There was a small park located on the opposite side of their residential area. There were hills and lush greenery surrounding a lake. The ambience and open space was perfect for morning jogs and exercise.

 

He Lin had decided to jog one round in the park and within a span of forty minutes, he stood in front of Xie Liao Liao again. His complexion was flushed and sweat dripped along his face and down his neck. Seeing him out of breath and in that state was not unpleasant at all.

 

“How is it?” he asked.

 

Xie Liao Liao nodded slightly.

 

As she was unsure of when he would be back, she had read and reread the whole article. She was determined to memorize everything or as much as she could.

 

He Lin then took the exercise book from her and started testing her on the phrases, one-by-one. To Liao Liao’s surprise, she was able to answer all of his questions. Moreover, she had even memorized the phonetic spellings properly as well.

 

He Lin wiped the sweat on his face using the collar of his shirt and smiled with satisfaction, “You remembered. That’s good.”

 

However, all Liao Liao could do was to stare at him wordlessly with her dark, round eyes.

 

“We’ll continue tomorrow. Meet me here at seven.”

 

Seeing that Liao Liao had made no objections, He Lin then left for the public shower to wash up and have a change of clothes.

 

Liao Liao simply stood there and waited until He Lin disappeared into the shower area before proceeding to go back upstairs to her apartment unit.

　　

 

***

　

 

By the time Liao Liao had entered her apartment unit, her mother was busy cleaning spare ribs in the kitchen.

 

The sound of the meat cleaver scraping off the meat from the ribs was endless and Liao Liao was not in the mood to listen to that. Thus, she went to her room to finish up on some of her homework. When she got tired of that, she sat on the bed and snuggled a pillow close to her chest as she played FRAMED2.

 

FRAMED2 was a puzzle game and Liao Liao had managed to clear the levels several times over the long time she had kept the app. Not long after she started playing the game, her mother called out to her from outside the room.

 

“Liao Liao, are you done with your homework?”

 

Upon placing the final piece to the puzzle, the male protagonist of the game had successfully escaped from being caught by the police.

 

Grinning, Liao Liao answered, “No, I’m resting.”

 

Her mother then entered the room. Seeing Liao Liao still wearing a top and a pair of shorts, her mother asked, “Where did you go?”

 

Liao Liao gripped at her handphone that was still in her hands slightly and replied, “I… went downstairs to buy a notebook.”

 

“Well, I will be going out with Aunt He shortly. Please finish up on your homework while you are home by yourself. If you’re ever bored, you may go over to He Lin’s to play but be sure to be home by noon. You are cooking today.”

 

“Why?” Liao Liao asked.

 

“Aunt He is going to settle down here so that He Lin would be able to take the college entrance exams in the near future. The procedures are a bit complicated and we may not be back until later in the afternoon.”

 

“What about Dad?” Xia Liao Liao asked. If her father was here, she would not need to go next door to see He Lin.

 

“Your Dad has gone to the fire brigade. The team seems to be quite busy today, and he won’t be back until nighttime.”

 

Noticing the hesitation on Liao Liao’s face, her mother smiled and went on to say, “Hey, I’ll make you pork ribs soup when I return later.”

 

“Mom, can I not go?”

 

“Yes, but there isn’t much to eat at home. Can you cook by yourself?” Liao Liao’s mother asked but when her question was met with silence, she continued, “What is your impression of He Lin? He seems like a good kid. Why do you not want to see him? I heard from his mother that he cooks delicious meals. He will be at home today. Why don’t you go over there and have a good chat with him?”

 

“Being of the same age, I’m sure that there is plenty that you both have in common,” her mother urged.

 

“I…”

 

“It will all be okay,” her mother said and waved goodbye without waiting for a reply.

 

“...”

 

“Be polite and courteous when you’re in someone else’s home,” her mother said as she changed clothes and left the room.

 

Liao Liao just stared at the empty doorway, unable to think or form the words. After a while, she fell back onto the bed and sighed softly.

 

Despite her mothers request, Xie Liao Liao really did not want to go over to the neighbour’s place. Moreover, she was not very familiar with He Lin, and still cannot fully understand the incident that had taken place earlier in the morning.

 

Liao Liao stared up at the ceiling for a while longer before getting up and returning to her desk. 

 

‘Forget it. I still have a lot of homework to finish up on. Homework is definitely more important than doing anything else now,’ Xie Liao Liao thought to herself.

 

　 　

***

 

It was already an hour past noon by the time Liao Liao was done with her Mathematics and Chemistry homework. Feeling hungry, she went to the kitchen to look for something to eat.

