Chapter 8 - Learning about each other by talking

At 6 pm on the dot, Zhan entered the small mini market. Yibo was discussing a few more orders with his employee and asked Zhan to wait a moment. "Take your time. I'll look around here until then." Said Zhan and calmly browsed through the mini market. When Yibo was finally ready, he waved to Zhan and he came over to him. "Well, ready?"

"Yeah, we can go now. I just had to go over some orders with my employee. Since I won't be here tomorrow, she'll have to make the orders."

"I understand. That comes first, of course. But I didn't mind waiting anyway."

"Then I'm reassured Zhan. Oh yes, I wanted to thank you for the delicious lunch."

"You don't have to. Besides, your best friend already thanked me."

"Oh, so you guys talked?"

"Yeah for a few minutes. He's really nice."

"Yeah, right?"

"I told him he could come visit you at our appartment anytime. I'll leave you alone then, too."

"You're going to leave when he comes? Why?"

"Well, he's your best friend and he wants to spend time with you, not with a stranger like me."

"But I don't want you to leave then."

"Why not?"

"Well, because... I don't know. I just don't like the idea."

"Okay, that's fine. We'll keep looking when he comes to visit you at our place."

"Alright then. Shall we go shopping now then?"

"Yes." Said Zhan. He lightly rubbed Yibo's head. "Don't look at me with those sad eyes okay? If you don't want me to go when your best friend comes to visit, then I won't go."

"You really won't?"

"No. If it's so important to you that I stay. Then I will."

"Good. Um, your parents said yesterday that it was normal for you guys to greet each other with a hug. Could you give me a hug now then? We haven't seen each other since this morning and well, as a greeting? Yes?"

Zhan pulled Yibo into his arms. "Sorry. I didn't know if you'd be okay with me hugging you in public or in front of your employee."

"It's fine with me." Said Yibo. He turned to his employee and waved her over. When she got to him and Zhan, he said to her, "This is Xiao Zhan. My husband." To Zhan he said, "This is Amy, my Most Valuable Employee." Zhan and Amy shook hands. And then Yibo was in a great hurry to finally get away. He grabbed Zhan by the wrist and left the mini market with him.

They drove to a supermarket near their appartment. Zhan pushed the shopping cart and Yibo had the shopping list. They went to the fruit and vegetable section first. Zhan picked out fresh fruit while Yibo got vegetables, such as potatoes, leeks and onions. "Why do we need two kinds of potatoes?" Yibo asked curiously as he put the potatoes in the shopping cart.

"I want to bake some sweet potatoes. And I want to make sweet potato chips and potato chips with peppers."

"Isn't it easier to buy two bags of chips?"

"Sure. But they don't taste as good as homemade."

"I know. My grandma used to make sweet potato chips, too. They were super yummy. And she used to wrap sweet potatoes in aluminum foil and put them between hot coals. Then when they were baked through, she would always give me some that I could eat like that. I loved those."

"My grandpa used to make them like that, too. He was a gifted cook. I got a lot of my recipes from him. And he could make a lot of great dishes out of potatoes. At that time he always went to the country to a farmer and got the potatoes and other vegetables directly from the field. From another farmer he bought milk products like yogurt, butter or cheese. Most of the time he was back from his farm tour only in the evening. And then he started trying out new recipes in the kitchen. Or cooked for all of us."

"Those are fond memories Zhan. I always liked going to my grandparents' house, too. I only had the two of them because my mother's parents had already passed away when I was born."

"I see. How old was your mom when she had you? I ask because I noticed your brother is much older than you and your parents aren't that young either."

"That's right. My brother is 17 years older than me. My mom was 42 years old when she got pregnant with me. So she's already 68 years old now. My dad is 70 years old."

"Oh wow, that's a big age difference."

"That's true. My brother moved overseas back when I started to walk. We have nothing in common and barely know each other. In the last 10 years, he hasn't even come to visit because he's always just working."

"Did you ever visit him overseas?"

"Back then with my parents. But because he only had a small appartment, we only went to see him two or three times. My brother has promised me many times he would come back and make time for me. But well, I'm 26 years old and I still don't really know my brother. He hasn't kept his promise until today. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No. But I have Yanli and Cheng. My cousins. We grew up together then because our parents lived house to house. They are like siblings to me. Yanli is three years older than me. So 35 years old. She is married and lives in France with her husband and son. Cheng is three years younger than me. He is also married. He lives in Tokyo with his beautiful Wen Qing."

"France and Tokyo aren't exactly around the corner either."

"True."

"Um, next we need salt and noodles."

"Let's go then." Said Zhan. Yibo walked beside him and put a hand on the shopping cart while he went over the shopping list again with Zhan, crossing off what they already had in the cart.

When they arrived at the noodles and found the salt in the same aisle, Yibo said, "Whenever I shop for noodles and salt, I think of Youn."

"Oh yeah, and why?"

"When we were kids, we were at his house and got terribly hungry. But his parents weren't there, so he couldn't ask them to cook something for us. Youn said he knew how to cook noodles. So we went to the kitchen, he filled a pot with water and poured in a whole packet of salt. When the water was boiling, he put 500 grams of noodles in the water and let them cook for 30 minutes! He probably would have waited longer if it hadn't suddenly smelled so burnt. Half of the noodles had burned in the pot. He poured the noodles we got out of the pot into a bowl, put oil and sugar on it, and said we could eat. When I hungrily tasted the noodles, I immediately felt sick. It was the worst taste I ever had in my mouth. And then his parents came home and we got in a lot of trouble."

