Although it was a weekday and not as busy as a weekend, finding a parking spot was still a challenge. Jin Liwei had to drive around the area several times before they were able to find a spot on the roadside. Iris was so excited that she almost jumped out of the car as soon as they parked. Fortunately, Jin Liwei was quicker and was able to stop her.
"Baby, wait. Wear your mask and your sunglasses first."
"Oh, right. Thanks."
They walked together to the bustling street food market.
Colourful and vibrant food stalls were crammed together selling various food products. Vendors frequently yelled out, trying to attract customers to their stalls. Smoke was everywhere and different smells mixed in the air.
Iris pulled Jin Liwei all over the place, curious at everything. She knew that Dom, the glutton, frequented street food markets during his days off. She had always been interested but never really had the chance to go until today.
Jin Liwei held her hand firmly to make sure that he wouldn't lose her in this crowded place. On the outside, he had his usual cold and indifferent expression. Inside, however, he had the urge to vomit seeing some of the things being sold. He was about to suggest for them to go to the French restaurant after all but stopped himself upon seeing his baby girl's enthusiasm. He could only sigh and let himself be pulled along by her.
For lunch, he made safe choices like barbequed chicken and duck chops with noodles. On the other hand, his baby girl was more…er, adventurous. Skewered scorpions, black spiders, water beetles, and silkworm chrysalis were on her paper plate alongside the more palatable fried rice and calamari.
Holding one side of her mask to have enough space to eat, she took small bites of each of her "adventurous" choices before grimacing in disgust. Then she would offer them all to him.
It took him a lot of effort not to visibly cringe. He forced out a smile and took the skewers from her before placing them on the edge of his plate. He had no intention of trying them whatsoever. He tried ignoring that part of his plate but too late. His appetite was already gone. Giving up on eating, he just sat back to admire his baby girl enjoying her fried rice and calamari.
Finally, they left the market. He felt so relieved. This wasn't how he imagined their romantic lunch date would be, but what was done was done.
Once inside the car, their clothes stank of smoke. He activated the air freshener and hurriedly drove away from the place.
Next on his date plan was to watch a romantic movie at the cinema. He drove to an upscale mall. Parking was no problem this time.
The line-up at the box office wasn't long, so they took their time to choose which movie to watch. Of course, Jin Liwei already checked which romance movies were currently showing beforehand.
Jin Liwei: "How about we watch 'A Love Across Time'?"
Iris: "Hmm…"
Jin Liwei: "Or maybe 'Never Let You Go'?"
She frowned.
Jin Liwei: "I heard 'Where the Heart Lies' is getting rave reviews from critics. Would you like to watch it?"
"No. I want to watch that." She pointed at a movie poster.
The title read "The Hit List", a gangster movie.
Iris: "Can we?"
How could he reject her when she was looking at him with those beautiful eyes? He immediately bought tickets, then lined up again for a bag of popcorn and a big bottle of room temperature water. Although he preferred chilled drinks, his baby girl avoided them because she was a singer. But still he bought only one big bottle because he wanted the two of them to share.
When they entered the auditorium, there were only about twenty people in addition to the two of them. Most were males. There were only three females watching including Iris.
Iris and Jin Liwei chose seats at the very back. The movie started after a few minutes. Jin Liwei wasn't paying attention to the movie at all. This kind of gangster movies didn't interest him, unless they were rare classic masterpieces. Instead, his eyes were directed at his baby girl's expression for the entire duration of the movie.
She took off her mask and sunglasses since nobody was paying attention to them anyway in this dark place.
Her expressions and reactions while watching the movie were amusing, especially her mumbled comments.
"Who shoots a gun like that? So stupid. And he's supposed to be a trained assassin?"
"This brawl looks too choreographed. Ill-choreographed at that. Very unrealistic."
"Hmph. What kind of criminal organization is this? They're all filled with stupid, brainless idiots. Disgraceful!"
Initially, he was already prepared to endure two boring hours sitting here but surprisingly, he felt entertained. The movie was boring as expected, but watching his baby girl's contempt for it was entertainment in itself. She was so cute! He smiled in amusement, popping popcorn into his mouth now and then. His eyes never stopped looking at her the whole time.
After the movie, Iris continued to grumble about the movie's stupidity. Jin Liwei had no idea what happened in the movie but he nodded and agreed at everything she said.
There was absolutely zero romance in the movie. This wasn't how he imagined their romantic movie date would be, but what was done was done.
Next activity on his romantic date plan was to go shopping together. Although he knew that she could buy whatever she wanted with her own money, he still wanted to buy things for her. He also wanted for them to buy more matching outfits or any other matching things, especially now that they were living together.
Walking inside the mall, they heard her songs from her album "Rebirth" being played at various shops. He felt very proud of her, wanting to shout out to everyone that she was his.
His good mood, however, was short-lived. Most of the men they passed by would ogle his baby girl's body. He put his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to him while scowling and glaring at the lecherous men. How dare they look at his woman with their dirty eyes?! He felt the strongest urge to gouge their eyes out.
Similarly beside him, Iris' mood was also taking a dive. Her expression was hidden by her face mask and big sunglasses but her eyes were shooting daggers at the females ogling her man. She placed her arm around his waist, staking her claim.
The temperature around this gorgeous couple was like that of frozen hell. People subconsciously gave them a wide berth to avoid the threatening aura surrounding the couple. Even so, the people couldn't take their eyes off of them because they looked so beautiful together. Even though they couldn't see what the girlfriend looked like, they knew that she must be gorgeous.
The lechers needed some good thrashing, Jin Liwei thought, but he had a more important mission for today which was to have a romantic date with his baby girl. So far, they weren't able to accomplish anything according to his plan but he refused to give up.
Of course, he researched which shops sold matching outfits for couples beforehand. He was about to suggest going into one of the shops when…
"Oh, a pet store!" Iris exclaimed. "Liwei, let's go buy some stuff for Ice Cream and Popcorn."
Those eyes again. How could he ever resist?
"Of course, baby," he immediately said, allowing himself to be pulled along by her.
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