 

However, as her mother had said earlier, there was nothing much to eat. There were only leftover slices of fried radish cake and yogurt that had been eaten the previous night. Liao Liao ate a slice of the fried radish cake and proceeded to check out the other shelves and cupboards in the kitchen for food, but to no avail.

 

Although the slice of fried radish cake was delicious, it was unable to satisfy her hunger. As her stomach growled, Liao Liao drank the cup of yogurt but she did not feel full in any sense.

 

Worried that walking around may consume too much energy, and already feeling tired of reading anything, Xie Liao Liao decided to lay on her bed. Perhaps it was due to having to wake up so early in the morning, but she felt drained and did not want to do anything. Before long, Liao Liao had fallen asleep.

 

***

 

It was already evening when Xie Liao Liao woke up. The soft rays from the setting Sun streamed through the window. She looked out the window and saw that the clouds were low and heavy. Then glancing towards the alarm clock on the dresser by the bedside, she saw that the time was already 5:10pm.

 

The slices of fried radish cake Liao Liao had eaten earlier had long digested, leaving her hungry and feeling empty.

 

‘Mom and Dad have not returned yet. I should go to the supermarket downstairs and buy something.’

 

Quickly washing her face to freshen up, Liao Liao then put on her shoes and went out. It all took a great effort but she knew that she must have something to eat soon.

 

***

 

Fortunately, the supermarket was very quiet today and there were not many customers. Liao Liao went straight to the snack aisle. Liao Liao grabbed a packet of biscuits and a bag of shrimp crackers. Spotting fruit flavoured candies, Liao Liao decided to take two boxes of the strawberry candy. Satisfied with what she had, Liao Liao proceeded to the cashier and the bill came up to a total of 32.50.

 

Liao Liao was about to pay when she overheard the cashier from the other counter asking, “Did you bring change with you?”

 

The customer who stood at the other counter was none other than He Lin. He was wearing a black t-shirt which matched his jet black hair. As always, he looked fresh and clean.

 

He Lin flipped through his wallet and said no. His cashier then went to another cashier counter to retrieve some spare change from the machine. As he kept away the wallet in his pocket, Liao Liao noticed that there was a white pack of cigarettes in the pocket as well.

 

He Lin looked at her and smiled. Deciding to pretend that she had seen nothing, Liao Liao nodded slightly at him and left the supermarket as soon as she paid for her own items.

 

Surprised that Liao Liao had basically ignored him, He Lin followed after her. He was not trying to sneak and she could clearly hear his footsteps but never once did she look back to say anything to him. She just kept on looking forward, somewhat adamant to ignore his presence. If anything, she quickened her pace slightly.

 

Even so, it was not difficult for He Lin to close the distance between them as his legs were much longer than hers. What would take her two to three steps was no more than a single step for He Lin.

 

As the entrance of their building unit came into view, He Lin took a few long strides until he was just next to Liao Liao. With his hands in his pockets, he bent down close to her ear and said, “Your mother told you to come to my apartment unit for dinner… Why didn’t you come?”

 

Liao Liao simply walked on.

 

He Ling continued to follow after her. With a disapproving look, he asked, “Will you be full just on junk food alone? There’s still extra fried rice from when I’d cooked earlier. Would you like to have some?”

 

“No.”

 

He Lin raised a brow and finally realized what was wrong. 

 

“Are you upset?” he asked.

 

Liao Liao remained silent.

 

“But why?” he asked.

 

He Lin scratched at his brow in confusion. Things were okay in the morning but have abruptly turned for the opposite in the afternoon. She was now sullen and had refused to even acknowledge his presence.

 

“How did I upset you? Was it because I had made you memorize so many phrases in the morning?”

 

He Lin felt anxious at her continued silence. A strange throbbing began to blossom in his chest as he began to wonder what exactly he had done wrong to Liao Liao.

 

After a moment, Liao Liao turned and looked at him before uttering, “You scored 130 for your English test.”

 

He Lin just watched her in silence.

 

“You did well for your listening proficiency test. So, you do not even have a problem in that area either,” Liao Liao continued.

 

For the whole time they were together, it was Liao Liao who stuttered and tripped over her words when they read together. He Lin had not missed a single word.

 

Although He Lin said that he needed practice and someone to help him with the auditory part, he was the one who had taught Liao Liao on her vocabulary-- from the beginning till the end.

 

“You didn’t even need my help for English,” Liao Liao said accusingly.

 

Then looking him straight in the eyes, Liao Liao said, “Why are you helping me?”

 

He Lin stood still and there was a flash of emotion in his eyes.