"Qiao Mingtang, how come you're here?"
"Yan Jinzhi and I are here looking for someone, and unexpectedly we ran into you sisters. We really are fated to meet. Alright, because of this fate, I absolutely have to give you sisters a ride. Get in quickly."
With a ride offered, Jiang Mingyue wasn't going to be polite about it. She lifted her foot to get in but found her clothing being tugged.
It was her third sister.
Without asking, she could guess the reason, didn't say anything, but directly pushed her sister into the car and got in herself afterward.
After getting in the car, Jiang Mingyue could clearly see the person in front who was amicably turning around to offer her sunflower seeds.
Jiang Mingyue: "… Thanks! I don't eat these; the shells are hard to deal with."
"No problem, Qiao Mingtang will clean up."
Jiang Mingyue thought: She was just afraid of leaving shells in the car, but this guy seemed to imply she should just directly dump them inside.
Seeing how persistent he was, Jiang Mingyue had no choice but to accept.
"Thanks." She immediately passed them to Jiang Zhenmei.
And Jiang Zhenmei, obviously not daring to eat sunflower seeds in someone's car, held them for a moment before quietly pocketing them.
Jiang Mingyue didn't care about her, continuing to scrutinize the interior.
How to put it? It felt very familiar. Who would have thought that several hundred years later, this vehicle still had descendants? Although it's now a convertible, common in the B District base. Of course, its interior decoration is different, and its performance would surely vary drastically, but this is the ancestor, a true antique car four hundred years later.
She still remembered the car's history. Last year, the country produced the 212 itself, and there weren't many of them nationwide. She hadn't expected to encounter one out here in the wild.
If a bicycle is equivalent to a BMW in this era, then the 212 would be equivalent to an airplane.
"Xiao Yue'er, are you visiting relatives?"
Yan Jinzhi glanced coolly at the guy beside him who couldn't hold a conversation.
The guy, oblivious, was still cheerful: "Xiao Yue'er, you don't look like a mountain girl." More like one raised delicately in the city.
Still, there was no response. Qiao Mingtang, thinking his topic inappropriate, was about to look at the rearview mirror when the person next to him spoke: "Keep your eyes on the road."
Qiao Mingtang stopped looking; indeed, the mountain road was tricky, full of potholes, narrow with stones growing everywhere, thankfully the car had high clearance.
And Jiang Mingyue, who didn't respond, was already asleep, with Jiang Zhenmei's head resting on her shoulder, having fallen asleep first.
Truly, this car was like a cradle, very soothing.
When Yan Jinzhi turned around to look, he saw the fair and rosy face of the girl, the tranquility of time captured perfectly.
Using his long arms, he draped a coat over her.
Qiao Mingtang sneaked a look and thought to himself: The boss is indeed attracted to Xiao Yue'er. Inviting her to share a table at noon, now giving away his coat, who knows, he might one day give himself away.
"Drive properly."
"Oh, sure, I'll drive steadily."
The sleeping Jiang Mingyue, in fact, wasn't as serene as she appeared.
She was lost in a dream, with various armored vehicles, and the "tut-tut-tut" of gunfire constantly echoing, sweeping down crowds of infected in masses, quickly turning into a sea of corpses and blood.
In the endless sea of blood, a tall man stood up from the silence, blood haphazardly smeared his face like a canvas, yet it didn't hide his handsome features. Suddenly, a peal of thunder, with the earth swept by strong winds, heavy rain suddenly descended. The man's face, washed by the rain, revealed itself vividly between heaven and earth.
Upon seeing that face, Jiang Mingyue suddenly woke up with a start.
"Had a nightmare?" came a gentle voice from the front seat.
Jiang Mingyue looked at the face turned back, wanting to say: It was your face that scared me awake.
Thus, the question arose again: Was it merely a dream, or is this person just like her, from the other side?
Jiang Mingyue's heart was uncontrollably excited, wanting to immediately confirm, yet her spiritual power wouldn't rise at all.
Previously, when probing the Four Treasures of the Study, she was at least bounced back; this time, her spiritual power just ceased to function.
"Seems like it."
The man laughed.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Your response is quite novel." Of course not; he laughed because she was still the same, telling untruths with her eyes wide open.
Beside him, Qiao Mingtang found it very intriguing: Ever since meeting this girl at the restaurant, the boss seemed bewitched.
Can someone really have such an intense attraction for another? Enough to overturn their persona?
"Focus on your driving."
Qiao Mingtang felt aggrieved: Boss, you're not human, like you have mind-reading powers or something.
"There's a household ahead! Xiao Yue'er, look, is it your village?"
How would Jiang Mingyue know? She could only ask Jiang Zhenmei, who was sleeping on her.
"Third sister, do you think we've arrived?"
A simple question, and Jiang Zhenmei immediately woke up, quite startled.
"Huh? We're here? So soon. Let's hurry back; mom must be anxious."
Her reaction made Qiao Mingtang, who was driving in front, burst into laughter: "Xiao Yue'er, your sister is really interesting!"
Jiang Zhenmei then realized what she had just done, her face blushing instantly.
Sigh! How could she embarrass herself so much in front of her sister's friends?
Jiang Mingyue thought for a moment, then took the initiative to hold Jiang Zhenmei's hand.
Being held by her pretty younger sister, all of Jiang Zhenmei's previous awkwardness vanished instantly, leaving her heart feeling immensely warmed.
Zhenzhu had never held her hand like this.
The car stopped at the village entrance, and the sisters got out.
Qiao Mingtang slung the basket over Jiang Zhenmei's shoulder.
"Xiao Yue'er, we'll leave you here. We still have business at the commune. Goodbye!"
"Thank you!" the sisters said their gratitude as the car drove away before heading to a household.
"See that soap tree? That's our home." Jiang Zhenmei was no longer as restrained as before, now as free and lively as a fish swimming in water.
It turned out the girls of this time weren't rigid; they were more innocent and pure.
Possibly due to the darkness, Jiang Mingyue didn't recognize the soap tree, only seeing a silhouette, a tree-like shape.
Pulled along by the excited Jiang Zhenmei into the unfenced yard, suddenly several silhouettes rushed out from the house, and Jiang Mingyue instinctively went into a defensive stance, only to remember this wasn't the B District.
"Don't be scared; it's our elder brothers and mom."
Jiang Mingyue: "…" She had imagined many ways of entering, but hadn't anticipated this one.
"Mom, elder brothers, I've brought Ming Yue back."
"Ah! It's good to have you back! Good to have you back! You must be hungry; I'll go to the kitchen to bring you some food."
Jiang Mingyue: "…" Could you turn on the light first? Without the moon, it's pitch-dark here. How could you even see me?
"Come, Ming Yue, I'll take you to your room first." As Jiang Zhenmei set down the basket, Jiang Mingyue tried to take a step in the dark, but she suddenly stumbled forward and fell flat.
In pain, as she cried out, the others quickly reacted, with urgent voices rising one after another.