Beef set C

"You're a regular at a place like this?" Fei Hoacheng bluntly asked as they were led to a bigger table that could seat four. Fei Huangjin flashed him a reprimanding look; however, the younger brother didn't quite understand. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked.

Ying Yue didn't seem the least bit bothered by his remark and held up a finger to the server. "We'll have a beef set C and some beer."

"What's a beef set C?" Fei Haocheng whispered.

She anchored her chin on both hands and winked at him. "You'll see." It wasn't long before several plates of raw red beef arrived -- some plain, some marinated -- and the grill at the middle was soon stuffed with it. She took out the first few strips that were cooked and placed it on Fei Huangjin's plate. "I may not be that good in the kitchen, but grilling I can do. Try it."

The man eyed the strips carefully. Indeed, they didn't look too raw or too burnt. It was evenly brown on both sides and the fat had melted nicely, covering it with a glaze.

She watched as he picked up his chopsticks and slipped a piece of the meat in his mouth, and then she waited. He continued to chew on it for quite some time, with an analytic look on his face -- the same one he usually had on when deciding on important matters during a meeting.

Both Ying Yue and Fei Haocheng watched him eagerly. The room would have been bathed in pindrop silence were it not for the loud and boisterous customers around them. Finally, he stopped chewing and looked down at his plate, like he was trying to make sense of it.

And before they knew it, he reached out for another strip of meat and placed it in his mouth, following it up with some rice and a gulp of the beer. He finished chewing the second one twice faster than the first, and then he ate another one with a nod of the head.

He liked it.

Ying Yue felt like someone had plucked out a thorn from her skin. She didn't even realize she was eagerly waiting for his approval on the food she liked.

It was Fei Haocheng who spoke up first, breaking the silence between them. "So brother, is it good?"

Fei Huangjin didn't answer and went on to finish his plate. "I'd like some more, please."

She grinned. When she thought about it, it was quite funny that the cold and domineering CEO who ate steak 90% of the time was actually here at an eat-all-you-can grill restaurant that only charged ten dollars for every person. Moreover, he actually liked the food. "Here," she reached out to drop half of the newly-cooked ones on his plate and set aside the other half for Fei Haocheng, who was now squealing in excitement. Ying Yue took some for herself from the third batch.

"Ohhhh! Sister-in-law! You should have brought me here sooner!" Fei Haocheng made a satisfied face and dumped another plate of beef on to the grill. "Do you think I should bring a girl here for a date?"

Ying Yue grinned. "If she likes this sort of thing, sure. But if she doesn't, she may run away."

The atmosphere became light and easy after that, and soon there was an abundance of teasing and free-flowing laughter among the three.

***

"For a shabby-looking resto, I didn't expect that place to be… to be nice." Fei Huangjin reached out and drew Ying Yue closer at the backseat of his Audi, limply leaning against her with his eyes closed. The three of them had drunk quite a bit of beer earlier, and even had some vodka afterwards. It was only natural for Fei Huangjin to get tipsy.

Ying Yue snickered silently. Even his vocabulary had gotten informal now that he was a bit drunk. It was perhaps the first time she had heard him describe something as 'nice,' and call a restaurant a 'resto.'

She was quite a different state than him, only slightly buzzed from the alcohol. She had been the gunner and fed the vodka mostly to the two brothers, watching them turn from serious, argumentative men to frank, raucous boys who laughed at the worst jokes.

His breathing became steady and even as the car they were in sped through the night. No matter how much Ying Yue poked at his cheek, Fei Huangjin didn't move. He was most likely half asleep. She ran a hand up his hair instead, patting him gently.

"Ying Yue," he stirred a little after some time and then sighed, the faint smell of alcohol lingering in the car as he did so.

"Hmm?"

His face sunk deeper into her hair, and the weight of him pushed her back slightly to her side of the car. "I like you a lot," he whispered.

The city lights sped past them in a majestic blur. They were still quite a distance from Majestic Gardens -- it would take at least half an hour for them to get home.

"I like you a lot, too," she whispered back.