The rain had been falling continuously, sometimes heavily and sometimes lightly, bringing some rare coolness to the hot weather.
The pizza came out of the oven. Shao ChengZe stir-fried some dishes and also cooked a small pot of apple sweet soup. The combination Chinese and Western meal was eaten by Cheng LiQi until her little belly was round like a puffed bun. She even patted her belly to let her dad hear the sound, so that her dad would know how delicious his cooking was and that she was about to eat herself to death.
Cheng Jinlan didn't eat much of the meal. She did however drink two bowls of the soup. The warmth of the soup entered her stomach and heat rose through her body, easing the uncomfortable heaviness in her belly.
Cheng LiQi cupped her cheeks in her hands and looked at her mom. With a small sigh of admiration she said, "Mom, you really are so beautiful."
Her fair white face was tinged with tender pink. Her pert little nose had beads of sweat on it, making her look as soft and sweet as a juicy honey peach. It made people really want to take a bite.
Cheng LiQi turned to ask her dad, "Dad, isn't mom really beautiful?"
Shao ChengZe replied to his daughter, "She's not just very beautiful, she's especially beautiful."
Cheng LiQi and her dad smiled at each other, both looking towards mom.
With the gazes of the big and little ones focused on her, Cheng Jinlan pinched her daughter's chubby little face and said, "We've eaten the pizza now, shouldn't we get going and head home so you can still have your afternoon nap?"
Shao ChengZe lightly coughed into his curled fist by his mouth. Cheng LiQi understood her dad's hint.
"Mom, it's raining hard outside. It's dangerous to drive in the rain. Let's wait until it stops before we leave, okay?"
Shao ChengZe chimed in after his daughter, "She can nap here, and when the rain stops I'll take you both home."
Just as Cheng Jinlan was about to respond, Shao ChengZe picked up her soup bowl in front of her, "Do you want more soup? I'll ladle you some more."
Cheng LiQi also held out her little bowl, "Me too, dad. I want a whole bowlful."
"Okay, dad will fill up a whole bowl for little LiQi." Shao ChengZe would be smiling even in his dreams with how cooperative his daughter was being.
Cheng Jinlan couldn't resist lightly poking her daughter's little belly, "Can you drink any more?"
Cheng LiQi didn't understand her mom's meaning. She clung to her mom's arm and whispered, "Mom, after I finish the sweet soup I'll go take a nap, then you and dad can have a nice date."
She knew her mom liked her dad, though she couldn't say how she knew. It was just a feeling. She always had very accurate instincts that were never wrong.
Cheng Jinlan's face grew hot at her daughter's words. How could little kids nowadays understand so much?
Shao ChengZe came back with two bowls of soup, placing one in front of Cheng Jinlan and one in front of Cheng LiQi. Seeing his very happy daughter, he asked, "What are you two whispering about?"
Cheng Jinlan stuffed a strawberry into Cheng LiQi's mouth and replied, "Just saying how tasty your sweet soup is."
"Is that so?" Shao ChengZe's eyes held pleasant surprise and slyness. "I wonder if your parents will like it."
Cheng Jinlan glared at him.
Having swallowed the strawberry, Cheng LiQi answered her dad's question. "Grandma will definitely like it. Grandma loves eating sweet stuff the most. Grandpa doesn't like sweet food. He likes fish best, especially steamed."
Shao ChengZe stroked his daughter's head and looked at Cheng Jinlan. "Then dad will have to practice making steamed fish well."
Cheng Jinlan lowered her head to drink her soup, excluding herself from the father-daughter conversation. Let them say whatever they wanted. She shouldn't have spoken in the first place, he always took an inch when given an inch.
Having eaten her fill, Cheng LiQi was getting drowsy. Along with the pitter patter rain outside acting like a lullaby, she rested her hands on her little belly with the corners of her mouth curved in a crescent moon smile. Soon she fell asleep on the soft big bed.
The sky outside was gloomy, looking more like dusk than noon. In this kind of weather, along with her physical condition, Cheng Jinlan was also feeling sleepy. But she didn't want to fall asleep here, so she forcefully stayed alert sitting on the sofa blankly watching some variety show on TV that she didn't know what was about.
After tidying up the kitchen, Shao ChengZe came out and sat next to her. "Go lie on the bed for a bit?"
Cheng Jinlan was a little slow to react due to her drowsiness. She first glanced at him, then after hearing what he said, shook her head. Her hair draped over her shoulder swayed lightly with her movement. Her fair earlobe peeked out temptingly from beneath her dark tresses.
Shao ChengZe's fingers brushed that tantalizing patch of fairness. He asked in a low voice, "Then watch a movie?"
"Okay," Cheng Jinlan answered vaguely. She didn't want to think about anything right now.
Shao ChengZe smiled lightly, ruffled her hair, got up and picked up the remote control, selecting a very old Hong Kong movie.
A man and woman reunited on an escalator without any dialogue, their feelings conveyed entirely through their expressions. Cheng Jinlan hugged a cushion in her arms with her head resting against the sofa back, eyes watching the screen while her thoughts drifted elsewhere. Shao ChengZe had his arm draped over the sofa backrest. The two of them weren't sitting too close, but it looked as if she was nestled in his embrace.
