island nation
Xu Changjia was excited as she took her first flight. She felt the air was filled with the scent of freedom. Passing through the surging crowd, she felt as if she was heading to a new world.
But the pounding of her heart still made her uneasy, so she could only hold the hand of the person next to her tightly, "Yaoyao, are we really going to H country?"
She smiled slightly, understanding her unease and anxiety about the unknown and the unknown places, and took her hand in return to comfort and empower her.
"Yes, we're about to board the plane to see Junzhou from the air, then fly to H country to see Zheng Ruoqian. It's sure to be a novel experience."
Ou Liyao was worried that she might feel uncomfortable on her first flight, or have a fear of heights or motion sickness, so she kept trying to distract her by talking about other things. In the process, they started talking about their little secret from a few days ago.
They had put in a lot of effort to persuade the adults of both families for this trip, so they were well-prepared and wanted to have a great time. The most important part of this trip was to visit Zheng Ruoqian.
Therefore, the two asked Zhang Yuning to help them find out his recent whereabouts, planning to visit him secretly without his knowledge.
Ou Liyao also came up with a brilliant idea: she, Zhang Yuning, and Xu Changjia would learn his first practice stage together and then perform it for him on stage.
Since Zhang Yuning didn't come this time, the three of them recorded a practice version of the "Nine Star Moon" stage performance in advance, burned it onto a CD, and sent it all the way to H country as a gift for him.
I originally wanted to invite Wenxue Changjia to join us, but it seems that Junzhou TV station is very busy. After replying to Xu Changjia with two sentences that day, my subsequent messages disappeared without a trace.
However, Xu Changjia and Ou Liyao were also short on time. After practicing with the DVDs many times without success, they went to Zhang Yuning's house. The three of them stared at each other blankly, and finally Zhang Yuning, the academic genius, suggested that they go to the Children's Palace to ask a teacher for help.
He learned street dance there when he was young and was very familiar with all the teachers. He wanted to ask them for help to learn a dance, and burning a CD was not a difficult task.
Fortunately, after three to five days of practice, the final product was quite good. Although their limbs were still being trained, the dance teacher said that with Zhang Yuning leading the dance and the three of them each displaying their individual personalities, it was a major highlight.
With this thoughtful gift in hand, the two left Zhang Yuning behind and headed to H country, a small island nation.
The plane slowly taxied from the ground and soared into the sky. Xu Changjia's heart was in her throat. She gripped the armrests on both sides of her seat tightly. The whistling sound in her ears made her almost deaf. Her face turned pale and she gasped for breath.
The plane climbed to a sufficient altitude, and Xu Changjia gradually adapted to the rhythm.
Before boarding the plane, Ou Liyao filled her thermos with hot water, which came in handy at that moment. The plane was shaking a bit, but her hand remained steady as she poured the water. The whole process was smooth and efficient, and Jiajia felt much better after drinking the hot water.
During the long five-hour flight, Xu Changjia either chatted with her best friend or stared motionlessly out the window at the ever-changing clouds and the winding blue sky hidden in the clouds.
After landing, the clear sky she looked up at transformed into wisps of light she could almost touch. The tour guide who came to pick them up had taken them on a journey over the past three days through the golden veils, azure waves and misty clouds hidden among the islands, as well as the pink island beauties.
When the two of them finally had their two days of free time, which they had been eagerly anticipating, they both collapsed in the hotel and didn't want to go out, even missing the breakfast buffet in the morning.
Xu Changjia struggled to get up. It was the first time he realized that traveling with a tour group was so tiring. They had to rush to two or three attractions a day. The only advantage was that there were guides to explain the local customs and culture.
She walked barefoot to the other bed. "Yaoyao, Zhang Yuning said that Zheng Ruoqian will be bringing his phone today and will only be teaching one class. It will take us more than an hour to get there. When we get there, we can have lunch with him. Hurry up and get up."
With both hands, she pulled the person out of the quilt. Within seconds, Ou Liyao, who had been dragged, lay back down like a limp bone. She fought against sleepiness for nearly an hour before finally going out.
Carrying her little backpack, she muttered to herself that she had brought everything—room key, gifts, tissues, phone—and leaned against Xu Changjia, taking her hand as they walked towards the hotel entrance.
Fortunately, their three years of high school English training hadn't been in vain. Besides writing it down, they also improved their spoken English through occasional presentations in class, which was enough for daily communication. They could even take a taxi from the hotel to YL Entertainment Agency.
The two had planned to take another nap in the car, but the road to this small island was so bumpy that they felt like they were going to throw up.
