By the time they parked, it was already two in the afternoon.
Xia Lun looked out the car window. Though they were in the suburbs, the area was far from desolate. Vivid scenery greeted him on every side, brimming with the vitality unique to Hermaniel City.
Cold, hard concrete lay beneath the wheels. Beyond the factory grounds stretched green lawns, pale pebbles, and a lake-blue canal glittering in the sunlight. People leaned against the railings of an elegant arched bridge, talking among themselves. Farther away, pigeons landed and took flight from the spires of Gothic buildings.
Warm light brushed across his nose, and Xia Lun suddenly felt dazed.
He knew that bridge. It was called the Tears of Water. Back when he dealt in steel, Hermaniel City had been undertaking a massive urban renewal project. The market here had been vast, so he had often crossed that bridge.
But he had not visited this city on the water since falling terminally ill. The once-familiar sight now seemed strangely foreign. Thinking back, he realized it had been two years since his last visit.
Over those two years, several friends in the city whom he had once known well had died, and he had not made it to their funerals. Seeing the familiar Tears of Water again left him with a faint regret, as though the place remained while the people had changed.
"Can I turn off the engine?" White Line's voice came from his left.
Xia Lun blinked and came back to himself. He nodded. "Go ahead."
He sighed softly, breathing the mistlike regret out of his chest. Then he straightened his collar, took out the "travel itinerary" he had written in advance, and checked their plans.
"First, we'll have lunch. There's a great restaurant in the Blue Oak Lake District.