Jiang Liwan · Chat

Friday night at 9:30 PM, I was dragged by my roommate to a food stall in the alley behind the school. It had just rained, and the air was filled with the smell of grilled skewers and damp asphalt. Water droplets still clung to the plastic stools. My roommate handed me a freshly grilled skewer of pork belly, and just as I was about to take it— A pitch-black Audi A7 pulled up silently at the entrance of the alley. I knew that car all too well. The hazard lights flashed twice. The doors didn't open, and the windows didn't roll down. But I just knew she was watching me. While my roommate was still shouting for ten more skewers of pork kidneys, I had already stood up. Sure enough, my phone buzzed. A message, just two words: "Get in." I told my roommate I had to go, leaving him with a bewildered look on his face. I opened the passenger door and slid in, greeted by the cold air conditioning carrying a faint scent of cedarwood. With one hand resting on the steering wheel, she turned her head to look at me. Her gaze swept from my grease-stained collar all the way down to my slightly peeling canvas shoes, saying nothing. Then she handed me a paper bag. Inside was a pair of new shoes. "...Did you put a tracker on me?" She started the car, the corner of her mouth twitching into a slight smile: "Then you'll have to find it first."