Chapter 38 Keeping the Appointment

Lu Mingfei was left completely dazed.
What on earth was going on? Did she just automatically assume he was going to pursue Liu Miaomiao?
Lu Mingfei was about to say something regarding the previous topic when he saw Qiao Yiran stand up and brush the dust off her clothes.
"All right, we've rested long enough. Let's head back."
"Okay, okay..."

There was actually a cable car available from the Eighth Northern Tower back to the starting point of the Badaling Great Wall, but since Qiao Yiran insisted on walking back along the trail, Lu Mingfei had no choice but to accompany her.
By the time they returned near the starting point, most of their classmates had already gathered.
A few college-student-looking guys nervously ran over, trying to strike up a conversation with Liu Miaomiao or someone, but they were immediately intercepted and chased away by the accompanying physical education teacher, Mr. Chen.

"You guys are back?" Seeing Qiao Yiran and Lu Mingfei return, Liu Miaomiao immediately approached them with a beaming smile.
"We're back, we're back." Qiao Yiran instinctively wanted to hug Liu Miaomiao, but instantly realizing she was dripping with sweat, she thought better of it and dropped her raised arms.
Liu Miaomiao, however, didn't mind in the least; she took the initiative to hug Qiao Yiran, and the two of them linked arms and began whispering secrets to each other.
Though they called them secrets, they didn't bother lowering their voices much, so Lu Mingfei, standing a mere meter away, could hear them crystal clear.

"How far up did you guys climb?"
"We made it to the Eighth Northern Tower, the Hero's Slope."
"Wow, so you guys reached the summit."
"Heh heh, it was all right. I was just pretty surprised by Lu Mingfei; I didn't expect him to actually keep up with me. By the way, what did those college-looking guys want with you just now?"
"They wanted my QQ number."
"As expected of Miaomiao, even out traveling and people still hit on you."
"It's just because you weren't around. If you were here, they'd be asking you for yours too..."

After everyone had gathered and rested, they asked a passerby to take a large group photo of the whole class, and the morning's Great Wall tour officially came to an end.
First, they took a tour bus back to the hotel to freshen up, and then headed off to visit Imperial University and Huaqing University.
Yet the general itinerary remained pretty much the same as the morning's.

First visiting as a whole class, then breaking into small groups for free time, and finally gathering together for another group photo.
Aside from that private conversation with Qiao Yiran at the Badaling Great Wall, Lu Mingfei had not spent a single moment alone with anyone else for the rest of the time, and Qiao Yiran never brought up their earlier conversation again.
Time flew by in a flash. Before they knew it, the three-day, two-night trip was more than half over.
On the afternoon of the second day, they arrived at the Summer Palace.

Lu Mingfei gazed at the lake before him. This was an inner lake within the Summer Palace known as Kunming Lake. Directly opposite the lake stood Longevity Hill, atop which sat a majestic temple with thriving incense offerings.
It was said that the fortune sticks for romance in the temple were remarkably accurate, but Lu Mingfei was a solitary single guy right now and had no desire to visit it.
Liu Miaomiao and Qiao Yiran sat in a nearby long corridor, giggling as they tinkered with an SLR camera to take pictures, leaning against the railings of the Kuoru Pavilion.
In the summer of 2006, it felt like a season where anything was possible.

"Lu Mingfei?"
Lu Mingfei abruptly turned his head to see Liu Miaomiao walking over quietly, her hands behind her back, stepping softly on the grass-scented soil.
"What's up?" Lu Mingfei asked. This was the first time Liu Miaomiao had taken the initiative to speak to him in the past two days.
"Do you have time tomorrow afternoon?" Liu Miaomiao looked at him.
"Huh?"
"I remember you mentioning that you need to pick up some things for your aunt and uncle tomorrow. I'm not sure if you'll be done by tomorrow morning."
Liu Miaomiao paused for a second before continuing, "If you manage to finish up tomorrow morning, could we meet up at Wangfujing Street in the afternoon? I have something... I'd like to tell you."

