"Here, here," Doãn Linh said, placing a plate of hot, freshly baked pastries on the tea table before sitting down with Lâm Ninh. She spoke with a teasing, slightly chiding tone. "What wind blew Mrs. Phàm to my humble abode today?"
The plate of pastries was set down, and Lâm Ninh quickly grabbed a small one, blew on it, then took a bite, chewing noisily with wide, staring eyes.
"Right..." Doãn Linh looked at Lâm Ninh's expression and shook her head with a resigned sigh. She understood the problem. That glaring, sullen face, first thing in the morning in front of her bakery, could only mean one thing... "Did you two fight? What did you fight about?"
It was truly rare to see this couple fight. Lâm Ninh and Mr. Phàm had been married for almost two years, and the number of times they had argued in that period could be counted on one's fingers.
If Doãn Linh remembered correctly, they had only fought once. That time, Lâm Ninh had gone to a group meeting where an old friend named Giang was present. This person had had a crush on Lâm Ninh throughout three years of high school, and they had talked, even very cheerfully.
How Mr. Phàm found out, no one knew. Rumor had it that he was socializing nearby and saw the flirtatious laughter and chatter. He then sulked at Lâm Ninh for days. Lâm Ninh tried to pacify him, but to no avail, so she ended up getting angry back at him. The final result was several days of cold war.
Oh my god, do these two even resemble adults? Their son is almost two, yet they haven't grown up at all.
“Tell me, what did you two fight about this time?”
“Hmph…” Lâm Ninh furiously chewed on a pastry, venting her anger on the poor cake. After chewing and swallowing, she picked up a glass of fruit juice and took a sip to wet her throat.
“Hmph! Yesterday, *he* took pictures with his ex.”
“…” Doãn Linh was speechless, her lips pursed. Good heavens, she thought it was something serious.
“Let me tell you, *he* took pictures with his ex, beaming and smiling and all that, showing off that handsome face for photos with his ex, hmph!”
Lâm Ninh huffed, quickly blurting out more.
“And then *he* came home and deliberately told me about it, can you believe it? His face was all radiant like this,” Lâm Ninh put on a beaming, flower-radiating expression, mimicking Phàm Dương’s voice as she recounted his words. “My dear, guess what? I met some old friends today. Let me show you these photos, look, look, this one used to have a huge crush on me.”
“…” Doãn Linh’s lips twitched. Oh my god, was she witnessing a mother of one or a one-and-a-half-year-old child? Doãn Linh shook her head. She could only describe them as people driven mad by love—no, made childish by love.
Doãn Linh could only say, helplessly,
“Mr. Phàm was just teasing you a bit. Last time you were too chummy with Giang Minh at that group gathering, so he’s just getting back at you.” Doãn Linh rolled her eyes.
“But that girl…” Lâm Ninh knew he was teasing her, and she didn’t usually care much about that, but the problem was… “She’s so pretty, so pretty! Last night she even texted my husband.” Lâm Ninh started mimicking again, her voice drawling and sour. “Long time no see, let’s catch up again sometime soon, good night.” Lâm Ninh gagged at the end of the sentence. “Ugh!”
“Honestly…” Doãn Linh gave a wry smile.
These two were clearly a perfect match, a talented man and a beautiful woman. It was only natural for them to have admirers, yet this couple kept sulking at each other over such things. Tsk! Just like kids in love.
Doãn Linh had no comment for this couple who loved to tease and then loved to sulk. She said,
“You two are really something…! Do you just spend all day looking for ways to tease each other?”
“Oh, *him*?!” Lâm Ninh retorted. She wasn’t that childish; it was *him*. “What kind of person holds such a grudge? My thing with Giang Minh was a year ago, what’s he teasing me about? Yesterday, reading that text message just made my eyes itch, pfft!”
“So, did Mr. Phàm reply to the message?” Doãn Linh asked casually.
“No! Blocked.”
Then there was nothing to worry about, was there? Doãn Linh was so exasperated; these people’s love was truly strange.
“And when *he* saw I blocked her, he just… ‘Well, well, my little one’s jealous, aren’t you? Ho ho, my little one is jealous now!’” Lâm Ninh recounted, her lips pursed smugly. But after telling the story, her face darkened, and she patted her chest, as if so infuriated by him that she was spitting blood.
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh,” Doãn Linh also patted her chest. *She* was the one spitting blood here, being force-fed their lovey-dovey drama until she was sick.
Lâm Ninh huffed with anger, her face flushed red with both fury and embarrassment, her chubby cheeks drooping adorably.
Doãn Linh could only laugh, waving her hand dismissively. "Come on, don't be mad anymore, it was just a little teasing."
Lâm Ninh immediately pouted, wailing indignantly. "A bit? What 'a bit'? That Phàm guy keeps teasing me non-stop!" Honestly, he teased her every single day. If he had seventy-seven, forty-nine, eighty-one positions in bed, he also had seventy-two magical tricks to tease her. Some days he'd tease her until her face turned crimson, other days he'd tease her until she was spitting blood with anger, ugh, she was so mad! Lâm Ninh screamed in her heart, then cursed aloud. "Ugh, that rotten egg Phàm, Phàm Dương, you stinking whore! Whore, whore, stinking, stinking!"
"Ha!" Doãn Linh burst out laughing. After they chatted and laughed for a while, Doãn Linh suddenly mumbled, "Ah...! Um, Ninh..."
"Huh? Ninh's listening."
"Ah...! Well..." Doãn Linh held her water glass, gripping the glass with both hands, and forced a smile. "Have you heard Mr. Phàm mention Mr. Lục lately?" The thing is...! It's been two years since she heard any news about Lục Tiến. The Lục Hội Gang in Thành An was still as notorious as ever, but she hadn't heard anyone mention Lục Tiến at all, so she was a little curious.
