Chapter 40 - The first ever

Breakfast that day was a new experience altogether. The first burger he had tasted. Jian gazed at the man opposite him. "You like it? Your first burger."

"Hmm, didn't expect it to taste good." The man wiped his mouth with a tissue, as if he had a delectable caviar. "But how did you know it was my first?"

Jian smirked. "Well, you look and act like you grew up eating French baguette and caviar for dinner."

The man scoffed softly. "I one time ate mud."

"So did I."

The man raised a brow. "Really? Were you starved and had nothing to eat?"

Jian playfully chuckled. "I was playing in the sandbox and thought... hmm, how will this taste like."

He let out a chuckle. "How did it taste?"

"Like sand. Weirdly, it was salty... I hope no kid peed in there." Jian folded all the wrappers and placed them on the tray.

"Sand has a bit of salt in it. You're safe."

Jian took the tray and emptied it in the trash. The man seemed to follow him. "You have cash that you can afford to waste?"

He raised a brow. "I seem to have a bit."

"Then..." Jian grinned widely.

The mall had an arcade that he was dying to try.

He ran to the arcade. "Let's play."

They played around a bit, and before he could know it, it was afternoon.

Jian regretfully gazed at the Whack-a-Mole arcade station. "I have to go."

The man paused with the small rubber hammer in hand. "I'll drop you."

"No, I can walk home. You can play more."

"No, I will drop you." He repeated like a robot and placed the hammer down.

"Wait," Jian pulled out the huge bundle of tokens. "We can redeem a gift for this."

"Oh..."

The young woman manning the gift section gaped at the taller white-haired man.

"We are here to redeem it." He placed the rolls of tokens. "What can this get us?"

Then the girl looked at Jian. She seemed to be put in a trance again.

"Sister?"

The girl snapped out. "Okay..." She counted the tokens. "You can choose from the third row." She pointed to the rows of gifts behind her.

It was all plushie toys that were as small as a hand.

"What do you want?" the man suddenly looked his way.

Jian raised a brow. "You won them all."

"But I don't want a toy."

"What? Too macho for it?"

"No, just have no use for it."

Jian smiled and pointed to a white lion plushie. He then handed it to the man. "It's a souvenir. You won it, so you own it."

The man blankly held the lion, looking at it with interest.

They left the mall right after, and Jian directed him to the nearby bus stop that was close to his home.

"This is your home?" The man glanced around questionably.

"No, it's close to my home. You're a stranger, and I won't lead you home." Jian waved to him. "Thank you for today."

"Wait." The man called out to him. "Here," he pulled out a wad of cash from his wallet and handed it to him.

"Why are you giving me cash?" Jian peered at him. "Are you interested in me?"

"No, just... it's just paper in my hands. I thought you could use it."

Jian was perplexed. The wad was full of hundred dollars. He had never held so much cash in his hands, not even in his past life. And this stranger just handed it all to him like it was waste paper.

He blankly gazed at him. "Mister... don't take me wrong, before I accept this, I need to make sure that you don't have any kind of wrong intent toward me..."

The man chuckled. "I have no interest in you."

Jian smiled. "That's good then. I'll be taking this without feeling guilty." He carefully stuffed it in his pocket. "Can I be presumptuous and ask another favor of you?"

"What is it?"

Jian fiddled with the bottom of his shirt. "Um, can I stay in the construction site?"

"You can," he agreed without hesitation.

"I can? But I am not working there."

"Stay safe."

"Hmm..." Jian got out but suddenly he felt something pulling his hair. "Ow."

"Wait, your hair is stuck to the headrest." The man helped free it. "There, done."

The kind stranger drove away after that.

Jian simply stood there watching the empty road. He had never had so much fun before. And it was too with a stranger.

The man did not ask him for his name, and so he never did either.

He would forever stay a kind stranger in his memory.

Jian touched the wad of cash with a small smile. 'With this, I can buy supplies...'