Part 250

99 5 14
                                    

A few days later in Qingdao, Gong Jun looked around in awe at the European architecture in the city centre. The century-old buildings were topped with steeples and classical windows. If he closed his ears and disregarded the standard Mandarin spoken around him, he could imagine that he was in a faraway European altstadt, and not a coastal Chinese city.

 It was colonised by Germany more than a hundred years ago, so the historic city centre and railway station were constructed in the Renaissance style. Qingdao felt different from the other Chinese cities, even from Shanghai, which was a foreign concession city.

This German colonisation even resulted in the country's number one beer, Tsingtao. The beer was brewed using traditional German techniques, and the name itself was the German spelling of Qingdao.

Despite the chilling winter breeze sweeping in from the sea, Gong Jun craved a refreshing glass of the locally brewed beer. He had been working exceedingly hard for weeks and wanted to relax a bit. There was nothing like having a Tsingtao in Qingdao.

The city was not shy in advertising its local wares. Gong Jun peered curiously at the giant billboard of their latest product - Tsingtao White Beer. Looking at the handsome spokesman, Gong Jun was suddenly reminded of Zhang Zhehan.

Shit, I forgot to call him.

He immediately fished out his phone and rapidly typed out a message. 

"Han-ge, I heard about your audio interview, and I'm glad that things seem to be progressing well. I'm flying to Beijing tomorrow night. Will you still be there, and are you free to meet up?"

It's been more than a week since Zhang Zhehan filed the police report in the Chaoyang Police Station of Beijing, so Gong Jun wondered if he was still around. He had been so busy that he had forgotten to catch up with Zhang Zhehan.

It was only when he saw Yang Yang's commercial for the new Tsingtao White Beer that he was remembered that he had wanted to call Zhang Zhehan.

It was only when he saw Yang Yang's commercial for the new Tsingtao White Beer that he was remembered that he had wanted to call Zhang Zhehan

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

And he also wanted to try the new white beer which intrigued him.

Later that night, he received Zhang Zhehan's return text. He was not available, and he would be going to Shanghai with Xiaoyu and Yang Yang the day after.

An idea struck Gong Jun. "Then, why don't we meet up in Shanghai? I'm going back there after Beijing."

To his immense excitement, Zhang Zhehan replied in the affirmative.

"Sure! Yang has a livestream, so we can meet up for dinner after that."

Gong Jun grinned at that. "Sounds like a plan! I have a livestream that day too, so this works out fine for me. Is there anything special you feel like eating? I'll make a reservation."

Of course Zhang Zhehan had his cravings. He hadn't been back to Shanghai in months, when he used to be back there every other week. Naturally he had a slew of restaurants he was dying to dine at.

#XFGJZZHLOVETRIANGLE volume 2Where stories live. Discover now