Talking About the Past

"Hm, what are you drawing over there?"

"You like it? It's that cherry tree by the school, you know, the one planted years ago."

"I know what it is, it was planted as for good luck to all the students. I'm just wondering why you're drawing it."

"It's very pretty so I wanted to draw it."

"...It is pretty but aren't you forgetting about tomorrow's test. You asked me to tutor you right?"

"Oh we have a bit of time, come on, sit down!"

~~~~~~~~

Considering that the market wasn't incredibly busy today, Wang Li took the day easy, preparing only half of his usual stock. However, today was certainly an unexpected one for him as Liu Yang sat down with her coworker.

He looked at the two, taking note of her awkward face and smiled.

"The usual?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, no beer. It's only Monday and I'm with my junior."

She answered in a flustered manner.

"Sure, no problem."

He smiled before firing up his grill and placing a few skewers on top.

"It seems that you come here a lot, Ms. Liu. For the Stall Owner to know you and what you order."

Xiao Yin pointed it out rather quickly as she saw their exchange. Despite her weaknesses, she was a perceptive person.

"Well, you know, I've been working at Golden Treasures for a few years now. I need someplace to air out my grievances."

"But, it seems like you know him personally, don't you?"

"What? What do you mean?"

Liu Yang's voice turned high- pitched as she heard her junior speak. In the background, Wang Li chuckled quietly though, none of them heard it.

"Well, um..."

She struggled to think of a response, trying her best not to embarrass herself. But in the end, someone else spoke up for her.

"We were classmates years ago, before university, right, Liu Yang."

Wang Li answered as he placed two small plates of food between them, one carrying chicken wings and the other carrying skewers.

Surprised by his sudden entrance, Liu Yang could do nothing but nod.

"Really? You two were classmates?! That's kind of crazy but neither of you noticed beforehand or even recognized each other?"

Xiao Yin exclaimed in surprise. After a skewer or two, she seemed to have lost her timidness, asking all sorts of questions to the both of them.

"Hey, he's busy tending to his stall and I come here to rant about work. It's not as if reminiscing was at the top of our priorities. Come on, eat one before it gets cold."

Liu Yang snapped at the two before grabbing a chicken wing to eat. However, Wang Li continued to talk.

"She comes here at the end of the week, usually orders a lot of food but never fails to finish it all."

"Hey! Shouldn't you be working right now?"

Liu Yang looked Wang Li, who shrugged and looked around. Pointing at the few customers that were here.

"There's not exactly a lot for me to do is there? So might as well talk a bit."

"Mm."

She looked away from him but not before eating some more.

As for Xiao Yin, she looked at the two, finding the atmosphere a bit strange. But she stayed silent, watching it all unfold.

Wang Li looked at Liu Yang and smirked before turning to her junior.

"Well, it's all in the past now. We haven't talked in the past seven or eight years. A lot of things have changed since then. But, since she brought you here, I assume both of you had a rough start to the week."

"Oh yeah, our manager keeps-"

"-Bullying my junior here and being an ass."

Just as she spoke, Liu Yang interrupted her, in fact, she went off on Manager Zhang.

"She's only been here for a year. I understand reprimanding her for mistakes but the entire time she was in his office, all that we heard was non-stop screaming from him. Then he decided to call up my name right after and give me work that doesn't have to be done until months later! The nerve of him! Leering at me too! He does the same crap to everyone else!"

At this point, it didn't seem like she would stop. The other two just looked at her go before glancing at each other.

"Is she always like this, owner?"

Xiao Yin leaned in, whispering to Wang Li. Looking at Liu Yang once more, Wang Li had a rather helpless expression on his face.

"More or less, although I think it's been worse."

"I've never seen her like this before. She's like a big sister to the interns and the newcomers. She works hard but no one has ever really seen her outside of work. I guess even someone like her needs to relax somehow.

"A big sister, hm. I can see that."

"Say, what was Ms. Liu like when you two were students? She never talked about herself in gatherings."

Wang Li rubbed his chin as he thought back to the past.

"She was certainly hardworking in some way... She loved to draw, though I suppose she doesn't do it anymore", he said.

"Of course, I don't. Art wasn't a very lucrative choice."

Liu Yang looked at them both, her voice was somewhat firm.

"But you loved it, every time I see you, you were always looking at something, drawing, painting. You always had a sketchpad with you."

Looking at her, Wang Li furrowed his eyes, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"Stop, nothing you say will change my mind, I put it down for reason. Even if I loved it, a lot of things changed, it's been years after all."

"Even then, you didn't have to abandon it completely, did you?"

Liu Yang finally looked him into the eyes.

"But what about you? Always studying, helping others study too including me. Everyone thought you were going to be in some big university and get a big job. Yet, you never came to the reunions. I thought that you must have been busy with studies, that maybe you've forgotten about the rest of us. And here you are, running your own stall in the night market. What happened there?"

She asked him, her eyes were filled with emotion.

Sadness? Betrayal? Anger? Wang Li locked eyes with her before sighing.

"I decided to go after what I loved and I did whatever was needed to reach it. It's hard work but I love this. Why didn't you?"

There was silence between them, a tense silence.

"Let's go."

Liu Yang stood up, planting down cash in front of him.

"Oh, okay..."

Xiao Yin looked at her before looking at Wang Li. She then gave him a polite bow.

"Thank you for the food!" she said before quickly following her senior.

"I always thought it was pretty! Your art."

He shouted out to her but she didn't react, Liu Yang just continued walking away. Wang Li just watched her back disappear into the crowds.

Xiao Yin looked at her face, it was one of anguish as if something she had buried long ago resurfaced.

"Are you- are you okay?" she asked.

Liu Yang suddenly returned to a small smile.

"Yes, it's fine. I just haven't seen him in a long time."