Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“There’s pizza? Awesome!” Zachary was overjoyed when he heard about it. He twirled around on his toes and sang drunkenly, “Pizza… pizza… pizza… Where are you? I’m so hungry I could pass out.”
Wang Yang and Rachel, who were sitting on the sofa, gave each other a “what am I going to do with him?” look and laughed.
Jessica didn’t keep them waiting for too long. It hadn’t even been half an hour since she went out when the doorbell rang. Wang Yang, who was discussing with Rachel and Zachary about their performance, clapped his hands, stood up, and smiled. “Jessica’s here. It’s time for dinner!” Then, he went over and opened the door. As expected, Jessica was standing outside with a large box of pizza in her hands.
There was something very chic about the way she looked that day. It was the way her slender collarbone peeked from beneath her low-cut t-shirt and black leather jacket; the way her curves popped vividly through her form-fitting black leather pants; the way her wavy, olive-colored hair smelled sweetly of shampoo; the way her gorgeous face glowed underneath a thin layer of blush. She’d clearly made an effort to look good before coming to the apartment.
Upon seeing Wang Yang at the door, Jessica’s eyes lit up immediately. “Hi, Yang!” she said with a toothy grin.
“Hi, Jessica!” Wang Yang greeted. He was completely astounded by how good Jessica looked that day. It was as if Nancy from Sin City were standing in front of him, in all her beauty and allure. Soon, scenes from Sin City were reliving in his mind.
Whenever Wang Yang become engrossed in the visions inside his head, his expression became calm—almost deadpan. Jessica felt a tinge of disappointment when she saw Wang Yang’s face.
“Hey, buddy!” At that moment, someone appeared from behind Jessica. Someone tall, well-built and youthful-looking, clad in a windbreaker and jeans. He was Jessica’s little brother, Joshua. Joshua stepped in between Wang Yang and his sister and gave Wang Yang a hug. No aggressive squeezes this time. Just an appropriate amount of force followed by a timely release. He gave Wang Yang a wink, then said, “I came here to see you. Aren’t you happy?” in a playful tone that suggested there was some shared secret between them.
Wang Yang snapped out of his daydream, looked at Joshua, and smiled. “Yeah, welcome to my apartment.” He waved at both his guests with a smile on his face and said, “Please, come in.”
As scenes of Sin City flashed across his mind, it suddenly hit him. Since he was stuck with his film project, why not take a few minutes to review the classics of horror films inside his mind? He might be able to find the solution to his problem in one of them.
“Okay.” Jessica waited until Wang Yang was gone before she grabbed ahold of Joshua at the entrance, stared into his eyes, and said in a tight voice, “Joshua, remember what you promised me? You’d better watch your mouth!”
Fed up with his sister’s reminder, Joshua slouched his body lazily, rolled his eyes, and said, “Please, I know, I know! Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass you, okay?”
Joshua muttered in his head, “Isn’t she just some girl from Canada? What’s her name again? Rachel? A harmless, little, female sheep? Then why is Jessica acting like it’s a competition? Jeez, she spent the whole day making pizzas and putting on makeup. Jessica has gone nuts for this guy!”
“I’m glad you remembered!” Jessica gave him a death stare before entering the apartment with the pizza.
But, as soon as they entered the apartment, Joshua said something that made Jessica almost trip over her own feet. Feigning astonishment, Joshua looked at Rachel and blurted out, “Wow, you’re so pretty! Yang, is she your girlfriend?”
Rachel laughed out loud while Wang Yang shrugged his shoulders and said, “Nope, not mine. She’s Kevin’s girlfriend.” Then, in a rare attempt at humor, Zachary Levi said innocently, “I’m Kevin.”
The entire group cracked up in laughter. What could have been an extremely awkward situation had now been kept at bay.
While everyone was busy catching up with each other, Jessica took the box of pizza to the kitchen, laid it on the dining table, and announced cheerfully, “Dinner time! Get it while it’s still hot!” As she opened the box, a tantalizing aroma wafted from the pizza and into the room. “Don’t forget to wash your hands!” she reminded with a smile.
“Oh, God, this smells so good!” Zachary let out a cheer and rushed to the bathroom to wash his hands. Rachel and Joshua followed suit.
