Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Tina.
Li Du had bumped into that lady again.
The only explanation was fate. Looking at that lady who was smiling widely, Li Du had to admit that even with Sophie by his side, he still felt his heart race for a fleeting moment.
It was, of course, only a fleeting feeling. If he had not met Sophie, he thought that perhaps he would have fallen in love with Tina. He would have wooed this pretty woman because it appeared as though they were truly meant to be.
From the first, they had never made plans to meet again. However, they always brushed shoulders unexpectedly, which was statistically very unlikely. It was America, after all, the fourth largest country in the world.
This was an interesting fact: China claimed to be the third-largest country in the world, and stated that America was the fourth. However, the United States claimed to be the third-largest country in the world and assured that China was the fourth.
The territory of a country included both the areas of the land and the territorial waters. China’s area included Taiwan and other provinces. The country’s whole area covered 959.7 million square kilometers
According to Chinese geography textbooks, the area that the United States of America covered was 937 million square kilometers. However, that did not include the five large lakes area. Including those, America would cover 963 million square kilometers.
Of course, these two sorts of evaluation were debatable. The five-lake area was located in a unique position. The lakes belonged to both America and Canada. Hence, internationally, some rankings would exclude the five lakes altogether, not considering the area to be part of either America or Canada.
In any case, America was huge, that could not be denied. The fact that Li Du and Tina kept bumping into each other coincidentally was extraordinary.
However, Li Du had given his heart to Sophie, and that was irrevocable. Hence, facing Tina, he could only admire her.
Tina assumed the same attitude toward Li Du. She looked at him warmly but in a reserved manner, treating him as no more than a good friend.
Li Du brought Sophie and took her to meet Tina. He introduced the two women to each other.
He had not hidden any facts. He started to talk about how Tina and he often bumped into each other.
The few ladies around them listened as well. One of them giggled and said, “You guys have that sort of connection? Tina, you’ve never talked about that. It’s no wonder that you have his photo saved on your phone.”
Come to think of it, it was also quite a coincidence that Li Du had recently met two of the other ladies present. He had met them last month when he brought the treasure hunters to check out the properties. Akkalou had talked with those two beautiful ladies near the Playboy Mansion.
At that time, the treasure hunters thought that those two ladies stayed in the Playboy Mansion in the hopes of having their pictures taken for the magazine. Akkalou had been right. Those two ladies were from rich families and did not have such motives.
Tina said openly, “Don’t spout nonsense, Sheryl. I kept that photo because we are friends. That time, we were visiting a warship. I took a few good pictures and that’s why I’ve kept them.”
Li Du recalled now. That was when they were at Long Beach. They had gone to visit a retired warship together and met some newly married couples. At that time, there were even people who thought they were a couple too.
Recalling that incident, he could not help but exclaim, “God, time passes too quickly. Now that you’ve said that, I feel that it was just yesterday. But in reality, it has actually been two years ago.”
Kobe passed by and interrupted, “What’s that? I still remember the first time I teamed up on the court with this plump man. How long has that been?”
“Year 1992, more than twenty years ago now,” O’Neal laughed.
Kobe said, “I mean when we first worked together, not the first time we met.”
O’Neal was still laughing. He said, “I wanted to say that the first time we met, you ran into our locker room in Orlando to get Anfernee’s signature. In the end, Anfernee ignored you, and you cried, poor bloke…”
Kobe shrugged his shoulders at Li Du and said, “Now you understand why I always fight with him? He likes to talk dirt about me.”
O’Neal one arm around Kobe’s shoulders and one around Li Du’s. He said, “I just wanted to say that time indeed passes very quickly. God, that was more than twenty years ago!”
“Let us toast to time,” Sophie raised her champagne glass. “Hope that for the rest of our days, we can be treated gently by the God who made time.”
Kobe and O’Neal hung around for a while, attracted by Tina and the other ladies. They all had impressive backgrounds. Li Du noticed that Kobe addressed Tina as Miss Lincoln.
Li Du was shocked. Lincoln? Which Lincoln? She can’t be related to President Lincoln, right?
However, he had not heard much of the Lincoln family. Perhaps it was another big, powerful family.
Tina had never talked about her background and Li Du never asked. She did not seem too eager to talk about it this time either, and Li Du did not press her.
Sophie gave Li Du some personal space, allowing him and Tina to chat. She left to take a walk with a few other ladies.
Watching Sophie’s silhouette, Tina had a distinct smile on her face. She said, “You have an outstanding fiancée, an impressive lady.”
Li Du said, “That’s right. If there’s anything that helps me believe in God’s existence, it is that He created Sophie and led her to me.”
“That sounds blissful,” Tina laughed. Her clear laughter rang out in the summer afternoon, sounding like wind chimes. “Don’t talk about that in front of a single person like me, though. Tell me, where have you been for the past two years?”
Li Du started to talk about his trips to Australia, the Arctic, and the Appalachian Mountains. Tina, too, talked about what happened to her. She had gone to Southeast Asia last year and visited China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. She had gone after the Southeast Asian music craze.
This year, she had started to work. Her work was somewhat related to Li Du’s, in the luxury trade. She was working in a Tiffany shop in Los Angeles.
After chatting for some time, she and Li Du gave each other a goodbye hug and waved to each other. They smiled gallantly and did not say words like ‘goodbye’ or ‘see you again’. They believed that they would meet unexpectedly again.
Li Du went to find Sophie and apologized profusely.
Sophie laughed. “What do you take me for? Why the apologies? We are going to be husband and wife. Neither of us is a prisoner of the other. Isn’t it normal to have friends of the opposite sex?”
Hugging her, Li Du said, “I’m so lucky to have met you. The decision to try and woo you was the best I have made in my life!”
Under such circumstances, he felt he needed to go to Myanmar more than ever. This time around, he meant to fulfill the promise he made in his heart to Sophie.
However, the war in Myanmar was not ceasing. He would not be able to fly over any time soon. Fortunately, there were going to be a few auctions in California. Some of those auctions he had sought out himself, and to others, he was invited. He would have to attend those.
