Chapter 34 (Combined Second Update)

Aren't you going to say thank you?

Yu Jinyang decided to change his name back to the one he wrote on his test paper when he was a child to avoid being lazy—Renjie's son, what a concise and clear four characters that are simple-minded and physically strong.

After he finished revising, he stared at his phone, his back sinking into the wicker chair as he laughed for a long time, a towel still haphazardly draped over his wet hair. After thinking for a while, he casually dried his hair again and changed it to Wanjuan's great-grandson, laughing aimlessly for a long time. In the end, he still felt it wasn't quite right and decided to just delete the letter D.

To be honest, even he himself found it hard to say what he was thinking about Li Yingqiao at that moment. The photo was taken when he was almost tricked into going to a club to dance in Chicago, and that Nokia boot-up photo had been kept in a hidden compartment of his suitcase when he traveled abroad.

He had actually forgotten exactly why the two of them had fought in class when they were kids; anyway, one punch from Li Yingqiao had knocked him unconscious. Although Ms. Tang Xiang had given him a precious life, it couldn't stop the persistent, nagging spirit that had haunted him since childhood.

The teacher even made them shake hands and take a photo to commemorate the occasion. To be honest, he rolled his eyes so hard that the teacher was quite cunning and only took a photo of their hands.

He had asked the teacher for the photo back with the intention of getting Li Yingqiao to eat it, but Li Yingqiao was probably full that day and said she didn't want it, asking him to take it home to wipe her bottom, which he refused. Tang Xiang, however, refused to throw it away, saying it was cute and had specially placed it in his childhood photo album.

He later used it as his wallpaper after going abroad, so he wouldn't say he's particularly nostalgic. He's never been a flashy person since childhood, and it's common for him to use the same phone for four or five years without changing the screensaver. Even his QQ profile picture and name are still the ones that came with the system when he registered.

In high school, almost everyone uses QQ groups, but quite a few people also registered for WeChat. Yu Jinyang also registered one when he was in his first year of high school, but he didn't add many friends. At that time, there was a very eye-catching "drift bottle" function in the WeChat function list, which also had voice messages.

One night, after working himself to the bone with endless practice problems, he got bored and started randomly searching for answers on a bottle. What he found made him blush and his heart pound – the bottle was full of explicit and suggestive sexual language.

Yu Jinyang uninstalled WeChat that very day, feeling that the software was inappropriate and only used by adults. He also advised Gao Dian to delete it as well, otherwise Li Yingqiao would definitely tell their parents that they were using adult software.

Later, WeChat became a mainstream social media app, and the "Drift Bottle" feature was discontinued. Yu Jinyang, a freshman in college, registered a new WeChat account. At the time, he was checking train schedules from Shanghai to Beijing, so he randomly chose a train number as his WeChat name.

Then he thought again that Li Yingqiao didn't have his WeChat. If he changed it to the high-speed train schedule from Beijing to Shanghai, then when they added each other on WeChat next time, he could at least tell from her reaction whether she had thought about him in Beijing or had secretly checked his high-speed train schedule.

He just didn't expect that by the time they actually added each other on WeChat, they would both be twenty-eight years old, and the ambiguous feelings from their youth would have long passed the true "statute of limitations".

He didn't want to appear too persistent—like someone who hadn't even expected to win a lottery ticket, yet he was afraid of being a bargain, so he was going to spend his own money and even sell his possessions to show the other person the prize pool and say, "You've won the jackpot!"

It's really not that meaningful. Even the hottest water would boil dry after all these years. Time is a demolition crew that doesn't offer compensation. No matter how many secret fortresses he once had in his heart, they've all been torn down over the years. He stopped arguing with her a long time ago. In Chicago, he actually used this screensaver as a talisman against evil spirits.

He enrolled a few days late due to visa issues and was unable to secure a student apartment in UA. So he had to rent a place on Domu first, waiting for the school to notify him.

He was too young then. In Chicago, every international student was extremely vigilant, but Yu Jinyang wasn't. He had been too well protected by Yu Renjie, and only after going abroad did he realize how chaotic the outside world was. He never imagined that he would have to do a background check himself before renting a room on a local verification platform. So, he had just arranged to see a room when someone held a gun to the back of his head and demanded that he hand over his wallet and phone.

The South Side of Chicago was chaotic. He had heard rumors, but he hadn't expected it to be this blatant. Fortunately, Li Yingqiao used to attack him on the back of the head when he wasn't looking, so he was on high alert. Before the other man could even open his mouth in that broken, damned English, he had already instinctively taken a half step back, his right hand almost reflexively grabbing the other man's wrist holding the gun, and his left hand grabbing the other man's elbow joint, pulling him down sharply. The other man immediately let out a shrill scream, and the gun almost clattered to the ground.

