Qiao Yimian was practically floating from all the praise.
Warmth crept slowly up her earlobes, then spread across her cheeks in a delicate blush.
Meeting the governor’s sincere gaze, she shyly touched her ear.
“I’m… not really as good as you make me sound.”
Li Yao smiled, then quietly sighed. His tone softened considerably, carrying even a hint of helplessness and grievance.
“This is my first time in Beijiang, and I’m here all alone. I don’t have any friends in Chucheng either, while there are plenty of people who want to take advantage of me. If I went around with someone who had ulterior motives, I could easily be misled by them, and it might even lead to trouble that could otherwise be avoided.
“Reporter Qiao and I hit it off from the moment we met, and I know what kind of person you are. I’d really like to become friends with you. Just think of it as doing a friend a favor and showing me around. Would you?”
Li Yao glanced at his watch, a hint of apology in his eyes.
“It really is getting a little late. How about this? We’ll count the extra time as overtime. I can even pay you an additional overtime fee myself. How does that sound?”
His words were logical and sincere, striking just the right balance to bring the two of them closer.
Qiao Yimian was touched.
He wasn’t trying to introduce her to a boyfriend, nor was he showing her inexplicable concern.
He valued her, trusted her character, and recognized her abilities.
At last, she understood why he’d repeatedly reached out to her.
He regarded her as a friend—and perhaps even wanted to cultivate someone he could rely on.
Once she looked at it that way, everything he’d done before suddenly made sense.
Li Yao’s words were like a spark that ignited something deep inside Qiao Yimian.
The flames crackled, their heat steadily rising until even her heart and lungs seemed to burn.
Young people were always easily fired up by enthusiasm. Qiao Yimian stopped overthinking and nodded seriously.
“I understand! I’ll make sure I get the job done!”
Her eyes were bright, lively, and pure. When she smiled, two dimples appeared at just the right places, softening the allure of her delicate face.
“Just count it as overtime. You don’t need to pay me anything extra.”
The smile at the corners of Li Yao’s lips deepened as he deliberately teased her.
“Then wouldn’t you be losing out?”
“My dad always says that taking a loss is a blessing.” Qiao Yimian smiled brightly. “Besides, how could doing something for the benefit of my hometown possibly count as taking a loss?”
The endless glaciers seemed to melt beneath that single smile.
Li Yao reached out and, in an entirely natural gesture, patted the top of her head.
“Good girl.”
His movement was so quick that Qiao Yimian didn’t have time to dodge. He patted her head twice.
Qiao Yimian was speechless.
“…I’m twenty-five.”
She wasn’t a child.
“I know.”
Li Yao withdrew his hand and curved his lips into a smile.
“Buckle your seat belt. We’re heading out.”
“Oh.”
Qiao Yimian instinctively touched the top of her head, as though the warmth of his palm still lingered there.
The heat that had just faded began rising again.
As she fastened her seat belt, she happened to catch sight of her reflection in the rearview mirror.
Her cheeks were flushed with a faint blush, as though she’d applied rouge.
The wind and rain had finally passed, leaving the sky filled with glowing evening clouds.
Orange-red light spread across the horizon, as though it could wash away all the noise and restlessness of the mortal world.
Their car passed through the bustling streets of a small town and continued south along the road until they entered a relatively quiet mountain lane.
Seeing the sprawling orchards on both sides of the road, Qiao Yimian asked in surprise,
“Are we going to an orchard?”
Li Yao drove steadily as he answered frankly.
“Mm. I’d already learned about the late-season orange cultivation pilot project before coming here. After hearing you talk about it on the way, I felt it was even more necessary to come take a look myself.”
Qiao Yimian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then she remembered something else.
“What identity are we going to use when we get there?”
She had deliberately brought a camera with her when she left, assuming they would be filming something. Now she wasn’t sure what Li Yao had in mind.
Instead of answering, Li Yao asked her,
“What do you think?”
Qiao Yimian thought for a moment before suggesting,
“How about we say we’re television reporters? It’s orange season right now, so it would make sense for us to shoot some footage.”
The corners of Li Yao’s lips curved upward.
“Sure. We’ll do as you say.”
Once he’d agreed, Qiao Yimian began making arrangements.
“This little camera is really easy to use. I’ll set the parameters in a moment, and then you can just hold it the whole time. Don’t put any pressure on yourself. Even if the footage doesn’t turn out well, it’s fine. We’re mostly just pretending to be filming anyway. What’s more important is getting a feel for the situation.”
Li Yao listened to her chatter on and on and found it amusing. Deliberately teasing her, he said,
“Okay, Teacher Qiao.”
Qiao Yimian’s face flushed.
“Please don’t call me that. It’s terrifying.”
Li Yao didn’t think much of it.
“Now that we’re ‘colleagues,’ isn’t it a little inappropriate for you to keep calling me ‘you’ so formally?”
“But you really are older than me!”
Qiao Yimian muttered under her breath. Her eyes shifted back and forth before she gathered her courage and asked,
“May I ask how old you are?”
Li Yao shot her a quick glance, then turned his attention back to the narrow road ahead, his lips pressed into a thin line.
After a moment, he finally answered softly.
“Thirty-two.”
Qiao Yimian did the math silently.
Seven years older than her.
Well, no wonder she had to address him respectfully.
The car fell quiet.
After a while, Li Yao suddenly asked out of nowhere,
“Is that age… considered very old?”
“Not at all.”
Qiao Yimian answered instinctively.
“Don’t people say a man is at his best at forty? At your age, you’re at most still a flower bud, just waiting to bloom.”
