Chapter 40: Nice to meet you

‘Right, if I had known, I would have made a sign too.’

Seeing this, the realization finally hit Gu Chen.

If she had followed this guy’s lead and held up a nameplate, even if she didn’t recognize the person, the other party would have definitely seen her.

Then there wouldn’t be any issues.

“Oh, ow…”

Suddenly, the man next to her clutched his stomach, looking quite miserable as his legs began to tremble.

After taking several deep breaths, he still couldn’t hold it in.

He glanced at Gu Chen and spoke.

“Buddy, my stomach really hurts. I’ve got to hit the restroom. Do me a favor and watch my sign? Don’t let anyone take it, thanks!”

Without waiting for an answer, the guy bolted toward the exit.

By the look of it, he must have eaten something bad.

“Is he crazy…?”

Gu Chen muttered.

‘Do people nowadays really lack this much of a sense of boundaries?’

Walking away before she even agreed — it was truly exasperating.

Besides, she was in a hurry to meet someone too!

She wasn’t in the mood for this.

Oh well.

If her person hadn’t arrived yet, she’d help watch it.

But once her contact showed up, she wouldn’t bother with it anymore.

After all, she hadn’t actually agreed to help.

As the crowd slowly emerged from the arrival gate, everyone looked over in unison.

A girl wearing a mask came out with the group.

She seemed a bit distracted, constantly checking her phone.

“The address should be correct, right?”

The girl was the streamer from Japan, Nana.

The reason she had taken a leave of absence was to come here.

Her long, smooth hair wasn’t tied into her usual twin tails, making her look a bit more mature.

Wearing a slim-fit long dress, she still carried the aura of a little princess.

Although her Chinese was very good, she felt uneasy being in a foreign country for the first time.

If she were just here for a vacation, it would be fine, but the key was that she was here to find someone.

For this purpose, she had worked hard to earn a sum of money through streaming.

Only then did she have the financial means to travel this far.

She had even contacted a local travel agency in advance for safety.

Besides arranging accommodation, she needed to inquire about certain matters.

‘I wonder if the brother I’ve never met is still in this city…’

‘God, please bless me and help me find my brother,’ Airi Hoshino prayed silently.

She didn’t have much information at the moment.

Aside from the general address where her mother used to live, she only had a photo of her brother from when he was a child.

She opened her photo album to a picture of a cute little boy.

He actually looked very similar to her when she was young, which made her even more certain.

Pulling herself together, Airi Hoshino continued toward the arrival gate, her eyes scanning the people waiting to pick others up.

She quickly spotted the sign with her name on it, and Gu Chen just happened to be standing right there.

‘She must be the travel agency staff member responsible for meeting me.’

So, she immediately walked over and looked at the other person.

“Huh!?”

Gu Chen also noticed someone approaching her and couldn’t help but lock eyes with them.

“What?”

Airi Hoshino momentarily lost herself when she saw Gu Chen.

For some reason, the person in front of her gave off a strange feeling, though she couldn’t quite put it into words.

‘Is it her?’

Gu Chen was also stunned.

A Japanese girl wearing a mask — the characteristics matched.

“Um… hello. Are you the one here to pick me up?”

Airi Hoshino asked after snapping out of it.

“You’re the girl from Japan, right?”

Gu Chen blinked, making a final confirmation.

“Yes! I am Airi Hoshino. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please take care of me!”

She then gave a very polite bow.

“Then it’s correct!”

“Hello, my name is Gu Chen. I’m here to pick you up. Don’t be so formal; I’ll take your luggage for you.”

Seeing that all the information matched, Gu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t expected Li Yanqiu to actually tell the truth — this really was a cute Japanese girl.

Since she was a friend of Li Yanqiu’s, Gu Chen would try to maintain her manners to avoid having the girl say anything bad about her later.

“Thank you! I’ll be in your care, Gu Chen,” Airi Hoshino thanked her again, bowing once more.

“No need for that. Just call me Gu Chen. That way of talking… it makes my heart flutter a bit…”

Gu Chen waved her hand.

She really wasn’t used to such awkward, formal speech.

If anyone heard it, they’d think she was a bumbling translator for some foreigner.

“Huh?”

“All right, Gu Chen.”

Although Airi Hoshino didn’t understand what she meant, she changed her way of addressing her.

Time was tight, so there was no time to ask questions.

Gu Chen led her out of the airport and hailed a taxi.

Following the homeroom teacher’s instructions, they drove to a local star-rated hotel that could accommodate foreign guests.

Airi Hoshino registered and was assigned a room.

“You can stay here for now until she arrives. By the way, the restaurant is on the third floor of the hotel. You can go there if you want to eat.”

After finishing the arrangements, Gu Chen gave the final set of instructions.

She had originally planned to take her out for a meal, but the last class of the day was about to end.

If she didn’t hurry back, she really wouldn’t make it.

Anyway, she had done everything she could, which counted as fulfilling her task for Li Yanqiu.

“Wait!”

Airi Hoshino put down her luggage and suddenly called out to her.

“Is there something else?”

“Sorry, I also want to ask about something. Is it convenient?”

Airi Hoshino had just arrived and was almost completely in the dark.

Gu Chen was the first local she had met, so she couldn’t wait to ask.

“It’s okay, go ahead.”

“I want to ask where Willow Street is in this city and how to get there.”

“What are you going there for?”

The name of that place caught Gu Chen by surprise.

Of course she knew it; in fact, she was very familiar with it because she had lived there as a child.

Although many things from her childhood were blurred, she wouldn’t forget the name of the place.

It used to be an old residential area, but later, as the city developed, developers wanted to create an economic zone, so it was demolished.

Her dad was allocated a new house and some compensation, though it wasn’t much, and they moved to a new place from then on.

“I want to go there to find someone. I don’t know if they are still there,” Airi Hoshino answered.

“Then you probably won’t find them.”

Gu Chen shook her head and decided to tell the truth.

“Why?”

“That place was demolished many years ago, and all the residents moved away. If the person you’re looking for was there before that, there isn’t much hope. By the way, what’s the name of the person you’re looking for?”

Gu Chen explained.

Thinking about how she had lived there as a child and was quite familiar with the area, maybe she knew the person.

“I don’t know the name, but I have a photo from when he was little.”

Airi Hoshino immediately fumbled with her phone.

She quickly pulled up the photo, intending to show it to Gu Chen.

*Ring, ring!*

But before she could hand over the phone, a call came through on the other end.

“Teacher Li, is your meeting over?”

Gu Chen saw it was her calling and answered the phone.

“Gu Chen, where did you run off to? My friend is already there, but she didn’t see you!”

Li Yanqiu sounded both angry and anxious on the other end.

“What? I picked her up a long time ago and already settled her in at the hotel.”

Gu Chen was also a bit dumbfounded.

Wasn’t her friend right in front of her?

Why was she saying she hadn’t been picked up?

Was she joking?

“You must have the wrong person! Honestly, hurry up and go get her. Stop wasting time!”

Li Yanqiu hadn’t expected such a blunder to occur and hurriedly urged her.