13 Soup (2)
He Zifeng frowned at the screen with their graduation ball photo.
It was a photo he secretly emailed to himself back then when Chen Kaori left her phone for awhile. He deleted its trace from the sent folder and she never knew what he did.
He knew she was taking their photo with her phone. He just pretended to be indifferent so she could freely do what she wants. He had kept this photo file in a password-protected folder, among the rest of the group photos he and she were part of.
His thoughts were snapped back into the present by a ring on his doorbell.
He almost tripped as he dashed to open it, expecting it was Chen Kaori.
To his dismay, it was not her but another woman.
"Ta-da!" The smiling elegant lady held a thermal container by its handle.
"Why are you here?" He Zifeng's expression turned cold as soon as he saw the person on the door. He left the door open, signalling the person to enter, as he went back into the living room.
"What? Can't I just be missing my son?" Mrs. He pouted a bit, then flashed her smile again.
She let herself in and closed the door behind her, then made her way into the kitchen.
The unit had a kitchen opening directly to the shared area of the living room and dining table. She could see her son turning on the television as she poured soup into a ceramic bowl.
She had a sly smile as she handed him the bowl, then she sat on the single sofa.
She watched as her son slowly sips on the soup.
He Zifeng felt conscious of the stare. He stopped sipping the soup and raised a brow as he looked over where his mother was seated.
Mrs. He chuckled. "Feeling better now?" She knew that black sesame soup was his perk up food.
He Zifeng furrowed his brows.
"Hmmp! So when were you gonna tell me that Chen Kaori left H&B?" Mrs. He was testing the waters. She was almost certain that her son was upset about it, but she still tried to hit a nerve.
"Why do you care?" The statement was so monotonous that it did not sound like a question.
"You brat! I didn't raise you to be like this! How could you lose my daughter-in-law?!" Mrs. He moved live a child throwing a tantrum as she slammed her hands on where she was seated, causing herself to slightly bounce on the sofa. It looked exaggerated.
He Zifeng continued to sip on the soup. He didn't reply and reminisced that day when he also sipped black sesame soup because of Chen Kaori.
...
It was the summer before their last year of middle school. His parents took him to the countryside for a vacation and summer camp for a few weeks.
They introduced Chen Kaori to him that summer. A girl of mixed descent, with long dark hair arranged in a neat braid held by a ribbon at the end.
Chen Kaori was younger by a year, but she was also on the same level of education. He instantly thought she was cute.
They went to camp together and learned some survival skills. On the last day of camp, everyone can do as they please and there were a lot of leisure activities.
The boys decided to play basketball.
He Zifeng was eager to impress as Chen Kaori was on the sidelines, cheering for his team to win.
"Hey, that girl, Chen...she's pretty cute. I think I should ask her out when camp ends." a boy of the opposing team declared during half time break.
He Zifeng lost his cool and was not able to concentrate. His shots were too emotional that some kids thought he wanted to break the ring.
In the end, their team lost and he was sulking until he reached home.
Seeing him upset, his mother prepared black sesame soup.
Just when he was helping himself with some soup, Chen Kaori appeared in his house carrying a medicine kit.
Mrs. He also served her soup, then she left the two kids alone to talk.
Chen Kaori then started cleansing his abrasions from the game without saying anything. Even when He Zifeng tried to avoid the treatment, she tried to restrain him. Eventually, he succumbed to the treatment. He was worried because she was awfully quiet.
When she was done treating his wounds, she tidied the medicine kit and stood up to leave.
He Zifeng pulled her back by her wrist. "You...you didn't try the soup."
