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67.98% Table for Two [Completed] / Chapter 172: The Gift (6)

Capítulo 172: The Gift (6)

After leaving the store, Xiu Ling and Lin Kang went for a short walk around the mall. Lin Kang kept urging her to visit the many stores, pushing her to pick out the things that she liked. Xiu Ling politely declined every time. Lin Kang assumed his wife was feeling shy or she did not know what to select since there were so many choices. Therefore, he took things into his own hands and started to make the purchase on her behalf. While he did so, Xiu Ling merely stood to the side and watched her husband at work. She waited patiently for her husband to return to her side after he made those impossible orders. She made sure to say thank you every time but her words of appreciation sounded weak even to her own ears.

After this had gone on for a while, Xiu Ling said she wish to go home, citing lethargy. Lin Kang did not buy that reason but he obliged anyway. For some reason, he felt weirdly guilty like he had done something wrong and needed to make amends.

Perhaps it was the way he had dealt with the sales promoter or perhaps his wife did not appreciate the gift that he had prepared. Lin Kang could have asked Xiu Ling directly about it but he was afraid, afraid to hear the answer.

Xiu Ling remained silent in the car and halfway through the journey, Lin Kang finally could not hold it in anymore. If he did not get to the bottom of the truth, he might not be able to have a good night sleep ever again. He desperately needed to know where he had done wrong, so he had a chance to change.

Shattering the silence in the vehicle, Lin Kang asked with the desperation of a sinner seeking salvation, "Xiu Ling, what's wrong? Do you not like my gifts?"

Xiu Ling turned to look at her husband. Her first reaction was to say the typical, "No, everything's fine. I love them," just to bring the topic to rest but looking at the anxiety and regret on Lin Kang's face, she could not bring herself to do so. It would be like tricking an innocent child, you might get him to stop harassing you but eventually you'd feel guilty for doing it.

Xiu Ling sighed and it caused her husband's heart to sink. He asked urgently, "What do you not like about it? Do you not like the things that I picked for you? I can have people change them or I can go prepare some new ones."

Xiu Ling smiled good-naturedly. "No, It's not that. I do appreciate the presents. It's just that in comparison, I was having more fun spending time with you before you turned into my personal shopper."

Then it hit Lin Kang. He was so busy trying to make the day special for her that he forgot to do the simplest thing, which was to accompany her.

"I love the gifts, I really do. You have very good taste but it's not like I'll ever wear all of them." On top of that, Xiu Ling wasn't really a brand chaser. In fact, now that Lin Kang gave it a serious thought, he had never seen his wife in anything branded or overly expensive ever since she married into the Lin family, unless it was demanded by the occasions.

'So, it has been a failure after all. Everything is for naught.' Lin Kang thought despondently. Xiu Ling could not bear to see that puppy dog-like pout on her husband's face. It was so drastically different from his usual demeanor that it just made him feel extra pitiable.

Xiu Ling felt guilty for what she said. She knew how much effort Lin Kang had placed into preparing this gift. After all, it wouldn't have been easy to purchase an entire shopping mall. Xiu Ling felt bad for raining on his parade like that.

Xiu Ling tried to cheer him up, "But you did a good job already. I'm really thankful and happy."

In that moment, Xiu Ling felt like she was dealing with Lin Xi. She had a vague memory of saying almost the same thing when her son was feeling grumpy from failing to reach his self-defined standards. Like father like son, Xiu Ling remembered her mother-in-law saying.

Xiu Ling's words of consolation only made Lin Kang sink his head even lower. It felt like she was taking pity on him and that was not a good feeling to have on a date.

Feeling the need to make her husband not feel so devastated, Xiu Ling tried her best but her words fell flat. However, as the car zoomed forward, she caught something out of the corner of her eyes.

Xiu Ling reached forward and asked for the driver to stop.

The driver did what he was told and the car jerked to a stop. Lin Kang was confused at what Xiu Ling was doing and that temporarily drew him out of the slump. "Why did you stop the car?"

Instead of answering him, Xiu Ling pushed the door open. She stepped out and extended her hand towards Lin Kang in invitation, "Come with me."

Lin Kang still had no idea what his wife was up to but this was an invitation that he would not refuse.

Lin Kang took her proffered hand and exited the car. They were standing in the middle of a busy city street with cars bustling around them. Some of the pedestrians stopped to toss them curious looks, wondering what the pair was up to.

To be honest, Lin Kang was as confused as they were.

Xiu Ling walked down the street to one of the shops that she saw passing through the window earlier. Lin Kang told the driver to go for a rest and he quickly ran to catch up to Xiu Ling.

