The next day, when Da Bao saw Yin Zhihao again, he rembered the follow-up to the Shao Yuxin situation.
"Zhihao, did Shao Yuxin keep calling to bother you later on?"
"How could she not?"
"So what did you say to her?" Da Bao was curious about how his friend handled it.
At that mont, Da Bao even felt a bit of sympathy with Yin Zhihao.
"I just said, ’I’m sorry, I can’t help you.’ Then, she hung up on with a click!"
Perhaps it was Shao Yuxin’s decisive attitude that left Yin Zhihao with no room for reconsideration. Having completely given up, he was no longer as infatuated as he had been that night when her na ca up.
Da Bao envied his friend’s sense of liberation, while he himself didn’t know how long he would still have to struggle in the mire before he could truly move on.
"I’ve already told my uncle about our trip to the tea farm. He said we can go anyti, and stay as long as we’d like."
...
Having heard there’s a large reservoir near the tea farm, Ji Rui had prepared a set of high-end fishing gear early on. Le Tong told Da Bao that his enthusiasm for this trip surpassed even that of Nuonuo and Little Treasure.
The group set off on Friday afternoon, driving from the highway for half an hour along the winding country road before finally arriving at Yin Zhihao’s uncle’s tea farm.
Uncle Yin had prepared a al early and warmly welcod them into the house. After washing their hands, everyone sat down to eat.
According to Uncle, the chicken on the table was raised on tea leaves and fruit, the vegetables were grown beside the tea garden, and the stead giant carp was caught from the reservoir...
Perhaps because they were very hungry or because the hogrown food just tasted so much better than what they had in the city, Nuonuo and Little Treasure, who usually claid they were full after one bowl of rice at ho, each had two big bowls today, repeatedly praising how delicious it was.
Uncle Yin also had two children, both younger than Nuonuo and Little Treasure, but the hosts placed the two large drumsticks into Nuonuo and Little Treasure’s bowls.
Displeased with such overbearing hospitality, Le Tong quickly told the siblings to give the drumsticks back to the host’s children.
However, Yin Zhihao said, "Auntie, let them be. My uncle has a lot of chickens. My cousins don’t like chicken, especially the drumsticks, saying they taste like chicken droppings."
Uncle Yin glared at Yin Zhihao, "Zhihao, are you trying to disgust everyone? Saying that will kill the kids’ appetite."
Yin Zhihao replied, "Uncle, don’t worry. These two little gluttons won’t be affected by my disgusting comnts."
Sure enough, Nuonuo and Little Treasure were happily tearing into the drumsticks, with Nuonuo eating more daintily, while Little Treasure was left with a greasy mouth, and Le Tong occasionally wiping his mouth.
"Mommy, this drumstick is delicious! So much better than what we usually have!"
"Silly, this is free-range chicken. Didn’t you hear Uncle say they run around the mountains eating wild grasses, tea fruit, and leaves, while our usual chicken is fed with pellets?"
Little Treasure and Nuonuo were curious after Le Tong’s explanation, "Uncle, do they really run around the mountains?"
Uncle Yin nodded with a smile, "Yes, tomorrow morning, let Brother Zhihao take you to see them, okay?"
After the al, the adults chatted inside the house, while the children, big and small, played in the yard. Little Treasure, still a child at heart, shouted that he wanted to go see the wide tea mountains veiled in moonlight.
Da Bao gave him a slap on the butt, "Kid, while you’re not sleeping, the chickens are! What’s there to see now? Besides, it’s cold in the mountains at night. What if you freeze?
Little Treasure pouted, "Humph, Brother’s lying. How could it freeze here?"
Yin Zhihao corroborated Da Bao’s words, "Little Treasure, your brother isn’t lying. The temperature in the mountains is at least ten to eight degrees lower than here, and it really could freeze at night."
"Then tomorrow will we see glaciers on the mountains?"
Da Bao gave Little Treasure a light tap on the head, "You think this is the Arctic? No chance of seeing glaciers. You won’t even see shards of ice—everything lts when the sun cos out."
Da Bao knew that Little Treasure was just trying to pick a fight. Such common sense was sothing soone as clever as him couldn’t possibly not know.
It was already November, and the mountain temperatures were naturally lower than in the city. After strolling around the yard for a while, the group couldn’t bear the piercing cold winds and all eagerly retreated back indoors.
Uncle Yin’s house was quite large, with at least a dozen rooms in a row of cottages. So were for the workers, while others were specifically for guests.
These rooms were like double suites in hotels, each with two large beds inside.
Since there happened to be just three empty rooms, Ji Rui Le Tong stayed in one, while Yin Zhihao and Ren Weiqi along with the driver shared another, and Da Bao and his brothers occupied the last one.
This arrangent was quite reasonable, though for Da Bao, it was sowhat of a trial.
But this trial was unknown to others, as just a few months ago, he was coaxing Nuonuo to sleep in the sa bed with her.
After Nuonuo took her pajamas to bathe, Da Bao told Little Treasure, who was playing gas with his head down on the edge of the bed, "Little Treasure, tonight you sleep on the side."
Little Treasure looked up at him curiously, "Why? I sleep restlessly. What if I fall off the bed?"
"If I sleep on the side, what if you step on to go to the bathroom at night?"
Little Treasure tilted his head to think and found his brother’s words reasonable, so he agreed with a nod.
After Nuonuo finished her bath, she ca out wearing her lace-trimd princess nightgown, drying her hair as she called out, "Brother, it’s your turn to shower."
Little Treasure responded but was reluctant to move.
"Go now!" Da Bao nudged his raised butt.
"Brother, you go first, I want to clear another level."
Da Bao couldn’t be bothered with him, grabbed his iPad, "I’ll help your sister dry her hair if you don’t go, then you dry her hair."
Little Treasure reluctantly got up, "I’m going to shower!"
Though Little Treasure was good to Nuonuo, there was one thing on her that he never dared to touch.
That was Nuonuo’s long, curly hair. In all these years, he had never conquered it.
Perhaps that troubleso curly hair of Sister’s could only be managed by a patient Brother like Da Bao!
After sending Little Treasure to shower, Da Bao beckoned to Nuonuo, "Nuonuo, co over, I’ll help you dry your hair."
When Nuonuo was younger, just like Little Treasure, she was helpless with the ss of hair after washing, mostly relying on Da Bao or Le Tong to help organize it.
But in the past couple of years, she gradually started taking care of her hair herself as she grew up.
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