I also sent the coordinates, and Chen Lu replied: "We're so close, why don't you come over? We can meet up."
I feigned a bit of coyness: "It's so late, isn't it inappropriate? Besides, I don't know your aunt well, it wouldn't be good to go to her house."
Chen Lu: "Then I'll come find you. Are you on a business trip alone?"
Me: "Yes."
Chen Lu: "Okay, I'll ride a shared bike over. Meet me downstairs."
After ending the chat, I felt a strange excitement. After graduation, Chen Lu and I had only kept in touch via WeChat. I never expected that years later, we'd be meeting in a hotel room? Kuaishuge
I quickly brushed my teeth, washed my face, tidied my hair, and cleaned myself up thoroughly. You never know when it might come in handy!
After getting ready, I went downstairs and sat on a chair at the hotel entrance, chewing gum while I waited.
Presumably, Chen Lu had also tidied herself up. After a full half hour, she finally arrived on her little blue bike, fashionably late.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Chen Lu said as she dismounted, flicking a strand of her bangs. Although her appearance had changed somewhat, she was still as beautiful as ever. It was a shame she was wearing a loose casual shirt and wide-leg jeans, so I couldn't see her figure.
"It's fine. It's me who should apologize for bothering you to come out so late at night."
"Heh, still so gentlemanly," Chen Lu complimented. "Let's go."
As she spoke, she patted the rear seat of the shared bike.
"Huh? Go where?" I asked, bewildered. Wasn't the plan to go to the room for some intimate conversation?
"Don't you need to go to Song Lei's place? I'll take you!"
So that's what she meant by "coming to find me"...
"Uh? Are we going on this thing? Let's take a taxi," I said, worried that the short rear seat of the shared bike would bounce me off.
"Heh, Chengfeng, you don't know Fucheng. There's no nightlife here. After ten o'clock at night, you'll rarely see a taxi on the streets."
This was true. In the half hour I'd waited, I'd only seen about two taxis pass by.
"Can I just ride a bike myself?" I was still afraid of falling off.
"What, you don't trust my driving skills?" Chen Lu pouted.
Well, I did trust them. In college, Chen Lu had gone through no less than ten boyfriends in quick succession. Her skills were definitely top-notch.
Not wanting to offend her, I braced myself and got on the rear seat of her bike.
The seat was too short, and she sat slightly forward, taking up a lot of space. To keep my balance, I had to lean forward as much as possible, pressing against her back.
My base was secure, but my hands had nowhere to go, so I just let them hover.
"Ready? Here we go!"
The electric bike took off with a swift acceleration. I lurched backward, but luckily my core was strong, and I managed to regain my balance. However, Chen Lu thought I was falling backward and squeezed the brakes. I overcompensated, bumping hard into her delicate back and shoulder. My hands instinctively wrapped around her slender waist, clutching the area above her stomach.
Chen Lu let out a soft gasp, stopped the bike, and turned to look at me with a reproachful gaze.
"I'm sorry," I said sheepishly.
"It's okay, just hold onto me tighter, otherwise you won't be able to sit steady."
"Okay." I tightened my grip.
"...A bit lower, please. You're already touching me!"
"Oh, sorry." I moved my hands lower, resting them on her stomach. Chen Lu then restarted the shared bike and we rode into the brightly lit night.
After riding for about two kilometers, Chen Lu turned into a dark alley and stopped in front of an old, rustic wooden gate.
I got off the bike and looked around. This was a rare single-story residential area in the city, similar to the hutongs and siheyuan in Shangjing.
Clearly, Chen Lu had contacted Song Lei's family beforehand. The gate was open, and a young beauty was sitting in the courtyard, waiting for us.
Chen Lu introduced us as the go-between. The young beauty was Song Lei's sister, named Song Miao, eighteen years old.
Chen Lu, of course, didn't mention anything about repaying the debt. She just said that I was a good friend of Song Lei back in the day, and that I was on a business trip to the Northeast and decided to drop by to pay my respects to an old classmate.
Song Miao led me into the main northern house of the siheyuan, to a separate room on the west side. Song Lei's memorial tablet and portrait were enshrined in the room. His appearance was very different from the one I had "seen" last night; he looked much older, especially his eyes, which had become much deeper. Only someone who had been through many storms would have such eyes...