Chapter 91: You Carry the Pole, I Lead the Horse

The next afternoon, Tan Qingwu drove to the entrance of the Finance Institute.

Yang Tianxing deliberately dawdled for a while, going down a few minutes late; only when Tan Zhizhi called to urge him did he take a pack of Su cigarettes and head out.

This pack of Su cigarettes was something Zhang Liye had given to Yang Tianxing as a reciprocal gift.

Shao Ziyang did not understand Yang Tianxing's actions, a look of confusion on his face.

Yang Tianxing explained, "If we go down too early and Little Zhizhi sees we don't have luggage, she might throw a tantrum and insist we stay. If we wait until Uncle Tan and the classmates have been waiting a while and are getting anxious, the probability of that happening is lower."

"As for bringing the cigarettes."

Yang Tianxing shook the cigarettes in his hand: "These are for Uncle Tan. Firstly, to thank him for coming to pick us up, and secondly, because I'm breaking my word today, and Little Zhizhi will definitely be very angry."

"Tan Zhizhi is easy to coax, but Uncle Tan isn't easy to fool; I'll give him a pack of cigarettes to pave the way first."

Shao Ziyang nodded, silently exclaiming "Awesome."

Sure enough, when Tan Zhizhi saw that Yang Tianxing hadn't brought any luggage, she asked in surprise, "Where are your and Ziyang's bags?"

Yang Tianxing didn't answer, but instead walked to the driver's side and, with a grin, handed the Su cigarettes to Tan Qingwu: "Uncle Tan, a little something for you."

Tan Qingwu took them, looked them over, and teased, "Little Zhizhi says you're starting a business in university; have you made money?"

Yang Tianxing was very humble: "Just messing around with a small business, basically just tagging along with others."

If someone else had given him cigarettes, Tan Qingwu likely would have refused, but Yang Tianxing was a bit different in his heart; he didn't decline, placed the cigarettes beside his seat, and reminded him: "Don't forget your dad, or Old Yang will get jealous. Where is your luggage?"

Only then did Yang Tianxing turn to explain to Tan Zhizhi: "Something came up at the startup base, I can't leave today."

"What?!"

Tan Zhizhi arched her willow-leaf brows and blurted out, "Then I'm not going either!"

"Don't be willful, Uncle Tan came all this way just to pick you up."

Yang Tianxing slowly pacified her: "Besides, Auntie Ye must have made a lot of good food at home; if you don't go back, she'll definitely be sad."

Tan Zhizhi's luggage was already in the trunk, and the car was already running with the heater on; this was a last-minute change by Yang Tianxing, and Tan Zhizhi didn't have any time to react.

"Also, Fu Liwen and Ding Xiaowan have to go back, right? Hu Jiahao is there too; they are all waiting for you."

Yang Tianxing continued to persuade her.

Tan Zhizhi had no choice but to stomp her foot heavily and get into the car.

Seeing that Yang Tianxing wasn't going back, Hu Jiahao was secretly pleased: "Little Zhizhi, let's sit in the second row; there's an empty seat here."

Tan Zhizhi snorted coldly, walked to the passenger seat alone, and slammed the door shut with a "bang," not even looking at Yang Tianxing.

Yang Tianxing didn't feel awkward; he even walked over and waved goodbye to Tan Qingwu: "Uncle Tan, drive safely on the road, thank you for your hard work."

Tan Qingwu smiled and gave Yang Tianxing a few words of advice to stay safe; as a veteran criminal investigator and the deputy bureau chief in charge of this area, he naturally saw that Yang Tianxing was lying, he just didn't understand the other reasons.

He turned his head to look at his daughter, who was sitting in the passenger seat pouting in anger.

Old Tan sighed, thinking to himself that this was the second argument he knew of, and every time, Little Zhizhi was the one who suffered.

"This kid Yang Tianxing, what exactly is he thinking? I need to find a chance to have a good talk with him."

…………

After sending Tan Zhizhi off, Yang Tianxing felt a little relieved; if Tan Zhizhi didn't send a message blaming him within 20 minutes, it meant she was truly angry.

20 minutes later, the phone remained quiet.

Yang Tianxing took the initiative to draft a text: I'm sorry, the finishing work at the startup base is really busy.

Tan Zhizhi did not reply.

Yang Tianxing: I promise this is the last time.

Tan Zhizhi still did not reply.

Yang Tianxing: I'll be back in Jinzhou in a few days at most; I'll come find you to hang out when I get back.