Li Yao: “…”
He was going to be driven crazy by that little mouth of hers.
“Mind your manners.”
Qiao Yimian gave a cheeky grin.
She was starting to realize that the big boss was actually pretty easygoing in private.
Well, at least he wasn’t nearly as imposing as he was at mealtimes.
The car continued another few hundred meters down the narrow road, and the entrance to an orchard appeared ahead.
Li Yao pulled over and parked. After getting out, he walked around the front of the car and opened the passenger door.
Qiao Yimian froze for a moment.
“Thank you, Governor.”
At her words, Li Yao raised an eyebrow.
But he didn’t move. He continued blocking the doorway.
With one hand resting on the roof of the car, he leaned down and looked at Qiao Yimian.
“From now on, there is no Governor here. Just Li Yao.”
Qiao Yimian was slightly taken aback.
The governor stepped aside, opened the rear door, and took out her camera bag.
“Come on, Reporter Qiao.”
Being called “Reporter Qiao” by him made Qiao Yimian feel slightly uncomfortable. Somehow, the words sounded a little strange coming from him.
But when she thought about it carefully, there wasn’t actually anything different from before.
She took a deep breath, stopped thinking about it, and hopped out of the car.
A middle-aged couple stood at the entrance to the orchard. When they saw the two of them approaching, the woman immediately stood up and greeted them warmly.
“Are you here to pick fruit, or are you here to buy fruit wholesale?”
Qiao Yimian smiled and stepped forward.
“Hi, we’re reporters from the television station. It’s orange season right now, so we’d like to come interview your orchard. Would that be okay?”
The woman looked at her husband in surprise.
“What is there to interview here?”
The man looked a little confused too, but he cheerfully nodded.
“Go ahead. It’d be good publicity for us anyway.”
The woman brightened as well.
“That’s true. Which television station are you from? Will the program actually air?”
“We’re from Linchuan Television Station,” Qiao Yimian answered honestly. “My name is Qiao Yimian. You can just call me Xiao Qiao.”
“Oh, so you’re from the big city!” the woman exclaimed. “You must have traveled a long way to get here.”
“Mm, it was quite a long way.”
Qiao Yimian smiled as she explained, “I’m only temporarily assigned there for work. I’m actually from Chucheng. I’ve been to your town before for an interview.”
A pretty young woman who spoke so warmly was naturally easy to like.
Qiao Yimian learned that the woman’s name was Wei Hong, so she warmly called her “Sister Hong.” The man’s surname was Wang, so she simply called him “Brother-in-law Wang.”
Wei Hong was delighted by the familiar forms of address.
It was obvious that Qiao Yimian was already treating them like family.
Watching Qiao Yimian become familiar with the couple after only a few exchanges, Li Yao couldn’t help admiring her communication skills.
Brother Wang glanced at Li Yao, who had been standing to the side carrying the camera, and asked,
“And this gentleman is…?”
Li Yao looked at Qiao Yimian.
Understanding immediately, Qiao Yimian introduced him.
“He’s my colleague, a cameraman… Li Yao.”
The young woman’s crisp, sweet voice sounded beside him.
For a moment, Li Yao was dazed.
It seemed like it had been a long time since anyone had called him by his name.
And never had anyone made it sound quite so pleasant.
Three pairs of eyes were on him.
Li Yao gathered himself and greeted the couple as well.
Qiao Yimian continued,
“We came here this time because we’d like to shoot some footage related to the late-season orange orchards. We may eventually combine it with footage from several other orchards and put together a joint report…”
“Film whatever you like. If you need the two of us to cooperate with anything, just tell us.”
Sister Hong had a warm and friendly personality. As she spoke, she led the two of them into the orchard, leaving her husband to keep watch at the entrance.
“It’s orange season right now, but Chucheng has had colder winters these past two years, so the fruit is quite a bit smaller than usual. The sweetness is still pretty good, though. Here, let me pick two for you to try!”
As she spoke, she picked two round, plump oranges from a nearby tree and handed them to the two of them.
They quickly thanked her.
Qiao Yimian peeled hers immediately, and a rich, sweet fragrance filled the air.
“They smell so sweet!”
She broke off a segment and tasted it. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she couldn’t stop praising how delicious it was.
Seeing that Li Yao hadn’t touched his, she casually broke off another segment and held it out to him.
But just as she extended her hand, she suddenly remembered that Li Yao had once said, *I don’t really like sweet things.*
Her hand instinctively started to withdraw.
Unexpectedly, Li Yao simply took the orange segment from her hand and popped it into his mouth.
After chewing twice, he nodded.
“Mm. It is very sweet.”
“See? See?”
Sister Hong beamed.
“Of all the orchards in our town, ours has the sweetest oranges! When the agricultural experts came to select the fruit trees back then, they found a mother tree right here in this orchard. After that, they conducted surveys and experiments and grafted several hundred trees in the nearby orchards!”
Qiao Yimian and Li Yao exchanged a glance before she cautiously asked,
“What happened afterward?”
Sister Hong’s smile turned somewhat bitter.
“After that, I don’t know what happened, but nobody came to manage them anymore. The grafted trees didn’t bear fruit for two whole years, so quite a few farmers simply chopped them down.”
She pointed toward an area in the distance.
“We still kept a few here. They eventually bore fruit, but the oranges were small. No one from above came back to take care of them, either, so little by little, we just left them to grow on their own.”
Qiao Yimian gazed toward the area in the distance before turning to Wei Hong.
“Sister Hong, can we get a little closer and shoot some footage?”
“Of course. It just rained, though, so the path isn’t in very good condition. Take it slow.”