As Jessica stared at the scrumptious-smelling pizza on the table, her lips curved into a smile. She’d really gone to town with the pizza’s toppings: barbecued meat, bacon, a medley of fresh vegetables, and her special cheese sauce. With such amazing flavors, it was bound to be a showstopper! It was her masterpiece, and she was confident it’d win a praise or two.
She tucked her hair behind her ears, humming softly as she turned on the tap in the kitchen sink and washed her hands. Then, she gave the pizza knife a good wash and called out to the gang with a smile on her face, “Have you guys washed your hands? Come and get it.”
After washing their hands, Zachary, Rachel, and Joshua made a beeline for the pizza. Jessica picked up the pizza knife and made two perpendicular cuts across the pizza before splitting two of the slices into four equal, smaller slices. “Come and get it,” she said, beaming.
Just the smell of the pizza was enough to make Zachary’s mouth water. He snatched a slice and tucked in before anyone else. Then, Rachel took a slice, thanked Jessica, and went to the balcony to enjoy her meal. When the turn came for Joshua to grab a slice, he looked sour, contemptuous of his sister’s seemingly inflated sense of self-worth.
Zachary stood by the dining table and took a bite of the pizza. As he chewed on it, his eyes widened in amazement. “Oh, my God, this is delicious!” He looked at Jessica with a look of awe and exclaimed, “Good Lord! Jessica, your pizza is even better than Pizza Hut’s. God, how did you make it? I can’t believe how good this is! Wow!”
“Oh, really? Thanks!” Jessica replied casually. Her eyes, however, were fixed on Wang Yang, who was sitting on the sofa. Seeing as he’d yet to try her pizza, she called out to him, “Yang! Come and get some pizza.”
“Just a minute, just a minute!” replied Wang Yang. He was deep in his own mind, skimming fervently through all the horror classics. When he heard Jessica’s voice ringing faintly in his head, he paused the movie in his mind, got up, and walked to the kitchen. “I’m coming,” he said cordially.
As soon as she saw him coming, Jessica’s mouth curled into a smile again. She lifted a large slice, which was a quarter of the whole pizza, and gave it to Wang Yang with a smile. “Here.”
Wang Yang took the pizza with his cleaned hands, thanked her, and took a bite. There was a sudden glint in his eyes as he chewed it, followed by a satisfying “mmm” as he swallowed it. He looked like he was about to say something! Jessica’s heart lurched with excitement and anticipation as she looked at him with both her eyes not blinking.
Wang Yang burst out excitedly. “Oh, my God! Rachel! I’ve got it! I’ve got a great idea!” He turned around with his pizza in his hand and skipped toward the balcony, all the while screaming, “Rachel, you’ve got to hear about my new idea…”
Jessica felt a lump in her throat. The smile on her face suddenly froze up. As she peered at the balcony and saw the enthusiasm on Wang Yang’s face when he talked to Rachel, her hands clenched into a tight ball.
“Man, this is great!” Zachary was still standing beside her, eating her pizza and raving about it. Before she knew it, he’d already finished a big slice. He looked at Jessica apologetically and asked, “Say, Jessica, can I have another slice?”
“Oh, sure,” said Jessica, forcing a smile. “Help yourself. If you like it, eat it.” With that, she grabbed a slice, sat down on the sofa grumpily, and began gnawing at her pizza.
“Look over there…” said Joshua, who was sitting beside her at the sofa, taking delight in his sister’s misery. He directed her gaze toward the distant balcony and said, “Look at them. Look how much fun they’re having talking to each other! A director and his lead actress… They’re quite the match, don’t you think?”
The lump in Jessica’s throat swelled. She shoved him aside and said through gritted teeth, “Joshua, you’d better shut your mouth right now! Otherwise, I’m going to throw you out!”
“Okay, I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Joshua shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare at the balcony.
Meanwhile, on the balcony, Wang Yang was talking to Rachel animatedly about his new idea. “I’ve figured it out. The problem isn’t the acting. The problem lies in how the shot was set up!” Rachel was intrigued. “Oh, what do you mean?”
