Capítulo 1206: Chapter 526: Gathering Flowers in the Morning, Picking Them at Dusk_2
Zhou Yuwen said, “I was so busy exchanging pleasantries with relatives just now that I barely ate anything. Did you eat enough?”
Li Shiqi awkwardly smiled, saying she didn’t eat well.
In gatherings like this, you hardly get to eat anything.
Zhou Yuwen asked if she wanted to eat sothing?
Li Shiqi nodded and said, sure.
Then Zhou Yuwen said, but if so, it might an you get ho very late.
Li Shiqi said, “I’m not going ho tonight.”
“What?” Zhou Yuwen didn’t understand Li Shiqi’s aning.
But then Li Shiqi explained that it’s already very late.
“My mom and uncle should be asleep. I think they’d prefer not to go back now.”
Seeing Li Shiqi’s indifferent deanor, Zhou Yuwen suddenly rembered that Li Shiqi was from a blended family. Maybe she didn’t consider that place her real ho.
Zhou Yuwen said, in that case, I’ll first book a hotel room for you.
“No need, I just booked one.”
“Ah? You booked it?”
“Yeah, ituan was having a promotion; it’s pretty cheap.”
Li Shiqi said a bit pridefully. By now, 2015, ituan had long dominated online services. Zhou Yuwen took a look and saw Li Shiqi had booked with a 7 Days Inn.
Zhou Yuwen felt the hotel environnt was only diocre at best; it looked clean, but the hardware facilities were sowhat poor. For example, the room was drafty, and the air conditioning was just for show.
Zhou Yuwen said, let’s pick another hotel.
“You can get it reimbursed by the company later.”
“No need, I’m staying alone anyway; it’s fine for one night.” Being soone who ca from poverty, Li Shiqi wouldn’t indulge extravagantly.
Zhou Yuwen said, “I’ll stay with you; let’s book another room.”
“?” Li Shiqi looked surprised and couldn’t help but feel a bit shy.
She lowered her head, softly asking, “Don’t you need to go ho?”
Zhou Yuwen said, it’s already very late.
“And I’m not comfortable leaving you alone out here; I’ll stay with you outside. Let’s change the hotel.”
Since Zhou Yuwen put it like that, what could Li Shiqi say?
They were already confird as a couple, so hearing these words, Li Shiqi could only slightly smile, feeling a bit shy, and said okay.
So Li Shiqi started to look for hotels, but unfortunately, it was already close to eleven.
Plus, it was nearing New Year, and the better hotels were all booked.
After all, a small county only really makes money during these few days.
Not being able to book a good hotel made Li Shiqi a bit uneasy, feeling like she’d make Zhou Yuwen suffer.
Zhou Yuwen showed no concern.
“I’m not exactly that delicate. Do you know about the vegetarian sausage stall in front of Xinhua Primary School?” Rarely ho, Zhou Yuwen missed the little snacks more than any gourt food, the ones he grew up eating.
“Ah! You an the one made by the granny at the gate?” Li Shiqi clearly knew it, and Zhou Yuwen’s reminder suddenly made her crave it too.
Zhou Yuwen said he didn’t know if she was still open.
“Let’s drive over and check.”
Zhou Yuwen had the driver navigate to Xinhua Primary School.
The small county town was pitch dark at night.
Except for streetlights, lonely and bright in the empty night.
In a few minutes, they reached Xinhua Primary School.
During the short drive, Zhou Yuwen chatted briefly with Li Shiqi and found out she went to Xinhua Primary School too; they shared the sa elentary school.
Li Shiqi was also shocked when she heard this; she curiously asked Zhou Yuwen, “You didn’t know?”
Zhou Yuwen honestly had no mory of it.
Yet Li Shiqi knew — Zhou Yuwen was in Class Seven, and she was in Class Five.
Technically, they should have known each other long ago.
They even knew each other longer than he knew Su Qing.
Zhou Yuwen heard this and just chuckled, saying he really had no mory of it.
