Chapter 15: 014

014 "Good, as long as it's not. You must not let Bai Ou down."

"Alright then, I'll switch it back." Song Dahai operated the steering wheel with one hand, switched back to the original CD, and the voice of Phoenix Legend rang out once again.

The morin khuur plays melodiously, mare's milk wine burns through the gut.

My love runs across the Hulunbuir Grassland.

Your kindness, I cannot, cannot resist.

Your purity tightly binds my heart.

Fang Qingye couldn't help but sigh in his heart; he was simply a huge simp.

However, Fang Qingye remembered that before his rebirth, the two of them never got together; he wondered if it would be different this time?

From Nanxin County Town to Langshan Scenic Area was not far, over sixty kilometers; three small cars got back on the Shenhai Expressway, drove for half an hour, exited the highway, skirted Jinghai city center along Tongjing Avenue, and finally arrived at Langshan Scenic Area.

Langshan Scenic Area is a 4A-level tourist attraction in Jiangsu Province, located on the north bank of the Yangtze River six kilometers south of Jinghai.

After parking in the lot, Jiang Chen bought tickets for everyone; they entered through the North Gate. The Buddha Light Avenue was decorated with simulated wisteria, and the ground was dotted with perennial flower bonsai, forming a walking path overflowing with fragrance.

Every spring, Langshan National Forest Park welcomes a brilliant bloom of mountain flowers, especially peonies, which have three major categories: single-petal, double-petal, and thousand-petal, across nine color systems. From early April to early May each year, the scenic area also hosts the famous "Langshan Peony Festival," attracting a large number of citizens and tourists to come for spring outings.

Everyone chatted and laughed while looking around; several girls kept taking photos. In this era, smartphones had just appeared and were not yet widespread; the photo quality of feature phones was too poor, but Jiang Chen brought a Casio digital SLR, satisfying the girls' photography needs.

Langshan is not high; climbing from the foot of the mountain along the stone steps takes less than an hour to reach the summit. Standing here, to the north is the entire Jinghai city center, and to the south is the ten-thousand-li Yangtze River. The river surface sparkled with waves, dotted with white sails, making people feel refreshed and happy.

There were food stalls at the foot of the mountain, but Jiang Chen said he wanted a self-service barbecue, so everyone drove away from the scenic area, drove west for five kilometers. Although this place was still within Langshan, the population was sparse, and a small river flowed quietly.

Everyone found a patch of lawn not far from the riverbank, brought out the barbecue tools; the barbecue grill, charcoal, grilling net, and cooking utensils were all complete, and everyone started to get busy.

Jiang Chen seemed to often organize picnics; his movements were very skilled. Several girls helped as assistants. Chen Meimei seemed to often do chores at home; slicing meat and skewering meat skewers were also second nature to her. Song Dahai, who usually disliked getting his hands dirty, also went over to help.

Fang Qingye had never done these things at home and didn't know how, so he didn't go to join the fun and simply wandered around nearby alone.

Qian Xiaoli looked like she hadn't done much housework at home either and couldn't help, so she walked over toward Fang Qingye.

"Ye Zi."

"Hmm?" Fang Qingye turned his head to look at her.

Qian Xiaoli turned her head to look at Chen Meimei, who was busy working: "Is she your girlfriend?"

"No, I just said, she is my colleague," Fang Qingye smiled and said:

"Dahai said three men and two women means one girl is missing, so he asked me to call another one, so I called Chen Meimei. If I had known you were coming, I wouldn't have called her."

"Good, as long as it's not. You must not let Bai Ou down." Qian Xiaoli suddenly replied.

Bai Ou?!

"I'm telling you, Qian Xiaoli, Bai Ou and I are just childhood playmates; there really isn't anything between us two," Fang Qingye hurriedly explained.

"Really?"

"Really! Then let me ask you, is there anything between you and Dahai?!" Fang Qingye countered.

"There could be, but he's unwilling." Qian Xiaoli put her hands in her pockets, looked at Song Dahai who was helping Chen Meimei nearby, and said lightly.

