Qingmu remembered that he was the host in the room and Yao Jingjing was the guest, so it was really unreasonable of him not even to offer her a glass of water. He went to the room to get a drink.
Yao Jingjing said, "Let me make you some tea!"
She rushed into the room, acting like a hostess, boiling water and making tea, while Qingmu became a guest, leisurely smoking on the balcony.
Yao Jingjing noticed that Qingmu hadn't brought his own tea, so she ran back to her room to get some fresh Yunwu tea, saying that the Pu'er tea in the hotel was of very poor quality, and that the Yaman black tea didn't suit Qingmu's status.
Qingmu smiled and asked her, "Who am I to be so particular about tea?"
Yao Jingjing said, "You're quite the expert! Don't experts drink tea in such an elegant and refined way, like 'A gentle breeze rises from under my armpits, and I return to Mount Penglai '?"
Qingmu said, "It seems I'll never become a master in this lifetime."
Yao Jingjing poured him some tea, saying it was from her hometown, and asked him how the tea was.
Qingmu gulped down several mouthfuls and exclaimed, "What wonderful tea! What wonderful tea!"
Yao Jingjing asked with a smile, "How is it good?"
Qingmu said, "My criterion for judging whether tea is good or not is whether it quenches thirst. Your tea quenches thirst, so it's good tea."
Yao Jingjing said with some disappointment, "Are you just giving me the runaround?"
Qingmu said, "I'm not just being perfunctory! This is called returning to simplicity. Look at the ancients, they used this to make tea, just to quench their thirst! Later people, trying to appear cultured, created all sorts of fancy things to tea, but they neglected the original purpose of drinking tea. Even when they weren't thirsty, they kept drinking and drinking, only putting extra burden on their liver and kidneys."
Yao Jingjing laughed, "You're generalizing and smearing everyone who drinks tea! And you claim you're not a master yourself!"
At this moment, Yu Meiren came out after taking a bath. Her hair was wet and loose behind her ears. Her face was rosy and tender, like a freshly peeled lychee.
Yao Jingjing took a towel and helped her dry her hair, saying as she did so, "Remember to dry your hair after showering next time, or you'll catch a cold." After saying that, she put the towel down and took a hairdryer to dry her hair.
After drying her hair, Yao Jingjing sprayed a little of the hotel perfume on the Beauty, smelled it, and said, "Mmm, smells wonderful, Beauty so beautiful!"
Yu Meiren said, "Thank you, Auntie!"
Yao Jingjing looked at Qingmu and asked, "How's dinner going? Haven't you made any plans yet? Or should I arrange it?"
Qingmu said, "Then I'll be troubling you again!"
"It's alright, I was going to treat you to lunch anyway, but your friend ended up paying instead. I still owe you a meal!" Yao Jingjing said. "You guys go down first and wait for me in the lobby. I'm going back to my room to get my bag."
After Yao Jingjing left, Qingmu had Yu Meiren change her shoes, and then took her hand and went downstairs.
Yu Meiren asked Qingmu, "This auntie is so pretty, what does she do?"
Qingmu said, "She's a flight attendant."
Yu Meiren asked, "What is a flight attendant?"
Qingmu said, "It's the young lady who works on airplanes."
"Wow, that's amazing!" Yu Meiren looked up, as if an airplane was flying across the ceiling of the hotel lobby, and looked on with envy.
After Yao Jingjing came down, she called a car on her phone. The three of them then took a taxi to a restaurant next to Green Lake.
This restaurant looked much more upscale than the one we had at noon, and it had a wider variety of dishes. Yu Meiren was dazzled by the selection, and after a while, she dragged Qingmu and Yao Jingjing out, saying that it was too expensive and they couldn't eat here.
Yao Jingjing was trying to comfort Yu Meiren, telling her not to worry about the cost of her aunt's treat, but Yu Meiren suddenly burst into tears. Yao Jingjing was startled and asked her why she was crying. Yu Meiren wiped away her tears and said, "I miss my mom. My mom has never eaten such good food!"
Yao Jingjing looked at Qingmu for help. Qingmu then picked up Yu Meiren and said, "Then let's go eat something cheap. Mom will be so happy to know how sensible Beauty is."
The three of them strolled around the lakeside night market. The market was filled with all sorts of things. Yu Meiren looked at this and touched that, her tears still wet on her face, but a smile had already appeared on her lips. Yao Jingjing took out her money and bought her a few trinkets, which made her extremely happy.
Seeing that Beauty had calmed down, they found a relatively inexpensive restaurant, though it wasn't actually that cheap. When ordering, Yu Meiren wasn't as resistant as before, sitting quietly at the table, only nodding or shaking her head when asked if she liked or disliked the food.
During the meal, Qingmu told Yao Jingjing about Yu Meiren's background. If it weren't for the fact that Beauty was in front of her, Yao Jingjing would have almost burst into tears.
After finishing our meal and leaving the restaurant, we found the lights along Green Lake already twinkling. The daytime hustle and bustle had subsided, and pedestrians were walking more leisurely. The lights reflected on the lake shore, creating a sense of tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle.
The three of them walked aimlessly along the lakeshore, saying little.
Yu Meiren gazed at the beautiful lake scenery, completely captivated. When she grew tired, Yu Meiren asked Qingmu to carry her, just like the day she cut the poppies.
Yao Jingjing's face was filled with a satisfied smile. In the dim moonlight, her figure, reflected in the lake, was as graceful as a green willow branch swaying in the breeze by the lake.
Yu Meiren suddenly whispered in Qingmu's ear, " Qingmu Yeye, this auntie likes you."
Qingmu exclaimed, "What?"
Yu Meiren then giggled.
Yao Jingjing asked them curiously what they were laughing about. They both replied at the same time, "Oh, nothing, nothing!"
Yao Jingjing clenched her little fists as if to hit them. "Ha, you two are bullying me!"
They both said at the same time, "How dare we!" and then burst into laughter.
Yu Meiren laughed so hard she almost fell over, perched on Qingmu's shoulder.
Yao Jingjing knew they were talking about her, but there was nothing she could do. She was so angry that she pretended to ignore them, saying, "I don't care to know!" But she kept wondering what they had said.
After leaving the Green Lake and arriving at the commercial street, Yao Jingjing looked at Yu Meiren's clothes and complained, "You men are really something! All you do is bring Beauty out of the mountains, but you don't even buy her a few decent outfits!"
As she spoke, she pulled the Beauty into the mall and picked out quite a few clothes for her.
While changing clothes in the dressing room, Yao Jingjing secretly asked Beauty, "What bad things were you two saying about me just now?"
The Beauty blinked and said, "Auntie, do you really want to know?"
Yao Jingjing nodded. "Of course I want to! If you don't tell Auntie, she'll be angry!"
Yu Meiren said, "Okay, okay." Then she whispered in Yao Jingjing's ear, "I'll tell Qingmu Yeye that you like him."
Yao Jingjing cried out "Ah!" and her face turned red instantly. Qingmu was outside, thought something had happened and knocked on the door to ask them what was wrong. Yao Jingjing and Yu Meiren said in unison, "Nothing, nothing." Then they both laughed.
"So what did Qingmu Yeye say?" Yao Jingjing touched her burning face, pretending to be nonchalant.
"Him..." Yu Meiren murmured like a little adult, making Yao Jingjing inexplicably nervous, "He didn't say anything, he just kept chuckling like an idiot!"
Yao Jingjing chuckled, "You, Qingmu Yeye, are just a block of wood!"