It was still raining when they arrived at Joann's place but the rain had lightened somewhat.
Xu Jing's car rolled to a stop before the apartment building Joann stayed in at the time. The building was old and the walls were stained from long exposure to the ravages of nature. In fact, it looked like the weathered building was about to crumble under the weight of the rain.
It did not look luxurious and was even less impressive on the inside but it was the only place Joann could afford at the time.
When Xu Jing parked his car by the roadside, Joann very naturally reached for the door. However, she was stopped by Xu Jing who yelled out an urgent, "Wait!"
Joann turned back to look at him and saw the young man reaching behind his chair as if in search of something. His arm moved around until he eventually settled on the thing he was looking for. It was an umbrella.
"Let me." Xu Jing said gentlemanly as he opened the door on the driver's side. He opened the umbrella, closed the door and walked around the front of the car to the passenger side. He pulled the door back and held it open for Joann, saying, "Come, I do not want you to get wet in the rain."
Xu Jing stood right next to the passenger door and snuggled the stem of the umbrella in the crook of his neck as he extended his hand towards Joann. Joann accepted it gracefully and bent her head low as she crawled out from the car.
After she stood upright, she lifted her head to say thank you. It was then that the young man's face suddenly appeared before her eyes. She failed to gauge the distance as she got out and found herself standing closer to Xu Jing than she expected.
The man was looking into her eyes and stood there as if transfixed. This was the first time Joann had taken a look at Xu Jing's face at such a close distance. The man's cheekbones were higher than she remembered and she noticed a fire burning in his eyes that was normally hidden behind his laid back attitude. She also noted the slight dimple just above the left corner of his lips as if carved there from the perpetual smile that seemed to hang on the young man's face.
Then, Joann saw water from the umbrella slid down on one side before falling down on Xu Jing's hair and sliding down his back. She moved her eyes upwards and realized the man had tipped the umbrella towards her to shield her from the rain, thus exposing half of his body to the weather.
An indescribable sense of warmth flowed through the veins of her body and everything felt right. Joann thought about it and realized she could have done much worse than this young man standing before her so why not him?
She stood on tip-toe and leaned her face towards Xu Jing. With the rain falling around them, they shared their first kiss under the umbrella in front of Joann's old apartment… and the rest as they say, was history.
…
Xu Jing's car jolted to a stop and so did Joann's trip down memory lane.
"We have arrived. They are just in front of us," Xu Jing said in a whisper even though Sylvia and her mystery boyfriend's car was several parking spots away from them. It was impossible for them to have heard Xu Jing from such a distance.
Joann looked around them. They were at a residential area that Joann was sure she had not been to before even though the place looked weirdly familiar. There were apartment buildings around them and they looked new and high-end, a sign of the high status of their tenants. Some of them even came with amenities like swimming pool and private parking spots. It was deducible that they were at a silk stocking district.
There was a 24 hours Starbucks that was situated amidst the skyscrapers. It provided a convenient location for the nearby tenants to sit down with a cup of coffee and relax. However, the place was rather empty then considering the late hours.
"Do you think Sylvia's boyfriend is a rich second generation?" Xu Jing asked the question that was also on Joann's mind. He had that opinion after looking at the buildings around them.
"How would I know?" Joann answered but to be honest, she did feel a bit better because if the mystery man was indeed Sylvia's boyfriend, she had at least found one that could take care of her financially. Financial stability was one of the important criteria a Chinese parent looked for in their children's future partner.
"Now that we are here, let us just go and ask them ourselves…" Joann was an action-orientated person. She reached for the door but was stopped by Xu Jing.
"Wait, they can still deny it if we just go out like this. We need a more concrete proof!"
"Huh?!" Joann felt like protesting but at the last minute, she changed her mind. She thought to herself, 'Since I have already followed along until this step, why not just see it to the end?'
Joann took her hand back from the door and shook her head with a tired sigh. "Fine, we will do it your way, but for the record, I still think you have overreacted."
"Sure, sure, the record will show that Joann has protested and thought Xu Jing has overreacted," Xu Jing said.
He then kept his eyes glued to the car before them that carried his precious daughter and the slimy sleaze ball he suspected was her boyfriend. His mind was raging, thinking of the punishment that he would deliver on the young man should Xu Jing catch him take advantage of his daughter.
Joann leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. Since there was nothing to be done but to wait, she decided to take a little rest.
