On the 22nd, it was a clear day.
This time of year was cooler than in previous years.
Zhou Li received a call from Zheng Zhilan. After calculating the time together, they learned that Zheng Zhilan would probably arrive at Yan City Station around noon. Zhou Li left home an hour early, rode a Hellobike to the station, but to his surprise, Zheng Zhilan arrived just ten minutes after he started waiting.
There were many train services from Puzhou.
Zhou Li saw a slender girl wearing a light-blue long-sleeved shirt walking out of the exit. The ghost-like Qinghe behind her was particularly conspicuous.
Zheng Zhilan spotted him from a distance.
Zhou Li noticed her steps were somewhat cautious, guessing she was unfamiliar with the area, so he quickened his pace and approached her.
"Slow down," he said.
"It’s okay," she replied.
"I bought a ticket for one-thirty," Zhou Li glanced at his watch. "It’s only eleven-thirty now. I’ll call a Didi. Let’s go grab a meal first. We can take a taxi there before one o’clock."
So, Zhou Li took Zheng Zhilan to the small restaurant Brother Nan had taken him to before the college entrance exams and deliberately ordered twice-cooked pork with sweet potato noodles.
Huai Xu sat next to Zhou Li with a blank expression. He turned to Qinghe and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Qinghe looked at him without making a sound.
Huai Xu looked around. The aroma was tantalizing. "When they start eating later, are you just going to sit here watching them ?"
"Doesn’t it bother you?"
"We should’ve gotten takeout and eaten on Binjiang Avenue. There’s no one there," Zhou Li said somewhat apologetically.
"I know a place nearby where we can eat for free. Let these two eat here. I’ll take you. How about it?" Huai Xu continued. "If you don’t go, I’m going by myself! I really can’t stand watching others eat!"
"Go ahead," Zheng Zhilan said softly.
Qinghe nodded and stood up.
Then the two of them disappeared, leaving only Zhou Li and Zheng Zhilan.
The food arrived slowly; it took half an hour. Fortunately, they had only ordered two dishes and a soup.
"I’ll get you some rice," Zhou Li offered.
"The food here tastes quite good."
"Mm, do you know where to buy a phone?" she asked.
"You want to buy a phone?"
"Yes, relying on just a landline isn’t very convenient." Zheng Zhilan lowered her head to pick at her food, her movements careful, though she couldn’t clearly see what she was picking up. "Although I don’t go online, just using a landline can be inconvenient for contacting people, and sometimes I don’t even know where I’ve ended up."
"That makes sense," Zhou Li mused. "Modern phones are easy to operate with voice commands, and they have accessibility features like VoiceOver. They might be even more convenient than a landline."
"What are voice commands?"
"It’s like... let me show you." Zhou Li took out his phone, held down the home button, and after hearing a BEEP, he said, "Call Zheng Zhilan."
"That’s great," Zheng Zhilan said, slightly surprised.
"You can also send text messages," Zhou Li told the phone. "Send a text to Zheng Zhilan."
"What would you like to say?"
"Here is your message. Ready to send?"
"It’s already been sent. Your landline at home can receive text messages, right?"
"Yes, it can, but I can’t see them clearly."
"The phone can read them aloud, you can use VoiceOver, and there’s also the voice assistant. Watch." Zhou Li summoned the voice assistant again. "Read my messages aloud."
"You have ten unread messages. First, from 1069130****: ’Package Hero, your Yunda Express...’"
"Convenient, isn’t it?" Zhou Li asked Zheng Zhilan.
"Convenient," she admitted.
Zheng Zhilan paused. "I’ve heard there are phones designed for seniors with large text that can also read aloud. Can those phones do this too?"
"Then I’ll just buy this one, the same model."
"This phone of mine is already two years old; you probably can’t buy this model anymore. Let’s get you a new model. I’ll take you."
"Do you need to rush back?"
"Then I’ll change the ticket to two-thirty."
