It was very late. I tossed and turned in my bed but couldn"t fall asleep. Dinner had been prepared by my second aunt, who lived just next door. There was an incredible variety of countryside dishes such as scrambled egg with garlic moss, braised chicken and so on. He Yi was very happy. She said that it was impossible to eat something like this in the city.
My thoughts were a mess as I stared at the ceiling.
Did He Yi fall asleep already?
I had no idea.
What about Lin Yixin? She must have fallen asleep by now, right?
Maybe. Or maybe she was burning the midnight oil and grinding away. She must"ve left me behind in the dust already!
……
Somehow I managed to fall asleep, and it was daybreak by the time I opened my eyes again. After I was done was.h.i.+ng myself, I saw He Yi standing at the balcony, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. The way her b.r.e.a.s.t.s went up and down made my heart race a little.
“What are you doing?” I walked up to her and asked.
He Yi smiled but didn"t open her eyes. She said, “I"m inhaling the morning"s fresh air, of course. Do you think you can find such high quality air in our highly-polluted Suzhou New District?”
I nodded. “Of course not. It"s been two years since I saw a single bird in the New District.”
He Yi finally opened her eyes and stared at me. The spirit in her eyes was positively charming. “Lu Chen, my car is still at the town, and it"s a long way away from here. I tried calling a cab but couldn"t find one so far. What should we do?”
It was a problem. I replied, “It"s fine, we"ll find a way after we finish breakfast. Worse comes to worst, I guess we can walk there. It"ll only take less than an hour…”
“What? An hour of walking?” He Yi gaped at me before smiling again. “I don"t walk too much, you know. Ten minutes is enough to make me pant as hard as a puppy. Are you sure you want to make me walk for an entire hour?”
I was speechless. “Then I"ll carry you all the way to Suzhou on my back. That fine with you?”
“Why not! Let"s do it!”
“...”
After we went downstairs and finished breakfast, I gave my father a different card with 50k RMB in it. It was about 50% of what I had earned in Heavenblessed thus far. I told him that he should spend it on daily expenses, and that he didn"t need to save up anymore. I even returned him everything he had given me earlier. I now had sizable achievements in Heavenblessed, and it was only a matter of time before my earnings grew to a couple million.
Meanwhile, He Yi was standing at the doorway, worried. “What should we do? Are we seriously walking all the way back to town?”
It was at this moment my father put down his chopsticks and smiled. “Fret not, manager. I made a call just now, and transport will be arriving in ten minutes!”
“Really?” He Yi bounced excitedly. “Thank you, uncle!”
“You"re welcome!”
He Yi and I stood at the door and waited. About ten minutes later, our private transport finally showed up. It was a super heavyweight with an engine that tutted rapidly like a machine gun!
He Yi"s eyes turned into saucers. “A two-wheel tractor? Oh, my, G.o.d~~”
It was as He Yi said, a two-wheel tractor. The small open trailer of the tractor was filled with bundled stalks. They looked pretty st.u.r.dy.
Father smiled at us with his palms pressed together. “Your third uncle was going to drag these soybean stalks to the west side of the town, so I told him to give you a lift. It"s going to be a slightly uncomfortable trip, but it"s still better than walking, right?”
He Yi and I exchanged a look with each other. In the end, we both burst into laughter.
While giggling, He Yi said, “Why not? I"ve sat in Rolls-Royce, Porsche, and limited edition Audi, but I"ve never tried a two-wheel tractor before. It"ll be a, uh, great experience. Should we go, Lu Chen?”
I nodded cheerfully.
First, I carried over a ladder and propped it against the tractor. Then, I supported He Yi carefully and got her up to the top of the soybean stalks. The soybeans hadn"t been dehulled yet, so the stalks were filled with soybeans. Some of the pods were cracked and formed tiny thorns that weren"t sharp enough to pierce the skin, but still made for a painful experience to sit on.
He Yi was wearing a uniform and a short skirt, so at least part of her bare legs were directly exposed to these thorns. After trying to find a comfortable position to no avail, she laughed. “It"s so p.r.i.c.kly! What to do, what to do?”
I moved to the center of the stalk pile and sat down like it was my throne. I gave He Yi a smile and said, “Eve, do you want to sit next to me?”
“But it"s going to hurt a lot…”
I thought for a moment. “What should we do?”
A light bulb flashed above He Yi"s head when she stared at me. “Can you press your feet together so I can sit on them?”
“You"re going to break my legs like that!”
“I"m not that heavy!” He Yi shot me a glare before chiding, “Now less talking, more action!”
I curled my lips but obeyed the command. After He Yi gathered her skirt and sat carefully on my thighs, I grabbed her arms to prevent her from falling. The danger was very real, and it was hardly the time to get embarra.s.sed over skins.h.i.+p.
At the driver"s seat, my third uncle called out to me. “Lu Chen, we"re leaving! You guys ready?”
“Yeah!”
I bade my father goodbye, and the tractor started moving. The engine made “tut-tut” noises, and thick smoke exited the exhaust pipe.
It didn"t seem all that dangerous when the tractor was on standby, but that changed immediately when it started moving, and the stalk pile started shaking like an earthquake. He Yi immediately turned green with fright and clung to me as hard as she could.
I myself was holding onto a rope behind me with one hand and keeping a tight hold around He Yi with my other arm.
The road was b.u.mpy. Our ride was equally as b.u.mpy.
By now He Yi was completely pale, clinging to my neck and letting out strange squeals of fear like her life depended on it. She didn"t even care if her expensive uniform might be wrinkled or tattered after this.
