Did Chen Mo really not know that the place the woman asked about was the residential area where he lived?
He just couldn't stand her deliberately putting on airs, which was why he hadn't given her a serious answer.
"All right, stop staring. They've already gotten in the car."
Luo Botao still refused to budge.
Seeing him looking so pathetic, Chen Mo couldn't help laughing in exasperation.
"Why don't I go have a word with that auntie and have her take you along too?"
"How could that happen? She doesn't even know me."
Good grief!
The kid actually took it seriously.
Leaving him to his own devices, Chen Mo went back inside the internet cafe to get to work.
Luo Botao stood there in a daze, watching the car on the opposite side start up, tracking it as it drove away, until it completely vanished from his line of sight.
There was no helping it.
When a boy first tastes the stirrings of love and encounters a girl who leaves him awestruck, he loses himself in that single moment.
The only difference was this: some lose themselves for a moment, while others lose themselves for a lifetime!
Though Luo Botao wasn't high in emotional intelligence, he was no exception.
Only time would tell whether his moment of awe would last a moment or a lifetime.
……
"They really do grow unruly people in these bitter mountains and treacherous rivers. I'm furious."
From the moment she got in the car until now—nearly twenty minutes—Luo Jiaqi had been ranting nonstop.
As she stopped at a red light, she slammed her hands hard against the steering wheel and cried out hysterically.
"Ugh, I'm so mad! I'm so mad! That long-haired jerk!"
Sitting in the passenger seat, Xiaoyuer remained completely silent. At that moment, her heart was a turbulent mix of apprehension and excitement.
Five years!
Nearly five whole years!
She had finally arrived in the city where that boy lived—the one who had once redeemed her soul, and who remained the only one who could do so even now.
Xiaoyuer felt a nameless emotion.
Apprehension?
Excitement?
Tinged with a lingering sense of guilt!
After all, the way they had agreed to communicate back then was strictly through letters, never in the physical world.
And now.
She had broken that five-year-old promise after all!
Yet she had no choice but to break it.
Because no one knew better than she did.
If things went on like this, she truly would perish from this mortal world amidst a storm of agonizing struggle.
And indeed, that was the truth.
Just a few days ago in America, if not for that letter arriving just in time—over three months overdue—
she likely would have already been separated from everyone by the boundaries of life and death.
Therefore.
Even if it meant breaking the pact, she had to come.
Not just for a reason to keep on living.
But also to avoid a lifetime of regret.
After all...
After all, his reply had explicitly stated: [Confession failed].
In that case...
Xiaoyuer felt she had every reason and motivation to make the trip!
……
Upon hearing Luo Jiaqi mention the words "long-haired jerk," Xiaoyuer felt a slight flutter in her chest.
She clearly remembered that in one of her letters from two years ago, she had mentioned that he also wore his hair long.
And so, she spoke her very first words.
"How did he make you so mad?" Her tone remained chillingly cold.
Hearing Xiaoyuer speak, Luo Jiaqi was startled at first, then began to vent indignantly.
"That long-haired jerk actually called me aunty! He's an absolute blind bastard. Where do I look like an aunty?"
After finishing her tirade, Luo Jiaqi recounted every detail of what had happened when she asked for directions.
She simply omitted mention of the other boy standing there with a lovesick expression on his face.
Xiaoyuer's expression flickered strangely upon hearing this.
She felt that the way the "long-haired jerk" in Luo Jiaqi's account spoke bore a certain resemblance to his written style in the letters—both equally entertaining and unrestrained.
"Agh, agh, agh, agh..."
The more Luo Jiaqi thought about it, the angrier she grew, and she began to lash out again.
"Don't let me lay eyes on him again. If I ever see him, I'll never let that jerk off!"
"You probably won't have the chance for the rest of your life," Xiaoyuer said coldly.
Hearing Xiaoyuer say this, the anger in Luo Jiaqi's heart subsided a little.
It was true, after all.
