On this sleepless night, Cin Heung’s heart fluttered while joy filled her mind. Love elevated her mood as she lay in bed and looked at the white ceiling. Vaguely, she saw Yi Po’s smiling face. This was a sweet feeling that she hadn’t felt for a long time. Unable to sleep, her mind wondered about many things, thinking about this and that; she even thought about that jerk, Chan Sai On.
I knew him through work. We frequently had work meetings which then led to many private meetings. After several more private meetings, we began to hang out more often; we often talked about work too. As days passed, it then seemed natural for us to be dating… we began to discuss marriage and ask about each other’s expectations. Everything seemed to be about saving face, getting promotions, and buying a house. However, we did not try to really understand each other or each other’s true expectations and vision in life… we lacked all of that. In the end, a third person came between us. Of course, I am partly responsible for what happened. In a sense, I brought this upon myself.
In just a few months, I feel like I have fallen into a life blender, which broke down my whole life and rebuilt it. Yi Po, Stirling, and a group of close friends have rekindled the flames in my life. From staying in a blind spot in my life, I’ve now arrived at a new horizon. This new horizon makes me feel comfortable; only if I learned how to cherish could I really love.
Soon, her heavy eyelids shut and she fell asleep.
In a dream, Yi Po and Stirling appeared in front of her. They were both talking to Cin Heung, but she couldn’t hear either of the voices. Suddenly, they held Cin Heung’s hands and each of them went in the opposite direction. She kept shouting and screaming, but they still continued to pull her toward their side. After a while, the strength that grabbed her hands constantly increased, which finally made her jump in pain.
On her bed, Cin Heung abruptly woke up. Her hands felt numb and painful, and her back was wet from all the sweat. A dream! A really horrible dream. Sunlight was already shining into the room through the window.
In the morning, Yi Po came to pick her up. After many days of busy work, he suggested going to the countryside to relax themselves.
Cin Heung put on a refreshing green floral shirt, a pair of brown tights, and a pair of brightly colored shoes. With her long silky hair tied up, she looked refreshed and lively.
They went to a lakeside township. The land was covered with giant trees, and the long reeds on both sides of the road swayed and danced in the wind. They walked along the path to the river, then walked onto a wooden bridge. Holding hands, they walked slowly on the bridge. Cin Heung stopped to take a deep breath and breathed in the fresh air from nature. Looking at the river, Cin Heung silently listened to the flowing river sounds. It had been a long time since she could enjoy this sort of peace and quietness.
As though it was a perfectly painted art piece, this place enchanted Cin Heung.
Hugging Cin Heung from behind, Yi Po gave her a sense of security. It also felt romantic. Rubbing her cheek on his shoulder, Cin Heung enjoyed the manly scent coming from Yi Po, which was comforting to her soul and filled her with a sense of satisfaction.
“Yi Po, can we freeze this moment?”
“It’s already captured in my heart,” said Yi Po affectionately.
“Love is simple. Just give each other your best, that’s it, that’s enough.” Cin Heung continued looking at the hills and forest in the distance.
Walking in the quiet mountainous suburbs, the fresh breeze cleansed both their souls. Both of them melted into each other’s care.
Time flew when people were having fun.
Soon, Cin Heung’s cooking classes started. Surprisingly, the first day of her class was not in a kitchen, but rather, it was in an ordinary classroom. She also had many textbooks to go through. Cin Heung was busy with the textbooks. The class was mainly about desserts, and there were so many contents for her to remember, such as the provenance of ingredients and special desserts from various countries. There was even history about each of the dishes. The thing she was most worried about was calculating every formula of food ingredients. After all, Cin Heung really hated math.
After finishing the liberal art classes, Cin Heung finally put on her own chef outfit and formally entered the commercial kitchen—a clean, white kitchen. This was the kitchen she had always dreamed of, with big steel desks, large ovens, mixers that could mix massive portions of foods, and giant refrigerators full of ingredients. For some reason, she would feel excited whenever she walked into the kitchen.
As the days went on, Cin Heung would go to Yi Po’s coffee shop every day after school. At first, she would only do her homework there. When there were no guests, she would flirt with Yi Po. After some time, Cin Heung once again asked Yi Po to teach her about coffee making.
“If everyone paid attention to the small details of coffee making, then everyone can make a good cup of coffee.”
Guiding her by the hand and teaching her how to fold the filter paper, Yi Po told her in detail the amount and time that was needed. Cin Heung filled the hot water carefully and allowed the water to drip into a cup. Finally, the both of them hunched over the table and looked at the slowly dripping coffee.
One drop after the other, two pairs of big eyes looked at the slowly dripping coffee. Waiting patiently, they turned their focus to each other’s eyes. Their eyes showed their affection toward each other, and every drop of coffee reflected their heartbeat. In front of the coffee pot, they accepted each other’s kisses candidly.
