Loneliness Chapter 4

The hotel had been booked in advance online. Xiao Zhou and Senior stayed with the child in the family room, leaving the four men to stay in two double rooms.

To no one's surprise, Chen Dong Lan and Yuan Yuan stayed together.

Because it was the weekend, the hotel rooms were in high demand and only Senior's room had a view. The other two rooms didn't look out onto anything nice, so the windows were only left slightly opened.

Yuan Yuan wasn't very satisfied with this. It wasn't easy to make this trip and not being able to stay in the best room was quite a pity.

As for Chen Dong Lan, he seemed very satisfied. Once he stepped through the door, his gaze was fixed on the large television inside. It was really very big, double the size of the one they previously had in their house.

“We came here to play in the mountains and water, not to watch television.”

“I know.” Chen Dong Lan nodded. “I'm just very happy.”

Yuan Yuan thought this was probably the mentality of primary school students on spring excursion.

Senior's daughter was called Amy, and she was a blond mixed-blood little princess. Senior gave birth at an early age. Plus, she had a baby face and didn't look one bit like Amy's mother.

Everyone had dinner at the hotel's western cuisine restaurant. Not yet used to the time difference, Amy was very sleepy while eating and kept nodding off. Senior could only carry her in her arms.

“Sorry…we pamper her too much.” Senior pinched Amy's face.

“It's okay, girls should be pampered.” Yu Lin's tone made it sound like Amy was his own daughter. He made faces at Amy, but the little girl's eyelids drooped and she turned, positioning her bottom towards him.

Because Amy wasn't in the mood, they didn't have any other activities that night, and everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Once they were back, Chen Dong Lan couldn't wait to turn on the television. Don't ask how Yuan Yuan was able to see that he “couldn't wait”. Previously, when the two of them went home together, Chen Dong Lan had always fallen back a step to close the door. But today, he fought to be a step ahead and made a beeline for the television.

If he'd known, he would've changed to one even bigger than this for Chen Dong Lan.

Since it was still early, Yuan Yuan sat down to watch television with him. “What do you normally watch?”

Chen Dong Lan was engrossed in choosing a channel. “Anything.”

Actually, living together for three years, Yuan Yuan had long known that his favourite station was the CCTV set of channels.

“I've been watching a television series recently.” Chen Dong Lan started introducing it to him.

It was an anti-war series, and it happened to be at the part where the protagonist, a war G.o.d in the army, was framed and confronted with a life or death crisis.

Yuan Yuan hadn't watched a television series for at least five years. Tonight, he unexpectedly accompanied Chen Dong Lan and continued to watch.

A bullet was shot toward the protagonist and his best friend materialised from an unknown corner, taking the hit for him. Blood spurted out and the best friend's filming was concluded on the spot. The protagonist gave a loud shout and, as if there was spiritual help, killed off all the enemies and hugged his best friend's body crying bitterly.

Yuan Yuan: …

He was about to ridicule the lack of logic in this episode when he saw Chen Dong Lan's expression…which seemed slightly sad.

Yuan Yuan looked at the time and realised that it was almost eleven. He hurriedly said, “It's late. Let's get some rest. We still need to get up early tomorrow to hike.”

Chen Dong Lan was very obedient and nodded, turning off the television.

The two of them washed up separately then turned off the lights to sleep.

A night of nice dreams.

Early morning of the second day was very cold on the mountain, and everyone wore very thick clothing. The sun hadn't yet completely emerged, but the road on foot to their first scenic spot was lit. There were also quite a few people around, so Amy wasn't scared even though the sky was still dark. When she was unable to walk, the six adults took turns piggybacking her, switching back and forth until she was bubbling with laughter.

Xiao Zhou was quite miserable. It wasn't even four in the morning, and Amy was vigorous and active. She had been tormented awake. Without enough sleep, she was mentally wrecked.

They had originally planned to climb the mountain in the morning before reaching the park's food and beverage point around noon to do some barbecuing on their own. But, not even midway there, Xiao Zhou was unable to keep up, stopping every two steps.

Amy was seated on Senior's shoulders. “Zhou, you're no use!”

Senior clicked her tongue, then tugged at Amy's little legs, giving her a shake, before she was well-mannered again.

“What do we do now? Why don't we return and rest for a while, then come out again in the afternoon,” she said, concerned.

Xiao Zhou kept panting heavily. “No, no need. I can still walk.”

This suddenly made everyone even more concerned.

Yuan Yuan used his phone to check some information and said, “After this scenic point, there will be a place to take a sightseeing bus. I'll piggyback you over.”

Xiao Zhou was red in the face. “This…this is too troublesome for Yuan Lao Da. I'll walk by myself.”

Yuan Yuan was helpless. On this matter, if the girl wasn't shy, it was actually very simple. But once she became shy, the atmosphere changed.