"Brother Lục?" Lâm Ninh blinked, genuinely surprised that the topic had shifted to Brother Lục.
Doãn Linh quickly smiled, speaking fast as if caught off guard. "Ah, well...! It's just that I haven't seen him for the past two years, so...! I'm just a little curious, that's all."
"Of course you haven't seen Brother Lục, he's been in France for ages," Lâm Ninh replied casually, then suddenly remembered something. A few days ago, she'd overheard Phàm Dương talking on the phone with Lục Tiến; it seemed Brother Lục was about to return. She added, "Actually, he's coming back soon. I heard Mr. Phàm say so a few days ago."
"Ah," Doãn Linh nodded. Lâm Ninh immediately narrowed her eyes. "Hey, why are you asking about Brother Lục? Are you interested in him?"
"No, no, I'm not," Doãn Linh quickly retorted. "It's just that he used to drop by often to buy cakes, and I haven't seen him for two years, so I was just curious."
“You know, he works in the underworld. I’m just curious if he’s still alive or not.” Doãn Linh wasn’t actually concerned; she was just a little curious.
Lâm Ninh had no idea about the relationship between Doãn Linh and Brother Lục. She only knew that Lục Tiến used to frequent Doãn Linh’s bakery because of Chu Quốc Duy’s matter.
“Oh, really?” Lâm Ninh didn’t suspect anything and mused.
“That’s true, I guess. Brother Lục’s line of work is truly a matter of life and death. He has few friends and many enemies; you can never predict what might happen.”
“Exactly! That’s why I’m curious, haha.” Doãn Linh successfully justified herself. She felt incredibly relieved to know he was still well. After all, Mr. Lục had saved her life, so she was a little mindful of his absence. It was just mindfulness, curiosity, not concern.
The two of them were sitting at a tea table by the window, enjoying tea and pastries. Doãn Linh smiled, her eyes inadvertently falling on the flower shop across the street. Doãn Linh murmured in a low voice, “Sister Lạc’s shop is closed again today.”
Hearing Doãn Linh say that, Lâm Ninh followed Doãn Linh’s gaze, seeing the closed flower shop, and asked in surprise, “Is it often closed these days? Isn’t business doing well?”
“Not at all, business is booming!” Doãn Linh said. “She’s been closed for three days now. Just a few days ago, it was still bustling with customers, but then suddenly it closed.”
“If you’re worried, why don’t you try calling her to check in?” Lâm Ninh suggested.
Doãn Linh could only shake her head. “I don’t have her phone number.”
“Huh?” Lâm Ninh exclaimed. “You two are so close, and you don’t have her number?”
“Well…” Doãn Linh sighed. Tinh Lạc had moved here and opened her flower shop two years ago. Over those two years, Doãn Linh and Tinh Lạc had become close neighbors, like sisters. Oh, Tinh Lạc was two years older than Doãn Linh, so Doãn Linh usually called her Sister Lạc. She and Tinh Lạc had a routine: every morning, Tinh Lạc would bring flowers for Doãn Linh to arrange in her display vases, and Doãn Linh would give Tinh Lạc a delicious pastry for breakfast. Because their shops were opposite each other, they’d see each other as soon as they opened in the morning, glance up at noon and see each other, and see each other to say goodbye when closing up at night. The two of them were like two peas in a pod; since they were across the street, they saw each other all the time.
Whenever she needed something, she’d always just run over and talk in person, which was why Doãn Linh had forgotten that she hadn’t exchanged phone numbers with Tinh Lạc. Suddenly, Tinh Lạc’s shop had been closed for three days, and Doãn Linh had no way to contact her. She was worried and didn’t know what to do.
“A few days ago, I saw she wasn’t in a good mood,” Doãn Linh sighed, her eyes fixed on the flower shop ahead, full of worry. “She looked so sad. And now, suddenly, the shop’s been closed for three days. I’m so worried.”
“But if you have no way to contact her, what can you do?” Lâm Ninh shrugged, taking Doãn Linh’s hand to comfort her. “She’ll be fine, don’t worry too much. Just wait for her to open…”
Jingle-jangle, the wind chimes on the door jingled, signaling someone had entered and cutting Lâm Ninh off. Doãn Linh looked at the disheveled girl walking in and shot to her feet. “Sister Lạc!”
Lâm Ninh quickly stood up, watching the girl struggle to push the door open and enter. Tinh Lạc’s clothes were a bit disheveled, her hair messy. One hand clutched her stomach, the other, having just released the doorknob, clamped over her mouth, making a retching sound.
“Ugh…! Blech…”
Tinh Lạc wanted to vomit, her hand pressed tightly over her mouth, her face contorted and pale. Her steps faltered, and she sagged. “What’s wrong, Sister?” Doãn Linh rushed over in a panic to support Tinh Lạc.
Lâm Ninh also hurried over, intending to help support Tinh Lạc. But Lâm Ninh’s eyes were drawn to the series of red hickeys on Tinh Lạc’s neck; looking closely, she could even see clear teeth marks. Moreover, Tinh Lạc was surrounded by the lingering scent of passion mixed with sweat, a smell Lâm Ninh recognized instantly with just a whiff.
“…” Lâm Ninh stared blankly at Tinh Lạc, momentarily unsure how to react.
Doãn Linh looked at Lâm Ninh in a panic. “Help me, let’s get her inside.”
“Oh, right,” Lâm Ninh quickly moved to support Tinh Lạc, helping Doãn Linh steady her. As she put an arm around Tinh Lạc to help her, the strong scent of passion wafted into Lâm Ninh’s nostrils. This girl definitely had a wild night.
To be continued…_ThanhDii.