Calling it chatting was essentially just talking about daily life, rambling back and forth about random trifles.
Inside the suburban B&B room, amidst a lively and cheerful atmosphere where everyone was chatting away, only Xie Tingchuan sat in a grand, imposing posture on the sofa, his fingertips tapping incessantly against the keyboard while his face beamed with the kind of tooth-aching smile only a lifelong single dog would hate to see.
How can someone smile that sweetly?
Exchanging glances, a few of them clustered together and quietly made their way over to Xie Tingchuan’s side.
Xie Tingchuan was currently looking at the photo sent by Xiao Qinggan. It was clearly a casual snap—the framing was slightly blurry, but paired with the gorgeous scenery, it possessed an extra layer of atmospheric charm.
Noticing the approach of his friends, Xie Tingchuan swept his hand back in a fluid motion, naturally slipping his phone into his pocket.
“What are you guys up to?”
“Are you in a relationship?” Sheng Jun curiously sized Xie Tingchuan up. “What do they look like? Got any pictures? Hurry up and let us see what kind of peerless beauty could make a cold, heartless guy like you fall in love.”
Giving him a sidelong glance, Xie Tingchuan chose to distance himself silently. With a long stride, he relocated to the opposite corner of the sofa. Feeling the vibration and ringtone of the phone in his pocket, the corners of his mouth curled upward once more, completely uncontrollable.
“He’s still ignoring me?!” Sheng Jun turned his head back in disbelief to look at his older cousin, Wang Huaijin. “Brother Huaijin, look at him!”
Wang Huaijin shrugged helplessly and dragged the complaining boy away from the spot.
A short while after, having just finished replying to Xiao Qinggan’s message, Xie Tingchuan noticed another person still sitting beside him and asked without lifting his head, “How come you’re not leaving?”
Having sat there for a full five minutes before finally being noticed, Liu Hao awkwardly shook his phone to signal: I’m someone who needs to reply to messages too, you know.
Ding-dong.
Xiao Qinggan: “I’ve arrived at the B&B. I’ll stop chatting for now, going to go meet up with my friends.”
Xie Tingchuan: “Have fun.”
With that, Xie Tingchuan put away his phone, took a few sips of water from his cup, and surveying the “chaotic” environment and “noisy” atmosphere inside the room carried his cup over to the balcony.
Taking in the beautiful scenery in the scorching summer heat was the best way to soothe a restless mind.
Looking down casually, Xie Tingchuan caught sight of a familiar figure appearing in the B&B’s courtyard—a few close friends laughing, joking, and making their way toward the inn.
What a coincidence? The word “fate” that the other person had previously mentioned flashed through Xie Tingchuan’s mind, before he speechlessly shook his head. He didn’t believe in such ethereal, elusive concepts of fate.
Downing the remaining water in his cup in one gulp, Xie Tingchuan turned around and headed back inside the room.
Meanwhile, Lin Qing’an and the others had rendezvoused with Zhang Yang and the rest of the group. With young men and women gathered together, the atmosphere was exceptionally lively; one person wanted to do this, another wanted to do that, resulting in a flurry of suggestions with no one willing to miss out on any of them.
Ultimately, Zhang Yang made the executive decision: time was tight, so they would play their favorite activities first and come back for a weekend trip next time.
This strategy won unanimous approval from everyone, and cheers erupted all around. The commotion was so vibrant that even Xie Tingchuan and the others separated by a single wall could hear the exuberant celebration.
Liu Hao couldn’t help marveling, “It’s certainly lively next door.”
“Carefree college students,” Sheng Jun chimed in with theatrical pretense. “Indeed incomparable.”
Xie Tingchuan couldn’t resist firing back, “You’re a high school senior, what are you comparing yourself to college students for?”
The air of feigned exhaustion Sheng Jun had put on instantly morphed into genuine dejection, and to make matters worse, Wang Huaijin stepped in to twist the knife.
“High school seniors really can’t compare to college students. There’s no way we’ll let you take a leave of absence to tag along next time.” Wang Huaijin chuckled as he ruffled Sheng Jun’s hair. “So, you better enjoy these two days to the fullest.”
Sheng Jun grew angry; Sheng Jun grew furious; Sheng Jun wanted to jump up and beat someone, but could only pout aggrievedly. Not a single one of the three older brothers present was willing to respond to his resentful gaze.
After Lin Qing’an and his group finalized their concrete itinerary, everyone returned to their respective rooms to drop off their luggage before setting off together toward the fruit orchard.
Upon learning the purpose of their visit, the owner of the fruit orchard greeted them with a hearty smile. “You guys picked a great time! Right now, early pomegranates, kiwis, hawthorns, grapes, apples, pears, and winter jujubes are all ready for picking. Which orchard do you want to head to?”
