Chapter 486 - 320: A Little Punishment

Chapter 486: Chapter 320: A Little Punishment

"Pregnant, my ass!"

Lin Chen rolled his eyes, speechless. He was truly impressed by the guy’s wild imagination.

"Do me a favor and watch fewer soap operas. Even if she were pregnant, the baby wouldn’t be born for ten months. It would be at least two or three years before they could write. Why would I need to think about this so soon?"

"Who knows," the owner said with a noncommittal shrug. "I thought the same way before I got married. But once my wife was pregnant, I found myself thinking weirdly far ahead. I wanted to get everything ready in advance, from clothes for a one-month-old to clothes for a one-year-old."

"Get out of here. Erica and I haven’t even made things official. We’re just friends. She wants to learn Chinese, and I happened to be passing by and saw your daughter tracing characters. I figured I’d get a book for her to practice with."

"Oh, is that so? Alright, I’ll find a few for you."

The owner went into the stockroom and came back out a moment later with three copybooks, each as thick as a finger.

"Here. My daughter has some leftovers she’s not using. All she thinks about is slacking off. I bought a bunch, but she barely used any of them, and now she doesn’t need them. One is for tracing strokes, one is for simple characters, and the last one is a bit harder. It’s a step-by-step progression."

"In that case, I won’t be polite. It’s not like they’re worth much, anyway. Oh, right, I still have a lot of the beef shank and tendon I stewed yesterday in the fridge. I’ll go get a portion for you to take home for your wife and kid."

When he returned to the convenience store holding two containers of meat, the owner didn’t stand on ceremony and took them right from his hands.

’This was made by a professional chef. Even if it’s just home-style cooking, it’s definitely better than what we make at home.’

’Trading three useless copybooks for two big portions of meat? What a score!’

Just as Lin Chen was about to leave, the owner suddenly called out to him.

"So... you two really aren’t dating?"

Lin Chen’s brows furrowed warily. "Why?"

"No, no, that’s not what I mean. What I mean is, I’ve been around in Canada for over ten years. Between school and running the store, I’ve made a lot of foreign friends."

The owner waved his hands, quickly explaining, "Judging from my social circle, a girl like Erica is what you’d call a top-tier beauty from a rich family. Even her looks are the type that fit Asian beauty standards. You know what I mean—not many Western women have features that appeal to our aesthetic."

"She’s of mixed European descent. Mixed-race people tend to have more delicate features."

"No wonder. Anyway, that’s not the point. What I’m saying is... everyone can see there’s something going on between you two. How come you guys, the actual people involved, aren’t together yet? Little bro, what are you waiting for? What’ll you do if she takes off? Foreigners aren’t very patient."

"If she doesn’t have the patience to get to know me over such a short period, then that just means she’s not right for me. If she wants to date one of the Da Xia People, she should at least have that basic cultural respect, right?"

"You... sigh. You’ve gone abroad, so why are your views still so old-fashioned? Foreign girls are very open, you know. Have a drink, hit it off, and they’ll get a room with you. Back in my day..."

"Back in your day?"

An unfamiliar woman’s voice came from the store entrance.

Lin Chen subconsciously turned his head and saw a woman who looked about his age walk in. She glared at the man behind the counter with a dark expression, casually grabbing a baseball bat from a shelf on her way over.

"?!"

Lin Chen’s expression changed slightly. He quickly took two steps back to get out of the way and held up the copybooks.

"Uh, well, I still need to buy dinner for Erica. Thanks for the copybooks! Remember to have your wife try those two containers. Goodbye, ma’am! I’m heading out!"

He had just fled the convenience store when he heard the door SLAM shut behind him, immediately followed by bloodcurdling screams from inside.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So tragic."

A little girl’s young, sighing voice came from below.

Only then did he realize the owner’s daughter had somehow followed him out.

"It’s okay, you can go, mister. I’ll wait for my mom. It’ll be over in about thirty seconds. All the aunties and uncles around here know me."

With that, she waved her small, doll-like hand and scurried over to Bella’s fruit shop nearby, where she made herself right at home, grabbing a handful of cherries and stuffing them into her mouth.

Seeing Bella smile and lift the little girl onto a chair, Lin Chen scratched his head, glanced at the closed glass door in front of him, and silently turned to leave.

When he got back to his place and walked in through the entryway, he saw Erica sprawled on the sofa, looking completely drained.

He walked over and placed the warm bag on the coffee table.

Erica’s cute, pert nose twitched twice. Her eyes instantly regained their focus, and she shot up as if she’d been electrocuted.

"A double-cheese smoked beef taco?!"

He untied the bag, pulled out the kraft paper box inside, and opened it.

Revealed before them was indeed a beef taco covered in a thick layer of mozzarella cheese.

"You’re just in time! Another minute and I would have starved to death!"

A brilliant smile erupted on her face as she eagerly cupped the taco in her hands and started taking huge bites.

