You search and search and find nothing, save for a lonely wretched thing.
The hardest to embrace is always the fitting, adoration with an answer lacking.
The iPhone alarm on the bedside drawer started ringing. A lazy bum stretched on his bed, waving the right arm he had been sleeping on all night to get rid of the numb feeling in it. He opened his heavy eyelids with some difficulty and looked at the name on the phone— Lei Si Lan.
He pressed the screen and accepted the call, only to hear a loud voice scolding, “Cheng Man Fan, are you planning to get up?”
“Who would agree to meet up at 9:30 and still be in bed at 9:15?!”
The voice from the phone sounded like silver bells. It had a pleasant quality to it. The voice sounded gentle even when it was scolding someone, making it hard to hang up on the person on the other side. The person on the bed rubbed his head in confusion.
Man Fan…
Cheng Man Fan, was that him?
A second later, he snapped back to his senses— that’s right, his name was Cheng Man Fan. He had just turned twenty-one in January 2015. He was young but had a talent for words. He hadn’t graduated from university yet, but he was already an author. He had a serialized novel that was widely well-received. A publisher had even agreed to put his novel to print.
The publisher had arranged for an editor to follow up on the content of his story. Today was the day he was supposed to meet him.
Ah, no, it’s a ‘her’. They said it was a woman.
“I know, I know. It’s cold. It’s only natural that I don’t want to leave my blanket…” Cheng Man Fan defended himself a little, “We’re just meeting somewhere nearby downstairs. Do we need to be so early?”
“Five minutes. If you can’t leave your house in five minutes, I’ll make sure you won’t live past tonight,” the voice on the other end of the phone suddenly sounded very serious. Cheng Man Fan could sense the anger in the voice and immediately snapped out of it.
“Shit! Four minutes, I’ll see you there,” Cheng Man Fan kicked away the blanket and leaped onto his feet. He couldn’t help but shiver, “I’m actually really cold, damn it.”
“Mm?” As he walked past the mirror in the closet and saw the unfamiliar 1.6 meter-tall reflection, he couldn’t help but wonder, This is me?
Never mind, I’m in a hurry, no time to think.
Cheng Man Fan opened the door to his room and saw a familiar silhouette sitting in the living room, his back facing toward him. The man picked up a purple clay teapot that was brewing a hot Pu’er tea in it. He poured away the first batch of water and refilled the pot with hot water for the second batch. The smell of tea filled the living room, giving the whole place a very relaxed atmosphere.
The man took a sip of tea as he stared at his iPad and read today’s news. He was going about his business leisurely.
“Why didn’t you wake me up, old man?” Cheng Man Fan asked out of habit, before running straight into the bathroom. He pulled out the toothbrush, squirted out the toothpaste with two fingers and pulled down his pants to let out the usual morning waterfall.
That particular waterfall had rather yellow waters.
Cheng Man Fan didn’t close the door. A voice he hadn’t heard in a long time rang from outside. It was a deep, magnetic voice that sounded like it belonged to someone who had seen everything, “I told you to go die and you didn’t die, so why would you get up if I told you to?”
Mm, a horrible argument, but somewhat philosophical at the same time.
Cheng Man Fan felt warmth run through his chest for some reason when he heard this voice. The warmth engulfed his entire heart and he couldn’t help but clasp his chest. Why did he have this sensation of meeting someone he missed and hadn’t seen in a long time?
However, Cheng Man Fan had no time. He quickly spat out the bubbles in his mouth and finished washing his face in just ten seconds. He ran out of the bathroom and took off all his clothes in his room.
He put on the clothes that Lei Si Lan had chosen for him on the phone yesterday and quickly hurried out of his house. He picked up a piece of bread from the table, stuffed it in his mouth, squeezed his feet into his shoes and left.
Siu.
The sound of something cutting through the air. Cheng Man Fan caught the projectile with two fingers. It was a hundred-dollar bill, more than enough for him to enjoy a few decent dinners.
“You don’t have to give me cash, old man. I’m an adult now, I can make money to feed myself now,” Cheng Man Fan mumbled through the bread in his mouth and opened the door to leave.
As he closed the door, a voice came through the gap, “If a son lives to a hundred years old, the father worries for ninety-nine.”
Cheng Man Fan felt a strange warmth in his heart when he heard this. A strange feeling of uneasiness suddenly appeared, as if all this was a dream.
