When he returned from the Nangou River, Qingmu still had several stacks of US dollars in his pocket. He found them cumbersome, so he handed them over to Shi Dazhuang, leaving it to him to use for public or private purposes.
Shi Dazhuang was not a rigid person. He divided the money into several portions, leaving one portion for Old Enkun and the families of several martyrs, and keeping the remaining portion for their travel expenses back to Wuzhong, since they had indeed suffered losses when the Mangdian Grand Hotel exploded.
To ensure the Beauty had a good time, Shi Dazhuang gritted his teeth and checked into a near-five-star hotel. This hotel had a partnership with the airline, otherwise Qingmu wouldn't have happened to run into the flight attendant.
Shi Dazhuang booked two rooms; he and Yu Meiren shared one, while Qingmu shared the other.
The five-star hotel room was large, but for Qingmu, everything except a bed and an ashtray was a waste, and the bed was far too soft compared to the one in his studio.
He was smoking in his room when he turned on the TV. He remembered Wu Suotun saying that the good people in TV dramas all died from being too talkative, and he had modified that line and given it to Mu Ka. He couldn't help but chuckle.
After watching the TV series for a while, I found that the characters in the show were indeed very long-winded, whether they were good guys or villains. Things that could be resolved in a single sentence were dragged out for ages, and problems that could be easily solved were turned into a lot of trouble by beating around the bush.
Feeling bored, he turned off the TV and checked the time; it was almost time for dinner. He wasn't particularly concerned about food, but the thought of that Crow made him realize that it would inevitably bombard him with questions when he got back. If he hadn't eaten anything decent in Spring City besides rice noodles, the Crow would surely laugh at him to death.
So Qingmu called Shi Dazhuang, Shi Dazhuang said that he and Beauty were visiting the wildlife park, but seeing that Beauty was having a great time, they changed their half-day plan to a full day. The World Expo, which they were originally going to visit in the afternoon, would have to wait until tomorrow.
Yeye Yu Meiren snatched the phone and exclaimed, " Qingmu, Qingmu Yeye, it's such a shame you didn't come to the zoo! The zoo is so much fun! There are so many animals here, giraffes with really long necks, baboons with red bottoms, and even big bears and cats! My uncle even took me to see the elephant show, and... oh... never mind! I saw a peacock spreading its tail!"
Even through the phone, Qingmu could see Yu Meiren's happy, sweaty face.
Before he could even ask Shi Dazhuang where to eat something special, Yu Meiren hung up the phone because of the peacock displaying its tail feathers.
Qingmu had no choice but to put on his slippers and shuffle out alone. However, he didn't want to look for any local delicacies under the scorching Sun, nor did he want to rummage through those awful apps on his phone, so he decided to ask at the service desk.
Unexpectedly, he ran into the flight attendant again at the front desk. He overheard her talking to the receptionist about something like 1717, and suddenly remembered something. He took out his room card and looked at it, only to realize that 1717 was indeed his room number!
Just then, the flight attendant noticed him and greeted him with a smile, "Ah, we meet again, Mr. Qingmu!"
"Yes, we meet again," Qingmu said.
"Are you going out?" the flight attendant asked.
"Oh, I just wanted to ask at the front desk where there are some local specialties nearby."
"Oh, I see. So, what do you like to eat?"
"Whatever, I'm not that picky about food, but when you come here, you have to find something unique to try, right?"
"The most distinctive thing here is rice noodles! Haven't you tried them yet?"
"I already ate there last night, but I wanted to try something different, that's why I asked."
"How about I take you there? I know a shop that makes really good rice crackers and rice cakes," the flight attendant said with a smile.
"Oh, I can't accept that, it's so hot."
"It's okay, I'm going to eat anyway."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, flight attendant!" Qingmu said.
The flight attendant chuckled, "My name is Yao Jingjing, you can just call me Jingjing."
She generously extended her hand and shook hands with Qingmu, then said, "Please wait a moment, I'll go change my clothes."
Qingmu sat on the sofa in the lobby waiting. After a while, Yao Jingjing returned, having changed into a white T-shirt and floral skirt, with a sun hat on her head. She didn't look as mature as when she wore the flight attendant uniform, but that didn't diminish her beauty; instead, she appeared more youthful and playful.
"Let's go," Yao Jingjing said.
Qingmu followed her. After leaving the hotel and turning a corner, Yao Jingjing pointed to a restaurant with a somewhat old-fashioned storefront and said, "This is it."
She led Qingmu inside, picked out a comfortable spot, and Qingmu him the menu to order.
Looking at the dazzling menu, Qingmu felt a little intimidated and shook his head, saying, "You order."
Yao Jingjing smiled and skillfully marked up the menu, saying, "Besides rice crust and rice cakes, the braised dishes here are also quite good. How about some braised goose head and goose feet? They taste great!" She then mentioned a few dishes that Qingmu hadn't heard of before, and asked, "What would you like to drink, red wine or beer?"
Qingmu said, "Whatever."
Yao Jingjing thought for a moment and said, "Then let's have beer, it'll cool us down in the middle of the day. If you prefer red wine, I can drink with you tonight."
Qingmu had a feeling that Yao Jingjing was hinting at something, but he wasn't quite sure.
After the food and drinks were served, Yao Jingjing raised her glass and said, "Thank you!"
Qingmu was a little taken aback by her sudden politeness. "What are you thanking me for?"
"Thank you for helping me on the plane," Yao Jingjing said sincerely. "If it weren't for you that day, that female passenger... although the company was able to handle it in the end, I'm afraid I wouldn't have had such a good time."
"Oh, that's nothing." Qingmu took a big gulp of beer; the icy foam felt great going down his throat.
Yao Jingjing also took a sip and said, "Can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
"That day, what method did you use...?" Yao Jingjing seemed to realize that her question was presumptuous, so she carefully considered her tone. "I mean, you must be a very remarkable person, right? Your business card looks so strange; I've never seen such a strange business card before!"
Qingmu said, "Didn't you return my business card? How do you still remember it?"
"I took pictures!" Yao Jingjing waved her phone in her hand. "But you didn't write down the phone number I gave you, did you?"
Qingmu scratched his head. "I really didn't remember it!" He was embarrassed to admit that he had just thrown the business card into the trash can.
Yao Jingjing looked disappointed, but she quickly chuckled.
Qingmu asked her what she was laughing at. She said, "I'm laughing at myself. It's so silly to copy down phone numbers like that! But," she opened her phone again, "I still want to add you on WeChat." She looked at Qingmu expectantly after saying that.
Qingmu hadn't expected the girl to be so straightforward and adorable, which immediately increased his liking for her. He took out his phone and said, "Sure, let's add each other on WeChat, but I don't use Moments much."
Just as the two added each other as friends, Qingmu suddenly caught a glimpse of someone sitting at a table not far from them. At the same table was a scantily clad and glamorous woman.
Qingmu thought the man looked familiar, so he took a closer look and finally recognized him—it was Ma Fuqing!