Chapter 196 - 125: Taste

Chapter 196: Chapter 125: Taste

Xie Yiren couldn’t take it anymore. "It wasn’t from spilling water," she said. "You were sleeping in my arms just now, and that’s your drool! Don’t believe me? Come here and smell it for yourself. See if you can smell your own saliva."

Dubiously, Su Ran leaned in for a sniff.

"Well? Do you smell anything?"

"I smell it. A faint, milky fragrance."

"You... I..." Xie Yiren gritted her teeth, desperately wanting to just shove this blunt idiot’s face between her massive breasts and suffocate him. ’Whew, calm down, calm down. Getting angry gives you wrinkles.’

Su Ran used his Finger Technique Fragrance, licking the damp spot. The data came back instantly. It was, in fact, his own drool from when he was sleeping in Yiren’s arms. This was awkward.

"Uh... Sorry about that, Yiren. I swear, I don’t normally drool in my sleep."

"Oh, really? Then why did you drool this time? Go on, say it. Cat got your tongue?"

"Uhm... It’s probably because I wanted to eat... mmph, mmph, mmph..."

Quick as a flash, Xie Yiren clamped a hand over the blunt boy’s mouth, absolutely mortified.

"Don’t you dare say it."

"Mmm-hmm-hmm."

Only then did Xie Yiren let go. Su Ran patted her shoulder and said with great seriousness, "Yiren, thank you for giving me a mother’s warmth just now. I’ve made up my mind, I’m building that road for your village."

Xie Yiren asked, "And what about the signal tower? You’re hesitating. What’s there to hesitate about? You’re not going back on your word, are you? Say something!"

"Er..." Su Ran said sheepishly, "It’s not about the money, but... I’d just found that mother’s warmth in my sleep when the turbulence woke me up. So, about the signal tower... could I maybe lie in your arms again tonight and try to find that feeling again, and then I’ll give you my answer? Don’t worry, I won’t try anything funny. Just this one time, okay?"

PFFT!

Xie Yiren had never heard such a thick-skinned, shameless request in her entire life!

"My, what a devoted son you are."

SIGH.

’For the tribe... I’ll endure it!’

"Fine. I’ll agree to it. But no more drooling, or I’m calling it off!"

"Don’t worry, I definitely won’t!"

’I really have to hand it to him,’ Xie Yiren thought. ’Trying to find a "mother’s warmth" in my arms... he’s found such a refreshingly unique way to be a pervert. Young Master Su, you’re truly in a league of your own!’

A moment later, Su Ran got two cups of coffee, one for each of them.

"By the way, I noticed something was off between you and Xiao Wanqing today. What happened?" Xie Yiren asked, looking at Su Ran. "You can just tell me. No need to hide anything."

Su Ran put down his coffee. "There’s nothing to hide," he said. "Wanqing confessed her feelings to me last night."

"Oh, I figured as much." Xie Yiren seemed remarkably calm. "Wanqing has been going on and on about how great you are lately. You could tell just by looking at her that she’d fallen for you. She’s spoken to me about it privately, too."

"She has?"

"Mhm," Xie Yiren nodded. "She said you’re a wonderful person and that she was trying her hardest not to like you, especially since you’re her best friend’s boyfriend. But you’re just too kind, too thoughtful. And you can’t really control your feelings, you know? She felt like bottling it up would be unhealthy, so she came to me for a heart-to-heart and asked what she should do. She really doesn’t want to come between you and Jinyu, it’s just... sigh. You’re so considerate. Her dad was hospitalized yesterday, and you took care of things all night. If I were in her shoes, I’d fall in love with you too."

She took another sip of coffee and continued, sharing more of the idle chatter.

"...Later, when I didn’t know what to do, I went and asked Jinyu. And Jinyu said..." She snorted. "She said she was going to beat you to death for being so nice to her besties all the time and trying to steal away our entire friend group."

Su Ran shook his head and buried his face in his hand. ’To be honest, I never intended to go after her whole friend group. It just sort of happened naturally. It’s not like I can control it.’

"Is that all she said?"

