After eating and drinking to his heart's content, Xiao Zhijie, who had lost the game of rock-paper-scissors, was unusually good-natured. He quickly tidied up the mess in a few minutes, and then the three of them leaned back on the sofa. Without a few idle chit-chats, they got down to the eternal topic of men.
'Were there a lot of people in your first year, and were there a lot of pretty girls?'
'I didn't notice.'
Feng Yiping's answer didn't satisfy them, and even Wang Changning looked at him with disbelief. 'Who would believe that! At the time, apart from hanging out with the two of us, the people you spent most time with were those pretty girls in your class.'
'Really not,' these days, why doesn't anyone believe the truth?
'Okay, it's your first year of school, it's normal to be afraid of provoking the older girls. How about in your class? Are there many pretty girls?'
'I haven't noticed either. So far, it seems like I haven't even spoken to a girl in my class.' This is really true.
But the result was two other people laughing unabashedly, "Do you believe him?" Wang Changning asked Xiao Zhijie.
'Haha, you're killing me! He made it sound like he'd been married and married a particularly jealous woman.'
'Yeah, he probably also doesn't see, hear or speak unless it's appropriate!'
Seeing them like this, Feng Yiping was really amused and even praised Wang Changning, 'You're good at ancient Chinese!'
However, after laughing for a while, he couldn't laugh anymore.
Xiao Zhijie's joke was actually half right. Although he was only about to turn 16, since his rebirth, he had really been treating himself like a married man!
Men, before and after marriage are definitely two different concepts. They have an old saying here that you don't really grow up until you get married. Later, he was married for many years, and his son was already that age. He thought about his wife and child in everything, and it had become second nature, instinctive, as if it had become part of his body. So even now, the identity of a married man is still branded in his mind, never to be forgotten.
But Zhang Yan is only in the first year of junior high school!
Seeing him look distracted, Xiao Zhijie gave him a punch on the shoulder, 'What are you thinking about? Thinking about Huang Jingping? Zhang Qiuling will sneak out to hang out tomorrow, do you want to ask her to come over?'
The image of Huang Jingping's expression of anger and resentment when she left at the bus station appeared before his eyes, and Feng Yiping, as if possessed, responded, 'Sure!'
'Let's think about where to go tomorrow,' Wang Changning reminded them. This was also a problem. A few young men and women crowded in this small room, and it was not very comfortable. As the New Year approached, there were many relatives visiting these hospital families.
'Let's go to the county. I'll go get my father's van.'
'You can drive?' The two guys were very uneasy. For these teenagers, driving was really a skill against nature.
What's so surprising about that? Incidentally, his driving experience is many times longer than that of his father and uncle combined. When his younger uncle first heard him say that, he was unconvinced. One night, he placed a few chairs in the yard of a construction company and asked Feng Yiping to drive his car through the middle of them. The result was even more beautiful than his.
Since then, Feng Zhenchang has occasionally let him touch the steering wheel, of course, when the road conditions are good and there are no police.
'Let's go together!' Things like riding in a car and driving a car were still relatively new to them.
Feng Yiping certainly didn't object to having someone walk with him. The three of them braved the cold wind and walked along the road for more than half an hour. In the courtyard of the Fushan Township Supply and Marketing Cooperative, they took out the car. The man who stayed behind to watch the warehouse at the supply and marketing cooperative even chased out and added, 'Be careful on the road!'
In the countryside, no one cares whether you have a driving licence or are an adult. There are many young men driving tractors and three-wheeled vehicles.
The two men watched with envy as Feng Yiping skillfully started the engine, reversed, and then drove onto the road. 'Is driving that easy?'
Although Feng Yiping's driving was quite good, he drove very slowly. The road was not in good condition, with potholes and several bends along the way. It was not a mistake to be careful.
Even if he drove slowly, it took less than ten minutes to get to the town. After parking downstairs, the two guys still refused to get out of the car, vying to take the driver's seat and experience what it was like to be the driver.
Xiao Zhijie was acting like a child, turning the steering wheel while imitating the sound of the horn. 'Hey, you have to tell Zhang Qiuling to get up early tomorrow morning, otherwise that street in town will be hard to drive on,' Feng Yiping reminded him.
