Yin Guo washed the vegetables and sliced them plate by plate. Since there was no sliced meat, she used sausages as a substitute.
The electric hotpot was plugged in, and the water soon came to a rolling boil.
Lin Yiyang had arrived by train and was a bit dusty from the journey, so he took a quick shower. Since this was his home base in New York, he naturally kept several sets of sportswear there. He changed into one and walked up behind Yin Guo. Dressed in a full tracksuit, his lean frame and clean-shaven face made him look like a well-behaved student.
He had been reflecting on the fact that Yin Guo had likely been staring at his arm earlier. In truth, the design wasn't overly flamboyant, nor was it a full sleeve; most of it was on the inner side of his right forearm. However, he figured that for a girl... it might be a bit much.
So, even though he felt awkward with the sleeves gathered at his wrists, he suppressed the urge to roll them up.
He sat down to her right.
After a second of silence, they both spoke at the same time.
"What do you want to eat first?" Yin Guo asked.
"Do you want a drink?" Lin Yiyang asked.
...
"Eat whatever you like," he answered.
"Sure," she replied simultaneously.
They both stopped and suddenly laughed.
This shared laugh managed to dissolve the subtle tension in the air.
"I'll go get them; you start putting the food in." He got up, brought back some drinks, opened a bottle, and filled his own glass.
He hovered the bottle over her glass, seeking her opinion. "How much?"
"Fill it up," she replied. "I have a high tolerance. Actually, the first time I cleared a table in one go, I was drunk."
Lin Yiyang laughed again.
It was the first time someone had told him to his face: *I have a high tolerance.*
As the amber liquid filled her glass, her attention was fixed on the person pouring it.
He looked so good when he smiled. There was a stark difference between when he smiled and when he didn't—it was like looking at two completely different people. When he wasn't smiling, he was handsome, but he seemed distant, carrying an air of nonchalance and a hint of disdain. But when he smiled, he looked like the boy next door—the kind of older brother that girls would follow around in droves.
That evening, the two of them shared the hotpot. When the water boiled, they added vegetables; when the food was cooked, they politely offered the best morsels to each other.
Later, as Yin Guo began to enjoy herself, she rested her chin on her hand and watched him while she talked. Because she had a few drinks, her tongue would occasionally feel heavy, making her words a bit slurred.
Lin Yiyang swirled his glass, watching her, occasionally tilting his head back to drain his drink in one go.
The girl who claimed to have a high tolerance was already slurring before finishing a single bottle.
Meanwhile, he already had at least six empty bottles by his feet, yet he remained perfectly sober.
Toward the end of the meal, a gale began to howl outside, bending the tree branches into exaggerated arcs. It was snowing again.
"How will they get back? Do you think the subway will be suspended again?" she asked, a bit worried.
Lin Yiyang didn't think much of it. "They're two grown men, not girls. They can spend the night anywhere."
True.
The food in the pot was mostly gone.
Should they sit a while longer, or start cleaning up?
Yin Guo couldn't help but glance at him. Through the rising white steam of the pot, he looked just like he did that first night—dark pupils staring directly at her. That night had been the first time she had looked a man in the eye from such a close distance. She had been startled then, her mind racing only to guess what nationality he was...
Lin Yiyang leaned down, picked up a half-finished bottle from the floor, and gestured toward her with the mouth of the bottle.
He was asking if she wanted more.
"No more for me, you finish it." Yin Guo stood up and began stacking the plates, signaling her intent to clean up.
"Leave them," he said. "I'm not finished yet."
He wanted to clean up himself, so he could only use that as an excuse.
But there really wasn't much left in the pot. He took his chopsticks and made a few symbolic stirs in the water.
*He probably didn't get full but is too embarrassed to say so,* Yin Guo thought.
She would have to prepare more food next time.
That night, a blizzard blanketed the city. Wu Wei and her cousin stayed out at a bar and didn't return.
New York in March was as cold as the Northeast in December.
