Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Yao Jingjing's Side Story (Part II)

Yao Jingjing coughed violently while pounding her chest. After finally dislodging the lump of food stuck in her throat, she managed to save her own life.

She grabbed her water glass from the side, chugged it greedily, and slammed it onto the table with a loud thud. With a face full of deep remorse and distress, she said, "Mister, are you kidding me? If you wanted to give it a try, you should have said so earlier! Why did I have to act so unrefined? My public persona is usually very elegant, alright!"

The corner of Lu Ze’s mouth twitched slightly. "If you hadn't been so unrefined, I probably wouldn't want to give it a try."

Yao Jingjing's eyes went wide, and she clicked her tongue in amazement. "Your tastes are certainly unique!"

Lu Ze picked up his chopsticks and pretentiously pinched a single cashew nut again. With immense elegance, he used his other hand to lightly cup the space beneath the chopsticks as he brought it to his mouth. He then set the chopsticks down, picked up his napkin to dab the corner of his lips, and slowly leaned back against the chair. After making an almost imperceptible chewing and swallowing motion, he asked in a deep, low voice, "How is it unique?"

Yao Jingjing felt a bit dazed. She thought this mister was incredibly talented—his behavior looked exactly like someone living inside an idol drama. Moreover, did he just swallow that whole cashew nut raw back there just to keep his movements smooth, beautiful, graceful, and elegant? She had barely seen any visible chewing motion from him at all.

In this chaotic life, there are always some people who look glamorous in public, but only their own throats know the pain behind the scenes.

Yao Jingjing gathered her thoughts and answered Lu Ze's question. "You have no interest in gentle, sweet little girls, but you specifically choose a coarse, big girl who eats like a horse. Aren't your tastes unique enough?"

As she spoke, she unconsciously picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a cashew nut as well.

She silently mimicked the way he had just eaten. After finishing, she was practically moved to tears.

"Mister, can you tell me how you've managed to survive? Eating in such a dramatic, pretentious way, and yet you haven't starved to death! It's an absolute miracle!"

●︶3︶●

Once they finished their main courses, Lu Ze called the waiter over and ordered a pot of Pu'er tea.

The two of them sipped their tea.

Lu Ze suddenly spoke up. "How is it?"

Yao Jingjing took a sip of tea and said, "Not bad, not bad! I ate a bit too much meat today, so I really need this to wash away the grease in my stomach!"

Lu Ze also raised his teacup and took a slow sip, his voice sounding somewhat casual. "I was asking you about the blind date. Have you thought it over?"

Yao Jingjing froze. "Mister, are you being serious? I thought you were joking with me!"

Lu Ze knit his brows slightly. "Do I look like someone with a strong sense of humor?"

Yao Jingjing burst out laughing. "It's truly rare that you possess such self-awareness!" Wiping her mouth, she asked, "Do you really plan to give it a shot with me?"

Lu Ze looked at her without blinking, his dark eyes like obsidian—bright, deep, and profound.

"Yes." He made the briefest sound possible.

Yao Jingjing narrowed her eyes at him. "Let me tell you, generally speaking, I am not a loose woman!"

Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow. "Oh?"

He remained maddeningly concise. It was the exact same response as before, without even changing the word, just switching the intonation.

Yao Jingjing said, "What I mean is, you better think this through. If there's nothing between us, then I'm truly not a loose person. But once you give me a chance, it's highly likely that I'll get so loose that I won't even act human anymore! Let me ask you one last time: have you thought it through, and are you being serious?"

Lu Ze raised his teacup, took another sip of tea, and gave his answer.

"Yes."

Yao Jingjing held her teacup, incredibly worked up. "Mister, besides 'Yes' and 'Oh', can you say anything else? Do you dare to say two whole words in a single sentence!"

Lu Ze slightly raised his right eyebrow again, his expression seeming to say: Of course.

Then, he snapped his fingers and called over the waiter. His voice was directed at the waiter, but his eyes were fixed on Yao Jingjing as he clearly uttered two words: "The bill."

