Part 2
Lin Zheng felt something tugging at his pants leg.
He looked down. The little Pomeranian was on all fours, biting his pants at the ankle and pulling.
Lin Zheng’s heart melted again.
He squatted down, stroked the Pomeranian’s head a few times, and gently pulled his pants leg from the Pomeranian’s teeth.
After Lin Zheng stood up, the Pomeranian whined softly.
He had stayed here for a long time. After saying goodbye again, he left.
Lin Zheng strolled around until the afternoon, and when he was about to go back, he received a call from Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi said on the phone, “Lin Zheng-ge, stay out and don’t come back. Don’t come back for the next few days. I’ll bring your clothes out. I don’t have much time. Where are you? I’m coming to find you.”
Zhao Yi’s voice was a little urgent. Lin Zheng concernedly asked, “What’s wrong? Something urgent?”
Zhao Yi said, “Yes, something came up. Just tell me your location.”
Lin Zheng looked at the nearby coffee shop and gave Zhao Yi the name, then went inside to wait.
Zhao Yi arrived in about ten minutes, carrying Lin Zheng’s suitcase. He said, “Sorry, I wanted you to stay at my place for convenience, but something came up at home, and you can’t stay there. I’ve booked a hotel for you. It’s a bit far, but the security and environment are good, you should be able to adapt.”
Lin Zheng saw Zhao Yi’s hurried appearance. He wanted to ask what was going on, but seeing that Zhao Yi didn’t seem willing to say, he didn’t ask.
Zhao Yi told him the location of the booked hotel.
It was a bit far. Thinking that he had to go to Lin Ya’s baby’s first birthday party tomorrow, he said, “I don’t have to stay there. There are hotels and inns nearby. I’ll stay here.”
The hotel Zhao Yi mentioned was a star hotel. It was indeed safer than other hotels, but it was inconvenient.
Zhao Yi thought for a moment, hesitant. “But… I’ve already made arrangements. It would be a hassle to cancel.”
Lin Zheng saw Zhao Yi’s difficulty and hesitated inwardly. Thinking that Zhao Yi had gone to the trouble of booking a hotel for him, it would be impolite not to go.
He thought, whatever, I’ll just take a taxi early tomorrow.
Lin Zheng finally agreed.
Zhao Yi didn’t take Lin Zheng directly to the hotel. He hailed a taxi for Lin Zheng and sent him off. Before the car started, he leaned on the window, hesitated, and said, “Lin Zheng-ge, why don’t you leave for your next destination tomorrow?”
Lin Zheng looked surprised. “Why say that suddenly? Didn’t you keep persuading me to come? There’s an event in this town tomorrow.”
Zhao Yi lowered his head and then asked, “Do you… like Gu Lin now?”
Lin Zheng was even more surprised. “Why are you suddenly mentioning Gu Lin?”
Zhao Yi raised his head again and shook it. “Nothing, I was just asking. If you want to stay here, stay. I’ll support whatever you want to do.”
In the sunlight, Zhao Yi’s light brown hair looked even more dazzling.
Lin Zheng smiled. “That’s sweet of you.”
He thought for a moment, “Okay, I’m going.”
Zhao Yi moved his hand away from the window.
Lin Zheng signaled the driver to start, then waved to Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi watched the car drive away, took out his phone, and saw a missed call.
He put a hand to his forehead, sighed, and called back.
On the other side, Gu Lin, freshly showered and in a dark bathrobe, with Bluetooth earphones on, leaned against the door of his room. Looking at the empty room, he held a wine glass, looking languid, but his eyes were unusually deep. He said to the person on the other end of the phone, “Looks like he’s really here.”
Zhao Yi’s grip on his phone tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Gu Lin slowly withdrew his gaze from the empty room, looked at his hair, slightly longer than Lin Zheng’s, took a sip of wine, his voice lazy, “You don’t have to say you know, just know in your heart.”
Gu Lin hung up and went into the empty room.
The leaves outside the window swayed in the breeze. He walked over, opened the window, and the wind blew in, revealing a barely visible light blue sticky note on the corner of the table.
Gu Lin picked up the sticky note. It was written in neat handwriting with a series of English words, roughly translating to: —Next time, no sugar in the milk.
Next to the note was another one, written in Chinese: —[There’s a festival on the 9th, have fun.]
Looking at the familiar handwriting, Gu Lin finished the wine in his glass.
Then he put the note back on the table, went out, and dialed a number.
“He’ll be in R City until tomorrow. Find him quickly. Preferably tonight.”
In the room, the note with “[There’s a festival on the 9th, have fun]” was blown out of the window by the wind.
