Chapter Ten: The Note

  Truth is forever hidden in simplicity.

  In a Hunan summer home, several people chatted casually, sometimes talking about past interesting things, sometimes talking about the present days, and more often talking about future aspirations.

  Xie Xiaoyue didn't say a word in this gathering of classmates, she just accompanied Jiang Zhiquan, watching them talk with interest and drinking tea water, then pouring water.

  "Knock knock." Just as everyone was chatting, a knocking sound came from outside the door.

  "Xiao Cai has arrived." Zhou Yi was the happiest among everyone, still smiling. If not for his robust physique, there would definitely be wrinkles on his face.

  "Hello, can we have our dishes now?" The waiter came in from outside and asked if the ordered dishes were ready to be served.

  "Wait a bit longer, it'll be ready soon, we'll call you to serve the dishes." Wu Kaiyue said, then glanced at his watch, which already showed 6:10. "Why hasn't Little Cai arrived yet?"

  "I'll make a call and ask." Zhou Yi took out his mobile phone at this time and dialed 'Little Cai's' number.

  "Hello, is that Little Cai?" After a ring, the call went through.

  "Wait a minute, 5 minutes, I'll be right there." A hurried breathing sound came from the other end of the phone, seemingly in motion.

  "Alright, everyone is waiting for you, hurry up and come." Zhou Yi could tell that he was really hurrying over, at least now he was walking or running.

  "Xiao Cai said it will arrive in 5 minutes, let's wait a bit." Zhou Yi put down his phone and told everyone about the current situation.

  "Which of you has been in contact with Little Cai?" Jiang Zhiquan said.

  Apart from Zhou Yi, both Lin Fang and Wu Kaiyue shook their heads.

  "That kid was a bit fake tough when he was in the dormitory, there's too much pressure at home." Jiang Zhiquan's eyes slightly looked down, recalling some things.

  "What's up? Is there something I don't know?" Zhou Yi immediately became interested.

  "Let him say it himself, after all, this is a private matter." Jiang Zhiyuan did not answer Zhou Yi's question.

  "By the way, Zhou Yi, you know a lot of things, what's your view on dreams?" Lin Fang suddenly thought to ask Zhou Yi.

  "A dream?" Everyone who heard this topic felt it was strange. The strangeness lay in the fact that Lin Fang asked, and even Jiang Zhiyuan couldn't help but look at Lin Fang.

  "There's nothing, just had a weird dream recently and don't know what it means." Lin Fang saw everyone looking at him, picked up the teacup on the table to cover up the tension in his heart.

  "Dreams, as I know, have several scientific explanations. For example, if you desire something, there are two possibilities: knowing and not knowing. If you know, then during your conscious hours, you will take action towards that direction. If you don't know, then dreams can be used to pursue it." Zhou Yi didn't pay attention to what Lin Fang wanted to ask. What he said to Ning Zhiyuan was almost the same.

  "So what's unscientific about it?" Lin Fang listened and didn't gain much, asking towards another mysterious point.

  "It's a bit too unscientific, for example, having prophetic dreams. When people dream, it's actually their soul escaping and wandering around nearby. And the soul doesn't just do that, it's said to also run off into the future, experiencing things that will definitely happen in the future, but just going through them once first. Normally, you won't remember, but when that thing happens, you'll feel a sense of familiarity, as if you've experienced it before, but don't know where." Zhou Yi spoke, furrowing his brow and pausing slightly, as if organizing his words to express himself more clearly.

  Lin Fang nodded slightly, a soulful expression, perhaps this was somewhat enlightening.

  "But I'm more inclined towards another saying." At this time, Jiang Zhiquan spoke up.

  As everyone looked at him, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his fingers once again.

  "This is something I once heard from an old man, if it's a dream that repeats many times or one that you remember very deeply." Jiang Zhiquan said this with his eyes seeming to hold some special meaning. "It's something you've forgotten, but your body or subconscious still remembers very clearly and reminds you through dreams." His eyelids closed slightly. "And also, like Zhou Yi just said, it might be a bit mysterious, possibly the most profound experience from your past life that you still remember clearly in this life." When Jiang Zhiquan said this, the atmosphere at the dinner table became somewhat frozen.

