The orchard was in a village outside Summer City, nearly a two-hour drive from here, in a remote area.
But this orchard was also an important source of income for nearby farming households, and most people from the surrounding villages worked there.
Wen He disliked riding buses. They made him feel stuffy and dizzy. The smell of leather hit him as soon as he boarded, and before the bus even started moving, he already felt a little dizzy.
He lowered his head and gently sniffed the faint scent coming from his jacket. It made him feel a little better.
Wen He went straight to a window seat by the rear door and sat down.
Zhang Shengsheng and Zhou Siyu also sat separately, each choosing a window seat. The production crew and their equipment occupied the last row.
Jiang Ye looked at Wen He sitting farther back and was about to approach when a powerful blow struck his shoulder. He lost his balance and fell into the seat beside Zhang Shengsheng.
"Sorry, coming through~" Ji Chi let out a snorting laugh and strode toward Wen He, finally sitting down beside him.
Jiang Ye's left shoulder was still a little numb. The other man had put considerable force into that hit... nothing like the politeness of his words...
Zhang Shengsheng was a little surprised to see Jiang Ye sitting beside him. He greeted him first. "Lawyer Jiang."
Jiang Ye licked his dry lips and turned to smile at Zhang Shengsheng. "Hello." He raised a hand to push up the glasses on his nose and settled into the seat.
The livestream is still running back there. If I get up, it'll definitely affect the person beside me...
[What's this supposed to mean?]
[Such a good opportunity, and you're not taking it, Lawyer Jiang?]
[Jiang Ye, can you please get up!!!! Move your ass!!]
[I can't take this. Watching this makes me angry, but my heart aches too. Jiang Ye, do you really like Xiao He?]
[Lawyer Jiang, I don't understand you.]
[Sure, Demon Dragon fights and competes for him, but Lawyer Jiang, ask yourself honestly: have you ever fought for him?]
[This hurts so much to watch. My heart aches. Nobody told me the Breakfast ship would be this angsty. Didn't I come to a dating show for sweet moments?]
[Does anyone get it? This was the very first ship I liked.]
[He hesitates every single time. I don't understand what you're hesitating over. Do you hesitate like this in court too?]
[It's better to keep love and work separate. If someone actually believes what that earlier commenter said, how is Lawyer Jiang supposed to keep working?]
[I'm just angry. Angry that he won't step up.]
When Wei Xun boarded, he immediately noticed someone sitting beside Zhang Shengsheng. He was just a little surprised that it was Jiang Ye.
He headed toward the only remaining empty window seat and sat alone.
[Ah... the Hygiene ship really is heading for a BE.]
Xie Zhengci was the last to board. Without hesitation, he chose the seat beside Zhou Siyu. His target had never changed. It had always been Zhou Siyu.
Wen He wasn't at all surprised that Ji Chi was the one sitting beside him. Compared with anyone else, he was quite happy for it to be Ji Chi, because Ji Chi's scent gave him a sense of security and greatly diminished both his dizziness and the heavy smell of leather on the bus.
Wen He opened the window, letting the warm breeze outside blow into the bus.
Something suddenly filled his left ear, and melodious instrumental music flowed into his heart, little by little.
Wen He turned to look at Ji Chi, who was already leaning back in his seat, asleep with his eyes closed.
Sunlight flickered across his face through the shade of the trees outside. In his right ear was a matching Bluetooth earbud.
The breeze stirred the red strands hidden among his black hair. They danced and danced, as though dancing into Wen He's heart.
Wen He turned back to watch the scenery retreating endlessly outside. The warm breeze puffed up part of his oversized jacket, wrapping him within it, and that scent belonging only to Ji Chi soon enveloped his whole body. It smelled so nice...
The corners of Wen He's mouth lifted unconsciously, and even the previously limp little tuft on top of his head seemed to come alive.
He liked things that smelled nice...
Ji Chi quietly opened one eye and watched the other man's sunlit smile in silence. His shallow dimples looked radiant now, too.
Very pretty.
Closing his eyes again, Ji Chi steadied his breathing and quietly listened to the same song playing in the other man's ear.
Only after the scent beneath his nose had completely faded did Wen He copy Ji Chi, leaning back against the bus seat and closing his eyes to rest.
Although the journey was winding and bumpy, the earbud that did not belong to Wen He stayed quietly nestled in his ear, never budging.
[Waaaah, this is so beautiful... ah!!! This is what real romance looks like!]
[Help! While you're quietly watching the view outside, I'm secretly watching you!!!!!]
[Lawyer Jiang... you lost.]
[Lawyer Jiang, you lost this round.]
[Lawyer Jiang, you lost this round to him.]
[Lawyer Jiang, I hope you won't lose again next time.]
[? Why have we started doing parallel sentences?]
[Does anyone get it... Wei Xun keeps sneaking glances up front. He's peeked several times.]
[Sigh... why is everything so angsty...]
Xie Zhengci took a tin of lemon candies from his pocket and offered it to Zhou Siyu.
"Have one. You'll feel much better."
Zhou Siyu got carsick, very badly carsick. Whenever Xie Zhengci took him along for fieldwork in the past, he would look terribly pale.
The driver had told him that sometimes, when it was bad, Assistant Zhou would secretly throw up...
From then on, Xie Zhengci had developed a habit of carrying lemon candies with him. He had read online that eating lemon candies helped a lot with carsickness.
Yet every time after that, he had never managed to give him even one...
As Zhou Siyu looked at the little tin of pale yellow lemon candies resting in the other man's heavily calloused palm, an indescribable feeling stirred inside him...
He had liked Xie Zhengci, but he was the only one who knew.
He reached out and took the little square tin. "Thank you..."
Compared with sitting in a sealed car with the air conditioning constantly running, a bus like this, with its windows open and the warm breeze flowing freely, actually made Zhou Siyu feel a little better.
He did not open the tin in his hand. He turned his head away from Xie Zhengci. Fortunately, the other man did not push him.
Zhou Siyu wanted to stay away from Xie Zhengci... but...
Back then, he had already experienced the blow reality could deal him. Now, he only wanted to live his own life well and did not want too much involvement with the other man.
That slap... had been a humiliation to him... and a fact, one that had shown him clearly the gap between them.
They had never belonged to the same world.
The four hours passed neither quickly nor slowly. Though the journey was bumpy, Wen He caught up on some good sleep. Apart from a little discomfort in his lower back, nothing else bothered him.
He slowly opened his eyes and stole a look at Ji Chi beside him.
His eyes are closed... he seems to still be asleep.
Worried about waking him, Wen He stayed still, only straightening up slightly to look out the window.
He remembered that Ji Chi was grumpy when woken up, and very badly so.
He did not want Ji Chi to scowl. Though handsome, he was also fierce.
Ji Chi was not asleep. He had never fallen asleep in the first place. He disliked sleeping in an environment like this. It felt very unsafe to him.
Soon, the bus stopped in front of a peach grove. Wen He felt a little thirsty. People who had just recovered from an illness were always getting thirsty.