[I’ll come to find you.]
Lu Yan repeatedly scan through this sentence twice.
He doesn’t know if he is hallucinating, but he felt that this sentence is rather riveting.
It’s already half past nine in the evening at this point.
He tow Wei ge’s motor bike out of the garage, and was preparing to take a trip to the pub a moment ago before he received Xiao Heng’s message.
This fellow Song Tong, who was rather reminiscent of the past was afraid that Lu Yan was having a hard time after leaving the bar. So he contacted both Lu Yan and Li Zhen to ask if they would still continue performing in the bar , having two people is also fine, at least they can help him to liven up the stage.
Lu Yan didn’t accept that. There was no way two people could make a performance on stage.
He rejected the quest several times, yet he still can’t change Song Tong’s mind. Thanks to their acquaintanceship in the end, he invited Song Qian to attend fulfillable drink and meal in the pub.
Lu Yan is using his other hand to grip onto the motorbike handle, so it’s not convenient to type, he straightforward presses the voice recording message button: “Qian ge, I’m momentary busy, we can make an appointment another time.”
“You brat always has business to attend to all day!” Song Qian sent over a voice message, his tone both bold and unrestrained, scolding: “Your band is already disbanded and you currently doesn’t have a job, the f*ck do you have that much business to attend to….. you’re in a relationship?”
“……”
Song Qian follow up: “Since when you are in a relationship, who’s your partner ah, how old are they this year?”
Lu Yan: “…..no this.”
Song Qian: “What about their profession?”
“Halt,” Lu Yan interrupted him, “What chaotic imaginations, have you had enough.”
Lu Yan ended the conversation with Song Qian, swiping back to the chat interface, and sending a voice message to the young master: “You can directly head to the Feng Huang Plaza1, know where it is?”
[1]: Feng Huang is referred as phoenix in Chinese
Xiao Heng strolls out of the banquet hall, there’s a broad street outside with bustle traffic, the car lights illuminate from all directions piercing through the night, brighten the street instantly.
He set his cell phone on loudspeaker.
Clicking open the voice message, Lu Yan’s abrupted tone transmitted from his cell phone.
Feng Huang Plaza, he certainly knows where it is.
‘Feng Huang Plaza’ is most renowned jubilant location within the entire Xiajing city.
The acquire name alone is utterly blatant, despite not being located in the urban area, the distance is not as far, the legendary rumored red-light district.
Xiao Heng is watching the endless surge of vehicles, replying: Is nightlife this abundant?
Lu Yan’s voice message came quite quickly, breeze blowing from his side, making his tone a bit distorted, yet, he still bear the same imposing manner: “F*ck!”
Xiao Heng clicks on the next voice message.
“Do you have damn issues!”
The next message.
“Search for 601 on the Feng Huang Plaza!”
The final message.
“Don’t let Laozi wait, immediate come over.”
Lu Yan’s speech is full of righteousness, but after Xiao Heng arrived at Feng Huang Plaza an hour later, and spend half a day waiting at the plaza entrance, he is still currently wandering through the street with his motorbike.
Red-light district is regard as a sensitive location, the route guided by the navigation is quite ambiguous, the navigation guided Lu Yan nearby, and he realize there are several fork roads up ahead, unknown as to which direction he should turn to.
He didn’t spot anyone on the road, Lu Yan decelerates his speed, and halted in front of the fork roads. A stuffed Bluetooth headphone by his right ear is currently transmitting: “You are constantly deviating from the accurate route.”
“Currently refreshing your suggested route.”
Other than refreshing dialogue that has been broadcast for half a day, there’s nothing else.
Lu Yan converse with himself: “Then why don’t you re-examine?”
Headphone: “Sorry, but the intersection in front doesn’t match the guided route.”
“……”
Headphone: “Gracious VIP member, the current navigation has concluded, wish you delightful journey.”
“…. Oh sh*t?”
It actually recognizes he has a navigation membership?
He wasted his membership for this trash navigation system, it just messes with him like this?
Lu Yan fished out his cellphone and shut down the navigation system.
A message pops up from the notification bar just in time.
[Xiao Heng]: Don’t let Laozi wait for you.
“…..”
Lu Yan already realized after their first encounter, although this young master displays a lazy attuite without a care for anyone on the surface, but he actually remembers quite evidently in his heart.
Perhaps what Jai Xu2 proclaim is those type of individual.
[2]: Jai Xu is known as a divine beast in ancient Chinese myths and legends, Jai Xu meaning deathly glare, idiom refer as “borrowed from the very small grievance. The virtue of a meal must be paid.”
Lu Yan once again glance at the fork road up ahead and then back the navigation system he just turned off himself, he finally decides to back it up with his luck. So he sent Xiao Heng a voice call, and it’s connected after two rings, Lu Yan organized his speech and said: “There’s a bit of a situation over on my side.”
