Getting promoted meant a pay raise, yet the pany never had a large staff, so the increase wouldn’t be substantial, just a few hundred yuan. Moreover, the office staff’s duties were not very well-defined, but it wasn’t a big deal. Things would be sorted out once we moved to the new building.
Furthermore, once we relocated, administrative and financial positions would be separated. For Tianhua, his expertise was already in finance, so after accumulating experience over this period, he was bound to be the financial director in the new building.
Everyone understood this, so Tianhua approached his work with great responsibility and seriousness.
The staff trip was an easy fix, as nearby destinations didn’t cost much. However, it took quite some time to pare different travel agencies. In the midst of our discussions, Tianyu had finished grilling all the ham sausages. They were grilled over an open flame without seasonings, but the ham sausages tasted quite good on their own.
After the ham sausages were eaten, Mengzhen still prepared two kinds of condiments, one spicy and one not spicy for her brother. Once the condiments were ready, she sprinkled some sesame seeds on top for extra flavor.
The ham sausages were just the warm-up dish; next came the main event of meat, including beef, pork, fish, and a variety of seafood.
The grill was quite long; once the meat was on, there was still some space left. Tianyu wrapped three sweet potatoes in aluminum foil, aligned them neatly, and after the first round of meat, Mengcheng took over the grilling when Tianyu grew tired. Meanwhile, Tianyu busied himself with the sweet potatoes.
First, he sliced the sweet potatoes in half, stuffed a small piece of butter inside, added some cheese, rewrapped them in foil, and grilled them a bit longer to create a simple version of cheesy sweet potatoes with stringy cheese.
After eating a lot of meat, switching to a different flavor was refreshing.
After the sweet potatoes, it was back to grilling, this time corn and steamed buns, and finally, vegetables like potatoes and eggplants. Not to mention, there were also drinks and fruits to round out the meal—it was an incredibly satisfying barbecue.
We feasted from nearly 12 o’clock until 4:30 in the afternoon before our lunch officially ended. Almost everyone was stuffed to the point of immobility. Fortunately, Mengzhen had brought enough camping mats—for the boys and the girls separately—so everyone lay down to rest for a while. As the sky darkened, we finally managed to get up and head home.
Dinner was obviously unnecessary; we wouldn’t digest this meal until perhaps the next day.
Mengcheng didn’t take Tianyu on the way back, driving directly to Xiyuan and straight to his dorm after parking.
Mengzhen and the others parked and returned to school, while only Mengchen had to say goodbye to his sister and head home.
Before parting, Mengzhen reminded Tianyu to enroll his brother in the dance school and said she would reimburse the cost.
In short, there wasn’t a moment of peace all day.
Even after resting, the walk back to school was lethargic and spiritless. Passing the milk tea shop, Mengzhen suddenly craved milk tea. She asked, "Do you guys want any?"
All three shook their heads, and Liu Pei said, "Zhenzhen, can you even fit more in?"
"I’m stuffed, but I just want some fruit tea to cut through the greasiness." In the end, Mengzhen ordered a cup of orange juice with oolong and added coconut jelly. The DIY capability at the milk tea shop by the school gate was not about creating ’dark cuisine’ at all.
The cold tea felt incredibly refreshing, easing the heat from the barbecue. "Ah, so refreshing. Are you sure you don’t want any? The barbecue was so rich, having some ice-cold drink is really nice."
"Having just eaten meat, aren’t you afraid of a stomachache from drinking something cold? We’ll save our energy in case we need to take you to the hospital in the middle of the night," Yiran joked. Honestly, he also wanted a drink but was too full to have more. Glancing at Mengzhen’s milk tea, he felt a bit greedy. "Just let me have a sip, one sip will do." Anything more wouldn’t fit, but one sip seemed just right.
It was mon among girls to share drinks that way. Mengzhen glanced at him and passed the milk tea over. "It’s still warm, here, everyone take a little, I’ve had enough." After a few sips, she’d already cooled off.
No one was bashful, and they all took turns taking sips, each one exclaiming "That hits the spot" after the cool liquid. The smoky smell from the afternoon barbecue was strong, and even after being outside for an hour or two, it clung to them. Luckily, it was summer, so a shower and washing the clothes would get rid of the smell, without the need to air clothes out on the balcony for days like in winter.
However, once back at the dorm, their movements stirred Luo Yingying, who was asleep.
Although it was only 7:30 p.m., not bedtime yet, surely lights must be turned on when people return. The light irritated Yingying, who was trying to sleep. They were already considerate enough, treading lightly knowing she was asleep. But they couldn’t very well skip washing up. The noise from blowing drying hair caused Yingying to start pounding on the bed. "It’s so noisy! It’s not your dorm alone. How can I sleep with this racket?"
It was summer, sure, but they couldn’t go to bed with wet hair, it wasn’t good for the scalp. Especially Yiran’s long black straight hair, which took time to dry. But it was only 7:30 p.m.; since when was it not okay to dry one’s hair?
Yiran was in the midst of drying her hair and didn’t catch all of Yingying’s protest, but Keke snapped back immediately, "It’s not even bedtime yet. What, should we all skip washing up just because you’re sleeping? Even if you plained to anyone, that wouldn’t make sense."
Keke didn’t want to argue with Yingying, but she and Mengzhen hadn’t washed up yet; they would need to dry their hair too. If she didn’t argue back now, what would they do later?
"So I’m sleeping, what about it? Who says I can’t sleep early? You’re making it impossible for me to sleep."
By then, Yiran had heard and turned off the hairdryer, "You know it’s impossible to sleep like this, right? You used to do just the same, and we never plained. What are you fussing about?"
After Yiran finished speaking, she unplugged her hairdryer and left the dorm. With only a few days left, she really didn’t want to argue with this person anymore. If she couldn’t dry her hair in her own dorm, she’d go next door.
Mengzhen glanced at Yingying but said nothing, turning instead to Keke, "Go ahead and freshen up."
Keke was still fiddling with her phone, so she replied, "Zhenzhen, you go wash first; I’ll wait a bit longer. I still have a message to reply to."
User Comments
0 comments from readers