When he fell into a steady footsteps beside her, Xiu Ling said, "Since we do not have much time to spend on a date at the mall, we're here to make up for lost time."


PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
Lonelytree Lonelytree

Any guesses where they're going? :) Hint: It's very romance-drama like XD

Capítulo 173: The Gift (7)

Xiu Ling led Lin Kang to an arcade. She said excitedly before she walked into the store, "I've always wanted to visit a place like this when I was a child but mum was too poor to bring me."

Looking at the childish and pure joy that lit up his wife's face, Lin Kang felt overwhelmed by emotions. He wished he could be thrown back in time to Xiu Ling's childhood so he would be able to help her fulfill the dreams that failed to realize when she was young. Knowing that was impossible, he settled with the second best, which was to make her dreams come true in the present.

With that purpose in mind, Lin Kang followed Xiu Ling to enter the arcade. Honestly, Lin Kang could not remember the last time he visited a place like this, he was normally too busy with work to permit himself such entertainment.

Therefore, his impression of the place was still stuck in the time of his youth where arcades were seedy places for high schoolers to play truancy and you couldn't see too far ahead of you due to the thick haze of cigarette smoke and dim lighting.

However, after the governmental intervention, things had cleaned up aplenty. In fact, arcades could be considered to be one of the few places which had not been left behind by the flow of passing time.

Surprising Lin Kang, the arcade that they visited that day was clean and modern. As small as the place was, it was well-furbished and nice. The walls were painted white and there was even air-conditioning. Various assortments of arcade machines lined the walls. There were the old arcade games from his childhood and some newer ones that he had not seen before.

Machines that were meant for more than one players like air hockey and fighting games dominated the centre of the store.

Lin Kang looked around the place and failed to spot the manager. He then realized the place was fully automated. There was a machine to exchange game tokens so technically everything was self-service.

Lin Kang was impressed by how advanced things were.

Since it was a weekday afternoon, there was no one else in the arcade, they were left all alone. Lin Kang stopped beside his wife and asked, "What would you like to play first?"

Xiu Ling looked around the place and her eyes lit up with interest. Lin Kang had not seen his wife this excited before and he felt like kicking himself for not bringing her here for their date from the very beginning. He remembered this detail about his wife, hoping to put it to good use in the future.

Even though Xiu Ling wanted to play all the games eventually, the first thing that caught her interest was the crane machine. With a token or two, you would be able to operate the crane inside the machine to hook the item that you want. The prizes offered were normally either stuffed dolls or model cars to cater to both genders.

"How about that?" Xiu Ling pointed at the row of crane machines.

"Sure." Lin Kang walked over to the exchange machine to trade for game tokens while Xiu Ling went to pick out the machine that she liked.

Lin Kang joined Xiu Ling before a machine that had plushies as its prizes. Lin Kang handed Xiu Ling one of the tokens and she proceeded to feed it into the machine. Xiu Ling focused as she tried to operate the crane.

The claw managed to hook the doll that she wanted just as the time limit was running out. As the crane lifted the doll up from the pile, it shook and the prize fell off.

"Aww, that was so close!" griped Xiu Ling.

That gave Lin Kang the initiative to step up. From her first try, Lin Kang recognized the doll that his wife wanted. It was a plushy of a famous mouse character that could not be named here due to copyright reasons.

He gently nudged Xiu Ling out of the way as he slit another token into the machine. "Let me. I'll win this for you," he promised.

Since Lin Kang sounded so eager, Xiu Ling took a step back to allow the man to take charge.

The machine's music changed, signalling that it was time to start and the timer on the panel where the sticks and the myriad of buttons were started to count down.

Lin Kang operated the machine with the expertise and dexterity of a master engineer. Based on the serious countenance on his face, one would think he was operating an actual crane at a building site rather than at an arcade.

'Is he this intense and serious all the time?' Xiu Ling thought as she watched her husband.

People say that a man is at his most handsome when he is concentrating on his work. While Xiu Ling could not deny her husband's Adonis-like looks, she also hoped that he would learn to chill out sometimes. Xiu Ling did not want Lin Kang to work himself to his death.

After spending some time with Lin Kang, she realized her husband was a very goal-orientated person, too goal-orientated if she was being honest. He would set himself a target and would not stop until he had it completed. During that process, he would not consider anything else.

In a way, it was good because it kept his focus sharp and pointed but on the other hand, it might also cause him to miss out on the things that were happening in his periphery. He would not stop to smell the roses, as they would say.

Xiu Ling saw this personality being reflected in her son and she did not want such an intense life for him. She wished for him to take things at a slower pace and what better way to do that than to influence the very person that his son was modelling his behavior after?


PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
Lonelytree Lonelytree

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