“I am currently at…..”
Lu Yan is stuck mid-sentence through speaking.
Where is he?
There’s no road sign here.
Whereupon Xiao Heng standing at the Feng Huang Plaza entrance, under the electronical neon plaque which alter between red then blue after awhile. Against the showy neon light he heard Lu Yan spoke with honesty: “I am currently beside a pillar.”
Xiao Heng: “……”
“Beside a pillar,” Xiao Heng almost spends thirty minutes waiting, and has been impatient since long ago. He sandwiches a cigarette between his figures, swaying off cigarette ashes while saying: “tsk, why don’t you say that you are in a global village3?”
[3]: Global village is a metaphor for the earth, with the rapid development of modern technology has reduced the space-time distance on earth, and the whole earth is like a small village. So, basically Xiao Heng is emphasizing sarcastically: Can you be more unspecific?
“I can provide you an explanation.”
Xiao Heng questioned again: “Nearby, what’s there other than the pillar? Don’t tell me it’s another pillar.”
Lu Yan scrutinizes his surroundings, switch another object feature target, describing: “There’s an indicator sign beside me, directing towards the north, on it written 50m speed limit ahead….”
He is interrupted in the middle of the voice call.
Xiao Heng straightforward hangs up the call.
………..
STILL, HUMAN, OR, NOT?
Two seconds later ——
[Xiao Heng invited you to join facetime call, accept or reject]
Alright.
Still can be consider as human.
Lu Yan accepted, Xiao Heng’s annoyed expression appear on the screen, with his hair is blown chaotically by the breeze, slim lip line, and single-edged eyelid. The half-lidded pair of eyes seems as if he is still drowsy in his sleep, but under this kind of desperate situation, Lu Yan unexpectedly thought that this individual still bear bit of benevolence.
Xiao Heng: “Reverse the camera.”
Lu Yan switched to the photography camera.
Xiao Heng spoke up again afterwards: “Turn left, go straight ahead later…. never mind, you can just pluck out the car keys.”
What kind of instruction is plucking out the car keys?
Lu Yan: “what now?”
Xiao Heng: “You just wait there.”
Their conversation is interrupted once again.
Night is drawing near.
Lu Yan halted the vehicle, prop against the motorbike while smoking on the side of the street, Xiao Heng arrives in front of fork roads after the cigarette finished scorching mid-way through.
Xiao Heng scrutinized him from head to toe, once again ridiculed him with familiarity: “You have a terrible sense of direction?”
Lu Yan had puff out cloud of smoke just a moment ago, he really has the intention to puff it directly towards this fellow’s face.
Today, Xiao Heng has donned on a set proper attire, with an appearance of a walking renminbi4, he intentionally adjusts his hairstyle, and also spraying perfume on his body.
[4]: Renminbi is referring as a Chinese currency.
Lu Yan naturally stood up, drawing nearer, delivering a choking smoke scent towards Xiao Heng, and said with a seme grin that also doesn’t seems to resemble a grin: “I am not like you, you are both aware and familiar of this place, decking out as such just for visiting a nightclub.”
“……”
Inconsistency of eight characters5.
[5]: inconsistency of the eight characters refers to the meaning of mutual restraint between the two parties' birth year, month, day, time and zodiac sign. Consisting of Horoscope
This phrase emerges simultaneously in both Xiao Heng and Lu Yan’s ocean of thoughts.
There’s gonna be an argument if they continue conversing.
The two temporary chose to stay muted.
Lu Yan is towing the motorbike while strolling behind Xiao Heng, he realizes he actually is quite close to the original destination, he merely drove off course just then. The discover the clubhouses after passing through the tall skyscraper.
After walking for a period of time, then did Xiao Heng asked: “What you mentioned before, what’s the matter with that lady?”
“She’s named as Kang Ru,” Lu Yan is still nipping on the cigarette with his mouth, subdue his tone and replied: “Loaning sixty thousand from usury company a few years ago.”
Wei ge himself does debt collecting, so he coincidentally recognizes someone who manages affairs within that company before. After testing his approach, they manage to prob it out by interrogating.
Once Wei ge’s acquaintance knows he is inquiring about a prostitute, he immediately realizes who the subject in question is. The acquaintance clicks his tough, saying: “Her ah, I recall, has kind of a deep impression actually. She does part-time job here the previous year, her hometown probably is….. ai, I even forgot the location, this matter occurs long time ago. She lent this check the pervious year for the purpose of curing her mother’s illness but didn’t manage to save her as a result. She originally works in the food processing factory, but with limited salary, saving two thousand and five without eating nor drinking, why the need to reserve ah, it at least requires twenty years without calculating the interest rate.”
Wei ge’s debt collecting company is a legally standard one. Lending the among of cash, ways to refund, and how much investment are written nice and clear, but Kang Ru’s debt collecting company is a usury6 one.
