Everyone gathered at the resort for the next two days for this so-called class reunion.
The resort was located in the suburbs, north of City X, surrounded by mountains and rivers. It was said that the vegetation coverage rate in this area was as high as 80%. Qiao Yin happened to have a one-week vacation, so she didn't mind taking this opportunity to relax. So she put on sportswear and carried her hiking bag, combed her hair into a high ponytail, and brought enough sunscreen, and grandly arrived at the meeting place.
So when her former classmates saw her, they could not help but awkwardly open their mouths, "Little sister Qiao, are you still in school...?"
Fortunately, there were quite a few people who were also heavily armed, so Qiao Yin was not the most prominent. She greeted her acquaintances one by one before she went over to Huang Ling and jabbed her with her elbow: "Didn't you say that Zhou Chengze will also come?"
Huang Ling was wearing a rose-colored poncho with black hot pants. She had on huge sunglasses that covered a third of her face. Her long wavy hair was also combed into a ponytail. She was tall and thin, and she usually dressed in a simple western style, added to the fact that she had delicate and beautiful features. So she was already considered a goddess in the eyes of many of the male students even before she learned how to put on makeup.
"What's the rush, maybe he will be here in a while." She said, looking around, muttering, "I told him you will definitely come so how will he let such a good opportunity pass... Well~ here he comes." She said, raising her chin in a certain direction.
Qiao Yin followed her line of sight and saw Zhou Chengze walking over from the parking lot. In college, he played basketball for many years, now his height has gone from 5ft 7 to 5ft 9. His originally thin arms and legs had gotten much buffer, but his torso still looked too thin. Having not seen him for six years, Qiao Yin could not be sure if it was because he had been going to the gym. But even though there were no visible muscles, his body, as a whole, looked stronger. His very simplest black T-shirt and jeans only revealed so much.
However, his delicate face had hardly changed, especially those eyes with the long and curled eyelashes with the faint dark circles under his eyes that never seemed to fade all the year round. Qiao Yin looked at him from a distance, and suddenly remembered how she used to tease him, saying that he had white skin with "deep eyes" and looked scary like a vampire.
When Zhou Chengze walked over to his former classmates in the medical department, he was immediately grabbed at the shoulders by a few of his friends. He smiled just as shyly as before, raised his eyes subconsciously, and somehow found Qiao Yin at first glance. Before Qiao Yin could react to the sudden eye contact, she saw him smiling at her and then quickly looking away.
This simple reaction was as good as hitting Qiao Yin on the head. Well, it was she who brought up the breakup back then, saying she wanted them to be friends, he was not happy. So his reaction now is understandable
"Why is it that I feel that he doesn't even want to look at me?" She asked, pulling Huang Ling's arm.
Zhou ChengZe’s reaction from beginning to end was caught by Huang Ling's eyes and she too was also very puzzled. After a while, she said, "It's probably because it's hard to reveal the love in his heart..." She then pinched Qiao Yin's back: "You should just admit that you are thinking too much."
At this time, the group of men on Zhou ChengZe's side began to yell, "Okay, okay, the medical department is all here, are the members of the law department and the other departments all here?"
"There are only fifty people in total, just count and see!" Chen MinYi, who had been using a flyer to fan herself finally couldn't help but speak.
After counting the number of people and verifying they were all here, the group marched toward the resort in their great numbers. Their plan was to have free time on their own in the morning, and at noon they will reserve the kitchen to cook their own meal, then at four o'clock in the afternoon they will go climb the mountain, and then set up a tent on the mountain for the night. After Qiao Yin put her luggage in her residence, she went to sneak away. She had just slid out the door when she heard someone shouting from inside: "What are you doing, little sister Qiao! Come back here! We want to eat your cooking!"
But it was impossible for her to manage so much, so she quickly ran to the fishing field without looking back, "I am going fishing, I will come back to cook the fish later! I'm only making the fish, you can do the rest yourself!"
Her voice had not fallen yet, but she was already gone.
**(YukkiMuch: DUN DUN DUN !!! Ex boyfriend number two appears~~~ and it looks like Huang Ling is on that ship~~)**
The fishing ground's big lake was always crowded on weekends, so it was noisy everywhere. Qiao Yin had to work around in a big circle before she finally found a quiet place with few people. She opened a parasol, opened the folding stool, and sat down, fiddling with the fishing rod for a bit, and finally concentrated on fishing. About twenty minutes had passed but there was still no movement from the float. Instead, it was the footsteps behind her coming closer, and then she heard Zhou Chengze's voice: "Qiao Yin."
Why take the initiative to come and look for her now?
"Hi." Qiao Yin turned to greet him with a smile, and then quickly lowered her voice and reminded, "Be quiet, don't scare the fish away."
Zhou Chengze was stunned, he simply nodded and then moved a chair next to her and silently sat down beside her. He didn't speak anymore and Qiao Yin was naturally happy to fish in peace. The silence lasted for half an hour, when the float floated finally bopped up and down, Qiao Yin quickly stood up and reeled in the fishing rod vigorously and lifted a big fish out of the water.
