Yu Ning wasn’t a picky eater. She liked trying everything. For example, she wasn’t quite used to that oil-splashed tea soup, but she didn’t waste it either and still finished it.
Nor did she have some tiny birdlike appetite, and she certainly didn’t believe in acting reserved in front of men by pretending to eat less.
For this breakfast, she ate eight shepherd’s-purse soup dumplings, two sweet potato cakes, five termite mushroom and water chestnut pan-fried dumplings, and downed two cups of soy milk.
And each sweet potato cake was actually rather large.
Seeing her eat with such relish, Mother Chen felt quite a sense of accomplishment. The kind, gentle smile in her eyes surged like the tide, impossible to hold back.
“Are you full?”
Yu Ning nodded with a smile. “Of course I’m full. Auntie, the dumplings you made are really delicious.”
“As long as you liked them. Just leave the bowls to me.”
“I’ll clear—”
“You’re a guest. How could I let you clear the bowls?”
Mother Chen took the empty bowls on the table and went into the kitchen. Across from Yu Ning, Chen Chuan was still eating boiled dumplings.
Yu Ning didn’t leave either. She propped her head up with one hand and watched him eat.
Under her gaze, Chen Chuan ate three dumplings before he finally couldn’t help looking up. “Do you need something?”
“Yes.”
“Say it.”
“Are there any sights worth visiting around here?”
“You didn’t make an itinerary?”
Yu Ning raised her brows, as if trying hard to recall something. “Mm… I skimmed a bit, I guess. You have some river called something Wind, something Jade… one very efficacious marriage temple—what was it called? Jiulixiang? And a tie-dye workshop, and a swing that’s really good for photos. What else was there?”
Back then, she had decided to come to Jidong Town because she’d happened to see a few photos of the town on Xiaohongshu.
She hadn’t seriously searched it up or learned about it.
Her so-called itinerary was just what she’d roughly seen in that post.
Her main approach was going with the flow.
She didn’t like those rigid, itemized trips where everything was planned out perfectly.
Boring.
Chen Chuan was utterly speechless.
This was also the first time he’d seen someone travel without making any plans—and even what she did remember, she only remembered halfway.
“You can search online.”
Yu Ning spoke with perfect confidence. “What comes up in searches is either advertising or photos with filters and edits. You’re a born-and-raised Jidong Town local, right? Asking you is way better than a guide.”
“Bifeng River. Turn left when you go out and walk straight. There’s a small boardwalk pier where you can take a boat to see the scenery on both banks. Sixty per person, one hundred eighty to charter a boat. The trip takes around fifty minutes to an hour.”
“Qili Temple is for praying for marriage. There’s also a big waterfall on Yunjia Mountain. When the weather’s good, there’ll be a rainbow. On the mountain behind it there’s a stream, and you can watch the sunrise and sunset there too.”
Yu Ning grew a little more curious. “Then have you ever gone to Qili Temple to pray?”
“No.”
Yu Ning nodded in relief and said solemnly, “That’s good. Otherwise, if it let you stay single until now, the Old Man Under the Moon in that temple would be so sad.”
“…”
That little mouth of hers really was dipped in poison.
Chen Chuan was momentarily speechless. After half a minute, he added, “Turn right from here and go straight up the mountain, and there’s an orchard. Apples, pears, oranges, bayberries, cherries, rouge-red peaches, kiwis—they have them all. Different fruits have different prices for entering and picking.”
Mother Chen came out and picked up the conversation with a smile. “If A-Ning wants to go to the orchard, have Chuanzi take you. No need to pay.”
“No need to pay?”
“That’s right. It’s ours. Whether we charge or not doesn’t matter.”
Yu Ning understood.
She remembered Chen Chuan saying yesterday that he did rough work up on the mountain. So it turned out he managed an orchard.
No wonder. No wonder he was so tanned.
Out in the wind and sun every day.
“Okay. Since Auntie said so, then I won’t be polite.”
“You city kids haven’t experienced it before. It’s all just for fun. No need to be polite.”