Wang Yang took a bite from the pizza. As his head was preoccupied with film, he could hardly discern its taste. He said, “Yes, the shot wasn’t uncanny enough to stir the audience. It was just too hackneyed, too predictable. It wasn’t because you didn’t act well enough! Think about it—what if the Mae in the mirror was smiling creepily, while the real Mae standing in front of the mirror was in a trancelike, sleepwalking state…”
Rachel nodded as she listened to his ideas. “Sounds like a great idea. This setup should give the movie more impact,” she said approvingly.
Just then, Joshua sprang up from the sofa and turned on the television. “Hey, Yang, Rachel, come and watch some television! Please, it’s dinner time. Forget about work already! Come here and watch television,” he hollered out of the blue. After that, he darted a look at Jessica in a way that meant, “Are you happy now?” Jessica turned away without scolding him.
“Okay, we’re coming!” Wang Yang and Rachel looked at each other and smiled. “Joshua’s right, we shouldn’t be talking about work-related stuff during dinner,” said Wang Yang cheerily.
The two of them nestled down on the sofa. Jessica and Rachel were sitting in the middle. Joshua was sitting on the left of Jessica, whereas Wang Yang was sitting on the far right, watching the news on the television and nibbling on his pizza. As he munched on the pizza, his mind cleared of any thoughts, and he began to appreciate the pizza’s incredible flavor. “Yum,” he said as he savored the pizza, gave Jessica a thumbs up, and complimented her. “Wow, Jessica, this pizza’s delicious!”
Jessica, who secretly had her eyes on him the whole time, brightened quickly. “Really? You think so?” she said, unable to contain her joy.
“Really. Did you buy it from Pizza Hut?” Wang Yang said jokingly before taking another bite. Jessica rolled her eyes and said in a mock angry tone, her irate expression belying the sweet feeling of contentment in her heart, “Yes, you got me.” Wang Yang said, “Don’t be like that, I was just kidding. I really like it. How did you make it taste so good?”
Jessica finally smiled. She said proudly, “Well, it’s a long story. I came across the recipe for this pizza in one of the many food magazines I subscribe to. After much trial and error, I finally learned how to make it.” She tried to sound nonchalant about her accomplishment, yet her hopeful eyes betrayed her desire for Wang Yang’s approval. “Do you like it?” she asked.
“Of course I do.” Wang Yang nodded, then commended, “Jessica, I didn’t know you were such a good cook.”
Wang Yang’s compliment put a huge grin on Jessica’s pretty face, wiping all signs of melancholy from it. Then, she smiled and waved her hand dismissively. “I’m okay, I guess. I love to cook. Pizzas, steaks, pasta, and even a few Chinese dishes.” She shrugged her shoulders and continued in a humble, almost self-deprecating tone, “Of course, I’ve had my share of kitchen disasters. There were times when I used the wrong seasonings, or put too much of them. Thankfully, I survived.”
Joshua looked at Jessica scornfully as he sat beside her. He thought, “Look at her, so pleased with herself just because someone sprinkled her with a few compliments. What a pathetic girl!”
Rachel ate her pizza quietly. Seeing as Wang Yang and Jessica were hitting it off, she decided not to interrupt. She could’ve done so like she always had. But at that moment, she wasn’t willing or interested in denying Jessica her place in the sun. It was as if a voice inside her head had told her, “It’s their conversation, not yours.”
Jessica continued with a smile, “Yang, did you know that you’re the one who inspired me to take up cooking?” Feeling sentimental, she said, “I remember one time, you brought a box of cakes to school on my birthday. You told me you made them yourself and you wanted me to have them as a birthday present.” She sighed and added, “Gosh, I remember how good those cakes tasted. I had three or four of them. That was when I decided to learn how to cook, so I could make something for you in return when your birthday came.”
Then, her tone saddened. “Unfortunately, I’d moved away before I got the chance to celebrate your birthday with you. But my passion for cooking stuck with me.” She smiled again and asked, “By the way, how did you make those cakes? What do you call them? I really miss their taste.”
Prior to their encounter, Jessica had been keeping her memories of Wang Yang locked up in the recesses of her mind, including the part about the cakes. When she had moved to Los Angeles many years ago, she had lost contact with Wang Yang. As the days went by without any correspondence from Wang Yang, she couldn’t help but feel forsaken. Eventually, she’d concluded that Wang Yang had rejected her. Naturally, she was reluctant to think about their past. But now that she finally got reacquainted with Wang Yang, and all their cute memories together came flooding back, she couldn’t be happier. She couldn’t wait to make the cakes!
