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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 13: May Day Golden Week
On May 1, 2012, the sun hung fiercely in the sky. Zhang Qiu and Jiang Xue had gotten up early to wash up and pack a large Camouflage Bag with clothes and daily necessities. They met at the Bus Station with Zhao Pingchuan, who was wearing shorts and a blue tank top, looking very sunny without his glasses.
Zhang Qiu was still in jeans and a white cotton short-sleeve shirt, his freshly cut hair looking neat. Jiang Xue wore a knee-length skirt and held an umbrella, leaning closely against Zhang Qiu. Zhao Pingchuan had already bought five tickets to Nanlan County, which could be purchased without identification.
Rui Rui arrived fashionably late but not too late. Today, she wore hot pants and a pink-and-white striped tank top with a low neckline that made her chest look like it was about to burst out. The golden sunlight shone on her golden hair, making her even more charming.
Rui Rui was very happy as she skipped over to Zhang Qiu and said, "Shall we go?"
"Let's wait a bit; it's still early for departure. We're waiting for one more person."
"There's someone else?"
"Yes, one more." Zhang Qiu checked the time on his phone; it was already past nine. Liu Fangfei was coming from the city and would take about an hour. By that calculation, Liu Fangfei should be arriving soon.
Rui Rui stood next to Zhang Qiu, fiddling with the strap of her bag out of boredom, and suddenly asked, "Is the other person a guy or a girl?"
"A girl."
Qiu Wan. Rui Rui immediately huffed and said, "Last time you brought a girl and didn't want me to come; now there's another girl."
Zhang Qiu was at a loss for words; he really couldn't answer that question. He glanced at Zhao Pingchuan, who awkwardly turned his head away. Fortunately, at that critical moment, Liu Fangfei arrived.
"Zhang Qiu!"
Liu Fangfei called out from afar, placing her suitcase aside and waving at Zhang Qiu. Just when Zhang Qiu was worried about how to explain things to Rui Rui, he quickly ran over to help Liu Fangfei with her suitcase while saying, "Sister, you arrived just in time."
Liu Fangfei looked confused and asked, "What's going on?"
Zhang Qiu explained everything to Liu Fangfei, who burst into laughter and patted Zhang Qiu on the shoulder seriously saying, "Not bad, not bad; it seems my brother is quite popular."
Liu Fangfei added, "You seem to be in a good mood."
"Of course! Sister, my club doesn't have to disband anymore, and I can continue taking classes at No. 1 High School."
"Oh? Then congratulations to you." Liu Fangfei couldn't think of how Zhang Qiu managed to impress Principal Wu, but the outcome was clearly a good one.
Jiang Xue had met Liu Fangfei before and came over to greet her. Liu Fangfei enthusiastically gave her a hug. Zhang Qiu introduced Zhao Pingchuan and Rui Rui, saying, "This is Liu Fangfei, my sister, a journalist with a strong sense of justice!"
"Sis, this is Zhao Pingchuan, my classmate. We're staying at his house this time. And this is Rui Rui, the beautiful receptionist at Daylight Fire Bar. She's definitely the prettiest one in our bar, no competition."
Zhang Qiu praised Rui Rui to the fullest, while Rui Rui huffed in dissatisfaction. However, the moment passed quickly as Zhao Pingchuan distributed tickets to everyone. Ten minutes before departure, they lined up to board the bus. Liu Fangfei carried a backpack and a large suitcase, which went through without any security check.
Zhang Qiu looked at Liu Fangfei's pile of luggage and laughed, "Sis, you are well-prepared."
Liu Fangfei glanced at Zhang Qiu and the others who were all simple in their packing, then looked at her own mountain of bags and couldn't help but laugh as she explained, "These are for work; I have clothes, a computer, and a few daily essentials. After this trip with you, I'll head straight to D City News."
"Those with tickets can go inside now," the Ticket Seller urged. Zhang Qiu led the way with Zhao Pingchuan following behind, protecting the three girls as they boarded the bus. The inter-town buses didn't follow any specific seating arrangement; whoever got on first took their seats. The last row of the bus had five empty seats, so Zhang Qiu suggested they sit there, which received enthusiastic agreement. Rui Rui was the fastest and immediately claimed the middle seat, pretending to wipe down the seats beside her and said, "Brother Qiu, come sit here."
Zhao Pingchuan and Liu Fangfei exchanged awkward glances at Zhang Qiu. He smiled and walked over to sit down, waving to Jiang Xue, "Xue'er, come over and sit with me."
"Okay." Jiang Xue smiled sweetly as she sat next to Zhang Qiu and nestled against his arm. Zhang Qiu closed the window for her and turned on the air conditioning above.
Liu Fangfei sat on the other side of Rui Rui while Zhao Pingchuan took another window seat and pulled out his phone to listen to music with his headphones on.
"Zhang Qiu, your surprise is in Nanlan County? What kind of surprise is there?"
Liu Fangfei still remembered that Zhang Qiu had asked her to call their principal about taking her somewhere special. Zhang Qiu had been keeping it a secret until now; Liu Fangfei still didn't know where they were going. Looking at the ticket confirmed it was indeed Nanlan County—a place she was quite familiar with.
"Sis, don't misunderstand; we are indeed going to Nanlan County. I promise you haven't been there before." Liu Fangfei had been captured by Wang Guodong's people and held in Nanlan County; Qiu Sheng Zhang was worried Liu Fangfei might misinterpret his surprise. If this surprise turned into a scare, it wouldn't be fun at all.
Liu Fangfei casually smiled and said, "No worries; I’m looking forward to the surprise. After this holiday, I’ll be busy again, so make sure it’s worth my while."
"I promise it will be worth your while," Zhang Qiu said ominously; indeed this trip to Nanlan would not be in vain but would involve more danger than excitement.
The bus started moving. At first, they chatted casually for a bit, but as they traveled further along bumpy roads with thin air inside the bus made everyone drowsy. Zhang Qiu leaned back sleepily while Jiang Xue rested her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed; her steady breathing made her abdomen rise and fall gently against him—something he could feel distinctly. After an unknown duration of time passed, Zhang Qiu suddenly jolted awake as a cold hand reached toward his waist.
"Thief!" Zhang Qiu was about to shout when he suddenly realized that there was no thief; it was clearly Rui Rui sitting next to him. Zhang Qiu turned his head and saw Rui Rui sneaking a smile at him. Upon noticing that Zhang Qiu had woken up, Rui Rui couldn't help but squeeze his waist lightly, which didn't hurt but felt a bit ticklish.
Just as Zhang Qiu was at a loss, a sharp voice rang out in the vehicle: "Thief!"
A middle-aged woman stood up from her seat, clutching her bag tightly with both hands. The Ticket Seller heard the scream and walked over, asking, "What's going on?"
The middle-aged woman pointed at the man sitting next to her and shouted, "It's him! It's him! He stole my things!"
The man being pointed at was furious and shouted back, "You filthy woman! What evidence do you have that I stole your stuff?"
The Ticket Seller glanced at the man and asked the middle-aged woman, "Did you lose anything?"
"No, when I opened my eyes, I saw him reaching into my bag," the middle-aged woman shook her head, relieved that she had woken up in time. Otherwise, she would have surely lost the money in her bag. The dark yellow envelope containing the Hundred Yuan Bill was what she had earned from a month of odd jobs.
"You didn't lose anything! Why are you making a fuss? Who reached into your bag? Do you have any evidence? It looks like you were just asleep!"
The Ticket Seller said, "How about this? Don't sit back down."
The middle-aged woman looked around the bus and asked, "Then where should I sit?"
All the seats in the bus were occupied, especially since it was the May Day Holiday and there were no empty seats left. The Ticket Seller didn't even have a seat for himself, let alone arrange one for her. "How about standing for a while? We've already traveled more than half the distance; we'll arrive in about twenty minutes."
"This..." The middle-aged woman hesitated. Thinking of her hard-earned money in her bag, she gritted her teeth and said, "Fine!"
But after standing for just a few minutes, she complained again, "Standing is so tiring."
A man suggested to her, "Hey sister, why don't you put your bag on the luggage rack and sit back down?"
The middle-aged woman shook her head vigorously. It didn't feel safe even holding it close to herself; putting it on the luggage rack was out of the question. How could there be thieves on a bus? Why did it have to be someone sitting right next to her?
What the middle-aged woman didn't know was that while she was buying her ticket, a thief lurking at the station had already set their sights on her. The thief had seen her pull out a brand new Hundred Yuan Bill from that yellowing envelope in her bag. Immediately, the thief bought a ticket and sat next to the middle-aged woman, not expecting that she would wake up just as they were about to make their move.
The middle-aged woman forced a smile and said, "Hey brother, you don't have any luggage. How about we switch seats? I'll go to yours and you come to mine."
"Not changing, not changing." The older brother who suggested it immediately lowered his head and stopped looking at the middle-aged woman.
The middle-aged woman was really tired from standing, so she thought for a moment and sat down on the floor of the carriage.
"Come sit here with me."
Liu Fangfei suddenly stood up and walked towards the middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman was overjoyed and quickly got up from the ground, dusting off her pants while repeatedly thanking Liu Fangfei. Once seated, the middle-aged woman let out a comfortable sigh. Zhang Qiu saw that Liu Fangfei was no longer standing and directly took the seat that belonged to the middle-aged woman.
Zhang Qiu had a strong feeling that something might happen. This premonition was very intense. Jiang Xue noticed the unease on Zhang Qiu's face and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine; I might just be a bit too nervous."
Rui Rui leaned close to Zhang Qiu's ear and whispered, "Based on my social experience, this aunt isn't lying."
Zhang Qiu nodded, his gaze firmly locked on Uncle Thief, who was sitting by the aisle. He stood up and said to Jiang Xue, "I'll go switch her out."
Jiang Xue nodded, "Be careful."
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