Food Desert

Before she knew it, it was already eleven thirty at night. It would soon be the next day.

After saying goodnight to each other, Luo Ye looked through their chat history and realized that over the course of one evening, he and his senior sister had exchanged several hundred messages.

Looking at those messages, Luo Ye did not know why, but his heart was filled with a sense of satisfaction.

Before long, Luo Ye fell asleep.

Originally, he had planned to release extra chapters for his novel during the seven-day holiday. After all, everyone was on break, so it was the perfect time to relax with a novel.

But now, his mind was entirely occupied by Fairy Senior Sister. How could he have the mood to think about his novel? Still, he could not neglect it completely, so as long as he maintained the minimum daily word count, that would be enough.

For Luo Ye, who had been single for eighteen years and possessed lightning-fast typing speed, writing four to six thousand words was a piece of cake.

Before long, Luo Ye fell asleep.

Early the next morning, he opened his eyes in the hotel's king-size room, then began washing up with a blank look on his face.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Luo Ye asked himself a question from the depths of his soul.

Where am I?

What am I supposed to do?

Oh, I'm in Hangzhou, because Senior Sister's home is in this city.

After washing up, Luo Ye decided to visit some of Hangzhou's more famous attractions.

This city was not particularly large, and there were not that many places to visit, but it was a very interesting city.

Because this city had many internet celebrities. Even on some of its famous pedestrian streets, one could spot influencers livestreaming with phone mounts every few steps.

As a result, this city produced plenty of handsome men and beautiful women.

Luo Ye went out for breakfast, then prepared to start writing that day's word count.

He would write in the morning and sightsee in the afternoon.

However, the first thing he did after waking up was still to send Fairy Senior Sister a good morning message.

Su Baizhou also replied with a picture.

The picture showed the window of a high-speed train, which meant that Su Baizhou was already on her way home.

Luo Ye would not go to the train station to pick her up.

Clinging to someone of the opposite sex like that, even if she was the girl he liked, still felt somewhat inappropriate to him.

Besides, Senior Sister did not know he was in Hangzhou. If he went to pick her up at the station, it would probably only make her uncomfortable.

As long as he was there when Senior Sister needed him, that was enough.

So the question was, what was he supposed to eat today in this food desert?

Luo Ye began searching online for Hangzhou cuisine and eventually set his sights on something he had never even heard of.

Longjing... hot pot?

Interesting. Really interesting.

Was there cola hot pot? Baijiu hot pot?

Luo Ye finished that day's update over the course of the morning, then headed straight for a hot pot restaurant that served Longjing tea.

Meanwhile, Su Baizhou had already arrived home.

About fifteen kilometers from downtown Hangzhou stood a residential complex that was not particularly upscale, yet still looked quite beautiful.

Su Baizhou made her way to her front door with practiced ease.

Looking at the door before her, she hesitated for a moment before inserting her key into the lock.

But she quickly froze, because the key could not open her own front door.

Confused, she called her mother, but the call went unanswered.

Had the lock at home been changed?

At that moment, the neighbor across the hall heard the commotion outside. An elderly woman opened her door, and when she saw Su Baizhou, her kindly face broke into a gentle smile. "Zhouzhou is back. Would you like to come sit at Grandma Liu's place?"

Grandma Liu had a wonderful personality and had watched Su Baizhou grow up, so Su Baizhou was very close to her.

Su Baizhou went into Grandma Liu's home.

Although it was a holiday, Grandma Liu's children were not home. Only her granddaughter, around four years old, was in the room eating snacks.

Su Baizhou sat on the sofa. Grandma Liu poured her a cup of tea, then said, "Zhouzhou, your parents' relationship has been getting worse and worse lately. After you went back to school last month, your father came home late at night after drinking. Your mother's health wasn't good, and after she fell asleep, she didn't hear him knocking... Then your father kicked the door open. Tell me, they're a family. Why do they have to live like this?"

Upon hearing this, Su Baizhou looked worried and could not help asking, "Grandma Liu, where is my mother?"

Grandma Liu looked at Su Baizhou, then sighed. Even her gaze toward Su Baizhou became full of pity as she softly said, "After your father kicked the door open, he woke your mother up. If I hadn't heard the commotion and come out to talk him down, he would have hit her. The next day, your uncle took your mother away. Recently, it seems like they're talking about getting divorced."

Su Baizhou did not look surprised.

Divorce. She felt that her mother should have divorced that man long ago.

It was only because her mother's health was poor. If they divorced, she would probably have to live alone from then on, so she had hesitated until now.

Even if she wanted a divorce, she had intended to wait until Su Baizhou graduated and had time to take care of her.

But she did not want to burden her daughter, so she had kept enduring it.

And now, she could no longer endure it.

Su Baizhou sat blankly on the sofa.

The moment she came home, she had to face so many problems. Now, she could not even return to her own home.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance outside. Grandma Liu looked through the peephole and saw a man, drunk beyond belief, sitting at the door and knocking on his own door.

"That's your father."

He spent his days drinking now, and with Su Baizhou's mother gone, he often forgot to bring his keys.

"Bitch, open the door!"

Su Changqing shouted as he punched and kicked the door in front of him.

Hearing him insult her mother, Su Baizhou stood up from the sofa. She quickly walked out, opened the door, grabbed the man's arm, and swung her other hand, slapping him hard across the face.

"Watch your mouth." Su Baizhou stared at him coldly.

Su Changqing clutched his face, sobering up slightly.

Looking at the girl before him, his expression twisted as he angrily said, "You little bastard. You're a bitch just like your mother."

Behind them, Grandma Liu angrily said, "Is that any way to speak about your own daughter?"

"How I discipline her is none of your business."

As he spoke, Su Changqing swung his arm and slapped Su Baizhou across the face as well.

Smack!

A clear handprint appeared on that peerlessly beautiful face.

Su Baizhou's gaze dimmed, and she lost the very last trace of hope she had held for her father...

When had this man become like this?

Because her mother was beautiful?

Because all of her mother's admirers were better than him?

Because he had achieved nothing in his entire life, while her mother could have lived among the wealthy as long as she gave up just a little of her dignity?

But her mother had never given up her dignity...

And after slapping his own daughter, Su Changqing sobered up completely. Looking at his palm, a trace of regret appeared on his face.

"Zhouzhou, I..."

"Enough."

Su Baizhou spoke in an incomparably cold tone.

She gave Grandma Liu behind her a grateful glance, then turned and left without saying another word.

She did not want to say a single word to that pathetic excuse for a father.

After leaving the residential complex, Su Baizhou sat on the steps at its entrance.

Looking at the place where she had grown up, she suddenly found it unfamiliar.

For some reason, she now felt a little... no...

Not just a little. Right now, she desperately wanted to go back to school.

She wanted to see... someone at school.