Luo Ye preferred high-speed rail and regular trains to planes.
Planes were too cramped. Being squeezed into a tiny seat for hours on end felt unbearably stifling.
Of course, first class was an exception, but it cost several times as much. It wasn't that he couldn't afford it; Luo Ye just didn't want to spend so much on transportation.
The high-speed train raced along the tracks, the scenery rushing backward as it passed lakes, viaducts, tunnels, and mountains.
The journey wasn't particularly long, but Luo Ye hadn't eaten dinner on the train. By the time he got off, he was almost faint with hunger.
He didn't know what other novelists were like, but he enjoyed visiting more places and seeing more scenery. That was how he could write more compelling stories.
On this trip to Hangzhou, even if all he could do was wander around the city, he would be perfectly content.
But Hangzhou had a rather famous nickname.
The city was known as a culinary wasteland.
Luo Ye went into a restaurant, planning to try its signature dish.
West Lake Vinegar Fish.
When Luo Ye ordered it, the waiter gave him an odd look and asked quietly, "Hey, handsome, is this your first time in Hangzhou?"
"Yes, I just got here." Luo Ye glanced at the waiter in confusion. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. One order of West Lake Vinegar Fish."
The waiter gave Luo Ye a sympathetic look, then left.
When he returned, he was carrying a plate of fish.
Luo Ye looked at the fish on the table. It seemed decent enough, so he took a small bite.
Luo Ye's brow furrowed instantly.
He couldn't cook, but surely fish wasn't supposed to taste this awful.
Being awful was one thing, but it was expensive, too. Two hundred yuan for a single fish.
Looking at the fish's unblinking eyes, as though it couldn't rest in peace, Luo Ye sighed. He prodded its eyes with his chopsticks and said regretfully, "Brother Fish, I bet you never imagined while you were alive that someone would turn you into something this disgusting after you died."
Unwilling to waste food, Luo Ye finished it with a pained expression, then went to the counter to pay.
Seeing that Luo Ye was rather handsome and looked so innocent, the young woman at the counter offered some advice. "Hey, handsome, if you've just arrived in Hangzhou, try checking out the street stalls, Blue Porridge Ramen, or River Pot. If all else fails, just get some Shaxian food."
Luo Ye nodded emphatically at her words.
That was important advice.
After leaving the restaurant, Luo Ye decided to find any hotel and make do for the night.
Once he had booked a room, Luo Ye lay on the bed, checked his phone, and opened his chat with Fairy Senior, intending to ask what she was doing.
Meanwhile, Su Baizhou had just finished showering at the Faculty Apartments.
She had already booked her ticket home and would be leaving early the next morning, so she wasn't planning to stay up late tonight.
But if her mother hadn't been at home, she wouldn't have wanted to go back at all.
Her parents didn't get along. Her mother was in poor health and needed someone to look after her, but her father had never taken care of her mother.
A woman who had given birth to an exceptional beauty like Su Baizhou had naturally been a stunning beauty herself.
Because of that, her father often grew suspicious of his wife, even hitting and verbally abusing her over it.
When Su Baizhou was little, her mother had quit her job simply because someone at the company was pursuing her.
Once suspicion took root, it never stopped. To prove her innocence, Su Baizhou's mother had chosen to resign.
But that hadn't satisfied her father. Instead, he took it as a sign of a guilty conscience.
Later, her mother's health grew steadily worse, and her beauty faded. Her father became increasingly cold toward her.
Then, when Su Baizhou graduated from high school and a boy who had pursued her spread rumors about her, her father hadn't said a single word in her defense. Instead, he had said something she could hardly believe.
"You're just like your mother. You love flirting with men."
Su Baizhou bit her lip. The mere thought of going back left her agitated.
She lay on the bed and checked her phone, seemingly waiting for something.
Just then, a notification chimed.
[What are you doing?]
Su Baizhou looked at the ceiling, took a photo with nothing much in it, and sent it over.
Luo Ye blinked when he saw it.
The photo showed a ceiling and a lamp that looked like the sun.
Luo Ye could imagine Fairy Senior lying in bed, holding her phone above her with both hands, looking at the screen before taking this photo and sending it to him.
The photo was a little random, but chatting with someone you liked was inherently random.
If you had to hunt for topics just to keep a conversation going, it only meant the other person wasn't interested in you.
When two people truly liked each other, both were thinking about how to talk to the other. Even a photo with no particular meaning could keep their conversation going.
Luo Ye: Senior, I bet your arms got tired from holding up your phone, so now you're lying on your side with your left leg resting on your right.
Just as he sent that message, Su Baizhou rolled over in bed and rested her left leg on her right.
After she finished moving, her phone chimed, and she saw Luo Ye's message.
She paused, realizing her position was exactly as Luo Ye had described.
Then she rolled over again to face the other way and rested her right leg on her left.
Fairy Senior: Wrong guess.
After sending that message, she took a photo of her legs and sent it to Luo Ye to prove that he really was wrong.
As soon as the picture arrived, a pair of long, dazzlingly pale legs appeared on Luo Ye's phone.
Su Baizhou's skin was incredibly smooth. Fresh from her shower, those pale legs were a peerless treasure no man could tear his eyes away from.
Besides, Su Baizhou was wearing shorts today. She didn't worry about what she wore at home, so almost the entire length of her legs was exposed.
But a moment later, the photo was unsent.
Lying in bed, Su Baizhou's usually cool face flushed bright red.
What on earth had possessed her to send Luo Ye a photo of her legs?
She had only been thinking about proving his guess wrong. Nothing else had crossed her mind.
It was only there for a second. He probably didn't see it, right?
Su Baizhou prayed silently that he hadn't seen the photo.
But when she thought about him truly not having seen it... for some reason, she felt a faint twinge of regret.
She had kept her perfect figure hidden for twenty-one years. No one in the world but her had ever seen it.
Even when she went out, Su Baizhou always wore long trousers or long skirts. At their shortest, her skirts came just above her knees, exposing no more than her lower legs.
She knew she was beautiful, but she didn't like being stared at, so she never wore clothes that showed off her figure.
When Luo Ye didn't reply, Su Baizhou grew a little anxious and sent another message.
Fairy Senior: What are you doing?
The second message finally brought Luo Ye back to his senses, and he hurriedly replied: I didn't see anything.
An excessive denial was as good as an admission.
Su Baizhou was certain he had seen it.
At that thought, Su Baizhou kept rolling back and forth in bed, facing left one moment and right the next, unable to settle down.
They kept chatting, one topic following another in a seemingly endless stream.
Without realizing it, Su Baizhou began to feel completely at ease. Her earlier unhappiness had vanished.
She didn't want to go home because there were so many people there who would speak ill of her.
Whenever she remembered how everyone had condemned her just after she graduated from high school, Su Baizhou's heart would grow heavy.
Before you continue