What's even more infuriating is that the capital of the island nation, Ernan, only has a subway in a small area in the city center, so they can't even take the subway to YL Entertainment Agency.
Xu Changjia never imagined that traveling by car could be so tiring. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked up at the tall buildings in front of him, and felt so small that he dared not get closer.
The person next to her put their hand on her shoulder, their tone tinged with smugness, "Jiajia, do you think we should call Zheng Ruoqian now and ask him to come down? Would he be quite surprised?"
She didn't answer, but instead handed over her phone, found all the phone numbers and placed them in front of her, gesturing with her eyes for her to try making a call.
Ou Liyao didn't hesitate. She dialed the number and put it on speakerphone. The sun was a bit strong, so she pulled the person to walk under a shady tree. The person on the other end rang for a long time before answering, as if they were busy with something.
【Hello, Hsu Chang-chia.】
It was the same familiar voice and tone.
The two women decided to tease him, praising his stage performance and his piano playing. After chatting for about ten minutes, they finally got back to the point, telling him to come downstairs right now, as they were waiting for him downstairs to see him.
Wait for me, I'll be right there.
The phone call was abruptly ended. Before they could wait long, they saw a tall man running out of the high-rise building. He was wearing a white T-shirt and black pants, and his wet hair was tossed as he spotted them. He then ran towards the tree.
Ou Liyao stepped forward confidently and handed him the CD. "Zheng Ruoqian, it's been a long time. This is a gift we prepared for you together."
He stiffly took the disc from her hand, his face shifting from bewilderment to shock, then to blankness, before finally fixing his gaze on Xu Changjia behind her. "You, what are you doing in Ernan?"
She smiled and stepped forward, handing him a letter. She had always remembered the warmth of his seventeenth birthday and had finally found a suitable opportunity to reciprocate.
“We joined a tour group to H country, and we have two days of free time today and tomorrow, so we thought we'd come and see you.”
While the two were talking, Xu Changjia unzipped his small backpack and frantically poured out the Junzhou snacks they had brought. Before long, he was too busy to free his hands.
"Why did you bring so much food? What would you like to eat today? It's on me."
Ou Liyao transferred all the contents of her black backpack into Xu Changjia's bag, then put the gifts and snacks she had given him inside and tossed them into his hands. "Then please arrange it, Zheng Future Star. We can eat anything, just no seafood."
Xu Changjia nodded in agreement. When they looked at each other, he remembered that the tour guide had been taking them to eat seafood every meal for the past few days. It would have been enough to just taste it, but eating it every day was too much. Now that he thought about it, he felt that they all smelled fishy.
Zheng Ruoqian slung his backpack over his shoulder and led the two of them toward the east side of the office building. Not far from there was a restaurant called South Shore Restaurant, run by an elderly couple from China, and the food they made was very authentic.
He rattled off a few of his favorite dishes, but when he heard about the passion fruit spicy fish, the two women opposite him shook their heads. He frowned, told the restaurant owner he wouldn't serve the dish, and poured them tea and washed their dishes.
"Ernan is the capital of an island nation. I'll show you around for the next couple of days."
Ou Liyao smiled wickedly and held the teacup in her hand. "We want to see a live performance of 'Nine Star Moon' on stage."
“Yeah, Zheng Ruoqian, I haven’t seen you perform live yet,” Xu Changjia chimed in with a smile.
He neither agreed nor refused, but when the food was served, he invited the two to eat. The three of them chatted back and forth, starting from when they parted.
They talked about everything from class assignments to the college entrance exam, from their life ideals to the bond between teachers and students. Tea was refilled three or five times, and after a satisfying meal, the distant horizon was already tinged with orange.
He calmly led the two of them on a leisurely stroll to the east side of the office building, where starlight twinkled and the full moon shone brightly, flowing back into a series of frozen time portals.
At that time, mobile phone pixels were not very clear, so you could only use a camera to capture the emotions and memories of that moment.
With the help of passersby, the three of them took their first photo in the island nation. Afterwards, Zheng Ruoqian left and walked to the beach bar next door. He talked to the bar owner about something, and the music that was playing was Three Roses' new song from this year, but suddenly stopped.
The moon lights above the chairs placed on the beach in the bar went out one by one, leaving only the star wall next to the two girls still lit. They looked around, but all they could see was darkness, and even Zheng Ruoqian was nowhere to be seen.
Just as the two were about to head elsewhere, a beam of light shone in the distance, illuminating a familiar figure standing on the stage, captivating their attention.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
