The next morning, Mei Mengchen was picked up bright and early by Fan Tianyu, who didn’t bother about when her classes were or what time they had arranged to meet up; once he picked her up, his job was done.
Mei Mengzhen couldn’t be bothered to ment on this person. As soon as her brother was picked up, she got busy herself. By the time she was ready, it was still early, but she decided to call Pei Ziyu anyway. Pei Ziyu almost immediately answered the phone, "Hello, Zhenzhen, you’re up early."
"Yeah, Brother Tianyu came early and woke me up, so I didn’t go back to sleep. Are you up?"
Pei Ziyu said, "I’m just waiting for the elevator to head down. If you’re up, I’ll e over now. Should I bring breakfast up?"
"No need, we have everything at home. I’ll make something; it’s better than what’s outside."
After hanging up, Mei Mengzhen busied herself with breakfast preparations, steaming their favorite foods, and then making dumpling soup. By the time the dumpling soup was ready, Pei Ziyu had already knocked on her door.
When Mei Mengzhen opened the door and saw it was him, she said hastily, "You know the code, why did you knock on the door?"
"Still, I should knock on the door, can’t just walk in like that," Pei Ziyu said with a smile.
"So particular."
Mei Mengzhen let him in, and they started eating their breakfast. She asked, "Has Brother Pei’s work e to a temporary halt? Is your vacation only seven days, or can you take a few more days off?"
"Just seven days. It happens to be during the National Day holidays, otherwise there wouldn’t even be seven days. Why, do you have any plans?"
Mei Mengzhen nodded repeatedly, "I didn’t before, but now that Brother Pei has some time off, I was thinking of going on a trip. We don’t have to go far, just around the area, and we could even take a road trip."
Pei Ziyu had no objections. Due to his work, he felt he owed her a lot, so of course he could agree to such a simple request, "Sure, where do you want to go? Do you have any ideas?"
Mei Mengzhen hadn’t made any concrete plans before since she wasn’t sure if Pei Ziyu would have the time. However, since there are plenty of mountains around Jiangcheng, she suggested, "How about going hiking? We could go horse riding, grass skiing, and enjoy the local cuisine."
Watching Mei Mengzhen get more and more excited as she spoke, Pei Ziyu smiled and said, "Alright, shall we go after breakfast? You didn’t mention a trip earlier, so I’ll go back and pack some clothes. Shall we play for a few days and e back on the 7th?"
Mei Mengzhen replied, "Really? Great, let’s just play for 5 or 6 days before we e back."
The two of them quickly finished breakfast and then started packing clothes. Mei Mengzhen, having less distance to cover, was packed first. She went downstairs after packing her clothes, left the munity, and waited at Pei Ziyu’s usual parking spot. Soon, she saw Pei Ziyu’s car approaching, and they both set off towards the tourist attraction.
Although they said the mountains were close, the journey wasn’t actually that short. They met at 9 in the morning and by noon, they were still on the road. Fortunately, there were farmhouses along the way where they could stop at any time for a meal since they weren’t traveling with a tour group. When hunger struck, they naturally stopped to eat.
The local specialty was Lotus Root Ribs Soup, which the two of them ordered along with some greens, and that was enough. The ribs must have e from a home-raised pig; the meat was rich and flavorful, and the lotus root was the starchy kind. The soup had been stewed so long that it turned thick and creamy. They both thought the restaurant’s taste was excellent and were quite satisfied with the meal.
After lunch, they continued their journey. It took another two hours or so by car to reach the foot of the mountain. There were many travelers like them who came for self-driving tours, as well as plenty who followed tour groups which surely wouldn’t get lost, "Brother Pei, I packed water and snacks in my bag. Do you think it’s enough, or should I pack some more?"
Mei Mengzhen’s suitcase was half clothes, half snacks. Of course, bringing so much food might not be enough, but because she brought a lot, she could take the opportunity to sneak more snacks without being noticed.
Pei Ziyu glanced over and said, "Take two more bottles of water, the snacks are enough."
Mei Mengzhen took two more bottles of water and stuffed them into her backpack. Just as she was about to sling it over her shoulders, Pei Ziyu grabbed it from her, "Let me carry that, it’s too heavy for you."
Mei Mengzhen smiled and let go, and the backpack naturally ended up on Pei Ziyu’s back.
The two followed the crowd at a leisurely pace. Mei Mengzhen was in no rush as they were there to enjoy the trip, so there was no need to hurry their itinerary. After walking a short distance, Mei Mengzhen saw a pavilion and decided to rest there, "Let’s have a seat, eat some snacks, and then continue."
Pei Ziyu hadn’t quite caught on before being pulled by Mei Mengzhen to the pavilion. Once he sat down, a snack was handed to him. He said helplessly, "Zhenzhen, we’ve barely started."
"I know, but let’s take it slow. We’re here to travel, so why rush like a tour group? The mountain isn’t that big, we’ll definitely finish before the workers leave."
Despite what she said, whether Pei Ziyu agreed with Mei Mengzhen’s perspective or not, he definitely wouldn’t contradict her.
After that, their hike became more like a playful outing. Every time they reached a resting spot, Mei Mengzhen insisted on sitting down to snack and drink water. After two hours, Pei Ziyu didn’t feel tired at all and almost felt like he was on a holiday picnic. Eventually, they reached a lake and needed to take a boat to the other side. The boat operated on a schedule, so they had no choice but to wait quietly onshore. However, after waiting for a while, Mei Mengzhen realized a serious issue – she seemed to get seasick.
Indeed, it was seasickness. She felt dizzy and unstable just standing on the shore before even boarding the boat. At that moment, she wasn’t standing; she was sitting, her head still spinning. She glanced at Pei Ziyu beside her and then leaned against him. Pei Ziyu was unaware of what was going on and asked in surprise, "What’s wrong? Tired?"
By all accounts, given today’s hiking pace and Mei Mengzhen’s stamina, it was unlikely she was tired. But looking at her plexion, she did seem a bit off, "Zhenzhen, you look a bit pale, are you feeling unwell?"
"No, I’m a bit seasick."
Pei Ziyu was taken aback. He really hadn’t expected that to be her response. He asked, "Seasick? Is it serious? Can you take the boat? If not, we can just walk down, it’s fine."
"It’s not that severe, just a bit dizzy and unstable."
After Mei Mengzhen finished speaking, the boat’s engine started. Hearing the noise, everyone began to line up in an orderly fashion to board. Naturally, Mei Mengzhen and Pei Ziyu followed suit.
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