As a kid, he was only into playing gas, watching Dragon Ball; where would he pay attention to this?
Zhou Yuwen could still rember when TV channels played Dragon Ball every day, broadcasting Sun Wukong traveling to Nak, encountering the Jiniu Special Team.
Also, watching Chinese Hero, Hua Xiaolan, Chen Xiaohu, Tang Xiaolong.
One episode each day; each ti, he’d eagerly wait in front of the TV, then rush to the bathroom when the opening song started so as not to miss the best part.
Looking back now, Zhou Yuwen truly felt so childish.
He used to wonder what was so interesting about those cartoons, yet he loved them at the ti.
Back then, every day felt slow, every day full of events.
Now, being older, he no longer felt this way.
Upon reaching Xinhua Primary School, it triggered a lot of mories for Zhou Yuwen. The corner east of the school was where the granny sold the vegetarian sausage.
That corner used to be one of the rare bustling spots in the small county. Initially, a few small vendors set up stalls there, selling things for a di or two to the passing elentary students.
Later on, these students grew up one by one, always reminiscing about the snacks from childhood, like vegetarian sausage, grilled pig liver, veggie mushroom wrap.
These things were cheap but, to a child, genuinely unaffordable back then. Then growing up, they’d think, finally having money, they wanted to indulge overwhelmingly.
Only to find once back that a one-di sausage now cost a dollar.
The fifty-cent wrap went up to four dollars.
This lousy town had low wages, not to ntion absurdly high expenses.
It was very late now, but a few small vendors still had their lights on, and vaguely they saw a few people eating wraps there.
Zhou Yuwen had the driver park the G-Wagon on the roadside, waiting for them.
Then he and Li Shiqi got out and bought a few skewers of vegetarian sausage and wraps.
Those who ca to eat here were mostly just like Zhou Yuwen, having attended school here and now reminiscing about childhood.
During New Year, generation after generation of grown-up kids brought their significant others from out of town to taste the flavors of childhood.
The granny selling the sausages was still the sa one.
Zhou Yuwen asked how much it was, and the granny said fifteen dollars.
Zhou Yuwen was startled, “So expensive?”
The granny said, of course, now everything’s expensive!
Zhou Yuwen helplessly transferred her the money.
Zhou Yuwen told Li Shiqi he rembered it was ten cents a stick, and originally wanted to eat more this ti.
Li Shiqi nodded with a smile; she rembered, that granny was no pushover either. She had little money as a child but a craving, painfully saving up a di of pocket money, waiting till fewer people were around to eat.
When fewer people were around, she’d sneak over to request a sausage skewer.
And the granny would blurt out, how dare you bring a di to eat!
Back then, Li Shiqi didn’t say anything, just quietly ate her sausage.
But this sentence did stick with Li Shiqi until now.
The granny heard Zhou Yuwen’s complaint and, while making the sausages for him, said, “You’ve been graduated for so many years; eggs used to be twenty cents each back then.”
Zhou Yuwen laughed hearing this, not saying anything.
At this mont, a boy in a red jacket with his girlfriend eating snacks kept staring at Zhou Yuwen, hesitated to acknowledge, only half-heartedly asking, “Zhou? Zhou Yuwen?”
Zhou Yuwen turned and glanced at him; frankly, he didn’t recognize him, but still greeted politely, “Hello.”
The boy imdiately smiled broadly, “It’s really you! Do you rember ? We were in the sa class in elentary! I’m Li Xu!”
“Oh, I rember,” Zhou Yuwen said.
Li Xu got excited and quickly introduced to his girlfriend, “See? I told you I went to elentary school with Zhou Yuwen! You didn’t believe ! See? He’s here!”
Li Xu’s girlfriend was also surprised, initially only wanting so late-night snacks with her boyfriend, not expecting to et soone from the news.
If she knew, she would’ve done her makeup.
This made her feel a bit embarrassed now.
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