Chapter 318 Because My Boyfriend Came
On the open ground, the sun shone down, making Tu Yao feel warm all over.
But perhaps she was too tired from running up the mountain these past few days, or perhaps it was a lingering effect of waking up, she suddenly didn't know how to speak.
A question, neither too loud nor too soft, rang in her ears. Tu Yao slowly raised her head and looked at the blue progress bar above her.
It's been almost two months, and the progress bar hasn't budgeed at all; it's still stuck at 90%.
Tu Yao couldn't help but argue in a low voice: "...You're wrong. I made you share the burden. Have you forgotten? We signed a contract."
“It’s not just you, I also got my brother, Aunt Luo, Grandma, and Da Pang to share the burden.”
“I accept your help.”
She went to Crane Village, then to Yanjing, and then to the port city in a very open and honest manner, accepting help from her family, friends, Xiaochi, and everyone else.
There was a moment of silence on the other end, then Xu Chi said calmly, "...But when you were facing the possibility of failure, you excluded everyone else."
As soon as she finished speaking, Tu Yao fell silent, staring blankly ahead.
On the other end of the phone, through the car window, Xu Chi looked across the street.
He wasn't far away, but not far enough to see the faces of everyone on that mountain. He could only vaguely see that Tu Xiaomao was standing on that land.
Clutching a coat, a thin, small figure with a ramrod straight back.
He stared intently, and for the first time, spoke without any beating around the bush:
“You were afraid that your brother, family, and friends couldn’t bear the failure, so you left them and chose a place so far away from Hong Kong.”
"He didn't want me to face the possibility of failure, so he went to check the herbs alone late at night and went up the mountain alone to check if there was any underground water."
"As long as we don't truly get involved, if these two worlds don't merge in the end, it's just your 'fault,' you didn't do a good job, right?"
The voice on the phone was blunt and clear, leaving no room for sentimentality.
Tu Yao stood motionless, suddenly feeling the sun blazing down on her.
After a moment of silence, Xu Chi said softly:
“…Tu Xiaomao, I’m not angry.”
After a while, the person on the other end of the phone added, "I'm just a little sad."
Before she could speak, he continued, "Get some rest."
After a few seconds of pause, the call ended.
Tu Yao stood there blankly for a long time before looking up at the road across the street.
A car with an illegible license plate was driving away at a steady speed and soon disappeared from sight.
She slowly turned her gaze back to the empty herb field.
Everyone is busy, busy transplanting Dendrobium orchids, busy verifying the speculation that there might be a flowing stream underground.
She was the only one who truly had nothing to do.
Tu Yao put on her coat and slowly walked back.
Back on the 26th floor, she took a shower, then went back to sleep, and slept until the next morning.
Looking at the time, it was Saturday.
After staring at the clock on the table for a while, Tu Yao suddenly realized that she should call Da Pang.
As soon as the call connected, Ding Dapang's accusatory voice rang out.
"Xiao Mao, you didn't call me last night!"
We agreed on one on Friday, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday, but Tu Xiaomao missed one!
Hearing Ding Dapang's voice, Tu Yao suddenly felt a little happier.
She smiled slightly: "...I went to bed very early yesterday."
But after I finished speaking, there was no response from the other side.
Tu Yao rolled off the bed and sat on the windowsill.
"...Ding Dapang, why aren't you saying anything!"
After a while, a somewhat troubled voice finally came from the other end of the phone.
"Xiao Mao, are you unhappy?"
Tu Yao was taken aback.
“You’re unhappy,” Big Fatty said definitively this time.
"I can tell."
Why are you unhappy?
Tu Yao felt a pang of sadness in her heart and suddenly couldn't hold back anymore.
"...Fatty, do you still remember Little Pond?"
"I remember!"
Tu Yao whispered, "I think I had a fight with him."
Ding Dapang immediately exclaimed, "Wow! He must be in the wrong!"
Tu Yao laughed again, "...No, this time it was my fault."
"Why?" Big Fatty didn't seem to believe it.
Tu Yao thought for a moment and said, "I didn't tell him that I encountered difficulties with the herbs I was growing, and he was very upset."
Big Fatty was silent for a while, then said hesitantly, "...Little Mao, it seems that you were indeed in the wrong."
“But if Da Pang doesn’t grow, it might…” Tu Yao paused, then said, “It might cost a lot of money.”
"If I don't tell him, then the responsibility will fall on me."
