Compared to flying, Luo Ye preferred taking high-speed rail or trains.
Planes were too cramped. Being squeezed into a tiny seat for hours on end was unbearably stifling.
Of course, first class was an exception, but it cost several times more. It was not as though Luo Ye could not afford it, but he did not want to spend that much money just on transportation.
The high-speed rail sped along the tracks as the scenery outside rapidly receded, passing lakes, elevated highways, tunnels, and mountain ranges.
The journey was not particularly long, but Luo Ye had not eaten dinner on the train. By the time he got off, he was practically starving to the point of collapse.
He did not know how other novelists worked, but he usually liked visiting more places and seeing more scenery. Only then could he write more compelling stories.
This time, when he came to Hangzhou, even if he could only stroll around the city, he would be satisfied.
But Hangzhou had a very famous nickname.
This city was known as a food desert.
Luo Ye entered a restaurant, intending to try one of its signature dishes.
West Lake Vinegar Fish.
When the waiter saw Luo Ye order that dish, he gave him an odd look and quietly asked, "Handsome, is this your first time in Hangzhou?"
"Yeah, I just arrived." Luo Ye glanced at the waiter and asked doubtfully, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. One serving of West Lake Vinegar Fish."
The waiter looked at Luo Ye sympathetically before leaving.
When he returned, he was carrying a plate of fish.
Looking at the fish on the table, Luo Ye thought it looked decent and took a small bite.
In that instant, Luo Ye frowned.
He did not know how to cook, but this fish was way too disgusting.
It was not only disgusting, but expensive too. One fish cost two hundred yuan.
Looking at the fish's wide-eyed expression in the dish, Luo Ye sighed. He poked its eye with his chopsticks and said regretfully, "Brother Fish, I bet you never imagined that after you died, someone would turn you into something this awful."
Not wanting to waste food, Luo Ye forced himself to finish it with a miserable expression before going to the counter to pay.
Seeing that Luo Ye was somewhat handsome and looked so innocent, the young woman at the counter reminded him, "Little handsome, if you've just come to Hangzhou, you can check out the street stalls. Try Lan Zhou Ramen or River Catch Noodles. If all else fails, just eat Shaxian snacks."
Hearing that, Luo Ye nodded emphatically.
That was a very important suggestion.
After leaving, Luo Ye planned to just find a random hotel and make do for the night.
After booking a room, Luo Ye lay on the bed and looked at his phone. He opened Fairy Senior Sister's chat window, intending to ask what she was doing.
At that moment, Su Baizhou had just finished showering in the Teacher's Apartment.
She had already booked her ticket home and would be leaving early tomorrow morning, so she would not stay up late tonight.
But if her mother had not been at home, she would not have wanted to go back at all.
Her parents did not have a good relationship. Her mother was in poor health and needed someone to care for her, but her father had never taken care of her mother.
A mother capable of giving birth to a stunning beauty like Su Baizhou had naturally been a top-tier beauty herself in her younger days.
Because of that, her father often suspected his wife and would even beat and scold her over it.
When Su Baizhou was young, her mother resigned from her company simply because someone there had pursued her.
Once suspicion arose, it could not be stopped. To prove her innocence, Su Baizhou's mother chose to resign.
Yet that did not satisfy her father. Instead, he thought it proved that she had a guilty conscience.
Later, her mother's health worsened, and her beauty faded with time. Her father became increasingly cold toward her as well.
Later still, after Su Baizhou's high school graduation, when someone who had pursued her spread rumors about her, her father did not say a single word in her defense. Instead, he said something that left Su Baizhou in disbelief.
"You're just like your mother. You like seducing men."
Su Baizhou bit her lip. Just thinking about having to go back made her feel irritated and restless.
She lay on her bed and looked at her phone, as though waiting for something.
Just then, a message notification sounded.
"What am I doing?"
Su Baizhou looked at the ceiling, then took a picture of nothing in particular and sent it over.
Luo Ye froze when he saw it.
The photo showed a ceiling and a lamp, like a sun.
Luo Ye could imagine Fairy Senior Sister lying on her bed, holding up her phone with both hands, looking at its screen, and taking a photo like this to send him.
Although the photo was rather nonsensical, chatting with someone you liked was inherently nonsensical.
If people had to force themselves to find topics just to keep a conversation going, it only meant the other person was not interested.
When two people genuinely liked each other, both were thinking about how to talk to the other. Even a meaningless photo could become something to chat about.
Luo Ye: Senior Sister, I bet your arms are tired from holding up your phone, so you're lying on your side right now, with your left leg resting over your right.
The moment he sent that message, Su Baizhou happened to turn over on the bed, placing her left leg over her right.
After making those movements, a notification sounded, and Su Baizhou saw Luo Ye's message.
She paused slightly, realizing that her current posture was exactly as Luo Ye had described.
Then she turned over again to face the other side, placing her right leg over her left.
Fairy Senior Sister: You guessed wrong.
After sending that message, she even took a photo of her legs and sent it to Luo Ye to prove that he really had guessed wrong.
The instant the image was sent, Luo Ye saw a pair of dazzlingly white, slender legs appear on his phone.
Su Baizhou's skin was incomparably smooth, and since she had just finished showering, those fair legs had become an unrivaled treasure that no man could look away from.
Moreover, Su Baizhou was wearing shorts today. When she was at home, she did not care much about what she wore, so almost her entire pair of long legs was exposed.
But in the next moment, the photo was recalled.
Lying on her bed, Su Baizhou's usually cold face had turned bright red.
How had she been so possessed that she actually took a picture of her legs for Luo Ye?
She had only wanted to prove that he had guessed wrong. She had not thought about anything else at all.
It had only been one second. He probably had not seen it, right?
Thinking that, Su Baizhou prayed inwardly that he had not seen the photo.
But if he really had not seen it... for some reason, she felt a faint sense of regret.
She had protected her perfect figure for twenty-one whole years, and no one in the world had seen it except herself.
Even when she went out normally, Su Baizhou wore long pants or long skirts. The shortest skirts only went above her knees, at most exposing her calves.
She knew she was beautiful, but she did not like being stared at, so she never wore clothes that showed off her figure.
Seeing that Luo Ye had not replied, Su Baizhou grew a little anxious and sent another message.
Fairy Senior Sister: What are you doing?
After another notification, Luo Ye finally snapped out of it and hurriedly replied: I didn't see anything.
Overly emphatic denial was practically an admission.
Su Baizhou was certain that he had seen it.
Thinking of that, Su Baizhou kept rolling around on the bed, sometimes with her head facing left, sometimes facing right, unable to stay still.
The two kept chatting, one topic after another, as though they would never run out.
Before she knew it, Su Baizhou's mood had become incredibly calm, and all her earlier unhappiness had vanished.
She did not want to go home because there were many people there who would gossip about her.
Whenever she thought about the time right after her high school graduation, when everyone had condemned her, Su Baizhou's heart would grow heavy.
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