Jasmine looked at him and scoffed, “Fortunately for you, it’s my loss.”
“You can still change your mind,” Boyce said. Boyce meant it. He wanted to give her a nice treat.
“Fine, I’ll pick the place.” Jasmine dragged him to the car and continued, “I know a place that serves delicious food. Drive!” Boyce looked at her hand as she grabbed onto his. He could feel that her palm was full of callouses. She must have been used to physical labor. He knew that she was struggling to put herself through university.
“Remember to look for me if you need anything. I promised your mother that I would look after you.” Boyce said.
Jasmine’s smile waned as soon as she remembered her mother.
Boyce immediately noticed her reaction and quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned.” Jasmine shook her head, “It’s alright.”
She wrung her hands and said, “My mother was very pitiful. I was hoping that once I can earn some money, I would save her from that household, but…” Her mother was imprisoned because of murder. “My father loved to gamble. Whenever he won, he would spend extravagantly with those hooligans but when he lost, he would demand money from my mother. If my mother didn’t give him the money, he would beat her up. My mother was a housewife and the family income depended on the several acres of lily. She could only work some menial work to earn some meager amounts. The family savings had long been gambled away by my father. He will force my mother to earn money to feed his gambling habits and beat her up when he lost money. I saw this over the years and I wanted so much to take my mother away from him. When I managed to get into this University, I thought that she could endure for a few more years and I would be able to get her out but she did not wait for me.”
She shuddered when she recalled the way her father beat up her mother. There was once he took a wooden stool and slammed it against her mother and she collapsed onto the ground and was motionless for a long time. There was yet another time when her father pinned her mother on the ground and repeatedly slapped her until her mouth bled profusely. She tried to pull her father away but was kicked off by him.
“My father is worse than an animal. He deserved death. I never pitied him and this was too easy on him. Sometimes I hate the law. My father was clearly the aggressor so why must the law punish my mother?”
Actually, she understood that society would be in chaos if legal constraints didn’t exist. However, when she thought of what happened to her mother, her heart was aching.
Boyce didn’t know how to comfort her. Even if he had seen many seamy sides of lives, it was hard for him, as an outsider, to empathize on this matter.
In reality, things that had happened to Jasmine’s parents were a norm in many places. Every person is an individual, and their actions and thoughts are all independent. Therefore, every individual is different, and some people are much more absurd than others.
The only thing he could do was care a little more for this pitiful girl.
Now he only knew why her mother was sent to prison. The last time when he read the case file, he knew it was a homicide, but he didn’t read about the murder motives. And now he knew that the murder was an act of resistance due to oppression from long-term domestic violence. It was indeed sympathizing. However, a murder is still a murder, no matter what the motives were.
If anyone could anyhow punish bad people, wouldn’t this society become chaotic?
Jasmine also didn’t know what was going on with her just now for telling him her story, “I’m very sorry. I shouldn’t have told you.”
“No, it’s okay. I don’t mind. Do you know why some foreign countries are in disorder?” Boyce said.
Jasmine said she knew, “Because their law is incomplete. I heard that some countries even allow their citizens to own weapons. You can’t even sleep peacefully at night if you live in that country.”
“That’s why it’s important to have the law. Other than protecting the personal safety of people, a complete set of laws is also important for the continuity of society. No matter what the reason is, or who did it, everyone is equal and should get punished for committing a crime.” Boyce said.
“I understand. It was just a momentary sigh of emotion.” Jasmine lowered her eyes. She could only blame her own immaturity at that time, and that she should have reported to the relevant departments. For now, the government has already introduced many laws about women, and there were some good solutions for solving domestic violence.
“Where are we going?” Boyce asked.
He didn’t know the way.
“I’m not familiar with this area. Drive to the west of the city.” Jasmine laughed and said, “I’ve almost forgotten that we are going to eat. You should be hungry by now, right?” Boyce told her that he was still okay.
After he said that, the two of them did not speak again, and the car fell into silence.
Jasmine worked part-time around this area; therefore, she was very familiar with the place.
“Turn right at the intersection in front.”
Boyce followed her instructions and turned right at the intersection in front.
“Just follow this road and drive straight,” Jasmine said.
Boyce turned and glanced at her, “What is there to eat here?”
“You will know when we reach there. If I tell you know, there won’t be any surprise.” Jasmine said playfully, letting him guess.
Boyce smiled and did not ask anymore. Even though Jasmine did not have a good childhood, she was optimistic and tough. Furthermore, although she lived alone in the city, he could tell that she was hardworking, and was not pessimistic, which was very rare.
“Stop the car in front of the red sign,” Jasmine said.
Boyce drove the car and stopped in front of the red sign. Jasmine pushed opened the door and got out of the car.
She stood in front of the restaurant and waited for Boyce, and said, “I used to work part-time in this restaurant, and I know the owner. Their special roast duck is super good.”
Even though the restaurant’s location wasn’t ideal, the place was big, and their decorations were unique. Additionally, the place was quite clean too.
“We’re a little late. It will be full of customers if we came at noon. Let’s go in.” Jasmine smiled and said.
Boyce nodded and went into the restaurant. Because it was past the peak lunch hours, there were a lot of empty seats. Jasmine chose a table close to a French window.
“Well, look who’s here. Welcome back, Jasmine.” The waiter came over and greeted her.
Jasmine smiled and said, “Yeah, employees can get discounted rates for eating here, right? Remember to give me a discount later.”
“No problem.” The waiter glanced towards Boyce, then threw an ambiguous wink at Jasmine, “And this is…”
“My uncle.” Jasmine quickly interrupted her.
“I thought he’s your boyfriend. Here, what do you want to order?” The waiter passed them the menu.
“Let me order. I know what’s good here.” Jasmine volunteered.
Boyce put down the menu.
“This, this, this and this. That’s all.” Jasmine returned the menu to the waiter.
“Alright, I’ll serve you the food in a short while.” The waiter smiled and said to Jasmine.
After the waiter walked away, Jasmine went to pour a glass of water and put it in front of Boyce, “Drink some water first.”
Boyce took a sip. After a while, the waiter served the dishes up. Jasmine only ordered four dishes, but the waiter brought five of them, and said, “The owner knows that you’ve brought guests, so he gave you an extra.”
After serving all the dishes, the waiter put away the tray and said, “Enjoy your meal.” Then, she walked away.
The specialty of the restaurant was the crispy roast duck. The roasted skin was crispy, and the meat was tender and juicy. Jasmine took a piece of duck meat, wrapped it with bread, and asked, “Which one do you prefer, sweet or spicy?”
Boyce said, “I prefer it to be spicier. Girls would probably prefer the sweet sauce more.”
“Who told you that? Nowadays, girls can also eat spicy food.” Jasmine dipped the spicy sauce, wrapped the duck meat in bread, and put it beside Boyce’s mouth, “Try it.”
Boyce looked down at the duck meat that was put beside his mouth. He felt that it was too intimate, and it felt a little inappropriate, “You eat it. I can wrap one myself.”
“Why? Is it because of my hands? I washed them when I went to get water for you.” Jasmine did not compromise, smiled, and said, “Just eat it.”
Boyce had no choice but to open his mouth. When Jasmine put the food inside his mouth, she accidentally touched his lips, and it felt quite soft. She quickly withdrew her hands and put them under the table. She looked at Boyce in anticipation and asked, “How is it? Is it good?”
Boyce nodded. He could feel the brief touch too, but he pretended as if nothing had happened, “It tastes good, and it’s not greasy.”
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.