Chapter 29 Let her pay the bill...
The next morning, Yuan Xiaozheng was talking with Boss Liang at the dinner table. Seeing Tao Siyun coming downstairs with her bag, he quickly asked her to sit down and have breakfast.
"From here to the city, round trip is nearly 80 kilometers. Can you drive alone?" Liang Jin asked with a hint of doubt, "Do you have a license?"
"I can do it." Yuan Xiao patted his coat pocket. "Don't worry, I always have my license with me. I've been driving for four and a half years, so I'm considered an experienced driver."
"Then you should go early and come back early." Liang Jin threw the car keys to her without hesitation, and reminded her: "Don't be too late, the mountain road is not easy to drive."
"Thank you, Boss Liang."
"No big deal."
***
From Wuwu Village to Suiwu, one has to go through a winding mountain road. Fortunately, Yuan Xiao is a good driver and drives steadily and quickly. They arrived in the city just after ten o'clock.
Yuan Xiao spent four years in Nanze University and was very familiar with the streets and alleys there. He didn't even need to use the navigation and drove directly to the shopping mall.
A few hours later, two people came downstairs carrying large and small shopping bags.
"We still have time. Let's have lunch before going back. This is your first time in Nanze, so I'll treat you to some local specialties today."
Tao Siyun agreed, and glanced downstairs inadvertently. The blood in his body seemed to freeze, and his hands and feet became cold.
This scene was extremely discordant to anyone.
It can only be described as "disharmonious".
After all, a woman who is well-dressed and looks seductively and a man with disabled legs sitting in a wheelchair are no longer considered a good match in the eyes of outsiders.
Even if the reason is out of sympathy for the vulnerable and to balance the obvious relationship between the two sides...
But on the premise of respect, we should also try to avoid causing unintentional offense to the healthy party, even if it is out of "good intentions."
The woman was carefully selecting cosmetics in the counter, and the man's wheelchair was facing directly in the direction of Tao Siyun.
The escalator slowly descended, and from her angle, she could just see the man's sunken, lifeless face.
He lowered his head. He was very thin, with prominent cheekbones and almost no flesh on his face. His eyes were empty and lifeless. His hands were tightly grasping the light gray blanket covering his legs, as if he was trying to hold on to the last bit of decency and dignity as a human being, even though his lower body was already covered tightly.
No one knows what kind of incomplete body is under the blanket.
If they didn't appear in the same picture at the same time, if they just met on the street, Tao Siyun would have no idea of the relationship between them.
The noisy sounds and people coming and going in the mall all disappeared at this moment, and the only thing left in her sight was the sickly man sitting in the wheelchair.
Yuan Xiao called her several times, but Tao Siyun didn't respond, as if her soul had left her body and she couldn't hear anything. Yuan Xiao followed her gaze and saw that the first floor was full of cosmetics counters. It happened to be a sale at the mall today, and there were many young girls around.
"What's wrong?" Yuan Xiao shook her arm. "What are you looking at?"
"No, it's okay... I saw it wrong." Tao Siyun finally came to his senses and retracted his gaze. "What did you just say?"
"I asked you what you wanted to eat. This place is close to the university town, and there are a lot of delicious food here." Yuan Xiao turned around and was shocked to see her pale face. "Oh my god, why do you look so bad?"
"Really?" Tao Siyun pulled a very faint smile from the corner of his mouth and made up an excuse to cover it up: "Maybe I just walked too much and was tired."
"Okay, okay, let's go eat right away. I'll order a nourishing soup to replenish your blood. You haven't been eating or sleeping well lately. When you were trying on clothes just now, your waist looked so much thinner. It hurts me so much to see you like that."
"Just eat something simple. Boss Liang has arranged a big dinner tonight..."
“OK.”
The elevator reached the first floor, but in the blink of an eye, the man and woman in front of the cosmetics counter had disappeared in the crowd, as if the scene just now was just an illusion she had created, and the two people had never appeared from beginning to end.
***
On the way back, Yuan Xiao drove the car to a gas station to refuel. Tao Siyun offered to share the gas money, but Yuan Xiao refused and finally had to give up.
By the time they arrived at the B&B, it was already past four in the afternoon. Students from the two classes, college students from other universities who came to sketch from the neighboring B&Bs, and three or four groups of people from Xu Ji's company who came for team-building, had all started working in an orderly manner under the command of Boss Liang.
Tao Siyun was not feeling well and was carsick when she came back. Yuan Xiao forced her to go back to her room to rest, then went downstairs, rolled up his sleeves and skewered the marinated meat with everyone.
The bonfire party was held in the open space behind the village committee. Seven or eight tables were filled with large iron plates, which were all filled with large skewers of fat and lean meat skewered on iron skewers, as well as vegetables, corn and other must-have foods for barbecue.
The college students were responsible for the physical labor, moving the audio equipment, and building the bonfire. Boss Liang and several other B&B owners were barbecuing nearby, and would come over from time to time to give some instructions.
As the sky grew darker, the temperature in Wuwu dropped by several degrees.
