“Then… where should we go next?” Feng Bujue asked. “It’s rare that we’re out together and it’s a holiday. Going to a movie is a bit…”
“Let’s go to your house.” Passing Rain interrupted him with her usual detached tone.
“You… this… I…” Even for Brother Jue who could think on his feet and sell ice to Eskimos stuttered in that moment.
“You’re overthinking this,” Passing Rain said
“Okay…” Feng Bujue replied. How these two managed to understand each other… It was a mystery that only they would know.
“Oh, wait a minute,” Feng Bujue said as he removed the phone from his pocket and did a speed dial. ten seconds later, the call was answered. Xiao Tan’s voice said, “Hello! Is this Brother Jue? How can I help you?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just want to invite you and that girl next to you who are hiding at the park to come to my home for a gathering.”
…
Five minutes later, the four sat in Xiao Tan’s car. Laughing Soul and Xiao Tan sat at the front while Brother Jue and Passing Rain sat at the back with a gulf of distance between them… They were practically mirror images of each other, holding their chins with open palms, looking out the window.
“It must be your carelessness that we were discovered.” Laughing Soul was still complaining.
Xiao Tan pleaded. “Please don’t make any trouble when I’m driving. Oh… don’t forget to put on your seatbelt.” By now they had removed their hats and sunglasses and they looked rather awkward.
“This is not his fault.” Feng Bujue chimed in from the back. “I have been systematically trained to sense tracking. Be it theoretical knowledge or practical experience, it is not something you would have been able to understand. Even the local police…”
“Hey! Please don’t just drop a bomb like that out of nowhere!” Xiao Tan roared to interrupt.
“Ah~ Oh well, this is not that bad. It’s not often that the four of us can meet up like this,” Laughing Soul said, “Furthermore, this is a public holiday and there will be people everywhere. Going to the leader’s home is not a bad choice.”
“Yes, indeed. ‘A single bachelor’s home is a place where movie theater, arcade, café, and restaurant gather at one spot’,” Passing Rain recited.
“That is…” Feng Bujue realized instantly that this was a quote from his own novel.
“It was from your novella, Eyes Next Door published three years ago,” Passing Rain said.
“It doesn’t mean that it’s true because I wrote it…” Feng Bujue argued.
“Of course, I would not believe the content of your writing. I am merely assessing how much of your real-life persona varies or collates with the description of the work that you have written,” Passing Rain said.
“If our gender is swapped… I can call the police already, right?” Feng Bujue narrowed her eyes at Passing Rain next to him.
“I am merely doing an observation. I have not done any actual investigation into your life,” Passing Rain said. “And I would never expect… to run into you in Thriller Paradise.”
“I believe that is called destiny,” Xiao Tan concluded from the front without turning back.
…
About half an hour later, the party arrived at Brother Jue’s home, the place where movie theater, arcade, café, and restaurant gather at one spot…
“Ah~ I feel like I have booked the whole venue for free…” Laughing Soul bounced onto Brother Jue’s sofa and stretched lazily.
“Yo, Arthas, you still look like you hate everyone and everything.” Xiao Tan found the cat squatting in the corner and bent down to talk to it.
“Eh? Our leader has a pet cat?” Laughing Soul jumped up from the sofa and ran over and knelt next to Xiao Tan. “Erm… why does the cat look at me like it’s above me…”
“Well, they say one’s pet takes after their owner…” Passing Rain slid in a jab. Being surrounded by three strangers, it did not affect Arthas. It still moved about like it owned the place. It stretched its feline body on the ground, gave everyone a once over, and then turned its head away to yawn.
Feng Bujue walked at the back and said as he closed the door, “You bunch really treat this place as your own house.”
“Hmm. Leader, do you have any cat toys?” Laughing Soul asked.
“When I adopted it, I did buy some, but I haven’t used them even once. This thing never scratches or bites things. And it shows no response toward twine ball or cat rod…” Feng Bujue replied, “So after a few days, I refunded all the cat toys.”
