The Fierce Girl
The nearest subway station to Xiangtan University is quite a distance from our home, so the two of us rode shared bikes to get there.
It was rush hour, but fortunately, the station wasn't in a very busy area, so there weren't many people getting on and off. Liu Chang'an helped An Nuan carry her large suitcase, and they easily entered the station.
"I suddenly have a feeling... I can't quite put my finger on it," An Nuan said, looking at her boyfriend carrying a large suitcase, with a somewhat wistful expression.
"Then let's not talk about it," Liu Chang'an objectively suggested. "It would be foolish to try and spout nonsense without being able to explain yourself clearly."
An Nuan punched him. It would be nice if there were special effects that are common in anime. He was knocked away and stuck to the wall with a miserable "" expression on his face.
She couldn't quite describe her boyfriend. He was definitely straightforward, being Gao Dewei's good friend, and sometimes he could really shut people up... She was pretty sure he wasn't just targeting her; she figured Bai Hui, Qin Yanan, and the professor surnamed Liu had all been roasted by him before.
But sometimes, he's like the baby bug in An Nuan's belly, knowing An Nuan what she's thinking. He uses all sorts of flirting techniques to make An Nuan feel sweet and warm, wishing she could be held in his mouth and stuck together with him all the time.
Of course, her inexplicable feelings right now have nothing to do with these things.
"For most girls, it's only natural for their boyfriend to help with their luggage. If he doesn't, it becomes a point of contention and something to talk about," An Nuan continued.
"You want to carry it yourself?" Liu Chang'an handed over the large suitcase. "Here you go."
An Nuan punched him again. If he hadn't been carrying a bag, she would have already climbed on his back and knocked him to the ground.
"Such a natural thing, but when I saw it related to myself, my feeling was, I finally got to enjoy it too. This is the first time my boyfriend has helped me carry my luggage since we started dating." An Nuan finished speaking and let out a long sigh. Sure enough, traveling is a very special thing for couples. Even before we got on the subway, she had already discovered many different feelings.
"Huh? My cute, funny, and slightly risqué girlfriend has turned into an artsy young woman?" Liu Chang'an hesitated for a moment. "You're not Professor Liu in disguise, are you?"
"Middle-aged!" An Nuan immediately snapped out of her daze. "She's a cultured middle-aged woman! I understand now. In your eyes, she's just a young woman. No wonder you were having so much fun flirting with her online!"
Liu Chang'an, carrying his large suitcase, kept his mouth tightly shut. As the saying goes, too much talk leads to mistakes. When a woman Chirp, it doesn't matter whether you listen or not; why bother engaging?
He didn't even want to explain that he and Professor Liu were just online friends who got along well... Isn't it true that people have fun chatting online, but meeting in real life is a different story?
"I don't know if we'll make it to the high-speed train. What if we're late?" An Nuan started worrying about other things again, and didn't bring up the past. After all, she was a magnanimous girlfriend.
"Have you booked the hotel? What if there are no rooms available when we arrive?"
"If we arrive at noon, should we eat lunch first, or go to the hotel to drop off our things and then come out to eat?"
I wonder how crowded it will be... It's not a holiday today.
Will we meet Ma Yun?
"Scan the QR code, are you trying to sneak in without a ticket?" Liu Chang'an reminded his girlfriend, who was clearly overly excited and nervous, and kept nagging incessantly.
An Nuan then took out her phone, swiped it, went inside first, and watched her boyfriend operate it.
"This turnstile just separated us, and I was a little flustered," An Nuan said sweetly.
It's started again.
Liu Chang'an nodded and took her hand. "Besides the turnstiles at the station entrance and exit, nothing else can separate us."
An Nuan sweetly squeezed Liu Chang'an's hand a little tighter, then complained, "Why do the turnstiles have to separate us? We can hold hands, each go through a separate aisle, and get through at the same time."
"Please behave normally."
An Nuan playfully hit Liu Chang'an, then laughed, and Liu Chang'an they walked up the elevator to the train platform.
They walked to the end of the platform, just as a subway train pulled up. Although there were no seats in the last carriage, it was still quite spacious, so the two of them held onto a handrail and stood there.
