Kapitel 16: Sixteen
"If you don't like the skin then peel it first," he said.
Dong Mei put on a face that said she didn't want to be bothered. Since he had taken that one, she would grab another.
Cang Mang stopped her, "wait!" he started to peel the fruit with his hands. They were small fruits with a purplish succulent exterior and a green interior that protected small purple seeds within it.
Once the exterior was punctured, it was easy to peel back the covers by hand. From the bite Dong Mei had made, Cang Mang peeled back the skin, exposing the juicy interior. He didn't completely remove the peels so that Dong Mei would be able to hold the fruit.
"Here," he handed it back to her.
Dong Mei freely took it and started to eat without as much as a thank you in Cang Mang's direction.
"I've always wondered," she said while giving him another fruit to peel, "what am I supposed to say to those random men? How am I supposed to act?"
Cang Mang took the fruit from her with an unamused expression. He took a bite out of it before peeling it.
"It's simple, you just sit, eat and talk about things," he explained.
Dong Mei finished the fruit in her hand and threw the seeds and peels behind her then looked at the one Cang Mang was peeling.
The fruit was about the size of a fist hence easy to finish. Some people even ate it in one go.
"What would you say to someone you don't even know?" she asked.
Cang Mang shrugged, "tell them about yourself. That's what most people do,"
She took the fruit from Cang Mang, "you've done it before?"
Cang Mang nodded and picked up another fruit to peel.
"When? With whom?" Dong Mei seemed interested.
"You don't know them," Cang Mang took a bite into the fruit before peeling.
"Are they from out of the village?" she was less interested.
"Yep," he replied.
"So what things about yourself did you say that failed to gain you any interest from them?" Dong Mei asked with a laugh.
"Ha!" He laughed blandly and handed her another peeled fruit.
Dong Mei spoke as she ate, "where am I meeting them? I need to see these places before hand. I can't trust you with my reputation."
Cang Mang stood, "I'll take you," he gathered a couple of fruits into his hands and left the rest for her, "see you next time."
Dong Mei quickly gathered the rest of the fruits out of the water and ran after him. She had no intention of walking back home alone. It was already evening and bandits could be found anywhere at such a time.
The most common form of exchange in the village was barter trade. One villager gave seeds in order to get a few fruits when they grew. Another gave a basket of cotton in exchange for a few pieces of meat. Those that didn't really have anything normally gave labor.
The village market embraced exchange since most people didn't have enough money. If anyone wanted to earn only money for their goods they'd have to try the town's market that was a good distance from their village.
The village market had only two restaurants. Most people only own moveable food stalls since they couldn't afford to run a restaurant.
Few people could afford to buy meals so the restaurants always had free seats.
Cang Mang sat at an inconspicuous corner shielded from the outside world by thin curtains. He gently dipped his head to sip tea as he looked outside the window. A swish from his left side made him turn his head.
Dong Mei wasn't hard to identify for those who knew her.
She stood in the middle of the entrance of the inconspicuous corner, holding the white lace curtains apart.
She calmly looked at Cang Mang, "this is it?"
She wore light blue robes with a pink ribbon sitting lazily on her arms. Her hair was held down by a simple wooden hairpin. She kept half her face hidden with a small white lace veil.
Cang Mang instinctively stood.
Five, seven seconds.
Dong Mei corked an eyebrow at him. Only then did he realize that he was standing and looking at her for no good reason. He quickly improvised by holding out his hand for her.
Dong Mei gave him a questioning look before helping herself to the sit opposite him.
Cang Mang awkwardly withdrew his hand and just as awkwardly took his sit.
"It's not a bad place to meet," Dong Mei commented as she looked around.
Cang Mang asked, "why? Why do you have that on your face?"
"This?" Dong Mei touched her veil, "this is just insurance. What if you bring me an ugly pervert? I can sleep in peace knowing that they don't know my face."
The waiter stepped in with more tea. He bowed to them before asking what they would have?
Dong Mei quickly ordered a plate of mapo tofu. Cang Mang ordered only baozi and tea.
As soon as the waiter left, Dong Mei started asking questions.
"Why are you ordering so little? You're making me seem like a glutton," Dong Mei complained, "are you out of money? Remember that you're the one who asked me to come here. You can't expect that I'll not take you up on it. If you couldn't afford it, then why ask me to come here. Or did you expect that I'd eat with a strange man? What if he poisoned my food? Cang Mang!"
"I can't eat just anyone's cooking," he said simply.
Dong Mei retorted, "so you won't eat it but bring me here to eat. What do you mean by that?"
"I didn't know I was so capable that I can control what you choose to eat," he replied while taking a sip of his tea.
Dong Mei could only sneer and curse him inwardly because she didn't know how to refute.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein