Chapter 280: Talking About Past Events (Seeking Subscriptions)

The room wasn't very large, and with Fang Ziye and Luo Tingzhu both working at full tilt, they managed to sweep and wipe it more or less clean in just over two hours.

Only, although the big cleanup was done, the food situation still couldn't be resolved for the time being.

Even if they wanted to cook in the kitchen, they'd probably have to wait until tomorrow, when staff came to reactivate the card-swipe natural gas, before the gas stove could be used.

Naturally, Fang Ziye and Luo Tingzhu hadn't planned on eating at home anyway.

It was originally a two-bedroom apartment; previously Luo Tingzhu had converted it into one bedroom and one study, and today they just temporarily cleared out the study — fortunately Fang Ziye had already brought his luggage packed over beforehand.

All Fang Ziye had to do was spread his own blanket on the bed and he was set.

"Hot pot or grilled fish?" Fang Ziye asked, glancing toward Luo Tingzhu who was still in the restroom washing the mop, his gloves now off.

"Oh wow, it's been less than a year since we went out, didn't expect the grilled fish places on Han Street to have already shut down..." Fang Ziye said.

Luo Tingzhu froze at that, raising her head: "Both of them shut down?"

Before, there were two pretty good grilled fish shops on Han Street — one was the chain Tan Yu, the other a non-chain grilled fish place.

"That's right."

"Maybe it's because we weren't there to patronize them, so they went under."

"Mm, but it seems a new Chongqing hot pot place opened — just not a directly operated branch..."

"Which one, Senior Brother Zhou? Or Sister Pei?" The moment hot pot was mentioned, Luo Tingzhu instantly perked up.

She was a Chongqing native herself; although she loved hot pot, the hot pot places in Han City before had all been mediocre.

When she was in Chongqing, Luo Tingzhu never visited those chain hot pot shops herself, but if it was outside the province and she could get a familiar taste, she thought it was alright too.

"Sister Pei, you going?" Fang Ziye and Luo Tingzhu had stayed abroad for half a year, and the two often went out for small hot pot to improve their meals.

Only abroad, if you wanted to eat hot pot at the same level as Han City, you had to sweep for mines.

Because foreign hot pot shops didn't just come from Eastern Han — some messy countries' hot pot shops would also fly the hotpot banner...

Roughly an hour and a half later.

Luo Tingzhu and Fang Ziye ate until they were seven or eight parts full.

"The taste is alright, though it's a bit worse than what I remember, but in all of Han City it should count as upper-middle." Luo Tingzhu acted the expert review panel.

"I think it's alright too, mainly because the hot pot I've eaten since childhood wasn't exactly authentic hot pot anyway." Fang Ziye himself wasn't familiar with hot pot brand flavors; he just picked up some tasting methods following Luo Tingzhu.

"Order more dishes?" Luo Tingzhu looked at the two plates of vegetables left, and had no more appetite.

When Luo Tingzhu ate hot pot, she was purely a meat-eater — a plate of winter melon, a plate of pea shoots, almost all five or six parts remained.

"Let's not add more, let's just walk around a bit, see if there's any good milk tea or the like."

"Plus with New Year coming up, we might still need to buy some things — like bath products and cookware, otherwise in a few days we won't even be able to order takeout." Fang Ziye, who had spent New Year in Han City, knew just how cleared out Han City got during the holiday.

This was even with Han City's local residents not being few, but those few days, aside from Lanzhou pulled noodles, there really was no other takeout to eat — who knows if this year will be a bit better.

Last year Fang Ziye came back on the first day of the lunar new year, didn't cross the year boundary, so had no say.

Hearing this, Luo Tingzhu glanced sideways at Fang Ziye, nodded, didn't blush, but still lowered her head slightly — only for a moment before she raised it again, very happy.

After walking out of the hot pot shop, Luo Tingzhu spoke without honorifics: "Will you feel regret?"

After Fang Ziye went abroad and they met again and formally confirmed their relationship, Luo Tingzhu gradually hid the Senior Brother address that originally belonged to Fang Ziye.

But Luo Tingzhu also didn't, like Fang Ziye, give Luo Tingzhu an added Nuonuo or Xiao Nuomi address.

Still occasionally used Senior Brother as substitute, no other nicknames.

Especially when there was serious business, Luo Tingzhu would hide the Senior Brother address, but once it was a particularly happy time, she would instead bring up those two words Senior Brother.

