“Don’t scare him!”
Ye Moran looked up and gave Lin Qingyu a cold glance.
Lin Qingyu’s mouth twitched, but looking at the trembling Little Fellow in front of her, she didn’t say anything in the end.
“Let’s go!”
Lin Qingyu led the way, her mind feeling a bit complicated. Two images kept flashing through her head.
One was Ye Jin’s current appearance: timid, cowardly, fearful, and afraid to speak.
The other was the way Ye Jin used to be: sunny, cheerful, and gentle toward everyone.
An inexplicable pang of pain welled up in her heart. ‘Ye Jin shouldn’t be this timid and cowardly. He should be sunny and cheerful, facing everyone every day with a bright smile!’
But she soon shook her head. ‘What does any of this have to do with me?’ she wondered. She was just Ye Moran’s friend. In fact, she even doubted whether that guy even considered her a friend now. ‘I even doubt whether that guy considers me a friend now.’
She sighed and continued walking forward.
The three of them walked one after another in silence.
After walking for who knows how long, Su Ling felt the scene before him suddenly become familiar. Was this the Bamboo Forest from before?
Looking at the two people still walking ahead, he suddenly stopped. Ye Moran had been holding Su Ling’s hand, so when he stopped, she stopped as well.
“What’s wrong?”
“It hurts.”
“Where does it hurt?”
Su Ling pointed to the base of his thigh. It felt like it was burning, and a tearing pain radiated from there.
“It’s okay, I’ll carry you!”
Ye Moran smiled, squatted down, and pointed to her back, signaling for the Little Fellow to get on.
Su Ling looked at Lin Qingyu ahead of them and cautiously climbed on. The next moment, his body rose into the air, and his buttocks were supported by someone. He trembled, and his face turned red as he buried his head into her neck.
“Don’t grab…”
Su Ling spoke very softly, feeling a bit angry at the same time. She could have just supported him, but she insisted on grabbing. This person was definitely doing it on purpose.
“It’s safer this way. Don’t move, be good.”
Su Ling wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his head in her shoulder, falling silent.
The group continued on, but this time Ye Moran was leading the way with Su Ling on her back, while Lin Qingyu followed behind carrying many large bags.
She really wanted to lose her temper and hit someone right now!
She finally understood why Ye Moran had called her out. ‘It turns out she’s just using me as manual labor, right?’
‘I really…’
“Are you tired?” Su Ling suddenly turned his head and asked her.
She was stunned for a moment, then immediately flashed a smile.
“I’m not tired. It’s very easy. You guys keep going, or I’ll overtake you in a moment.”
“Okay, if you’re tired, I’ll tell Sister to rest for a while.”
Su Ling spoke very seriously. He was truly worried that she would get tired, as those things looked very heavy.
However, since she said she was fine, then she should be fine. He turned his head and went back to leaning on Sister’s shoulder.
Lin Qingyu’s originally exhausted spirit became exceptionally energetic after those few words of concern from the Little Fellow. Even though she was carrying many large bags, her steps felt light, as if she were carrying nothing at all.
Seeing the Little Fellow take the initiative to talk to Lin Qingyu, Ye Moran felt a bit uncomfortable. Even though she knew he was a kind person who worried about others, he actually went to care about an unimportant person instead of her, the person who was currently carrying him!
‘Truly, how irritating!’
She gave him a hard toss, throwing the Little Fellow up a short distance before catching him steadily!
“Ugh… What, what are you doing?”
Startled, Su Ling frantically grabbed her collar, his small hands trembling with fear.
The moment his body was airborne, his brain instantly lost all ability to think. At that moment, all struggle was futile, and he was forced to accept the fact that he was about to fall to the ground!
That moment of panic and fear made his heart race uncontrollably even now!
“It was a bit unstable just now, and I was afraid you would slide down, so I readjusted,” Ye Moran said calmly, as if she were simply stating a fact.
“But, you scared me.”
“Then should I apologize to you?”
The corners of Ye Moran’s mouth quirked up. If the Little Fellow wanted an apology, she wouldn’t mind giving him another toss!
“No, no need. You didn’t do it on purpose, so there’s no need…”
“But, don’t do that next time, okay?”
“Oh! ~”
Ye Moran gave a soft “oh,” looking completely indifferent.
Su Ling was a bit angry but didn’t know where to vent it. In the end, he could only give her a fierce glare!
***
After crossing the Bamboo Forest, the view ahead suddenly opened up. After walking along a rugged mountain road, a village gradually appeared before them.
Entering the village, they walked on a blue stone road that made loud sounds as they stepped on it.
The three of them attracted many gazes as they walked.
Su Ling looked around curiously and noticed that some people were wearing clothes like theirs, but most of them were young people. The older people wore clothes that were different.
Those clothes looked very gorgeous. Single colors would look a bit ugly on the body, but they had been pieced together, giving them a unique beauty when worn.
Furthermore, there were various patterns on the clothes, which looked very nice!
“How is it? Do you like them?” Ye Moran asked. “This is an Ethnic Minority Gathering Place. There’s a hotel up ahead. When we get there, I’ll find some local clothes for you to wear, okay?”
Su Ling didn’t answer. He lowered his head, his mind unknown.
Ye Moran didn’t care too much. She really didn’t have the energy to look after the Little Fellow’s emotions right now. She hadn’t slept well all night, and after carrying him across so many mountain paths, her stamina was a bit exhausted at this point. She just wanted to get to the hotel quickly.
Lin Qingyu followed the two of them with difficult steps. She wanted to reach the hotel more than either of them, take a good shower, and get some sleep!
The hotel wasn’t far, and they arrived after a short walk.
As soon as they walked in, someone immediately came to greet them.
“CEO Ye, your room has already been cleaned. Please come with me!”
“Mhm.”
Ye Moran nodded and followed the person toward the room with the Little Fellow on her back.
Lin Qingyu instinctively tried to follow, but after only two steps, Ye Moran suddenly turned her head and said to her, “I didn’t have anyone arrange your room in advance. You’ll need to check in yourself. Once that’s done, deliver my luggage to my room, and then you can go rest!”
“???”
Before Lin Qingyu could react, the other woman had already walked away. Gritting her teeth and looking at the luggage in her hands, she really wanted to just leave it there and walk away!
But in the end, she didn’t do that. She obediently resigned herself to checking in at the front desk and then delivered the luggage to the door of Ye Moran’s room.
The doorbell hadn’t rung more than a few times before the door was opened. Seeing Ye Moran wrapped in a bath towel, still damp with moisture, Lin Qingyu’s teeth ground together in anger!
“Ye Moran, you jerk! You’re definitely getting Revenge on me!”
“You’re overthinking it. I have no interest in getting Revenge on you. I just wanted you to help out a bit!” Ye Moran leaned against the doorframe, looking at her with a half-smile. “If you’re unwilling, you can refuse!”
“Fine, then I’m leaving right now! I’m buying a ticket and going home!”
“You can’t.”
“See, you’re definitely getting Revenge on me. Just wait, there will be a time when you need to ask me for something!”
Lin Qingyu huffily picked up her own luggage and walked toward the room next door.
Seeing that the other woman’s room was so close to hers, Ye Moran frowned slightly, but after thinking about it, she didn’t say anything in the end.