“Alright then, I’ll switch back.” Song Dahai operated the steering wheel with one hand and changed back to the previous CD. The voices of Phoenix Legend once again filled the car.
The horsehead fiddle’s melody lingers, mare’s milk wine warms the heart
My love gallops across the Hulunbuir grassland
Your kindness I cannot resist
Your purity binds my heart tightly
Fang Qingye couldn’t help but sigh inwardly – what a hopeless simp.
However, Fang Qingye remembered that in her previous life, the two never ended up together. Would things be different this time?
The distance from Nanxin County to Lang Mountain Scenic Area wasn’t far – just over sixty kilometers. The three cars got back on Shenhai Expressway, drove for half an hour before exiting, then followed Tongjing Avenue around Jinghai City, finally arriving at Lang Mountain Scenic Area.
Lang Mountain Scenic Area is a 4A-level tourist attraction in Jiangsu Province, located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, six kilometers south of Jinghai City.
After parking in the lot, Jiang Chen bought tickets for everyone. They entered through the north gate, where the Buddha Light Avenue was decorated with artificial wisteria flowers, and the ground was adorned with perennial flower pots, forming a fragrant walking path.
Every spring, Lang Mountain National Forest Park welcomes a brilliant bloom of mountain flowers, particularly peonies, which come in three major types – single-petal, double-petal, and thousand-petal – across nine color series. From early April to early May each year, the scenic area hosts the famous “Lang Mountain Peony Festival,” attracting large numbers of local residents and tourists for spring outings.
Everyone chatted and laughed while sightseeing, with several girls constantly taking photos. In this era, smartphones had just emerged but weren’t yet widespread, and feature phones had poor camera quality. Fortunately, Jiang Chen had brought a Casio digital SLR camera, satisfying the girls’ photography needs.
Lang Mountain isn’t particularly high. Starting from the foot and climbing along the stone steps, it takes less than an hour to reach the summit. Standing there, one can see the entire Jinghai urban area to the north and the vast Yangtze River to the south, where sparkling waves and scattered white sails create a refreshing and uplifting view.
There were food stalls at the mountain base, but Jiang Chen suggested having a barbecue. So they drove five kilometers west from the scenic area. Though still within Lang Mountain’s vicinity, this spot was sparsely populated and had a small river flowing quietly nearby.
They found a grassy area not far from the riverbank and unloaded the barbecue equipment – grill, charcoal, cooking grid, and utensils were all complete. Everyone started busying themselves with preparations.
Jiang Chen appeared experienced with outdoor cooking, moving with practiced ease. Several girls helped with supporting tasks, and Chen Meimei seemed accustomed to household chores, skillfully cutting and skewering meat. Even Song Dahai, who usually avoided manual work, came over to help.
Fang Qingye had never done these tasks at home and didn’t know how, so she didn’t join the crowd, opting instead to wander around alone nearby.
Qian Xiaoli also seemed inexperienced with housework and couldn’t contribute much, so she walked toward Fang Qingye.
“Yezi.”
“Hmm?” Fang Qingye turned to look at her.
Qian Xiaoli glanced back at the busy Chen Meimei: “Is she your girlfriend?”
“No, as I said earlier, she’s my colleague.” Fang Qingye smiled: “Dahai said with three guys and two girls, we were short one female, so he asked me to invite one more person. That’s why I called Chen Meimei. If I’d known you were coming, I wouldn’t have invited her.”
“Good that she’s not. You mustn’t let Bai Ou down.” Qian Xiaoli unexpectedly replied.
Bai Ou?!
“I’m telling you, Qian Xiaoli, Bai Ou and I are just childhood playmates, there’s really nothing between us,” Fang Qingye hurriedly explained.
“Really?”
“Really! Then let me ask you, is there anything going on between you and Da Hai?!” Fang Qingye retorted.
“There could be, but he’s not willing,” Qian Xiaoli said lightly, hands in her pockets, watching Song Da Hai helping Chen Meimei nearby.
What the…
Fang Qingye was speechless.
