Chapter 57: Safe Journey
Lin Yao was even more worried about bringing Qian Duoduo with her, so she persuaded Long Weihe to leave him at home while she took care of him. Qian Duoduo, in a playful mood, insisted on coming, and no arrangements were made. In August, near the end of summer vacation, the hotel was fully booked. Long Weihe coaxed the waiter on the phone to find a solution, but they said it was fully booked and they wouldn't know until the day of the event if there were any last-minute check-outs. She left her number and asked the waiter to call her if a room became available. Lin Yao gave her a detailed itinerary and booked another hotel nearby as a backup. Shi Zhenglin messaged her about her itinerary. He needed to check Ping Mei's WeChat Moments for her to work with. She said she would go to Lijiang first and arrive in Shangri-La in the afternoon. He asked what time she would arrive in Lijiang, and she gave them a flight arrival time. It was peak summer vacation season, and the direct flight to Shangri-La was fully booked. She had booked an early morning flight to Lijiang, planning to rent a car and drive there. At 6:00, before daybreak, Lin Yao went to her house to help with her luggage and take them to the airport. "You got Qian Duoduo up so early, you'd better rest up in Lijiang for a night." "We're arriving in Lijiang pretty early. We can rest for lunch and then drive off in the afternoon. We'll have plenty of time and arrive in the afternoon." "The pickup point is at the airport?" "Yes, don't worry, it's convenient." Qian Duoduo excitedly went down to the underground garage, chattering non-stop. Long Weihe's phone rang, and she answered it, instantly noticing the caller. "Uncle!" Qian Duoduo shouted. The other two were stunned. In the passage, Shi Zhenglin approached the bus stop, collected his phone, and came over. "Why are you here?" she asked. He stood in front of her. "I'll take you to the airport." She turned to look at Lin Yao. Lin Yao had already reacted and had walked a distance away, standing still, her eyes deliberately looking away. "I have someone to take me there," she replied in a panic. Lin Yao glanced at the two of them, especially his look, his eyes, his tone. She caught it clearly, and understood it all. "Oh, I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm not feeling very energetic. I'm also worried about driving, so I'm going to go back and get some sleep." She slid forward and pushed the luggage directly into his hands. "Thank you for your hard work." Long Wei watched her operate with a half-mouthed expression, wishing she could tear her apart. "Qian Duoduo, remember to call me. Bye!" She smiled, leaned over and pinched his chubby face, then turned back to Long Weihe with a secretly pleased look. "Call me when you get there. Have a safe trip." She left, but he didn't move. "Are you taking Duoduo with you?" "Yes." "It's not recommended. It's a long journey, and he'll be tired, and it'll be harder on you. If you don't mind, Aunt Xu can take Shi Shi along to play." He thought...
Taking Qian Duoduo with him made Lin Yao even more worried, so she advised Long Weihe to leave him at home and she would take care of him.
Qian Duoduo wanted to play and insisted on following, so there was no room for arrangement.
In August, near the end of summer vacation, the hotel was fully booked. Long Weihe coaxed the waiter who answered the phone to find a solution, but he said that if it was fully booked, it was fully booked and they would have to wait until the day to see if any guests would check out temporarily. She left her number and asked the waiter to call her when a room was available.
Lin Yao gave her a detailed guide and booked another restaurant near the hotel.
Shi Zhenglin messaged her about her itinerary. He needed her to check her WeChat Moments for updates. She said she would first go to Lijiang and then arrive in Shangri-La in the afternoon. He asked what time she would arrive in Lijiang, and she gave her flight arrival time.
During the peak summer vacation period, the direct flight to Shangri-La was fully booked. She booked a ticket for an early morning flight to Lijiang, where she planned to rent a car and drive.
At 6 o'clock, before it was fully light, Lin Yao went to her house to help pick up the luggage and sent them to the airport.
"You've been up so early, you'd better rest in Lijiang for a night."
"We arrived in Lijiang quite early, rested at noon, and then drove off again in the afternoon. We had plenty of time and arrived in the afternoon."
"Is the pick-up point at the airport?"
"Well, don't worry, it's convenient."
Qian Duoduo was very excited and went down to the underground garage, chattering non-stop.
Long Weihe's cell phone rang, she picked it up and saw the person calling at the same time.
"Uncle!" Qian Duoduo shouted.
The other two were stunned.