"She did. Jinyu also said... it was to be expected. Love tends to blossom when young people hang out together all the time. She just hopes you won’t hurt her or Wanqing, and that you’ll stop trying to hit on me and Aina, too. Otherwise, she said the girls from Room 404 would find a dark and stormy night to chop you into pieces and throw you in the Huangpu River to feed the fish."

Xie Yiren let out a dry laugh.

"Su Ran, the four of us have treated you very well. Do you think any other guy would get this kind of opportunity? So, no matter what happens from here on out, you are not to hurt the other three. Got it?"

Xie Yiren had perfectly excluded herself from the equation.

"Yeah..." Su Ran nodded. "Don’t worry. Whether as a lover or a friend, I won’t hurt a single one of you."

"Good. At least so far, you’ve managed to do that."

As they chatted, the plane finally landed at the Guiyang airport.

By then, it was lunchtime. Xie Yiren took Su Ran to a restaurant featuring local specialties. After ordering a few dishes, she began giving him a series of earnest instructions. "...My hometown isn’t in Guiyang itself. We’ll have to take a car into the mountains, and then a boat for the last leg of the winding journey. We need to eat quickly so we can get going. And another thing—when we get to my home, you can’t act too familiar with me. You have to keep your distance, like we’re just ordinary friends. If you don’t, you’ll be in big trouble. Got it? I’m not joking. I’m being completely serious about this."

"Why?"

"You’ll find out when we get there. Now, eat up."

Xie Yiren put some food on Su Ran’s plate, and the two quickly finished their lunch. They found a car for hire and departed from the greater Guiyang area, soon turning onto an unpaved mountain road. The dirt path was incredibly bumpy. For Xie Yiren, with her ample chest, the constant jostling was agonizing. Finally unable to stand the pain of being thrown up and down, she gave in and simply hugged Su Ran, pressing herself tightly against him to stop the movement.

"This doesn’t count as me being a pervert, okay?" Su Ran said, holding up his hands.

"Shut up! Sss..." Xie Yiren hissed, hugging him even tighter.

After what felt like an eternity, the car stopped at a dilapidated pier. This was as far as it could go. Su Ran and Xie Yiren got out, holding hands as they navigated the cratered ground to the dock, where they boarded a small, old boat.

"What’s with this boat?"

"There are no other villages around here. This is the boat our villagers use to travel. I take it every time I need to go out. Sit still, I’ll handle the oars."

"Let me do it."

"No, it’s fine. You don’t know how."

With a push of her arms, Xie Yiren sent the small boat gliding across the emerald water, heading toward the lush green mountains on the horizon.

Su Ran gazed at the surrounding primeval forest, a world of green mountains and clear water. Occasionally, a few small, unidentifiable birds would skim over the surface of the water, stirring ripples before disappearing back into the trees.

Su Ran watched Xie Yiren as she rowed the boat and said, "Yiren, it’s beautiful out here."

"Of course it is! This place is a paradise on Earth. I grew up here in our tribe, and I love it," she said with pride.

"Then you must have local folk songs, right? Like... ’The mountain road here has eighteen bends, the river here has nine looping turns...’" Su Ran began to sing.

Xie Yiren chuckled. "That’s not one of our local songs. Ahem, listen closely. I’ll sing one for you."

The rice wine is sweet, the rice wine is fragrant, a soaring song of toast drifts o’er the mountain pass~♪

Ahhh...~♪

The ancient road stretches a thousand miles long, beside the path in our tranquil Miao home~♪

The waters of Leigong Mountain and the Qing River flow, yir-yir-yo~♪

The song is sweet and the rice wine is fragrant, for our distant guest to have a taste~♪

Charming sights and stories of old~♪

The song came to Xie Yiren effortlessly. She began to sing the folk tune as she rowed, her beautiful voice echoing through the valley like a lark’s. Su Ran held up his phone, recording her, completely mesmerized by the sound.

"Su Ran, did you like it?"

"I loved it. It’s the most beautiful song I’ve heard all year."

"Today’s only the first day of the new year, you know. Hehe~"

Soon, they were approaching the tribe.