The fish was still desperately flapping its tail. Qiao Yin didn't have much strength and fearing that it would escape, she hurriedly called over Zhou Chengze: "Hurry up, help me get it down and put it in the bucket! Hold it firmly, don't let it go. Don't let it escape!"
Zhou Chengze had actually gotten up as soon as she did, hearing her panicked call for help, he quickly responded with an "OK" and quickly cooperated with her and removed the fish from the hook and threw it into the big red bucket at his feet.
Qiao Yin put down the fishing rod as she squatted down by the bucket, she took a closer look at the fish and said: "It's so fat..." She squinted at it and remembered the spicy crispy fish that Xiao Yang had cooked last time. "It just happens to be a grass carp. Let's make spicy crispy fish at noon."
"Fifty people will eat one fish?" Zhou Chengze asked, also kneeling down, "But Lao Zheng and the others are also fishing..."
Qiao Yin was skeptical of the noisy group of men and shook her head and then stood up. With a table of about ten people, each table needed at least one fish "They aren't dependable, I'll catch a few more."
Zhou Chengze nodded expressing his agreement and accompanied her to continue fishing. Two hours later, she had made a good harvest: two grass carps, two crucian carps, and one silver carp. Just as Qiao Yin was about to send the hook back in, she heard Huang Ling's call not so far away: "Qiao Yin!" She called out waving at them. Her tone seemed as if she was going to swallow Qiao Yin alive, "Don't fish anymore! Come back already! We're all going crazy from hunger!!"
With the urging of a pack of hungry wolves, Qiao Yin could only pack up her fishing gear and head back with Zhou Chengze, "I'll take it." He was already carrying the bucket and casually took the fishing gear in her hand, leaving her hands to idle.
While she was fishing, she had already planned out how to cook the fishes. So as soon as Qiao Yin entered the kitchen, she got to work. Grass carps would be used to make the spicy crispy fish, crucian carps will be braised in a sauce, and the silver carp will be made into steamed fish in tempeh. Other people who went fishing also didn't return empty-handed, at least they caught a few small crucian carps. Qiao Yin thought they looked pitiful and decided to pan-fry them.
Besides the spicy and crispy fish, the next best-looking dish was the steamed fish in tempeh, so when it came out of the pot, Qiao Yin put red pepper and coriander on top of it, and excitedly took a picture and sent it to Xiao Yang in a text: "Isn't it tempting?"
Xiao Yang didn't have work that day, so her text message received a fast reply, "Isn't it tempting?" With his own photo attached, a freshly cooked fried yellow oysters and minced meat.
Suddenly feeling gluttonous, Qiao Yin replied sadly and frustratedly: "I can't eat it! QAQ"
He replied: "I can eat it."
She received another picture and it was also a plate of steamed fish in tempeh.
Qiao Yin gritted her teeth and locked the screen of her phone and decided not to text Xiao Yang until it was time for bed.
At this time, Xiao Yang had already brought the last vegetable dish to the table, and after serving three bowls of rice, he took out his phone and glanced at it as he sat down. After confirming that she had sent no new text messages, he picked up his chopsticks to eat. His mother, Zhang ChunMei glanced at him several times, and finally couldn't help her curiosity and asked, "Who are you texting?"
Xiao Yang picked up a piece of fish and put it into her bowl as he offhandedly responded, "Neighbor."
With her mind not on the meal, Zhang ChunMei poked at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks, ignoring the delicious piece of fish. "Is it Xiao Qiao from across the hall?" She asked as she glanced at her husband, who was sullenly eating, signaling with her eyes. "You just said that the tortoise in the kitchen is hers... When did you two become so familiar?"
Xiao Zheng was staring so he did not notice her hinting at him at all and reached over to the golden fried oysters. All he cared about was eating food.
**(Note: Xiao Zheng here is not Little Zheng, it's last name Xiao and first name Zheng)**
Seeing that he was eating really fast, Xiao Yang served him a bowl of chicken soup to prevent him from choking and casually replied: "She was the hostage in Li Cheng's case last time. After that, we ate together a few times."
This indifferent attitude made Zhang ChunMei wonder if there was someone else that he liked.
"Little Qiao, her conditions are okay, and the age is right for you too." She said, putting a fried oyster in his plate, thinking about how to persuade him, "But a lawyer makes too much money and has a lot of ideas in their mind. And she was brought up in a single-parent household. Nowadays children of single-parent households have bad tempers, added to that, your words are very poisonous. If you two get together, then there is definitely going to be many quarrels..."
Zhang ChunMei retired two years ago, and like Shen YanFang, she would visit her child from time to time. Since Xiao Yang was over thirty years old, she was anxious for him to start a family. Therefore, Zhang ChunMei had also known about the girl living near him. And the one person that she was least optimistic for her son was this same Qiao Yin, who lived right next door.
After hearing what she said, Xiao Yang suddenly said, "It's okay."
