Chapter 31
The beautiful nights passed by one after another, and it wasn't until much later that Chengshi realized time was flying by like a white horse galloping. So, once he realized this, some discordant voices entered his late-night conversation with Huang Ruoyu.
That day, Cheng Shi interrupted Huang Ruoyu and asked aggressively, "Why do we keep talking about Dali? If you really want to be a streamer, where can't you be one? Why not Sanya? Why not Hangzhou? Or why not Shenyang? Wouldn't Hegang, the 'Lying Down Paradise,' be even better? Why can't we broaden our thinking? Dali isn't the only option."
“Dali is certainly not the only option,” Huang Ruoyu said impatiently, brushing the cigarette ash off the chaise lounge. “But it’s the most suitable. Sanya is full of you Northeasterners now, with that strong Northeastern smell, I’m not going there. Do you know how high the cost of living is in Hangzhou? Higher than Beijing and Shanghai! Ha! Hegang, what made you think of Hegang? A place to lie down and relax? It’s known as a ghost town! Going to Hegang is not as good as going back to your rural hometown, so you can go do those shady businesses with your brother!”
If Narumi had looked through the huge floor-to-ceiling window of his house at that moment, he would have seen a wounded man—Shenyang is the countryside? Although Narumi had always wanted to escape Shenyang and his family of origin, he didn't consider it the countryside. Shenyang is the capital of Liaoning Province; if Shenyang is the countryside, then what about the other cities in Liaoning, like Dalian?
However, Huang Ruoyu's statement that Cheng Guo's business was "shady" didn't bother Cheng Shi. At that time, Cheng Shi was still in elementary school. Unable to find work, Cheng Guo, with his strong physique and reckless spirit, took a job with a demolition team. In those days, Shenyang was a goldmine, demolishing everything from east to west; anyone could make money as long as they didn't care about family ties. Although Cheng Xinhua and Wang Xiuhua, the couple, disapproved of their eldest son's actions and even threatened to sever ties with him, Cheng Shi, as the younger brother, won Cheng Guo's favor and became the school's wealthy "young master." But after making his first fortune through demolition work, Cheng Guo didn't follow the right path. Although his "business" later expanded into commerce, clothing, catering, entertainment, and real estate, his most lucrative "business" remained the financial lending that skirted the edge of the law. Ultimately, Cheng Shi also felt that Cheng Guo's money was ill-gotten and didn't understand why Cheng Guo didn't try to clean it up. However, he still regretted instilling the idea that his brother's money was dirty in Huang Ruoyu.
"Ha." Cheng Shi sneered and walked away from Huang Ruoyu.
"Besides, we've been to Dali before, so we know what Dali is like and what the people there are like. This is very important. You see, we don't even like Sanya; we'd rather go to Thailand. As for Hangzhou, I don't like it. We Shanghainese don't like that kind of rural place. And as for Hegang, we've never been there before, and I don't think I'd like that kind of place. So, tell me, where else would be a good place to go? Are you really going to go to Shenyang and become your 'brother Bao Nan'?"
Cheng Shi had nothing to say about these things, since what Huang Ruoyu said was basically true, and there really weren't many options like Dali, which offered such a high cost-performance ratio and was a place they had all been to and liked.
"...Things will get better once we settle down," Huang Ruoyu continued talking to herself. "What do you think? Are you even listening to me?"
“I’m listening. Huh? What did you say?” Cheng Shi sat down at the coffee table again, trying to put on a sincere smile. He just hoped that Huang Ruoyu wouldn’t be angry anymore. “It’s not that I’m not listening to you. I’m just thinking that things will be pretty difficult from now on. We’re taking the children to a strange city like this, and we’ll encounter a lot of troubles that we can’t even predict right now.”
“Yes, of course we’ll run into trouble,” Huang Ruoyu said, “and nothing will be easy. But can you think of anything worth doing that’s also easy?”
"You're right, of course not. I'm feeling a bit tired today, would you like something else to drink?"
"No, I don't want it."
Cheng Shi went into DK and opened a can of beer for himself, which cheered him up again. And so the night passed peacefully.
Then came the next night, and the night after that... until one Friday night, Huang Ruoyu told him what she had done that day, which Chengshi found truly unbelievable.
Cheng Shi assumed that Huang Ruoyu would be just like him during the day—absent-minded and lazy. He imagined that after dropping the children off at school, she would spend a long time soaking in the bathtub, then lingering in front of the mirror in the walk-in closet, trying on different clothes and makeup looks. Or perhaps she would be browsing various live-streaming platforms, constantly placing orders. Then, before he got home from work, she would rush to pick up the children from school, tidy up the house, clean, and prepare dinner.
