Ah Si groaned dazedly as he slowly stirred into consciousness, his reluctant mind slowly wrenching itself out of the blanket of darkness. He had the feeling something important had happened, but the knowledge danced just outside his memory; his mind was still foggy with sleep. His mouth was dry and his cheek was tender; he could feel his pulse thundering along his nerves painfully as he blearily opened his eyes. Ah Si was met with the amused faces of his friends as they towered over him; all three of their eyes were glimmering with thinly suppressed mirth. Why are they staring at me like idiots? He wondered as he realised he was back in the comfort of his own home. How did I get here? The image of Shancai, her face darkened with anger, drifted through his minds eye, but he was still drawing a blank on what had happened. God, his face was hurting! "What time is it?" He was met with silence from all fronts from his friends, save for their suppressed laughter. He flexed his jaw, but all he accomplished was making the pain radiate further down his cheek and he closed his eyes briefly to combat the onslaught. He was no stranger to pain. However, his body felt strangely tight and constricted and he panicked for a brief second, yelping loudly when he noticed his entire body was swathed in white bandages. Why couldn't he remember what had happened?!
"What the hell?" Ah Si spat; he was so confused, and his blinding headache certainly didn't help matters. His friends erupted into giggles again, and he suddenly remembered falling to the bricks at university earlier that day, his heart leaping in his chest. Something had happened with Shancai, he just couldn't remember the details... "You fainted," Xi Men chucked, clearly enjoying Ah Si's state of dazedness, "we brought you back here." It all flooded back to him in that instant; Shancai yelling his name, his heart skipping despite himself, her enraged expression as she whacked him straight in the face with her foot. Ah Si was torn between fury and admiration; how dare that tiny girl kick him in front of everyone, where did she get the guts? He had hurt people for committing infractions of a far lesser nature; where did Shancai get off kicking him? "I remember," he said incredulously, "that crazy girl actually kicked me! I'm going to knock her head off!" The last part was uttered half heartedly; Ah Si knew in his heart that he was saying that only to save face in front of his friends. No doubt they were judging his lack of grace right now; he had embarrassed F4's reputation!
Lei chose that moment to break his silence and there was an edge to his voice as he told Ah Si how the small female had been harassed on her way back from delivering his order. By two guys nonetheless. The softly spoken words hit him like a blow, and all he could do was absorb the information, slightly stunned, as he heard Xi Men and Meizuo voice their concerns. He registered Meizuo admonishing him reproachfully, telling him he'd deserved Shancai's wrath, and he struggled to disagree; the kick to the face was not unprovoked, after all. Ah Si was distressed (for some reason he couldn't fathom) to realise Lei had even known about his disastrous attempt to tease Shancai at the Halftime Cafe - he wasn't proud of how he had had acted that day, and he certainly hadn't advertised what had happened to his friends. Which meant... she must have told Lei herself. His friend had indirectly been privy to Ah Si's darkest moment to date. He was flooded with a strange emotion when he realised that Lei and Shancai must have spent some significant alone time together; it was a sick feeling that flooded his stomach, burning like acid and edged by the bitter tang of anger. Ah Si was not sure what to define this emotion as; all he knew was that he, Daoming Si, had never really spent any time alone with Dong Shancai, so where had Lei found the time to have the opportunity? He struggled to control his emotions as he childishly retorted "what does that have to do with me? Besides, those two guys must be stupid to pick on her!" He refused to show his weakness in front of Lei; he was already far more involved than Ah Si would have preferred!
Xi Men sighed audibly in annoyance, and Ah Si felt the guilt burrow deeper into his chest. He already felt terrible, which he wasn't used to, why were his friends making him feel worse? Nonetheless, he was still surprised when they decided to leave him, stating that he looked healthy enough to survive the day. "Hey! At least untie me first!" He yelled at their retreating backs, but he his pleas went unanswered; he had the distinct impression that all three were disappointed in his actions. But none of them could be more disappointed with him than he was with himself; Zhuang Jie had always told him that he was above harming innocent girls, and he has never allowed himself to be pushed so far before - his emotions were strangely heightened when he was around Shancai. He had let himself and his older sister down, he chastised himself as he hopped after his friends with great difficulty. Ah Si crashed headlong to the floor, hampered by the tight bandages, and he lay on the marble in defeat, feeling uncharacteristically miserable. I'm not much better than those two scumbags who harassed her he lamented internally. He was saved from his own morbid thoughts when Mr. Liu showed him mercy and came to help him escape the bandages.
The old man was kind and non judgemental as he disentangled the Daomimg heir. Ah Si's mind was churning; Shancai had kicked him, did that mean that they were even now, or would he have to do more to level the playing field? Zhuang Jie had always showed her love by beating him, but with Shancai, he was fairly certain that her violence did not stem from affection. And for some reason, this fact pissed him off! He didn't want the small girl for himself, no, far from it actually, but he was bitter to realise that she didn't fawn over him as he expected; why couldn't she just adore him like all the other girls? His pride was taking a serious beating. The girl was a conundrum, he concluded. Ah Si pursed his lips as he thought; he wanted to make Shancai like him, he decided - he would make her fall for him, and then when she was madly in love with him, and he was back to being adored by every girl he had ever met, he would crush her with his rejection. It was the perfect plan, save for one small detail; Ah Si had no clue how to start the process. He had never actively had to try to get someone to fall for him before, usually it was as easy as breathing. But if he knew anything at all about Shancai, it was that nothing about her was straightforward; he wanted to strangle her, she frustrated him so much!
"Mr. Liu," he found himself asking, much to his own astonishment "how would you go about getting a girl to fall in love with you? Especially one that you may have accidentally hurt?" To his credit, Mr. Liu carefully controlled his reaction; Ah Si could only detect the faintest hint of curiosity and nothing else. He was embarrassed that he had to ask for help from his wizened old butler, but he was grasping at straws; the rest of F4 would only ridicule him if he approached them for advice on wooing a girl. And he as determined to make this plan work, he admitted to himself. The natural order has to be restored he rationalised in arrogance. There was no other reason, he just wanted to break the girl's spirit so she learned her place!
Mr. Liu considered his answer carefully, and the younger man became increasingly flustered as he waited. "I would show her how she should be treated," he responded finally, his voice quiet like rustling leaves. "I would spoil and pamper her, and prove to her that I can take care of her. I would also try to show her how good of a man I am, and try to explain why she would benefit from choosing me. After all, women want to be cherished, and a good man should be able to take care of his woman, whether or not she needs him to." The old butler sounded like he was speaking from experience, and his voice was coloured with regret. Ah Si briefly wondered what the story behind the regret was, but he was above prying. Mr. Liu had always been secretive about his personal life, and Ah Si respected his wishes. He was grateful to the old man for his words; he thanked him before he left the room. Ah Si pondered the advice he had been given. So he had to show Shancai how good he was and had to pamper her? His eyes lit up as he considered his options; a plan was already forming in his mind, one that would surely have the feisty Shancai melting like chocolate for him. His chest swelled with excitement as he decided his plan of action; he just needed to get her to his house first! Then he could set about wooing her; the tiny girl would be putty in his hands before the day was out and he would be on his way to breaking her heart. He grinned as he strode from the room, this was his best plan yet; Shancai wouldn't know what hit her when he turned on his signature Daoming charm.
He had calls to make.
