Chapter 70: Stepping onto the Road Back to School

Leisurely time is like a light, airy poem, making one unconsciously slow their pace to feel the beauty of every moment.

However, time waits for no one; before one knows it, a few days have quietly slipped away. On October 5th, the second-to-last day of the National Day holiday, Shen Yan packed his bags, preparing to embark on the journey back to school.

Accompanying him was Shen Nainai.

Although she was reluctant to leave this native land, her precious grandson had set up a new home in Hangzhou, and no matter what, she should go over to take a look; a short stay of ten days or half a month was certainly fine.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the group of four got into the car, facing the autumn breeze and under the glow of the warm sun, slowly leaving this quiet and warm little nest.

"Hey! Qiqi, have you arrived? Hmm..."

After hanging up the phone, Yu Youwei said, "Shen Yan, Qiqi is already waiting at the station."

"Still punctual!" Shen Yan replied casually.

Time rewinds to last night.

Luo Qiqi and Yu Youwei were talking on the phone, asking when Yu Youwei and Wu Yueer were returning to school. Yu Youwei said when they would arrive at school, and Luo Qiqi wondered, wasn't there still one day left in the holiday? Why be in such a rush to go back?

Yu Youwei then said Shen Yan had things to attend to back in Hangzhou and they were catching a ride; Luo Qiqi was greatly surprised—Shen Yan actually had a car at home?

There was nothing that couldn't be told to others, so Yu Youwei recounted the story of Shen Yan winning the lottery.

Luo Qiqi was dumbfounded; while envious, she thought that the route from Fuding to Hangzhou passed through Cangnan, and hitching a ride could save her a hundred yuan in fare.

But thinking that her relationship with Shen Yan was mediocre, and that there had even been some verbal conflicts, she was too embarrassed to speak up, so she asked Yu Youwei to act as an intermediary to put in a good word.

Shen Yan naturally wouldn't haggle over trifles with a young girl; it was on the way, one more person didn't make a difference, so he agreed directly.

Inside the BMW, Yu Youwei gave another reminder: "Shen Yan, Qiqi's family background is poor, and she even applied for a subsidy for impoverished students. Don't pick on her later, get along well, you know?"

During university, the school gave each class a certain number of spots for impoverished students every year; after the application was approved, the student could receive a sum of two thousand yuan.

As the class monitor, this job naturally fell to her.

"Got it, got it, I wouldn't bother haggling with a young girl." Shen Yan rolled his eyes.

Yu Youwei felt a bit aggrieved; she was just kindly reminding him, yet he complained that she was nagging.

Wu Yueer began to complain: "Everyone can see that Qiqi's family is struggling. She started working as an agent for campus cards to earn living expenses as soon as school started. What right does that Xiao Chuchu have? She dresses up all flashy every day; she doesn't look like an impoverished student at all."

Shen Yan was slightly surprised; Xiao Chuchu indeed didn't look like an impoverished student from head to toe, inside and out. Yu Youwei was clearly also a bit dissatisfied and snorted, saying, "Submitting an application doesn't mean it will pass the review. The eyes of the masses are sharp."

Wu Yueer gave a thumbs up, indicating that Youwei was broad-minded and that they absolutely could not let certain bad elements take advantage of the country.

The people in the car found it amusing.

Ten minutes later, Shen Yan picked up Luo Qiqi at the entrance of the Cangnan bus station. She wore a black T-shirt on top, gray casual trousers on the bottom, paired with white sneakers, and her uneven, ear-length short hair swayed gently in the wind.

She was practically a tomboy, but her looks were solid enough to make many people cast frequent glances.

Luo Qiqi was a person who was smooth and slick; having taken favors, she was unusually welcoming to Shen Yan with a smiling face.

"That... Shen Yan, thank you for giving me a ride."

Shen Yan put her luggage into the trunk, clapped his hands, and said indifferently, "It's on the way, hurry up and get in."

"Okay!"

After getting in the car, Luo Qiqi greeted Shen Nainai sweetly. Shen Nainai chuckled and said, "Girl, are all the girls in your school this pretty? And Yue'er and Youwei, with looks like these, you couldn't find another one like them on the whole street."

The three girls were praised until they were beaming with joy, responding modestly that it wasn't that special.

Shen Nainai was sitting in the front passenger seat, and Danta, by her legs, noticed a stranger in the car and couldn't help but poke its head out to observe.

Luo Qiqi's eyes lit up instantly; she reached out her hand, wanting to touch it but not daring to, and asked, "Grandma, this dog won't bite, will it?"

Danta let out two aggrieved whimpers. Shen Nainai said it wouldn't, that Danta was very well-behaved. Only then did Luo Qiqi hold it and start petting it.

"You're so well-behaved!" Luo Qiqi stroked its soft fur and asked, "Danta was practicing skateboarding last time, has it learned it now?"

Wu Yueer said, "It plays it very smoothly, look at the video on my phone."

Before long, Luo Qiqi enviously remarked that Danta was really smart and she wanted to take it home to raise. Danta let out two "Awoo" sounds, struggling to return to Shen Nainai's side.

"Haha! It understood!"

The group marveled once again at Danta's intelligence.

Reunited, the three girls seemed to have endless topics to talk about, chattering away about their experiences over these past few days. Luo Qiqi's family were farmers, and after harvesting a batch of sweet potatoes and corn during the autumn harvest, they transported them to the market to sell during the holiday.

Wu Yueer talked about how fun the beach was, especially the water sports which were particularly exciting—riding the Jet Ski, parasailing, the Water Flying Fish, and many other activities she hadn't played because the prices were too expensive and she really couldn't afford them.

Yu Youwei was worried about safety issues and even more regretful that she hadn't been able to experience the water sports. Luo Qiqi said that the Fuding beach didn't have water sports for the time being, and she really wanted to try them once.

The conversation drifted and turned, and finally, somehow, they started talking about things from their childhood, with hilarious results. Shen Nainai said, "Xiaoyan was so silly when he was little; he did quite a few stupid things."

Wu Yueer immediately became interested and asked Shen Nainai to tell them quickly.

Shen Nainai said, "One time, the old hen laid an egg. Xiaoyan was only 3 years old then and didn't understand anything. He grabbed the egg and tried to stuff it back into the hen's bottom, saying, 'Grandma, if the egg can come out, why can't it go back in?' Everyone watching found it hilarious."

As she spoke, Shen Nainai couldn't help but laugh, and the three girls were also giggling there.

"There was another time, Xiaoyan's dad was teaching him how to say 'Dad'. He taught him several times, but the child just didn't react. Not being able to learn it was one thing, but the funniest part was that the child finally replied with an 'Eh?', which made his dad so angry."

"The funniest time was when the neighbor picked up a frog. This child actually started playing rock-paper-scissors with the frog. You tell me, besides paper, what else could a frog's hand possibly show?"

*Honk honk honk! *

For a time, the BMW was filled with laughter and joy, a scene of harmony.

Many of these were embarrassing childhood stories of Shen Yan that even Yu Youwei hadn't heard; she leaned on Wu Yueer, laughing until she was out of breath.

Shen Yan awkwardly rubbed his nose; he hadn't even thought of them until now, that he had done so many unbearable, embarrassing things when he was little.