Chapter 350 - 167: One Glance at Shumin, Ruined for Life (3)

Chapter 350: Chapter 167: One Glance at Shumin, Ruined for Life (3)

All laughter and chatter ceased the moment the national flag honor guard appeared. The atmosphere turned solemn and dignified, all eyes following the guard’s movements.

With a flick of the wrist, the five-star red flag was tossed into the air, fluttering in the wind. As the national anthem played, it rose slowly, and a sense of pride swelled in everyone’s heart.

Without a country, there is no home. Su Ran was well aware of this. Born a citizen of China, he would die with the soul of China; he would never emigrate in this lifetime.

After the flag-raising ceremony, Su Ran and Reba went for a delicious breakfast. Well, not delicious. There’s no "delicious" food in the Imperial Capital, only "authentic."

When The Forbidden City opened, the two went for a tour. Although Su Ran had never been to The Forbidden City before, as a student of a related major who also loved history, he was no stranger to the Forbidden City. He enthusiastically explained this hall and that courtyard to Reba along the way. As a girl, Reba wasn’t actually interested in history, but since Su Ran was so enthusiastic, she pretended to be fascinated as she listened.

Arriving at Taihe Palace, Su Ran gazed at the Dragon Throne. To be honest, he wanted to go up and sit on it, but it was just a fleeting thought.

"Su Ran, what’s that over there?"

Reba pointed to a long alleyway flanked by red courtyard walls.

"That’s the rear palace!"

"The rear palace... Are they all naked in there?"

"You just need to start one."

...

「Noon. The courtyard house.」

Su Ran’s visit was a fleeting one; he had to go back for his second semester of freshman year. Aunt Luo held another banquet for him at her home, inviting Reba this time. ’That way, a young man like Su Ran won’t be stuck with an old woman like me with nothing in common.’

Reba had a sudden realization. ’Oh, right, I almost forgot. He’s only in his second semester of freshman year. He’s so young!’

The lunch for the three of them was very pleasant. Afterward, Reba took a group photo of Su Ran and Aunt Luo. The picture showed the young man and the old woman, Su Ran and Aunt Luo, standing under the eaves of the courtyard house’s living room. CLICK. The moment was frozen in time.

Before he left, Su Ran fussed over Aunt Luo. "You’re an old woman now, you need to take care of your health. At your age, you should drink less and not work so hard. Enjoy life more. If you get bored, just fly to Jiangning to find me. By the way, my Uncle Qin is really a great guy. He used to be in Eng—" Before he could finish the word "England," Aunt Luo cut him off. "Stop, stop, stop. Are you really this invested in this? Trying to find me a partner? I don’t need one. It doesn’t matter how great your Uncle Qin is, it has nothing to do with me."

"Alright, then. Bye, I’m off."

"Go on."

Aunt Luo watched as Su Ran and Reba got into the car. Ah Wei drove them to their hotel to pick up their luggage, and then they went to the airport. Both of them had things to do; one was heading back to his studies, and the other was off to Hengdian to start work. They were both busy.

「The Airport.」

Reba said, "Didn’t you say last time that when you went to Hangzhou to see your girlfriend, you’d bring her to visit me on set in Hengdian? How come she didn’t come?"

Su Ran replied, "I was busy last time, didn’t have time."

Reba pressed, "So when are you going to see your girlfriend? Bring that super, super pretty, traditional-style girlfriend you mentioned over for me to see. Your big sis will give you a big red envelope, how about it?"

Reba knew Su Ran had several girlfriends; he had told her so himself.

But she didn’t find it strange. For a man at the top of the food chain, his options were many. Having a few girlfriends was actually quite normal. One couldn’t judge this small group of people by the standards of ordinary men who struggled to find even one girlfriend.

"Uh... Hangzhou..." Su Ran scratched his head. "I probably won’t be going anytime soon. Let’s talk about it later. When I have time in the future, I’ll come visit you."

"Okay! I have to go board my flight now. See you next time. Aren’t you going to give your big sis a hug?"

"Hug yourself."

"You..." Reba shot him a glare, but stepped forward anyway and hugged Su Ran. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek through her mask. "Bye, I’m off." With a cool turn and a wave, she was gone.

Su Ran also turned and headed for the Southern Airlines terminal.

...

「Jiangning.」

After returning to Jiangning, Su Ran gave some of the local specialties he brought back from the Imperial Capital to Qi Shan. Then, he put the rest in his Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon and drove to the entrance of Sunshine District in Anyang. He made a call, and a few moments later, Ning Wenwen came down. She was wearing a plaid JK-style skirt, looking every bit the young girl. Well, she was a young girl, after all. Sixteen last year, seventeen this year, and almost eighteen.

"Wenwen, you’ve gotten taller."

Su Ran patted her head.

"You’re already up to my chin. How tall are you now?"

"I grew 3 centimeters. I’m 168 cm now."

"Not bad, you’re developing nicely. Here, take this roast duck and other authentic delicacies from the Imperial Capital back for your aunt and uncle to try."

"My parents aren’t home."

"They’re not home?"

"Yeah, they went to our hometown. I only came back yesterday because school is starting. There was a thunderstorm last night, it was so, so loud, I was almost scared to tears. I tried calling you, but your phone was off. There’s supposed to be another thunderstorm tonight, and my parents won’t be back until later this evening."

"Get in the car."

"Okay."

Ning Wenwen got in the car, and Su Ran drove back to Linxi Village.

「Linxi Village.」

Su Ran went door-to-door, handing out all the local specialties from his trunk to the neighborhood residents. Back when he didn’t have money, Su Ran could only afford to give gifts to one or two of them. Now that he was well-off, and since he loved to travel, he never forgot to bring something back from his trips. So he bought extra for all the old uncles and aunties to try, since many of them had spent their whole lives in the village and never had the chance to leave Anyang City to see the outside world.

「Noon.」

Ning Wenwen was cooking. She was a little chef by nature and loved doing this sort of thing. Besides, it wasn’t her first time at Su Ran’s house—she’d been here Nth times and was already a seasoned pro, so she had volunteered to take over the kitchen and whip up something delicious.

Meanwhile, Su Ran was in the courtyard trimming the roses. He glanced at Wenwen’s painting, "In me, the tiger sniffs the rose." ’Her, a rose?’

Old Qin was sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground. ’Looks like lunch is taken care of for today.’