"Are you just going to take me for a stroll on the street?"

After the two of them walked for about ten minutes, Yang Jinxia tilted her head and looked at him, her soft hair falling down as she moved.

Chen Xu patted the lamppost next to him and asked, "Where do you want to go?"

"I should ask you this. This is your hometown and I'm not familiar with it."

Chen Xu said, "After I went to college, I only came back once or twice a year and rarely went out. After so many years, this place has changed a lot and I don't recognize many roads anymore."

Yang Jinxia said, "There is a place where you will never forget how to get there."

"Where?"

"Your alma mater."

Chen Xu hesitated, "That's quite far away."

Yang Jinxia's smile was very gentle, "We can walk slowly."

Chen Xu suddenly reached out and pulled her, and a bicycle passed by behind her and almost hit her. The rider was a student, who turned around and said "sorry" and quickly disappeared around the corner.

Chen Xu said, "Be careful."

"Thanks."

…………

"What's that place over there?"

"garden."

“What do those stalls sell?”

"When I was in school, I sold shaved ice, sugar water and the like. I don't know what it is now. I haven't been here for a long time."

As the two walked along, Yang Jinxia kept asking questions, and Chen Xu's past memories were gradually brought back.

"Your old high school is across the river, right?"

“That’s the hill behind the school.”

“Why not open a school gate at the back of the mountain? Wouldn’t it be much more convenient if the bridge was built directly to the school gate?”

"Of course it's due to some other factors."

"oh?"

"There is a village next to our school, all with the same surname. The people in this village are notoriously difficult to deal with. The small shops inside the school, the small shops at the school gate, the fast food restaurants, and the rental houses around the school that are rented to students are all run by people from this village.

When I was in school, the school wanted to make it a closed-off school, but it didn’t work out. If students couldn’t leave the school, they would have no business. The same goes for this bridge. If it was built directly to the back of the school, they would have no business at all, so of course they wouldn’t do it.”

"So that's how it is."

As they were talking, they had already crossed the bridge, turned left, walked about a thousand meters, turned left again, entered a small road, and walked another hundred meters to the school gate. It was like going in a circle.

At this time, the school had already started and it was class time. The school gate was closed, but there was a small door next to it. There was no one in the guard room. Chen Xu and the others went in directly.

It was already past ten o'clock. Some students were lining up on the playground, lazily doing warm-up exercises. It seemed that they were having a physical education class.

"It's still the same here as before." Chen Xu walked to the playground and sighed, "Except for the new plastic track. Everything else is the same."

The two stood here for a while, and Yang Jinxia suggested, "How about taking me to the back mountain to have a look."

"Let's go."

Chen Xu led her up a flight of stairs, past the last teaching building, to the back mountain. This place was not the same as he remembered.

"There are usually some special rumors about places like the hill behind a school, right?"

"Just some rumors of ghosts. There used to be a few old houses here, but they've all been demolished now."

"Have you ever brought your girlfriend here?"

"Are you asking if I ever had a girlfriend in high school?"

"It's definitely not what you think."

"How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"I have good grades, I'm fair, tall and thin. Unfortunately, I don't meet any of those criteria. If we met in high school, you would definitely not be attracted to me."

"Really?" Yang Jinxia smiled.

At this time, Chen Xu's cell phone suddenly rang. He took it out and saw that it was his mother calling to urge him to go back. He said he would go back immediately and hung up. When he looked at the time, it was already past eleven o'clock.

He said, "My mother is urging us to go back."

"Let's take a car. Auntie will be anxious soon."

The two men went down the mountain, left the school, and got on a three-wheeled motorcycle.

In his memory, in reality, Yang Jinxia also suddenly came to this small county town and played a chance encounter with him. He still remembers the scene when the two met very clearly.

"Why are you suddenly looking at me like this?" Yang Jinxia noticed his gaze and asked curiously.

Chen Xu said, "I really didn't expect that you would suddenly come to my house."

"But you don't seem that surprised."

Chen Xu said helplessly, "I'm used to it. No matter what you do, I won't be surprised."

Yang Jinxia looked outside the car at the rapidly receding scenery and said softly, "You really know me well."

…………

"arrive."

The three-wheeled motorcycle stopped and the driver turned around and said something.

It took them almost an hour to walk to school, and only a few minutes to get back by bus.

After paying the money, Chen Xu took Yang Jinxia upstairs.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw his father sitting on the sofa, dressed very formally, obviously he had come back specially. Usually his father would eat lunch at his workplace.

His mother was still busy in the kitchen. When she heard the noise, she came out and said, "Sit down first. You can eat soon."

"Dad, let me introduce you. This is my business partner, Yang Jinxia." Chen Xu formally introduced her to his father.

Yang Jinxia said politely, "Hello, uncle, just call me Jinxia."

"Hello, nice to meet you. My family is not well off, sorry to embarrass you."

"Uncle, it's too polite of you to say that."

"Come, sit down and have some water." Chen Xinwen asked her to sit down and poured her a glass of water.

"Thank you, uncle." Yang Jinxia took it.

The TV was on in the living room, and none of the three spoke. Yang Jinxia just sat there quietly, looking particularly gentle.

After a while, Zeng Wenli brought out all the dishes and shouted, "It's time to eat."

"Let's go and eat. These are all home-cooked dishes. Chen Xu's mother has been busy all morning." Chen Xinwen invited her to the table.

After Yang Jinxia sat down, she said, "Thank you, Auntie."

Chen Xu said, "Mom, she has something to do and needs to stay at our house for a few days."

Zeng Wenli said, "Okay, that's great. Jinxia, ​​you can stay as many days as you want. Just treat this place as your own home. If you want to eat anything, just tell your aunt."

"I know, Auntie."

Chen Xu looked at his overly enthusiastic mother and the overly well-behaved Yang Jinxia, ​​and felt a headache. Now, no matter how he explained, his parents would not believe that he had nothing to do with Yang Jinxia.

(End of this chapter)