“So many choices!” Chattering excitedly, the group began debating once more, eventually settling on pomegranates and grapes by majority vote.
The twelve of them split into two groups—one heading to harvest pomegranates, the other to pick grapes.
The orchard staff drove a motorized tricycle to transport the two groups to their respective locations and acted as guides to assist with the harvesting.
Lin Qing’an, Duan Xuan, Qin Zhiyi, Zhang Yang, Zhang Yang’s girlfriend Yang Xue, and her roommate Zhou Yingying ended up assigned to the same spot.
A vast expanse of pomegranate trees materialized before their eyes as the guide parked the vehicle and announced, “We’ve arrived, everyone out.”
The seemingly endless pomegranate grove left everyone awestruck. Looking closer, every single pomegranate on the branches was plump and full, with a few overripe ones already split open to reveal the ruby-red seeds within.
Zhou Yingying marveled, “These pomegranates are huge, they’re even splitting open.”
Reaching out, the guide plucked a split pomegranate straight off the branch, cracked it open, and handed the pieces around. “Everyone try some. These split ones are the sweetest and most delicious, though they’re hard to store and bruise easily once picked.”
Lin Qing’an took a small section and bit down gently; the sweet-and-sour, juicy flavor immediately conquered his taste buds.
“This tastes amazing,” Lin Qing’an praised, unable to resist pulling out his phone to snap a photo and send it to his mom and dad.
Glancing at his WeChat profile picture, Lin Qing’an’s finger hovered in hesitation for a second before he sent a photo straight to Xie Tingchuan the very next second.
Whatever, stop overthinking it, just sharing daily life.
Pacifying his suddenly racing, fluttering heartbeat, Lin Qing’an feigned casualness as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
Just as everyone was getting ready to start picking, they heard the guide speak up:
“Would everyone like to leave your phones in the cart? That way you won’t accidentally drop or lose them while picking.”
Leave their phones? Lin Qing’an hesitated slightly as he unlocked his phone—there was still no reply.
“Qing’an, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up and put your phone down so we can go pick some pomegranates.” Duan Xuan reached out, plucked the phone from Lin Qing’an’s hand, tossed it into the cart, and looped an arm around his shoulder while holding a bamboo basket as they stepped into the pomegranate grove.
Having just returned from the restroom, Xie Tingchuan pulled his phone out of his pocket and spotted the message sent by Xiao Qinggan, tapping it open with a smile.
Nestled in a slender, fair palm were a few ruby-red pomegranate seeds, with traces of red juice still lingering on the center of the palm. The visual possessed an inexplicably alluring, risqué charm, sending a jolt straight to Xie Tingchuan’s throat.
His hands moved faster than his thoughts; a mere second later, Xie Tingchuan fired off a text to Xiao Qinggan.
Xie Tingchuan: “Where is baby?”
One minute passed.
Three minutes passed.
Ten minutes passed.
Xie Tingchuan’s initial anticipation dissolved into disappointment, forcing him to comfort himself: She must be having too much fun with her friends and didn’t notice the message.
“Tingchuan, stop staring at that phone and come play cards.”
Half an hour later, Xie Tingchuan who had been dragged in to play cards kept checking his phone for new messages.
Ding-dong.
It had to be Xiao Qinggan replying! Xie Tingchuan’s lips curled upward involuntarily as he laid his cards down on the table and hurried to fish his phone out of his pocket.
However…
A message did arrive a promotional text from 10086.
Looking at it was worse than not looking at all; the sound of the alert was more irritating than silence. Exhaling a breath of deflation, Xie Tingchuan tossed his phone back onto the table with low spirits and picked up his cards to continue playing.
Only, this round, Xie Tingchuan was destined to lose, because the moment he set his phone down on the table earlier, everyone had seen it seen it crystal clear.
By the time Lin Qing’an returned in triumph, over an hour had passed since Xie Tingchuan’s message.
The harvesting session concluded, and the sweat-drenched group piled back onto the motorized tricycle to head back, driven by the guide. The lukewarm breeze blowing across their faces offered little relief, leaving everyone too lazy to move, lounging limply on the vehicle with zero regard for their image.
Yet none of this dampened their high spirits.
Yang Xue remarked, “This trip was totally worth it, the taste is pretty good. Let’s trade with the others when we get back—wonder how the grapes they picked turned out.”
Lin Qing’an didn’t join the others’ conversation. Lowering his head to reply to messages from his parents, he then tapped open Xie Tingchuan’s chat window.
Xiao Qinggan: “Picking is over now.”
Skipping right past the other person’s question, Lin Qing’an snapped a photo of a bamboo basket overflowing with pomegranates and sent it: “These pomegranates are super delicious.”