"Regret what? Regret getting a girlfriend, or regret not going back for New Year?" Fang Ziye subconsciously hooked his right hand, very deftly taking Luo Tingzhu's hand into his palm.

Luo Tingzhu's hand wasn't the bonelessly soft type; although very white, it was also slightly rough.

Maybe it was from Luo Tingzhu wearing gloves long-term, or perhaps from long-term need to disinfect with hand sanitizer causing skin to be slightly rough, or maybe because she often went in and out of the kitchen, so she didn't have the same tenderness as girls her age.

"No, what I mean is, you could've stayed abroad for a while longer. Could've integrated into the team better too."

"Even, you could've gotten the green card that many international students look forward to." Luo Tingzhu returned to the main topic.

Fang Ziye only went abroad for half a year; finding a time window was actually very awkward.

Awkward to the point that Fang Ziye had just barely managed to demonstrate his true strength, truly get valued by the research group, when he had to consider the return journey, therefore forced to decline and give up some originally very good opportunities.

This half year was when Fang Ziye produced the least.

Fang Ziye didn't even want to invest himself in integrating into the foreign team, not even willing to go through the motions, so naturally there wouldn't be much resource feeding either.

The foreign supervisor, seeing Fang Ziye had graduation without worries, didn't make things difficult, giving Fang Ziye a very large degree of freedom.

"What's there to regret, it was planned long ago."

"Going abroad was just for this experience, and to broaden my horizons, incidentally settle myself down." Fang Ziye smiled in reply.

Then changed the subject: "Anyway, don't think about this anymore; people who really rely on going abroad to make a career overseas are few."

"Science has no nationality, but the nationality of science practitioners inherently exists."

"The core tasks of the team we're in, we'll never get access to them — it's like our country's international students also can't access the most core fields, same principle."

"So there's no such thing as regret or no regret."

"Instead of considering this, we might as well consider how to handle this year's New Year's Eve dinner, and after New Year which teachers we should visit for New Year greetings..."

Thinking back on the half year abroad, Fang Ziye didn't feel it was a loss.

Although the knowledge points gained weren't many, only about ten thousand points, even less than when he was in the country collecting daily welfare.

But this period of leisure was incomparable to when he was in the country.

Fang Ziye not only wrote his graduation thesis during this time, but also had leisure to read many books, read many literatures, check many materials, and even calmed down to read some non-discipline books Luo Tingzhu recommended.

This kind of enjoyment of the reading process, Fang Ziye found very comfortable.

"Moreover, just as you said, when the thickness of your professional knowledge accumulation and learning speed reach a certain extent, we'll definitely think about how to enjoy the process of learning and reading."

"Come to think of it, for many years before, I was always running around for prospects, major, degree, never thought about properly reading a few books."

"Just reading for the sake of reading, not reading for other directional purposes."

Fang Ziye spoke matter-of-factly, and after he finished speaking, he saw a shop selling stinky tofu up ahead.

"Nuonuo, want to eat some together?" Fang Ziye suggested.

The two of them were abroad and had tried quite a few exotic foods; some things smelled foul but tasted alright when eaten.

Stinky tofu can be famous nationwide; giving it a try is actually not bad.

Luo Tingzhu instinctively wrinkled her nose, but after her eyeballs rolled around once, she said, "Okay then."

"There's also a newly opened milk tea shop over there; I don't think we've seen it before, and there are quite a few people queuing. Shall we go try?" Luo Tingzhu also obediently didn't think again about whether she would regret it later.

In the process of mutual pursuit, there will more or less be a process of mutual giving up.

But at the same time as giving up, one also gains a lot.

For instance, if Fang Ziye chose to stay abroad, then many of Fang Ziye's resources in the country would go up in smoke, never to be used again, and his reputation might even be ruined.

Luo Tingzhu's own calculations were not abroad either.

And if Fang Ziye chose to return to the country, then giving up some good opportunities abroad was also inevitable.

With the interaction and close contact with Fang Ziye, Luo Tingzhu now felt especially at ease.

Because Fang Ziye didn't mind her original family, and had even told her that he was willing to let Luo Tingzhu believe there is still genuine affection in this world.

But a promise is ultimately just lips moving; life is long, and whether one can fulfill a vow, besides time, there is nothing that can prove it.

However, aside from this point, Luo Tingzhu didn't feel she had any overly big flaws in other places.

"Okay! ~" Fang Ziye hurried off to queue for stinky tofu.

