Chapter 49
If Su Bin could see Allen’s expression right now, he would probably notice a faint smile of triumph playing at the corners of his mouth. But Su Bin couldn’t see; his entire face was pressed against Allen’s chest, his forehead against the warmth of his skin. Tears were streaming down his face, soaking Allen’s clothes.
He felt embarrassed and wanted to push away, but his arms were weak, and he felt powerless… The inner defenses and the pretense of strength he had always maintained had been completely shattered by Allen’s words, “I’m worried about you.” No one had ever done this before—pushed him to the brink of collapse and then delivered a gentle, fatal blow, allowing him to completely let go and cry freely.
Finally, Allen backed away slightly and looked at Su Bin, his eyes filled with admiration for the sight of his tear-streaked face, as well as the suddenly shy expression that appeared when he was being watched. At this moment, every detail of the other person made Allen unable to resist the urge to treat him tenderly.
Su Bin furrowed his brow, wanting to raise his hand to wipe away his tears, but Allen stopped him.
Su Bin: “…”
Allen stared at Su Bin’s face for another two seconds before smiling and personally wiping away his tears. The cool pad of his thumb gently brushed against the young man’s flushed eyes and cheeks, igniting an even higher temperature.
This gesture was so gentle, so intimate, that Su Bin didn’t even try to dodge. He stood there, dumbfounded, foolishly wondering why Allen wouldn’t let him wipe his own tears. Did he not find it strange? Or did he feel guilty for making me cry?
Su Bin avoided Allen’s gaze, his eyes shifting to the collar of his shirt… Several spots on the cashmere sweater had darkened due to soaked tears, indicating Su Bin’s embarrassing behavior.
Seeing that he had stopped crying, Allen also withdrew his hand. “Are you going tomorrow?”
At this moment, the storm of anger had long disappeared from Allen’s face, as if the coercion just now had been Su Bin’s imagination.
In June’s weather, Allen’s face… simply amazing!
Su Bin: “…” Q_Q Can I say “I’ll go”? I haven’t received my salary yet…
Allen helplessly asked, “Why are you so persistent?”
Seeing that Allen was softening, Su Bin quickly weakly said, “I haven’t received my salary yet, and I have £150. If I don’t go, I’ll lose it…”
Ellen: “…”
Su Bin saw Allen’s silence and hurriedly promised, “It will be the last time I go. I swear, once I receive my salary tomorrow, I will tell them I won’t go anymore.”
Allen didn’t really want to stop Su Bin, especially since, as Su Bin said, he didn’t have the right to. But right now, he couldn’t help but think, if he could just take all of Su Bin’s bank cards and money away, Su Bin wouldn’t have these strange thoughts in his mind, and he wouldn’t defy him for such a small sum of money…
“…Just to buy a ring for your girlfriend?” Allen frowned slightly.
Su Bin was momentarily stunned by the question. If this question had been asked by Allen yesterday, Su Bin would have answered without hesitation, “Yes,” and would have felt proud. But today, after being hit by Lily’s words, Su Bin’s heart was filled with fear. He was scared that what Lily said was true…
Trying to hide his guilty conscience, Su Bin softly replied, but he didn’t know if he would buy the ring anymore. If Allen didn’t let him work, he wouldn’t be able to gather enough money.
“A ring is a symbol of a lifetime commitment for people in our country,” Allen looked at Su Bin and asked, “Have you thought it through… Do you really want to spend your life with her?”
“Um…” Su Bin tried to reassure himself in his heart. Chen Xiaotian couldn’t be like what Lily said. After all, they had been together for many years. They were each other’s first love, and they would definitely be fine!
Allen looked at him, his gaze complex. It seemed like he was restraining something, but in the end, he only lowered his eyelashes and said softly, “Since you’ve thought it through, then go ahead.”
… Uh, did Allen just agree for him to go to work tomorrow?
Su Bin blinked his eyes and saw Allen straightening up, saying, “It’s late. Go to sleep.”
The next morning, when Su Bin recalled what had happened last night, he wished he could bury himself three feet underground. A guy like him, crying his eyes out in the arms of another guy… Damn it, could he be any more embarrassing?
Especially when he thought of the way Allen suddenly hugged him and said, “I’m worried,” and the look in his eyes when he wiped away his tears… Damn, his face was practically frying eggs Q////Q!
Su Bin rubbed his face, feeling the strain and swelling in his eyelids from crying. He reached under his pillow and instinctively wanted to call Chen Xiaotian, but when faced with the most familiar contact in his phone, Su Bin hesitated.
He didn’t know what to say if the call went through. He was afraid that in a moment of impulsiveness, he would blurt out the question, “Do you love me?” But what he feared most was hearing Chen Xiaotian’s answer, “I don’t love you.”
Su Bin put his phone down and changed his clothes before washing his face. At the bathroom door, he bumped into Ellen, and his face turned as red as a tomato!
Oh no, now that he saw Ellen, the scenes from last night flashed in Su Bin’s mind…
However, Allen behaved indifferently, greeting him softly and then going downstairs as if what happened last night was just Su Bin’s dream.