"Ding"

The message finally arrived, and Yang Tianxing hurriedly pulled out his phone.

"Dear mobile user, your balance is less than 10 yuan, please top up as soon as possible."

"Fuck!"

Yang Tianxing couldn't help but curse; it always popped up to cause trouble at the most critical moment.

He had no choice but to continue editing a text for Tan Zhizhi: How about this, I'll visit your house during the Spring Festival; I haven't seen Auntie Ye in a long time.

This time, Tan Zhizhi was willing to reply.

Tan Zhizhi: Really?

Yang Tianxing: If I'm lying, I'm a dog.

Tan Zhizhi: You've been a woof-woof-woof for a long time already.

……………

After returning to the dormitory, Yang Tianxing tidied up a bit and went with Shao Ziyang to the downstairs of the women's dormitory.

There were very few students left at the Finance Institute now, and the campus was empty; occasionally, the figures of a few students were just heading to the cafeteria to eat, then hurrying back to their dorms. Several convenience stores had closed, and the "lovers' benches" downstairs at the women's dormitory were completely deserted.

But don't worry, after school starts next year, everything will revive, and this place will once again be an ocean of "spring."

Not long after, Liu Jiaoyue came down dragging two large bags and one small bag.

The Shen Tong courier service couldn't reach Liu Jiaoyue's home because it was truly too remote; otherwise, she wouldn't have needed to carry so many packages. Like Yang Tianxing and Shao Ziyang, they only had one luggage bag each.

"Ziyang, don't just stand there, go help carry them."

Yang Tianxing signaled for Shao Ziyang to go help.

Shao Ziyang was honest; he walked up and picked up the two large bags.

Liu Jiaoyue didn't want to trouble others, but Shao Ziyang was very insistent: "Little Yang is a few months younger than me, and you are his person, so all of this is only right."

Looking at the blunt Shao Ziyang who said whatever came to mind, Yang Tianxing couldn't help but remind him: "Ziyang, stop showing off, don't forget there's still a small bag."

Liu Jiaoyue felt a bit at a loss; she looked at Yang Tianxing and said: "I want to carry a little bit too."

Yang Tianxing waved his hand: "Take my ass, let's go!"

He reached out to hold Liu Jiaoyue's hand, but Liu Jiaoyue shyly pulled away; Yang Tianxing smiled and didn't mind, pulling out a pair of sunglasses to put on his face, humming a tune as he walked.

"You carry the burden, I lead the horse, welcoming the sunrise and seeing off the sunset glow, trampling over the rugged paths to become the Great Dao, fighting through hardships to set off once again..."

Shao Ziyang was very annoyed by the singing and turned around to hang a small bag around Yang Tianxing's neck: "Don't even think about slacking off!"

The three of them took a bus all the way to the train station; Liu Jiaoyue did not know that Yang Tianxing was going to see her home, so she took out a paper bag at the entrance of the train station.

"What is that?"

Yang Tianxing asked.

"I, I knitted scarves for Uncle and Auntie."

Liu Jiaoyue said with a blushing face.

Yang Tianxing opened the bag, and sure enough, there were two scarves inside; they were the same color as his own scarf.

Liu Jiaoyue had to work part-time at 101 during the day and still had to review her lessons, so it went without saying that the two scarves must have been knitted by sacrificing her sleep time again.

Yang Tianxing sighed: "Let's go buy some instant noodles and snacks first; it's over thirty hours."

"No need, I brought steamed buns," Liu Jiaoyue whispered in refusal.

Yang Tianxing asked: "Bought them at the cafeteria?"

Liu Jiaoyue gave an "en" and even opened her bag for Yang Tianxing to check; inside the small cloth bag were indeed a few cold steamed buns that had been squeezed out of shape, with a bottle of mustard greens and chili sauce next to them.

"You're planning to eat steamed buns, drink hot water, and have chili on the side for this whole trip?"

Shao Ziyang couldn't help but interject.

Liu Jiaoyue nodded; she didn't feel it was hard at all.

Shao Ziyang turned his head in confusion and said to Yang Tianxing: "Little Yang, you aren't the stingy, penny-pinching type."

He found his childhood friend very strange; he had all sorts of faults, but he simply didn't have the flaw of being stingy.

"Of course I'm not."

Yang Tianxing himself felt somewhat helpless: "I've already paid her wages, but she insists on secretly saving them; what can I do?"