522. Going Home
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The last meal of the group trip was extraordinarily sumptuous.
Compared to the previous days of meager servings and not much meat on the table, today’s spread was clearly an upgrade.
It seemed the students’ contributions of three hundred yuan left quite a bit in the kitty, so they splurged on this lunch to send everyone off with a memorable meal.
The array of dishes was rich and plentiful, and each table even got a whole roasted fish. Although sharing one fish among seven or eight people was a bit tight, the students were unusually excited, chatting animatedly, their spirits high.
However, Zheng Qian was scowling, completely devoid of any desire to chat. He kept his head down, quietly eating. Clearly, this counselor was not in the best mood today.
“Is Zheng Qian losing his appetite?” Lin Nan curiously glanced at Zheng Qian from the next table. “Hope he doesn’t get sick!”
It was obvious that the incident this morning, where more than a dozen students ran off to bungee jump, had really put him in a foul mood. To him, such behavior was perilously foolish. If even one student went missing or got into an accident, he’d be in hot water as their counselor.
But Lin Nan, the mastermind behind it all, had discreetly ensured that Kang De was keeping watch.
“He’s still young; he won’t fall ill from this!” Chen Yao stood up to serve Lin Nan a piece of fish, sporting a bright smile. “He’s as fit as a fiddle!”
Teasing Zheng Qian brought Chen Yao great joy, considering he was once a rival in love.
The meal wrapped up just before one o’clock.
The students took the cable car back to the plaza where it all began and passed through the gates to exit the scenic area. At two o’clock, the return bus arrived right on time.
This trip had barely surpassed twenty-four hours, yet Lin Nan felt utterly drained. After barely sleeping a few hours last night and the morning’s bungee scare, she plopped into a seat on the bus and nearly passed out.
On the way there, the students were as energetic as monkeys; on the way back, they were drooping like wet noodles, yawning all around. The atmosphere in the bus was eerily silent.
Zheng Qian glanced around at his completely exhausted flock, then let out a long sigh of relief, slumping into his seat, rubbing his temples.
He had initially thought this group trip would be a breeze. They were college students, all adults; even if they acted wild, what could go wrong?
But this bunch had their own ideas…
When he woke up in the morning to find out nearly twenty of them had bolted off to bungee jump, he nearly had a heart attack.
“I’m never bringing students out again,” he mumbled, filled with regret, then turned to glare at Tu Junhui, sitting at the back.
This Tu Junhui had kept everyone awake with his snoring last night and organized the bungee jumping this morning. Zheng Qian had definitely taken notice of him now.
He had to make Tu Junhui’s life a little difficult! Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to swallow this embarrassment!
And then there was Lin Nan… Unfortunately, she had managed to keep herself under the radar; he couldn’t find any evidence against her, but it was likely that Tu Junhui had been egged on by Lin Nan in the first place.
Most students on the bus were too tired to bother. Compared to the agony of heading out, leaving felt like time zipped by.
When Lin Nan was shaken awake, she realized the bus had stopped at the school gate.
Yawning, she stood up and followed Chen Yao off the bus.
Yet as she stepped down, she suddenly halted, looked up, and flashed a sweet smile at Zheng Qian, her tone syrupy, “Zheng Qian, when are we going out again?”
“Next time?” Zheng Qian replied with a straight face. “There won’t be a next time.”
Forget bringing students on trips; he wouldn’t even agree to take them out for a meal again.
“What a shame,” Lin Nan sighed. She had actually enjoyed these group activities.
This trip had been a blast, but seeing Zheng Qian like this, it seemed unlikely there would be similar events in the future.
After a nap on the bus, Lin Nan still felt a bit sleepy. Yawning, she hooked an arm around Chen Yao’s and strolled slowly toward the rental apartment.
She planned to catch up on sleep once she got home.
“By the way, did you look at those photos?” Chen Yao asked curiously on the way back. “Did you like them?”
“I saw them… didn’t like them.”
The photo angles were all fixed, aside from a few photographers on the bungee platform; the rest were captured by cameras.
Lin Nan had serious doubts that the strange photo of her was taken on purpose by the photographer.
With those fixed angles, it was impossible for the bulk shots to turn out good.
Also, at that moment, she went from expressionless to pale, and nearly burst into tears. There was no way any photo could look good!
Anyway, Lin Nan thought the photos of her looked way worse than what she saw in the mirror on a usual day—she might even call them blackmail material.
So she didn’t save any of those pictures and even deleted the photographer’s WeChat.
“I thought you looked great in them,” Chen Yao said happily as he took out his phone to check the saved photos.
Lin Nan peeked over, and both of them had the same pictures, her face instantly darkening: “Delete them!”
“Why delete? They’re a nice keepsake!”
“Ugly.”
Chen Yao couldn’t understand where Lin Nan drew the line between pretty and ugly. To him, Lin Nan looked beautiful in every photo.
Scratching his head, he persisted, “They’re nice!”
Unable to win the argument, Lin Nan huffed, pouting her cheeks in irritation, and decided to ignore Chen Yao altogether.
Arriving at the rental apartment door, Lin Nan angrily fished out her keys, opened the door, and stormed straight to her bedroom with a dark expression.
Just as Chen Yao was about to follow in after her, the bedroom door slammed shut with a bang.
“Okay, okay, I’ll delete them!” Chen Yao chuckled bitterly, standing at the door, trying to appease Lin Nan inside. “Why are you throwing a fit? It’s not that big of a deal!”
“How about I cook something delicious for you tonight? The Dragon Boat Festival is coming up! Want some zongzi?”
“Lin Nan? Nan Nan?”
After calling her name a few times, Chen Yao finally heard Lin Nan say from inside, “The door isn’t locked!”
He quickly pushed the door open and peered inside, only to find Lin Nan pretending to wash her hands at the sink after just getting off the toilet.
Ah, so she was just in a hurry and not actually mad!
Chen Yao let out a sigh of relief, but those photos still needed to be deleted, so he offered his phone: “See? All deleted!”
Lin Nan glanced at his phone and nodded.
Chen Yao really didn’t scare easily, did he?
A wave of pleasant emotion filled Lin Nan’s chest, and a smile broke out on her face.
After all, it was only Chen Yao who cared enough about her to act all nervous when she pretended to be angry.
“I’m going to take a shower and then nap!” Lin Nan went to the wall and grabbed her pajamas off a hook, then turned to Chen Yao.
The look in her eyes was clear: hurry up and get lost!
But Chen Yao misunderstood entirely, his eyes lighting up as he began to take off his shirt, excitement evident in his tone.
“Together! Let’s do it together!”
