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After their conversation ended, Mr. Kledinska sent a driver to take her to the hotel she had booked. The hotel was a budget inn located in a prime area of downtown. It was a four-story independent building, likely converted from an ordinary private residence, so there weren't many guest rooms.
Upon reaching the first floor of the inn, a young man at the front desk greeted her warmly as she presented her reservation information. He led her to her room on the second floor based on the booking details in the computer.
The room at the inn was not very large, estimated to be around ten square meters, but it did have a private bathroom. Although the room was small, it was well-equipped with a television, computer, telephone, refrigerator, and water dispenser, and internet access was free. There was a white single bed, a white bedside table, and above the wall hung a beautiful landscape painting. Overall, the inn was clean and tidy, which was satisfying.
Qiluo Ling entered the room and walked over to the sofa to set down her backpack. As she relaxed, she felt a tightness throughout her body and decided to take a comfortable hot shower.
Qiluo Ling took out her toiletries from her backpack and went to the bathroom to wash up and change clothes, feeling much lighter afterward.
She sat quietly in front of the bed, wondering if she had forgotten something. Oh right, she remembered she needed to call Liu Shiran because she had promised to contact her as soon as she arrived in Warsaw. She began dialing Liu Shiran's number using the hotel phone.
"Have you arrived in Warsaw?" Liu Shiran's voice boomed on the other end of the line, accompanied by deafening rock music in the background.
Qiluo Ling frowned and had to hold the phone away from her ear.
"Yes. I have arrived."
"What? You've arrived? It's too loud here; I can't hear you clearly. Can you speak up?"
"Okay. Where are you now?"
"I'm at Music Square watching musicians perform. Are you coming over?"
"I'm too tired today and want to rest early, so I won't come find you. I just wanted to let you know that I've arrived in Warsaw. I have some business to attend to tomorrow morning; I'll call you after I'm done, okay?"
"Alright. Goodbye."
As soon as she hung up the phone, Qiluo Ling lay on the warm and comfortable single bed, her body light as a cotton ball. Before she could even think about what had happened that day, she fell into a deep sleep. Perhaps she was too tired; she didn't dream at all and slept soundly until the sun was already high in the sky.
When she finally looked at the time, she realized it was already ten o'clock in the morning. She quickly got out of bed, freshened up, and went to the phone.
Qiluo Ling took out the contact information for O'Hara Law Firm from the innermost layer of her backpack and dialed the number. The call connected, and a young woman with a pleasant voice answered.
"Hello, this is O'Hara Law Firm. How may I assist you?"
"Hello, my name is Qiluo Ling, and I am in Shanghai, China. I received a letter from your firm a few days ago."
"Okay, please hold for a moment."
The call was transferred to another extension. Qiluo Ling heard a beautiful ringing tone, and then a deep, slightly magnetic male voice interrupted the continuous ringing.
"Hello, this is O'Hara Law Firm. Are you Qiluo Ling from Shanghai, China?" he confirmed again.
"Yes. I am currently in Warsaw. I arrived in Warsaw last night."
"Oh, great. When would be a good time for us to meet?"
"How about three o'clock this afternoon?"
"Sounds good."
After hanging up the phone, Qiluo Ling tidied her clothes and prepared to go out for breakfast and have a cup of coffee.
At that moment, the phone in the room rang. She picked it up, and it turned out to be Liu Shiran calling.
"Have you finished your business?"
"Not yet. Our agreed time is three o'clock in the afternoon."
"Oh," the other party hesitated for a moment and said, "Are you free at noon? I hope we can have lunch together."
Qiluo Ling considered it; with the time left before three o'clock, she still had plenty of time. After excluding the time for lunch, she would have more than enough time to get to the law firm. So she readily agreed.
Next, Qiluo Ling told Liu Shiran the address of the hotel. Liu Shiran said she would take a taxi over immediately and hurriedly hung up the phone.
Thinking about having lunch with Liu Shiran soon, but feeling quite hungry, she randomly stuffed a few pieces of crackers into her mouth.
Before long, Liu Shiran arrived downstairs at the hotel, and the two of them had lunch together. They each ordered a bowl of barley soup and a serving of noodles.
After finishing lunch quickly, they found a quiet café to sit in. The background music in the café was soft music, which made one feel somewhat drowsy in the afternoon.
Qiluo Ling ordered a cup of red tea with lemon, while Liu Shiran ordered a cup of black coffee. Then, the two sat in silence for a while, sipping their drinks.
"Did you see that man?" Qiluo Ling broke the silence and asked casually.
"Yes, I saw him," Liu Shiran replied calmly, as if she had been waiting for Qiluo Ling to ask. However, her indifferent expression surprised Qiluo Ling; she had expected Liu Shiran's face to light up with excitement and joy.
"How did it feel?"
"We made love."
"What?"
Liu Shiran's expression became dreamy, as if recalling that moment.
"The golden sunlight gradually filled the room, casting shadows on our faces, and the music playing was from when we first met. Everything was so beautiful, as if we were back in the past. The dust particles in the air floated motionless in the morning sunlight. Each note of the music seemed to be still like the dust. When the music repeated for the second time, we began to lean in and kiss. Then we made love."
After a long while, Liu Shiran finally returned to reality from her dreamlike memories.
Qiluo Ling gazed at her for a long time.
"Don't look at me with that judgmental gaze, and don't ask how things got to this point. And don't stand on your moral high ground to criticize me."
Qiluo Ling smiled slightly and said, "How could I criticize you? After all, sex is human nature, especially since you once loved each other and were together."
"You've misunderstood. We dated for four years in college, but we never made love," Liu Shiran said seriously.
"Then what were you doing when you were alone together in college?"
"Studying English vocabulary and reading Wuxia novels."
"Oh, so what are you planning to do now? Choose one? Give up on the other?"
"If I say it out loud, will you think I'm crazy?"
"What's wrong?"
"After being intimate with him, I fell from the immense physical pleasure into a profound emptiness that is hard to express in words. That emptiness was suffocating, so intense that I could hardly breathe. The discomfort and helplessness made me wish I had never experienced that overwhelming pleasure in the first place. Then came the intense guilt."
"Guilt?"
"Yes, guilt towards my fiancé. The feelings of emptiness and guilt intertwined, creating a gray storm within me that nearly destroyed my inner self."
"Indeed, mental anguish is far more lethal than physical pain. So what are your plans?"
"I never want to see him again."
"Oh."
"I don't even know why. He did nothing wrong; on the contrary, he was wonderful. Yet every time I think of him, I associate him with that immense emptiness and guilt that followed. That feeling weighs me down. Don't you think humans are strange creatures? We go through so much effort to arrange everything beautifully, and in the end, all those beautiful feelings vanish, leaving us to suffer freely."
"Perhaps happiness is just a fleeting dream in life, while pain is the true existence," Qiluo Ling said after a moment of thought.
The two fell silent again, each lost in their own thoughts.
After a while, Qiluo Ling glanced at the time and realized it was getting late, so she bid farewell to Liu Shiran and left her alone in the café.
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