“Zhou Zhou, why are you being shy?” Ou Yang made fun of her. “Didn't you always admire Yuan Lao Da the most?” He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Yu Lin fanned the flames. “What? What's between the two of you? Why don't I know?”

Senior laughed. At her age, she loved to meddle in such matters. “This is just as well. Among you boys, Yuan Yuan is the most reliable. A piggyback from him would definitely be stable.”

Xiao Zhou's face was so red that it was almost dripping blood. With a low voice, she said “No…I didn't…”

It was about to continue incessantly when suddenly, Chen Dong Lan said, “Let me piggyback you.”

Xiao Zhou was liberated and in a flash, her breathing returned to normal. “Okay, sorry for the trouble, Dong Lan!”

She was so excited that she even called out “Dong Lan”.

This was just as well. Yuan Yuan secretly gave Yu Lin and Ou Yang two punches and seeing them in pain, he laughed out loud. “Chen Dong Lan is very stable when he gives piggybacks. Xiao Zhou, you can rest a.s.sured.”

“I'm definitely a.s.sured…” Although she said that, Xiao Zhou was still very thin-skinned, and while on Chen Dong Lan's back, her face was also red.

Having persevered to the boarding point of the sightseeing bus, she shouted, “We're here, we're here. Thank you, thank you. You can put me down.”

Chen Dong Lan put her down steadily.

“Let's meet at the barbecue spot!” Xiao Zhou boarded the bus at top speed, waved her hand and was gone like the wind.

Amy tugged at a bunch of Senior's hair. “Mimi wants to take the bus too…”

Senior didn't make any effort to respond to her daughter. Moving closer to Yuan Yuan, she asked excitedly, “Is Xiao Zhou interested in you?”

Without batting an eye, Yuan Yuan said, “No such thing.”

Of course, Senior didn't believe that. “I think that's the case. She was single when she was in school. It has been a few years since graduating, and she's still single. She's really not waiting for you?”

Yuan Yuan was shocked by this woman's intuition.

During his third year of college, Xiao Zhou had actually confessed her feelings for him.

Yuan Yuan had never considered dating during college and had no feelings towards Xiao Zhou. So, at that time, he had rejected her directly. Xiao Zhou wasn't angry and had just hoped that they could still be friends.

Fortunately, Amy interrupted at an opportune time, and because Senior had ignored her, she was angry. “Mimi also wants the bus, wants the bus!”

Senior had no choice. After all, she had ignored her first. “Sorry, Amy, but don't you think that Mom's bus is even better?”

Amy considered it for a while, then gave the conclusion of “not bad“.

After avoiding the topic, everything was finally normal. Everyone was quickly distracted by the overlapping peaks of the mountain range scenery. Walking and stopping along the way, they reached the food and beverage point. Many people had come here to barbecue as it was a famous event at this park, and sometimes arriving late would mean having to wait for a spot.

Since Xiao Zhou had arrived earlier, they got a very good spot. She had been waiting here for over an hour, but it was in the house, where there was wireless internet. So, she had recovered very well.

Out of the four men, only Chen Dong Lan knew how to cook. Yuan Yuan and Yu Lin knew this, but it was the first time the others have heard about it.

Senior saw Chen Dong Lan handling the ingredients with familiarity and laughingly said, “There are quite a few boys who can cook now, but I always thought there were none on our debate team.”

Xiao Zhou felt inferior. “It's true. Chen Dong Lan, you're so awesome…”

Chen Dong Lan seemed to be embarra.s.sed by their words and slowly put everything down. “Actually, I don't really know how…”

Senior said, “It's only barbecue. Just do what you like. There's not much technique involved. Where did you learn your cooking skills from? The boys that I know who can cook were all forced to learn by their moms.”

Chen Dong Lan shook his head. “I learned from watching television.”

Yuan Yuan suddenly realised. No wonder Chen Dong Lan would occasionally take notes while watching television. He was learning to cook.

On this topic, Senior's gossipy nature ignited again. She started by questioning Yuan Yuan. “Are each of you still single? Yuan Yuan, you go first.”

Yuan Yuan laughed bitterly. “I haven't met the right one yet."

Ou Yang rushed to reply. "I have a girlfriend!"

Yu Lin looked towards Ou Yang with an expression like the sky had just collapsed.

That left Chen Dong Lan, the only one who had yet to answer. Senior looked kindly at him. "How about Chen Dong Lan?"

Chen Dong Lan only shook his head.

Senior let out a sigh. "All your qualities are so good. How could it be…Is it because you're not interested in the girls around you? I think someone like Xiao Zhou is quite good."

As if a switch had been flipped, Xiao Zhou's face was red in a click.

Seeing that she was really embarra.s.sed, Senior could only drop the topic, allowing Yuan Yuan to heave a sigh of relief.

If Xiao Zhou was no longer interested in him, that was great. But if she still was, that would really be a type of…burden.