A TALEOF MINT

程皎旸

New city， new girl， new lies

蘭桂坊“灰姑娘”的美麗與惶惑

Cheng Jiaoyang （CASSIE）

Post-90s writer Cheng Jiaoyang works as a journalist and is an aspiring screenwriter based in HK. She published her short story collection Break the Cocoon

（《破繭》， digital version）， which includes “A Tale of Mint，“ on Douban—one of the most vibrant publishing platforms for young writers in China today. Chengs short story “Save the Barcode Girl” （《拯救條形碼少女》） was a finalist in the Douban Reading Competition （豆瓣閱讀征文大賽）. Cheng loves to write about romance with dark， absurdist elements. Her style and experience as a cultural observer in Hong Kong has set her apart from other writers of her generation in the same genre. She can be contacted at cassieching99@gmail.com.

Ming no longer called herself Ming—shed changed her name to Mint.

After her name changed， so did her life， as if she had awoken from a dream; never had she imagined that her name could have such an exotic English harmony to it. She felt that the person that she was， and the person she felt she was in Hong Kong—the international metropolis in which she lived—were now more in sync. She loved this new name， and of course， its creator， Leo.

Leos name was Leo， and not something like “Li Ao”， because he was an “ABC” （American-Born Chinese）.

“Well， then， did you meet in Lan Kwai Fong？”

As Mint told the story about Leo to her friend， she was immediately met with this quick assumption.

“How did you know？” Mint asked， mouth hanging wide open. Her exaggerated facial expression resembled that of a TVB actress.

“Everyone knows that the ABC crowd are obsessed with it”， said her friend casually， as her fingers flew over the massive screen of her smartphone， left and right. “You didnt know？ This is how Hong Kong is…”

“Of course I know LKF， this is my city！” Mint quickly replied， her eyes affixed on her friends long fingers， nails covered in stick-on crystals， as they flew over the surface of her phone like some kind of ballet on ice. As quickly as it appeared， her uneasy expression was gone from her face.

Of course， Mint and Leo had in fact met in Lan Kwai Fong.

That was Mints first time going to Lan Kwai Fong. She flew solo， in order to avoid the risk of someone finding out she was a club virgin. She didnt want anyone to doubt her Hong Kong credentials.

That night， Mint carefully put on “smoky” makeup， along with the rouge on her cheeks ever so popular among Hong Kong girls， and， wearing a bright-blue tight tube dress and sexy peep toe heels， walked into a bar where the beat was pumping loudest. Taking a step in， she looked around to see people hugging and kissing left and right， white girls two heads taller than her， a Sikh boy with his hair in a wrap， and a few nerdy looking guys， sadly admiring the beautiful ladies from afar. She walked over to the bar， took a seat， and successfully shot the bartender a seductive glance. Mint felt like this was the kind of place she was born for and that she had simply arrived 20 years late.

However， after sitting for half an hour looking at the drink menu without being able to pick anything， her inadequacy and embarrassment became clear.

When the Filipina waitress came around with her torch on for the third time， shining her light on Mint in the darkened room， Mint could only yell past the loud music of the bar： “Im waiting for someone！ Wai—ting！” Besides this， she couldnt think of any other excuse. She couldnt dream of telling the waitress that she had never had alcohol before.

“Miss！ If you dont—buy—anything—you cant—sit—here！” The waitress also had to yell over the music to be heard， as the silver light emanating from the torch hovered over Mint like a burning flame. This made Mint even more embarrassed. No matter what， she couldnt bear the thought of losing face in this public venue. Thus， in front of all these people， making a run for the door was not an option.

In this noisy and dark bar， worried that people had their eyes on her and obsessed with the notion of not losing face， Mint was of course bringing this upon herself. Still， who could say for sure that not a single person was watching her？

“Hi！ Hiii！” A man yelled， appearing out of nowhere， squarely seating himself in front of Mint. He quickly rattled something off to the waitress， but， it being far too loud for her to hear， Mint only saw the waitress quickly scribble something on a notepad in her palm， and then rip off a piece of paper to hand to the man as he held two red notes in his hand. Finally， the waitress extinguished her torch. Mint couldnt see where she went.

“It looks like its your first time drinking in a bar， so I ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail for you to try out.”

It took a second for Mint to understand what the man was saying， because he was speaking English. Mint switched to English， too.

“Oh， yes， thank you， but you misunderstand me. I am really waiting for someone！” This is how Mint was—must have face.

“Well， then， while you wait， would you allow me to buy you a drink？”

Mint said nothing， neither accepting nor refusing.

“Actually， the people that work here are pretty dumb， always watching people seated at the bar， but never taking a look at the dance floor.” The man was fine with expressing himself despite Mints silence.

