Chapter Forty-Three: Destination

The next morning, as Lu Jing and her two companions stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, they saw Kang Ning seated in a corner of the lounge, absorbed in reading a newspaper. Before they could greet him, Kang Ning had already come over, handed the room key to Zheng Yi, bent down to pick up their three small suitcases, and led the way out the door.

By the time the three women had finished checking out and stepped outside, Kang Ning had already pulled the SUV up to the drop-off point in front of the hotel. Once the three women were in the car, they chattered incessantly, showering Kang Ning with praise: they hadn’t expected him to be so thoughtful and gentlemanly. Lu Jing also noticed that the SUV, which had been covered in dust and mud just the day before, was now spotless, thoroughly cleaned inside and out.

The car moved at a leisurely pace, following the flow of traffic out of Guiyang. Lu Jing glanced at her watch—it was exactly eight o’clock. Looking up gratefully, she asked, “Washing the car, filling up the tank—that must have taken at least an hour. What time did you get up?”

“Half past five. I’m used to it,” Kang Ning replied.

Zheng Yi half-jokingly, half-seriously teased, “Xiao Wu, you might as well be my driver. I’ll buy a car as soon as we get back. What kind of car do you like to drive?”

Qu Mengmeng shot Zheng Yi a sideways glance. “Yi-jie, that’s not fair. Everything should go in order of who asked first, right, Jing-jie?”

Lu Jing pursed her lips, laughing for a while. “You two are just impossible; look, you’ve made Xiao Wu blush! Haha… Oh, hey, we’re here—twenty meters ahead, that’s the place.”

After parking, the four of them entered a small eatery by National Highway 321 for breakfast, just as they’d planned the night before. The shop was famous for its lotus-leaf glutinous rice cakes. Kang Ning took a bite and found the taste excellent, so he ordered another rice cake and a small bowl of porridge.

Once breakfast was over, they continued on their way. Lu Jing paid close attention to Kang Ning’s driving skills and methods. After a while, she still couldn’t quite figure out his technique, but she could tell that his gear shifting and speed control were exceptional. Not only did he take bends smoothly, but even on sharp turns he barely touched the brakes, relying instead on gear changes and the car’s handling to glide through with ease.

Curious, Lu Jing asked, “Xiao Wu, where did you learn to drive? How many years have you been driving?”

“I started messing with cars back in school, but I’ve only really been driving for five years or so,” Kang Ning replied cautiously. “Why don’t you drive something smaller? A Jetta, for example, is pretty good—the chassis and suspension suit this region’s roads.”

Lu Jing explained, “My car is an imported Passat, but I figured the roads near Libo in Guizhou would be tough, so I swapped it for this SUV. Had I known the roads were this good, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

Kang Ning immediately realized that Lu Jing was quite wealthy. Judging by the price of her repair shop and an imported Passat, her assets were at least a million, if not more. But among the three, Zheng Yi seemed to be the richest. According to Qu Mengmeng, Zheng Yi’s husband shuttled between Shanghai and Shenzhen managing three companies and a factory co-owned with Taiwanese partners. Zheng Yi herself owned a teahouse and six storefronts in Leijiang, while Qu Mengmeng’s father was a government official. Clearly, these three women were no ordinary people. Kang Ning decided it was best to keep a careful distance.

At half past nine that evening, the four arrived back at their destination, Leijiang. After a hurried, late dinner, Kang Ning was set up to rest temporarily in a hotel next to Zheng Yi’s teahouse. He used fatigue as an excuse to decline Qu Mengmeng’s enthusiastic invitation to go sing karaoke; back in his room, after a shower, he lay on the bed considering his next moves.

The next morning, Lu Jing and Zheng Yi came early to invite Kang Ning for tea at the teahouse. Only after Kang Ning’s repeated urging did Lu Jing reveal that he would have to wait two more days. Since Kang Ning didn’t have a place to stay, Lu Jing planned to clear out a fifteen-square-meter storeroom beside the repair shop’s office, repaint it, and furnish it before he could move in.

Kang Ning apologized, “I’m really sorry for the trouble. I’m just here to work—I don’t need anything special. I’ll stay wherever the other workers live.”

Lu Jing smiled gently. “Most of my workers are locals—eleven people, all with their own homes. Only a sixty-something relative from the countryside stays overnight to watch the place. My sister used to live here before she got married; that storeroom was originally her room. Now that she’s gone, it’s just the old man at night. The shop is far from the city, and I can’t be there all the time, so having you live there is actually better for me—I won’t have to worry about theft.”

After tea, Kang Ning took his leave and wandered around the city. Over the next three days, he walked nearly every street, heading out at dawn and not returning to the hotel until ten at night, much to the frustration of Qu Mengmeng and Zheng Yi, who kept missing him for meals and singing. After missing him for three lunches and two dinners, the three women finally caught Kang Ning at half past nine on the third night. The moment they saw him in the hotel lobby, they bombarded him with jokes and mock scolds, leaving Kang Ning at a loss for how to escape.

Lu Jing, noticing the thick stack of books Kang Ning carried—all on advanced car repairs—smiled sweetly and stopped Qu Mengmeng and Zheng Yi’s incessant teasing. “Enough, let him put his books away first. We’ll wait here. If he’s not back in five minutes, then we’ll give him a piece of our minds!”

Back in his room, Kang Ning set down his books, sighed at his reflection in the mirror, made a face, and growled under his breath, feeling a bit better. After thinking for a moment, he decided to join them after all. He would be moving into the shop the next day, and keeping a little distance would be easier then.

It wasn’t long after Kang Ning settled into Lu Jing’s Passat that the car arrived at a bar near the Tuojiang Theater, smoothly pulling into a parking space to the right of the entrance. The bar’s name amused him greatly—“Destination.” Clearly, the three women were regulars here. As they stepped inside, a polite young man of about twenty-five or six, average in height and wearing a badge identifying him as the lobby manager, greeted them with respect. Kang Ning noticed the young man’s refined features.

The four followed the manager to a luxurious private room at the end of the second floor. Kang Ning took in the room’s decor and layout. The manager, glancing at the tall Kang Ning among the three beautiful women, seemed noticeably surprised. Their eyes met, and the manager, sensing Kang Ning’s cool indifference, quickly smiled and excused himself after taking Qu Mengmeng’s drinks order.

“Hey, what are you spacing out for? It’s your turn to pick two songs.” Qu Mengmeng shoved a remote control into his hand.

Kang Ning looked at the remote, then at the big screen TV ahead, and shook his head. “I can’t sing. You all go ahead—I'll just listen.”

Zheng Yi stared at Kang Ning as if he were a rare specimen. “Really? I’ve never heard of anyone who can’t do karaoke these days. Even old farmers can shell out a couple of yuan to belt something out on the street. Who’d believe a young guy like you can’t sing?”

At that moment, a waitress knocked and delivered two bottles of red wine, a bucket of ice, and some snacks. The young manager brought in an exquisite fruit platter with enthusiasm. Soon, their glasses were filled with the Spanish “Shepherd” wine. The manager and waitress excused themselves politely.

Kang Ning clinked glasses with the three women and took a small sip, noticing something off about the wine’s flavor. He was about to say something but suddenly remembered his current identity. He turned to Qu Mengmeng. “Miss, I really can’t get used to this wine. What kind of local beer do you have?”

Qu Mengmeng thought for a second and pressed the call button. When a young waitress hurried in, she called out, “A dozen cans of Heineken, and four sets of dice cups.”