Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 829: Chapter 73: Paper Cranes

In Caroline’s memory, her recollections of campus and anything related to it remain at the junior high level.

What is university?

She had actually entertained many wealthy university students before, and had listened to many stories from these students out seeking pleasure.

But, what exactly is university?

The dormitory of the classmate Arno mentioned was in the boys’ area. Surprisingly, Arno had a key to this dormitory.

To this, Arno explained, “The dormitory fees are too high, much more expensive than the place I rent, so I applied for off-campus housing. But the person who originally lived here has a good relationship with me, and he secretly gave me a key, allowing me to rest here when I couldn’t make it home… Come in.”

A double room, a very clean room, the bed on the left looked very messy. Caroline even found a pair of women’s panties, while the bed on the right was neatly made, even the quilt was folded into a square, with distinct edges and corners.

“Sometimes he brings his girlfriend over…” Arno smiled awkwardly regarding the women’s panties Caroline found.

Caroline showed understanding and then asked, “But… what if your classmate comes back?”

Arno said, “He’s been interning at an outside company recently, hardly coming back, rest assured… by the way, sit here for a while, I’ll go buy some food.”

Caroline hesitated a bit, with unease showing on her face, but Arno displayed a reassuring smile as he opened the door: “It’s alright, it’s very safe here.”

Caroline nodded, but after Arno left, she locked the door immediately—locking it securely from the inside.

She hurried to the window, monitoring the situation below, soon after she saw Arno walking out of the dormitory building toward a nearby convenience store.

Arno seemed very cautious, constantly looking around until gradually disappearing under the shade along the campus path.

Caroline took a deep breath, feeling sticky all over, it had been a few days without taking a shower—she walked into the bathroom that came with the dormitory.

The weather was hot, so she took a cold shower.

When the cool water from the showerhead sprayed on her body, Caroline took a deep breath. The sudden chill stimulated all her pores. Caroline closed her eyes.

In the darkness, the scene from this morning at the crossroads suddenly flashed… that mother pushing a baby stroller.

Caroline shivered suddenly, rushed to the mirror again, staring closely into her own eyes, the whites still bloodshot… but it didn’t seem to impair her vision.

She stood there in front of the mirror in a daze, watching her reflection, waiting for something to happen… or rather, hoping to ‘see’ something.

She had a feeling that what she saw this morning, and the gas explosion consuming her in the restaurant bathroom last night, was neither hallucination nor coincidence—something must have happened to her.

This made her trace back to an earlier dream—something dangerous was chasing her, she ran and ran, but could never escape, eventually, she fell into endless darkness.

Caroline instinctively touched her lower abdomen, “Already… already taken away?”

If it’s about ‘seeing’ the future, this ability seems beyond her control. Caroline stood for a long time, but nothing came, and she couldn’t figure it out. She even wondered if this ability to ‘see’ the future only happened a few times.

Were they accurate every single time?

…

It took about half an hour for Arno to return, carrying quite a bit of food and water. Caroline unlocked the door from the inside to let Arno in.

Upon entering, Arno paused to look at Caroline.

Caroline had just showered, now simply wearing a white shirt, her damp hair draped down, the white shirt barely reaching her thighs.

Arno seemed to gulp.

Caroline was quite casual, “My clothes are dirty, you don’t mind if I wear this shirt, do you? I found it on this bed, it should be yours?”

“No, no, it’s fine, you can wear it…” Arno hurriedly walked past Caroline with the stuff, heading to the desk by the window to take out things from the bag: “It’s mine, I left some clothes here as backup. Uh… want something to eat? I bought bread, oh, chips and chocolate beans.”

Caroline walked over to Arno’s side, not minding her arm touching Arno’s, she directly took out a bottle of beer from the bag.

Pop.

The sound of a ring pull being lifted.

Caroline sat directly on the bed, casually crossing her legs. Arno glanced over and noticed Caroline was wearing panties—seeming to notice Arno’s glance, Caroline showed Arno a smile that was both amused and not amused.