More than halfway into the movie, there was a wedding scene. The bride wore a white wedding dress and held a bouquet, smiling brightly and radiantly on the green grass.
Shao ChengZe moved closer. "Want to see me wear a wedding dress?"
Cheng Jinlan's hand stroking the cushion pattern stilled. In her mind's eye she substituted his face onto the bride's face in the movie, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously floated up in a smile.
Shao ChengZe leaned into her. "You smiled?"
Cheng Jinlan reined in her smile and slanted him a look. "I can't smile?"
Shao ChengZe held her face in his hands, looking into her eyes, gently pleading, "Smile again. It's been so long since you've smiled at me. Sometimes I even think, if only I were little LiQi."
Their eyes met. Cheng Jinlan's gaze flickered. She used the cushion to separate some space between them, her eyes turning back to the TV screen. "You're not good looking or cute, and don't know how to make people like you. Why should I smile at you?"
Shao ChengZe moved his arm from the sofa backrest to her shoulders, circling her into his embrace. "My unattractive face is innate and can't be changed. I'll probably never manage to be cute in this lifetime either. So I'll just have to work hard at learning how to make you like me."
Cheng Jinlan cut him off. "Stop talking. I want to watch the movie."
She rested her head on his shoulder, shifting until she found a very comfortable position. With eyes half-closed, she listened to the Cantonese dialogue from the movie and the pattering rain on the window, drowsy and on the verge of sleep.
Shao ChengZe draped a blanket over them and lightly patted her shoulder, looking down at her with the gentlest smile in his eyes.
In her drowsiness, Cheng Jinlan mumbled, "Will it cause you a lot of trouble?"
Shao ChengZe didn't catch what she said. He brought his ear to her mouth. "What?"
"Will your family's patriarch give you a hard time?"
Shao ChengZe looked at her. "That's unimportant." He hesitated briefly before continuing, unsure if now was the right time to bring up the past. "Back then..."
Cheng Jinlan leaned in to seal his lips, stopping his words. She knew what he was going to say and didn't really want to bring up anything about that day.
The soft lips only brushed against his for a moment before leaving. Shao ChengZe sighed inwardly but his expression was playfully improper. "When I kiss you, I'm not nearly so perfunctory."
Cheng Jinlan lazily leaned into him. Blinking her sleepy eyes she said, "I don't want to move."
Her slightly parted red lips glistened temptingly, as if languidly inviting him. Shao ChengZe's adam's apple tensed. He slowly lowered his head, since she didn't want to move, he would move for her.
The muffled sound of water stirred faintly, drowned out by the rain. Gloomy rainy days always made people feel listless. After a long time, Cheng Jinlan covered her mouth with a blanket, breathing rapidly as she looked at him with misty eyes full of accusation.
Shao Chengze brushed aside her stray hair and asked her seriously, "Did I... satisfy you, Miaomiao?"
Cheng Jinlan pressed her bent knees against his chest. Shao Chengze pretended to grunt in pain as he fell on top of her, pushing her into the sofa.
She was below, he was above her, using his magnetic voice to seduce her, "Do you want to come here again next Saturday for another day trip? I can show you if my cooking skills have improved."
Cheng Jinlan closed her eyes, blocking out everything she saw, and replied coldly, "I'm not coming."
Shao Chengze said, "Otherwise I'll really dig a secret tunnel from next door in the middle of the night."
Cheng Jinlan didn't care. "Go ahead, it'll be easy for you to dig, but if my dad finds out, it won't just be a broken leg."
Shao Chengze twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. "I feel like I'm being treated worse than a high school romance. At least they can pass notes in class, secretly hold hands between periods, and go to cafes or KFC after school to do homework together. Now I can hardly even see you."
Cheng Jinlan lifted her eyelids and looked at him with a hint of a smile. "You seem experienced. Have you passed notes to someone before? Held someone's hand? What did the coffee taste like after school, sweet or bitter? I've never had any."
Shao Chengze was startled, then laughed and leaned on her. "That coffee was probably neither sweet nor bitter," he whispered, biting her ear, "it was probably sour, even more sour than vinegar. Were you... jealous?"
Cheng Jinlan closed her eyes again, not wanting to entertain his baseless speculation.
Shao Chengze's lips touched her fluttering eyelids. "I've never passed notes to anyone, never held anyone's hand, and I don't know what coffee tastes like after school.
Cheng Jinlan scoffed softly. As if.
Shao Chengze smiled. "I really haven't done those things, but I've seen them happen often." His breath blew her trembling lashes. "Has anyone ever passed you a note?"
She answered with silence.
Shao Chengze's hand rested on her waist, her ticklish spot that would make her shudder at the slightest touch. Cheng Jinlan pressed down firmly on his hand to keep him still.
But she couldn't stop him at all. Shao Chengze's hand went under her shirt along her waistband, and he asked again, "Miaomiao, has anyone ever passed you a note?"
Cheng Jinlan opened her eyes, her cheeks already flushed from his movements. Her voice trembled. "I'm going on a business trip next week."
Shao Chengze's hand paused as his gaze sharpened. "Where to?"
Taking advantage of his distraction, Cheng Jinlan pushed him off the sofa. She quickly got up and stepped away, straightening her disheveled clothes and looking down at the man lying on the carpet.
"To Mars."