However, the heating in the apartment was stiflingly hot—much warmer than the hotel. She woke up in the middle of the night, feeling parched and stuffy. She climbed out of bed, drank the glass of water on her nightstand, and decided to head to the bathroom.
She thought Lin Yiyang was asleep, but when she opened the door, she found him sitting alone in the living room, surfing the web at the dining table. Since the lights were off, the only light came from his laptop screen, which immediately drew her attention.
"You're still up?" she asked in surprise.
His first instinct was to snap the laptop shut. "Is the screen too bright?"
Great.
Now the room was pitch black.
"No, it's not that. I was just going to the bathroom." Yin Guo felt her way forward, step by step.
It was only her first day there, and she wasn't familiar with the layout; she had to recall where the light switch was.
With a soft *click*, the room flooded with light. Lin Yiyang had turned it on for her.
In the brightly lit room, she saw that Lin Yiyang had changed his clothes long ago. Likely because it was too hot, he had taken off his outer layer and was wearing only athletic shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Consequently, the tattoo he had carefully hidden during dinner was now fully exposed.
Lin Yiyang noticed her staring at his right arm again. He reached out, grabbed his tracksuit jacket from the sofa, and pulled it on haphazardly.
Yin Guo took the opportunity to dash into the bathroom.
She looked in the mirror—she looked a mess.
She had let her hair down before bed, and because it was so hot, she had tossed and turned for so long that her waist-length curls were scattered wildly over her shoulders. No wonder men and women rarely shared rentals; running into a stranger like this was indeed embarrassing.
Fortunately, she wasn't wearing pajamas but a tracksuit.
She made a frustrated face at the mirror and washed her face.
When she came out, Lin Yiyang had already packed up his computer and coiled the power cord, looking like he was heading to bed.
Yin Guo gave a small wave and whispered "Goodnight" before scurrying back from the living room.
Just as her door closed, she opened it again a second later and poked her head out. "You can keep writing, you won't disturb me. I actually can't sleep either; I'm going to play on my phone for a bit."
He watched the door click shut again and let out a soft breath. He rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand; it was stiff and sore from sitting there for half the night.
Unconsciously, he looked at that door again.
Yin Guo lay back on her bed, scrolling through her phone.
There seemed to be no movement outside.
Under the crack of the door, she could see the light in the living room was still on. Was he writing his thesis?
Suddenly, a message from Lin Yiyang popped up on her phone.
Lin: Just wanted to mention something.
Xiao Guo: Yeah?
Lin: I promised your brother I'd take him somewhere tomorrow.
Xiao Guo: Go ahead, you don't need to tell me specifically. He's always doing his own thing anyway.
Lin: Wu Wei is coming too.
Xiao Guo: Oh, okay.
Lin: If we all leave, will you be okay staying home alone?
Of course she would be; she wasn't a child.
Xiao Guo: No problem. I have practice in the afternoon anyway, so I won't be home.
Lin: OK.
Was that it?
The light under the door went out; he had probably gone to sleep.
Yin Guo stared at their chat window. It felt like... something was missing. Why didn't he send the coffee emoji?
People really shouldn't form habits; the moment a tiny habit is broken, it feels unsettling. Bored, Yin Guo pulled up her WeChat chat with Zheng Yi and started chatting about Lin Yiyang's alma mater. When Zheng Yi heard that Lin Yiyang was a "poor student," she was incredibly surprised and remarked several times about how impressive he was—she respected men who made it on their own the most.
Suddenly, a notification popped up.
Lin: [Coffee]
Her heart actually skipped a beat.
Before she could reply, Zheng Yi sent another message.
Zheng Yi: My school has a quirk. Because it's a religious college, they don't give out free condoms. Every other school does. Sigh.
...
Seeing that sentence—
She really couldn't reply to Lin Yiyang normally anymore.
***
Lin Yiyang leaned against the refrigerator, wondering if there was something wrong with the way he expressed himself.
Could she not tell that he was trying to ask her out?