Yao Jingjing was on the verge of tears.

●︶3︶●

After paying the bill, the two of them stood up and prepared to head out.

Lu Ze asked Yao Jingjing, "How did you get here?"

Yao Jingjing replied, "I took a taxi." Then she asked, "What about you? Do you need me to give you a lift in a cab?"

Lu Ze answered her, "I drove myself." Pausing, he added, "I can consider driving you home."

Yao Jingjing let out a scoff and curled her lip, saying, "Don't bother considering it, just drive me! I won't let you lose out! When I came here, the taxi cost forty-nine currency units. The traffic delay on the road probably cost around thirty. When I get out of the car, I'll toss you twenty. No need to give me change. Whenever you think of that remaining single unit, just consider it a good deed from a local hero!"

Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow and narrowed his eyes.

When the two of them walked out the entrance, Lu Ze pulled out his remote control and pressed a button. Yao Jingjing looked over and saw the headlights of a Ferrari worth no less than five million currency units flash diagonally ahead.

She stared open-mouthed at the wealthy man beside her. "Aren't you flaunting your wealth a bit too much! You only came here to help your friend reject a blind date. Was it really necessary to specifically drive such an expensive car?"

Lu Ze looked down at her. "You're right, I only came to help out. That's why this is actually the cheapest car I drove out today."

Yao Jingjing's legs went weak, and she nearly fainted on the spot.

He flaunted his wealth so shamelessly that it completely crushed her spirit as an ordinary citizen trying to make a living in the capital, making her feel like she truly couldn't survive anymore.

●︶3︶●

Yao Jingjing got into the car while trembling, fastened her seatbelt while trembling, and then said while trembling, "I've carefully thought it over. Right now, I feel like... since you're driving such an amazing car, if I really throw twenty currency units at you when I get out, wouldn't that be a bit insulting to you?"

Lu Ze started the car, glanced at her, and then turned his gaze back to the road ahead. In a deep, low voice, he said, "If you think it's too little, just throw a bit more. I don't mind if you give me fifty."

Yao Jingjing shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no! You've completely misunderstood me! What I mean is, squabbling over twenty or fifty with someone of your grand status would truly tarnish your net worth! For the sake of your class and style, I've decided it's better not to talk about money with you at all! If I really gave you money, how would that be any different from slapping you across the face, don't you agree!"

As Yao Jingjing spoke these words, she was so busy gesturing wildly with her hands that she completely failed to notice the driver's lips twitching several times in succession beside her.

When the car reached the intersection, they hit a red light. While waiting for the light to change, Lu Ze tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and asked Yao Jingjing, who was looking down and playing with her phone, "Do you think we are suited to take things further?"

Yao Jingjing looked up. "We are absolutely, definitely suited!"

Lu Ze turned his head and looked at her sideways. "Oh? How so?"

Yao Jingjing spoke with absolute certainty, "You have money, and I love money. How is that not a perfect match? It's simply a match made in heaven, okay!"

Lu Ze looked at her, the corner of his mouth curving slightly.

●︶3︶●

Following Yao Jingjing’s chaotic and messy directions, Lu Ze drove around Chang'an Avenue three times before he finally delivered her to the place where she lived.

He parked the car downstairs of her apartment building and turned off the engine. Frowning, Lu Ze said, "Your lack of direction is quite severe."

While unfastening her seatbelt, Yao Jingjing argued, "No, no, no, this has nothing to do with being directionally challenged. I actually just wanted to sit in a luxury sedan worth over five million and take a few extra turns right in front of Tiananmen Square under Chairman Mao's watchful eyes. You could say I wanted to soak up some of that wealthy financial energy!"

Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow. "You're certainly stubborn with your words."

Yao Jingjing let out a chuckle and said, "I care a bit about saving face, so please understand! Compared to being directionally challenged, I would much rather be seen as money-grubbing! Because the former clearly indicates an issue with intelligence, while the latter is simply a pure interest and hobby."

The corner of Lu Ze's mouth twitched again in an almost imperceptible manner.

