Early in the morning, Jiang Yumo set out for the bus station to meet Yan Qing and Sun Mengting.
The three of them bought tickets to the provincial capital at the ticket counter and waited for the departure time at the bus station. Yan Qing was excited and exclaimed, “I brought all my savings today, almost two thousand yuan.”
Yan Qing was considered a somewhat rich young lady among them.
Jiang Yumo was surprised and asked, “Why did you bring so much money? We’re coming back this afternoon.”
It was already a stretch for their parents to allow them to go to the provincial capital for a day trip, and it was absolutely impossible for them to agree to let them stay overnight outside.
“I want to go to the music store to buy CDs,” Yan Qing said with anger. “I compared the CDs I bought with my sister’s, and the ones I bought are all pirated copies! Does the owner of the music store have no conscience? Cheating a student like me for my money.”
Yan Qing’s favorite singer was a female singer.
A few years ago, when this singer’s career was at its peak, she suddenly announced a temporary farewell to the entertainment industry. Yan Qing even cried several times, and it was her genuine feeling.
“I’m going to buy seven or eight genuine CDs in the provincial capital this time!” Yan Qing sighed again. “Actually, she has several concerts this year, and I heard the tickets were all sold out. I really want to go, but my parents won’t agree. Anyway, I’ll buy a few more CDs. If I have a chance to meet her in the future, I hope to get her autograph.”
Jiang Yumo and Sun Mengting looked at each other and couldn’t understand the rich young lady’s thinking.
They also had their favorite singers.
But they wouldn’t go out of their way to buy CDs. At most, they would feel genuine joy when they saw their favorite singers ranked high on after-dinner music programs.
There were too many golden songs that year.
It was already impressive for a singer’s album to have songs that made it into the top ten.
The three of them chatted and the bus they were about to take was about to leave. They quickly got on the bus and, unsurprisingly, ran into an acquaintance.
Jiang Yumo was familiar with all the drivers on the route from Ningcheng to the provincial capital, as they were all her father’s colleagues.
“Going to the provincial capital?” The driver smiled and took out a few small oranges from his bag and handed them to Jiang Yumo, “Why not take your father’s car?”
Jiang Yumo sweetly replied, “I don’t feel carsick at all when I ride in your car, Uncle Wang.”
Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang laughed heartily, “That’s right, that’s right, my driving skills are well known!”
After having a good laugh, he reminded Jiang Yumo, “The provincial capital is relatively safe, but be careful and pay attention to safety.”
Jiang Yumo quickly nodded, “I know, I know. We’re just going to the bookstore there to buy a few books and come back.”
The three of them quickly went to the last row of the bus and sat down.
Yan Qing didn’t hold back her praise, “Yumo, no wonder my parents like you so much. Your ability to talk to anyone and anything is truly unparalleled. You even said we’re going to the city to buy books, haha!”
Jiang Yumo said seriously, “I really am going to the Xinhua Bookstore to buy books today.”
Yan Qing replied casually, “Novels? We don’t have many at my house!”
“No,” Jiang Yumo shook her head, “I’m bringing a few books for Ning Zhiyu.”
Sun Mengting asked curiously, “Are you really good friends with Ning Zhiyu now?”
“Not really…” Jiang Yumo said, “Maybe a little better than just normal classmates.”
Yan Qing sighed, “This is the difference between us and good students. Who wants to go to the bookstore to buy books during vacation? I can’t even keep up with the materials and exam papers from school.”
The three of them sighed in unison.
They could never reach this level in their lifetime.
As soon as the bus started, the three of them were very excited. They bought a lot of snacks like they were on a spring outing, but this enthusiasm lasted for less than half an hour. They leaned on each other, swaying along the way, feeling drowsy. After an unknown amount of time passed, a faint chord of music sounded, and Jiang Yumo sleepily took out her phone from her bag and saw the caller ID. She immediately sat up straight and answered, “Hello.”
“Where are you now?” The voice of Duan Ye came from the other end of the phone, low and deep.
Jiang Yumao pulled open the dark blue curtain and glanced outside, instantly confused. “I don’t know…”
“Describe some obvious buildings.”