“So… he’s an obedient little thing?” Laughing Soul asked.
“Other than strategically pooping at places where I will definitely step on them and ignoring me like I’m its servant, I suppose so…” Feng Bujue said, “Now that you mention it… why did I bring this thing home for me to serve it?”
“Because you’re lonely.” Passing Rain left the cat and walked into the kitchen. “Is there anything you guys want to drink?”
“Hey! That should be the question offered by the host, right?” Feng Bujue argued.
“Hot water.” “Anything is fine” Laughing Soul and Xiao Tan said respectively.
“Eh? Why would you want hot… ergh…” Xiao Tan was about to ask when he was shot in the stomach again.
“I can already your post-marriage life,” Feng Bujue commented coldly.
Passing Rain who was standing next to the fridge had her expression frozen. Her brows were furrowed as she turned to Brother Jue. “Why… do you… keep your underwear in… the fridge?”
Feng Bujue did not feel ashamed and answered quite honestly, “Oh… Once you tried wearing them chilled, you can’t have them any other way anymore…”
“So, the reason is because of comfort…” Passing Rain concluded. A flush rose to her cheeks and then her eyes wandered back to the fridge. “And I see that you favor boxers…”
“Hey… what are you doing? Something does not feel right… Normally shouldn’t it be the man who is trying their best to sneak into the girl’s underwear closet?” Feng Bujue said.
“Neither of you are normal…” Xiao Tan added. “It is just the difference in the degree of abnormality between the two of you…”
…
That afternoon, the four had good fun and enjoyed themselves greatly. The building had good sound-proofing and Feng Bujue lived on the top floor so they could raise their voice when playing tabletop games as long as they did not stomp too loudly against the ground.
Brother Jue indeed possessed various entertainment amenities. Other than the few mentioned by Passing Rain, Feng Bujue’s gaming console collection crossed multiple companies and he had many games cartridges… At his place, you could place many games that were popular from the late 20th century to the middle of the 21st century.
At 5 pm, when Feng Bujue was cooking alone in the kitchen, the other three re-watched Brother Jue’s appearance on ‘I Am a Writer’. Even though it had been broadcasted on TV and Passing Rain apparently had recorded it, but she still paid full attention when they were watching this uncut version…
The dinner was well made. Feng Bujue’s cooking skill made the two girls speechless and the many things that he did and said while cooking made everyone speechless.
After dinner, the party did not seem like it was over just yet. Therefore, under Laughing Soul’s suggestion, they turned Brother Jue’s rather big family theater into a karaoke center…
But it was mostly Xiao Tan and Laughing Soul singing. These were rich second generations were handsome and beautiful, and they had good voices. Honestly, if they joined some reality competition, it should be no problem for them to get into the top twenty.
Feng Bujue was feeling the mood as well, he stood up and gave a beautiful rendition of Love has What Reason. “Actually, a single person’s life cannot be regarded as bad, occasionally has some sadness. I think others might not be able to notice it. Even if loneliness makes me melancholic, I will try to see the silver lining…” In a way, he seemed to be making a response to Passing Rain’s previous comment that, ‘he was lonely.’
The three who still had some juice in them left at 9 pm. The huge responsibility of driving the two ladies home was left on Xiao Tan’s shoulders.
…
After sending away his friends, the house echoed with the loneliness of Feng Bujue. There were plenty of dirty plates to clean in the sink, Arthas’ litter box needed to be changed, and he had to recover many valuable video files that Passing Rain had deleted when she was ‘inspecting’ his computer…
But Feng Bujue sat on the sofa, closed all the lights, and closed his eyes. He appeared to try to wrap up the memory of this day inside a pretty box and place them into a special spot in the library of his mind. He would label it with happiness and stored it forever.
Feng Bujue was a pessimist. He had considered… perhaps one day, the shadow in his brain would not only take away his fear but also his sentience, and perhaps even his life.
If that day arrived, at least… in the last period of his life, he could still relive these precious memories wandering along the halls of the library of his mind.