It was the 29th day of the lunar calendar, and the street was packed with people during the day. If they didn't leave early, it would take an hour to walk from one end of the street to the other.
Xiao Zhijie was a bit at a loss. He didn't dare to use the only phone at the school to call Zhang Qiuling.
'What's so difficult about it? You're going to call Huang Jingping anyway, right? Tell Huang Jingping to call her!' Wang Changning nudged him, 'Go make the call, and give me your seat.'
It is no wonder that the person who later almost became the chairman of a listed company thought of the same thing as Feng Yiping.
Early the next morning, Xiao Zhijie got up to cook noodles and carefully packed two servings in a thermos. It has to be said that a man in love is really full of motivation.
After setting off, he drove all the way to the school gate but still didn't see Zhang Qiuling. 'It's fine, just keep going.'
Sure enough, not long after passing the school, Xiao Zhi Jie saw a girl standing on the roadside in the distance. He opened the door eagerly before the car had come to a stop, but he still didn't dare to get out. The view from the headmaster's small courtyard on the hill was excellent, and he couldn't help but think that Vice-Principal Zhang was probably staring over there at this moment.
Zhang Qiuling smiled brightly when she saw Xiao Zhi Jie, and quickly ran up to the car, taking off her hat. She had long hair, too.
'Hello, beautiful!'
Feng Yiping turned around to greet her, but Zhang Qiuling wasn't very enthusiastic. 'How's your driving? Are you any good?'
'Don't worry, I've been driving for over ten years, so the quality is guaranteed!' Feng Yiping bragged, but it wasn't really bragging!
When Miss Zhang had finished eating a bucket of noodles and was almost in town, she leaned over the front seat. 'Huang Jingping cried twice when she held me, saying that you never wrote back to her. What's wrong with you?'
Oh, no wonder she was so cold just now, it turned out to be because of this.
'You remember, I and Huang Jingping are now good sisters, I won't allow you to bully her,' Zhang Qiuling viciously waved her fist.
Feng Yiping could only smile wryly.
The merchants in the town were already busy setting up their stalls, so Feng Yiping dropped Zhang Qiuling off halfway, and the three of them went directly to the bus station to wait. He didn't want to face Huang Jingping's parents right now.
He sat in the car while Xiao Zhijie got out to buy fruit and snacks from the stalls nearby. In a moment, he saw Zhang Qiuling and Huang Jingping walking towards him, holding hands.
Huang Jingping was wearing a red down jacket, no hat, and a white scarf around her neck. Her long hair was hanging behind her head as she walked and talked to Zhang Qiuling.
'Here they are!' Xiao Zhijie went up to them carrying their things and then opened the passenger door with a servile smile.
Feng Yiping smiled and nodded at Huang Jingping. Her eyes first showed an uncontainable joy, but then they became a little sad and she lowered her head.
Zhang Qiuling took her hand and said, 'Come, sit in the middle with me. Xiao Zhijie, you and Changning go to the back.'
Well, now Feng Yiping was all alone.
In fact, this was quite good, otherwise leaving Wang Changning sitting alone in the back row would have been quite difficult.
The four of them were in the back two rows, in perfect harmony, chatting and laughing. The two girls' heads were turned to the back, and Huang Jingping was eating noodles while chatting with them, looking quite happy.
Feng Yiping would sometimes glance in the rearview mirror, and Zhang Qiuling would immediately say to him, 'Look over there, concentrate on the road ahead, and drive properly!'
Huang Jingping was a little happy to hear this, and her face flushed slightly. She couldn't help but turn her head and look ahead a few times.
After more than an hour, they finally arrived in the county seat. The county seat was still very lively. The farmers' market next to the bus station was also bustling with people. The shops on both sides of the street were also doing a roaring trade. Although they were far away, they could hear the various loudspeakers in the square shouting at the top of their lungs. That was the main venue for the county's New Year's shopping.
Along the way, you can also see quite a few boys and girls who have nice clothes but don't match well. Especially the boys, they are holding cigarettes in their hands, which shows that they have come back for the New Year after working outside. The cigarettes in their hands are not for smoking, but a prop, which makes others think that they are very mature.