Chapter 83
As soon as Du Xiaoruo answered the phone, she heard Lele's anxious yet excited voice on the other end.
"Mom, I received an invitation. They reviewed my preliminary round results and decided to invite me to the final round."
Because the phone was on speakerphone, Qi An also heard Lele's voice. He leaned closer and asked, "Lele, speak slowly. What invitation?"
Over the phone, I could hear Lele take two deep breaths, gathering her thoughts as she spoke.
"Mom and Dad, I just received an invitation to an international programming competition. The organizers reviewed my application and decided to invite me to the finals."
Du Xiaoruo and Qi An exchanged a glance, both quite surprised and delighted. "Congratulations, Lele! Are you going to the US for a competition? When are you leaving?"
"I'm in a real hurry," Lele said. "My flight is at 5 a.m. tomorrow, and my coach is coming with me."
Hearing that Lele was leaving in such a hurry, Du Xiaoruo's earlier joy was like being doused with a bucket of cold water. She paused for a moment, then immediately said...
"We're going back now..."
Qi An interrupted Du Xiaoruo and shouted into the phone.
"Lele, your mom and I can't leave here right now, and we probably won't be able to get back in time. Good luck to you, okay?"
"Huh?" Lele exclaimed in surprise. He probably hadn't expected his parents really not to come to see him off. His voice, which had been excited just moments before, instantly went silent, sounding pitiful, helpless, and forlorn.
"But I miss you all so much. I might be gone for a month."
"You'll be back after the competition, stay strong, son." Qi An offered a few more words of comfort to Lele before hanging up the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Du Xiaoruo was completely bewildered, having no idea why Qi An didn't go back to see Lele off. This departure would likely last at least a month, and this was the first time Lele had been separated from them for such a long time. He should have gone back to see him off no matter what.
After hanging up the phone, Qi An immediately stood up, put on his coat, and urged Du Xiaoruo to hurry up.
"Honey, let's go! If we drive back now, we can still make it to the airport with Lele."
"And what did you just do?"
Qi An revealed a mysterious smile, "Only by appearing suddenly can we give him a surprise."
In the live stream room,
[Hopefully Lele doesn't see this part of the live stream, otherwise there won't be any surprises.]
Hopefully it will be a pleasant surprise, not a shock.
[As expected of you, Mr. Ha, still so childish.]
"Ha, the three-year-old is really not called that for nothing." Du Xiaoruo was also impressed. Even at a time like this, he was still thinking about joking. She wondered how sad Lele must be inside.
While Du Xiaoruo was packing her things, Qi An searched the whole village for Xiao Mo. She had todredged up the phone to her parents and was socializing with the villagers. Now, it was said that she had gone to Grandpa Zhang's house to see the newborn piglets. Qi An searched the entire village before finally catching the social butterfly.
After saying goodbye to Mu Hua, Qi An borrowed a van from the production crew, and the family of three set off alone.
Qi An walked to the driver's seat and sat down, suddenly feeling that something was not quite right. He looked at his slightly reddened neck in the rearview mirror, then turned his head back in confusion.
"Honey, I think I just had a little bit of alcohol."
Xiao Mo sat obediently in the baby chair and answered loudly and confidently, "It's not just a feeling, I really did drink some alcohol. Niu Hui handed it to you, I saw it."
Du Xiaoruo was completely speechless. She shooed Qi An to the passenger seat and got into the driver's seat herself.
It's really hard to get used to driving a new car, especially for people who are used to driving luxury cars. This minivan just doesn't feel right.
After driving with focused attention for a while, before getting on the highway, Du Xiaoruo felt that the car was accelerating more and more slowly. Even when she pressed the accelerator to the floor, it would only lurch around a couple of times, as if it had run out of gas.
No oil.
without,
Oil!
Du Xiaoruo glanced at the dashboard and was instantly terrified; the battery was down to five percent.
She pulled the car over to the side of the road, turned on the hazard lights, peered out the window at the pitch-black rural road, and reached out to nudge Qi An awake.
"Honey, I'm afraid we can't go back."
If it were a car that needs gasoline, it would be fine; we could just find a way to get some gasoline to fill it up. But this car is a new energy vehicle that needs to be charged. Qi An checked on his phone and found that the nearest charging station was 20 kilometers away.
Xiao Mo was fast asleep in her high chair, while the two of them whispered to each other about what to do.
Qi An called to inquire about the car's after-sales roadside assistance. The assistance point was in Wencheng. If roadside assistance was needed, the battery would have to be driven from Wencheng to the airport, which would definitely not be enough time to get Lele on the plane.