For a time, I could feel her soft, round b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressing against my chest. It was as suffocating as it was wonderful. Whoever designed this uniform had my utmost respect because the fabric did nothing to insulate the sensation at all.
He Yi was so frightened she could faint. I was so happy I could faint.
About ten minutes later, the tractor finally got on an even road and shook far less than it had before.
It was only now He Yi dared to look up from my shoulder. I could see rosiness coloring her cheeks. The moment she saw my expression, she immediately punched me in exasperation and amus.e.m.e.nt. “How can you laugh in this situation?”
I laughed loudly. “Who would"ve thought that our leader would look like this one day…”
He Yi groaned with reddened cheeks. “This has got to be one of the most embarra.s.sing days of my life.”
Still keeping my hand around her waist, I laughed. “Sis, you were clinging to me so tightly…”
“Right back at you!” He Yi chided. “This ride is a bit too frightening for the likes of me. I guess I prefer the stability of a Lamborghini more…”
I replied, “Don"t worry, we"ll reach the town in at most half an hour.”
Suddenly, I caught a hint of fatigue peeking out of He Yi"s expression before she placed her face gently on my shoulder. She murmured, “If only this ride could last forever…”
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“Oh, it"s nothing. I"m just a bit tired, that"s all. We should reach Suzhou around afternoon or so, so let"s get back to grinding around late afternoon!”
“Of course.”
Personally, I wanted this old, noisy machine to keep running until the end of a lifetime myself, but unfortunately that was impossible for very scientific reasons: the tractor would more or less run out of oil by the time it reached the town. The diesel produced in Changzhou was great, but unlike water, it wasn"t an unlimited resource!
Thud!
When we finally reached our destination, I jumped to the ground and extended a hand to He Yi. She slowly crawled to the edge of the pile and grabbed my hand before leaping off herself. I caught her firmly before putting her gently on the ground.
Not far away from us, a bunch of non-mainstream brats with dyed hair were staring at us with wide eyes. They seemed incredulous that a beautiful and stylish woman like He Yi would ride on a shabby tractor.
He Yi shot them a glance before asking, “What are you looking at?”
The brats immediately started shaking.
I led He Yi to the repair shop, and just like the driver had promised yesterday, the Lamborghini was functional again. It was time to go!
……
Our journey back to Suzhou New District was a safe and uneventful one, and we reached the company after 11 am.
Murong Mingyue was already waiting at the entrance when we showed up. She immediately walked over to open the door for us when she saw us.
After He Yi walked out of the car, Murong Mingyue asked with a smile, “So, how was your trip? Was it an exciting rural adventure?”
He Yi recalled the special “car” she rode on this morning and nodded seriously. “Absolutely!”
“Eh?”
But Murong Mingyue misunderstood her meaning and picked out a soybean sh.e.l.l from He Yi"s hair. She exclaimed in astonishment, “WTF, guys, there"s a reason people do their business in a corn field, not a soybean field. Soybeans are barely 40 centimeters tall, and you couldn"t even hide a leg beneath them, seriously… sigh, everyone starts off as a virgin, I guess. Remember, find a corn field the next time you do it again outside…”
He Yi immediately turned red. “What the h.e.l.l are you talking about? It"s not what you think! This soybean sh.e.l.l got stuck in my hair because… because…”
He Yi couldn"t think of a reasonable explanation, so she threw the question to me instead. “You tell her where the soybean sh.e.l.l came from.”
I replied casually, “The wind blew it into her hair.”
Murong Mingyue looked at the sky. “Of all the reasons you could think of…”
After that, she wrapped an arm around He Yi"s shoulder and smiled. “So, Eve. Gimme the juicy details about last night. You and Lu Chen were sleeping in the same room, weren"t you?”
He Yi replied through gritted teeth, “Another question, please. And no, we didn"t sleep in the same room last night!”
“Fine. Did Lu Chen"s father agree to you two dating each other?”
“...”
“Okay, okay, since you look like you"re about to hit me I"ll ask another question... did you use protection? It"d be unfortunate if you came home with a little Eve or a little Lu Chen, right? These days it costs over ten thousand just to have a baby!”
He Yi finally lost control and exploded. “One more word and I"ll annihilate you, girl! Hmph, protection? Medical fees? Do I look like I can"t afford a measly ten thousand RMB? Oh wait, correction, nothing happened so I didn"t need to spend that money in the first place…”
Oh dear. Let"s rescue her before she digs herself a deeper hole.
I walked up to her and grabbed her hand. “Let"s go have our lunch at the coffee shop, sis. Just ignore sister Mingyue, you know that she"s the queen of gossip…”
Murong Mingyue chased after our backs. “No, take me to lunch too…”
……
Late afternoon, I logged into the game.
Swoos.h.!.+
When I appeared in Floating Ice City, I summoned the Dark Wasp and activated Ghost Deity Armor. I raised the Miracle Purgatory Sword and took a moment to admire the weapon. 475 Attack? Oh, you beautiful little thing. Which ace should I bully today, I wonder?
I checked my friend list and saw that He Yi and Murong Mingyue were both online. However, Lin Yixin"s ID was surprisingly darkened, and she was at Level 74. Tsk, she did spend a whole night leveling her character while I wasn"t around! She must be sleeping like a pig now, wasn"t she?
Beep!
Suddenly, I received a message from Beiming Xue: “Boss, you free right now? Gui Guzi, Mamate, Du Thirteen and I accepted a quest some time ago, but we need help killing the last boss, another tank and heavy DPSer. Can you help us?”
I replied gladly, “Okay, add me to the party anytime!”
“Okay!”