"What?" Zhang ChunMei asked, not understanding.
"Her temper is pretty good." Xiao Yang said, also serving his mother a bowl of soup, his face was as emotionless as ever, "At least she always smiles at me."
Had she not known that her son was one to always speak frankly and pertinently, Zhang ChunMei would have really suspected that he was helping Qiao Yin to get on her good side. She was thinking about what she should say next when she heard Xiao Zheng who was busy sipping from his chicken soup bowl go: "Alright then, bring her home next month for the Mid-Autumn Festival to show us."
Zhang ChunMei was immediately annoyed, and jabbed him with her elbow "What's the rush?!"
She almost knocked over the bowl in his hand, so Xiao Zheng was not happy and glared at her: "Aren't you the one who is usually anxious? Aren't you always saying how he is already thirty-something and still doesn't have a girlfriend that he can marry? Now that he has found one by himself, aren't you happy? So picky..."
She puffed out her chest and glared at her husband and raised her chopsticks as if she was about to hit him, "I think you want to be taught a lesson!"
"She's also busy with work, it's not fitting." Xiao Yang said, putting a piece of a fish in his mouth. Seeing that the two elderly people were about to quarrel again, he bluntly dismissed the two of them from the root cause. "So I didn't think about it."
The dispute immediately subsided, Zhang ChunMei squinted at Xiao Zheng: "Look, see! My son is more sensible than you!"
Xiao Zheng turned his gaze to Xiao Yang, "People change, and situations change. Whether or not it's fitting, you won't know if you don't try it." These words were rare and earnest, and Xiao Zheng did not try to sugar coat it, "On the one hand, it's whether or not it's fitting, while on the other hand, it depends on whether you like her. Living together, whether or not it's fitting is not enough, you have to think about spending your whole life with such a person. If it's only fitting and nothing more with little affection, don't even talk about seven years, just three years and you will be annoyed to death."
"Mmm." Xiao Yang went, slightly frowning. He put down his chopsticks, and calmly took a bowl to serve soup for himself, "I don't like her."
"Hmph." His father went, lowering his head to continue to eat. He disagreed with his son's answer, "You know the answer clearly in your heart."
It's not as if he did not see Xiao Yang sending text messages just now. Xiao Zheng knows his son pretty well, even when he contacts his brothers or the girlfriends of the past introduced by relatives, Xiao Yang is always concise. It always took him five to six seconds to write and send a text message. He would never take a picture or even frown and think for a while before sending it.
Xiao Zheng inwardly snorted. It’s not just a day or two that this son of his was not honest. In the past, he tried to make Xiao Yang learn to be a chef to help him run the restaurant’s business, but the child reported to the police academy without saying a word. Xiao Zheng was so angry that his nose scrunched up and his eyes went to the back of his head. It's the same with choosing a wife, Xiao Zheng did not believe that Xiao Yang would listen to what his mom says.
However, Xiao Yang did not seem to notice his father's weird tone and focused on eating his meal.
After dinner, the old couple stayed for a while. It was around 2pm when they finally said would go home for a nap. Xiao Yang drove them home and then went to the vegetable market for a stroll. By the time he returned home, it was already 5pm. He put all the dishes in the refrigerator and then went out onto his small balcony behind the kitchen and lit a cigarette.
After smoking for a long time, Xiao Yang realized that he was standing next to the big wooden basin, he stared at the turtle in the basin and zoned out for a while.
Then he took out his phone to take another look, but there was still no new text message.
There were still about two hours before he had to report for shift change. He suddenly felt that there was nothing to do. So he stood there leaning against the wall, smoking then he opened WeChat to read the news in the group. The first one was a photo of a large bag of chicken wings sent by Qiao Yin an hour ago: "Preparing to go up the mountain~ BBQ at night~ Seeing the chicken wings, I'm hungry again (ˉ﹃ˉ) Thinking back I ate so much at noon and I'm hungry again after four hours. I finally believe that the wisdom of the ancients is the truth... Tolerance is great, tolerance is great."
You can use it like this? The corners of Xiao Yang's eyes slightly rose and he continued to scroll down.
**(Note the "it" mentioned by Xiao Yang is referring to the quote "Tolerance is great" it's an idiom basically)**
As a result, he saw the spicy crispy fish, steamed fish in tempeh, braised crucian and fried crucian that she sent at noon: "Please call me Little fish cooker! Of course, there's also Little fisherman!"
The following is Huang Ling’s comment after she liked it: “Because the Ex was sitting next to her, the skill of being a little fishing expert is learned √”
Ex. He stared at the word for a while, and then finally closed WeChat and put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray on the windowsill. Then he glanced at the soft-shelled turtle in the tub holding up his forefoot in the water and then took his key to go out.
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YukkiMuch: I'm sorry this chapter took so long to come out... I kinda.... got lazy with so much work thrown at me in real life... haha... (･_･; anywayssss this chapter is out!!
What do you guys think about this chapter? The different characters' reactions?
~Thank You for Reading, Please Comment Below~
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