The atmosphere in the car was inexplicably heavy, and Chen Ling in the passenger seat didn’t dare to speak much.
The chairman in the back row took the initiative to speak: “Mr. Song, thank you for your help this time.”
Song Jingye glanced at the rearview mirror and nodded, saying it was fine. From the rearview mirror, his eyes swept over Lu Yaoyao. She was also looking at the rearview mirror, smiling foolishly at him.
Song Jingye unconsciously tightened his grip on the steering wheel. This was good, he had escaped to the northwest, but he still couldn’t escape her.
“Chairperson: ‘Ning Hui, you always call people uncle. I thought Mr. Song was in his forties or fifties.’ ”
Chen Ning then dared to speak: “No, my uncle is probably only about 10 years older than me. I call him ‘uncle’ just like I would call a police officer ‘officer,’ it’s a term of respect.”
“Then you should call him ‘older brother,’ instead of ‘old man.'”
Chen Ling hesitated for a moment before turning to face Song Jingye, who was driving. “Then should I call you ‘ge’ from now on? Jingye ge?”
Song Jingye: “It’s all right, you do whatever you want.”
Lu Yaoyao chuckled silently in her heart. She didn’t blame people for always calling him “Uncle” because even before Chen Ning came back, he had a very “authoritative elder” presence and acted very seriously.
This time’s destination is even more remote than the last village. It took almost three hours to get there, arriving at a county town and then driving another two hours or so inwards.
When they arrived in the county town at noon, Song Jingye parked his car in front of a restaurant and said, “Let’s have lunch first.”
A group of people got off the car and went to a restaurant. Since they stopped by temporarily for a meal, they only ordered some noodles and cold dishes.
Song Jingye specifically went to the kitchen and instructed them to use less oil and salt. Coming back, he explained, “The people here have a heavier taste.”
Lu Yaoyao is a very particular eater, but these past few days in the northwest she’s been eating with the foundation people and she’s been too embarrassed to order her own food, so she’s been eating little and hasn’t really eaten enough.
This time, it was probably because Song Jingye had emphasized to the kitchen staff beforehand, so the noodles were light and plain in broth, which surprisingly suited her taste. She managed to finish the entire bowl.
During that time, Song Jingye had checked the weather forecast and traffic conditions. This county town would also snow the day after tomorrow, but the snowfall amount would be very low. This was normal for this winter, so it wouldn’t delay their trip.
But better safe than sorry, before getting in the car, he went to a nearby small supermarket and bought several jugs of purified water and some food, filling the trunk.
The president saw this and whispered, “This Mr. Song is quite particular, he bought the most expensive water from the small supermarket.”
In the bag, besides some staple food, there are also several generations of snacks, anyway quite thoughtful person.
Song Jingye didn’t say a word to Lu Yaoyao the whole time, he acted as if she were a stranger for some unknown reason.
Lu Yaoyao held back several times, finally speaking up: “With so many of us going into the village, won’t we raise suspicion?”
The village head has experience, “Don’t worry, we act like lost tourists entering the village. The informant will secretly take us to investigate. If there are indeed abducted women, we can then figure out how to rescue them. Just don’t act rashly and everything will be fine.”
Lu Yaoyao was both nervous and a little excited.
The photographer suddenly said, “Since YaoYao is here, just say that we are a film crew shooting and coming to take pictures. This will be a better way to hide our true identities.”
Actually, most villagers are also simple and honest. Or perhaps they think that buying a wife from outside is a normal thing, so they usually don’t guard against it.
Lu Yaoyao: “Sure, I’ll cooperate fully with you.” She was excited to be able to contribute her strength to this operation.
Before him, Song Jingye glanced at the rearview mirror again and said inexplicably, “This isn’t filming, there’s no script.”
There is a hint of disdain, even some harshness, towards celebrities in their words.
The car fell silent. Lu Yaoyao glanced at him, a little puzzled. This wasn’t like him.
Chen Ning quickly interjected, “What Jingye meant is that there might be unexpected situations, so we must pay attention to safety.”
Lu Yaoyao wasn’t sure. Song Jingye had treated her like a stranger from the beginning, and now his words were cutting. Was he concerned about her, or was it because she was affecting his career?
She just wanted to get off the car and apologize to him when she got the chance. She admitted that it was her fault. She hadn’t communicated well with Gu Ruandong, nor had she followed up on his transfer. In a fit of anger, she deleted his WeChat.
“As a result, Chen Ning likely said, to ease the tension: “Kiyono-san, I’ve added you to our group chat on WeChat. It’ll be easier to contact each other that way.”
“Uh-huh.”
Lu Yaoyao saw the familiar avatars in the group and felt another wave of guilt.
After leaving the county town, the road gradually turned into a rugged mountain path, getting narrower and narrower as we went. Luckily, Song Jingye was a skilled driver and drove steadily. We arrived around 3 pm.
This village is much larger than the previous one I visited. Many villagers, seeing the unfamiliar off-road vehicle drive in, were curious and looked at it curiously.
Song Jingye didn’t follow the chairman’s plan to pretend to be filming as a cover. Instead, he rolled down his car window and asked the nearby villager, “How do I get to the village committee?”
Then, it swaggered into the village committee.
<<>>
But because it was nearing dusk, winter nights were dark early, and if anything happened, they wouldn’t be able to go out easily. So Song Jingye decided to stay for the night first, revealing his true intentions tomorrow.
The village head warmly received them and gave them two rooms in the village committee. Inside, there was only a large earthen kang. Because no one lived there usually, the kang wasn’t heated, so at least ten degrees below zero, it was like being in an ice cellar.
“I’m so sorry, folks,” said the village head, “but you’ll have to make do for just one night. I’ll get someone to start a fire right away, but there’s no guarantee it’ll heat up in time.”
Song Jingye: “Trouble.”
Lu Yaoyao looked around at the rudimentary surroundings, then at the dirt pit, and couldn’t help but wonder, “How could someone sleep in this?” She had visited the village a couple of days ago, and her soul had been deeply shaken;
I came to this village to physically test myself.
He’s actually quite optimistic, without any complaints or nitpicking.
In just this short while, her face and ears had already turned bright red from the cold.
“You guys stay in the car,” Song Jingye said, “The heater’s still on.”
Chen Ning grew up in such an environment, so after putting down her luggage and helping to build the fire, she heard his words and shouted to Lu YaoYao, “YaoYao, you go first. Come in when the house is warm.”
Song Jingye also glanced at her, and spoke to her for the first time: “Let’s go.”
After saying that, he walked straight to the car outside.
Lu Yaoyao hurried after him, mainly because she finally had a chance to say a few words to him.
With the bitter cold, I couldn’t help but remember the last time we were trapped in that freezing storage room.
She also calls him Kyoto-kun.