Yu Ning corrected her, “Auntie, you’re wrong. I’m from a township too.”
“Oh, really? Where are you from?”
“Jinlan City.”
“Jinlan? That’s a bit far from our Mingshan City.”
“Mm, about three thousand kilometers. But by plane, it’s only a few hours.”
“That’s true. Transportation is so convenient now.” After Mother Chen finished speaking, she looked at Chen Chuan and suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, Chuanzi. Yesterday afternoon, your Second Uncle Chen came by and said that new smart TV of theirs isn’t working again. He asked you to go over and take a look.”
Chen Chuan drank a mouthful of dumpling soup, got up, and walked toward the kitchen. He replied, “Got it.”
He went in, washed his bowl, dried his hands, and headed outside. Seeing this, Tank, who had been lying by the dining table, immediately followed.
Yu Ning followed too.
“You’re going as well?” Chen Chuan looked at her, his face full of bafflement.
“I’m going to stroll around town. Since it’s on the way, you can be my guide. I can pay you.”
Mother Chen chimed in, “What money? You only delivered a batch of fruit to the city yesterday, and there are people watching the orchard, so there’s nothing much to do. Yesterday, you held A-Ning up for most of the day. Since you’re free anyway, it’s perfectly fine to take some time to show her around the sights here.”
Hearing this, Yu Ning gave her another bright smile and even thanked her.
Chen Chuan suddenly realized she was quite good at playing sweet.
His next words were directed at Mother Chen. “I have to go up the mountain this afternoon to check the drainage ditches.”
The implication was: How am I free?
He had plenty to do.
Jidong Town had a lot of rain in May, June, and July. If water management wasn’t handled properly, the fruit tree roots might lack oxygen, which would affect fruiting.
How could Yu Ning not tell that he was deliberately making excuses?
She snorted inwardly, but her face remained full of smiles. “It’s fine. I only want to walk around town today. I don’t plan on going anywhere else. I traveled all day yesterday, and I’m tired. Besides, I’m staying here for three months. I have plenty of time.”
Mother Chen nodded. “Then go help your Second Uncle Chen with the TV first. After you’re done, introduce our town to A-Ning. If she knows more, it’ll be easier for her to walk around.”
“…”
This kind of thing could be solved with one travel guide.
Chen Chuan glanced at the woman whose tail was practically about to point up to the sky, then turned expressionlessly and walked into the courtyard.
Yu Ning waved at Mother Chen and followed him with light, cheerful steps.
The area around Yichuan Fengyue was mostly residential buildings. Next door was a tofu workshop.
White steam escaping from the bamboo steamers tangled with the mist, drifting low in the air and lingering for a long time. The simple alley was filled with—
After walking another fifty or sixty meters, there was an intersection. Turning left, there were more shops, and along the road were many people carrying shoulder poles and hawking their wares.
Scattered clacking of wooden clogs sounded on the stone-paved road. It was an old man selling fermented rice wine, dragging his cart and calling out something in the local dialect.
Yu Ning couldn’t understand.
So she asked Chen Chuan beside her, “What is he shouting?”
Chen Chuan followed her gaze, listened once, and translated for her. “Fermented rice wine. Sweet and fragrant fermented rice wine that won’t make you drunk.”
“If an outsider married into your town, she’d be at such a disadvantage. She wouldn’t even know if you were cursing her or not.”
After sighing, Yu Ning suddenly said with great interest, “Hey, Boss Chen, why don’t you teach me how to speak your local dialect? Who knows, maybe one day I’ll find some handsome guy here and marry him. Better to be prepared, right?”
“I don’t know how to teach.”
“How could you not?” As Yu Ning walked, she tilted her head and looked at him with eyes longing to be filled with knowledge. “I can pay tuition.”
As they were speaking, a woman stopped and talked to Chen Chuan.
She chattered away, and Yu Ning couldn’t understand a word. She only saw the auntie glance at her several times, then tease Chen Chuan about something.
What should she do?
She really wanted to understand!
Couldn’t they add her to the group chat too?