“Hold up!” Cheng Man Fan had no time to think. He saw the elevator door open and immediately lunged forward, scaring the woman inside and causing her to scream out loud.
He walked out of the elevator and saw a young girl waiting for him. She was wearing a black, long-sleeved skirt with a coat over her shoulders. There was a ribbon on her chest and she wore rather formal dress shoes paired with long socks.
She was a cute and pretty girl with high cheekbones but full cheeks. Her eyes seemed to be full of life, as if a hundred schemes were being spun with every turn of her eyes. There was a slight sadness when she blinked that wouldn’t go away, but it wasn’t a sadness that would make people worried or upset. In particular, there was a gentleness to the way she looked at others. When she looked at you with her gentle eyes, you almost felt like you would melt.
It was a feeling that life was short and even if you did not know how to be happy, you would try your best to make her smile every day.
“Morning, Lei Si Lan,” Cheng Man Fan smiled without any hint of awkwardness. He grinned at Lei Si Lan as he always did, causing the pretty girl to grit her teeth in annoyance. She rolled her eyes so hard she could see inside her brain.
Lei Si Lan grabbed Cheng Man Fan by his clothes and dragged him forward as she said, “Walk faster, it’s 9:25 already. We’re almost late.”
The girl pulling the boy in tow, the two of them finally arrived at a coffee shop in an alleyway around 9:35. Cheng Man Fan was the one who decided on this place as the meeting location. He felt like these tiny little shops had an inexplicably warm and human feeling to them. They always felt surprisingly intimate.
The towering skyscrapers outside were witnesses to the brutality of life in the city. Only these small shops still retained fragments of warmth in society.
A single sentence is all you need, “The usual, please.” A few minutes later, what you will be enjoying won’t be the food, but the company you brought with you.
“So sorry we’re late,” Lei Si Lan couldn’t stop bowing and apologizing once they entered and saw the editor. She was blushing out of embarrassment. She had ran so fast that she was panting and couldn’t speak smoothly.
On the other hand, Cheng Man Fan was still very composed. He arranged his shirt and smiled broadly without any hint of shame. Instead, he greeted politely, “Hi, good to see you, I am ‘Poisonless Coupled Man’, you can call me Cheng Man Fan.”
The editor slowly got up. She smiled and didn’t appear to be upset at all. She was polite, but her voice had an incredibly alluring and seductive quality to it, “Hi, you can call me Cheung Tsz Yuen, I will be representing the publisher in managing your work from now on.”
“Nice to meet you.” Cheung Tsz Yuen was dressed nicely. She had on a white jacket with a scarf, a shirt underneath, and a dark green dress that reached her ankles. A faux leather coat was draped on her chair. She was tall and slender, but curvy in the right places. Her face was almond-shaped and her cheeks were healthily pink. She was a natural beauty, but was very fashionable as well. She had dark purple highlights, which made her look even more outstanding. Once in a while, she would pick up her purple hair and brush it behind her ears with her slender, white fingers. She was an exceedingly beautiful woman.
In particular, when you looked into her eyes, it was like looking into a pair of bright moons. Even her eyes seemed to be smiling at you. It was a very pleasant sensation and for a moment, Cheng Man Fan could do nothing but stare. Cheung Tsz Yuen wasn’t ridiculously beautiful, but the aura she exuded was somehow contradictory and yet a perfect fit for herself. It was a strange sight.
Was she a succubus?
“Ouch…” Cheng Man Fan felt a sharp pain in his waist and cried out loud. He lowered his head and saw Lei Si Lan, pinching him on the soft spot on his waist. Her eyes were narrowed and the corner of her eyes pulled back into a cold smile.
“Nice to meet you too, Miss Cheung Tsz Yuen,” Cheng Man Fan snapped back to his senses after being pinched. He nodded and greeted Cheung Tsz Yuen politely. He looked away and didn’t dare stare directly at her again.
“Haha, I’m only eight years older than you. If you don’t mind, feel free to call me Tsz.” Cheng Man Fan and Lei Si Lan had made Cheung Tsz Yuen laugh. Her shoulders shook as she laughed. She extended a hand and motioned for them to sit.
Tsz?
Cheng Man Fan eyes suddenly felt wet. What was wrong with him today? All sorts of strange things had happened since he woke up today. All these strange thoughts and feelings…did he sleep too late last night?
That must be it.296Please respect copyright.PENANArajS0ozn3n