Yuan Xiao's new skirt was not put to use due to the weather, so she had to accept her fate and complained for a long time. Finally, she reluctantly put on a thick coat from the clothes she brought.
"Boss Liang, why is it so cold all of a sudden? Is it going to rain?"
"Stop it! Stop talking so badly. If it really happens, you'll be the enemy of the people."
“…”
Yuan Xiao rubbed his palms shiveringly and breathed out warm air, and dared not speak nonsense anymore.
"Hold on, it won't be cold once you light a bonfire."
Liang Jin turned over the two skewers of meat he was grilling and sprinkled a handful of fine salt on them. The barbecue oil dripped onto the red-hot charcoal fire, making a sizzling sound, and the aroma of meat filled the humid air.
Soon, a group of college students who had finished their work gathered around after smelling the scent.
“It smells so good!”
"Boss Liang, stop running a B&B and open a barbecue restaurant instead!"
"Wow! It's delicious!"
"Let me tell you, the ingredients for the marinated meat are an exclusive secret recipe that I researched myself. You're in for a treat today."
“…”
The fighting power of the young people can be said to be a whirlwind. They skewered the meat one after another, and the meat that had been roasted for half a day was quickly finished by them.
"Eat slower! Leave some for others! Are you college students all reincarnated starving ghosts? You're all eating like gluttons, and I can't even keep up with the roasting." Liang Jin snatched the food from the tiger's mouth and quickly handed the other plate of roasted meat to Yuan Xiao: "Don't just stand there like an idiot, take some! Hey, where's your friend?"
"Huh?" Yuan Xiao looked around for a while while holding the plate, but didn't see anyone. "Hey, where did Tao Siyun go? He was here just now."
Xu Ji, who was standing nearby and being asked to take a photo with several foreign colleagues, subconsciously turned his head to look over when he heard this.
At the same time, at the entrance of the only convenience store in Wuwu Village, Alaska bit Tao Siyun's trouser leg and led her inside.
After entering, Mengmeng walked to the snack area with ease, raised her paw politely, and pointed at the sausages neatly arranged on the shelf. She looked at her with a silly face and drooled.
“…”
It turns out that this guy took her on such a long and winding journey just to let her pay for it.
Unable to resist the hospitable look of the old lady in the convenience store, Tao Siyun hesitated for a while, thinking that it would be okay for the dog to eat snacks occasionally. Finally, he successfully convinced himself with the reason that "I have walked for more than ten minutes and I can't make a wasted trip" and bought two chicken sausages.
Alaska wagged its tail at her happily for a long time.
Tao Siyun squatted on the ground, peeled off the plastic packaging of the ham sausage, and fed it to the child while muttering, "Why don't you ask your dad to buy it for you?"
Mengmeng was enjoying the ham sausage very much. After finishing it, he licked his lips with satisfaction and refused to leave, acting coquettishly and rolling around.
"The puppy can't eat too much salt. I'll buy you more next time. Let's go back quickly."
***
The Torch Festival is a tradition of Suiwu. At eight o'clock in the evening, the bonfire was lit amid cheers.
Boss Liang stood in the middle with a microphone in hand and his hands on his hips, directing everyone to hold hands and form a big circle and began to explain the rules.
"Once the game begins, everyone must listen carefully to the commands and answer my questions while dancing in a clockwise circle. Pay attention! The music can stop at any time, and when it stops, you must stop too. It's similar to the game of pass the parcel. Do you see the sign in front that says 'front' and 'back'? Whoever the arrow is pointing to after you stop is the lucky winner and gets to perform. Everyone can perform whatever they want to see."
"No way, Boss Liang!"
"Is it too late to quit the game now?"
"What a social death!"
“…”
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you guys doing?" Liang Jin pointed at a few girls in the crowd who were trying to sneak out. "You can't quit the game now. Hold hands! And those guys, boys, hold on to the girls' hands tightly, otherwise you'll have to come up and perform on your own after everyone else runs away."
The crowd erupted in laughter.
"Don't worry, I haven't finished speaking yet! The lucky winner doesn't have to have any talent. You can randomly pick someone of the opposite sex you like. Note that I said the opposite sex. Hold the princess hug for 30 seconds. Boys and girls are treated equally. If this doesn't work, then there is one last option -"
He suddenly kept the words in suspense, which successfully aroused the curiosity of the group. Everyone asked in unison: "What choice?"
"It's easy to express your deep love for someone in front of everyone, isn't it?" Boss Liang continued, "Let me be clear: the person you're expressing your love for has the right to refuse immediately. So, if you're planning on expressing your love, please be careful and think carefully before making your choice. Just a friendly reminder: don't try to blackmail others. If you get embarrassed in public, don't blame me."
"Boss Liang, you are really shameless!"
"Don't bring such a thing!"
“…”
"Everyone, relax. Don't be so nervous. There are over a hundred people here. From a probabilistic perspective, each person has less than a one percent chance of winning. You might not be the lucky one. We have quite a few foreign friends participating in this event. Since this is everyone's first time, we'll have a trial round with no penalties. Okay, play the music, and get ready to begin."
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