Arno quickly looked out the window, then sat down, opening a beer to drink as well.

Bookworm… Caroline shook her head.

They didn’t speak for a long time. Arno stared blankly out the window until the sky completely darkened. He turned on the desk lamp, then turned to speak, only to find Caroline had fallen asleep.

Sleeping on her side, with long legs overlapping, she rested her head on her arm, apparently deeply asleep.

Arno swallowed again, then stood up, slowly walking to the bedside. He gently reached out a hand toward Caroline’s face.

When his fingers were almost touching Caroline’s cheek, they stopped. Arno began to move his arm, his fingers following the contours of Caroline’s body without making actual contact, staying a couple of centimeters above her.

Caroline suddenly moved, turning over.

Arno jerked back his hand like lightning, realizing she was just shifting in her sleep, he breathed a sigh of relief. He inhaled deeply, then pulled out a blanket, covering Caroline.

Only then did Arno sit at the desk—he turned back to look at Caroline once more, and seeing she didn’t move, he quickly took a key from his pocket.

He unlocked the desk drawer, then retrieved something from his clothes and placed it into the drawer.

Quickly locking the drawer again, he put away the key—he glanced at Caroline once more, finding she hadn’t moved.

Only then did Arno lay his head on the desk, and he soon fell asleep too.

In a deep sleep, Caroline suddenly showed a pained expression, her fingers gripping the sheets tightly, her forehead covered in tiny beads of sweat.

The same recurring dream.

Under the light, a tattooed man whose face couldn’t be seen, the Boss of Boston, and others… they frantically stuffed something into her mouth.

She struggled desperately, struggled… struggled…

So painful.

In the end, Caroline stopped struggling, her whole body went limp and she eventually stayed still, seeming as if she were dead…

…

…

The sound of roaring engines.

From one end of the long road to the other, like a long shot, it crossed in an instant, the speed of the red Hennessey Viper GT conquered this highway in a flash, causing other cars on the road to retreat.

“Damn… a red Viper GT!”

“Who is that?”

“The little princess of the Song Dynasty Group…”

The Henessy Viper GT was no longer visible on the long road, yet a few luxury private cars appeared on the road. Compared to the stunning Henessy Viper GT, these luxury cars seemed to pale in comparison.

“Uncle Wu, we’re sorry, we’ve lost Miss Ying…”

“Got it, come back for now, let the second and third teams wait ahead, keep hidden, don’t let Miss Ying find you, report to me anytime there’s a situation.”

“Understood!”

…

The car slowly stopped on a mountainous road. This city was surrounded by lakes on three sides, and from this point, you could gaze out at the endless sea.

“Annoying flies have finally been shaken off…” Song Ying opened the car door and got out first, “Come out, this is the best spot for sceneries, better than those tourist sites the tours take you to.”

“It’s really nice.” Luo Qiu also got out of the car and went to the railing of the road to gaze ahead.

The night view, the sea view, offered a panoramic view of the entire city. Song Ying now took out two bottles of sparkling water from the car’s mini fridge, “You’ve got some guts, driving so fast without any panic.”

Luo Qiu took the sparkling water Song Ying handed over and smiled slightly, “Because I’ve often taken fast rides before, got used to it, and also it’s a female driver, so it doesn’t feel abrupt, but the speed indeed was quite fast.”

Song Ying sipped her sparkling water while looking at Luo Qiu, “Female driver? Girlfriend?”

“Family.” Luo Qiu looked towards the horizon.

The sea breeze was gentle, Song Ying flicked her hair, shrugged, and suddenly asked, “Can you drive?”

Luo Qiu thought for a moment and said, “Only a mini from the women’s wardrobe, it’s a family member’s, but I don’t have a driver’s license.”

“Want to give it a try?” Song Ying suddenly pointed at her Henessy Viper GT, “Driving this, no traffic police will bother you, and you don’t even need a license.”

“That’s a good connection.” Luo Qiu blinked.

“You could say that,” Song Ying laughed, “but I prefer to call it privilege… the Song family’s privilege.”