“We just passed a bridge, and there’s a billboard here.” Jiang Yumao’s eyesight was also very good. She read the advertisement on the billboard word by word, “Linan Hospital protects your male dignity…”
She had just woken up and was still a little dazed.
Without realizing it, she read it out loud.
It wasn’t until the other end of the phone fell silent that she suddenly came to her senses, her face turning red in an instant.
Ahhh!!
What did she do!
She wanted to die on the spot!
Both of them were silent.
It was a dead silence.
Finally, Duan Ye broke the silence as if nothing had happened, “You should be entering the urban area soon. If there is no traffic jam, you will arrive at the station in twenty minutes.”
Jiang Yumo’s face was still red, “I see.”
“Hmm.” Duan Ye asked again, “Are you hungry? Do you want me to buy you something to eat?”
Jiang Yumo replied, “No, I’m not hungry at all.”
This was the first time Jiang Yumo felt awkward chatting with Duan Ye.
This was what an awkward chat was like.
Duan Ye was silent for a few more seconds, “Then, I’ll hang up. Call me if you need anything.”
Jiang Yumo breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pressed the red button to end the call.
After hanging up, she fell into deep thought. More accurately, she kept replaying the scene in her head, painfully closing her eyes and pounding on Yan Qing’s thigh as if to vent her frustration.
Yan Qing was confused, “What’s wrong with you now?”
Sun Mengting calmly replied, “I just heard her say something about male dignity. Yumo, not to judge, but are you chatting privately with Duan Ge about sexual matters?”
Yan Qing exclaimed, “Is this even a conversation we can listen to?”
Jiang Yumao looked utterly hopeless, “Which one of you wants to end my life? I don’t want to live anymore.”
Yan Qing was very curious, her eyes shining, “After you provoked him like that, did he say anything to you?” She looked back on the novels she had read and rubbed her chin. “Did he say something like, ‘Woman, are you playing with fire?'”
“Or did he say, ‘Woman, are you questioning your man?'”
Jiang Yumo turned to look at Sun Mengting, “Mengmeng, could you please kill Yan Qing for me? I’ll pay you 20 yuan.”
…
This went on until they got off the bus.
Jiang Yumo still heard the devilish whisper of Yan Qing in her ears—
“Woman, you lit the fire, you’re responsible for extinguishing it.”
She hung her head, with lifeless eyes, like a pitiful little quail.
—Yan Qing, I will definitely, definitely make you go down with me.
Duan Ye strode over first and asked quickly, “Are you uncomfortable? Carsick?”
Yan Qing and Sun Mengting were laughing on the side. Their laughter was so obscene that even Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao wanted to keep their distance.
Jiang Yumo weakly replied, “…No.”
Seeing Duan Ye’s anxious expression, Yan Qing cleared her throat and spoke up, “She’s not carsick. She’s just thinking about extinguishing…”
Jiang Yumo came back to life in an instant, rushed over and pinched Yan Qing, “I can’t let you, this scourge, stay in the world forever!”
Yan Qing laughed uncontrollably and tried to block Jiang Yumo’s attack. The two girls fought and made a scene.
Zhao Zheng said, “Those two are fighting like tigers now, Brother Duan, don’t worry.”
The fighting between girls comes and goes quickly. In less than a few minutes, Yan Qing and Jiang Yumo were holding hands again. The three girls stood at the exit of the station, and Guo Shichao, who usually had many bad ideas, pretended to count the number of people and said, “There are six of us, we can’t fit in one car. What should we do?”
Zhao Zheng was still bickering with Yan Qing, and he casually replied, “What’s the problem? The three of them can ride in one car, and we three can ride in the other.”
Guo Shichao coughed lightly and said, “It’s not good to let the girls pay for their own car when we’re out together. How about this, Yan Qing, Sun Mengting, and the two of us ride in one car, and Brother Duan and Sister Mo ride in the other. We’ll meet at the destination.”
“No problem, no problem!” Yan Qing agreed. “It’s now ten past ten, and we’ll have KFC for lunch later. I’ll treat.”
“I don’t like KFC, I like McDonald’s,” Zhao Zheng replied.