It was still raining when they arrived at Joann's place but the rain had lightened somewhat.
Xu Jing's car rolled to a stop before the apartment building Joann stayed in at the time. The building was old and the walls were stained from long exposure to the ravages of nature. In fact, it looked like the weathered building was about to crumble under the weight of the rain.
It did not look luxurious and was even less impressive on the inside but it was the only place Joann could afford at the time.
When Xu Jing parked his car by the roadside, Joann very naturally reached for the door. However, she was stopped by Xu Jing who yelled out an urgent, "Wait!"
Joann turned back to look at him and saw the young man reaching behind his chair as if in search of something. His arm moved around until he eventually settled on the thing he was looking for. It was an umbrella.
"Let me." Xu Jing said gentlemanly as he opened the door on the driver's side. He opened the umbrella, closed the door and walked around the front of the car to the passenger side. He pulled the door back and held it open for Joann, saying, "Come, I do not want you to get wet in the rain."
Xu Jing stood right next to the passenger door and snuggled the stem of the umbrella in the crook of his neck as he extended his hand towards Joann. Joann accepted it gracefully and bent her head low as she crawled out from the car.
After she stood upright, she lifted her head to say thank you. It was then that the young man's face suddenly appeared before her eyes. She failed to gauge the distance as she got out and found herself standing closer to Xu Jing than she expected.
The man was looking into her eyes and stood there as if transfixed. This was the first time Joann had taken a look at Xu Jing's face at such a close distance. The man's cheekbones were higher than she remembered and she noticed a fire burning in his eyes that was normally hidden behind his laid back attitude. She also noted the slight dimple just above the left corner of his lips as if carved there from the perpetual smile that seemed to hang on the young man's face.
Then, Joann saw water from the umbrella slid down on one side before falling down on Xu Jing's hair and sliding down his back. She moved her eyes upwards and realized the man had tipped the umbrella towards her to shield her from the rain, thus exposing half of his body to the weather.
An indescribable sense of warmth flowed through the veins of her body and everything felt right. Joann thought about it and realized she could have done much worse than this young man standing before her so why not him?
She stood on tip-toe and leaned her face towards Xu Jing. With the rain falling around them, they shared their first kiss under the umbrella in front of Joann's old apartment… and the rest as they say, was history.
…
Xu Jing's car jolted to a stop and so did Joann's trip down memory lane.
"We have arrived. They are just in front of us," Xu Jing said in a whisper even though Sylvia and her mystery boyfriend's car was several parking spots away from them. It was impossible for them to have heard Xu Jing from such a distance.
Joann looked around them. They were at a residential area that Joann was sure she had not been to before even though the place looked weirdly familiar. There were apartment buildings around them and they looked new and high-end, a sign of the high status of their tenants. Some of them even came with amenities like swimming pool and private parking spots. It was deducible that they were at a silk stocking district.
There was a 24 hours Starbucks that was situated amidst the skyscrapers. It provided a convenient location for the nearby tenants to sit down with a cup of coffee and relax. However, the place was rather empty then considering the late hours.
"Do you think Sylvia's boyfriend is a rich second generation?" Xu Jing asked the question that was also on Joann's mind. He had that opinion after looking at the buildings around them.
"How would I know?" Joann answered but to be honest, she did feel a bit better because if the mystery man was indeed Sylvia's boyfriend, she had at least found one that could take care of her financially. Financial stability was one of the important criteria a Chinese parent looked for in their children's future partner.
"Now that we are here, let us just go and ask them ourselves…" Joann was an action-orientated person. She reached for the door but was stopped by Xu Jing.
"Wait, they can still deny it if we just go out like this. We need a more concrete proof!"
"Huh?!" Joann felt like protesting but at the last minute, she changed her mind. She thought to herself, 'Since I have already followed along until this step, why not just see it to the end?'
Joann took her hand back from the door and shook her head with a tired sigh. "Fine, we will do it your way, but for the record, I still think you have overreacted."
"Sure, sure, the record will show that Joann has protested and thought Xu Jing has overreacted," Xu Jing said.
He then kept his eyes glued to the car before them that carried his precious daughter and the slimy sleaze ball he suspected was her boyfriend. His mind was raging, thinking of the punishment that he would deliver on the young man should Xu Jing catch him take advantage of his daughter.
Joann leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. Since there was nothing to be done but to wait, she decided to take a little rest.