Yao Jingjing pushed open the car door. "I'm heading out now! Thank you for driving me!" She stepped out of the car.

Just as she was about to help swing the car door shut, Lu Ze called out to stop her.

"Did you forget something?"

Yao Jingjing looked at him blankly. "...Huh?"

Lu Ze quietly returned her gaze, adopting an attitude that clearly said, "If you don't figure it out, we'll stay here until you do."

Yao Jingjing scratched her head. After a long while, she let out an "oh" as realization dawned on her. "Oh my god, you really are a stickler for details! Fine, here's your twenty!" She began to rummage through her bag for her wallet. "Actually, forget twenty. After all, we circled in front of Tiananmen Square three times! I'll give you fifty! No need to find a single unit of change, just call me a local hero!"

She pulled out a fifty-unit bill and handed it to Lu Ze.

Lu Ze leaned halfway across the steering wheel, looking at her. "I wasn't talking about money."

Yao Jingjing uttered another "Huh?"

Lu Ze narrowed his eyes. "We have transitioned into an official blind date, haven't we?"

Yao Jingjing nodded. "I am willing to cooperate with this request that you actively brought up."

Lu Ze raised his right eyebrow. "Then, before you leave, shouldn't we exchange contact information?"

Yao Jingjing slapped her forehead. "Oh right! As soon as I ride in a car, my head spins a bit!" She began to rummage through her bag again, eventually pulling out a permanent marker.

Then she climbed back into the car, sat down on the passenger seat, and without a word, grabbed Lu Ze’s right hand. Turning it over, she rapidly wrote down a string of digits across his palm.

"You certainly have everything in your bag." Lu Ze felt a tingling sensation in his palm, causing a slight itch in his heart that felt incredibly comfortable.

"I snatched this marker when my best friend was moving houses. In some mystical way, I felt it would come in handy. See, it really proved useful today!" As she spoke, she handed the pen over to Lu Ze. "Come on, it's your turn to write on mine!"

She flattened her palm face up, blinking her eyes with a beaming smile as she waited.

Lu Ze took the pen, stared blankly at the fair, delicate hand for a moment, and then wrote down his mobile phone number on the warm, soft flesh of her palm.

After finishing, he returned the pen to Yao Jingjing and casually asked, "Why not just save it directly in your phone?"

Yao Jingjing was busy blowing on her palm to dry the ink. Hearing his question, she suddenly froze. "Oh right, why didn't we just save it directly in our phones?"

She tried hard to recall her fundamental motivation for doing this. After thinking for a long time, she finally remembered.

"Heavens! I watched a movie yesterday and got subconsciously brainwashed by it! The male and female leads in that movie recorded numbers exactly like this. I was feeling dizzy just now and didn't bother to think, so I was directly influenced by it!"

Beside her, Lu Ze's shoulders shook slightly with amusement.

Yao Jingjing waved her hand and got out of the car. "Then I'll head back and wait for your call!"

Lu Ze nodded at her.

She happily swung her arms and entered the apartment building corridor.

Inside the car, Lu Ze watched her figure disappear behind the electronic security door, his lips curving into a smile.

He had never seen someone with such a simple personality who insisted on acting so worldly and complex.

He raised his right hand to look at the row of digits in his palm.

As he looked closer, the smile that hadn't yet faded from the corners of his mouth suddenly froze.

Silently, he used his left hand to pick up his phone and snapped a photo of his right hand.

●︶3︶●

Since that blind date, Yao Jingjing waited for several days in a row, but she never received a phone call from Lu Ze.

For the first two days, Yao Jingjing remained quite composed, thinking that the other party was probably just putting on the airs of a wealthy master, deliberately keeping his distance to string her along and test her patience.

When another two days passed and he still hadn't called, Yao Jingjing started to lose her composure.

The idea of turning a mistaken blind date into a real one was brought up by him. The matter of exchanging contact information was also remembered by him. How did it end up with him ignoring her and leaving her hanging? That's not how you play hard to get! To catch someone, you at least have to make a move to catch them!