Without a second's hesitation, Yu Jinyang kicked the pistol under the dresser in the living room. Then, using the momentum of the man's charge, he executed a clean and swift over-the-shoulder throw, slamming him to the ground with a loud bang. Several international students who heard the commotion came down the stairs to investigate and discovered that their rental information and password had been stolen.

The group of international students were all Chinese. After exchanging a few words with him in English, they immediately asked if he was Chinese. Yu Jinyang said yes. The leader of the group then opened WeChat and told him, "The landlord lives in the building next door. This building is only rented to students. Send me a photo of your I-20 visa application. There's a guy at the University of Chicago whose GPA didn't pass and just moved out, so there's a room available. If there are no problems, you can go directly to the landlord to sign."

This person was named Zhong Su, and he later became Yu Jinyang's roommate in Chicago for several years. Later, Yu Jinyang's family ran into trouble, and all of his father's properties and bank accounts were frozen. He had to earn his tuition fees on his own. Through Zhong Su's introduction, he joined an underground street dance group, but he was almost tricked into performing striptease for rich women. Anyway, he had too many unlucky things happen to him at that time. To be honest, when waiting for the bus at the commuter station, Yu Jinyang didn't dare to go too far from the guard booth.

But ever since he changed his wallpaper, miraculously, his bad luck decreased significantly. Even the Mexican clerk at the convenience store started teasing him less. Yu Jinyang called it the power of an idol. Later, after returning to China, he simply didn't bother changing his WeChat name, since Li Yingqiao wasn't on his friend list anyway.

However, now that they're on WeChat, he really can't so openly use her for warding off evil spirits. Li Yingqiao clearly only wants to be friends with him; she wouldn't even take an extra umbrella, afraid he'd get entangled with her again. He really hadn't thought that way. After so many years, how could he still harbor such unrealistic fantasies? Besides, their families have always had some friction, so things are actually quite good as they are now.

From their encounter at the barbershop to Li Boqing's trap, he could sense Li Yingqiao's unease upon learning that Li Wusheng had hit her father, as well as her cautiousness and attempts to please him.

Yu Jinyang looked up at the night sky, his eyes blank, and blinked. There were no stars, no moon, nothing at all, and the sky was unjustly dark. He thought for a moment, then decided to make another voice call to Li Yingqiao, his hand still unconsciously wiping the already dry ends of his hair with a towel.

"Li Yingqiao".

"What's wrong, meow!" Her voice was as cheerful as ever.

He didn't know where she was, but he could hear the rumbling sound of luggage wheels rolling on the ground from the other end of the phone.

"where did you go?"

"No, a friend is visiting me, and I'm helping her check in." Li Yingqiao handed her ID card to the front desk.

"Um, do you need any help?"

"No need, everything's arranged." After registering at the front desk, Li Yingqiao switched the phone to her ear, leaned against the marble countertop, glanced at Zhao Pingnan beside her, and said half-jokingly into the phone, "What's up? Are you going to welcome my friend?"

Yu Jinyang thought for a moment and said, "Then please pass on the message that Fengtan welcomes her. Li Yingqiao, I also have a friend coming tomorrow, please welcome him as well, I'll pass on the message."

Li Yingqiao said, "Okay, Fengtan welcomes him too. What's his name?"

"Zhong Su, where's your friend?"

"Zhao Pingnan".

They both laughed after they finished talking, and then Li Yingqiao asked him, "What exactly is the matter?"

Yu Jinyang then threw the towel on the table, coughed, and said in a gentle yet serious tone, his words unusually clear and articulate: "Nothing else, I just wanted to confirm with you one last time."

"What?"

"You really didn't run into any trouble outside?"

Li Yingqiao also stopped laughing: "Really not."

After a moment of silence, he lowered his voice and said, "Okay, I won't ask anymore. Fengtan welcomes you too."

Li Yingqiao took the room key from the receptionist, raised an eyebrow at Zhao Pingnan to indicate that they should go upstairs, and then teased him as they walked toward the elevator, saying, "Yes, yes, thank you, Secretary Yu."

Yu Jinyang laughed at himself. He subconsciously thought of Li Boqing and realized that in Fengtan, this was almost an insult.

Li Yingqiao, of course, noticed that he didn't really want to respond: "Hey, you really lack awareness. Alright, I won't keep you from your busy schedule. Meow, I'll take her to get some late-night snacks first."

"Who is truly the one with the most important affairs of the day?"

"Me, me, me."

He chuckled and called out to her, "Li Yingqiao, one last time."