Du Xiaoruo slumped over the steering wheel, her tone somewhat dejected, "If all else fails, let's call for emergency assistance."
"No, we have to get back to get Lele. I'll contact Mu Hua now to send another car; it should be on time." Qi An took out his phone and dialed Mu Hua's number, but no one answered.
He dialed four or five times in a row, but no one answered. He guessed that Mu Hua was drunk, or that the banquet on the long street was too noisy for him to hear. Even Xiao Shu's children's watch went unanswered.
"Do you have Fan Lei's phone number?" Du Xiaoruo asked.
Qi An stared at the off screen. "There's no electricity from Fan Lei..." Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Live stream! Fan Lei and the others are live streaming right now. If we ask for help in the live stream, the assistant will definitely remind Mu Hua."
Du Xiaoruo took out her phone and entered Mengbao Chongchongchong's live stream room. Sure enough, Fan Lei's family's live stream channel was still broadcasting the scene of the Long Street Banquet.
Judging from the live stream, everyone was quite drunk and dancing around the bonfire. Mu Hua, with a ruddy complexion, was dancing enthusiastically in the center of the crowd.
She edited a message and posted it in the comments section.
[This is Du Xiaoruo. We are currently at the G457 National Highway exit. Our car battery is dead. Could you please help me contact Mu Hua? Thank you.]
The number of viewers watching the live stream has now exceeded one million, and the comments Du Xiaoruo just posted were instantly flooded with comments.
She copied and reposted the comment, and finally someone noticed the plea for help.
[It seems to be Xiaoruo; they're stuck halfway. Everyone, please share this message.]
Could this be a prank?
[It doesn't seem like a prank. Xiaoruo and her family said an hour ago that they were going back to take Lele away, so it seems like they really meant it. Never mind, let's bump this up first.]
With everyone's help, the assistant finally saw the message. She rushed into the crowd to remind Mu Hua to look at it.
Mu Hua had drunk quite a bit of rice wine, and now he was walking unsteadily. He could even see double on the screen. It took him a while to realize what was happening after his assistant pointed it out to him.
"Is there anyone here who hasn't been drinking and can drive?" Mu Hua shouted twice, but his voice was drowned out by the noisy, joyful atmosphere.
Mu Hua jogged to the director's car, took out his megaphone, then stood on a bench and shouted at the scene.
"Listen up, everyone! Is there anyone here who hasn't been drinking and can drive? Raise your hand! I urgently need help!!!"
Grandpa Niu drank a few cups of health-promoting wine to soothe his nerves and improve blood circulation. His eyesight failing, he looked over and saw a man standing on a bench, holding a megaphone and muttering something loudly.
Is this the start of an uprising?
Mu Hua thought to himself, "It's all over. I bet nobody here is sober."
At this moment, another comment in the live stream was pushed to the top.
[Mr. Ha, Xiaoruo, I'm currently in a village 5 kilometers away from you. My family has a minivan that we can use. Please wait over there, and I'll have my grandma come pick you up on her tricycle.]
Qi An looked at the keywords in the comments: van, grandma, tricycle.
Suddenly, I was overwhelmed.
He'd read so many CEO romance novels; shouldn't this situation usually involve a private helicopter pick-up? How come in his case, it turned into his grandmother picking him up in a tricycle?
Doesn't the CEO have any pride?
About ten minutes later, a huge white headlight came closer and closer in the distance. When the figure became clear, it was indeed an elderly woman with gray hair riding a tricycle, looking travel-worn.
Grandma drifted to a stop in front of them and shouted in a strong voice,
"Hurry up and get on the bus!"
Under his grandmother's stern gaze, Qi An picked up the sleeping Xiao Mo and, together with Du Xiaoruo, obediently sat in the truck bed.
"Hold on tight, everyone."
With a shout from Grandma, the tricycle sped off like lightning, startling Qi An so much that he quickly clung to Xiao Ruo, fearing the strong wind would blow his wife into the ditch.
The night breeze startled Xiao Mo from her deep sleep. She stared at her surroundings through her misty blue eyes, muttering to herself.
"I woke up from a nap and my car had turned into a tricycle."
The old lady turned her head and laughed heartily, "You're quite optimistic."
Qi Anhun was terrified when he rode in a tricycle for the first time. "Grandma, watch the road, watch the road, don't turn around."
After driving with trepidation, the tricycle came to a steady stop in front of a farmhouse by the roadside. The kind netizen who offered to provide the van was already waiting by the large iron gate.
