Chapter 14 Beancurd jelly!

C City was not strange to Amanda. She came a long way to the food street outside the south gate of Jinghua University, where all kinds of snacks across the nation could be found. She was especially familiar with this place.

"A bowl of beancurd jelly, please!" Said Amanda to the busy chef, who was also the owner of the snack bar, as she sat down at a roadside stand in the twilight of the city.

The chef looked up and shouted at a distance: "You want it salty or sweet?"

Amanda paused for a moment and said, "Spicy!"

Well, people from different places loved beancurd jelly in different tastes; so “spicy” was also not a surprise to the owner at all; Amanda looked around; the small bar were crowded with people, some students and some tourists from other places...Time flied, but it seemed that nothing had changed within this small bar. She found it a bit difficult to differentiate between “Amanda” and “Mia”.

Beancurd jelly was soon served; Amanda and her stomach cannot wait any longer. Placing more spices into the bowl, she picked up the spoon and sipped at the amazing soup of it; the hotness made her coughing and tearing; the red oil splashed on her white T-shirt...

The girl sitting across her was amazed by her gobbling the spicy jelly like that; she handed her a tissue and asked: “Are you okay?”

It took Amanda a while to realize she was asking her. She politely took the tissue and smiled back at her. "I am ok. Thank you." Her eyes were blurred by the steam.

Amanda opened the lid of the small bottle of chilli, and added a little more into her soup.

She was not crying, nor was the soup spicy enough...

Soon a layer of red oil of chilli was floating on top of soup; after blending in more vinegar, Amanda started enjoying her delicacy.

Sitting opposite her was a couple; the boy had a bowl of sweet beancurd jelly while the girl a salty one with a few chopped green onion floating on it. The girl was making fun of the boy ordering sweet one: “Well, that’s simply a waste of beancurd jelly. Why do you even eat jelly if you want them sweet with not that taste of spice, green onion and other seasonings? Come on, have a taste of mine.” She reached her spoon near his mouth.

But the boy turned his head far away saying in a tone of disgust: “Not interested, at all!”

Amanda was amazed by the harmony between them; she looked at them with envy and grinned; The girl noticed her laugh and said: “Girl, you have boyfriend? Remember to find one who would eat the salty beancurd jelly!”

Amanda responded her with a broad smile and nod before lowering her head to enjoy her hot and sour delicacy.

Well, according to her, Amanda thought, Aaron Gu was not qualified as a boyfriend at all. He had never been willing to taste the soup of hers, and he had even pretended to be stranger to her sometimes when there were many people surrounding them. He had never been willing to give in to her; he would say to her cockily: “I only eat what’s in my own bowl.”

And she had always been reluctant to let him off the hook easily as well; she would have poured every seasonings into his bowl and smiled playfully at him: “Well, eat it; it is still in your bowl! Do not waste every drop of it.”

At that time, Aaron Gu was a student of military academy and was always dressed in camouflage, had closely cropped hair; a presence of seriousness and sternness would break into laughter within seconds and he would pushed the bowl to Amanda and yelled: “I knew it! You want mine as well. Well, it is all yours now!”

And Amanda at that time would accept with great pleasure and sip at the soup slowly enjoying every bite of it; Aaron Gu would glare at her saying impatiently: “Aman! I don’t have my whole life here with you eating so slowly! Drillmaster would punish me if I am late again.”

At this time, a kiss from Amanda would dissipate every sullenness and unhappiness Aaron Gu had.

Embarrassed and with his face blushing red and then turning into purple, Aaron Gu would seat Amanda back down and wipe his mouth with his eyes watching around vigilantly as if everyone else was watching him. “Aman! You are doing this on purpose...”

"Such a freak! Crying over spicy beancurd jelly?"

Amanda was brought back to the earth by the cold sarcasm. Standing not far away from her was Aaron Gu with his hands in his pockets. He was looking at her expressionlessly.

His angular face was still the same as he was at 18 or 19; but the maturity and grimness he bore now was nothing like that sunshine young boy.

What was Aaron Gu doing here?

Surprised, Amanda choked on the jelly and coughed without giving him any response.

Why would he be here? Was he going to dine here?

But Aaron Gu seemed to be in the right mood. He strode towards Amanda's table. Ignoring the strange looks around him, he yelled at the chef: "A bowl of Jelly."

"Salty or Sweet?"

"Sweet." He blurted out without extra thinking.

He sat facing Amanda, where the couples had been sitting at, and looked down at her bowl with contempt: “What a waste...”