On the passage, Shi Zhenglin leaned against the bus stop and took his cell phone.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
He stood in front of her and said, "I'll take you to the airport."
She turned around and looked at Lin Yao.
Lin Yao reacted early and walked away for a distance. He stood aside and looked away deliberately.
"I have someone to take me there." She replied in a panic.
Lin Yao glanced at the two of them, especially his appearance, eyes, and tone, which she caught right away.
She saw it clearly and distinctly.
"Oh, I didn't sleep well last night, and I'm not very energetic. I'm also worried about driving safety. I'm going to go back and take a nap." She slid forward and pushed the luggage directly into his hands. "Thank you for your hard work."
Long Wei watched her operate with her mouth half open, wishing she could tear her apart.
"Qian Duoduo, remember to call me, bye!" She smiled, bent over and pinched his chubby face, turned around and gave Long Weihe a secretly happy look, "Contact me when you get there, and have a safe trip."
She walked away, but he didn't move.
"Are you bringing Duoduo too?"
"yes."
"I don't recommend bringing him. It's a long journey, and he'll be tired, and it'll be harder for you too. If you don't mind, Aunt Xu can take him and Shi Shi to play together."
He thought she had no choice but to do this because no one helped her take care of the baby.
She thought it was too exaggerated. Yesterday he talked about risks, and today he was tired and hard. Did he think women were so weak and powerless? What era was it now? Going out was very convenient. With a car and a mobile phone, it was not difficult at all.
"I want to go! I want to go with my mother!" Qian Duoduo jumped up and down anxiously, staring at him angrily with her big eyes.
She was too lazy to talk nonsense with him and prepared to go get her luggage. "Time is running out, let's take a taxi."
He held down the suitcase so she wouldn't move it and went to open the car door. "Get in."
She and Qian Duoduo got into the back seat.
The excited person chatted with him non-stop. Seeing that she was silent and didn't say a word, he took out a small building block toy he had prepared for Shi Shi to play with in the car from the storage compartment, handed it to Qian Duoduo, and asked him to open it and take a look, temporarily silencing him.
"Napahai is over 3,000 meters above sea level, so it's easy to get altitude sickness. It's best to stay in Lijiang city for a day." He looked in the car mirror.
"It depends."
"I've arranged the car and driver with a friend over there. I've already sent the flight number, and he'll contact you."
She was a piece of wood, and now she also felt that his care was too much and crossing the line. When he was doing evil, it was oppressive, and now when he was doing good, it also made her feel depressed.
She couldn't accept his arrangements.
"I don't need a car or a driver. I've already booked a car at the airport. I want to be free and don't like being around other people."
He slowed down a bit. "It's not wise to compete with safety. Besides, you have Duoduo with you."
"I'm going there to take care of my own business, my work, and it has nothing to do with you. And I'm looking for Ping Mei just to give it a try, just like taking the kids out for a trip. Please don't make any unnecessary arrangements that will affect my work. I feel a psychological burden."
Her tone was very hard.
He kept silent for a few seconds, suppressing his desire to give her more or to get more from her.
Once this desire is aroused, the more it is suppressed, the more violent it becomes.
"Please drive carefully. The hotel is right on the Napa coast. If you drive around the lake, be careful. Some sections of the road may be flooded and cars may not be able to pass."
"Um."
"Try to take the highway from Lijiang to Shangri-La, as the national highway is quite winding."
"Know."
"The weather there has not been very good these days. There has been sudden rain. Please keep an eye on the weather."
She couldn't respond. She wasn't mentally retarded.
Even a four-year-old child knew how to respond to him, "My mom checked the weather yesterday, and Lin Yao also checked the weather. I also have a weather forecast on my watch, look!" He raised his wrist and shook the watch.
He shut up and fell silent completely.
Only after entering Airport Avenue did I mention Ping Mei.
"Pingmei has a strong personality and it's hard for her to trust others."
It's not just Ping Mei who is like this; all the high-end candidates are like this, she knows it.
"Why don't you just talk to her?" she asked.
"If I take the initiative to find her, I'm passive, so the chances of success are definitely small, but if she takes the initiative to come to me and ask about the situation, the success rate is very high."
The car was parked at the entrance of the airport lobby, but the parking lot was far away and he couldn't stop to see him off.
He quickly took the suitcase off the car, squatted down and asked Qian Duoduo, "Can you tell me the watch number?"
Qian Duoduo nodded, followed his instructions, and they added each other's numbers.