“I mean， look—” He raised his left hand， showing Mint that in it he already had a glass bottle.

“What？” Mint finally had something to say.

“I bought it at 7-11， nine dollars a bottle，” he said， laughing， “Ive had it the entire time on the floor and nobodys pressured me to buy anything. Are they dumb， or what？” He tilted his head back and took a swig， letting out a satisfied sigh afterward.

Mint finally laughed. She found herself thinking the man was very interesting， yet natural.

Suddenly， the silver light reappeared， and with it， the waitress， carrying two drinks. One was icy green， and the other orange-red. Borrowing the utility of the silver light， Mint quickly looked at the man face—he was handsome， with eyes like a Korean pop star， and a high nose like that of a European or American celebrity. Best of all， he had two cute dimples.

She was dazed as the light went out， and wondered if this were a chance meeting with someone who might be right for her.

“Ah， thats that…” The man took a sip of his drink. “Try yours， I think its a good drink for girls as its a bit sweet.”

Mint didnt speak， just taking a small sip from her glass. She knew nothing about liquor， and thus wanted to keep quiet.

“So， what do you think？” Of course， guys want to have their opinions and tastes validated.

“Eh， you know. Good， same as always.” Mint sucked on the straw， very satisfied with her response.

“Well， it seems like I really know your taste. Oh no， could it be that you really are waiting for me？” The man chuckled.

This quickly brought Mint back to her previous lie， and she choked on her drink， but didnt dare try to cough it out.

“Why isnt whoever youre waiting for here？ Have you been stood up？” The conversation had taken the turn she feared. Was he giving her a way out， or had he really believed her？

No matter what， she didnt want to be seen as a country girl whod never been in a bar before. She knew that the more she spoke the more complicated it would become， so she simply chose to refuse to confirm or deny the content of her lie， and continued to playfully sip her drink through the straw.

“Hey， hey. Lets go dance！”

Mint heard the nearby voice and discovered that the bar was now packed with people， a number of whom were flocking from the dance floor to the bar.

“Its getting crowded here， do you want to go to dance？” The man extended his invitation to her.

When it came to dancing， Mint wasnt entirely inexperienced， but her only real memories of it were when she was selected for the aerobic dance squad in her middle school years. However， this was Mints secret—no way could she let it be discovered that shed never danced in a bar. She would then be seen as a country girl， visiting a bar for the first time—no， she could never let that happen.

“Ok…” And with that Mint got out of her seat， and followed the man to squeeze into the crowd to the dance floor.

Luckily for her， after all those years of aerobics and dance， Mints limbs were still quite flexible， she had great balance， and could walk well and flit about gracefully even in high heels. Most of the people in the bar could only move to the music， so by contrast Mint was more than just fine. Her movements and figure looked great on the dance floor. She was moved by the intense beats and driving energy of the music， and found herself excited—pumped up， as it were.

“Hey！ What—is—your—name？” The man suddenly bent down to speak into Mints ear. However， the bar was so noisy， it was a struggle to making anything out.

“Im—MING！” She said without thinking. However， she was instantly filled with regret—shed already been in Hong Kong for a few months， yet still hadnt gotten the hang of using an English name to replace her Chinese one. This could easily make people suspect she wasnt from HK， and that would be a disaster！

“What—‘Mint？ Your name is Mint？” the man yelled.

“Yes， yes！ My name is Mint， Mint！” Ming was delighted with herself—she was no longer Ming， she had now become Mint. She couldnt help but allow herself a chuckle.

“Im—Leo！ Dont forget， L—E—O！” The man laughed loudly as he finished， as if the two of them had traded good spirits along with their names.

“And then？ Did he save your phone number？” When she got to this point in the story， her male classmate cut her off.

“Yes， yes， he did！” Mint quickly replied.

“And has he called you？”

“Uh， no he hasnt…”

“SMS？”

“No…”

“Whatsapp？”

“No…”

As he saw her smile fade， he quickly asked：

“Well， how many days has it been？”

“Three.”

“Oh， then thats fine！” The boy quickly continued. “Three days is normal， hes not going to want to scare you off by contacting you too quickly and looking clingy！ Right？”

“Right…”

“See， if he wasnt into you， he wouldnt buy a drink， right？ And then he asked to dance with you， and most importantly he asked for your phone number.” Her classmate smiled slyly.

This revived Mints spirits. She firmly believed that Leo must be interested in her—otherwise， why would he come up to her in the bar？ Of course， another meeting with him was inevitable！

Mint knew and believed in the phrase “attitude determines everything”. A week later， she was proven correct.