Big Fatty didn't understand. After trying to comprehend it for a long time, he asked, "...Is growing herbs very hard work? Are the difficulties difficult to overcome?"
Tu Yao nodded: "A little."
These past few days she has been sleeping only a few hours each day, and she spends almost all her free time squatting on the mountain.
"Didn't you tell Xiaochi when you went up the mountain?"
Tu Yao nodded again: "I forgot."
"But you told me that before."
Big Fatty's tone suddenly rose a bit: "Didn't you tell me that your feet used to hurt when you went to the market to sell herbs and rice cakes?"
Tu Yao was startled, and her hand, which was reaching for the cushion, froze instantly.
On the other end of the phone, Big Fatty was still talking.
“You come to me every night and say, ‘Ding Dapang, I’m going to buy rice cakes tomorrow morning!’”
"Then I went to ask my mother for the ointment, and waited for you to come back at the village entrance every noon."
“Xiao Mao, I was too young to help you back then, and I couldn’t go with you to sell rice cakes, but I could deliver the ointment to you quickly.”
He asked in confusion, "You've told me everything, so why didn't you tell Xiao Chi? Isn't Xiao Chi your follower too?"
"If you don't tell him, how will he deliver the ointment to you?"
"It's already hard enough that he can't help you grow herbs, how can you not let him send you the ointment?"
...
Tu Yao's head suddenly felt like it had been hit hard.
As the fat man's questioning voice fell silent, the entire room suddenly fell silent.
Tu Yao's whole person
...How could she not have thought of that?
As Xiaochi said yesterday, he knew that she went to check those herbs alone late at night and went up the mountain alone to check if there was any underground water.
He didn't want to interfere with her actions, and he had long understood her thoughts.
He just wanted to give her a tube of ointment.
But because of a possible failure, she excluded Koike and everyone else from her plans.
She didn't give anyone the chance to bring her the ointment.
...
Moreover, Koike had already told him that.
When she was helping her grandmother deal with Jiang Peng, Xiao Chi said that he wanted her to talk to him before doing anything.
Instead of her taking risks while he could only passively find out.
Xiaochi just wanted to be like Da Pang, to have the right to know, and to have a chance to receive the ointment.
But she forgot.
She had clearly used this example to "educate" her brother before.
She even "mocked" him, a principle that even a child understands.
When it came to her turn, she became completely confused.
Tu Yao finally realized what was happening, quickly climbed up from the windowsill, sniffed, and exclaimed, "Big Fatty, you're such a smart Big Fatty!"
Ding Dapang smiled smugly.
In this world, only his parents and Xiao Mao would call him a smart fat man.
He continued, "Xiao Mao, I also know why you didn't tell him, but only told me."
"Why?"
The fat man said smugly, "Because I'm your best follower, he's second, isn't he!"
Tu Yao's eyes were still red when she laughed.
"Yes! Ding Dapang is my best follower and best friend!"
After hanging up the phone, Tu Yao finally couldn't sit still any longer, so she changed her clothes and ran out the door.
I hailed a taxi and got in.
"Hello, I'm going to the Xu family mansion. Could you please escort me to the door? It'll cost an extra 500."
As soon as I sat down, a somewhat familiar voice came from the driver's seat.
"Hey? Little girl, it's you?"
Tu Yao's eyelids twitched. She looked up and saw it was the same driver who had taken her to see Xiao Chi that day.
Tu Yao twitched the corner of her mouth: "...Uncle."
The driver sized up her expression and guessed, "Young lady, you must have had a fight with your boyfriend this time."
Tu Yao: ...
Tu Yao looked away, seemingly lacking confidence.
The driver laughed heartily: "It's alright, I'll try to drive as fast as I can."
He couldn't help but sigh, "I still have to earn that five hundred myself."
Tu Yao didn't say anything and silently fastened her seatbelt.
Suddenly, the roar of a sports car rang out from afar, growing louder as it approached.
Tu Yao subconsciously looked up and saw the familiar Lotus EVIJA parked in front of the building.
A slender young man got out of the car, his expression indifferent. He leaned against the narrow body of the car, took out his phone and started scrolling through it. He seemed to be stuck on a page, but he didn't click on it.
A few seconds later, he finally tapped the screen.
Tu Yao's phone lit up at the same time in her pocket.
Tu Yao suddenly spoke up: "Uncle, you won't be able to earn this five hundred again."
"What's wrong? You and your boyfriend have gotten back together?"
"No." Tu Yao unbuckled her seatbelt and said softly:
"...because my boyfriend came."
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