As the dishes were served one after another, Jiang Shuyue placed a generous portion of braised pork in front of Wang Ziliang, who then ate it heartily without any hesitation.
Lin Moxiao picked up a piece of stir-fried yam, took a bite, and then stopped eating, glancing down at Wang Ziliang.
Feeling embarrassed by the stares, Wang Ziliang muttered, his mouth full of food, "Why aren't you eating?"
Seeing that there were no echoes from either side, he looked up and sized up the two people on either side, thinking to himself, "They're here to watch my performance. So I'm just here to be a shield today."
He put down his chopsticks, took the tissue Jiang Shuyue handed him, and pointed at Lin Moxiao: "Brother, you're so unfair. You tricked me today."
"Ziliang, we're just catching up as classmates today, nothing more. Don't misunderstand. Here, have a piece of braised fish."
Lin Moxiao smiled obsequiously, "Yes! Ziliang, I didn't even know you were in Jinling City."
Jiang Shuyue watched as Lin Moxiao sat there calmly, drinking the juice in his hand.
Wang Ziliang was somewhat bewildered by the inexplicable attention he received from these two people.
Although everyone knew perfectly well what was going on, Wang Ziliang still had a knack for livening up the atmosphere. He deliberately recalled for a moment, looked at Jiang Shuyue, and said, "I heard that Jiang Shuya is your cousin, right? She's a talented girl from our No. 3 Middle School, two years younger than us. How is she doing now? I heard she didn't take the college entrance exam, which means she didn't go to university. Why don't you introduce us to her another day?"
Jiang Shuyue smiled awkwardly, while Wang Ziliang was kicked by Lin Moxiao.
Confused, Wang Ziliang continued to ask, "When she was in high school, she liked to read on the grass outside the playground fence. She would sit there for most of the day. Every time I passed by, I couldn't help but take a second look. Back then, when people saw her, they would come up and tease her, haha."
Before she could finish speaking, Lin Moxiao picked up her backpack and said, "Take your time eating! I have an appointment, so I have to go."
Jiang Shuyue saw Lin Moxiao's apologetic gaze and hadn't come to her senses yet. When she saw him go to the cashier to pay, she opened her mouth, ready to follow him, but saw him quickly walk out the door and leave.
Wang Ziliang glanced at Lin Moxiao, who had already left, and the untouched food on the table. He blinked, looked around, and asked Jiang Shuyue, who had stood up, with trepidation, "Did I say something wrong? Did he get upset when I mentioned your cousin?"
Seeing Jiang Shuyue sitting there blankly without saying a word, Wang Ziliang scratched his head and thought for a moment. It seemed that he really had said the wrong thing. While she was in a daze, Wang Ziliang called the waiter, asked for a few takeout boxes, and packed up all the untouched food. The waiter came up and handed the remaining money to Wang Ziliang.
Looking at the more than 600 yuan that was returned, he opened his mouth, and then the waiter said, "The gentleman who just paid the bill said that the remaining money will be given to you in change, saying that it was agreed upon with you beforehand."
Jiang Shuyue glanced at the money Wang Ziliang had taken from her hand, and instantly became furious. She grabbed her handbag from the chair and ran out of the pedestrian street. She didn't know what she had done wrong, and tried her best to control her emotions, enduring the intense pain in her chest. Although she had anticipated so many possibilities, this slap still cruelly landed on her face.
Wang Ziliang, who was following behind, said breathlessly, "You haven't eaten, yet you can still run so fast. You're still as good as ever."
Seeing Jiang Shuyue's sad expression, he knew he shouldn't say much, but he also knew what Jiang Shuyue was thinking in high school, so as her deskmate, he still had to tell her what he knew.
She asked tentatively, "You don't still like Lin Moxiao, do you? You really are deeply in love! Let me tell you!"
"This guy isn't as reliable as you think. He probably has a girlfriend now. Don't waste your time on him."
Hearing how relaxed he sounded, and knowing that Wang Ziliang had kept in touch with him, Jiang Shuyue still wanted to know some news about him over the years.
Seeing her serious expression, Wang Ziliang pulled her into a coffee shop, ordered two coffees, and said leisurely, "Since Lin Moxiao was recommended to the Aviation Department of Peking University, and after graduation, he participated in a pilot training program. In the six years since then, he has not returned home once. This is what his grandfather told me later. I was his classmate in elementary school, and we went to the same middle school. His grandfather's house was very close to my house. Later, when he went to high school, he lived in the county. I only heard that his mother was a famous musician, and his father was also an academician of a research institute or something."
As for why he didn't go home, we don't know. He didn't say, and we couldn't ask. I remember about six months ago, I went to the airport to pick up the company's investment team. Because I arrived early, I went to the airport and looked for him in the waiting area. I noticed he was having an ambiguous relationship with a woman, probably an airport employee. And you know what? The flight attendants at the airport are all incredibly beautiful, so it's normal for them to be dating. I even joked with him, asking if he was getting married soon. But this guy said he was only dating and didn't plan to get married, claiming he was a non-marriage advocate.
Wang Ziliang extended one hand as if swearing an oath: "Everything I said is true, and he told me it himself."
After hearing all this, Jiang Shuyue smiled helplessly. Wang Ziliang, not wanting to see her so upset, said, "When I see him again, I'll ask him for you if he really has feelings for you..." Jiang Shuyue immediately interrupted him, "No need. Today is the best proof. He doesn't want to explain because he wants to maintain our classmate relationship to avoid awkwardness in the future."
Wang Ziliang smiled with satisfaction when he saw that Jiang Shuyue understood this principle.
Jiang Shuyue didn't get a satisfactory result. Jiang Shuya had already made a round trip to the Jiajiang Bridge. The rain had just stopped in the afternoon when she received a call. Her younger sister, Jiang Shuting, had arrived at the ferry. She had come by boat, crossing the Mianhuati Ferry. From the Mianhuati Ferry, Jiang Shuting took pictures and shot some short videos. Chen Lin's photography skills were better; he knew how to edit and adjust the resolution. Shuya led them into their family's vineyard and saw four big characters written on the vineyard's gate: "Grape Fairy".
Seeing the large characters, Yanran smiled and immediately snapped a picture with her camera. She went into the vineyard and took several photos of Shuya holding grapes and a video of how to care for grapes. She then took the two of them to the Dapeng planting base across the street to take some more photos of the grapes that had just ripened. Chen Lin flipped through the photos stored in his camera and found that he had enough to upload.
Jiang Shuting suggested taking photos of more varieties, so that the uploaded pictures would be more comprehensive and show a wider variety of grapes, making the grape growers appear more professional. Some grape-growing bases, upon hearing that it was for website promotion, were happy to have Jiang Shuya take them to their vineyards for photoshoots. The shoot didn't finish until almost 5 p.m. The two of them had to go back to edit, compile, and upload the photos before hurrying to the Mianhuati ferry crossing to cross the river.
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