Chapter Seventy-Five: A Phone Call

It was just past noon on the 2nd when I returned home and received a message from the lovely Xiaojing, saying she and her best friend Xiaoru wanted to come visit our city. Since Lele was away and I had nothing to do at home, I decided to play the gracious host and accompany them as they explored. We agreed to meet the next morning at the South Street bus station.

Young people enjoy sleeping in, so Xiaojing scheduled our meeting for quite late. But I’m used to rising early, and seeing there was still plenty of time, I spent a while browsing the internet at home before heading out leisurely. Conveniently, there’s a bus stop right by my door; after one short ride, I arrived at East Street. I waited at the station for about ten minutes, and soon Xiaojing and Xiaoru showed up.

South Street isn’t large, but it’s the liveliest and most bustling part of our city. Though it was still morning, the National Day holiday had begun, and with every shop offering steep discounts, the crowds had doubled compared to usual.

After squeezing through the throng and finishing our tour of South Street, it was nearly lunchtime. Across the street stood a newly opened St. James Pizza Restaurant, and the three of us quickly decided to eat there.

As soon as we entered, a friendly server led us to an empty table by the window. The two beauties sat with their backs against the glass, and I took the seat opposite them.

I ordered a thirty-five yuan self-serve salad. The server handed me a salad card, which allowed me to select a salad from the hall—just once.

I was about to get up and fetch my salad when Xiaojing called me back. She and Xiaoru wanted to use the restroom and asked me to stay and watch the bags.

There was nothing for it; I sat down again. But the two girls were gone for quite a while, and boredom soon had my restless eyes darting around the restaurant.

Suddenly, a beautiful woman at the next table returning from the salad bar caught my attention. On her plate, the salad towered nearly half a meter high.

Her walk across the restaurant drew countless astonished gazes. Amazing! I couldn’t help but gape. Surely, the other diners were thinking the same: if everyone piled their salads as she did, this restaurant would be out of business in no time.

Just as I finished marveling, Xiaojing and Xiaoru finally returned.

“What are you staring at?” Xiaojing eyed my astonished expression and curiously tapped my shoulder.

Snapping back to myself, I discreetly pointed at the neighboring table. “See for yourself,” I whispered.

Following my gesture, Xiaojing and Xiaoru looked over and were instantly dumbfounded, mouths agape. She really was incredible.

Now it was my turn to shine. I decided to build an even taller salad tower for Xiaojing and Xiaoru to admire.

Without delay, I strode to the hall and handed my card to the server. He glanced at it, then took a plate from nearby and handed it to me. I examined the plate—much like the ones we used at home, just with slightly higher edges.

Building a salad tower required skill, and I’d secretly studied the structure of the neighboring salad as I waited. I felt confident.

“It should work!” I thought, full of optimism.

First, I used large chunks of watermelon and cantaloupe, stacking them in a circle along the plate’s edge, like building a wall. Then I stuffed all the tricky-to-stack items into the vacant center. Once done, I gave the plate a gentle shake—seemed solid enough. I spread a layer of cheese on top of the fruit wall, then began constructing a second tier.

By the third tier, the salad tower began to wobble precariously.

Enough, I decided. It was time to return. But just as I prepared to lift the plate, the entire salad collapsed suddenly and without warning. Fortunately, most of it merely fell back onto the original serving platter, sparing me from wasting too much food.

Awkwardly, I glanced around. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice. Hastily disguising the disaster, I picked up the remaining half-plate of salad and made my sheepish escape back to our table.

We ate and chatted, the meal stretching nearly two hours. After leaving the restaurant, I suggested we visit the pedestrian street. The girls discussed it and agreed.

There was a bus nearby headed straight for the pedestrian street; we had barely arrived at the stop when the bus pulled up.

We hadn’t wandered long before Xiaoru suddenly complained of feeling unwell. There was nothing for it—Xiaojing and I settled her in a KFC at the street’s entrance, then I accompanied Xiaojing to browse the shops along the second floor of the pedestrian street.

But before we finished our circuit, Xiaoru sent a message saying she was fine now, so we reluctantly doubled back to fetch her.

After reuniting with Xiaoru, we retraced our steps, covering the same route again. The two beauties seemed unfazed, but I was utterly exhausted.

Xiaojing and Xiaoru wanted to shop for jeans, and since it didn’t concern me, I paced back and forth outside the store. Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate faintly in my pocket. Yet by the time I pulled it out, the call had already ended. The missed call displayed Lele’s name.

Lele was looking for me? I instinctively checked the time: 16:03. According to her schedule, she should be on the way from Jiuzhaigou to Huanglong. That girl! Instead of resting on the bus, she was randomly calling me.

Despite my complaints, I missed her, so I immediately called back. But the phone rang and rang, unanswered. Waiting a moment, I tried again, only to hear that her phone was unreachable.

Lele, what on earth are you up to? Annoyed, I stuffed my phone back into my pocket.

“Just wait, Lele. I’ll settle accounts with you when you’re back!” I muttered angrily to myself.

Truthfully, Lele pulling stunts like this was nothing new, so I didn’t dwell on it. Seeing Xiaojing and Xiaoru had already walked ahead, I hurried after them.

Once home, I took a shower—it was already quite late. Lying quietly in bed, I recalled Lele’s inexplicable call that afternoon, and a lingering sense of unease pressed down on my heart.

“Probably the signal is bad up there in the mountains,” I told myself, trying desperately to reassure myself. It’s nothing, surely nothing could happen.

That was all I could think. Anyway, Lele would be back in two days.

(Chapter revision completed on September 24, 2010)