“Alright, I’m going for a walk,” she said, heading alone toward the riverbank.
Fang Qingye naturally didn’t follow, standing there in a daze.
Bai Ou.
Fang Qingye’s mind conjured an image of a girl with ear-length bobbed hair, whose eyes curved into crescent moons when she smiled.
Bai Ou and Fang Qingye were childhood sweethearts, and their parents had been close friends too. Fang Qingye’s father Fang Jianwen and Bai Ou’s father Bai Chuanzhe had been classmates at Jinghai Normal University.
Fang Qingye and Bai Ou grew up together, sharing the same classes in elementary and middle school. However, when they reached high school and had to choose between arts and sciences, Fang Qingye went into the science track while Bai Ou chose arts. She later got into the law department of East China University of Political Science and Law, was recommended for postgraduate studies at the same university last year, and is now in her first year of graduate school.
In his previous life, Fang Qingye didn’t stay in his hometown for more than two years after graduation before returning to Shencheng to pursue his career. Meanwhile, Bai Ou, after completing her postgraduate studies, passed the civil service exam and joined the Jinghai City Court, eventually becoming an outstanding judge. Their life paths hardly intersected after that.
When it came to romantic relationships, Fang Qingye was a late bloomer. Throughout middle school, he was rather clueless. Even in high school, aside from studying, he would sneak off to internet cafes with Song Da Hai and Liu Dong to play games. They would scoff at other boys and girls in their class who went on dates.
Bai Ou, in the arts track, didn’t seem particularly close to any boys either. She was often seen riding her bike to and from school alone, keeping mostly to herself, though she was somewhat friendly with Qian Xiaoli among the girls.
“Hey, Yezi, come help!” Just then, Song Da Hai’s shout snapped him out of his reverie.
“Coming!” Fang Qingye quickly walked over.
“Yezi, Jiang Chen didn’t bring any chili powder. How can we have barbecue without chili? Take my car and go buy some from the city,” Song Da Hai said to him.
“None of us eat chili, only you’re the special one!” Fang Qingye grumbled, but he still took the car keys from Song Da Hai and drove his BMW toward the city.
By the time Fang Qingye returned with the chili powder, Jiang Chen and the others had already started barbecuing, the air filled with the savory aroma of grilled meat.
Lamb and beef skewers, chicken wings, squid, prawns, Shishamo fish…
They grilled a large spread, brought out the drinks they’d brought, and everyone sat on the spread-out plastic sheet, happily eating together.
Blue sky, white clouds, the gentle flow of the nearby stream, surrounded by lush green grass and unknown wildflowers—enjoying a barbecue in such an environment was undoubtedly a delightful experience.
Everyone chatted while eating, sharing amusing stories from their lives.
“Hey everyone, let me tell you about this weirdo I met online,” Jiang Chen said, raising his voice after finishing a lamb skewer. Everyone looked at him curiously.
“You know I trade stocks, right? I’ve joined some stock trading groups on QQ. They’re full of all sorts of people from every walk of life. There are plenty of bizarre stories and strange characters.”
“Last night, I ran into this oddball in one of the stock groups. Guess what their screen name was? Cosmic Youth Invincible Pretty Girl.”
“Wow, someone actually uses that as their QQ name? So cringey,” Wang Simin said with a laugh.
“Exactly, the ‘Invincible Beautiful Girl’ might actually be a dinosaur,” Shao Jing chimed in.
“Who said it has to be a girl? I think it’s more like a ladyboy! Lots of grown men use female names to trick people,” Song Da Hai’s voice was particularly loud.
Fang Qingye hadn’t been paying attention at first, focused solely on eating the Shishamo fish. He really enjoyed this type of fish – though small in size, its flesh was exceptionally tender and smooth, especially delicious when grilled.
But when he heard Jiang Chen mention the name “Invincible Youthful Beauty,” he couldn’t help but look up in surprise.
Invincible Youthful Beauty – wasn’t that the Dongguan Girl’s QQ name?