Du Xiaoruo looked at the brand-new van and whispered to Qi An, "I can't drive a manual transmission car."
She spoke very softly, but a concerned netizen still heard her. He looked at Qi An and asked, "Doesn't President Ha know how to drive?"
"I can, but I just had a few drinks on the mountain."
The netizen turned and went into the courtyard, then came out again a while later, holding a breathalyzer to Qi An's mouth.
"Blow a breath."
Upon seeing the breathalyzer, Qi An seemed to be under the control of the traffic police, obediently blowing into it. The breathalyzer screen displayed the message "[No alcohol consumed]".
A helpful netizen handed the car keys to Qi An, saying, "It's okay, drive with confidence. You didn't drink much, and the alcohol has already evaporated by now."
Qi An took the car keys with some skepticism. Why did his friend keep a breathalyzer at home all the time?
The netizen gave him a proper salute.
"I'm a traffic police officer. Don't worry, drive carefully and don't drive while fatigued."
In Fan Lei's live stream, this traffic police officer posted a comment.
[We successfully picked up Mr. Ha and his family. The car is full of gas, and they have set off again.]
After some trouble, the van got back on the road and drove smoothly on the highway, but encountered a major traffic jam as soon as it entered Wencheng.
It was almost 1 a.m., and Qi An hadn't expected there to be a traffic jam at this hour. The slow-moving cars stretched like a long red dragon, with the van stuck at the back, unable to move an inch. The atmosphere inside the van grew increasingly anxious.
The car in front stopped moving, so Du Xiaoruo simply opened the car door, got out, and went to see what was going on.
Xiao Mo slept and woke up repeatedly in the car. She usually had great stamina, and although she had been up all night, there was no sign of fatigue in her big eyes. She grabbed Du Xiaoruo's arm.
"Mom, I'll go with you."
Du Xiaoruo led Xiao Mo along the sidewalk beside the road. The traffic was completely blocked, and the drivers had their windows open to let in fresh air. Passengers got off in twos and threes and gathered on the roadside.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Hey? Isn't that Xiaoruo and Xiaomo?"
Xiao Mo waved to everyone generously.
"Yes, it's me and my mom. We're stuck in traffic. My dad is still in the car."
Fan Lei's live stream remained open, and everyone was learning about the Jin family's activities through it. Someone posted a message in the live stream...
I saw Xiaoruo and Xiaomo. They're stuck at the east gate entrance of Wencheng. Is there anyone up ahead who can help them?
Quick, share this so more people can see it.
[I'm here. I'm at the east gate of Wencheng right now. There's been a truck rear-end collision ahead, and I've been stuck in traffic for almost two hours. I'm moving soon. Please have Mr. Ha and his family come and meet me. I'm driving a Chevrolet with license plate number WA678990.]
With the help of netizens, the Ha family of three got back into a Chevrolet, and the Chevrolet owner volunteered to block the road for another two hours to help them protect their van.
After driving out of the traffic jam, Qi An yawned repeatedly.
Xiaoruo found a bottle of cooling balm in the glove compartment and thoughtfully applied some to his temples to refresh him, saying with concern,
"Are you tired? Let's find a place to park later, and I'll take over driving."
Qi An yawned again, a hint of smugness in his voice.
"Four times a night, how can you not be tired?"
Recalling their passionate encounter at the hotel last night, Xiaoruo's face flushed instantly. She covered Xiaomo's ears and whispered...
"I know you're capable. Stop the car in front of the coffee shop up ahead. I can drive this car, and I'll handle the rest of the journey."
Actually, Xiaoruo didn't sleep well last night either. After parking her car in front of the coffee shop, she got out and bought a strong iced Americano, which she gulped down before driving off again.
They arrived home at exactly two o'clock. The villa was quiet. Xiaoruo gestured for Qi An and Xiao Mo to be still.
"It's still early, let Lele sleep a little longer."
The three of them tiptoed, preparing to sneak into the room and go up to the second floor. By the moonlight from the window, they saw a dark figure sitting on the stairs.
Just then, Lele heard the noise. He raised his fluffy little curly hair, a big smile spreading across his face.
"I knew you would come back."
Du Xiaoruo stepped forward and took Lele's cold little hand, feeling extremely distressed. "Why are you sitting here?"
Lele twisted the hem of her pajamas a little shyly and whispered,
“I don’t know any of the people from abroad, so I’m a little nervous. That’s why I want your universal chat background image for social anxiety.”
Du Xiaoruo helped Lele stand up. "Okay, Mom still has that chat picture saved."
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