Five days later, Yao Jingjing decided that she wanted to live as a straightforward, clear-headed person. She resolved to proactively call that stone-faced wealthy man to see what on earth was going on.

If he had clean regrets, she could at least make him buy a set of products before cutting ties. That way, their relationship and potential spark, which hadn't even had the chance to bud, would at least have a physical transaction to account for it.

She took a deep breath, scrolled through her phone to find the stone-faced wealthy man's number, and sent a text message over.

"Mister, are you playing games with me? What happened to keeping in touch as promised? Can we still play together happily!"

Less than half a minute after this message was sent out, she received a multimedia message in return.

She clicked to open it.

It was a photograph, and the image showed a man's palm.

A ten-digit number was written across the palm.

Yao Jingjing felt that the string of numbers looked both familiar and rather upsetting.

When she focused her gaze to look closer, she couldn't help but let out a loud shout of "Ah!"

How could it not be upsetting! She had actually written her own phone number down with one digit missing!

●︶3︶●

Yao Jingjing sent a text to Lu Ze: "Well, now that you know my correct number, aren't you going to show some initiative?"

Half a minute later, she received a reply: "Such as?"

Yao Jingjing jabbed her finger fiercely against the screen: "Such as asking me out!"

Half a minute later: "Sure."

Yao Jingjing was ready to drop to her knees.

That is not how you hold a conversation! Every single sentence he wrote was a conversation killer. Even a master conversationalist like her was about to choke to death!

"If you say sure, then actually ask me out!!!" Out of sheer frustration, her hands shook, causing her to type two extra exclamation marks.

On the other side of the line, the cold wealthy man looked at the phone screen and pulled the corner of his mouth slightly. With clumsy, unhurried fingers, he typed out a few words: "Then what should I ask you out to do?"

Yao Jingjing was completely defeated. She truly was running out of courage to save the conversation or rescue herself.

With a slumped face, she typed out: "Go to the National Library, cultivate our minds, talk about life ideals, and study knowledge along the way so we can save the planet in the future!"

Half a minute later, she received a text message. It still consisted of only two words: "Sure."

Yao Jingjing was going insane!

Did this person possess any self-awareness whatsoever that he was being verbally mocked?!

"Holy crap, mister, don't be like this. I'm mocking you. Is your sense of humor truly down to zero?!" She sent a text message over in grief and indignation.

Half a minute later, the reply arrived: "Women shouldn't say holy crap."

Yao Jingjing: "The prerequisite for that is for you to actually treat me like a woman!"

Half a minute later: "Am I not?"

Yao Jingjing: "You take a woman to the National Library instead of taking her to watch a movie? Also, mister, can you type a bit faster? It takes you a whole half-minute to write just those few words?!"

This time, it took almost a full minute before the reply finally came: "I understand. Let's go watch a movie after work. No."

Looking at her phone screen, Yao Jingjing was simultaneously joyful and worried.

Wealthy man, you've finally caught on! Under the earnest guidance of this intelligent beauty, you've finally learned the normal way to date a woman.

But wealthy man, was it really necessary to say those words, "No," with such absolute confidence and righteousness...

●︶3︶●

While Lu Ze was looking down and sending text messages, his secretary knocked on the door and entered.

Upon seeing what he was doing, the secretary, who had witnessed all kinds of things in the world, was instantly shocked.

"Boss, are you... sending a text message?! Didn't you claim that texting is something only fools and poor people do! Haven't you always insisted on making phone calls whether you were in South America, North America, South Africa, North Africa, the South Pole, or the North Pole! I remember in the past, your ex-girlfriend cried so hard she nearly jumped off a building just to win the right to get a text response from you, but you rigidly refused!"

Lu Ze raised his head to glance at his nearly hysterical secretary and said expressionlessly, "Adapt your actions to the person you meet. Meeting someone who is a bit foolish, it's not bad to occasionally do something a bit foolish as well."

The secretary stood completely dazed by his mysterious and profound words.