The Reunion of Notting F3

Early morning, daylight squeezed through the gaps in the old wooden window shutter, sketching a few crooked lines of gold onto the floorboards by the bed.

Zhu Zhuqing was already up, standing by the window with her profile outlined by that sliver of light.

A few strands of hair slipped from behind her ear, clinging to the clean line of her neck.

She was unhurriedly fastening her cuffs.

A few minutes later, she walked out of the room and knocked on the door next door.

"Get up," she said.

No one answered.

"If you don't get up again, I'm leaving by myself," she stated.

There was finally some movement inside, first a very reluctant "mn," followed by the sound of heavy rolling over, and then Luo Yan's muffled voice: "Wait for me at the door... three counts... no, thirty."

Zhu Zhuqing didn't speak again; she walked to the end of the corridor, facing the wind, and waited.

When Luo Yan came out, his hair was messy and one side of his collar was still flipped up.

He yawned as he walked, his eyes half-closed. Zhu Zhuqing glanced at him and said, "You didn't sleep last night."

"You didn't let me sleep well either."

Luo Yan said, his voice still hoarse, "Tossing and turning, the bedboard was hard, and through the wall, I could even hear you grinding your claws."

"I did not," Zhu Zhuqing said.

"Then I must have been grinding them in my dream."

Luo Yan didn't look at her, walking downstairs instead, "From now on, let's not try to save money on this kind of dump. I'd rather sleep in a tree."

Zhu Zhuqing followed behind him without answering, but Luo Yan knew she had indeed woken up more than once last night.

She was still thinking about the blonde man in that Rose Hotel and the unsettled accounts.

The two of them stepped out of the inn, and the street was already bustling.

The scallion-cake vendor lifted the white cloth, and waves of heat billowed out. Luo Yan instantly perked up, buying two flatbreads, biting into one himself and shoving the other into Zhu Zhuqing's hand.

Zhu Zhuqing took it, didn't eat it, and just held it.

"Not eating?" Luo Yan asked.

"Hot," Zhu Zhuqing said.

"Then eat slowly. We're not in a rush to be reincarnated."

Luo Yan watched the street while eating, "Today, I'm going to drag out that old loach who sold the fake map. You have no idea, last night I dreamed of him spreading out twenty maps in front of me, every single one of them drawn with earthworms."

Zhu Zhuqing curled the corner of her mouth ever so slightly.

Luo Yan didn't see it and kept talking, "If he runs again, I'll have him written down as Suotuo City's most notorious swindler. Whenever he goes out to buy a steamed bun in the future, kids will chase after him shouting 'Worm King'."

Just as the two were walking through a cross street, Luo Yan, still talking, suddenly stopped.

From across the street came a voice extremely, extremely familiar.

"Third Brother! Hurry up! This city is even more interesting than Notting City!"

Luo Yan bit into half a flatbread and slowly turned his head.

Xiao Wu was drilling out from the crowd.

She wore a pink-and-white dress, her entire energy like she had stepped on half a sun to brighten it, and Tang San followed behind her, his eyelashes casting two steady shadows in the morning light.

Luo Yan didn't move.

He looked at them, just like when school let out a few years ago, seeing them at the entrance of Dorm Seven.

Only this time, separated by a city and separated by two years.

"What is it?" Zhu Zhuqing asked, following his gaze.

Luo Yan smiled, "I'm going to show you two people."

"My old classmates from before. Don't be startled later; one of them kicks people, and the other drops grass."

Zhu Zhuqing glanced across the street again; the two people were already walking closer and closer.

"And you?" she asked.

"Me?" Luo Yan paused, seeing that Xiao Wu had already looked over in this direction.

He suddenly took a step back, hiding behind Zhu Zhuqing, revealing only half his face.

"I need to hide for a moment," he said.

The words had just fallen when Xiao Wu spotted him. Her eyes widened abruptly, and then she charged straight across the street from opposite like a pink firework that had been lit.

"Luo Yan—!"

Luo Yan uttered a "crap" and turned to run, but Zhu Zhuqing didn't move.

She merely shifted her side slightly. Luo Yan, tripped by her giving way, nearly stumbled on the steps as Xiao Wu reached him in a rush and grabbed him by the back of the collar.

Tang San walked unhurriedly behind, the faint smile at the corner of his mouth showing he had known all along that Luo Yan wouldn't be able to run away.

"You--"

Xiao Wu grabbed Luo Yan by the collar, furious to the point of stumbling over her words. "You still know how to show up! Do you have any idea how long we searched for you! Do you have any idea how-- No, how worried third brother and I were!"

Luo Yan was shaken so hard he grinned. "Xiao Wu... don't... ouch ouch ouch, we're out on the street here, I can afford to lose face, but you can't afford to lose your little fairy image."

"Fairy your head!" Xiao Wu gave him another smack, not hard, landing on his shoulder.

Tang San walked up close. He looked at Luo Yan first, then at Zhu Zhuqing.

Zhu Zhuqing stood off to the side, silent, but Tang San could tell at a glance that this young woman was quite close to Luo Yan.

"Yo~ San'er, still kicking." Luo Yan smiled at him.

"Doing quite well," Tang San said, turning his gaze to Zhu Zhuqing. "And this is?"

"Zhu Zhuqing."

