Chapter 225: Setting Off

Originally, after Qin Ge got the bus from Ninghai, he had planned to drive it himself or hire someone, but he didn't expect Bumblebee to volunteer and take on the job.

In her words, that meant if she could even use such complicated healthy power, driving a car would be a piece of cake, right?

Then, under Qin Ge's somewhat doubtful gaze, Bumblebee first drove the bus around the school once, and seeing its steady driving skills, Qin Ge finally believed.

So everyone packed up, got on the bus together. Bumblebee started the engine and, under Qin Ge's guidance, drove toward Old Street.

The trip was mostly uneventful, except that Bumblebee's speed gradually increased a bit, but it was still within what Qin Ge could tolerate. Watching the scenery rush by outside, everyone's mood involuntarily relaxed.

Even Lie Kexingdun stood up and sang a song for everyone, after all she existed as an idol among the shipgirls, so something like singing posed no difficulty for her.

When they arrived at Old Street, the place was already crowded with people. Qin Ge followed the locals' directions and had Bumblebee park the bus at a nearby lot, so that over twenty people could get off, and under the astonished gazes of the crowd, they headed into Old Street.

Actually, speaking of it, having a commander bring shipgirls to Old Street for a tour was no longer anything novel.

After all, this is Shenhua City, which naturally has many commanders and shipgirls. As one of the attractions, Old Street is naturally favored by commanders and shipgirls, but someone like Qin Ge bringing twenty shipgirls to Old Street at once was still a first.

But even though Qin Ge and his shipgirls attracted attention, those people were just looking. Because they all knew of the existence of shipgirls and commanders, and these people were there to protect them.

So, the scene inside Old Street was merely a brief disturbance before returning to normal.

This also let Qin Ge and the others breathe a sigh of relief, after all, being under others' gazes always feels weird.

Although there were countless little vendors selling things along the street, the group didn't linger on Old Street, because they had already agreed beforehand to first go to Lao Wan's place, say hello, and then bring the shipgirls to play around Old Street.

Thus they kept walking forward until they stopped in front of the alley leading to Lao Wan's house. Qin Ge looked from outside the alley into it and saw that a canopy had been set up at the entrance of Lao Wan's home, with two figures bustling about below.

"It looks like Lao Wan and Elder Lady are busy; let's go over and help them," Qin Ge said with a smile.

"Are those two old people Lao Wan and Wan Da Niang?" the centaur beside him said to Qin Ge.

"Mm." Qin Ge nodded. "After they came from Minghai City, they've continued doing their original business here in Shenhua City. Speaking of which, I myself worked there for a month or two back then."

While they were talking, the breakfast stall over there also noticed, and the few people who had appeared at the alley entrance looked over, as did Lao Wan and Wan Da Niang.

"Hey, that's Xiao Qin, right? He still has that girl who came with him before—is that Guanghui?" Elder Lady said.

"That's right, that's the kid." Lao Wan nodded and smiled, "But there are quite a few girls following him—are they all shipgirls?"

Wan Da Niang glanced at her old partner and said, "Xiao Qin is a commander; the girls who can follow him aren't anything other than shipgirls, and look—each of those girls is quite pretty."

"Ordinary girls—who looks as pretty as they do? And it's rare to see such a collection of beauties together."

"You're right," Lao Wan said. "Hey, they're coming over—let's go meet them."

"All right," Wan Da Niang nodded, then stepped forward toward the direction Qin Ge was coming from.

This little alley isn't long—just a short stretch—so Qin Ge walked less than a minute before he was in front of Lao Wan and Wan Da Niang.

Qin Ge looked at the two and smiled, "Lao Wan, Elder Lady, good day—I've brought my shipgirls over to see you."

"Hey, kid, you're thoughtful." Lao Wan chuckled, "But don't call me Wan Lao; call me Lao Wan—I've told you that many times."

Upon hearing their exchange, everyone couldn't help but laugh. The last time Guanghui went back, she had told them about Qin Ge and Lao Wan's relationship. Now hearing it face‑to‑face, they also understood why Qin Ge treasured this bond so much.

"Hehe, Xiao Qin, have the girls sit inside first," Wan Da Niang said to Qin Ge. "I and Lao Wan will finish packing up the stall and then come back."

"It's probably not time to close up yet," Qin Ge said to Wan Da Niang. "It wouldn't be proper to pack up this early for us. Besides, we're free right now—why not help you out? After all, back in Minghai City, we three used to do this ourselves."

"Ah, that won't do," Wan Da Niang objected. "Past is past, present is present—now you're a commander with all those shipgirls; there's no way we can let you lot do these chores."

"Why not?" Qin Ge smiled. "Besides, now that I'm a commander, would Wan Da Niang treat me as an outsider? Moreover, for my shipgirls, letting them come help is also a kind of relaxation."

"Well…" Wan Da Niang and Lao Wan both hesitated.

Meanwhile, Guanghui spoke up: "Wan Da Niang and Lao Wan, we've never yet experienced this bustling market‑life atmosphere.

"It would be better if we helped you out; then we could gain some life experience, find something in common with the commander, and that would be good for us too."

"That wouldn't be right," Wan Da Niang said. "You're dressed so nicely and you're here to play—what if you get your clothes dirty?"

"No problem," Qin Ge smiled. "If the clothes get dirty, we can wash them later. But if we just sit indoors watching you two work outside, we'd feel uneasy."

Immediately, without waiting for Wan Da Niang and Lao Wan's reply, he told his shipgirls, "Everyone, hurry over and help—several customers have finished eating and are ready to pay."

"Yes, commander," a few shipgirls said, and after speaking they immediately rushed past Wan Da Niang and Lao Wan toward the breakfast stall.

The only shipgirl left beside Qin Ge was Bisimai, after all, asking the flagship of the Iron Blood fleet to do such chores was still a bit hard on her.

Watching the crowd rush toward the breakfast stall, Elder Lady and Lao Wan exchanged a smile, then nodded at Qin Ge before heading back to the stall, where she told the other shipgirls, "Ladies, if there's anything you don't know, just ask me."

"All right."