“Then go eat poo,” Yan Qing retorted.
“Okay, it’s settled,” Duan Ye made the final decision. “Let’s go hail a taxi.”
A few minutes later, Duan Ye and Jiang Yumo got into a taxi first and left.
The taxi drivers in the provincial city were obviously more generous, and the air conditioning was fully turned on.
After the scene just now, Jiang Yumo deliberately sent the matter of the billboard back to the recycle bin in her mind. Instead, she looked around curiously. She had visited the provincial capital many times before with her parents. Every time she came, she felt that it was a big place, full of high-rise buildings and a modern atmosphere.
Even though her phone had a low resolution, Jiang Yumo still took photos of the scenery outside the car window.
She enjoyed taking photos of the skyscrapers and the blue sky.
Until she noticed the battery usage in the top right corner.
“I can’t take any more photos, otherwise my phone battery won’t last until the afternoon.” She had been using her phone for two years and the battery was no longer durable.
Duan Ye took out a black touch screen phone from his pocket and handed it to her. “You can use mine.”
He added, “If you like taking photos so much, I’ll Bluetooth them to you when we get back.”
Jiang Yumo didn’t hesitate to accept it. When she turned it over, she saw that there was something stuck to the back of the phone. Then, she was stunned.
It was a sticker of her own face!
Back in junior high, apart from the trend of writing classmate diaries, it was also popular for classmates to exchange photo stickers with each other.
At that time, the photo stickers booths seemed to be constantly full for 24 hours a day. But within a few years, there were no more photo stickers booth in Ningcheng.
She only remembered that she took a lot of them at that time and gave them to many people. After all, there were emotions throughout the three years of junior high school, and in high school, many people would go their separate ways, even if they were still in the same school, the probability of being in the same class was very small.
It seemed that Duan Ye also asked her for a photo sticker at that time.
And she gave him one.
But she never expected that she would see this photo sticker again, let alone in this way.
She looked so stupid in junior high school!
And she still had bangs.
Jiang Yumo : “Why am I so ugly?!”
If she knew he was going to stick it on the back of his phone, she wouldn’t have given him one so easily. At the very least, she should have picked the most beautiful one to give him!
Duan Ye glanced at it and said, “It looks pretty good.”
He only just stuck it on not too long ago.
It used to be kept in a compartment in his wallet.
Jiang Yumo : “…”
How could he say that with a clear conscience? Even her junior high school self would think it looked stupid.
“Aren’t you going to take photos?” he reminded her, also a bit worried that she might tear off this photo that he had cherished for a long time due to frustration.
Jiang Yumo had no choice but to flip his phone over again. She lit up the screen—
Another blow.
His screensaver was a photo of her.
Not even a selfie, but one he had secretly taken himself without her knowledge.
At 1.85 meters tall, he was much taller than her 1.6 meters, and the angle he took the photo from was just too much! People who didn’t know better might think she was only 1.4 meters tall!
What a terrible angle.
Moreover, she was eating something in the photo.
The picture was utterly unappealing!
She quickly unlocked the screen, swiftly accessed his album, and resolutely deleted the few photos he had taken. As soon as she pressed “confirm,” she felt a sense of relief.
“…Did I do something to upset you?” Duan Ye asked helplessly.
“No, it’s just so ugly that it’s making me upset,” Jiang Yumo looked at him, her expression a little proud and smug. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you.”
She opened her camera and said to him, “Let me take a few photos for you now.”
They were definitely going to be better than the ones he took himself.
She played around with different angles in front of the camera, happily clicking and snapping away while murmuring, “Yan Qing’s cousin posted selfies on her social media, it was so annoying before, but now I regret forgetting it.”
Finally, she turned her body to the side and, in order to capture a natural feeling, told the driver to open the car window.
A breeze blew in, lifting her hair.
Duan Ye looked at her, her hair brushing against his face, carrying a familiar scent of mint.
He suddenly thought of why he suddenly stuck her photo on the back of his phone.
It seemed like he was urgently trying to prove— she’s mine, and I’m hers.
Please this really makes me want a partner RIGHT THIS SECOND.