The following day, Anthony and Shirley went to see Sheryl off at the airport. Sue was already waiting for her by the gate. Sheryl wasn't eager to leave. So Anthony tried to encourage her,"We will see each other soon; don't worry."
However, his words were no match for her deflated mood; she didn't want to leave them. Even after passing the security check, Sheryl still wouldn't let them leave her sight. She kept waving goodbye but was not taking any steps towards her gate. So Sue decided to pull her away and teasingly said,"If you're so hesitant to leave, just go back and marry him."
Sheryl smiled but said nothing in return.
On a different note, she had heard that BM Corporation's owner was on the same flight with them, but she hadn't seen him yet... perhaps on landing she would. However, after landing everyone was rushed into a bus and taken promptly to the hotel. Sue and Sheryl were given one suite together. As soon as they got inside the room they both collapsed on the bed, exhausted.
Dinner time had arrived, and all meals are provided throughout the residential course. However, Sue had other plans. Being that it was their first time together in Y City, she convinced Sheryl to go eat out with her.
"You know," Sue began sharing nostalgically,"before I went to the US, I was here once before. I remember there are mountains and rivers around; I really liked it here. At that time, I've actually thought about buying a house in this place, once I had enough money, and spending the rest of my life here."
That thought amused Sheryl. Her mind hadn't gotten that far; so she commented,"Come on, don't you agree it's a little bit early for you to think about that?" Sue turned around and looked at Sheryl, taken aback by her reaction.
After a short pause, she asked,"Too early?" She obviously didn't agree. "I don't think it is early at all. Time passes so fast, and we only live once; I don't ever want to do anything that I may regret in the future."
Sheryl was speechless for a moment. She didn't understand where Sue was coming from. She wanted to dig for answers but didn't quite know where to begin.
"Hey, Sher, what about this one?" asked Sue excitedly, pointing at a hot-pot restaurant. One of the first things that Chinese people would do while abroad was finding and eating at a hot-pot restaurant. Those meals made them feel most at home. Now that they were in China, Sue decided to eat hot-pot.
So, not surprisingly, Sheryl agreed,"Okay, hot-pot it is!" Excited about their find, and the delicious food there, they ordered a lot of dishes. Therefore, by the end of their meal, they were so stuffed that they could barely move.
"If I weren't so full, I'd show you around more. But now, I'm not even sure I can walk back to the hotel," said Sue in between huffs. Sheryl was also too full to explore the area.
Laughing at Sue's comment, she agreed "I'm totally there with you." They both continued giggling at their condition for a while; however, after thinking about it a bit longer, they realized it was still too early to sleep.
Determined to overcome their lethargy and fight off the jet lag, the two decided to take a stroll around the area. This would also help them digest quickly and get some good sleep.
That day, Charles had also gone out for dinner with some guests. After taking a guest back to his hotel, he caught sight of a vaguely familiar figure. It couldn't have been... no way; it was Autumn indeed. A rush of adrenaline overtook him, and he shouted at his driver to pull over.
After all that time! He thought of her day in and day out, throughout all those years; so he wasn't going to miss that opportunity.
However, the driver was reluctant to do as he said. According to him, it would have been illegal to pull over right then and there. So he politely inquired if he could do it at a more appropriate spot.
Furious about the delay and the driver's perceived insolence, Charles shouted at him again,"I said pull over; are you deaf?"
Alas, the driver had to pull over in spite of his better judgment. Charles got out of the car immediately, and ran to the spot where he saw the figure. But by the time he got there, he found no one.
So he started laughing... a bitter, sarcastic laugh. In fact, it felt like life was laughing at him. What a prank his mind had pulled! She couldn't have been there. He would have known that had he thought about it more.
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