Luo Tingzhu, on the other hand, knew milk tea better; she went to the milk tea shop entrance first, looked for a while, then searched on Xiaohongshu, and ordered two cups of osmanthus rice wine...

When Fang Ziye, holding a takeout box of medium portion ten-piece stinky tofu, came before Luo Tingzhu, he saw there was rice wine in the milk tea Luo Tingzhu ordered, froze for a moment, then said, "Aren't you allergic to alcohol?"

"You still dare drink something with rice wine in it?"

Fang Ziye remembered clearly: on the night of his own graduation, Luo Tingzhu drank just one cup of beer and got drunk out of her mind.

"Rice wine should be fine." Luo Tingzhu's profile was flushed red.

"Besides, aren't you here?"

Fang Ziye speared a piece of stinky tofu with a skewer, and while handing it to Luo Tingzhu, stood ramrod straight: "I reckon I'm your biggest risk factor right now."

"You should know, I'm a man, and you're my girlfriend, so?"

Fang Ziye's gaze carried something off; he scanned her up and down.

Half a year abroad, half a year cohabiting; besides the final thunder pool, hugging, kissing, pinching and groping — those cheap thrills — Fang Ziye had pretty much taken them all.

Especially when going on group trips, among the cheerful crowds, Fang Ziye only then learned that Chongqing girls, once they truly let loose, even someone with Luo Tingzhu's persona could be very bold.

Even occasionally Luo Tingzhu would "go wild," but so far the legendary labor-capital Shu Dao Shan level of ferocity had not appeared.

"So what?" Luo Tingzhu raised her chin very tsundere-ly.

"Hehe!"

But after saying it, Luo Tingzhu felt a bit regretful: "Just teasing you, don't take it seriously."

Having said that, she took a bite.

The pungent smell of stinky tofu instantly filled her nasal cavity; Luo Tingzhu, still unable to adapt to this flavor, nearly vomited on the spot.

Fang Ziye also tried a bite.

The taste was addictive, but not to the point of eliciting a reaction as big as Luo Tingzhu's.

"Throw it, throw it away." Luo Tingzhu's face was a bit pale; for a moment it was hard to tell whether it was from fear due to her boldness just now, or from this overly addictive stinky tofu smell.

"I also think it's not tasty; maybe we'll only be able to adapt to this kind of delicacy in the future." Fang Ziye unhesitatingly threw the stinky tofu he bought for twenty dollars, bowl, chopsticks, and bag and all, straight into the trash can.

Of course, although the stinky tofu stepped on a mine.

But the "osmanthus rice wine" milk tea tasted very good.

The rice wine was soft and glutinous, the milk tea sweet.

"Won't get drunk, right?" Fang Ziye asked.

"Shouldn't." Luo Tingzhu giggled, pursing her mouth, just wanting to eat.

Two hours later again, Fang Ziye and Luo Tingzhu, carrying bags large and small, arrived at the rental house; Fang Ziye indeed saw Luo Tingzhu's condition was still okay.

He asked, "You're fine with rice wine? But have a problem with a little baijiu?"

"This doesn't seem very scientific, does it?"

"We Chongqing people have eaten sweet wine Glycogen since childhood, so this kind of rice wine is definitely fine."

"But with alcohol, whether beer or baijiu, I can't touch a drop..." Luo Tingzhu said.

"Alright then."

"Let's put things away first." Fang Ziye said.

"Once we're done, tomorrow the two of us have to start preparing for the New Year."

"Ban nian" is another name for preparing the New Year's Eve dinner before the New Year; Fang Ziye had explained it to Luo Tingzhu before, so she should understand.

"Senior Brother, you're not telling Uncle and Aunt that you're back in Han City yet; what about your video call on New Year's Day?" Luo Tingzhu asked.

A twelve-hour time difference isn't easy to fake.

When the time comes for Fang Ziye to video call home, it won't be night on this side of the video.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it; if it really doesn't work, I'll drag you out to make an appearance."

When Fang Ziye spoke here, he snapped his fingers: "Never mind not being abroad; even if I weren't on Earth, my dad and mom probably wouldn't ask too many questions."

"Hey, haven't you seen the jokes online?"

"How much confidence does a guy bringing his girlfriend home have?" Fang Ziye joked back.

Clearly planning to have Luo Tingzhu appear in his family group chat as his girlfriend.

Since they had fallen in love, there was no need to hide it.

Chapter End