Luo Yan said, "A cat I picked up on the road. No, wait, I got lost and she rescued me. No... we just walked together for two years."

Xiao Wu let go of his collar and looked suspiciously at Zhu Zhuqing. Zhu Zhuqing gave her the slightest nod without speaking, and Luo Yan seized the chance to shuffle half a step closer to Zhu Zhuqing.

"Are you guys sightseeing in Suotuo City?" Luo Yan asked.

"Our teacher told us to come find Shrek Academy," Tang San said.

"Oh~ alright."

Tang San smiled. "Well, since we happened to run into you, why don't we find a place to eat first? My treat, unless you two have other plans, then we can all go together."

"San'er's treating?" Luo Yan's eyes lit up instantly. "Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'm ordering the most expensive things. I scoped out Suotuo City yesterday—there's a restaurant where just smelling the aromas almost made me eat the map."

Xiao Wu let out a scoff. "When were you ever on ceremony? You were always freeloading off third brother back in Notting City. Get to Suotuo City and it's the exact same routine."

"This isn't freeloading."

Luo Yan turned serious. "This is old friends reuniting after a long separation, helping me build my strength back up. Look at me, I've even lost weight."

Xiao Wu looked him up and down. "Lost weight? You look even more energetic than you did two years ago, especially standing next to that young woman."

Zhu Zhuqing didn't respond to that, only quietly following at Luo Yan's side as Tang San turned to lead the way.

The group quickly turned into a slightly quieter street, picking a restaurant that wasn't very big, but had a row of oil-slick lanterns hanging by the entrance.

The waiter beamed the moment they walked in, and the moment Luo Yan sat down, he ordered a bunch of things before adding, "And bring a pot of good tea. The young woman next to me likes it not too hot."

Zhu Zhuqing glanced at him without a retort.

While waiting for the food, Luo Yan's conversational floodgates opened wide.

He first asked Tang San and Xiao Wu how they had made the trip, then picked and chose from his own meager "glorious deeds" to recount.

When he reached Flender, he suddenly set his chopsticks down on the table.

"Speaking of which, I was just looking to ask you guys about something."

Luo Yan said, leaning his torso forward. "Did you guys see a scrawny man here in Suotuo City? Not very tall, full of facial hair, wearing wire-rimmed glasses, eyes darting all over the place, walking like a sneak thief."

Tang San put down his cup and looked at him. "What about him?"

"That's the one!"

Luo Yan slapped the table. "He sold me a fake map two years ago, tricking me into wandering around in the woods for days. I ran into him last night and was just about to go shake him down for my money, but he was slicker than an eel. The second he ducked into an alley he was gone. I chased him for two streets and couldn't even catch a shadow."

Xiao Wu burst out laughing. "You couldn't even catch someone running and you have the nerve to talk."

"It's not that I couldn't catch him."

Luo Yan said earnestly, "That guy knows Suotuo City way too well. Would you believe he knows which restaurant's back door leads to which dark alley like the back of his hand? A guy like that isn't just a shady merchant; he's a local tyrant."

"You want to find him?" Tang San asked.

"Of course I want to find him. Not even for my money, but just to blow off this steam I've been holding in for two years."

Luo Yan said, "Only I'm not sure where he is. If you guys see a weasel-looking fellow like that, you've got to let me know so I can go stake him out."

Zhu Zhuqing chimed in from the side, "He ran really fast last night and knew the routes well. It's not his first time escaping like that."

Tang San looked at Luo Yan with a half-smile. "I think I might know who you're talking about."

"You've seen him?" Luo Yan narrowed his eyes.

Tang San's smile deepened. "I just bought something from him yesterday."

"San'er, my dear third brother."

Luo Yan put down his chopsticks, his eyes glowing frighteningly bright as he practically bounced off his stool. "You're sure you bought something from him yesterday? You wouldn't happen to be misremembering, would you? A guy like that can actually still get by in Suotuo City?"

Tang San smiled mildly, as if he had known Luo Yan would react this way. "I'm not sure if he's the person you're looking for. But the wire-rimmed glasses, the weasel look, and 'nothing he says is reliable'—I certainly saw someone in a shop yesterday who fits that description. That guy even told me his goods were the most genuine, and if one was fake he'd compensate ten."

"Ten for every fake one?"

Luo Yan let out a "ha." "He has the guts to draw maps that look like earthworms, and he offers ten for one? The ten fakes he pays out would be enough to open another fake-goods shop. What happened after? Did you buy anything?"

"I did."

Tang San nodded. "I bought a few things from him, but when I took them back to check, most of the quality was very mediocre."

"Then we definitely have to go find him!"

Luo Yan slammed a hand on the table, his eyes bright with excitement. "He even dared to trick Brother San. He's not just a profiteer anymore, he's a habitual offender, a habitual swindler, a single rat dropping ruining a whole pot of soup in Suotuo City."

"Don't worry, this meal wasn't eaten for nothing. Once we catch him, I'll make him spit out everything he swallowed, and don't you guys fight me for it—he and I have a personal score to settle."

Xiao Wu seemed infected by Luo Yan's emotions, slamming the table as she stood up. "Luo Yan, it's time to show him the true value of our Notting City F3!"

Zhu Zhuqing held her teacup, looking at the two of them with a completely blank expression.

Tang San pressed a hand to his forehead, smiling faintly.