Love Began with the First Meeting novel Chapter 172

"Hmm, the dishes served in this food stall taste so good and impeccable!" Spark muttered to himself with his mouth full of food as he listened intently to the host's introduction for the famous musician Spark on TV. After swallowing a mouthful of braised noodles, he shouted at a busy hostess, who was around 40-years-old,"Ma'am, please give us a braised beef dish."

"Okay, sure. Wait a minute please." The woman was very nice and prompt. After responding to his request, she quickly went to the kitchen and prepared the meat for them.

Manny rolled his eyes and waved his hand in the air helplessly. Since he was a little bulky, he looked really funny sitting on the small old ragged chair in the quaint food stall. The ceremonial suit he was all decked up looked really strange for such a modest place. "Spark, it's bad for your health to eat food like this...

You can't eat so much today, and then eat nothing tomorrow. Your body especially stomach will protest such bad habits sooner or later!"

Manny complained as he grew concerned about his health. All the people held him in high regard as a genius because of the honor and respect he gained for his exemplary work at such a young age, but they rarely ever thought about all the hard work and the struggle behind his success.

Spark raised his head and looked at Manny, raising his eyebrows playfully. With his another mouth full of noodles, Spark murmured inarticulately,"It's fine. My stomach is already used to all of this..."

As Manny heard his response, he couldn't help but roll his eyes again. "Look at yourself in the mirror now. If I tell ten random persons around us that you are Spark, I'm sure that eleven of them will come ahead to call me a liar," Manny grumbled in a low voice.

"Why would you say eleven persons will not believe it, if you ask only ten persons? I don't get the logic behind that equation." Spark asked curiously with a childish smile, as he quickly picked up a piece of braised beef to stuff into his mouth, which had just been served by the hostess.

Manny immediately thanked the hostess with a big smile on his face, and then he turned to Spark and replied in a serious tone,"Well, that's because there is a pregnant woman among them."

When Spark heard Manny's defense, he felt embarrassed by his dry humor, however, he shook his head helplessly and delved more into this topic. "Manny, it really tastes delicious. Why don't you give it a taste?" Spark urged him in an earnest manner.

"I'm not interested to have the dishes served in food stalls!" Manny rejected his offer almost immediately without any hesitation. He really could not understand why Spark was so into the food here, which didn't look presentable let alone meeting hygiene standards.

Spark shrugged. He didn't want to judge Manny for his critical words. Anyway everyone lived in different environment and conditions, and it was not reasonable to judge anyone else with your own idea of normal.

Manny was brought up in a family with musical background, but he was not good at any musical instruments himself, which made him feel like an outsider in the family. However, he had an innate sense of music owing to his kin. He met Spark by chance one day, and from then on he became Spark's exclusive agent, and accompanied him to play music all over the world.

After finishing his feast and leaving the stall, Spark rubbed his belly with great satisfaction. When he played the violin, he was otherworldly, elegant and cool, but now he looked like a totally different person almost unrecognizable. Right in this moment, he was an out and out wanderer.

Spark walked forward leisurely with his hands in the pockets of his quilted jacket. Just curiously looking around at the noisy night market, he raised his eyebrows ever so slightly. While Manny, who was following him reluctantly, carried a violin case in his hand. He couldn't help complaining in a soft murmur as he glared at the man, who was idling away his time instead of doing something productive.

All of a sudden, a child's grieved wailing came through from the crowd. Spark stopped in his tracks the moment he heard it. He turned his head and saw a little girl with two braids holding a doll in her arms. She was looking around in fear as she broke down in tears.

Manny pursed his lips and knew right that moment that the little girl had aroused Spark's sympathy. Just as he stood there frozen thinking to himself, Spark had already walked over and squatted down in front of the little girl. He tried to comfort her and figure out what was wrong, the girl between her bouts of tears managed to blurt out,"I can't find my Mommy!"

Seeing her sobbing, Spark's heart was breaking as he grew more concerned about her. Moreover, he was really not good at consoling children. With no intention of helping, Manny remained frozen standing amidst the crowd, folding his arms and looking all around.

Spark was growing increasingly anxious by the minute. He could not figure out a way to help the little girl if she kept on crying like this.

Suddenly, a melodious tune was heard between the commotion and chaos of the crowd. Those who were initially ignorant and indifferent towards the entire scene and did not want to help were all now calmed down and swayed by the melody like a lullaby, even though most of them knew little about music.

The little girl, who was crying, finally calmed down. With soft sobs she gazed at Spark, who was playing the violin while kneeling on the ground with one leg and a warm smile on his face. The child's eyes were still brimming with tears. As she continued to blink, they flowed down her rosy cheeks. However despite her sobs, she was so incredibly curious about Spark and the melody he played that she widened her eyes and tried to calm herself down.

"Cathy, Cathy…" An anxious woman around the age of thirty pushed through the crowd with some struggle and ran up to the little girl with relief. She frantically checked the little girl from head to toe, and breathed a sigh of relief after she found that her daughter was safe and sound.

Spark stopped playing the violin as soon as the woman appeared. He got up the second she came in front of them. Unlike the way he treated the little girl, he glared at the woman in a gloomy manner and said in a cold and judgmental tone,"Don't you know that children get frightened if they get lost and cannot find their parents? Being a mother, how could you lose sight of your child?"