as usual, in both the ways, okay? Bye-bye."
He held my hand and asked, "Little bunny running away from me again?"
I said, "No, Yuan, you have work to do, so you go your way, and the bus stop from here is not that far. I'll reach my dorm by myself only, okay? Then bye-bye. Wait for my message."
While waving my hands, I ran away from there because I knew if I even stayed 0.1 second longer here, then he definitely wouldn't let me go. That's why I needed to run away from there.
Meanwhile, Xu Yuan chuckled and said to himself that this girl is so obsessed with me, so helplessly in love with me. How could she survive all this alone? How is she carrying this love all along alone in this way? But from right now, I promised myself she won't be on this path alone. From now onwards, I'll be there with her in each and every part of it.
Then he got into his car and went his way.
And here I was, walking on my way to the bus stop, thinking about today, our first official date. It all seemed like a dream, and if it's a dream, then I never want to wake up from it. I want to stay in this dream a bit longer… and a bit more longer… longer than usual....