My original plan was to arrive a bit earlier, so Xiao Qin could also enjoy the feeling of someone waiting for her.
But I still arrived too late.
We originally arrange to meet at 7:30, but Xiao Qin was already waiting for me outside as I walked to Traktirr Pushkin at 7:05.
She was wearing a short white pleated skirt along with a sakura-colored off the shoulder top. She was carrying a small bag with a Mickey Mouse design and looked very innocent and cute under the gradually darkening sky. She attracted the attention of many passersby as she stood patiently waiting under the European style street lamp.
I felt a bit frustrated since Xiao Qin was the first to arrive, but Xiao Qin’s eye-catching clothes raised my spirit.
“Hey, why are you here so early again?” I greeted her.
Xiao Qin raised her head and was shocked when she saw me dressed up.
After staring at me blackly, she muttered: “Ye Lin classmate turned ugly…”
What, I pieced together an outfit from my best clothes, but you’re calling me ugly?
“No.” Xiao Qin quickly corrected herself, “I meant, it’s great you don’t look as good as you did when you were a kid…”
“What do you mean?” I stuck my hands in my pockets and questioned her.
Xiao Qin’s cheeks turned a faint red, “Ye Lin classmate is still very handsome if he dresses up, but if it wasn’t because you look a bit worse than when you were a kid… there would definitely be a lot of girls fawning over you and I would have a lot of competitors.”
Please, it’s not ‘a bit’, you completely disfigured my face. When I was a kid, people would give me candy to eat if I was walking around outside, but now kids cry when they see me because they think I’m going to steal their candy!
“Hmph, my face is like this because of you.”
To be honest, even if she did affect my appearance with her beatings, it at most only changed 20% of it. The main reason was due to the anger I held in for so long and the demons inside of me.
But I had the grudge because of the Little Tyrant, so Xiao Qin still has to take 100% responsibility.
Xiao Qin crossed one of her slender white arm with mines and rested against me.
“I’m sorry, I was the one who broke Ye Lin classmate’s face… but in my eyes, Ye Lin classmate is the most handsome person in the world, I salivate every time I see you!”
“Do you take me for seafood or something? And what does it matter if you think I’m the most handsome person in the world?”
“Actually, there is a way to get you childhood appearance back…”
“Huh, does you family have some magic medicine like the Shaolin da huan dan?”
“Nothing like that… If I had medicine that would make you more beautiful, I would have ate it myself three years ago.”
“Then why did you say there was a way to get my appearance back?”
“Well, that would depend on your memory?”
“What does that have to do with memory?”
“Of course there’s a connection! If you can remember… how exactly I hit you, then I could use the same power as back then and hit you in the reverse direction. That should let you turn back to normal.”
“More like make me even more ugly. How would I even remember how you hit me?”
“It’s good if you can’t remember.” Xiao Qin said happily, “I don’t want Ye Lin classmate to remember, and I’ll still like Ye Lin classmate regardless of appearances.”
I was planning on strolling around and chatting with Xiao Qin, then we would go to the restaurant once He Ling arrived, but I saw no signs of He Ling at 8:05.
He Ling was the one who suggested we meet up at 8! Or is she purposely coming late so it doesn’t seem like she was in a rush to meet me.
The pedestrian street would always be bustling with people unless the weather was bad. Since Traktirr Pushkin was in a hot location, you would usually need to line up if you didn’t have a reservation.
The restaurant called me to ask if I still needed the reservation, otherwise they would give it to another customer.
I told them I was already outside and brought Xiao Qin in front of their sign that was written in Chinese, Russian, and English. We crossed the portico that had decorated columns and entered the restaurant.
The spot I reserved was on floor B1 (Basement 1). When I called yesterday, all the upper floors were all already booked. But there are advantages to basement floors as it’s more quiet and cooler.
There were two large oil paintings hung on the walls. One of it was a painting for the daily life of a Russian royal family, very similar to ‘The Last Supper’. The other painting was a young man and woman wearing oriental clothing while riding a grey wolf. I’m not sure if it was Russian folklore, but it kind of felt like animal abuse.
The gold vine-like decorations on the ceiling was also exquisite. Under the candlestick chandelier, was a long table you would only see in historical European dramas. It was used so a lot of people could dine at once, but it was currently empty.
In addition to the long table, the standard configuration in floor B1 was a four-person table. Each four-person table was divided into semi-open compartments by the corridors and pillars. As He Ling said, it does have a more private feel. There was also the addition of many exotic decorations, which resulted in less light in the compartments, which was very suitable for those bold couples who want to do something secretly.
The server brought us to our table. I sat next to Xiao Qin and left the seat across from us for He Ling. I told our server we would order once our entire party arrives, and the server went to take care of the other customers.
I sat on the outside and Xiao Qin sat on the inside. To her left was a pentagonal stained glass window, but it was only a decoration and you couldn’t see outside (no shit, since we were in the basement).
Xiao Qin and I chatted a bit about the decorations until He Ling called me. She asked angrily why I wasn’t waiting for her outside.
“That’s your fault. We agreed to meet up at 8pm, but now it’s already….” I glanced at the watch on my left wrist, “… 8:15. If I didn’t come in, they would have gave away our spot to someone else. Come to floor B1, I’m at table 8.”
He Ling hung up the phone with a snort. Then you could hear her quick and small steps coming down the stairs.
Western countries might find girls with freckles more lively and interesting, but girls in Eastern Oriental places don’t really like freckles. He Ling had used concealer to carefully cover the freckles around her nose.
She had two braided pigtails, a blue top, and a white veil skirt. In slang terms, she would be a Mori girl.
While she did have a slim figure, the outfit didn’t really suit her. If the class leader wore this outfit, she would look like a forest fairy, but He Ling looks more like a demon fox who would seduce men.
I noticed the small silver bag in her hand. Auntie Ren’s necklace must be in there.
He Ling purposely walked like an older sister type to booth 8, but realized there was a pretty girl with bangs next to me.
It looked like someone splashed cold water on He Ling’s face.
“Who… is she?”
“You guys don’t know each other?” I introduced with a smirk, “She’s my girlfriend, Auntie Ren’s daughter, Xiao Qin. She didn’t have dinner yet either, so I brought her along.”
He Ling looked Xiao Qin up and down with a fire burning in her eyes, “Why did you bring her in for the matter between the two of us?”
I put an arm on the table, “What matter between us? Didn’t you want me to treat you to dinner then apologize? It’s not like it’s a date, so why can’t I bring my girlfriend? I forgot to tell you earlier, but you could have brought your boyfriend too and we could have had a double date.”
He Ling sat angrily in front of us. Her furrowed brows meant: It was hard to get a boyfriend at an all girls school, so she didn’t have one.
As I was speaking to He Ling, Xiao Qin heard me introduce her as my girlfriend and she looked happy, but she never said anything. She had her head slightly lowered the whole time and it made her seem more shy and introverted.
“Server, bring the menu.” He Ling yelled in a fit of anger, but then she realized there was a bell on the table, so she smacked it twice.
The server brought the elaborately decorated menu to He Ling and stood on the side to take the order.
“I want one serving of braised beef, one grilled carp with cheese, and a sirloin wrapped with bacon.”
He Ling ordered three main dishes at once. Based on standard Russian restaurant portion sizes, there was no way she would finish all of it. She was only ordering whatever was expensive from the menu.