The Text Message

A loud beep resounded in the fully curtained dark room, awakening Jia Bi Yu from his deep slumber.

Letting out a soft groan as he groggily picked up the phone on the bedside table next to him, he squinted his eyes at the sudden brightness.

Xiao Tang Tang:

'Good morning hero! Did you sleep well last night?'

Right as he finished reading the new message, another two beeps sounded out one after the other.

Xiao Tang Tang:

'Do you have any plans for today?'

Xiao Tang Tang:

'Don't ignore me, hero~'

Jia Bi Yu's eyelids twitched.

He swiped right on the last notification showing on his lock screen.

Bringing up the text box, he quickly typed in, 'What do you want?'

He pressed on the power button once before throwing his phone back onto the bedside table, his head falling back heavily onto the soft white pillow.

As he started to drift off to sleep again, another beep brought him out of his drowsiness.

Xiao Tang Tang:

'Yay! Hero finally answered me! Let me treat you to lunch today as thanks for saving me last night :D'

Just as Jia Bi Yu was about to angrily power off his phone, he paused as the new message caught his attention.

Despite his divine cooking skills, he couldn't say no to free food.

He might not look like it, but he was a big foodie, and his cooking skills were polished over his years of travel by learning different tips and tricks from all sorts of cuisine.

He sent back a simple 'ok' as a reply.

Xiao Tang Tang:

'Great! Meet me outside of Jinling Station at 1 pm.'

Jinling station was not far from his apartment, being only two stops away on the subway.

It was a Sunday afternoon and a majority of the people stayed home to rest or went out earlier in the morning.

The train was almost empty with only two other people besides him on it.

Jia Bi Yu did not ask Chen Mei Ling to come along as she still had homework to finish, and he did not really want her to get involved with this slag of a young man.

Just based on what he said about the girl last night, he was able to conclude that he was a true bonafide playboy, flirting with girls whether consciously or unconsciously.

He took a seat at the back further away from them, studying the many different posters and advertisements on the wall.

He looked out the window as the train pulled out of the station into the dark underground tunnel, the occasional light from the small lamp illuminating the dark wall flashing past.

It didn't take long before it pulled up to Jinling Station.

The pre-recorded announcement message announcing its name and reminding passengers to take all belongings when they leave the train.

As Jia Bi Yu stepped out of the subway station, the sound of cars honking and various voices surrounded him.

In the front was a building with a large screen displaying the current hottest model.

He was facing the left with his chin tilted up, his left arm grabbing onto his right shoulder and his right arm pointing in front of him, flowers blooming all around.

Looking around, Wu Shang Tang has not arrived yet.

He leaned against the wall next to the exit with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Soon a familiar figure came running towards him.

Wu Shang Tang bent the top of his body down and supported himself with his hands on his thighs, panting heavily.

He lifted his left wrist up, checking the time on the silver diamond studded watch, as the second hand just ticked at 1:00.

"Right on time!"

He wiped the slight sweat around his neck, his breathing slowly returning to normal.

"Did you wait long, hero?"

He did not get a reply and awkwardly scratched his head.

"Let's go then. Also, this is a bit late, but I'm called Wu Shang Tang. You can just call me Xiao Tang Tang. Please take care of me from now on!"

[From now on....?]

Wu Shang Tang started leading Jia Bi Yu ahead.

"Jia Bi Yu," he said in a barely audible voice.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Wu Shang Tang tilted his head slightly towards him while still looking towards the front.

"My name is Jia Bi Yu," he repeated.

"Jia Bi Yu. Jia Bi Yu...."

Jia Bi Yu became slightly alarmed when Wu Shang Tang widened his eyes at hearing his name.

Turning his head fully back, a big smile formed on his face.

"Jia Bi Yu. What a weird name."