After watching Shi Jin walk out of the inn, Qiu always felt that something was wrong.

She stood there, and for a while a thought suddenly popped up in her mind:

They...could they have had a quarrel?

That won't work.

A Qiu blinked, turned around and walked out from the counter, then trotted up to the third floor.

The door of the room on the third floor where Shi Jin originally lived was now open. The things inside were all neatly tidied up, the quilts were folded, and it was so clean that it seemed as if no one had ever lived there.

Aqiu's eyes swept across the room and quickly fixed on the door opposite.

She walked up and knocked on the door: "Brother Yu Ci?"

There was some noise in the room, but it soon became quiet again.

Ah Qiu waited for a while, then raised her hand to knock on the door again. This time, she slightly increased the force on her hand and raised her voice: "Brother Yu Ci, are you awake?"

The noise in the room became louder. First there was a crackling sound, and then the sound of slippers stepping on the floor all the way to the door.

Qiu took a step back.

The next second the door opened, revealing Yu Ci's slightly annoyed face.

He looked like he had just been woken up, his brows and eyes were half-closed, and the irritability of waking up seemed to have condensed into substance.

Seeing Aqiu, Yu Ci barely suppressed his anger: "What's wrong?"

This was the first time Qiu faced Yu Ci’s impatience. She was a little frightened, but she quickly reacted: “Brother Yu Ci, Brother Shi Jin left this morning.”

"Just leave, tell me what..."

Yu Ci reacted halfway through his words. His sharp eyebrows suddenly twitched downwards, and the sleepiness that had just been drowsy disappeared in an instant: "Who did you say left?"

Ah Qiu blinked: "Brother Shi Jin, he checked out this morning."

Yu Ci pulled his hair randomly, frowning. He let go of the door handle, turned back to his room, picked up the clothes beside the bed and stuffed them into the suitcase: "When did you leave?"

Ah Qiu didn't follow him in. She stood at the door and said, "It was just dawn this morning. She said she had booked a taxi in advance."

She calculated the time: "About twenty minutes ago."

"Yeah." Yu Ci pulled up the suitcase and headed straight for the door: "I'm going back too. Talk to Aunt Chen. I'll come back to see her next time."

Ah Qiu obediently made way for the seat by the door: "Okay, I'll tell grandma."

The tall man quickly went downstairs carrying a suitcase.

When Aqiu went down to the second floor, he just happened to see from the window the arrogant jeep driving along the bluestone road and heading out of the village.

Yu You was awakened by the sound of a car engine starting. He rubbed his eyes and came out of the room. He drowsily greeted A Qiu who was standing in the hall: "Good morning, A Qiu."

A Qiu looked at him with a smile: "Morning."

Yu You yawned, still sleepy: "Why did I hear the sound of a car? Are there guests coming?"

"No." A Qiu shook his head: "It was Brother Yu Ci, he drove away."

Yu You was stunned, and fell asleep. "Leave? Is this the meaning of leave?"

Ah Qiu nodded: "Yes, Brother Shi Jin went home early this morning because of work. After Brother Yu Ci found out, he also packed his luggage and returned to Chuncheng."

Yu You was completely confused: "Shi Jin left too?"

He is now somewhat doubting his life. He just took a nap, how come both of them are gone when he woke up?

Did something happen while he was sleeping that he didn't know about?

Ah Qiu smiled and fiddled with the dishes in the kitchen: "What do you want for breakfast?"

Yu You scratched his head, wondering: "Why do you look so happy?"

"Of course I'm happy." Ah Qiu smiled and looked up, with a profound look on his face: "Maybe next time when Brother Jin comes back, he will have a different identity."

For example...sister-in-law or something——

Yu You, who somehow understood her subtext, said: "..."

On the other side, Yu Ci drove out of Qingliu Village.

Qingliuzhai is still a muddy mountain road away from the county town. The tall jeep bumped along the muddy road as it drove forward.

Yu Ci took the time to open the navigation and glanced at his phone while driving.

The navigation shows that there are winding curves for a long distance out of Qingliuzhai. Although it is winding, there are no forks. Just follow the path all the way to the highway.

He threw away his cell phone, looked straight ahead, and stepped on the accelerator.

Shi Jin is not the type of person who would leave without saying goodbye, but today he suddenly left Qingliu Village. Yu Ci could only think of one possibility - he was angry.

As for why...

Yu Ci frowned slightly, feeling a little annoyed: He shouldn't have been so obvious yesterday.

only......

When he thought of the dream he had the night before, he couldn't help but feel his ears burning.

Especially after Xu Qian said that he was attracted by Hong Luan, he became nervous when he saw Shi Jin, and the words came out of his mouth before his brain could react.

But this escape still makes sense.

After an afternoon and a night of thinking, Yu Ci came to a conclusion -

He, maybe, perhaps, with a high probability,

Indeed, Hongluan was moved.

"call--"

Yu Ci let out a breath, lowered the car window, and tried to let the cold wind outside take away the heat from his ears.

The tall trees outside the window kept retreating, and after an unknown amount of time, the muddy mountain road was finally replaced by concrete.

Ahead is the highway toll booth.

Yu Ci adjusted his mind and got on the highway with a calm expression.

A Qiu said that Shi Jin had booked a taxi in advance, and this highway was the only way to get from Qingliuzhai back to Chuncheng.

However, Yu Ci had no intention of intercepting them on the road.

It's not like I'm filming a TV series or writing a novel, so how could I happen to meet you on the road?

So after realizing that he was a little tired, Yu Ci drove into the service area.

