276. The Mind is a Mysterious Thing
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The area where Lin Nan’s old home is located can be considered a tourist zone—if you squint a little.
Take the beach she went to with her mom last time.
Apart from that, there’s the King Kong Mountain scenic area, though Lin Nan hasn’t heard of much else.
Chen Yao mentioned a farm stay around King Kong Mountain. Normally during the New Year, after people pay their respects, many folks trot over to the nearby attractions. And with the Lantern Festival lasting several days, those farm stays usually rake in a fortune. But alas, during the pandemic, they’re left to suffer in their empty lodges, bemoaning the desolate roads.
This scenic area is just a half-hour ride on an electric bike from Lin Nan’s grandfather’s house. In a big city, you wouldn’t even make it out of one district in that time.
Chen Yao pedaled his bike to the foot of the scenic area, glancing longingly at the iron-gated entrance, sighing dramatically.
Of course, it’s still closed.
Not only is the scenic area shut, but even the farm stays are too scared to open. They might hope for customers, but when actual guests show up, it’s all hands on deck to shoo them away.
Lin Nan and Chen Yao exchanged glances, both feeling awkward. Chen Yao rubbed his nose, sensing the embarrassment in the air.
“I thought it wasn’t so serious anymore,” he chuckled nervously. “I see a lot of people out and about in the county; this remote area should be even safer.”
“Well, let’s just stroll around then.”
Lin Nan wasn’t fussed about the lantern show; she chirped beside Chen Yao, “Having you here is a thousand times better than being stuck at my grandfather’s with all those relatives.”
Seriously! As soon as the unfamiliar relatives are around, Lin Nan’s heart races like it’s auditioning for a role in a horror movie.
“If you don’t like those relatives, just avoid them. But trying to ask for their help in the future might get awkward,” Chen Yao said, adjusting his bike, accompanying Lin Nan down the country road at a leisurely pace.
He stole a glance at Lin Nan’s increasingly adorable mature face, and his heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
If he weren’t busy pushing that bike, he might have already grabbed her hand.
“We probably don’t need their help anyway,” Lin Nan muttered. “When the time comes, my mom’s connections will definitely sort things out better than I can.”
“And you have me, right?” She glanced up at Chen Yao, her face burning red, then quickly dipped her head to stare at the asphalt.
On one side of the narrow lane was a mountain, and the other was an endless stretch of farmland. Lin Nan fidgeted, glancing around nervously, only to spot an old farmer in the distance enjoying a cigarette and grinning at the two of them.
That made Lin Nan even more flustered, feeling like they were caught red-handed or something.
After a moment of charged silence, Lin Nan couldn’t hold back any longer and curiously asked, “What have you been up to lately? I haven’t seen you around chatting with me.”
When she hung out with Lin Nan, Chen Yao felt his palms sweating, but he responded coolly, “Just learning to cook at the restaurant with my dad.”
“Why are you learning to cook?” Lin Nan didn’t expect that answer at all.
She had thought Chen Yao was busy gaming or tinkering with plans for a video upload to Bilibili, not cooking?!
Before Chen Yao could respond, Lin Nan skeptically asked, “Wait, do you want to become a chef or something? You don’t have that talent, do you?”
She remembered the last time he tried making her an egg.
Just a simple fried egg, yet it came out looking like a charcoal briquette. If it weren’t for the sandwich, she would have been too traumatized to eat it.
And she didn’t want to hurt Chen Yao’s feelings by outright labeling it terrible, so she had kept her mouth shut about it.
With a wry smile, Chen Yao replied, “No, I just figured if you got sick again, I can’t keep ordering takeout like last time, right?”
“Even if it doesn’t taste as good as from outside, at least cooking at home is healthier with fresh ingredients, right?”
Just as Lin Nan was about to nod along with his logic, he continued, “And what if you get pregnant and have a baby? I can’t just throw you in a confinement center or hand you over to my mom and call it quits, can I? Ugh! Forget it, forget it!”
He abruptly halted, rubbing his shin where Lin Nan had kicked him, grimacing in pain.
Those cute little shoes Lin Nan wore today had a million times more power than the sneakers or flip-flops she usually sported.
If she ever wore high heels… Chen Yao shuddered at the thought.
But those little shoes did look good on Lin Nan’s legs.
While massaging his sore shin, Chen Yao’s gaze couldn’t help but drift back to Lin Nan’s shoes, and it couldn’t resist climbing up to her outfit.
Wide-leg pants, hiding her legs completely? Zero stars from him! Plus, they clashed with those red shoes!
Lin Nan had rushed out of the house, too busy fixing her hair to notice she had slipped on some random pair of shoes.
Grandpa’s house had a carpet of tiles upstairs, while the staircase was a minefield of mismatched shoes. To be honest, Lin Nan didn’t even know whose shoes she wore when she came down.
Going by style, they probably belonged to her mom, and they were a bit loose.
After all, Liu Xinyi was just like her—always mixing sporty shoes with cute sneakers.
But more importantly…
“What are you staring at?” Lin Nan’s fierce glare caught Chen Yao’s attention, snapping him out of his trance.
“Nothing, um,” he straightened up quickly, chuckling awkwardly, “Learning to cook isn’t so bad, right? I mean, since I’ve been stuck at home, might as well pick up something new.”
Lin Nan wanted to argue that it was Chen Yao’s random impulse that made her spend ten bucks on novels instead of him chatting with her online every day. But the words stuck in her throat, and she switched tactics: “I was just worried you might get pretty bored at home all by yourself.”
Chen Yao immediately shook his head. “I’m not bored! It’s just that learning to cook is tiring. During the day, it’s all cooking lessons; sometimes I have to deliver takeout too, then I still need to video chat with you at night—how could I be bored?!”
What a pig-headed guy!
No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw Lin Nan’s delicate brows furiously glaring at him.
Scratching his head in confusion, Chen Yao had no idea what he had said wrong.
But spending too much time at home had taught him his dad’s ways; he quickly lowered his head, “My bad, my bad.”
Lin Nan let out a long sigh, completely losing faith in this ironclad man. Blushing, she turned her head with some embarrassment and straightforwardly suggested, “Well, then don’t bother with cooking. It’d be nicer to chat with me online when you have free time.”
Chen Yao nodded without hesitation, suddenly realizing that Lin Nan’s earlier hints weren’t really about her concern for him being bored but something else entirely.
So why was Lin Nan’s mind harder to read than an average girl’s?
