Volume 4 Chapter 9 (1/2)
Book 4 Chapter 9 – Fu Bo
Li Yiming steadied his breathing and pushed on the doorbell b.u.t.ton again. This time, he was much more prepared and composed.
'Are you sure we got the right person this time?' As the door opened, Li Yiming asked Bai Ze once again.
'I'm positive.' Bai Ze sounded nervous, but she answered Li Yiming's question with conviction.
”You…?” Both Li Yiming and his neighbor were greeted with a look of surprise.
”I…” Another half-hearted attempt at asking a question.
It was the young man Li Yiming had met back at the airport, and he was genuinely surprised when he saw Li Yiming. 'A few days ago, it seemed like the last thing he wanted in the world was to have anything to do with me, and now he shows up at my door?'
”I'm your new neighbor. I live right above you, and I just wanted to come to say h.e.l.lo. I didn't think that it would end up being such a coincidence.” After receiving Bai Ze's rea.s.surance, Li Yiming quickly settled down and tried his best to fabricate an excuse. 'If what Bai Ze said is true, then this guy should be some kind of hidden sage. I don't think that he would bother doing something bad to me, would he…?'
”You live right above me? And you still remember me?” The young man seemed very excited by what Li Yiming had said.
”Of course. Do you mind if I come in?” Li Yiming was a little intimidated by the young man's intense gaze. 'When you act like that, it's pretty hard to forget, even if I wanted to…'
”Yes, yes. Of course. Please come inside.” The young man hurried to offer his hospitality to Li Yiming. His over-friendliness made Li Yiming feel very uncomfortable; he would rather have had a ferocious beast open the door instead.
”I live alone so the apartment is a mess. Please sit wherever you'd like. I'll go get you some water.” The young man led Li Yiming to the living room and hurried into the kitchen.
Li Yiming sat on the sofa without letting his guard down and looked around. 'Hmmm, the interior design is the exact same as my apartment. He says it's messy, but it looks pretty tidy to me, although the decorations are a bit old-fas.h.i.+oned. Solid-wood sofa, some Chinese paintings, and even a calligraphy pa.s.sage about flowers and trees. Are you kidding me? This isn't messy at all! I bet this guy has some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Even the patterns on the teacups are perfectly aligned!'
”Please have some water. I usually don't have any guests, so I'm out of good tea.” The young man came out of the kitchen with a thermos bottle in one hand and a cup in the other.
”Oh, don't worry about it. I'm just here to say h.e.l.lo and to make a new friend. I hope we'll be good neighbors.” Li Yiming took the cup and answered politely. 'This guy might be on the same level as Mr. Kong. I can't lack manners.'
”Of course, of course. The saying goes that a distant relative isn't as helpful as a close neighbor. Since we're of the same age, I'm sure that we'll find a lot of things to talk about.” The young man sat down next to Li Yiming and fixated his gaze on him.
”You know, I think that it was a nice coincidence for us to have been on the same plane, and to have met again in that noodle shop. And now, we live in the same apartment! Speaking of which, I forgot to give you my thanks for reminding me about the cake. I would have forgotten about it otherwise.” Li Yiming avoided looking at the young man as he spoke and picked a topic that would open up a conversation.
”So you really do remember me?” The young man was pleasantly surprised when he heard Li Yiming retell their past encounters.
Li Yiming did not know how to answer him. 'Is it that weird that I remember you? We've met a couple of times in such a short period of time… Unless…' Li Yiming remembered about Mr. Kong's technique, and his heart skipped a beat. 'Maybe I shouldn't have said that?'
”Everyone I've met over the last few years usually forget about meeting me right away. I'm just a little excited that you still remember about me.” The young man explained nervously, but he seemed miserable when he did.
”Everyone forgets about meeting you?” Li Yiming asked. 'Isn't that Mr. Kong's technique?'
”Well you know, strange things happen in this world. Anyways, enough about that. What's your name? My name is Fu Bo.” The sadness on the young man's countenance was replaced by a gentle smile as he extended his right hand in Li Yiming's direction.
”Li Yiming.” It was a routine handshake that did not mean anything in particular. However, Li Yiming did notice that there was a big callus near the bottom of his palm. 'Is this guy a shut-in? These kind of things usually appear when you use the computer for too long.'
”Li Yiming?” Fu Bo's seemed both perplexed and amused when he heard Li Yiming's name.
”What is it?” Fu Bo's att.i.tude unsettled Li Yiming. 'Is there something wrong with my name?'
”It's nothing. Just out of curiosity, are you from Hangzhou?” Fu Bo took a deep breath and tried his best to appear composed.
”I'm from Lishui, actually. I moved to Hangzhou for college. I attended Hangzhou Teachers' College, what about you?” Li Yiming answered truthfully in a show of goodwill. 'This guy looks a little younger than me. Unless he did something to his appearance, he should still be in school.'
”I was born and raised in Hangzhou. I heard Hangzhou Teacher's College is quite the prestigious school.” Fu Bo smiled, but he did not answer Li Yiming's question. Instead, he seemed a little dejected.
”You live alone?” Li Yiming read Fu Bo's mood and switched the topic of the conversation. 'It doesn't look like he's living alone from the way things are set in the apartment, but everything else tells me that he is. Weird.'
”Yeah. I've been living alone for quite a few years now.” Fu Bo looked around. It was obvious to any onlooker that he was unhappy about it.