A Round Trip to Love 1: LONG WAY HOME

Chapter Thirty

If Ding Ding's stare could kill, I would be dead by now.

" No such things. " I defended myself in a small voice.

" Did you tell Boss that I'm your girlfriend? " Zhu Sha had a sudden revelation, " Have you been having a secret crush on me, and all these time I did not discover it? Such a pity, why didn't you tell me ........"

" It's not like that ........ " I wish I have an extra set of mouth to explain my way out of this situation. I am certain Ding Ding is about to pounce on me any second.

" Cheng Yi Chen you are a despicable person !"

My dear Ding Ding ....... I ....... I do not know whether to laugh or cry, "You need to believe me, I have no improper thoughts towards your Zhu Sha."

" Trust me to treat you as my friend, I may have a pair of eyes but I'm blind!" Ding Ding mutter with a great sense of injustice.

Zhu Sha gloated over this unfolding disaster with a wide grin, " Yi Chen, if you have truly fallen in love with me, then confess it quickly, between you and Ding Ding, I will surely pick you."

If I do not start swearing to the heavens and the earth and everything in purgatory right now, then I might as well hang a noose around my own neck.

" I swear that if I, Cheng Yi Chen, ever developed any undesirable intentions towards Zhu Sha then I will %^&*^%$%%*$%$$......"

Fully aware that I would soon have to face some repercussion from a Lu Feng who is currently portraying an indecipherable expression, I still had to pacify Ding Ding first.

Only after listening to a series of death oaths did Ding Ding quelled his jealousy enough to calm down slightly, but not before adding: " Then why did Boss say.........."

"I said it in jest, it was just a dumb misunderstanding. " I explained apologetically. Lu Feng sweeping eyes on me made me feel acutely awkward," I, I need to use the washroom."

The few minutes I took to linger at the side of the sink feeling downcast was apparently sufficient time for the three of them to not only thaw out the previous cold attitudes but to also add a few more degrees of enthusiasm.

The moment I sat down, Zhu Sha and Ding Ding unitedly said in a resounding voice, " Yi Chen, tell him!"

" What, what about?" I respond belatedly.

" Tell him that you do not have a girlfriend."

I was stunned; " Why do I ............."

" He refused to believe us that you are still single, so we placed a bet that whoever lose, will foot the full bill for the table!"

I inwardly stamp my foot in frustration, feeling the circumference of my head growing a few inches bigger.

Initially, I planned to edit my story to Lu Feng, changing my girlfriend's identity from Zhu Sha to someone else. How on earth do I justify myself now.

" Speak up!" The two looked at me with a bubbling excitement. Lu Feng tapped the table idly with his long slender fingers, emitting a subtle smile.

I scanned the amount of dishes on the table, and mentally estimated the total price.

I will likely not be able to walk out of here alive if I do not come clean.

Shaking my head wearily, I could feel a migraine coming on.

Lu Feng grinned, and took out a credit card from his wallet.

The two of them let out a cheer, I had to hold myself back from flinging them out of this eighth floor window.

Inside Lu Feng's car, I was nervous and jittery. Fearing that any moment he might ask about my lie.

I did not want him to know that I lived a sad life.

Fortunately, he did not pry.

He drove in silence for a while, and said offhandedly: " Let's have a look at the place you are staying at."

" Ah?" I felt terribly embarrassed, " My place is small and run-down, and nothing fun at all to do, let's not..........."

" Is that the kind of hospitality you show to your guests?" He frowned.

" No ........."I was tongue-tied, " .............. Then, please wait at the door for ten minutes before coming in."

Ten minutes was barely enough time for me to straighten out the wrinkled bedsheets and unbundle the quilt, gather all the trash into the garbage bin, tidy up the books on the table and wipe it down, throw the worn clothes and underwear into the laundry room, and at the last few seconds, spray some air freshener in the air.

" You are not using this ten minutes to toss the woman you are hiding out the window are you. " Lu Feng said mockingly as he walked in.

My face turned red, although knowing full well that his house would be in a condition ten times worse if not for hired help.

" Are you sharing the apartment with someone?"

" Mm, someone from the same company. He does not come back often."

This roommate of mine pays his monthly rent but hardly occupies his room, choosing to spend most of his time having a jolly good time at his girlfriend's. The occasions he brought his girlfriend over had been pure torture. The two bedrooms and one living room apartment has such thin partitions that whatever took place on the other side of the wall can be heard, so loud and clear that I had to stuff my ears with Japanese heavy rock music just to cover up some of the noise. Truly impressive .........

In the living room, the landlord left behind an old sofa, and old TV and an old radio etc, etc. It feels more comfortable on the bum sitting on the floor then on that sofa. My roommate and I have experimented and proven that if you want to watch the TV, you have to preheat it for an hour. If you want to listen to the radio, you need to preheat it for half an hour. I have always wanted to get rid of these useless items to make space for my increasing number of books and CDs, yet was afraid that when we return the apartment, the landlord would give us a hard time. So those rubbish items remained as it was.

Lu Feng had an astonished look.

He is like a person of abundance not knowing the meaning of what it feels to be hungry and thirsty. The shocking amount of rent in this prime location is something he would never appreciate. For the amount of wages a fresh graduate receives to be able to live like this is considered very privileged.

" Let's watch the movie then." He said enthusiastically.

As we past by a video rental shop earlier, I quickly grabbed a couple of classic movies to entertain him lest he gets bored. I could not expect him to read a book, listen to music or go on the internet all day.

In my opinion, besides Schindler's List, all the other movies was not worth our time to watch. Even though I have seen it a few times, I was willing to give it another rewatch. I initially thought that a person like Lu Feng with high standards would be bored by this kind of dull, black and white movie, and might doze off before reaching the middle of it, instead, not only did he not fall asleep, he seemed very engrossed.

" This is what artistic cinematic style is all about." I added in a whisper. " Nothing sensational but the more you want the audience to feel the misery, the colder the lense of the camera it must be."

" I always felt that it is all drama to make a show out of crying." Lu Feng gave a slight kick to the other movie titles with pompous crying scenes. " Real pain, will never produce such hearty cries." He gritted his teeth; "You won't even ......... be able to speak a single word ......... like when .........."