Su Bin: “…”
What was Allen thinking? Am I the only one who finds last night’s scene strange? orz…
But when he thought about Allen’s unpredictable temperament, Su Bin also felt relieved.
At half-past eleven, Su Bin arrived at the restaurant, and Lily and the experienced staff noticed his swollen eyes. They laughed and asked if he found the work too hard and cried when he went home.
Su Bin was so angry that he wanted to smash a plate. “No! That’s… ” That’s what? Should he say he cried because his roommate made him angry? That would be even more ridiculous!
Su Bin could only suppress the truth and calmly say, “It’s allergies.”
Lily & experienced staff: “…”
“Tai Fook” restaurant was different on Sundays. They had a special service where they pushed dim sum carts. Starting at noon, the aisle in the dining area would be filled with small carts, each carrying a variety of dim sum. The part-time employees would rotate and push the carts to serve the customers, similar to the concept of a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.
Since there were many carts, even the dishwashing staff were called out to help.
Su Bin was assigned to a cart that had steamed buns: custard buns, barbecue pork buns, and sticky rice chicken buns. These dim sum items were listed on the menu, so Su Bin remembered how to recommend them. However, he quickly realized that the menu he had memorized was of no use because this was a Cantonese restaurant. In order to promote the culture of Cantonese dim sum to the customers, they needed to use Cantonese to announce the names of the food. This gave Su Bin a headache.
The experienced staff and Lily seemed to have gone through this situation many times before. Lily pushed the egg tart cart, and the experienced staff pushed the rice noodle roll cart. They were both proficient in using Cantonese to introduce the food on their carts.
Su Bin quickly learned from a part-time employee from Guangdong and wrote down the names of the food in Chinese characters with pinyin annotations on a piece of paper before feeling relieved.
After the restaurant opened, customers poured in and quickly filled all the tables. There were even many people waiting in line at the entrance… It seemed that this dim sum cart activity was very popular among the customers.
Su Bin followed behind Lily, quietly calling out, “Lòihmuhng bāau… Caat sāu bāau… Noh màih gāai…” o////o
Floor Manager: “Michael, are you talking to yourself?”
“QAQ…” Su Bin raised his voice a little, “Lòihmuhng bāau! Caat sāu bāau! Noh màih gāai! Who wants them?”
The floor manager scolded him, “Speak louder! Did you not eat? You don’t need to ask who wants them, just call out the names!”
Su Bin: “Lòihmuhng bāau! Caat sāu bāau! Noh màih gāai!…” Q_Q
The floor manager nodded in satisfaction.
At a nearby table, a group of foreigners witnessed the entire interaction between the floor manager and Su Bin and found it hilarious. One of them waved to the pitiful Su Bin and asked in English, “Can you explain the dim sum in your cart?”
Su Bin felt relieved and quickly explained. The middle-aged foreigner smiled and said, “Give us two portions of each.”
Su Bin looked at them and suggested in a low voice, “The buns are quite large, with three in each basket, and there are three of you. Will it be too much?”
The foreigner laughed heartily, “Okay, okay, then we’ll each have one portion.”
Su Bin carefully brought three baskets of buns to their table. The foreigner winked at him, and Su Bin was puzzled. When he looked, he found a piece of paper stuffed in his palm. When he opened it… Wow, five pounds!
Part-time employees weren’t allowed to accept tips, and the foreigner probably knew that, so he secretly gave it to him. Su Bin was moved to tears, feeling encouraged. He immediately had a sense of determination and diligently recommended his buns to each table. After one round, the buns quickly sold out.
Su Bin returned the cart to the kitchen to “restock” it, filled it up again, and pushed it out. He felt that this job was much more fun than washing dishes and serving tables. Every time he sold a portion of dim sum, it gave him a sense of accomplishment.
He pushed for an hour, and the number of customers didn’t decrease. On the contrary, they increased even more. Su Bin was sweating from the heat. When he looked up, he froze… He actually saw Ellen, Jin Fei, and Yang Chengzhe in the dining area!
How did they come here? Just a coincidence? No, Allen must have told them.
Su Bin felt both surprised and a little embarrassed because they were originally roommates and equal. But now, he had to serve them as a waiter while they were customers.
Jin Fei noticed him too and waved at him with a smile on his face. Of course… They came here on purpose! orz…
But at the moment, Su Bin was still pushing the cart and couldn’t go over to attend to them specifically. So he could only pretend not to see them, avoiding eye contact, and continued to pronounce the names of the dim sum with his imperfect Cantonese. However, his voice was noticeably softer than before…
By the time he finished another round of pushing the cart, the three of them had already taken their seats, and they were sitting in a prominent position in the dining area.
Because Allen was there too, many people couldn’t help but glance in their direction. Even Lily was dumbfounded, pushing the cart while frequently turning her head to look in the direction where Allen and the others were sitting.
When they brought dim sum to the same table, Lily excitedly asked Su Bin, “Hey, hey, did you see that foreign guy in the black sweater? He’s so handsome, so handsome, so handsome, aaah~ I can’t handle it!”
Su Bin: “…” Wait, why as a guy should I be looking at a handsome guy?
And Su Bin didn’t expect that Lily’s true nature was actually that of a fangirl…!