To Cheng Shi's surprise, after dropping her children off at school that day, Huang Ruoyu drove into the city alone to hold a fairly normal "audience session" at her classmate's MCN company. Afterwards, she went to a travel agency and bought three Dali tourism brochures and price lists from several airlines. She also went to the China World Mall and bought two new 24-inch suitcases and a Yunnan travel guide. Then she promptly picked up her two children from school and kindergarten, and finally cooked a sumptuous local meal.
Don't you feel tired?
"I'm not tired at all. Doing these things makes me feel energetic. Do you know when was the last time I spent a whole day in the city? I really miss the city. I was planning to sneak over to your company building for lunch to surprise you, but I was too late. My audition was almost 1 p.m., so I just had a quick meal with my classmate. Brother Stone, something seems off about you. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I just find it a little hard to understand how you can do so much in one day, it's really amazing!"
"Are you angry?" Huang Ruoyu asked. "You think I have to meddle in everything and take on all the responsibilities, right? But I don't blame you, my Stone Brother."
Cheng Shi was dismayed to find that Huang Ruoyu's demeanor was exactly the same as that of a "virtuous wife and loving mother" in mindless TV dramas who pretended to be understanding but always had a smile on her face.
“I’m not angry,” Chengshi argued. “Don’t be ridiculous. If you want to do it, then do it. What’s the big deal? I’m happy to have some peace and quiet.”
"Of course it's related, because I invaded your territory, just like the day I set up the basketball hoop in the yard. You did the same thing that day. You men are all like that, you have a strong sense of territory. I know I should let you handle things like the itinerary and plane tickets, but I happened to see a travel agency on the first floor after my audition, so I went in and asked around, and then grabbed some brochures. Sorry, Brother Stone."
"I already said it's okay. Grandma, please stop talking. If you keep going, I'm really going to get angry."
"Oh well."
“This book is useless,” Cheng Shi said casually, flipping through the book “In-Depth Travel in Yunnan.” “This information was all copied from the internet; even the travel guides on my phone are better.”
"Oh, right? I also think it's one of those little booklets that's just cobbled together from various sources, but I bought it in a hurry without thinking too much about it. Actually, making travel guides should be left to you; you're much better at handling these things than I am."
Chengshi stopped talking and just absentmindedly flipped through the book. Then, Huang Ruoyu said to Chengshi with a self-reproachful expression that she had some bad news to tell him.
"It's not that bad, it's just... a bit annoying. Ms. Xie called me today and invited us to her house for dinner tomorrow night. But don't worry, I already declined, saying the kids are too noisy. But when she heard that, she quickly said that it's more lively with kids, and that she and her husband love children. When I was trying to find another excuse to decline, I suddenly remembered that we should probably meet with her to discuss when it would be more appropriate to put the house on the market. So I invited them to dinner tomorrow."
"Gosh!"
"No, no, don't worry, they won't come. You know she's the kind of person who pretends to be nice, constantly saying she can't be a burden to us. You have no idea how annoying she is, nagging on and on. We talked like that for half an hour. Finally, I kept insisting that we had important things to talk to her about, and she finally agreed to come to our house alone tomorrow night, after dinner, just to talk about business. I hope we can see her one last time after we sell the house to get our money, and then never see her again."
"Alright."
"Hmm... but here's the problem. I completely forgot we were supposed to go to Old Sun's house tomorrow, so I called Nana. I didn't tell her Mr. Xie was coming; I just said something came up at home, so we couldn't go. But I think she seemed quite disappointed. You know her, sometimes she's like a child, very expressive. So I had to tell her we'll go to their house tonight at 9 pm after the kids are asleep to play cards. Brother Stone, I'm sorry..."
"Never mind, it's nothing. Is this the bad news you were talking about?"
"This isn't bad news? You don't mind at all?"
Cheng Shi didn't mind at all. When he was changing his clothes, he couldn't wait to tell Old Sun and his wife about their plan to go to Dali—this kind of thing only becomes real after you tell others.
“But Xiaoyuer,” Chengshi said to Huang Ruoyu as he changed into his T-shirt, “after we tell President Xie about selling the house, there’s no need to tell her about our future plans. In her eyes, I’m already unreasonable enough and seem like a freak enough. I don’t want to give her any ammunition to criticize me.”
“Of course we won’t tell her,” Huang Ruoyu said, surprised that Chengshi would give her such instructions. “What’s the matter with Guan Yi? And we don’t need to tell Old Sun and his wife.”
“No, no, no,” Chengshi quickly said, “We should tell Lao Sun and Nana. I think it’s fine for them to know.”
Cheng Shi almost blurted out, "We're friends," but thankfully she stopped herself in time.
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