An Nuan looked at her hands, slid them along the handrail a couple of times, glanced at Liu Chang'an, and then turned her head expressionlessly to look at the station display on the carriage wall. No matter what, she was still a naive girl who had been lured away by him, and she had to be shy, sweet, and cute, and always appear pure. She couldn't habitually think about dirty things.
"I get dizzy on the subway," An Nuan made up a casual excuse, then leaned into Liu Chang'an's arms. "Hold me tight."
Liu Chang'an had no choice but to put his arm around her shoulder. An Nuan leaned against him, hiding half of her face, her eyes darting around. Then she saw a boy in the corner of the carriage taking out a sketchbook.
An Nuan turned her head away and continued chatting with Liu Chang'an.
Liu Chang'an would occasionally sniff the fragrance of her hair; going on a trip was actually a very casual matter.
Sitting in a sedan chair carried by 32 people felt quite nice, or perhaps accompanied by a procession of over a hundred attendants, with cavalry escorting them from the front and back.
Sometimes, they could also travel far away on a massive warship, taking the female disciples of the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect with them, and escape overseas.
Even just clinging to a log and drifting with the ocean currents would feel amazing. In the 80s or 90s, maybe some artists would have followed suit.
Earlier, it was followed by a group of monkeys or primitive people... that could be called migration, not tourism.
Tourism should be considered a concept that emerged after the birth of human civilization and reached a certain level of development. It is accompanied by the spiritual and cultural needs that arise after the accumulation of material civilization.
In the 1980s, Professor Liu Jianshe published an essay in a certain issue of "People's Literature" about the rise of the Half-Mountain Temple Tea Station and the development of the tourism industry.
Nowadays, people take it for granted that a place has become a tourist attraction and that some service industries have sprung up. They never thought that in an era when most people were still struggling to make ends meet, everything needed to be explored and studied, like crossing a river by feeling for stones... The river was deep or shallow, the stones were slippery and difficult to step on, and there was even a deep pool next to the stones, so they had to be very careful.
Professor Liu Jianshe is a professional in the natural sciences, so why would he publish an article in People's Literature? Actually, this is not contradictory.
Throughout most of history, there were not many professional writers... For example, when people talk about writers now, they think of literary giants like Su Shi as representatives of writers. In fact, writing was really a side job for Su Shi. He wrote for fun, just like many people play a couple of games in their spare time.
Su Shi was a pioneer in the coal mining industry and a water conservancy expert. His job was to govern and manage the people. Writing poetry and prose was not his profession. He probably just played a few games while working and ended up beating other professional players.
Another similar person is Xin Qiji. He was best at leading troops into battle, but the few poems he wrote when he was in a bad mood could still outshine those of professional writers.
Since the proliferation of professional writers, technological innovation and invention have gradually lost their fertile ground in this country.
Literature is something you can just dabble in casually as entertainment. Professor Liu Jianshe also sees it that way. A large part of people who truly understand technological innovation and research, or governance, can demonstrate their level of skill in poetry, songs, calligraphy, painting, music, chess, and other arts, even if they just casually dabble in them, in addition to their professional expertise.
Liu Chang'an recalled his many travel memories from the past, raised his hand and touched An Nuan's long hair. Perhaps the memories of the past would eventually fade, but now the beautiful girl in his arms was accompanying him on his journey, which made him look forward to it so much.
Wherever there are famous scenic spots and historical sites, there are bound to be poems and writings left behind. The poems are like paintings, and the scenery is like paintings, but none of them can compare to the beauty of a young girl.
Liu Chang'an turned his head and saw a boy in the corner of the carriage drawing intently, his gaze occasionally falling on An Nuan.
"That person is drawing me." An Nuan wasn't sure at first. After all, she was so beautiful, it was normal for someone to peek at her. But the more she was looked at, and the more he seemed to be drawing, the more likely it was someone secretly sketching An Nuan portrait.
This wasn't the first time An Nuan had encountered something like this. In high school, a boy confessed his feelings to her, and he drew a picture for her.
"Back in your second year of high school, Lu Chengdu from the class next door drew you a picture and a love letter." Liu Chang'an also remembered this.