Once Xiaoyuer's business was finished, this wretched place crawling with "unruly locals" was somewhere she would never visit again in this lifetime, nor did she ever want to.
……About ten minutes later.
At the entrance of Xingfuli Residential Area.
Luo Jiaqi parked the car and said, "Wait in the car for me, I'll go ask."
"No!" Xiaoyuer flatly refused.
"You're going by yourself?" Luo Jiaqi was shocked.
"Mhm."
Since they had already arrived at his home, Xiaoyuer was absolutely determined to do what needed to be done herself.
"Alright, just take care of your health!"
No one knew Luo Jiaqi better than Luo Jiaqi herself when it came to what kind of personality and temper this young lady had.
Even the entire circle of wealthy second-generation heirs in Jingdu knew her reputation all too well.
Once she set her mind on something, who would dare to stop her?
Who would dare utter a single word of dissent?
Therefore, Luo Jiaqi didn't say anything further.
...
Unbuckling her seatbelt and putting on her hat, she got out of the car.
Dressed in a long shirt and trousers, Xiaoyuer looked at the residential area where she had sent countless letters, and her heart stirred once again.
After all, he truly, genuinely lived right here.
Perhaps he was even at home right now.
So close, just within reach!
Calming her emotions, Xiaoyuer glanced around.
In the scorching afternoon heat, there was no one moving about at the residential area's entrance.
Just as she was planning to go inside and see if anyone was around, she suddenly noticed a middle-aged woman riding a bicycle toward her.
As the woman rode past, Xiaoyuer spoke up.
"Hello, ma'am!" She tried hard to keep her voice sounding somewhat normal rather than so icy cold.
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman stopped her bicycle and asked with a puzzled look, "What is it, young lady?"
Then she looked the girl over, a hint of tender affection showing in her eyes.
This child was far too thin, so thin a gust of wind might blow her away.
Moreover, her whole body seemed to exude a cold aura that kept people a thousand miles away.
Xiaoyuer took a deep breath, determined that since she was already breaking the agreement, she would see it through to the end.
"Ma'am, I'd like to ask, do you know the boy who lives in Apartment 1001, Unit 2, Building 1 of this residential area?" Must be said, Xiaoyuer's phrasing was very clever.
"You mean that brat Chen Mo?"The middle-aged woman blurted out an answer without even thinking, but immediately wore a slightly guarded expression.
"Why are you asking about him?"
Xiaoyuer noticed her guard and immediately replied, "We're classmates."
"Oh, classmates." The middle-aged woman seemed to lower her guard a little. "Since you're classmates, how about..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the thin, frail girl said, "Thank you, Auntie."
With that, without giving the middle-aged woman another chance to speak, Xiaoyuer turned and left.
Seeing the girl get into a car parked not far away, the middle-aged woman shook her head in puzzlement and muttered to herself, "Huh, why does that feel a bit strange?"
With that, she pushed her bicycle into the residential area.
...
"So fast?" Luo Jiaqi was surprised by Xiaoyuer's efficiency, which was much faster than her own earlier attempt.
"Mhm."
"Did you ask?"
"Mhm."
Luo Jiaqi seemed somewhat unconvinced and said, "I think just to be safe, we should ask a few more people. What if that auntie just now gave us the wrong information?"
"There's no way it's wrong!" Xiaoyuer said with absolute certainty.
Since the address was correct, she was now completely certain that what she had asked for was the answer she wanted.
[Paomo in the Dust] — Chen Mo!
There was no way it could be wrong!
Since Xiaoyuer was so certain, Luo Jiaqi didn't say anything more and simply asked, "What now?"
"We can go back."
"Oh."
Luo Jiaqi started the car and prepared to head back.
Right at that moment, Xiaoyuer gripped the wrist guard on her left hand and suddenly said, "Sister Qiqi, once we get back, please use every connection you have. Make sure to find out within the shortest time possible which city and which major a graduate named 'Chen Mo' from Wen County No. 1 High School applied to!"