Dear Mr. Lu

Chapter 61

As the car rolled, light and shadow, everything was upside down and chaotic, but Lu Chong felt that all his senses were focused, and he remembered some things from the past.

Or rather, some things that had been blurred before became clear and vivid again in his mind at that moment.

When the agreement had been made to meet again more than ten years later, the young man was almost happier than he was, so excited that he could not sit still, repeatedly reconfirming, "Since you said yes, don't forget me", "You must wait for me", "Since you said yes, you can't like others. The promise must be fulfilled, ah."

Infected with the teenager's excitement, he tried again, "Can't you tell me your address so I can come and find you?"

"I really can't."

"Then you should tell me your real name, right?"

"Ahem, this... you're called Jiuding, I'm called Bage, isn't it a good match?" (Jiuding (九鼎) – , Bage (八哥) – , but the logic is probably in "jiu" meaning "9" and "ba" meaning "8")

He looked at the teenager blankly.

"Oops, well, then I'll tell you." The young man muttered to himself for a while and then said something vaguely.

He didn't hear clearly and hesitantly repeated, "Bug, Bug?" (虫 – chong – bug, insect)

"Yes, yes, Bug, you heard me right!"

He asked uncertainly, "Which character?"

"Bug for 'bug'!"

Would anyone have such a name? He felt cheated.

"Come on, don't get hung up on it, it's just a name."

"Then I'll be called Lu Bug from now on," he said, acting in a fit of pique.

"What?" The teenager was stunned.

He continued, "I'm changing my name."

"Why, why? Doesn't Lu Jiuding sound nice? And it's the name your parents gave you, so it's not a good idea to change it, right?"

"It was my dad who asked me to change it. He says that my current name is too heavy for the world to carry, and he wants to wash his hands of it."

"I see." The teenager was a little distressed, "So what is the new name your dad is going to give you?"

He gave the teenager a look, "He told me to think of my own."

"What kind of dad is that?" The teenager muttered and thought for a while, "Then you can't take it casually, think about it again?"

"I'll take the 'bug' character."

"Hey, you idiot, you will be laughed at like this! At least change the character, come on, let's go look it up in the dictionary and pick a good one!"

He was a little disappointed; even after saying this the teenager wouldn't say his real name?

But this loss was soon replaced by the novelty and joy of them two discussing a new name for him. They found a and sat on the floor with a Xinhua dictionary to study it.

"Lu Chong? (重 – pronounced as chong when it means 'to repeat', or zhong, when it means 'heavy') No, it feels heavy to look at, people who don't know will think you weigh a lot!"

"What about this one? Chong? Lu Chong? (崇 – chong, sublime) Ah, why does it look like a sneaky ghost, ah?" (祟 – a similar-looking character, sui, means 'evil spirit', also a part of 鬼鬼祟祟 – guiguisuisui, means 'sneaky')