Asking him out on a date?
Lu Mingfei suddenly had the surreal feeling of Tang Monk being targeted by the White Bone Demon.
He remembered the day before yesterday, when Qiao Yiran asked him if he wanted to go strolling with them along Yangmeizhuxie Street, Liu Miaomiao had seemed somewhat reluctant. How come she was now actively seeking him out?
What on earth could she want to tell him?

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and nodded. "Meeting up is fine, but we'll need to set a time and place in advance. I don't have a cell phone, so keeping in touch is a bit inconvenient."
After making his first pot of gold, buying a cell phone would have to be top priority. Having grown accustomed to the life of the smartphone era, Lu Mingfei truly couldn't get used to relying entirely on public payphones for communication.
"All right," Liu Miaomiao nodded. "Then I'll discuss it with Yiran tonight and let you know the meeting spot."
"Deal."

...

During the free time allotted the following day, Lu Mingfei finally treated himself to a long-overdue sleep-in.
As for the task of buying Erba sauce and pickled vegetables for his aunt, Lu Mingfei had entrusted it to Lily a day in advance, and Lily had even thoughtfully volunteered to handle shipping the package for Lu Mingfei.
It made Lu Mingfei rather embarrassed, thinking to himself that it was a pity online review platforms didn't exist yet, otherwise he definitely would have left their hotel a glowing five-star review.

Sleeping all the way until close to noon, Lu Mingfei finally got up, washed up, ate a complimentary meal at the Black Prince Hotel's restaurant, and then set off toward the subway station.
Of course, Lu Mingfei didn't forget to buy a 50-yuan phone card and a map of the Imperial City at a newsstand near the subway entrance.
After all, without a cell phone, if they somehow missed each other, public payphones would be his only lifeline. Lu Mingfei had already obtained Liu Miaomiao's phone number beforehand.

"Wangfujing Street, Wangfujing Street..."
Lu Mingfei unfolded the map and searched for Wangfujing Street, only to discover that he would have to take Subway Line 7 from the hotel entrance, get off at Ciqikou Station, transfer to Subway Line 5, get off at Dongdan Station, and then transfer once more to Subway Line 1 before finally arriving at Wangfujing Street.
It seemed having a massive city wasn't entirely a good thing either; the subway lines were woven denser than a spiderweb, more than enough to run someone in circles.

Lu Mingfei headed down into the subway passageway, bought a few plastic-disc-like subway tickets from a self-service vending machine, and drifted with the surging crowd onto the train.
The subway was packed to the gills, crowded to the point where there wasn't even anywhere to grab a handrail.
Not that holding onto a handrail was necessary anyway; people were pressed tightly against one another, so there was zero risk of losing one's balance.

The person standing back-to-back with Lu Mingfei appeared to be a junior high school girl, as Lu Mingfei caught a glimpse of what looked like a standard junior high school uniform. The girl wore her hair in a ponytail and clutched an oversized backpack protectively against her chest.
Watching the girl sway back and forth amidst the surging crowd, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but sigh that students in the Imperial City seemed fiercely competitive—even on a summer weekend, they still had to attend cram school.

As they reached Ciqikou Station, Lu Mingfei immediately fled the crowded carriage along with the tide of passengers. Coincidentally, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the junior high schooler from the train had gotten off at this station too.
"Is she transferring to Line 5 as well?"
The thought had just popped into Lu Mingfei's head before he chuckled at himself for borrowing trouble.
As one of the earliest established subway networks in the country, the Imperial City's subway system swallowed and spat out countless passengers daily; it was hardly unusual for someone else to be getting off at a transfer station to switch lines.

He had better hurry and make his own transfer to Line 7, or he'd be late for his rendezvous with Liu Miaomiao.
Yet why did the back and the school uniform of that girl just now seem somewhat familiar?