  No one spoke, as if pondering Gu Ge's words, yet also as if something was holding everyone back from speaking.

  Lin Fang stretched out his hand and loosened his collar, opened his mouth, just about to speak, when the door was knocked.

  "Knock knock." A few rhythmic sounds echoed in this quiet space, somewhat abrupt.

  "Has everybody thought of me?" A person walked out from outside the door, before he could be seen clearly, his words had already been spoken.

  "I'm going to die from you." Jiang Zhiyuan stood up and looked at the person who came, with a slight smile on his face, and walked towards him.

  "Boss Jiang, long time no see." The newcomer opened his arms and walked towards Jiang Zhiquan.

  "Little Cai, long time no see." The two people hugged each other briefly, and it was indeed a long time since they had last seen each other.

  "Alright, alright, stop it, Weng has a girlfriend now." Zhou Yi slapped his face with his hand, as if he couldn't bear to look anymore.

  "Cough, cough." At this time, Xiang Xiaoyue also pretended to cough, then smiled and looked at Jiang Zhiquan.

  "Sit down and let's talk, it's been a long time since we've seen each other, let's have a good chat." Lin Fang also stood up and said to Xiao Cai.

  "I'll go call the waiter for the dishes." Lin Fang didn't sit down and walked towards the outside of the door.

  When everyone sat down, Jiang Zhiyuan introduced Cai Xiao to Xiǎo Yuè.

  "This is Cai Ming, this is my girlfriend Xiang Xiaoyue."

  "Snake?" Cai Ming said in confusion.

  "It's She, this surname has the same pronunciation as snake." Xie Xiaoyue didn't mind Cai Ming saying that.

  "What has Xiao Cai been busy with recently? Why did he only come now." When Lin Fang returned, Zhou Yi started asking questions again.

  "As the saying goes, it's hard to find what you want to do, and even harder to find what you should do and also want to do. But I've found it," said Cai Ming.

  "Looks like you've found it." Jiang Zhiyuan noticed his expression and said this without any confusion.

  "I've found it now, I'm doing insurance, but because I'm too young and lack experience, people don't quite trust me yet, so I'm accumulating experience now." Cai Ming's expression was somewhat proud.

  "Well, that's right. In this industry with insurance, you must have good eloquence. You need to change your personality, it was too rushed before." Jiang Zhiyuan said.

  "Haha, yeah, gotta change, young people always have a bit of arrogance." Cai Ming self-deprecatingly said.

  "People will change, a little change in three years, a big change in ten years. No matter how they change, we are still brothers." This sentence was originally neutral, but when spoken by Wu Kaiyue, it became somewhat negative.

  "Knock knock." The door was knocked again, and the waiter, carrying dishes, walked in from outside.

  "You guys go first, I'll go to the bathroom, I drank a bit too much tea just now," said Lin Fang.

  "Come on, I'll go with you to the restroom." Jiang Zhiquan also stood up.

  Two people walked towards the door, one in front and one behind. As soon as they stepped out of the door, Lin Fang heard a voice coming from behind.

  "Where are you going?"

  "Did you just speak?" Lin Fang thought it was Jiang Zhiyuan who spoke and asked him.

  "No, I didn't say anything." Jiang Zhiyuan looked at him in confusion.

  "Boss Jiang, you say, what will we become?" Lin Fang also didn't mind and started chatting with Jiang Zhiquan.

  "No matter what you become, just don't become that person you hate." Jiang Zhiquan's words seem to have a deeper meaning.

  Lin Fang came out of the toilet, washed his hands and found that the hand dryer next to him was not responding. He reached into his pocket for a tissue, as he usually put some less frequently used but necessary items in the left pocket, such as keys and tissues.

  But he found that there were not just these two things inside, and there was also a note.

  "Hey, Brother Qian, the dryer is broken. Here, have a paper towel." Lin Fang was about to take a look at the note in his hand, but Jiang Zhiqiang came out and he put the note away, pulling out a paper towel for him instead.

  "Let's go back." The two of them finished their business and walked towards the room.

  The dishes have all been served, and everyone is waiting for them.