[6]: Loan usury is a financial term that refers to loans that require particularly high interest rates, and Loan usury are often illegal.
Usury companies doesn’t have any principles.
No matter how much you refund each year, as long as you didn’t clear the debt, the remaining debt will renovate itself into interest, comparable to a snowball that’s gradually building up.
According to Wei ge’s original saying: Stuff such as usury, you can’t terminate once you lend it, the snowballing investment of usurious loans can send you to your death.
The atmosphere is somewhat silent.
Xiao Heng ask: “The check, she doesn’t have it?”
Xiao Qishan provided her a check, despite him not knowing the specific amount, yet there’s definite hundreds of thousands goes without saying.
“That’s uncertain.”
Lu Yan said while cigarette in his mouth happen to last until the one remaining drag, before his eyes is three flashy neon gleaming characters “Feng Huang Plaza”.
Lu Yan envision himself in Kang Ru’s perspective to predict this situation, the Kang Ru who was compelled out of the food processing factory. He said at last: “…… if she really spends it then it will be similar to her putting the child on auction.”
Lu Yan has mentioned to Xiao Heng previously, there’s both good news and bad news.
The good news as mentioned is perhaps the lady from 601’s circumstance isn’t as they’ve visualized, it’s just that she doesn’t have any ways of avoidance, she can’t raise the child even if she has the intention of keeping it.
But this “good news” really can’t be considered as one regarding the root cause.
Lu Yan the tosses the cigarette butt into the trash bin once he finishes talking, afterwards he goes to the underground parking lot to park the vehicle.
Just as he plucked out the car keys, his nape was hooked by Xiao Heng’s arm from behind, all of a sudden, the two’s distance lessens, as if sticking together.
Lu Yan subconsciously used his elbow to nudge Xiao Heng’s abdomen, but Xiao Heng didn’t release the force, leading him to retreat backwards, obscure from view behind the vehicle nearby and between the seam of the wall.
“Vroom, vroom, vroom”.7
[7]: Noises made the vehicle.
When he’s focused on parking just then, Lu Yan notices the sound of a women’s high heel transmitted from outside for a short period of time.
The resonate is both near and far.
A female with undetectable features walks in from the entrance.
Then a truck turns on it’s headlight immediately afterwards, the light surge towards her direction, then the door opened from the passenger’s seat, five people came off the truck, the frontmost male who is nipping on a cigarette straightforwardly grab the hand purse from the lady’s hands, bring out a thick stack of cash from within, evaluating it and said: “Just this bit?”
The women’s tone didn’t falter: “Just this bit, want it or not?”
This tone sounded extremely familiar.
The male made gesture with his hand, afterwards the four individuals by the side surrounded this lady.
The male lean forward slightly and smack the stack of cash against her face: “Just this bit of cash, this bit of cash isn’t even worth my bros’ labor wage.”
At this moment they saw the women’s features with the help of headlight —— Isn’t that 601 who they’ve been searching for today ma.
Perhaps Kang Ru experience this situation quite frequently, so there’s not even a slightest expression shown on her features.
The male farther added a serval more remarks, only then did he allow those people to release her.
Kang Ru adjusted her hair and exited the parking lot.
Due to Lu Yan and Xiao Heng being cram together, plus the humid condition of the parking lot, which made it especially stuffy.
He retreated a step behind.
But just because of this one step, it’s unknown as to who has littered on the ground as he directly steps on a pop can on the floor that has been rolled over once the car tire already——
Pa.
Creating a sharp ear-penetrating noise.
The male who is currently calculating the cash in his hand abruptly spin around: “Who?”
Lu Yan: “……”
Xiao Heng: “……”
The atmosphere is intensely suffocating.
The situation is also somewhat awkward.
Lu Yan exchanged glances with the young master beside him, they perceive a kind of explicit and apparent message from within each other’s eyes.
Lu Yan thought, they must lend a hand to Kang Ru, but the situation currently is distinctively unsuitable.
The five burly fellows across.
Five versus two.
The both of them exchanged message with their glances for two seconds, afterwards Lu Yan nodded towards Xiao Heng.
Lu Yan felt Xiao Heng perhaps received it.
With identical intentions, Lu Yan spoke up softly: “I’ll count down from three.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
But before the last announcing of “one” has not yet subsided, Lu Yan lift up his foot and sprinted towards the entrance of the parking lot!
Lu Yan’s sprinting velocity is considerably swift.
Right at the same time, the one who was about to execute the opposite action as Lu Yan, Xiao Heng was planning to charge towards the burly fellows and give them a nice beating stood speechless: “……”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
The author has something to say:
Lu Yan: I’ll count down from three, then we’ll run at once.
Xiao Heng: ?
Translated by: Piggybank
Edited by: Muku/Yukki