Zhang Heng and Nanako Mukaiji shook hands. After that, Chen Huadong explained the reason for seeking Zhang Heng’s help.
When the two of them were shopping, Nanako Mukaiji suddenly asked to stop at the bookstore, saying that she wanted to find a few Chinese books to practice reading. However, she could not remember the name of the book. All she could remember was its contents. Unfortunately, Chen Huadong’s Japanese was half-baked, and he could hardly figure out which book Nanako Mukaiji wanted to buy even after she described the book explicitly with hand gestures. That was why he called for Zhang Heng’s help since he could understand and speak Japanese well.
“Help a brother out. I will buy you a meal later.”
“What are we eating?”
“How about… wonton?” Chen Huadong looked at Zhang Heng’s expression. The latter put on a noncommittal look. So Chen Huadong changed his mind, gritted his teeth, and said, “I will buy you the food court’s most famous barbecued seafood!”
“Sounds good to me.” Zhang Heng nodded.
“My wallet is bleeding,” Chen Huadong lamented. “Please make sure that your service is thoughtful enough. Well, don’t be too thoughtful. I don’t want her to be attracted to you. Shit! I’m starting to feel that it’s unwise to ask for your help. You already have Shen Xixi, Hayase Asuka, and Han Lu, a filthy rich woman. I believe you won’t snatch Nanako from me, right?” he pleaded while looking at Zhang Heng with suspicion.
“Remember, I want six oysters,” replied Zhang Heng.
“No.” Chen Huadong changed his expression when he heard Zhang Heng’s request, “One oyster costs eighteen yuan. If you order six, that will cost me more than one hundred yuan! And I don’t think it’ll be enough to fill you up. After that, you’ll ask for grilled fish, grilled shrimp, and grilled octopus. By the way, can’t you just eat grilled buns, grilled eggplant, or something cheaper? Those are economical and affordable. I would rather you order kebabs or some chicken wings.”
“What am I supposed to eat from a barbeque seafood stall if I don’t eat seafood?” Zhang Heng casually returned the question, ignoring a shocked Chen Huadong.
“…”
“What are you talking about? Sounds delicious,” Nanako Mukaiji curiously chipped in. Although she was learning Chinese, her vocabulary was still severely limited. The only words that she could understand were fish, shrimp, and chicken wings. She was staring at Zhang Heng and Chen Huadong, whose nerves were already frayed. With her bangs swinging in front of her forehead, she looked even cuter than she already was.
When Chen Huadong saw her reaction, he suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction.
All those raw oysters, grilled shrimps, or octopuses did not matter to him anymore… He then started to speak in his half-baked Japanese, “Nanako, angel… Zhang Heng, demon.”
“Huh?” Nanako Mukaiji instantly felt shy the moment Chen Huadong suddenly praised her.
Zhang Heng also spoke out, “Describe to me the book that you want to buy.”
“Really? Sorry for troubling you, senpai.”
The three of them walked into the bookstore, and Nanako Mukaiji started to describe the book’s contents to Zhang Heng. Upon consulting the staff, Zhang Heng found that most of the bookstore’s employees hadn’t read it before. Hence, he could only head toward the corresponding area to search for the book.
Zhang Heng would first look at the cover and introduction of the books. This was the fastest way to help Nanako. Sometimes, the summaries of a book had nothing to do with its contents. In fact, it was suspected that the person who wrote the summaries had most of the time never read the contents. Or they would write the summaries in a way that could attract prospective buyers. After the readers bought the book, they would find out later that its contents had nothing to do with the summary.
It was quite a common practice nowadays.
Even though Chen Huadong was also helping to search for the book, it took the three of them almost an hour to find the exact copy she wanted. Now there was only one book left, a collection of poetry, and the author was Spanish.
Mukaiji Nanako was a little embarrassed, “Why don’t we forget about the last book? We have wasted a lot of time here.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ve got nothing to do anyway, right?” Chen Huadong glared at Zhang Heng.
For the sake of barbequed seafood, Zhang Heng had to support Chen Huadong this time. Hearing this, he said, “Well, I need to get a few books for myself too. I don’t mind helping you to search for what you want.”
“Chen-san, thank you so much.” Nanako Mukaiji smiled at Chen Huadong. She was smart enough to know that Zhang Heng was only willing to help because of Chen Huadong.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I am your Chinese teacher, after all.” Chen Huadong scratched his head. He had to admit that Zhang Heng had also given his best this time. He first listened to what Nanako Mukaiji had to say and translated her words into Chinese. It was the most effective way for the three of them to search for the books she wanted to buy.
And Zhang Heng played the role of a wingman perfectly. He did not show that he was better than Chen Huadong. Any books that he found, he would give them to Chen Huadong and ask him to pass them to Nanako. Finally, Chen Huadong put down his guard and secretly gave Zhang Heng a thumbs-up while Nanako was not paying attention.
Zhang Heng responded with a six-finger gesture.
Immediately, Chen Huadong’s eyes filled up with tears of both pain and happiness.
For the last book, Zhang Heng pointed at a bookshelf that he walked past earlier. Chen Huadong immediately ran there and pretended to search for the book. After that, Zhang Heng took the book of poems from Chen Huadong and translated it to Nanako Mukaiji for confirmation.
However, the latter shook her head. So Zhang Heng put the book back on the shelf. Suddenly, he paused because he saw another book on the shelf.
A book that did not belong here.
It was normal that the bookstore’s customers randomly placed the books that they had flipped through. Earlier, Zhang Heng had roughly checked the books on the bookshelves and did not notice this book’s existence at the time. This was nothing unusual to the average person, but with Zhang Heng’s observational skills, he knew that the probability of this happening was not high.
In other words, someone placed the book here not too long ago.
Just when Zhang Heng wanted to grab it, someone took it first.
“Oh, so the book turns out to be here.”
“It seems you’ve been quite free lately.” Zhang Heng knew who the person was when he heard the voice. He turned his head and saw the old man in the Tang suit.
“I guess these are the perks of being your own boss. Although it’s pressurizing, at least you have more freedom in managing your time, and you can go wherever you want.” The latter shrugged and looked at Nanako Mukaiji. “Are you dating? Did you change girlfriends?” he asked.
“No. I’m just helping a friend,” Zhang Heng replied.
“That’s good. Old people are always more nostalgic. I still prefer the little girl named Hayase Asuka. Fan Meinan is not bad as well. As for Shen Xixi… You know I don’t like the woman behind her, but I have to admit that you’re pretty good at picking girlfriends,” the old man in the Tang suit put the book under his arm calmly as he said.