  "Welcome back, come on, let's start," said Zhou Yi, as the founder, he was also half the host.

  Everyone was talking and laughing during dinner, and after a while, they started talking about past foolish things, which made everyone burst out laughing, without any dignity. Then they talked about who had fallen in love with which girl and got dumped, followed by a round of teasing. At the dinner table, they chatted about the past, present, and future, and their friendship was on full display.

  In this room filled with laughter, the food was also gradually disappearing with time. Unlike a formal dinner party, it wasn't stiff, and unlike in a dormitory, it wasn't too casual either. Even Lin Fang, who didn't talk much, said a lot. They even ordered two bottles of beer, but Xiǎo Yuè didn't drink. The four of them shared it, so it was just two or three cups each.

  Everyone's topic changed quickly, jumping very fast. At first, they talked about Lin Fang's work, then connected to Wu Kaiyue's music on the job, and then Cai Ming's life view. Then, She Xiaoyue talked about emotional history with Jiang Zhiquan together. Curious Zhou Yi asked non-stop. There was no topic that lasted for a long time, and there was no topic that nobody talked about.

  At 8:00 in the evening, everyone had eaten and drunk enough, and was discussing the next program.

  "Alright everyone, let's set off after we've rested. I've already booked the rooms and we'll arrive at 8:30, just in time for us to walk over." said Zhou Yi, glancing at his watch.

  "Waiter, the bill." Lin Fang, being closest to the door, walked out and spoke with the waiter.

  After sitting back in the room, I started laughing and looked at Quan Ge on the left and Xiao Cai on the right.

  And others are the same, you look at me, I look at you, with a sly smile on our faces.

  Xiao Yue looked at Jiang Zhiquan with a puzzled expression, she thought that everyone either rushed to pay the bill or didn't want to pay it, but this expression, how was it a bit sly.

  "Speak up, Zhou Yi, how much money?" Jiang Zhiquan looked at Zhou Yi with a knowing expression.

  "Not much, not much, exactly 250." Zhou Yi was also smiling foolishly.

  "It's really not much, it's really not much." Wu Kaiyue said, with a slightly heavier tone on the word "much".

  This group of people is talking about money as if they're all foolish, Xiang Xiaoyue thought.

  "Old rules?" Cai Ming's sentence was a question with a hint of affirmation.

  "Right, as usual." Zhou Yi confirmed.

  Everyone heard what the host said, and each person took out a 50 yuan note from their wallet. Before long, everyone had put down a 50 yuan note on the table and handed it to Lin Fang.

  "You shouldn't be sitting in this position." Lin Fang said helplessly as he took the money.

  "Our old rule is to split the bill, when we were in the dormitory, we usually went out to eat together, because none of us had any income." Jiang Zhiquan said to Xie Xiaoyue beside him, without saying anything else, he just picked up his tea and started drinking.

  He believes that Xiang Xiaoyue understands why, and also knows why Lin Fang was allowed to take the fall. It's quite simple, recently...

  At 8:20 in the evening, everyone had come out of Xiang Xia's home and strolled to the front of a KTV.

  "Huang Cheng KTY, this name is really domineering." Looking at the big sign hanging high on the door, Wu Kai said excitedly.

  "It's been a long time since I sang, today I want to sing well. Cai Ming liked singing very much when he was in college and even participated in the school's singing competition."

  "Prince of love songs, what's the hurry? There will be opportunities for you to show off." Jiang Zhiyuan pushed his glasses and also looked at Siu Sau-yuet's expression.

  Xie Xiaoyue didn't say anything, she just smiled back at him.

  "X... H..." Lin Fang came out of the restaurant and rarely spoke, now he was lowering his head and speaking softly.

  "What's wrong?" Zhou Yi didn't know if he had been caring about Lin Fang all along, noticing this very small action.

  "Nothing, let's go in." Lin Fang said and walked into the gate.

  Next to the gate was a neon sign with flashing blue and green lights, on which was written: "Minors not allowed inside."

  Lin Fang's left hand had been in his pocket the whole time, clutching a piece of paper with the words "XAYWNABQHKBHE" written on it.

  PS: The first digit has been released. This ciphertext is a Caesar cipher, and interested students can try to crack it.