She hadn't replied with that [Happy] emoji again; he wasn't quite used to it.
He leaned there, unconsciously tapping the fridge door twice, and decided to stop overthinking. He grabbed a can of coffee from the fridge, shuffled in his slippers, picked up his laptop, and went back to his bedroom to continue working.
***
The snow stopped quickly this time.
Her cousin returned in the morning and slept until eleven. He pulled himself together, changed into clean clothes, and ran into Yin Guo's room to enthusiastically invite her to join the three of them at Chelsea Market.
His theory was that since they had to eat lunch anyway, it was better to go as a group than to eat alone.
Yin Guo thought that made sense, so she changed and came out of her room.
Lin Yiyang and Wu Wei were at the kitchen island waiting for them. Seeing Yin Guo being "kidnapped" out of her room, Wu Wei nudged Lin Yiyang's leg suggestively under the counter.
Lin Yiyang ignored him and instead asked Yin Guo, "What time do you plan to go practice?"
"Maybe three or four?" she mused. "If I eat enough now, I can skip dinner and practice until eight or nine."
He nodded, seemingly making a mental plan.
They arrived at Chelsea before noon.
The entire market was lined with food stalls from start to finish. You could eat standing up, carrying your food, sitting down, outside the stalls, or inside the shops. Lin Yiyang, familiar with the place, led them to a seafood market where you could pick your own. The shop was filled with freezers containing sashimi and sushi, with counters for fresh seafood in the center.
On large blocks of white ice lay shrimp, sea urchins, oysters, clams, and more.
Her cousin had always loved oysters. Standing before the oyster counter, looking at the thirty or forty varieties, he was calculating the burden on his wallet. Lin Yiyang slapped him on the back. "Get four dozen first. My treat."
He had Yin Guo take the sliced sea urchin and wait at a small table. He pulled cash from his wallet and stuffed it into Wu Wei's hand, telling him to take Meng Xiaotian to buy whatever small snacks he wanted, while he headed to the lobster stall.
The table was already piled high with sea urchin and oysters.
"Too crowded, too crowded," Wu Wei said, taking the sea urchin to a long table by the window where a row of people were sitting. There happened to be two empty seats. "Yin Guo, go sit by the window."
Yin Guo didn't think twice and went to sit down, saving a spot for Lin Yiyang.
Lin Yiyang returned with two lobsters and placed them in front of Yin Guo. He turned back and returned shortly with two more.
Meng Xiaotian smiled and said, "Thanks, bro."
"Your Yang-ge is generous, isn't he?" Wu Wei praised with a grin. "He's the most generous guy around."
*Good grief,* Wu Wei thought. *A dozen oysters per person, a whole lobster each, plus sea urchin and shrimp.*
*My dear Master Yang, your standards for picking up girls are certainly high.*
*There goes a month's worth of grocery money. But then again, you can earn it back. Go ahead and splurge.*
Lin Yiyang sat down next to Yin Guo. His phone vibrated; he looked down to see a message from Wu Wei.
Wu Wei: If you dare say you're not interested in her, I'll rip your head off and kick it around for fun.
He didn't reply.
Yin Guo had just taken a bite of sea urchin when Lin Yiyang left again.
When he returned, he had bought hot seafood soup for the four of them, fearing that eating too much cold, raw food would give them stomach aches.
Wu Wei, who had been friends with Lin Yiyang since childhood, had never seen "Master Yang" be so caring. He felt so touched he could practically cry. Truly, for a man to grow up, he first needs to have someone in his heart.
Lin Yiyang sat down and noticed Yin Guo had eaten several pieces of sea urchin but hadn't touched the oysters. He took one of the dozen oysters and swapped it for the sea urchin on Wu Wei's table, placing it by Yin Guo's hand.
"Aren't you eating?" Yin Guo asked him.
Lin Yiyang picked up an oyster to show he was eating.
Yin Guo smiled at him.
He saw her using a fork to poke at the lobster body, so he reached over, broke off the claws of both lobsters, and dropped them onto her plate.
