Page 2 of He Is My Bride
The man responded in a professional tone, “Wu Hanjun. Senior business manager—”
“Do you wanna come drink with us?” Li Ying asked and held out a beer for him, smiling brightly. “My name’s Li Ying!”
The man, Hanjun, stared at him, stunned for a second before responding, “No, thank you. I’m still working.”
“Really? Aww, well, how about you don’t, and come out with us instead? We’re going out after this.” Li Ying really wanted him to come. He wanted to get to know him. “Where are you from?”
Hanjun’s English was very good, but he spoke with an accent that told Li Ying he was not from New York, likely not even from the States.
Li Ying himself was a born-and-raised New Yorker and had a notable Brooklyn accent, though he too was a member of the Chinese diaspora.
“You speak Mandarin?” Li Ying tried in Mandarin Chinese before the guy could answer his previous question.
Hanjun didn’t seem to know how he should take the young man’s aggressive friendliness.
“Yes,” Hanjun replied succinctly in a soft accent.
“Hehe, you’re so cute!”I said that out loud just now, huh?Li Ying laughed it off even as his cheeks burned.
Now the poor guy seemed completely lost, but Li Ying was too much in his own head to notice if things had become awkward.
Li Ying continued in Mandarin:
“Are you sure you don’t wanna come? My treat!” Li Ying wasnotdesperate! He was just being friendly! “Although,” he smirked and tilted his head, his mid-high ponytail swaying above his shoulder, “isn’t this supposed to be a sponsors’ dinner? If you’re still working, shouldn’t you be treating me?”
Hanjun frowned again. “You seem to be helping yourself on the sponsors’ expense just fine.” He glanced again at the two cans of beer in Li Ying’s hands.
Li Ying laughed. “Alright, alright, no pressure, but do you want my number?”
It had been a while since Li Ying had gone on a date. He had grown tired of one-night stands. It wouldn’t hurt to try, though he didn’t really expect this frigid man would say…
“…Yes.”
Now it was Li Ying’s turn to stare dumbfounded while Hanjun took out a planner—yes, a physical notebook—and a very nice company-branded pen. Hanjun handed them to him, and Li Ying accepted, still stunned that the man hadn’t simply brushed him off.
Alright, Li Ying, shoot your shot!The pen was heavy in his hand, and writing with it felt like signing away his soul, but Li Ying wrote down his number and drew a big old heart around it for good measure.
“There!” Li Ying handed back the planner and pen.
“Thank you. I will be in contact,” Hanjun said, took his stationery, and turned away.
Li Ying returned to his friends, unsure if he had just arranged a date or a jobinterview.
Chapter 1: A Romance In Manhattan
Li Ying finished the skin suture in a nimble series of buried knots.
“There we are! I think such brave little girls deserve to choose a plaster. Here.” Li Ying offered the child he had been treating a choice from two kinds of children’s plasters, blue and pink ones.
Her choice was an easy one, “Pink.”
“Is pink your favorite color?”
“Yeah.”
Li Ying had been talking to her nonstop throughout the unpleasant procedure in a cutesy, high-pitched voice, and not only had she stopped crying after the lidocaine injection had settled in, now she even managed to smile for him. Li Ying felt rightfully accomplished.
He applied the plaster on her arm and gently smoothed it over the laceration. “There we go. Are you ready to get back on your bike?”