She understood immediately and said helplessly, "Young Master Miao, I really haven't encountered that—"

“I know, what I wanted to say was, may our friendship last forever,” he interrupted. “Bye.”

***

Fengtan's night market stalls were practically the liveliest place in the entire city, not only noisy but also filled with shirtless middle-aged men carrying out cases of beer. Li Yingqiao decided to order some takeout and eat back at the hotel with Zhao Pingnan. After they finished eating, Zhao Pingnan brewed her some tea she had roasted herself and eagerly asked, "How is it? Is it good?"

Li Yingqiao had no knowledge of green tea and couldn't taste anything special. He just felt it was a bit astringent and seemed no different from ordinary green tea.

"good."

Zhao Pingnan reluctantly withdrew his smile: "Alright, I won't hide it from you anymore. Actually, this is just ordinary green tea. I actually snuck out this time. I don't like frying tea leaves at all. I wanted to do something else."

Li Yingqiao took another sip and thought the taste was better: "Then what about your family's tea plantation?"

“The government is going to expropriate it, and they’ll probably give us some compensation, around 20 million. My mom is really worried about it.”

Li Yingqiao: "..."

Just as Zhao Pingnan was about to refill her tea, Li Yingqiao silently took the teacup and said, "I'll do it, I'll do it."

Zhao Pingnan: "..."

She exclaimed incredulously, her eyebrows furrowed, "You! You are such a shallow person!"

Li Yingqiao smiled, a respectful smile, poured her some tea, put down the teapot and said, "Otherwise what, Miss Zhao? Alright, just say what you have to say. You've come all this way to see me, I don't believe you just wanted to bring me tea."

“…I’m so bored at home,” Zhao Pingnan sighed. “I don’t want to fry tea leaves, but I don’t know how to do anything else. I don’t have the patience to go back to work. It’s not that I’m a Versailles type, but I really don’t care about such a small amount of money. I saw your post on WeChat Moments the other day and found out that you’re back in Fengtan. Soon I won’t even need to fry tea leaves anymore, so I came to come and see what you’re up to in Fengtan.”

"What can I possibly be busy with? I'll just be someone's slave," Li Yingqiao said, taking a sip of tea.

"Didn't you go to Convey later? Isn't that a big company? Xiao Bei said you were really awesome, you even became the marketing director, so why did you come back?"

“…I sense you want to ask about gossip,” Li Yingqiao said, exposing her.

"...Is that rumor true? It's about you and that Vice President Convey."

Li Yingqiao succinctly stated: "It's fake."

"Okay." Zhao Pingnan didn't ask any further questions. "So your resignation has nothing to do with him?"

“There is a connection.” Li Yingqiao didn’t hide this from her. “But it’s not like what’s being said outside. The information from Xiao Bei’s company is inaccurate. The person in charge who was supposed to be dealing with him was fired a long time ago, so he doesn’t know the whole story. It’s all just speculation. Besides, not many people in the company know that I’m from Fengtan, and Michael is also half a Fengtan native. All I can say is that if it’s really as the rumors say, and Michael values ​​me so much, it’s only because we’re both from Fengtan. As for other things, I’m still in the ‘secrecy period’ and can’t say anything more.”

Zhao Pingnan wisely refrained from asking any further questions.

After Li Yingqiao left, she lay on the bed, half asleep, and asked again, "Who was that on the phone? Who welcomed me?"

Li Yingqiao laughed: "I have a friend who's quite handsome. I'll introduce you to him next time."

The next day, Yu Jinyang said something similar when he met Zhong Su at the high-speed rail station entrance.

Zhong Su, however, knew Li Yingqiao. After putting his luggage in the trunk of his car, he blurted out, "Who's welcoming me? Your childhood sweetheart?"

Yu Jinyang paused slightly as he fastened his seatbelt in the driver's seat. He hadn't expected Zhong Su to remember him so well. He only remembered mentioning it to him once in Chicago, and it wasn't anything nice. He was surprised that Zhong Su still remembered it.

Zhong Su jumped into the passenger seat. Seeing him give him a strange look, he smiled and went to pull the seatbelt, explaining, "It's not that I have a good memory, it's just that I rarely hear girls' names from your mouth, so when you mentioned that you had a childhood sweetheart, I remembered it immediately."

Yu Jinyang stared at him without moving. The seat buckle snapped, and his other hand was still on the steering wheel. The air conditioning vents were blowing air out, leaving only the futile hissing of the air conditioner in the car, because Yu Jinyang was quietly watching him.

Zhong Su chuckled dryly, trying to lighten the mood, and said, "You got hyaluronic acid injections, huh? Your face looks so stiff."

