Chapitre 18: Eighteen
What if she was going to look for Li Hua to settle accounts? What if she broke Li Hua's fingers so that she never played again?
"Tell whoever is coming that I am sick. I'm going home," Dong Mei turned to leave.
Cang Mang made to follow after her, "wait!"
The wind carried the sound of the twinkling of beautiful chimes, that followed with a sweet laugh, "Yang Wei, this place really has another view when you're around."
The two people in the restaurant's inconspicuous corner froze.
The sound of that voice was engrained into their minds for different reasons.
Cang Mang looked at Dong Mei to read her facial expression. He wasn't able to see it properly because he found her turning back to the window.
There was a look of pleasant surprise and yearning on her face as she rushed towards the window.
She slammed into her seat and looked out the window, her eyes searching until they clocked on a particular direction.
Cang Mang followed her gaze and undoubtedly, he found Bai Yang Wei.
In that moment, the statement, 'speak of the devil and he will appear,' had never been truer.
Bai Yang Wei and Li Hua walked hand in hand as a servant carried the things they had bought. He carefully watched Li Hua, so that if her eyes landed on anything, he would immediately buy it. His gaze on her was pampering, indulgent and ever patient.
The clear adoration in Li Hua's eyes towards Bai Yang Wei wasn't hard to miss. The same adoration, though darker, was in Dong Mei's eyes towards the same man.
Dong Mei moved away from the window and anxiously asked Cang Mang, "how do I look? Is there anything out of place? Is there anything in my teeth?"
Her questions were successive and she kept her hand fanning her face though the room wasn't hot at all.
"Cang Mang! Talk quickly. Has my rogue been misplaced? I can't put on powder like other girls. Is it okay?" she continued to ask.
Dong Mei had ebony hair, ebony eyebrows and eyelashes. Her thin eyelashes weaved perfectly around her almond eyes.
At that moment, her emotions were clearly displayed on her face and the rogue she was worried about had already been eaten away.
Cang Mang gave a small laugh that ended in a calm smile.
She actually looked kind of pure in that moment, nothing like the scheming fox she normally was.
Dong Mei watched as Cang Mang looked at her. She thought he wanted to observe her face so he can be sure so she displayed it perfectly for him.
Cang Mang instinctively smiled warmly.
He leaned forward slightly and his voice was gentle as he said, "you don't even need rogue."
Their gazes locked.
"You've always been beautiful," he finished.
Dong Mei's eyebrows wrinkled. He seemed to be looking right through her as he said those words; like he was looking at someone else but she also felt that he was looking at her at the same time.
She ignored the feeling and grabbed a cup of water and looked at her appearance and she wasn't pleased. She took the veil and tied it over half her face before racing out.
How could she trust Cang Mang's opinion? He was always trying to get between her and her brother Bai. She knew for sure that if she had a huge tart on her face, he'd gladly say that she'd always been beautiful.
Cang Mang seemed to come back to life when she ran past him and he immediately followed after her, "Dong Mei, we had a deal."
Dong Mei wasn't listening to his nonsense. She rushed out of the establishment onto the streets.
Just as Cang Mang was about to leave, the waiter grabbed his coat and asked him to pay the fee.
"Brother Bai! Brother Bai!" Dong Mei called out as she ran to them.
Li Hua was the only one that turned. Even the servant was not ready to pay attention to Dong Mei.
"Sister!" Li Hua said with a voice full of pleasant surprise.
"Brother Bai!" Dong Mei called as she arrived in front of him, "what are you doing here?"
Bai Yang Wei flashed her a cold glance.
"Brother Bai, it's me, Ah'Mei. Don't let this mask deceive you," Dong Mei urged, pointing at the veil over her face.
Bai Yang Wei was still a little cold to her. She quickly checked herself to find whatever was wrong. She then recalled that Bai Yang Wei was not fond of hyper girls so she quickly calmed down.
"Brother Bai, sorry about that. It's just, I am a little excited to see friends after a long time," she explained.
Bai Yang Wei gave a stiff nod and shifted his sights elsewhere.
"Ah!! Xiao Mang, I've been wondering where you've been these days," Li Hua said.
Dong Mei turned to find Cang Mang was behind her. She ignored him and turned back to Bai Yang Wei.
"Brother Bai, since we haven't seen each other for a long time, how about we have a meal together?" Dong Mei offered in a sweetened voice.
Her offer was strictly for Bai Yang Wei, as long as he accepted, he would shamelessly chase away the other two.
"If you're so anxious to eat, I'll fulfill you," Cang Mang stuffed a steamed bun into Dong Mei's mouth, "here you go."
Dong Mei glared at Cang Mang. She turned back to Bai Yang Wei and attempted to say something. Cang Mang stuffed another steam bun into her mouth.
"Now there's something to eat. It's best not to talk," he said rightly.
Dong Mei scowled at him and attempted to spit out the food.
"Ah!" Cang Mang cupped her mouth and pressed his palm against her lips, stopping her from spitting it out, "only an old witch is capable of spitting out food in front of so many starving men."
It needn't be explained how some of the vendors only had a meal a day in the name of trying to use every minute to get someone to buy their goods.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone