Chapter 2 You can sue me

"Miss, let's just leave nationality out of this, please." He was quite serious, "Besides, even if I've destroyed your precious sketchbook, you have wiped your nose with my 8,000-dollars ties. I am the one loses more."

What did I hear? The ties worth 8,000 dollars?

My temper lowered by half, "I'm talking about the sentiment!"

"Since it's a memento." He was much more sharp-tongued than I was, "Why do you carry it with you instead of putting it in a coffer for safekeeping?"

"If I didn't think you were handsome, how could I paint you with my most precious notebook?" Never mind, I couldn't argue with him, and I turned around and decided to leave, "You're so unreasonable and have no manners at all!"

I had just taken one step when I heard his voice again, "Well, I compromise, and I can compensate you."

Good job!

He said it himself, so don't blame me for being greedy, "Fifty dollars."

He astonished.

I added, "Now that I've used it, I'll count forty-five dollars for you."

He looked at me and then reached into his pocket, finding nothing, then he frowned and took something off his sleeve and handed it to me, "No cash, is this OK?"

I took the thing, a button with a white rim and a few blue crystals inside, which was pretty in color.

I asked, "What is it?"

" A gift given by my dad. This is equally precious."

"I want cash."

"Only this." He raised the corners of his eyes, "Besides, my cufflinks are in pair, and now that I give you one, meaning that I've given you fifty percent. But your book is visually estimated to be at least two hundred pages; shouldn't you make change for me?"

I was baffled by him, "How much is your buckle."

"Thirty thousand." He paused and added, "dollars."

I took a deep cool breath with my hands shaking, the buckle fell off and rolled to nowhere. I hastened to crouch down like a dog to look for it, then I heard him saying, "You can be free of the change only if..."

Thankfully, it didn't fall afar. I picked up the buckle and stood up, giving it back to him, "I don't want it."

"You said that you needed compensation, and I didn't want to lose my etiquettes." He curled his lips and looked at me, saying, "I'm hungry now. Find a restaurant to have a night snack with me, and then we are even."

I looked at him and asked, "Is the buckle really worth thirty thousand dollars?"

His expression was very noncommittal, "I don't need to lie."

Such a poser!

"There's food right over there." I point to the snack street, "You can go by yourself."

"Lead the way."

He turned toward the snack street, while I didn't move. After taking a few steps, he turned around and ordered me habitually, "Follow me."

I looked at him and said, " The fees of leading the way is additional."

He gave me a brittle laugh and seemed to be a little annoyed, then he twisted his head with mockery filling his gray-blue eyes, "Is that street also your father's relic?"

Stunned, I had to coyly keep up with him.

There were various of food stores along the snack street, and I followed behind Weng Li and asked him, "Which one do you like?"

He didn't turn his head, just asked blandly, "Where did you eat just now?"

"I haven't eaten yet."

"You have sauce in the corner of your lips."

I wiped my mouth in a hurry and saw him stopping steps and turning right, sitting down at this very clean barbecue stall.

Carmel was a small and isolated town, and people there were not very familiar with foreign guests. So, the landlady dropped the menu in a panic and ran away without a word.

Lewis frowned and stared at the menu in silence.

I waited for a while, but he still wouldn't scratch the hook in the menu to order dishes, so I said, "If you don't want to eat, then I'm leaving."

"Sit down."

"I have other things to do."

He raised his head and looked me over from head to toe, hooking the corners of his lips, "Do you still work as a call girl in leisure time?"

Who did he scold? "You're the part-time call girl!"

"You'd better be gentle and try not to challenge my gentleman-like manners." He looked at me very arrogantly as he sat down on the small bench in a gesture to sit on a throne, and then he repeated, "Sit down."

Just now, his tone had always been quite friendly, and I could tell that he wasn't angry. But probably because he was too formal now, he looked very solemn and powerful.

I sat down like a defeated rooster and asked, "Do you want me to order food for you?"

He held his arms and looked at me without saying a word. His demeanor was finally kinder.

"What do you want to eat?"

He swept me with glance of being infringed, "What do you like to eat?"

"I...." I felt the stress, "Are you asking me to recommend food for you?"

"Please," he said, "Just order what you like. I don't know Chinese food."

I clutched the menu and swallowed saliva, "Kebabs, just kebabs...do you know?"

"OK."

I didn't think that his needs would be so easy to be satisfied, and I decided to be kind to him this time and asked, "Is any kind of meat OK for you?"

"I assume they can only offer beef, lamb and chicken, right?" "These are all acceptable for me," he said.

"How do you know?" So, he needn't to ask me at all if he knew these.

He clasped his arms and nudged his beautiful jaws toward the oven not far away, then he continued to stare at my eyes and commanded, "Continue."

"Chicken Heart."

"Don't."

" Fried kidney pieces?"

"What's that?" he asked in dismay.

" Delicious pork kidney."

He showed a shocked expression, "Excuse me, miss, the foreigners in your mouth don't usually make guts as their food ingredients."

"Then he wouldn't eat the pickled food", I guessed. I asked, "Do you eat foie gras then?"

"If the heart and kidneys you recommend for me can be compared to the value of foie gras," He very nonchalantly hooked the corner of his lips, "I wouldn't mind trying them."

"Oh..." and I continued to look down at the menu, "Chicken claws?"

He was astonished and asked, "What's this again?"

"Chicken feet."

"......." he first took a deep breath and then said, "Miss, why is your taste so strange? Can you order some decent food?"

I snapped, slamming down the menu, "Then you can go and find someone else decent!"

"OK." he said coldly, glancing at me, "Be ready to receive the lawyer's letter tomorrow."

Hadn't he said that I didn't break the law? What did he mean then?

"What kind of lawyer's letter?"

"I am an American." He looked at me and said coldly, "According to the laws of America, I have the right to file a complaint against you for my mental damage compensation."

I was a clever person who knows the situation. So I sat back and showed out a flattering smile, "Lovely brother, I am actually very well-behaved and cute, sometimes being a little impulsive."

A clear smile appeared in his eyes, "Go on."

This person was too difficult to get along with. I couldn't offense him, so I had to find some decent dishes carefully in the menu. My father's former boss loved roast pigeon, and this was a very decent one.

Thinking about it, I asked with confidence, "How are the pigeons?"

His eyes were widened in surprise, "Pigeon? You mean the pigeons in the square?"

"...Yes." I saw him looking at me as if I was a monster, and I instantly became a wuss, "Not being decent enough? It's the most expensive one in the menu."

He took a deep breath and said in an unbelievable tone, "You should eat pigeons!"

I was wrong.

I can't help holding my forehead, "I can't afford to eat pigeons at all, okay......."

There was a stalemate, and as I felt that the man was about to lose his temper, so I thought I'd better compensate him. I couldn't handle it.

So, I stood up, and decided to stand on my dignity, "So, you can sue me, as...."

He glared at me, "Sit down."

"......."

I sat down.

He beckoned to the landlady and said to her, "Offer us a copy of everything on the menu, except pigeons, guts, necks, and the feet of any animal."

The landlady was confused about his words, "The staple food are too many." After that, she looked at me, "Girl, there are too many staple foods. There have been eight kinds of gazpacho, and you two can't eat them all. Look, do you need to explain to the foreigner?"

I inquired with my eyes, seeing that he didn't have any objection. I took it for granted that I must not be the one who paid for such a great deal, so I clapped my hands proudly, "Just do it, he has a good appetite."

"How about the cumin and chili? Do you need them?"

"No," he replied quickly before my response.

I kindly advised him, "That would be tasteless."

"No."

"You didn't know anything about Chinese food, right?" What if he thought the meal was insipid and wanted to sue me again, so I said, "I suggest adding some."

"Yes, I do not know about Chinese food." He showed a look of contempt, "But your taste is unreliable."

I was very pretentious, so I said, "It's up to you, because I won't eat it anyway."

He nodded and planked his face, "So, the lawyer's letter...."

"My lovely brother." I was nervous after hearing this and gave him a big smile, "You are right. Anything you said is right..."

He glanced at me with the corners of his eyes with the corners of his mouth curved and grunted indifferently, "Fawning."

I've had enough, "What the hell are you..."

"Miss, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but please listen to me first." He tapped his fingers against the table, just like one of those gold collars on TV with an air of condescension I'd never seen before, "My name is Lewis Wilson, working for FCN Group in New York as Director of Sales in Asia."

With astonishment, I realized that he had the same family name with me. And he flashed an odd smile, "I think that this status should be enough for you to flatter."

I didn't understand what he was saying at all, but his aura was so strong that I just felt that he was excellent, "That, you......."

He poured the free plain boiled water from the barbecue stand. Then he took a slow sip of his cup and said slowly, "It looks like you're excited, and it's good. People with a desire for money are easier to communicate with."

Who could have no desire for money? Especially for me, a poor girl.

I nodded my head and before I could say anything, the landlady came to serve the food.

After she left, I found an opportunity to say, "So, my lovely brother, you..." and I simply couldn't say it clearly, "You mean that you will definitely pay for the meal today, right?"

He was speechless for a moment and then said, "Why me?"

Me! What?

"Aren't you telling me that you're rich?"

He rubbed his forehead and sighed, "I don't mean that."

"I won't pay for this meal." I didn't have any money, and I didn't like him, then I remembered that I had a button, so I hastened to give it back to him, "I got it. You just want someone to pay for your dinner. Although you may think you're handsome, you're not nice to get along with, so I won't pay it for you."

He nodded, seemingly thinking for a moment, and then suddenly seemed to realize something, "I guess I have understood what you mean."

"What do I mean?" I just finished asking this and the landlady brought in a giant plate. Well, that might be half the dishes in the menu, "Please cancel the rest dishes of our order!"

The landlady refused, "They have all been cooked."

I was discouraged and glanced at the man who had already started to pick up food with his chopsticks. I hurriedly took the plate of peanuts, "You can eat it later!

Then, as I turned back, the landlady had already gone away.

He put down his chopsticks and furrowed his carefully groomed eyebrows, "This cufflink I gave you is a blue diamond from South Africa. Even if you don't know blue diamonds, you should at least know the platinum or the designer's signature on it. As I remember, I've told you that the cufflinks are worth $30,000."