Going to the Countryside

Nothing happened that night.

The next day, Chen Mengchuan, with faint dark circles under his eyes, said goodbye to the hostess at the guesthouse and left with Zhao Wanyu.

After buying a huge pile of things at the school convenience store and having some breakfast, they each hauled a large, heavy bag to the highway, flagged down a coach bus, and slowly headed west.

Brownish-yellow earth stretched along both sides of the provincial highway. The farther west they went, the more yellow sand became the dominant color. The occasional flash of brilliantly blue lakes was like enormous dark-green jade, stirring up many memories in Chen Mengchuan that did not belong to this time.

The bus did not travel quickly. Sand on the road made the tires prone to skidding, and at high speeds, it was difficult to brake. The driver was a rugged Northwestern man, and Chen Mengchuan chatted with him on and off. The speedometer never went above sixty kilometers per hour.

He glanced at the time. They had boarded at nine, and two and a half hours had passed. The bus had stopped more than a dozen times along the way, with passengers constantly getting on and off.

He looked at Zhao Wanyu by the window. She stared wide-eyed at the vast, magnificent stands of poplar trees stretching across the desolate land. It was a bleakness and openness that Jiangnan could never offer.

Back here again, Chen Mengchuan gazed at it all and marveled at those poplars that seemed to have weathered countless changes through the ages, yet still locked their roots into the yellow sands. Even when their branches withered, they would still dance with the sand against the wind.

His phone rang. Chen Mengchuan looked at it, saw that it was Guo Siming, and answered.

"Brother Chuan, I'm in Xi'an City. Where are you? How about this—I'll treat you today. Brother Chuan, do me the honor, alright? I'll apologize to you in public." Guo Siming rattled it all off in one breath.

"Guo Siming, I told you, there's no need for this. I really don't hold this against you anymore. That's it." Thinking of how he was about to cut ties with the past, Chen Mengchuan truly had no mood to chat with him.

"Don't hang up, don't hang up! Brother Chuan, you're my real brother. Where are you? I'll drive over and pick you up. Let's talk face-to-face, alright?" Guo Siming hurriedly said.

"Heh, I'm in Qinghai right now, not far from the Kunlun Mountains. Why don't you come over?" Chen Mengchuan said seriously. The Kunlun Mountains were less than a two-hour drive south of Golmud.

"Brother Chuan, you must be joking. Didn't you say you were in Xi'an last night?" Guo Siming forced a smile through gritted teeth.

"Forget it. Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. That's it." With that, Chen Mengchuan hung up and blocked the number again.

After Guo Siming, standing outside a hotel in Xi'an City, was hung up on, he immediately called back. "Beep. The number you have dialed is powered off. Sorry..."

Realizing he had been blocked again, Guo Siming furiously smashed the Fruit X in his hand onto the ground. "Kunlun Mountains! Chen Mengchuan, you're going too far!"

The assistant beside him twitched an eyelid. "Brother Guo, that's my phone."

"I'll pay for it!" Guo Siming roared at the assistant, unable to control his emotions.

Noticing the gazes of many passersby, Guo Siming took several deep breaths, put on a dejected expression, and solemnly apologized to the assistant who had picked up the phone. "Sorry. I couldn't control my emotions."

The assistant forced out a smile. "It's fine... Brother Guo, are we still going to the Kunlun Mountains?"

"Back to the hotel first." Guo Siming turned around with a cold face and walked back into the hotel, followed by the two assistants.

As soon as the other assistant entered, he immediately turned back and said to an elderly security guard at the entrance, "Sir, can you sell me that Nokia in your hand? I'll give you five hundred..."

Not long after Chen Mengchuan hung up on Guo Siming, the bus drove for a few more minutes and stopped at a gas station.

"Getting gas, then we'll be right on our way. Anyone need to relieve themselves?" The Northwestern man apologized to the few passengers.

Zhao Wanyu, who had somehow fallen asleep, slowly woke up. Seeing that the bus had stopped, she looked around—and Chen Mengchuan was nowhere to be seen. She hurriedly asked the driver, "Driver, where's the man who was with me?"

"He got off." The Northwestern man replied.

Zhao Wanyu was startled. "He got off? Where did he get off?"

The Northwestern man laughed loudly. "Hey, you're a funny one, miss. We're getting gas. Your man can't get off to take a piss? Hahaha!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Wanyu caught sight of Chen Mengchuan walking toward the bus. Her face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple.

"Hahaha, she's embarrassed! Her whole face is red!"

Chen Mengchuan got on the bus and found the atmosphere cheerful. He glanced at Zhao Wanyu, whose face was bright red, feeling rather baffled, then tossed a cigarette to every man on the bus.

"Don't light them at the gas station!" The Northwestern man took the cigarette and called out to the men on the bus.

"Got it~~" The Northeastern drawl stretched the words long.

"Want some water?" Chen Mengchuan handed Zhao Wanyu a bottle of mineral water.

Somewhat awkwardly, Zhao Wanyu took the mineral water from Chen Mengchuan, twisted open the cap, and gulped down a large mouthful. Her face was still burning hot.

Four updates a day. Being a newcomer isn't easy—please vote and bookmark!