Meeting After Four Years

Lin Zhengran asked her on the way, "How far have you gotten? Didn't you say you got on the bus ages ago? Report your location to me."

Little He Qing had just hailed a taxi and stammered, "I, um, um..."

Lin Zhengran seemed to realize something, and his eyes turned speechless. "Why are you stuttering? Don't tell me you lied to me just now, and you actually haven't even set off yet."

Afraid he would get angry, Little He Qing hurriedly explained, "I have, I have! I'm already in a taxi! I'm almost at the station."

"He Qing! You're even lying to me now, huh?! A few hours ago, you said you'd gotten into a taxi, and now you still haven't reached the station?! Is your house hundreds of kilometers from the station?!"

Lin Zhengran's roar startled Little He Qing so badly that she moved the phone aside, cutely shutting one eye. Only after he finished scolding her did she comfort him:

"Don't be mad. I only lied because I was afraid you wouldn't agree to see me... Um, when I get to the station later, how do I buy a ticket? I've never taken a bus before."

Lin Zhengran: "...When you get here, I'm definitely dealing with you."

Since things had already come to this, he could only teach her step by step. "Don't hang up. After you get there, find the older sister at the Front Desk and tell her you want to go to..."

With Lin Zhengran's guidance, plus Little He Qing's firm belief that she had to see Lin Zhengran, the journey went fairly smoothly: setting off in the morning, buying tickets, taking buses, changing stations, and buying tickets again.

Although there were some little mishaps along the way, like her panicking over buying the wrong ticket, and having to figure out how to explain herself when staff asked questions, with Lin Zhengran's help, no major problems came up in the end.

At last, at four-thirty in the afternoon, at New Spring Grand Bus Station.

Little He Qing followed the crowd down from the bus and looked at the unfamiliar yet beautiful city. She had arrived at the meeting place.

This was the first time she had traveled away from home by herself after getting her ID card. Though it was not especially far, it still counted as no small trial.

"Lin Zhengran? I'm at New Spring Bus Station. Have you arrived too? Where are you?" She held her phone and hid off to the side, looking around at the crowd.

Lin Zhengran reminded her, "Don't run around. After you get off the bus, go wait for me at the service desk nearby. Stand under the camera. I'll naturally come find you. I'll say it again: there are a lot of people, so don't run around."

"Okay, I know. Don't worry, I'm very obedient." Little He Qing walked over to the arrival service desk, growing more and more excited.

She looked at the reflective glass doors in the distance, using them as a mirror to fix her hair. Then she felt that her ponytail looked bad after the whole trip, so she carefully tied it again.

Feeling that she should look very pretty, she checked the desserts in her schoolbag again. Everything was perfect, and only then did she continue waiting.

A few minutes later, Lin Zhengran, who had arrived at the station long ago, went looking with his phone in hand. "I see you. I'm on your right. Hang up."

Little He Qing heard the voice on the phone and turned her head to look.

Her eyes went unfocused. The Lin Zhengran in her memory had been small. Although he had seemed very strong in her eyes, he had still been a child after all.

But after four years, both of them, who were in their growing years, had changed quite a lot. The Lin Zhengran now was so handsome that he seemed nothing like the same person from before.

He looked a full half-head taller than her.

He was dressed simply, in a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, but his presence was powerful, and his eyes were still bright and confident. When their gazes met, she could not help but feel shy.

Little He Qing clasped her hands in front of herself. The more she looked at him, the redder her face became and the faster her heart stirred, until she slowly lowered her head.

Although Lin Zhengran was furious that this girl had gotten so outrageously bold, when he saw her for the first time after four years, he truly was struck by her.

The Little He Qing who had once been like a kitten had now genuinely grown into a graceful little beauty. She was a little over one and a half meters tall, with a slender figure, a sweet and pitiful face, and a pair of incomparably pure almond eyes.

At a glance, she actually gave off the feeling of the White Moonlight, the first-love girlfriend in a romance novel.

The two of them walked up to each other, and Little He Qing bit her lip, whispering softly, "L-long time no see, Lin Zhengran."

Lin Zhengran took a deep breath full of emotion and slowly raised his hand.

Thump, thump, thump, thump. He knocked hard on her head several times.

Little He Qing let out several cries of "Ah, ah, ah!"

It was as if he were hammering in a nail. With every hit, Little He Qing got a little shorter, until in the end she simply hugged her head and squatted on the ground.

"Long time no see, my ass!" Lin Zhengran said angrily. "You idiot, do you know how far apart we are?! If you'd ever traveled far by yourself, fine, but you don't even know how to buy a ticket, yet you still dared to run this far to meet me?! If I hadn't given you directions, would you even know where you were right now?"