I @#%...

Fang Qingye was instantly speechless.

"Alright, I'll go take a walk." Saying this, he walked toward the river alone.

Fang Qingye naturally wouldn't follow; he stood in place, dazed.

Bai Ou.

A girl with a chin-length bob, whose eyes narrowed into crescent moons when she smiled, floated into Fang Qingye's mind.

Bai Ou and Fang Qingye were childhood sweethearts; their parents originally had a very good relationship. Fang Qingye's father, Fang Jianwen, and Bai Ou's dad, Bai Chuanzhe, were classmates and good friends when they attended Jinghai Normal University.

Fang Qingye and Bai Ou grew up together; they were in the same class in elementary school and junior high. However, when they entered high school, they split into science and liberal arts streams. Fang Qingye went to the science class, while Bai Ou studied liberal arts. She got into the Law Department of East China University of Political Science and Law, was recommended for graduate studies at her own university last year, and is now a first-year master's student.

In his previous life, after graduating, Fang Qingye didn't stay in his hometown for two years before returning to Shencheng to struggle. Bai Ou, after graduating from graduate school, took the civil service exam and joined the Jinghai City Court, later becoming an excellent judge. The trajectories of their lives had no intersection since then.

Regarding romantic feelings, Fang Qingye was a late bloomer. During middle school, he was all confused. Even after entering high school, besides studying, he and Song Dahai and Liu Dong would sneak off to internet cafes to play games. When they saw other boys and girls in the class dating, they would scoff at them.

Bai Ou was in the liberal arts class and didn't seem to have close contact with any boys; she was often seen riding her bicycle to and from school alone. Among the girls, she had a slightly better relationship with Qian Xiaoli.

"Hey, Ye Zi, come help!" At this moment, Song Dahai's shout woke him from his reverie.

"Coming!" Fang Qingye hurriedly walked over.

"Ye Zi, Jiang Chen didn't bring chili powder; without chili, what kind of barbecue is it? Drive my car into the city to buy some chili powder and bring it back," Song Dahai shouted at him.

"None of us eat chili; only you are special!" Fang Qingye muttered, but he still took Song Dahai's car keys and drove his BMW toward the city center.

By the time Fang Qingye returned with the chili powder, Jiang Chen and the others had already started the barbecue, immediately emitting waves of meat aroma.

Beef and lamb skewers, chicken wings, squid, prawns, capelin...

They grilled a huge pile, then took out the drinks they brought. Everyone sat on the plastic sheets laid out and happily began to eat.

Blue sky, white clouds, a small river flowing gently nearby, surrounded by lush green lawns and unknown small flowers. Eating barbecue in such an environment was undoubtedly a very happy thing.

Everyone ate and chatted, telling each other's interesting stories.

"Hey, everyone, let me tell you about a weirdo I met online." After finishing a lamb skewer, Jiang Chen raised his voice; everyone looked at him curiously.

"I trade stocks, right? I joined some stock trading groups on QQ. Inside there are people from all walks of life, all kinds of people. There are plenty of weirdos and weird people."

"Last night, I met such a weirdo in a stock trading group. Do you know what his online nickname was? Universe Youth Invincible Beautiful Girl."

"Ah, someone on the internet has that QQ name? So chuunibyou." Wang Simin said with a laugh.

"Exactly. Invincible Beautiful Girl; maybe it's a dinosaur." Shao Jing also chimed in.

"Who says it must be a girl? I think it's a ladyboy! Many big men take on female names to trick people." Song Dahai's voice was especially loud.

Fang Qingye hadn't been paying attention at first, just busy eating capelin. He loved eating this kind of fish; although the size wasn't big, the flesh was particularly tender and smooth, and especially delicious after grilling.

But when he heard Jiang Chen mention the name Invincible Youth Beautiful Girl, he couldn't help but lift his head and pause in confusion.

Invincible Youth Beautiful Girl, wasn't that the Dongguan girl's QQ name?