Wang Yang didn’t know what to say besides “uh”. He’d forgotten all about the incident. But now that Jessica had mentioned it, it was starting to come back to him, little by little. In truth, the cakes weren’t made by him at all. On that day, before going to school, he had suddenly remembered it was Jessica’s birthday. As her friend, he hadn’t prepared a present, so he decided to bring a few cakes from home and gift them to her. Then, he bluffed Jessica and told her they were made by him.
The cakes were called Wife Cakes. At the time, one of their neighbor’s sons had just gotten married, and as customs dictated, he gifted his family a bag of cakes…
“Um, they’re just regular cakes.” Wang Yang tried to brush it under the carpet with a smile. Changing the topic, he said, “I’ll whip up some Chinese food for you next time that’ll knock your socks off. I grew up in a restaurant, you know. But, then again, it’s been a while since I cooked.”
Jessica’s eyes lit up. “Do you cook? I look forward to it!” she said.
“Mmm, this pizza sure is tasty…” Wang Yang was wary that Jessica might actually take him up on his offer. He may have been a good cook, but he didn’t enjoy cooking. In a frantic effort to change the subject, he stuffed the last bit of pizza into his mouth and grinned. “Is there any more? I want another slice.”
“Okay, I’ll get you a slice.” Jessica made her way to the kitchen with pleasure, the corners of her mouth upturned. It seemed he’d managed to divert her attention away from the cakes.
Wang Yang breathed a quiet sigh of relief. However, Joshua, who was sitting beside him and looking at him with a mischievous grin the whole time, decided to taunt him. “Hey, buddy, I know what you’re up to. I’m keeping my eyes on you.” Wang Yang frowned. He knew something bad was going to happen…
Suddenly, a scream came from the kitchen. “Ah! Where’s the pizza?” It was Jessica’s voice. The commotion drew everyone to the kitchen. Laying on the dining table was the pizza box—bare, empty, and devoid of any leftovers.
Joshua laughed with his hands on his chest. “Maybe it was stolen by the rats in the house? I seem to remember this place is filled with them.”
At that moment, Zachary Levi, who’d been missing for a while now, rubbed his head in embarrassment, looked at everyone, and said sheepishly, “Oh, I’m sorry. I ate three slices…” The pizza was cut into seven slices. Wang Yang’s slice was a quarter of the pizza. The other slices were eighths. Jessica, Joshua, and Rachel each had a slice, while Zachary Levi took three slices for himself.
“Um, I couldn’t help myself…” Zachary Levi’s embarrassment intensified as everyone stared at him, aghast. He turned his body away and explained, “I was really hungry, and the pizza was so good. Before I knew it, I’d already eaten three slices.”
How could he? That pizza was made for Wang Yang! Jessica furrowed her eyebrows angrily, trying her best not to lash out at him. How she wanted to see Wang Yang’s happy face when he ate her pizza!
Wang Yang quickly smiled at her and shook his head. “It’s all right. I’m very full already.” He turned to Zachary and said cheerily, “Zachary, you ate the most slices, so you clean up.”
“Okay, okay!” Zachary put his hands up and relented before quickly clearing the dining table of the pizza box, the pizza knife, and other things.
Wang Yang and the rest of the gang returned to the sofa in the living room. Right before they sat down, Joshua suddenly burst out, “Hey, Yang! Say, what are the cakes called again?” His comment instantly reminded Jessica of her conversation with Wang Yang just before. She looked at Wang Yang with her eyes full of hope, and pleaded, “Yes, Yang, please tell me. I want to learn how to make those cakes.” Even Rachel was looking at him quizzically. She could tell that Wang Yang was desperately trying to avoid the question.
“What’s the matter, buddy?” Wang Yang was lost for words. Joshua gave a surprised look, relishing the moment. “I guess you must’ve forgotten all about it, huh?” With that, he cast a sardonic glance at Jessica, who sat in stunned silence.
Fine. Wife Cakes it is, then! Wang Yang shrugged his shoulders and said, “I haven’t forgotten about it. The cakes have quite an interesting name,” he said and paused. “They’re called Wife Cakes.”