After eating, Zhou Li served himself and Zheng Zhilan a bowl of preserved egg and cucumber soup each. Zhou Li found it especially delicious and scooped most of the preserved egg pieces into Zheng Zhilan’s bowl.
While they were drinking the soup, Huai Xu and Qinghe returned.
They looked satisfied.
Before Zhou Li or Zheng Zhilan could ask, Huai Xu spoke first, "How was your meal?"
Miss Zheng, however, honestly nodded and said it was good.
After finishing the soup, Zhou Li settled the bill. He then walked out of the alley with Zheng Zhilan and into an experience store where he bought her a phone. Since the red model was out of stock, he bought a red case for it instead.
Taking a taxi to the north station, Zhou Li led her onto the escalator, teaching her step by step, "The ticket machines are over here on the right. If you can’t find them, you can ask for help. Oh, right, you have Qinghe with you. Anyway, if you have any problems, you can ask for help from station staff in uniform or even passersby. People will generally help you."
Zhou Li took the ID card from Zheng Zhilan’s hand. After a moment’s thought, he turned to focus on instructing Qinghe how to get the tickets, find the check-in gates and platforms, and how to locate their train car.
Once they were on the train and seated next to each other, Zhou Li also taught Zheng Zhilan how to adjust her seatback. Meanwhile, Huai Xu had taken Qinghe off somewhere, but Zhou Li wasn’t worried.
"Right, your ID card."
Zhou Li handed her ID card back to her, glimpsing at it in the process. The photo of Zheng Zhilan on it was quite pretty. She was looking towards the camera, her expression appearing somewhat indifferent due to her eyes.
The train started moving quickly, and it was very crowded.
Zhou Li began teaching Zheng Zhilan how to use her new phone, simultaneously trying to figure out the easiest way for her to use it.
About twenty minutes later, the train stopped.
Zheng Zhilan turned to look out the window, listening to the announcement on the train, and said softly, "That was fast."
Zheng Zhilan’s client was waiting for her at the exit: a fat middle-aged man in loose clothing, with a driver by his side. A sign with "Zheng Zhilan" written on it was propped on the ground next to him.
It was quite conspicuous.
Following Qinghe’s guidance, Zheng Zhilan walked over. "Hello, I’m Zheng Zhilan."
"Ah, Master Zheng, I’m Xu Qiang! At last, you’re here!" The fat man hurried over to shake Zheng Zhilan’s hand. "I’ve been worried sick these past few days! But I knew you were busy and couldn’t get away, so I didn’t dare rush you."
"Please don’t worry," Zheng Zhilan said, her face turning slightly red.
"Right, right. And this is...?"
"Hello, Master Zhou. You can call me Old Xu. This way, please, esteemed masters." Xu Qiang then remarked, "You two masters are so young!"
"If I can’t resolve the issue, I won’t charge a fee," Zheng Zhilan said.
"That’s not what I meant..."
Zhou Li had already discussed Xu Qiang’s issue with Zheng Zhilan during their meal. It was a minor matter, something Zheng Zhilan could likely resolve simply by mediating. If direct communication didn’t work, she had other ways to facilitate an understanding. Zheng Zhilan was very experienced in such matters and had an excellent reputation, which was how Xu Qiang found her—through a friend’s recommendation.
Xu Qiang’s car was in the parking lot. The drive to his factory took about forty-odd minutes, but resolving the issue itself only took half an hour.
Zheng Zhilan handled things much like Zhou Li would have. She softly told Xu Qiang, "Please confirm everything is fine in a few days. After that, you can transfer the payment to my account."
Xu Qiang thanked them profusely and drove them back to Yan City himself.
The car was spacious. Zheng Zhilan fiddled with her new phone, occasionally asking Zhou Li questions. Suddenly, she asked, "This can take photos, right?"
"I’ve never had my photo taken before."
"Then later, I’ll take one of you. We can find a place to get it printed, a large one."
Zheng Zhilan looked down at her phone.