The bus on this long-haul route usually gets emptier as it heads into the suburban areas so the couple made their way to the back of the coach and found themselves seats.
The bus, neither old nor new, had seats that were clearly stained.
Gu Nuan noticed Xiao Yebai hesitated before sitting down.
"Either sit or stand," Gu Nuan told the child.
The child pouted, thinking her rather heartless.
"Isn’t this what you wanted?"
With that, he changed his mind and sat down next to her.
Taking a drive was sothing he did often, he was used to it, numb to it. But the idea of riding the bus with his wife seed like sothing he wanted to do at least once in his lifeti.
So, it’s clear the man had a screw loose, sothing so simple becoming a luxury in his mind.
Both enjoyed the scenic view of the seaside through the window but the experience was certainly different in a BMW than on a bus.
Gu Nuan tried to pinpoint the difference between the two.
In a BMW, one might spend the whole day worrying if the person next to them was only after their money, or if they would still stick around if the BMW were gone one day.
On a bus, though, those worries were absent.
The bus wasn’t as comfortable as a BMW, and the bumps on the road made it shake annoyingly. Yet, Gu Nuan knew this was actually better, like a cradle, a way for city folks to snatch monts of relaxations, inducing a lazy, sleepy state.
He held her hand tightly, gazing out the window for a while before his head leaned against her shoulder and he appeared to fall asleep.
Gu Nuan glanced at his face, child-like with smooth skin untouched by hardships.
His skin was even better than hers, and that was an undisputed fact.
Gu Nuan turned her head, suddenly staring at the ceiling of the bus, lost in thought. At that mont, she didn’t know what she was thinking, perhaps, like him, thinking nothing was best.
His family had tried to break them apart, which was expected. But his insistence on holding onto her, regardless of agreents, had indeed been sowhat unexpected.
They had gotten married and their feelings for each other, which undeniably grew like wild weed through thorns, took them both by surprise, beyond anyone’s control.
Lost in her musings, Gu Nuan suddenly noticed an elderly woman sitting ahead, turning to look at them.
The old lady was simply dressed with a salt-and-pepper shirt and rural trousers, wearing reading glasses hung on a black cord around her neck. With white hair and deep eyes, she adjusted her glasses, looking at them with her wrinkled, waxen hands.
Gu Nuan noticed she held a newspaper while a pile of magazines and papers sat at her feet, making her look part newspaper seller, part junk collector.
"Lai’an Village next," the bus intercom repeatedly announced.
Gu Nuan looked forward but could see no sign of the village, deducing that this stop must still be quite far from the announced destination.
Yet, the old lady clearly was getting off here, donning a sunshade hat, laboriously preparing to descend with a bundle of papers in each hand.
Therefore, Gu Nuan nudged the still drowsy Xiao Yebai, saying, "Help her out."
Xiao Yebai blinked, clearly not fully awake, and looking at her.
Gu Nuan got up first, walked over, and took one bundle of newspapers from the old lady’s hands, placing it on the roadside, then stepped back up to help her with the other bundle.
Xiao Yebai, now fully awake, ca over and helped support the old lady off the bus.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the three of them got off, the bus driver, seemingly oblivious whether Gu Nuan and her husband intended to disembark here, slamd the doors shut and drove off in a cloud of exhaust.
Naturally, Gu Nuan and he were startled and tried to chase after the bus but couldn’t catch it.
Great, no telling how long the wait for another bus might be. There they were, possibly stuck under the sun on this imnse road as lunchti approached.
The old lady seed sowhat apologetic and said to them, "There aren’t many passengers around noon; no buses run then. The next one isn’t until after two in the afternoon. Why don’t you co to my house and sit for a while?"
Gu Nuan and Xiao Yebai exchanged glances and simultaneously asked, "Will there be food?"
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