He still didn't move, and Zhong Su, baffled, punched him mercilessly on the shoulder: "No, brother, you—"

Yu Jinyang looked at him calmly and said, "Aren't you going to say thank you?"

Zhong Su's smile froze: "What are you thanking me for?"

Yu Jinyang: "She said you're welcome, aren't you going to say thank you?"

Zhong Su: "…………"

***

The next day, Li Yingqiao and Zhao Pingnan went up the mountain to pick up the car themselves, without bothering Yu Jinyang again.

These past few days, she accompanied Zhao Pingnan as they wandered through the streets and alleys of Xiaohua City. It was actually just the entire Chuanming Old Street, with its bluestone pavement winding from the alley entrance to the dock. The shops on both sides were lined up one after another, and now their decorations were surprisingly uniform, unlike the chaotic scene of her childhood. Some shops looked like public restrooms sandwiched between two stores, such as Puding's dental clinic, which was still open and had even grown larger.

The eaves and brackets on both sides outline an unforgettable dark blue color under the clear blue sky. The whole street is still filled with the fishy smell of the river water that has been soaking in it for many years, which silently seeps up from the cracks in the bluestone slabs. Many shops, such as wonton shops, clinics, milk tea shops, and sesame oil chicken shops, are still open. When you walk to the entrance of the alley, you can still smell the familiar smell of sesame oil chicken mixed with gutter oil from your childhood.

However, the Huacheng Elementary School across the street has been razed to the ground. Without the tanks, there are naturally no more of those mischievous kids who used to make Yu Renjie jump up and down, and Yu Renjie is now unlikely to get so angry. Fengtan has changed rapidly in the past two years, but little Huacheng is like an image left behind in an old-fashioned projector.

However, many new shops have opened, all cultural and creative industries in the scenic area. Her uncle's shop was sold hundreds of years ago to cover the factory's losses, and Grandma Chunzhen's sweet cake shop has long since closed down. Her children, it is said, have all bought houses in first-tier cities and have rarely come back in recent years. But Grandma Chunzhen was still sitting in that faded armchair at the door. Li Yingqiao greeted her, but the old woman did not react. Her cloudy eyes only swept blankly across her face. Her hands, as wrinkled as palm bark, were neatly folded in the center of her stomach. She slowly closed her eyes again, her gaze never even focusing.

"When we were little, my friends and I loved watching her cut sugar cakes. She cut them so quickly and neatly, it was a paradise for perfectionists. My friends and I called her the Queen of Fengtan Sugar Cakes. Sometimes we would squat down and watch her cut sugar cakes for an entire afternoon, it was so therapeutic," Li Yingqiao said with a smile to Zhao Pingnan.

Zhao Pingnan looked around; the scenic area was deserted and almost desolate. Apart from a few elderly women moving slowly in the setting sun, their shadows stretching long, she couldn't help but worry about Li Yingqiao: "I'm just saying, shouldn't you reconsider? Working here is practically the same as retiring. Are you sure you want to start retiring so early?"

After thinking for a moment, Li Yingqiao looked at Zhao Pingnan and said, "Why don't you come and work with me since you're just sitting here doing nothing? See if you can retire here. If we think it's going well, we can have our mother come and invest some money here too, how about that?"

Zhao Pingnan's eyes lit up immediately, and he eagerly asked, "Sure, where do we start?"

"Awooo—Awooo—Awooo—"

"Thump! Thump!" Zhao Pingnan pounded his chest twice more, continuing to howl, "Awooo—Awooo—Awooo—"

She stopped, leaned closer curiously, and asked, "Does it look like it?"

The two had returned to the hotel. Li Yingqiao sat on the bed. After some training, Zhao Pingnan had made considerable progress. She seriously compared the videos one by one and sincerely praised, "It's so similar, so very similar. You were born to do this."

Zhao Pingnan: "But is this reasonable? You're making me play an NPC in a scenic area, one thing, but a wandering ape-man at that. And what about you?"

Li Yingqiao: "I have to be responsible for filming the video, otherwise all your screaming would have been for nothing, right?"

Zhao Pingnan nodded: "That's right, it might actually become a hit. Okay, for the sake of your internet-famous scenic spot, I can make a sacrifice. But what about your childhood friends? What will they play?"

Li Yingqiao: "Playing the role of tourists who are attacked in the scenic area."

Zhao Pingnan nodded again in affirmation: "Brilliant, a good idea, but who will attack it?"

Li Yingqiao: "Ape-man".

Zhao Pingnan: "…………"

Is she the only one from out of town?

[Author's Note]

See you tomorrow.

Two hundred red envelopes.