She was standing at the entrance with her luggage. After finishing her business, Qian Duoduo ran over and took her hand.
He didn't even have time to say "Have a safe journey" to her.
The flight left at around 8 o'clock and arrived at Lijiang Airport around 11 o'clock. She found a rice noodle shop at the airport and the mother and son had something to eat.
They woke up too early, and Qian Duoduo, having eaten his fill, felt sleepy as he sat on the chair. She simply hugged him and rested for a while. At around 2 a.m., she picked up the car at the airport rental station.
It was a new SUV with a six-month driving record, clean and tidy. She checked it and found it was in good condition.
Before leaving for Shangri-La, she called Lin Yao, who said that if she rushed in directly like this, she would definitely suffer from altitude sickness.
She settled Qian Duoduo in the back seat, threw a bunch of snacks to him, and used the navigation to choose the shortest route. It would take about three hours to drive to the hotel where Pingmei was staying. She planned to drive slowly since it wouldn't be dark by the time she got there.
When I got on the highway and found that the speed limit was 80, I had to drive slowly.
There were many tunnels, and Qian Duoduo loved the visual transitions as the car entered and exited them. The scenery outside the tunnels was beautiful: rolling hills, low clouds, and a blue sky. For a kid who hadn't traveled far, it was fresh and exciting. He couldn't help but call Qian Pingtao, bragging about his arrival at a mysterious place and asking him to guess where he was.
Qian Pingtao switched to video chatting, and Qian Duoduo waved his watch around, saying he was in Yunnan. Qian Pingtao was surprised that they suddenly went on a trip and asked him to put the watch close to Long Weihe.
"Where is it? Which road do you take? Is it hard to drive alone? Is it safe?"
He saw her driving and asked a lot of questions.
"I'm driving. It's not safe for you to ask any more questions."
He then asked Qian Duoduo when she would be home, so he could pick her up at the airport. Qian Duoduo said she didn't know.
The watch was very busy. Shortly after she hung up the video, she received a call from Shi Zhenglin. He sent her a message to ask if everything was going well, but she didn't reply.
He spoke a few words to Qian Duoduo and concluded that she had died on the way to Shangri-La.
There were no bad weather or road conditions, the road was easy to drive on, and she didn't feel tired. Instead, it was these phone calls that made her tired.
The road from Shangri-La city to Napahai is also quite easy to walk. Fortunately, the hotel called and said that there was a room available that night, and she confirmed with her whether she wanted to stay.
It took three hours, and she took a break at the service area and went to the wrong entrance to Napa Beach to look for a hotel. It was already six o'clock in the evening when she arrived at her destination.
This place looks like a hotel, but it is actually a privately run manor-style B&B. It doesn't accommodate many guests and is very quiet, with maybe only 20 to 30 rooms.
As soon as we got out of the car, Qian Duoduo screamed and ran around everywhere. Inside the manor, there were large meadows covered with small white flowers, a few lambs, five or six large dogs, and two horses. Beyond them stretched the entire Napa Lake, with no obstruction. You could see herds of yaks and horses moving around. Across from us were the mountains, each of which was incredibly beautiful. It was truly a perfect place for a relaxing getaway.
A Tibetan boy with a red face from the plateau came up to help with the luggage. When she went to the front desk to check in, the Tibetan girl told her that there were rooms for tonight, but not for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
She deliberately showed the girl the photos Ping Mei had posted on her WeChat Moments page. "Look, there's someone I know who posted a lot of pictures. Is this your place?"
The girl nodded repeatedly, "It's our home."
"I just thought this place was pretty, so I came here. My friend's name is Ping Mei, and she has an elderly family member. Does she also live in this building?"
"I think there's a customer like this, one who speaks Cantonese?"
"Yes. Is it convenient to eat here?"
"We have a small restaurant here that serves stir-fried dishes and yak hotpot. The food is delicious, and most of our guests eat here in the evening. If you want to go out, you can go to the city or the old town, but it's far and more troublesome."
"Where is the restaurant?"
"Right here." The girl pointed to the side of the front desk.
She needs to understand the restaurant here. It is a place where customers gather relatively easily, so it will be much easier to guard it.
The building was just two stories high. The Tibetan boy carried her luggage and took her to her room on the second floor. She followed with Qian Duoduo.
As I went upstairs, I heard the voices of people coming down the stairs at the corner, a man and a woman, speaking Cantonese.
Her whole body tensed up.
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