Parking lot in the service area.

Shi Jin stood beside the car holding the cage, frowning slightly: "Master, do you see any problem?"

The driver straightened up from behind the opened hood, his short eyebrows wrinkled. "That's weird. There shouldn't be any problem. Why can't the car start?"

He bent down again to check the engine, his voice sounding muffled from a distance: "Wait a minute, I'll see if the engine is broken."

Shi Jin pursed her lips: "Okay."

The car had problems after it got on the highway. Everything was normal at first, but as it was driving, there was suddenly a smell of gasoline in the car.

The driver had a cold and had a stuffy nose. It was only after Shi Jin reminded him that he drove into the service area.

The car stalled as soon as it stopped at the service area and would not start again no matter how hard I tried.

"This is really strange." The driver touched his shiny head with his hand in confusion: "Forget it, I'll make a phone call and ask someone to come and take a look."

The driver took his cell phone and walked to the side to make a call. Shi Jin stood there for a while, and a car approached the parking space next to him.

He pursed his lips, carried the cage and walked two steps to the side to make room for the parking space.

There is a stone bench for people to rest on the lawn behind the parking space.

Shi Jin hesitated for two seconds, looked at the driver who was still on the phone, and finally sat down.

The little white in the cage seemed to have been locked up for too long, and he scratched the edge of the cage with his claws impatiently.

Shi Jin pursed his lips, reached out his hand through the gap in the cage and touched Xiao Bai's fur: "Wait a little longer, it will be soon."

Xiaobai seemed to understand what he said. He stared at him with his watery red eyes for a while and then did not move.

Shi Jin curled his lips and moved his right hand holding the umbrella forward until the shadow under the umbrella covered the cage beside his legs. Then he drooped his eyelids and began to stare blankly.

I don’t know how long it took, but suddenly a pair of long legs appeared in front of me.

Shi Jin came to his senses and thought that he was just blocking the road, so he stepped back with the cage in his hand: "Sorry."

The long legs in front of him still didn't move.

Shi Jin frowned.

He raised his head, and the emotion in his eyes quickly turned into surprise when his sight met the owner of the long legs: "You..."

Yu Ci curled his lips, and when he looked up, his eyebrows slightly raised, and he said with a teasing tone and a smile: "Surprise?"

Regardless of whether Shi Jin was surprised or not, he was very surprised anyway.

God knows how happy he was when he saw the familiar figure at the parking lot of the service area.

If one word is used to sum up Yu Ci’s inner thoughts, it would be “a match made in heaven”.

Hmm? Wrong word? It doesn't matter, what matters is that the person is right.

Yu Ci sat down beside Shi Jin, slightly tilted his face, and stared at him with a pair of peach blossom eyes with a faint smile: "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving today?"

Shi Jin felt a little uneasy under his gaze.

He pursed his lips and lowered his eyes: "...I asked Qiu to tell you."

Yu Ci raised his eyebrows and didn't ask any more questions: "Is that so..."

His eyes passed over the red and yellow taxi in front of him and fell on the driver who was on the phone with a worried look on his face: "The car broke down?"

"Yeah." When it comes to this, Shi Jin is a little irritated: "I haven't found the reason yet."

He stared at the opened hood of the taxi, frowning slightly: "I don't know when it can be repaired."

"Come with me."

Shi Jin tilted his head and didn't hear clearly: "What?"

"I said, you take my car." Yu Ci turned the car keys in his hand and glanced at the jeep parked next to him: "We can live together, it's convenient."

Shi Jin's brows, which were originally slightly frowned, unconsciously tightened a little.

This seemed to be fine at first, but... why did he feel something was weird?

Driven by this strange feeling, Shi Jin did not agree immediately.

He paused and responded vaguely: "Let's see."

Yu Ci raised his eyebrows, said nothing, plucked a piece of foxtail grass from the lawn and started playing with Xiaobai.

But soon, the driver who had just finished the call came over, his bald head sweating in the sun: "The maintenance department said that they will send a tow truck to tow it for repair soon, but the time is..."

He rubbed his hands, apologetically: "How about this, I can call you another car..."

Shi Jin: “…”

Shi Jin: “No need.”

He turned to face Yu Ci, pursed his lips, paused for a moment before speaking: "Can I..."

"certainly."

Yu Ci raised the corners of his eyes and smiled wantonly: "It's my pleasure."

Shi Jin paid the half-way taxi fare, carried the cage and followed Yu Ci into the jeep.

He got on the back seat and not only fastened his own seat belt, he also fastened the cage containing Xiaobai.

Yu Ci called him from the front seat: "Shi Jin."

"Hmm?" Shi Jin checked his seat belt, then raised his head and looked into a pair of deep eyes - Yu Ci was looking at him through the rearview mirror.

Those pitch-black eyes were filled with thick ink, lazy and languid, with thick pupil color and a nonchalant smile. Beneath the smile, there seemed to be something deeper hidden.

"I have something to tell you."

Shi Jin's right hand, which was hanging by his side, tightened unconsciously.

The air conditioner on the driver's seat was blowing cold air out, and the car was so quiet that the only sound seemed to be the occasional small sound of the little white paws scraping against the bamboo cage.

In the silence, the raven-black eyelashes trembled slightly, and then drooped.

The thin white fingertips rubbed the corner of the clothes unconsciously, and Shi Jin pursed his lips: "... Let's talk about it when we get back."

The author has something to say:

I'm not filming a TV series, but I'm definitely writing a novel (akimbo)