"Hahaha, you never forget something like that. How old were you guys back then? And how long have you been friends?"

"We were 9 years old I think. We met when we lived in the village. He lived with his family in the house next door to my grandparents. And when we moved back into the city, they moved away too. And coincidentally, into our neighborhood. We went to school together and were in the same class."

"I have two best friends. Yu Bin and Xue Yang. I've known both of them since kindergarten. We always did everything together. With Yanli and Cheng, we were a real clique. We also went to cooking school together and worked in the same restaurant. And the two of them also represent me in my restaurant. We also had many adventures. At that time, our grandparents built a hut in the forest for all of us, which was our clubhouse. We met there almost every day."

"I would have liked a hut like that in the woods, too. My father wanted to build me a tree house when we lived in the village. But he never got any farther than a wooden platform that wobbled so much I never got up there."

"My dad was never a talented craftsman either. But he had always made us picture books for that. My mom would tell us stories and my dad would draw the pictures to go with them. And when we made up stories, he'd sit with us and draw and draw until he finished the stories in one big picture."

"Wow."

"I still have the pictures and picture books today. If you like, I can show them to you sometime."

"Yes by all means. And I can show you videos of me racing motorcycles."

"Oh you race motorcycles?"

"I used to. Not anymore, though, because I don't have time for it. But I used to like to ride. I even took first place in a motorcycle race once."

"Not bad. I can't do anything like that. I can draw like my dad, though. And I can sing a little bit, too."

"I can sing, rap, dance and skateboard. I have many hobbies and talents."

"I'd like to know all of your talents."

"Really?"

"Sure."

"Then I'll show them to you one by one."

"I'm looking forward to that." Said Zhan. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice that they already had everything from the shopping list in the cart until they got to the checkout. They paid for their purchase and stopped at a small store on the way out, where Zhan bought them hot apple tea with cinnamon, which is perfect for the cold season.

Finally arriving home, they put the shopping away, Yibo went to take a shower, and Zhan started preparing dinner. Baked potatoes with crème fraîche and cheese au gratin. And he fried a steak for each of them. In addition, Zhan prepared a bowl of sweet potato chips. And when Yibo returned from showering, he set the table.

While eating, Yibo asked, "How come you married the first best woman right away? I mean, you're really crazy handsome. Women must be crazy about someone who is so good-looking, has goals in life, and is such a fantastic cook. Plus, you're caring and attentive. Why didn't you look longer for a woman you could have fallen in love with? Was it really more important to you to get married at the exact age you had planned in your life?"

Zhan thoughtfully looked at Yibo for a moment. "Mhhh, it was important to me to stick to my own set schedule. I didn't care about love at all as long as it was a satisfying marriage. I never cared much about relationships or love. And to be perfectly honest, I had never once fallen in love until then and didn't think that would change soon."

"Thank you for your honest answer. You know my reason for marrying Lara. I don't know about you currently, but I'm 26 years old now and I've never fallen in love either. At school I never cared much about girls. I only needed them for dancing. And later I didn't care about women. What hasn't changed. I like women, but not so much that I necessarily want to be with one. Maybe there's something wrong with me. Maybe I'm not normal."

"I'm 32 years old and I've never been in love. Then there would have to be something wrong with me, too. But I assure you, with me everything is normal. Sometimes it takes time to find the right person for you. But that doesn't mean you have to think you're not normal, or that there's something wrong with you."

"How do you know that? I mean, how can you be sure that the right person is yet to come?"

"I just know."

"Yeah but how?"

"You feel it when it's time."

"Oh yeah, and you're sure of that?"

"I am Yibo. Now eat up. We'll clear out the living room closet in a minute and take it down so we can put up your new furniture tomorrow."

"That's if I can find new furniture. I'm picky about these things because you're going to have the furniture for a long time. So not only should they be practical, but they should be so that I'm not annoyed by the look of the furniture after a few months."

"You're really thinking ahead. Others would just buy furniture they like and not think any further about it."

"Yeah, Lara did it that way. My parents had paid for us to furnish the apartment and she practically picked out all the furniture for us. And after a few months she complained incessantly. The closet was too small for her clothes. Her bed was uncomfortable. The sofa was too hard. The color of the sofa annoyed her. The living room closet was too dark and practically attracted dust. And on and on. Imagine, she then came with the suggestion, we could exchange our furniture. Because I had chosen the furniture for my room myself. And suddenly she wanted my furniture. But I refused."

"And what about the furniture from your room? Did you take it with you and store it somewhere?"

"No, she bought it from me with my share of the appartment."

"Ah I see."

"Her fiancé gave her the money so she could buy out my share of the apartment. I put 80% of the money into a savings account. And from the 20% I left in my account, I'm paying for the furniture for my room here."

"That you put the money in a savings account, I think is good."

"Well, you never know if a situation might arise where the money is needed. I've gotten into the habit of only buying what I really need."

"That's the way I do it. I've never spent my money pointlessly on any unnecessary things."

"I guess we have that in common then. I'm looking forward to finding out how many more things we have in common."

"Well Yibo, we have time to find out."

"Absolutely." Said Yibo happily, eating the last piece of his steak. He smiled at Zhan and not only felt at ease when Zhan returned his smile, but also felt an exciting tingle in his stomach as he did so. Had he finally arrived where he belonged? This question ran through his mind as he felt this tingling inside him.