Little He Qing squatted on the ground with her head in her arms, her voice aggrieved. "Stop scolding me, stop scolding me. I know I was a little impulsive this time, but I wanted to see you. And with you giving me directions, I knew there definitely wouldn't be a problem. Besides... you came too, didn't you?"

"I came because you told me you had already set off! What else could I do if I didn't come?! If I hadn't come, you'd be crying all day telling me how much you missed me and how wronged you felt! And now you even dare lie to trick me?!"

"I won't dare anymore. I'll never lie to you again." She was clearly being scolded, but Little He Qing pouted and actually felt incomparably happy. It had been so long since she had felt what it was like to be scolded face-to-face like this.

She even happily stuck out her tongue.

In the end, Lin Zhengran noticed and rewarded her with another Head Flick.

Little He Qing whimpered. "That hurts~"

"You've even learned to stick out your tongue! You didn't take in a word, did you?!"

Little He Qing pressed her lips together. Carefully and fearfully, she raised her head. "Don't be mad. We haven't seen each other in years, and you've gotten so tall and handsome. Just now, I almost thought I'd mistaken you for someone else. But seeing how fierce you are, I knew I couldn't be wrong."

Lin Zhengran: "..."

Certain Person let out a heavy sigh, not knowing why he had gotten to know this kind of girl, and mocked himself:

"Actually, I could have asked Aunt He to watch you and stop you from running around. Even if you'd gotten on the bus, she could have called you back. That would have been safer. But somehow, like I was possessed, I actually took a bus here to see you too. I must have lost my mind."

Little He Qing smiled happily, but when Lin Zhengran glared at her, she hurriedly covered her mouth again, exactly the same as when she was little.

"Forget it. Since things have come to this, let's eat first." Lin Zhengran held out his hand. "Get up. You must be hungry after riding all day, right? Let's find a place to eat first, then see where to stay tonight."

Little He Qing took Lin Zhengran's outstretched hand and stood up with incomparable joy, looking at him as happy bubbles already rose in her head.

Lin Zhengran asked, "What do you want to eat? There are quite a few kinds of dinner around the station."

"Anything's fine. I'll eat whatever you eat."

"Let's just have noodles. That noodle shop over there doesn't look too crowded."

"Okay!"

Little He Qing followed beside Lin Zhengran, carefully sneaking glances at what he looked like all grown up.

He really was so handsome. A smile hung on her face.

"Why are you staring at me and grinning like an idiot?" Lin Zhengran looked at her curiously.

Little He Qing immediately returned to a normal expression and shook her head blankly. "Nothing. I wasn't smiling at anything."

Lin Zhengran also looked seriously at how she looked now, then gazed ahead and casually praised her. "It's been a few years. I didn't expect you, silly girl, to have become so much prettier than before."

Little He Qing lowered her head, both moved and shy, her mind a complete mess.

Lin Zhengran said, "Right, we can't go back tonight. What did you tell Aunt He? There's no way she'd agree to let you stay out overnight, right?"

"I said I was going to spend the night at Wen Wen's house. If my mom calls tonight, I recorded some audio for Wen Wen in advance and asked her to cover for me."

Lin Zhengran found it unbelievable. "You really haven't learned a single good thing these past few years."

"That's not true..." He Qing explained, "Of course I know girls can't spend the night outside alone, but isn't this because I'm with you? I feel like there's nothing to be afraid of anyway." She blushed and spoke softly, looking blankly at Lin Zhengran. "Right?"

Lin Zhengran froze. Just what kind of nonsense had that Bestie of hers taught her?

With no other choice, Lin Zhengran had to gently knock on that slumbering soul again.

"Right about what? What are you trying to say, you little brat?!"

Little He Qing clutched her head, feeling terribly wronged. "I didn't say anything. I really didn't think anything this time."

Thanks to the big boss "Blue Chocolate" for the 4 monthly tickets.

Thanks to the big boss "Crowds of People" for the 3 monthly tickets, and thanks to the big boss "Sword Flashing Stars" for the 1 monthly ticket.

Thanks to the big boss "Rookie Camp, Emperor" for the 1 monthly ticket.

Thanks to the big boss "Hard to Find Immortal Grass" for the 1 monthly ticket, and thanks to the big boss "Incoming Call Fourth Sister Attains Dao and Ascends to Immortality" for the 2 monthly tickets.

Thanks to the big boss "Point Point, Vote" for the five monthly tickets, and thanks to the big boss "Fu Liu Qi" for the three monthly tickets.

New author, new book, trembling in fear, still begging for tickets and follow-up reads.