What Lin Yiyang wanted to say was: *The claw meat is the most tender and sweet; the body meat is tough and hard to chew, so you should eat the claws.*
However, when the words reached his lips, they became: "Eat these first."
Yin Guo didn't think anything of it, assuming he just thought the claws were small and a hassle to eat, so he gave them to her.
She took her fork and began to disassemble the first claw. The men didn't eat as daintily as she did; Lin Yiyang picked up the lobster body and finished it in two or three bites while Yin Guo was just starting on the second claw.
Consequently, he slowed his pace, leisurely sipping his seafood soup and slowly squeezing lemon juice onto his oysters, eating them one by one as a pastime.
He would eat for a bit, then fiddle with an oyster shell.
He used to be impatient with girls who ate slowly; even when he was with his younger female sect-mates, he would leave as soon as he finished.
But since last night, he felt that eating slowly was quite nice. He could fully understand her tastes and preferences, and they could talk in the meantime. He poked an oyster shell with his index finger, slowly spinning it on the table as he chatted with Yin Guo about past blizzards.
Meanwhile, he listened to the whispering of Wu Wei and Meng Xiaotian behind them.
The two in the back were discussing nearby attractions. Wu Wei mentioned the High Line Park nearby—an aerial park built on a repurposed railroad trestle—and noted that the art museum next to it was also quite good.
Meng Xiaotian wasn't very interested. What was so great about a park?
Wu Wei lowered his voice. "When you walk on the park, you can see a hotel where all the rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, like little glass boxes."
*It's just a hotel, isn't it? Even if it's pretty, it's still just a hotel,* the cousin thought, looking confused.
Lin Yiyang could probably guess what Wu Wei was going to say next.
He took a sip of seafood soup, amused.
They were talking about the Standard Hotel.
Because the rooms were like glass boxes, if you stood in the park and looked up at the rooms, you could see couples doing... things they liked to do. There was a tacit understanding where people wouldn't pull the curtains; some even liked to perform while waving to the tourists walking in the park below.
It was considered a bit of "local flavor." It didn't happen every day, but if you were lucky, you might catch a show.
Last time Lin Yiyang came here with a classmate and the classmate's girlfriend, the couple got so excited upon hearing this anecdote that they immediately went up to book a room and "performed" without closing the curtains.
Of course, he hadn't watched; he had gone to grab a coffee by the art museum.
Young men are full of vigor and like that sort of thing. After the two finished their exchange, they demolished the rest of the seafood within five minutes. Saying they wanted to go see the park, they bolted. Yin Guo watched in surprise through the glass as the two men walked off with their arms around each other's shoulders. "Is the park that much fun?"
Wasn't that park on an elevated railway? Why go up there to be blown by the wind in such cold weather?
Lin Yiyang pulled out a napkin and wiped his hands, checking his phone. "The scenery is nice. It's worth a look."
On his phone was another message from Wu Wei.
Wu Wei: I've cleared out the third wheels. I'm pointing you toward the light, brother—this place is a prime spot for chasing girls.
Wu Wei sent a location pin for a specific shop.
Lin Yiyang was very familiar with the area; one glance was enough to know what kind of shop it was and what it sold. He tucked his phone into his pants pocket and continued to spin an oyster shell a few more times.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked at her thoughtfully.
Yin Guo had been sipping her seafood soup, but seeing his expression, she thought she was eating too slowly and that he wanted to go to the park too. She picked up the paper bowl and gulped down two mouthfuls, feeling the warmth settle comfortably in her stomach.
She pulled out a tissue and wiped her mouth. "I'm finished."
"You—" He looked at her.
Yin Guo looked back. One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Was there something important? He looked so serious. Was the subway suspended? Did they have to take a taxi back, or if they couldn't find one, walk? Or did the landlord suddenly change his mind and decide not to rent to her?
"Do you want a Magnum?" he finally asked.
"Eh?"
***
