Free Web NovelChapter 459: Chapter 459: Autumn Outing
People have three urgent needs, but not everyone is prepared for such times, like forgetting to bring toilet paper, which always happens to some people.
Zhang Yaen was waiting for Gong Jue’e, observing a woman with a desperate and anxious face, wanting to enter the restroom but turning back. She quietly asked her if she needed anything and provided the woman with some toilet paper.
Of course, this was a small matter for Zhang Yaen, so after Gong Jue’e came out, the two of them went to the bookstore.
But life’s chance encounters don’t just stop at one. When Zhang Yaen lingered in the bookstore to select books and went to check out, she discovered the woman standing behind the cashier was actually the bookstore director, known as Aunt Shen.
At this age, girls coming back to buy books are all intellectuals, so Aunt Shen asked a few more questions and learned that Zhang Yaen and Gong Jue’e were students at Jing University Medical Department. Elders always have a bit more fondness for studious children, so Aunt Shen immediately invited the two to her office to sit down and even made them tea.
Zhang Yaen declined but didn’t succeed, so she and Gong Jue’e stayed for nearly half an hour. As they were about to leave, Aunt Shen’s son, Shen Xunteng, came in to get keys, having hurried out without his house keys. It was such a coincidence that he ran right into Zhang Yaen.
In those days, men and women were very pure, so they both blushed immediately. Aunt Shen chuckled with delight and introduced them to each other.
"Is that it?" Yi Roujing looked at Zhang Yaen, who was blushing like a shy little girl, with some amusement. "Did you keep in touch after that?"
"We went to Aunt Shen’s house for a meal." Zhang Yaen’s voice grew quieter, "We coincidentally ran into each other at the Department Store, just during the May Day holiday. We had just returned from visiting Cuizhu’s Grass after she was discharged from the hospital. I went alone to buy malted milk and Jue’e and the others went back first."
"Aunt Shen sincerely invited me for lunch, so I went, and I met Shen Xunteng again," Zhang Yaen said, increasingly embarrassed, "as well as his dad, his sister. I was so silly back then, I forgot it was a holiday and that the whole family would be there. I was so embarrassed that day and felt so out of place."
"You’ve already visited the parents’ home." Yi Roujing teased playfully, "Then you should introduce him to some of our roommates."
Zhang Yaen, annoyed, tried to hit Yi Roujing, gently nudging her shoulder twice, "You only know how to make fun of me."
"I also care about you. Let me give you some advice as someone who’s been there," Yi Roujing said seriously. "Tell me, what impressed you about Shen Xunteng?"
"After lunch that day, he was the one who escorted me back to school. We were stopped by two sketchy-looking people as we passed through Chaoyang Lane, clearly up to no good." Zhang Yaen recalled with some lingering fear, "I had walked through that lane several times, but it was the first time I encountered such a situation. After that, I never dared to take any shortcuts again."
"No wonder you told us not to take shortcuts after May Day. Turns out it happened to you, and you still kept it from us."
"I just didn’t want you to worry," Zhang Yaen stuck out her tongue.
"Did Shen Xunteng fend them off by himself?" Yi Roujing asked.
"Although he isn’t weak-looking, he’s not the fighting type. But he protected me by staying in front of me the whole time, and eventually, he resolved it with money," Zhang Yaen said without any disdain, but rather admiration for Shen Xunteng.
"He said something very true: compared to life and safety, everything else is minor," Zhang Yaen smiled. "If money can solve the problem, then it’s not really a problem."
"That day, he shielded me, staring straight at those two, asking what they wanted and giving them a choice—to take the money and leave, or to fight it out." Zhang Yaen’s eyes lit up while recounting the experience, "He even warned them that it would be their first and last time. If they tried anything again, he’d make sure they ended up in jail."
"Roujing, I sometimes think people who know when to advance or retreat, who understand compromise, are awesome," Zhang Yaen said, somewhat excited.
Yi Roujing nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I think so too."
"So, I’ve decided to introduce him to you all during this mixer," Zhang Yaen’s cheeks flushed, but her words were firm.
"Great," Yi Roujing agreed immediately. Although the main purpose was the mixer, it was billed as a fall outing. Many people in the university were already married, so it made sense not to differentiate.
On October 14th, just a few days after the Double Ninth Festival, it was the perfect time for a scenic hike. The mixer event involved two schools, but not all departments participated; Jing University was limited to the medical department, and the Foreign Language University involved the language department.
Even so, with the two schools and two departments, there were as many as three hundred people in total.
This was because the medical department at Jing University had more male students, whereas the language department at the Foreign Language University was mainly made up of female students, so the schools had made a very reasonable arrangement.
That morning, Yi Roujing got up early, carried the bento made by Li Hongying, along with washed fruits and snacks, completely filling a fairly large cloth bag.
Today, Yi Roujing didn’t carry a backpack; she left with the large cloth bag on her back and a military canteen slung over her shoulder. By the time she arrived at the school, most of the students were already at the school gate. Yi Roujing found her "base," and at nine o’clock sharp, everyone departed for Tiantan Mountain.
Jing University was about an hour’s walk from Tiantan Mountain, but to people of that era, the distance was nothing. Male students were either carrying pots, grill ovens, or coal; some carried firewood or groceries, none empty-handed.
However, in comparison, Yi Roujing’s cloth bag was quite heavy, and the rest of her dorm mates helped carry it along the way, as the provisions inside also included their meals. Whenever Yi Roujing brought things, she never forgot them.
They reached Tiantan Mountain just past ten o’clock. By the time they arrived, the faculty and students from the Foreign Language University’s language department were already there. The teachers greeted each other, and from there, the hiking activity became freeform. Everyone was to gather at the mountain-top platform at noon for a meal together and then regroup at three in the afternoon at the foot of the mountain to return to the school.
In those days during a fall outing, meals were shared. Unlike modern tourist spots with restaurants and snack stands everywhere, back then, everyone brought their own supplies, akin to a wild picnic.
The items were uniformly placed on the mountain-top platform. The mountain top had a pool dedicated to collecting rainwater, for washing vegetables and pots, and setting up stoves, mostly carried out by the mixed-student groups from both schools, promoting interaction and greater acquaintance.
Of course, only those looking for a partner would put in such effort. Yi Roujing and her friends took it easy, leisurely climbing the mountain while openly eyeing Shen Xunteng.
