Food First....Everything After

'Li Qian....that name sounds so familiar.' It wasn't a fairly common name in their city and he had only given his first name so she was not sure if she knew him. Family names are easier to trace since they have more history behind them and their is power equated to them the higher up they are. With his confidence she would not be surprised to find out he was part of that elite class. While she would find it hilarious if he was equal wealth or less than to her family, there was only a small possibility of that being true. Just a gut instinct inside that made her believe in his identity and that it would be favourable to her to leave him in debt. Repeating the name a couple of times in her mind, she ensured that she remembered the name before moving forward.

This time there was no one to stop her as the man had left immediately after stating his name. That did no bother her as she had expected to leave earlier or leave without any greetings, it did not match his style. A lot of her observations were just rationalizing his behaviour as if she knew him - which she didn't. Obviously she did not know him but maybe it was her rebirth, she worked on her instincts more than anything. Without researching him more whatever he had shown her was taken at face value and is what she believes is his true personality. Though she was not naive enough to think that he was as 'gentleman' like as he hoped to come off. What bothered her the most throughout their entire conversation was that there was always this weird underlying vibe she got from him. The feeling was not strong enough for her to stop her rants or limit her revenge but now that he had left there was more room to inspect it. It did not seem malicious or uncomfortable but it reminded her of someone she could not place at the moment. 'There's no point in thinking about this, don't forget your purpose Mei Lin. Let's go."

She took approximately two steps forward before she noticed a weird look from the corner of her eye. Looking at them there was confusion on her face as it was a complete stranger. They did not look at her long but gave a judging look to her as if there was something wrong. It took another couple of seconds before she even registered the reason why. She felt like laughing at herself, there were moments she felt she was smart and others that reminded her she wasn't. Placing the bags back down to the floor, she reached behind her head and removed the handkerchief. Patting her face, she blotted off any oil or moisture left behind before placing it back into her purse. She had kept the mask on to hide from the man but once he was gone, the mask was no longer needed. Even if he searched her up on CCTV there was nothing she could do but hiding her face further was not an option. Imagine walking into one of the high end shops with half your face covered like a weird robber. Or an individual with questionable fashion taste, her reputation would be ruined! Nor would people be interested in helping her with that attire. Of course, when done religiously there was no issue only she looked clearly "off" just cause.

Shifting herself and her bags to the handrail she pulled out her phone. Since her lunch was interrupted her schedule was out of order and she was not exactly aware of what time it was. The actual lunch drama scene probably only took five minutes out of her time. With their one on one conversation, it felt short but was easily closer to ten minutes. So exactly double of the first and totalled fifteen minutes wasted. Just as she had expected, fifteen minutes had passed based on the time staring back at her on the phone. A grumble in her stomach drew her attention away from the phone and back to why she had gotten hungry in the first place.

Her meal was interrupted and she had no desire to go back into that cafe. Taking a quick glance around she could not see another food store in the vicinity. Which made sense as that would breed competition and it was more profitable to be on your own for the owners. Yet, from a consumer side it was inconvenient. For the lower or middle class the malls were designed to have designated food courts. In western countries it was an array of fast food stores congregating in the same area. Here, it was similar but the stores could be brand-less and just an individual preparing their own menu. They were like controlled hawker centres with a higher location cost. Typing the map directory into her phone she searched for another cafe on this floor. To her delight there was one more but it was bakery styled. The food in the online images looked appetizing so she had settled her heart on going here. Even if she could not have a sit down meal, having some bread or buns to take home would be beneficial. They could cure her current hunger and were easy to carry around. Also easy to hide so when she went home and had nothing to eat there was still something there.

There was a frown on her face as she considered her situation at home. A lot of things were going on but she could not confirm that the food was safe to eat. Part of her rationalized that if they all ate it, the food should be okay. However, this did not lessen her worry nor lessen her caution towards the matter. Once you've died once everything looks like a potential death flag.

'...Should I try and become immune to poison? How do I even do that...is there a manual for this type of stuff.' She had read in fiction novels where the main characters would build their resistance towards poison. From a young age they fed themselves small portions of various poisons and slowly increased the doses with age. At some point they just become immune to it all and that immunity was highly desirable to her. Yet it was fiction she had no idea if anyone in person had accomplished such a feat.

'Maybe I can research this when I get home...but first some food.'