Yang Xiao merely smiled and said nothing more. Toga Himiko clearly had no interest in chatting with him either. In her mind, she only talked more with prey she liked or people she liked. She simply ignored ordinary people like Yang Xiao.
Although she and Yang Xiao were colleagues now, they were only colleagues. Their relationship was just one layer closer than that of strangers, and it hardly mattered.
In fact, this was exactly the result Yang Xiao wanted. It was best if Toga Himiko saw him as an utterly ordinary person.
The two waited in the waiting room for a while before boarding the High-Speed Rail after having their tickets checked. Yang Xiao found his seat and sat down, while Toga Himiko sat elsewhere.
The Island Nation's High-Speed Rail was pretty good, but compared with Huaxia's, there were still some differences. In certain respects, it was not as advanced as Huaxia's.
Once the train started moving, Yang Xiao closed his eyes to rest. Before long, an attendant came up to him and asked, "Hello, sir. Would you like anything?"
Yang Xiao opened his eyes and saw that the attendant was holding a wooden tray with water and some sushi snacks on it.
"I'll have a serving of sushi." Yang Xiao was still somewhat greedy for food. His salary and benefits were good now, so there was nothing wrong with having some snacks.
"Certainly. That will be 950 Island Nation Currency." The attendant gave him a professional smile.
Yang Xiao paused. He had just remembered that food here was generally more expensive than in outside shops. But since he had already ordered it, he was not about to cancel. After paying, the young attendant left.
After finishing the sushi, Yang Xiao continued resting. No one disturbed him this time, and when he opened his eyes again, they were almost at the station.
After getting off, Toga Himiko hailed a cab and headed straight for Mr. Shi's hometown. Once the driver got on the road, he glanced at Yang Xiao and Toga Himiko, then smiled and asked, "Are you two from out of town?"
"That's none of your business. Just drive properly." With one sentence from Toga Himiko, the driver's smile vanished. Why was this little girl so sharp-tongued? He had originally wanted to find out whether they were outsiders. If they were, he could have overcharged them.
But now he was uncertain. This little girl had a bad temper and might be someone he could not afford to provoke, so he decided to observe them first.
Even when they arrived, the driver had not figured anything out. The girl wore headphones and listened to music, while the boy leaned against his seat and rested. The two had not exchanged a single word the whole way, looking just like strangers.
Forget it. Forget it. He would not rip them off. No matter how he looked at them, these two seemed a little strange.
After Yang Xiao and Toga Himiko got out, the driver drove off immediately, unwilling to say another word. What Yang Xiao did not know was that Toga Himiko's first remark had saved them from paying extra.
"I really didn't want to come to this godforsaken place." Toga Himiko muttered, though it was still much better than boringly studying at school.
"Let's hurry." Yang Xiao took the lead and walked ahead. Mr. Shi had described the house number and location clearly, so they would not get lost.
The surrounding area was a vast expanse of rice fields, some of them abandoned.
But from where they stood, the scenery looked just like something out of an Island Nation anime—beautiful and pleasing to the eye.
The air was good too. Compared with the alley where Problem Solver was located in Baoxu City, it was like heaven and earth. There was no comparison.
"Town Block 31-543. This should be the place." Yang Xiao stopped in front of the duplex building before them. Houses here were built like this, especially in the countryside. Two-story duplexes were the most common, while three- or four-story buildings were much rarer.
People here preferred living closer to the ground. Part of it was tradition, while another reason was that the houses were less likely to collapse in an earthquake and easier to escape from.
"Hello, is anyone home?" Yang Xiao pressed the doorbell. Before long, someone came out into the small yard. It was an elderly woman with graying hair. Seeing that Yang Xiao and Toga Himiko were both children, she smiled. "And you are?"
Yang Xiao smiled and said, "Mr. Shi sent us to collect some local specialties. Would it be convenient for us to come in?"
"I see. Come in, then." The elderly woman immediately opened the door, then called into the house, "Old man, someone our grandson found has come to collect the things. Hurry down."
"Got it!" A vigorous voice came from inside the house.
The elderly woman led Yang Xiao and Toga Himiko inside and personally brought them two cups of tea. Toga Himiko waved her hand and said, "Ma'am, I don't like tea. Do you have juice?"
Well, she really did not treat herself like a guest. Yang Xiao rubbed his forehead.
"Of course, I'll get you some." The elderly woman did not say anything about it. Instead, she asked Yang Xiao whether he wanted a drink too. Yang Xiao directly refused. He felt tea was perfectly fine.
"Tch, acting like an adult. Too much tea isn't good for you." Toga Himiko curled her lips, feeling that Yang Xiao was putting on airs.
Yang Xiao chuckled, lifted his cup, and took a sip. It tasted quite good. Tea was indeed unsuitable for his current body, but his mind was more mature, so a little tea did not matter.
What puzzled Yang Xiao was that the elderly woman knew they were children, yet she had still made tea for them. Perhaps she was simply used to serving tea to guests.
"Here I am!" Just then, an elderly man came downstairs carrying things in both hands. With large and small bags in hand, he walked up to Yang Xiao, slightly out of breath, and asked, "Young man, these things aren't light. Can the two of you manage?"
"Uh... why is there a girl too?" The elderly man froze. What was going on? At the very least, two boys should have come to carry the things. One boy and one girl seemed a bit questionable.
"Grandpa, are you looking down on me?" Toga Himiko was unhappy. She set down her peach juice, strode over to the old man in two or three steps, bent down, and lifted the bags.
"Oh? Not bad, girl. You're so strong?" The elderly man looked at Toga Himiko in surprise. At her age, he could not have lifted these things. Yet this girl had picked them right up.
To be honest, Toga Himiko also found the bags rather heavy. But it was fine—they could call a car. Gin-san would reimburse them anyway, and Yang Xiao could help too.
"Alright, Grandpa, could you give me another bottle of juice for the road?" Toga Himiko showed a few small tiger teeth and asked cutely.
"Dear, bring out two more bottles of juice." The elderly man did not waste a word and directly told his wife to get them.
After the elderly woman brought over two bottles of juice, Toga Himiko looked at Yang Xiao and said, "You carry these two bottles of juice. We're leaving."
Yang Xiao chuckled, picked up the juice, and bade farewell to the two elders. Then the two set off.
Watching Toga Himiko's departing figure, the elderly man clicked his tongue in amazement. "Girls these days are really impressive. Look at that boy—he isn't even as strong as the girl. I really don't know what to say."
"Yes, this girl has the spirit I had back then." The elderly woman smiled.
"Hehe, yes. You were incredibly capable at work. Otherwise, why do you think I fell for you back then?" The elderly man chuckled, completely unaware that the elderly woman beside him was starting to look displeased.
"Alright, you carry the things." After leaving the elders' home and walking a hundred meters, Toga Himiko directly tossed the bags in her hands onto the ground. Then she took the two bottles of juice from Yang Xiao without leaving him even one. "Don't tell me you can't carry them?"
Yang Xiao knew this would be the outcome. With a bitter smile, he picked up several bags and looked at Toga Himiko. "You carry the rest."
"No. You carry all of them. How could my hands possibly be used for this kind of thing?" Toga Himiko calmly shook her head.
At the request of many readers,
an ad-free function for VIP members is now available.
Click to view
Before you continue