It was nearly 1:00 p.m. when Chen Xu finally left that store. After a busy morning, he was starving and was thinking of finding a fast-food restaurant nearby.
"Chen Xu?"
Not far out, he heard someone calling his name, and when he turned around, he was surprised to recognize a college classmate. "Liu Xiaoshang? What are you doing here?"
"My company is nearby. How about you? Do you work around here too? I've never run into you before." Liu Xiaoshang was also quite excited and fired off a series of questions.
Chen Xu smiled and said, "I'm just here to take care of some business."
"Have you eaten?"
"I was just about to."
"That's great, let's go together. My treat, and don't even think about arguing."
Chen Xu didn't stand on ceremony. Liu Xiaoshang had been the vice class president and was always generous, and Chen Xu had a good relationship with him.
They found a restaurant and caught up for a bit.
Chen Xu had joined the class WeChat group but never spoke there, primarily because he didn't know what to talk about, so he set it to Do Not Disturb.
Occasionally, when he saw messages from closer roommates, he'd open it to check their updates.
He knew that after graduation, Liu Xiaoshang did quite well for himself, buying a house and a car and getting a girlfriend. He even posted her pictures in the group; she was pretty good-looking.
However, it was something that couldn't be envied; he was born lucky, with a wealthy family and good looks.
They had just started chatting when Liu Xiaoshang's phone rang several times.
"It's my girlfriend," he explained, putting the voice message to his ear to listen.
The voice was soft, but Chen Xu vaguely heard something about why he hadn't replied to her messages in a while.
Liu Xiaoshang quietly sent a voice message back, "I'm out right now."
Before he could put his phone down, another message came through. "Location." This time, the voice was louder.
Liu Xiaoshang froze, pressed his fingers against his forehead, and sighed, "My girlfriend can be too clingy sometimes."
Saying this, he sent his location.
Chen Xu smiled, not knowing what to say, and pretended to drink from his cup.
"I'm having a meal outside with a friend, a college classmate..." Liu Xiaoshang quietly reported, sneaking a glance at Chen Xu, "A guy!"
Chen Xu pretended not to hear, pulled out his phone, and swiped through it as if he were busy.
Ding ding dong ding...
Liu Xiaoshang's phone rang again; it was a video call.
Chen Xu couldn't keep up the pretense anymore. Seeing the awkward expression on Liu Xiaoshang's face and his hesitance to take the video call, Chen Xu said, "Is that your girlfriend? You should answer it. I heard you found a particularly beautiful girl, and I've been wanting to meet her. You're not planning to keep her from me, are you?"
"Of course not." Liu Xiaoshang forced a smile, though it was somewhat stiff. He picked up the phone and connected the video.
The girl on the screen was indeed quite pretty. When the camera turned, Chen Xu politely greeted her.
"Is it just the two of you?" the woman in the video asked after the greeting.
At this point, Liu Xiaoshang's expression turned a bit sour. He wordlessly spun the phone around three hundred sixty degrees to show that there was indeed no one else at the table.
"Go ahead and finish your meal with your classmate. Come home early after work. Love you." With that, the video call ended.
In the end, Liu Xiaoshang didn't say anything, put down the phone, and held the water cup.
Chen Xu took the initiative to start a topic, "Are you living together?"
"Yeah."
Liu Xiaoshang didn't have the same enthusiasm as before, and after a moment, he added, "We're planning to get married after the New Year."
"Congratulations."
Only then did Liu Xiaoshang truly smile and said, "You must come on my wedding day."
Chen Xu nodded. "I wouldn't miss it."
"How about you?" Liu Xiaoshang looked at him. "Do you have a girlfriend now?"
Chen Xu said, "No, I had one last year, but we broke up quickly. Too much pressure, couldn't afford it."
Liu Xiaoshang nodded with understanding, "My girl, she spends a lot too. If I didn't earn quite a bit, I'd really struggle to keep up."
Chen Xu laughed, "It's clear you love her."
This sentence seemed to touch him. He looked out the window and said, "I chased her for two years."
"You might not know this, but she was from our school, one year below us. Back then, she had a boyfriend, and they only broke up after graduation... It wasn't easy for me to win her over."
Chen Xu hadn't expected such a story from him and could only say it was probably true love.
He could understand such emotions. Many people have encountered someone they were willing to go to any lengths to be with; however, due to various real-world reasons and difficulties, they gave up. A small number of people persevered for a long time and eventually ended up battered and bruised. Only a few lucky ones achieved their wishes and ended up together.
Such love, even if it didn't result in success, at least wouldn't leave regrets.
It seemed to rekindle that buried emotion within him.
"Wow—"
Suddenly, he heard an exclamation from Liu Xiaoshang. Looking up, he saw him staring out the window, eyes seemingly shining.
"What are you looking at?"
He turned around and looked out the window, immediately understanding what he was looking at. A woman in a light-yellow dress was standing by the roadside making a call, stunning at first glance.
"There she is."
His eyes lit up, and he glanced at the car parked next to the woman. It had an out-of-town license plate.
"Not a local, a perfect choice."
He unhesitatingly "activated" the virtual dream technology, turned on the scanning function, and set the target as this woman.
Scanning successful.
At that moment, the woman finished her call, got in the car, and drove off in no time.
Chen Xu and Liu Xiaoshang shared a smile and didn't mention the woman, instead talking about their lives after graduation.
As it was almost time to return to work, they paid the bill and left, agreeing to get together for drinks next time.
Chen Xu rushed to another store in the afternoon, didn't finish until past 7 p.m., and then hurried back to the company to hand the finished product to Secretary Guo, finally wrapping up his day.
He hurried back to his rented place as fast as possible. The whole afternoon, he kept recalling that fleeting glimpse at noon; the more he thought about it, the more he looked forward to the night's dream.
It was like choosing a mysterious codename movie and seeing an exceptionally stunning cover. After downloading, there was that impatient eagerness.
The anticipation was mixed with a bit of unease; what if it was just a cover tease?
Some women looked flawless from certain angles, but overall were pretty average, a situation he had encountered before.
For Chen Xu, his dreams were entirely private. They allowed him to face the deepest corners of his heart, those secret places everyone owns but never speaks of.
Just like when a man closes the door to watch an adult film. In modern society, who would accuse him of being morally corrupt?
By the same principle, if he fantasized about a woman in his dreams, who could accuse him of having low character?