Lin Zheng in the car reached out and caught a leaf falling from the roadside.
He held the stem of the leaf, used it to cover one eye, the car started again, and he looked out of the window at the scenery passing by. Thinking of going to Lin Ya’s baby’s first birthday party tomorrow and the lively festival in the evening, he felt very happy.
The car stopped in front of the hotel.
Lin Zheng picked up his luggage, got his room card at the front desk, and took the elevator upstairs.
He looked at his watch. Dinner time had passed. No wonder his stomach was rumbling.
His current location was a business district with many shops around.
After putting down his luggage and changing his clothes, Lin Zheng went out to find food. He also took pictures to record his meals. He wanted to document all the food in this place and make a food album. It sounded like fun.
After dinner, Lin Zheng was about to go back to the hotel when, passing a bar, he saw the beer bottles on the neon sign and stopped in his tracks.
After a moment’s hesitation, he turned around and went in.
In the grassy courtyard, the little Pomeranian ran toward its elderly owner, who lovingly hugged it. Looking at the darkening sky, he slowly walked into the house with the dog and closed the door.
After a while, the door opened again.
Rick, opening the door, saw the person at the door, and was too surprised to speak.
He hugged the person in front of him, still surprised, “My God! Gu Lin, how did you get here? Why didn’t you contact me in advance?”
Gu Lin smiled, handing him a gift, “Isn’t tomorrow an important day? How could I miss it?”
When Rick brought him in, Lin Ya was also surprised.
Gu Lin also brought a gift for the old lady. When she saw the necklace in the box, she was overjoyed, telling Rick, “This is the necklace I liked, the one you wouldn’t accompany me to buy.”
Rick chuckled, “You have almost a room full of jewelry.”
Ignoring Rick’s explanation, the old lady kissed Gu Lin on the cheek, then left the young people to themselves.
Rick and Gu Lin sat on the sofa. Lin Ya brought them tea and said to Gu Lin, “The most authentic and best-tasting tea in our country, my mom specially sent it to me from China. I wouldn’t even let Rick drink it.”
Gu Lin picked up the teacup and praised, “Mm, good taste.”
Lin Ya also sat next to Rick, “Right? It’s a rare treasure.”
Rick looked wronged, “So I’m benefiting from my friend?”
Lin Ya hugged his arm, “Yes.”
Rick’s grievance was dispelled by his wife’s coquettishness.
The three of them had known each other for a long time and were close. Lin Ya was introduced to Rick by Gu Lin.
Lin Ya crossed her legs, propped her chin up with one hand, picked up another cup of tea with the other hand, and exclaimed happily, “So happy! I’ve met two people from my hometown in one day!”
Gu Lin, about to take a sip of tea, paused. He looked at Lin Ya, puzzled, “Two people from your hometown?”
Lin Ya nodded, “Yes, and from the same place as us.”
Gu Lin’s eyes widened, and he asked, “What’s his name?”
Lin Ya’s face lit up. She leaned forward toward Gu Lin, “You wouldn’t believe it, he has the same surname as me. And we exchanged numbers!”
Saying that, Lin Ya found her phone, showed Gu Lin the number, “Coincidence, right? His surname is Lin too. Lin Zheng.”
Gu Lin looked at the unfamiliar number on Lin Ya’s phone, his voice sinking, “A coincidence indeed.”
Lin Zheng had been drinking glass after glass in the bar. Foreign men were sprawled all over the sofa beside him. A few tougher ones were still drinking with him. This time, Lin Zheng lost, and he picked up his glass and drank. Halfway through, he burped. Just as he was about to continue, his phone rang.
He picked up the phone and slurred, “Hello? Is this a stranger? Want a drink? Let’s go together?”
A handsome foreign guy next to him, also drunk, wanted to grab Lin Zheng’s phone, “Don’t talk to him, Zheng, let’s continue. Let’s do something big this time, burp, how about a strip contest?”
A cold voice came from the other end of the phone, “Where are you?”
Lin Zheng pushed away the foreign guy who was trying to grab his phone, leaned back on the sofa in a daze, and mumbled drunkenly, “Who are you? I can’t give my address to strangers, but I can… burp… tell you, my name is Lin Zheng, hehe.”
A notification sound seemed to come from the other end.
People were urging him, and just as Lin Zheng was about to say he was going to hang up, he heard a terrifying voice on the other end, “Stay right there. And don’t you dare take off a single piece of clothing.”
Author’s Note: Little Lin Zheng bravely opened his jacket, “Let’s try!” Then he happily danced a drunken dance.