Finding Someone

Screech!

As they neared the garage, Chen Xu slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a stop. He flung open the door and rushed out.

"Luo Xiyun!"

He shouted as he ran.

The vegetable garden that had been arranged like a flower garden was completely ruined. Flowerpots had rolled everywhere, and the entire road was a mess.

He rushed to the house where Luo Xiyun lived, yanked open the door roughly, and charged inside. "Luo Xiyun, Luo Xiyun..."

He searched everywhere, but she was nowhere to be found. The room doors were locked, and no one answered no matter how long he called.

"At this hour, if she's not back yet, she must be trapped somewhere on the road."

It was already almost three in the afternoon, which meant she had been trapped for four or five hours.

He had returned with the faint hope that she had made it home safely, but things had still gone in the worst possible direction. His heart grew heavy. He smacked the door hard, then turned and ran outside again.

He got back into the car, made a U-turn, floored the accelerator, and drove off.

"Luo Xiyun, you'd better not get into any trouble." He had no desire to spend the remaining two months all alone.

"She always takes this road when she comes back." Chen Xu drove onto a road, laying on the horn as he went.

It was still three in the afternoon, but with weather like this—a typhoon and torrential rain—the visibility was terrible. Even with the high beams on, he could only see two or three meters ahead.

He could only hope the horn would catch Luo Xiyun's attention.

He had no idea where she had ridden her bicycle or which routes she had taken, so he could only check every fork along this road.

Time passed bit by bit, but the typhoon showed no signs of weakening.

The sky grew darker and darker, and the anxiety in Chen Xu's heart kept mounting. All kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind.

"Did I miss a road? Is she trapped on that very road?"

"Did something happen to her, so she couldn't hear the horn?"

"Did she hear the horn but have no way to respond?"

Suddenly, he caught a glint of light reflected in the rearview mirror. It vanished in an instant, but he had seen it clearly. It wasn't lightning.

He jolted, slammed on the brakes, then spun the steering wheel and rammed aside a small car parked at the roadside, forcibly turning around.

He had not driven far when he saw that light again. This time, he saw clearly that it was likely the light from the back of a phone.

"Found her!"

His entire body relaxed. He drove closer, and when the headlights shone over, he finally saw Luo Xiyun's current state.

She stood by the roadside, soaked through from head to toe. Yet she paid no heed to it, gripping a streetlamp with one hand while desperately waving a phone with its rear light on in the other.

"Looks like she's been through quite a lot."

Chen Xu thought to himself as he pulled up in front of her. At that moment, she seemed unable to hold on any longer. The fierce wind made her unsteady, and she collapsed to the ground. She could only wrap both arms around the streetlamp, looking utterly bedraggled.

Seeing how disheveled she looked, he found it a little funny, but also felt that taking pleasure in her misfortune was inappropriate. He controlled his expression, opened the door, got out, and struggled through the wind and rain to help her into the passenger seat.

The back seat was piled full of things, leaving no room for anyone to sit.

After getting into the car, Chen Xu found a clean towel and handed it to her, then started the car and headed home.

The entire way, Luo Xiyun silently used the towel to wipe the water from her body without saying a word. She did not speak, and neither did Chen Xu. An awkward silence filled the car.

For one thing, he did not particularly want to talk. For another, he truly had no idea what to say.

To him, Luo Xiyun was both unfamiliar and familiar.

The last time they had sat together like this had been three months ago, when they divided up the work. Since then, they had never spoken again. As though they had reached an unspoken agreement, they staggered the times they left the house to avoid running into each other.

On the rare occasion they did meet, they would both pretend not to see the other, treating each other as nonexistent.

That was why she felt unfamiliar to him.

Yet he also knew her very well. He knew what dishes she liked to eat, what styles of clothes she liked, what she did on which days of the week. He even knew what date her Eldest Aunt came each month.

They lived next door to each other, and many places were shared. There was no need to deliberately pay attention; many things simply became known naturally. For example, which meats in the freezer were used up the fastest, which vegetables in front of the door were picked the most often, the clothes hung out to dry every day, and so on.

By the time Chen Xu drove back into the garage, it was completely dark. He glanced at his phone. It was already seven in the evening.

He turned off the engine and was about to open the door when he heard Luo Xiyun speak for the first time since getting into the car. "I sprained my ankle."

"Huh?"

He froze for a moment before understanding. He turned to look at her under the car's interior light. Only then did he notice abrasions on her arms and knees. As for her foot, he could not see it because of the angle and lighting.

It looked like she had fallen off her bicycle.

He considered it. The house was still over twenty meters away, and helping her walk that far through a Force 10 typhoon would be difficult.

So he simply started the car again and drove it into what had once been the vegetable garden. The flowerpots that had once been used for planting vegetables had been blown everywhere by the wind. The wheels rolled over one from time to time, making the car jolt. Fortunately, the SUV had high enough ground clearance that the flowerpots would not get stuck underneath.

He slowly drove up to her front door, then got out and helped her down. Opening the door, he led her into the café where she lived.

After entering, he flicked the light switch. With a snap, the light failed to come on.

"The light's broken?"

He flipped the switch several more times, but it still didn't work. Left with no choice, he pulled out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and helped her to the door.

Luo Xiyun felt for the key atop a hanging painting beside the door and unlocked it.

After Chen Xu helped her inside, he felt that he ought to leave. Then he heard the switch click on, yet the light inside did not come on either.

He immediately realized something was wrong. Was the power out?

What rotten luck.

The house's electricity depended on a Diesel Generator. If that machine had broken down, they would be in trouble.

Hopefully, it's just a tripped breaker.

That was what he thought.

Just then, he heard Luo Xiyun say something, but her voice was too soft for him to make it out. He asked, "What did you say?"

In the darkness, he sensed her breathing grow heavier. After quite a while, her faint voice sounded again.

This time, he heard her clearly. She said, "I want to go to the bathroom."

It was the second thing she had said since the two of them met.

Chen Xu could tell that saying those words had been deeply embarrassing for her.