The overstuffed taco dripped juice constantly, with bits of smooth avocado paste and tomato salsa occasionally falling out.

Through the cross-section of her bite, you could clearly see the thick layer of shredded smoked beef wrapped in the corn tortilla, along with juices so plentiful they would gush out with the slightest squeeze.

With every bite, the pale yellow cheese would stretch into long strings, which she would then slurp up bit by bit.

Watching her eat with such gusto, Lin Chen pulled the gift he’d prepared for her from the back of his waistband and slapped it onto the coffee table.

Seeing the three books, which were clearly filled with Chinese characters, a giant question mark appeared in Erica’s eyes.

"What are these?"

"Your gift."

Erica, holding the taco in one hand, reached out with the other and flipped through them casually. She looked up in pleasant surprise. "Chinese copybooks? This is great!!"

"Huh?"

Lin Chen touched her forehead with the back of his hand. ’Weird, you don’t have a fever.’

"You didn’t actually think I was joking when I said I wanted to learn Chinese, did you?"

Erica wasn’t annoyed. She smiled at him. "I’ve had a plan for a while now. I even bookmarked a few basic Chinese courses that teach pronunciation and character recognition. I was planning to secretly start learning whenever I had free time to surprise you!"

"I even searched for Chinese copybooks on Amazon, but they were too expensive. I didn’t think they were worth the price, so I didn’t buy any. I can’t believe you already got them for me. You’re so thoughtful~"

’She’s actually interested in studying?’

Lin Chen’s mouth twitched. He silently made a decision.

’Okay, these are just a gift. I’ll have to rethink the punishment for our bet.’

"Ehehe!"

Erica suddenly patted his cheek and pointed at his nose. "I know you were planning to use these as the punishment, right? Looks like you were trying to back out of our deal and I caught you red-handed. The Lin I know isn’t a man who lies."

"Tsk... alright, alright. You got me."

Defeated, Lin Chen could only raise his hands in surrender. He hadn’t expected this girl to be so observant that she could read his thoughts so clearly.

Seeing his reluctant expression, Erica covered her mouth to hide a giggle and beckoned to him with her finger.

"Come here, I’ll tell you a secret."

"What is it?"

Lin Chen didn’t think much of it, assuming she had secretly learned a few Chinese words and wanted to say them to him, so he leaned his ear toward her.

The next second, he felt a soft, warm touch on his cheek.

"?"

"Thank you for the dinner you brought back, and for these three gifts. I love them~"

’What kind of secret is that!’

Lin Chen touched his cheek, his eyes meeting Erica’s crystal-clear, azure pupils up close. His own reflection was mirrored within them.

The girl’s lips still glistened with grease from the cheese and beef, though a small part of it was now gone.

He was about to complain about her getting grease on his face, but before the words could leave his mouth, he suddenly noticed her gaze travel downward, finally resting on his lips.

At almost the same moment, her expression changed. Her once-clear eyes grew heated, and a flicker of emotion began to surface within them. Her glossy, pink lips parted slightly, and a warm breath carrying a hint of milky fragrance washed over his face.

Lin Chen’s heart skipped a beat. The words he was about to say were quietly swallowed back down.

The living room was silent, save for the CLICK, CLICK, CLICK of the clock on the wall.

Erica just watched him quietly. After a few seconds, her gaze lifted to meet his, then slid back down again.

This time, her delicate, flawless face clearly leaned a little closer.

Lin Chen froze, not daring to move an inch. He never would have imagined that delivering dinner and three copybooks meant as a punishment—which should have resulted in him laughing at her pained expression—would suddenly lead to this.

The convenience store owner’s words suddenly flashed through his mind, along with all the little moments they had shared recently, and the feelings Erica had revealed.

His expression gradually softened, and his body slowly began to relax.

Although it wasn’t the first time he had admired Erica’s exquisite, doll-like features up close, he was struck by her breathtaking beauty every single time.

It was as if an elven character model from a Western movie had walked right off the screen. The feeling was so unreal that if it weren’t for the constant warm breath on his face, he might have thought he was dreaming.

For no particular reason, the question that had been nagging at him from the very beginning surfaced once more.

’What could a beautiful, rich girl like her possibly see in me?’

Even though Erica had explained it to him before, he still found it hard to believe that a mixed-race beauty of her caliber would be so forward with him.

Getting no response, Erica grew impatient. Annoyed, she grabbed his collar, yanked him toward her, and bit down hard on his lip.

"HISS!!!"

The faint taste of blood spread across his lips. Lin Chen snapped back to his senses, only to be pushed away.

"Sorry."

Before he could speak, Erica tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks slightly flushed, and licked the trace of blood from her own lips.

"We clearly agreed to get to know each other for a month first. I was too impatient. I finally understand how all those guys felt back then. This kind of instinct is really hard to control."

"But for you to be completely unmoved by my advances... that’s a real blow to my pride. This is a little punishment for you!"