For new experiences, Luo Qiu wasn’t very resistant, and driving a luxury sports car was a nice experience. Luo Qiu readily agreed.

The two swapped places, Luo Qiu looked at the steering wheel and the array of instruments, suddenly feeling a bit at a loss, Song Ying directly started the engine and calmly said, “The basic operations are common, but I have modified this car, don’t step on the gas too hard when starting, this is your first time, gradually get used to it. Come, put your hand here…”

Song Ying even grabbed Luo Qiu’s hand and placed it on the steering wheel, “Don’t operate a sports car with one hand.”

The Viper was slowly moving along the mountainous road, quite steadily, Song Ying nodded and said, “You’re adapting fast, you can try accelerating. Pay attention ahead, there are quite a few curves on this mountain road…”

She was quite a competent ‘instructor’.

“Where are we going next?” Luo Qiu asked Song Ying at this time, “Are we going up the mountain?”

There was a fork ahead, the way up the mountain and the way down.

“I’m not interested in watching the sunrise with you at the mountain top,” Song Ying said candidly, “Go down the mountain, and I’ll tell you where to go after… The car is still too slow, speed up a bit.”

“This is fine already.” Luo Qiu shook his head, “There’s a speed limit here.”

“I said, don’t mind those rules,” Song Ying frowned, “Rules are made by people and meant to be broken.”

Luo Qiu shook his head, “That would lead to chaos.”

Song Ying snorted, shook her head, and opened the car window, letting the night wind blow in—although they didn’t fully unleash the car’s performance, it seemed to always maintain at the speed limit, the engine roar still echoed in the mountains.

Song Ying gradually realized that, although they weren’t speeding, this guy was driving surprisingly steadily… seeming to maintain the same speed consistently?

How did he manage that?

“Your driving is very stable,” Song Ying frowned.

Luo Qiu said softly, “I’m used to it… Someone in my family sometimes falls asleep in the car when they’re too tired from work, if the car jolts too much, it wakes her up.”

“I see…” Song Ying was thoughtful, and then suddenly said, “Turn left ahead, then enter Third Avenue, I need you to accompany me to a place. I heard you understand the local scripts and languages? Okay then, just follow Third Avenue straight and stop at Dynasty Hotel; I’ll catch some sleep first.”

“Alright.”

Song Ying closed her eyes, besides the sound of the engine, it really felt quite stable… Before she knew it, she truly fell asleep.

…

Later, Song Ying’s head tilted a bit, and then she leaned forward, creating a slant. However, because of the seatbelt, it held her back, waking her up.

Upon waking up, Song Ying found herself still in the car. She looked around, finding the car had stopped, about forty or fifty meters away from the Dynasty Hotel’s entrance she mentioned before.

And the sports car was parked in a roadside parking spot.

She looked toward Luo Qiu and noticed that this guy was folding something with banknotes… they seemed like paper cranes.

“How long have we been here?” Song Ying frowned.

“It’s been a while.” Luo Qiu focused on folding the banknote paper cranes, speaking softly, “I thought you were quite tired, so I didn’t wake you.”

Song Ying instinctively checked the time on her phone… it was past twelve, thirty-nine minutes past.

She remembered that when they started down the mountain, it was just after ten o’clock; from the mountain path to the hotel was no more than a half-hour drive.

This guy…

“Boring.” Song Ying glanced at Luo Qiu, “An absolute waste of time!”

Luo Qiu smiled, “But you should have recovered your energy, so it wasn’t all bad.”

Luo Qiu placed the banknote paper crane he had just finished folding on the steering wheel.

“Get out!”

Song Ying suddenly opened the car door, feeling inexplicably annoyed inside.

…

…

Almost simultaneously, a black private car arrived at the entrance of Zhonghua Street.

Almost all the shops had closed, and restaurants were entering their last stage before closing. Only perhaps two or three bars were still open.

Lluvia, dressed in black leather, got out of the car and nodded to Oni, and the two quietly moved toward the offices of the Chinatown United Chamber of Commerce.