"How did you know?" An Nuan asked in surprise. At that time, she accurately expressed her admiration for Lu Chengdu's talent. It was a painting with very good skills. Then she rejected him. Her lines were roughly that she would focus on studying in high school, did not want to be in a relationship, and would not accept a confession from someone she did not know at all.
The only people who knew about this were her, Zhang Taole, and Han Zhizhi, because she didn't brag or publicize it; she found an opportunity to tell Lu Chengdu in person.
Why not send a message? Because many people, once rejected in person, will stop bothering you. But if you use text messaging tools or social media, they'll talk a lot of nonsense and might even send emojis.
"When you pay special attention to someone, many of their little actions, their hidden thoughts, and the things they don't want others to discover will fall into the eyes of those with ulterior motives." Liu Chang'an recalled An Nuan from their second year of high school, "Back then you were a little shorter, and you were always jumping around like a monkey."
"You have ulterior motives towards me... Besides, I've always been a lady. It's Zhang Taole who's as lively and energetic as a monkey." That's how An Nuan remembered Zhang Taole; that's why she was always jumping around and being so restless.
But the thought that he had ulterior motives towards her since their second year of high school filled An Nuan with a sweet feeling, her cheeks flushing. "So you liked me all along."
"Yes, all love is the result of careful planning and preparation. Love at first sight is nothing more than a surge of hormones," Liu Chang'an admitted.
"You didn't say that before!" An Nuan looked at Liu Chang'an in surprise. "You used to say... all love, if it's not love at first sight, is nothing more than a compromise and reluctance after calculation."
"I see... just choose one you believe," Liu Chang'an said earnestly. "I promise, once you choose one, I won't change my mind."
"I'll walk to the other side after I get off the subway," An Nuan said indignantly, then opened her mouth and bit Liu Chang'an's shirt. It was so cold, yet he was still only wearing a white shirt and a simple jacket. An Nuan bit his shirt, trying to stick out her tongue to lick the skin on his chest, but she felt that it was too vulgar, so she didn't do it.
Walking to the other side meant taking the subway home, and Liu Chang'an, worried that she would do that, hugged her tightly.
When the subway arrived at the high-speed rail station, Liu Chang'an and An Nuan got off. An Nuan took two steps with her legs high, as if she was going to wait for the subway to go home on the other side. Liu Chang'an ignored her and walked directly towards the exit escalator.
An Nuan hurriedly caught up with them.
"Hello, I just drew a picture for you." The boy who had been secretly drawing An Nuan in the corner caught up with her and looked at An Nuan nervously.
An Nuan withdrew her hand from Liu Chang'an's, gently brushed her fingers through the hair on the side of her face, and glanced at Liu Chang'an.
"Thank you, it's very well drawn." Liu Chang'an took the drawing paper and nodded with a smile.
Seeing that the other person had already accepted the drawing paper, the boy didn't say anything more, and walked across the street to wait for the subway.
An Nuan turned her head to look at the boy, then turned back, "Hey, didn't he just get off the bus?"
"They stayed on the bus with us because they wanted to draw your portrait, and ended up missing their stop." Liu Chang'an understood the other party's good intentions and sincerity.
"It's really not my fault... I'm just too good-looking. Blame Professor Liu." An Nuan immediately tried to find someone to take the blame.
"I didn't say you were a womanizer."
"Ugh, I thought you were going to beat him up!"
"Am I that petty? It was just a drawing, and even though it wasn't your permission beforehand, it's not that unreasonable." Liu Chang'an raised his arm. "Let's go... The kind of situation where you really need to beat someone up is when someone, beyond expressing admiration and appreciation, relentlessly harasses and demands for your contact information."
"I'm different... If any girl expresses admiration or appreciation for you, I'll immediately categorize them all as 'green tea bitches.' If I were as good at fighting as you, they would all be dead by now," An Nuan said fiercely.
Liu Chang'an looked at her with some surprise.
"Didn't expect me to be this ruthless?" An Nuan said arrogantly.
"No, the way you were trying to look fierce just now only made you look cute, not imposing at all." To prove her failure, Liu Chang'an kissed her.
"Ugh! I'm going to be ruthless!"
Liu Chang'an laughed. Girls are always like this; if you praise her for something cute, she'll try her best to prove that her performance was especially cute.