Thanks to her talent and hard work, Cin Heung was able to achieve some success after a few months. She decided to make a brand-new dessert in Yi Po’s shop as her homework.
“Cin Heung, have you figured out the idea for your dessert?” Yi Po asked curiously.
“Well! I’m going to make the crust out of a sugary dough with melted chocolate inside with fresh fruits in the center!” Cin Heung said with full confidence.
Unfortunately, even after countless times, she could not succeed in making one. Either the chocolate leaked out all over the bowl, or the dough would be baked out of shape. As a result, she lost confidence. Her notebook was filled with different recipes and a big cross had been drawn over all of them. Disheartened, Cin Heung rested her head on her hands as she looked at her failures.
Hugging her, Yi Po comforted her. “Don’t be disappointed. Maybe you’re really close already!” After saying that, he flipped through the notebook and said, “Would the amount of ingredients be a mixture of the two different recipes?”
Cin Heung suddenly grabbed his hand and said, “Don’t move!” She looked at the page which Yi Po’s hand was on and then turned to the previous pages. After a while, she exclaimed, “That’s where things went wrong!”
Turning her head suddenly, Cin Heung gave Yi Po a deep kiss and said, “You are really a good nerd! You reminded me of something!” She then kissed him again.
Yi Po just laughed foolishly.
After some time, a tray of colourful and exquisite desserts were brought out. None of the chocolate was flowing out, and the dessert was holding its shape. Looking just at the appearance, Yi Po was already very impressed.
Cin Heung picked one up and fed it to Yi Po. He took a bite and immediately furrowed his brows. Anxious, she looked at him intently and waited for an answer. Seeing that Yi Po was frowning again, she thought that this was a failure again and felt disappointed.
All of a sudden, Yi Po called out, “It tastes good!”
“Really!?”
Cin Heung suddenly pursed her mouth and said, “Why did you scare me!”
Yi Po placed his face near her face and said, “To surprise you! Come! Try your work of art!” Saying that, he gave her the dessert she made.
Saving most of the dessert in the fridge, Yi Po gave it to a few customers to test. Surprisingly, they all liked it and even asked what it was.
“We should give it a name!” Yi Po told Cin Heung.
After giving it some thought. “I don’t know! You name it.”
“Hmmm… Let’s call it Heung Po!”
“Huh! I told you you are old-fashioned. But I like the name!” Cin Heung giggled.
Cin Heung suddenly looked at her watch and said, “I can’t stay here anymore. I’m going to find a friend!”
“The violinist!”
Cin Heung let out a shy smile and replied, “Yeah… I’ll be going.”
When Cin Heung was waiting for a taxi, a girl came to her and said, “Someones really happy… Sister Cin Heung!”
Cin Heung was shocked and turned to the person who spoke. The girl was holding a cup of juice and was biting the straw. She showed a disdainful look and side-eyed Cin Heung.
“Emma!”
“What! Surprised? You don’t want to see me?”
“Emma… No,” Cin Heung fell silent for a moment and said, “Do we have some sort of misunderstanding lately.”
“You and I barely talked, how would there be any misunderstanding between us? Even if you have free time you would be busy with Able! I don’t even get to speak to him anymore because of you! I haven’t seen him for a long time. You’re always acting so secretive!”
Surprised, Cin Heung felt that there was something going on between Emma and Yi Po. Furthermore, she felt that Emma had become more sarcastic with her speech. Cin Heung then asked, “Emma, what are you saying? I’m above board with Yi Po.”
“Fair and above board? I’ve known Able earlier than you!”
“I think we really have a big misunderstanding. What’s your relationship with him?”
“I…”
“Cin Heung! Emma! What happened?” Yi Po’s voice came from somewhere close.
“You came just in time.” Cin Heung let out a sigh and glared at him. “Please tell me what’s with you and Emma.”
Yi Po scratched his head and said, “Emma, is something wrong? What did you say to Cin Heung? She’s my girlfriend!” He said while he pointed at Cin Heung.
Emma’s round eyes looked at them with hatred. Not a moment later, tears began flowing down. Without a word, she turned and ran away.
Perplexed, Cin Heung and Yi Po watched as Emma ran away. Then Cin Heung looked at Yi Po with suspicion.
Yi Po said in panic, “I have nothing to do with her!”
She knew that Yi Po was an honest person and would never lie. If there was anything about this, she knew she would have to ask Emma.
“I believe you. I have to go.” She went away with a confused mind.
Birds that have been injured should continue to fly. Love, of course… Sometimes it’s just like that—it’s uncontrollable, unreasonable.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpENkRROftV
