bioinnovel Chapter 255 Entering the Mountains!
Chapter 255 Entering the Mountains!
early morning.
The rooster crowed three times before Zhang Yan opened his eyes.
It's not because I'm sleepy.
It was the aftereffects of last night's pot of rice wine; it was indeed smoother than I expected.
The light outside the window was very bright.
In the mountains, the air in the morning is cool and clean, as if it has been washed by water.
He sat up and glanced at Wang Hao on the opposite bed.
Sprawled out on its back.
Mouth slightly open.
A small puddle of drool ran down the pillow.
Still snoring.
Zhang Yan didn't call him.
Pick up your phone.
06: 17.
Nie Qingcheng's message was already displayed on the screen.
Sent at 05:48.
"Are you up?"
A photo follows.
She sat at the dining table in the villa, wearing the light blue silk nightgown he knew so well.
In front of me was a bowl of white porridge, a dish of pickled vegetables, and a fried egg.
The edges of the fried egg were burnt black.
The yolk in the middle broke.
Her expression was serious, with a stubbornness that said, "I've done my best."
Zhang Yan looked at the broken egg yolk and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.
type.
"You've improved. Your fried eggs are better."
Send it out.
The reply came in less than three seconds.
"Where has the progress been made?"
"Last time it was completely burnt. This time only the edges are burnt."
"..."
"It represents a qualitative leap."
"Zhang Yan, don't you need a beating?"
"Let me talk about it when I get back."
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end.
Then a voice message was sent.
One second.
He clicked on it.
"Um."
There is only one word.
Her voice was incredibly soft.
She is not at all the woman known as "Bamboo Leaf Green" in the business world.
Zhang Yan put his phone in his pocket.
There was already some commotion downstairs.
The sounds of pots and pans clattering, my aunt's loud voice calling for help, and chickens flapping their wings as they were chased away.
He went downstairs.
The courtyard was in complete chaos.
The wall was covered with bright red "囍" characters, and the couplets were blown halfway by the wind before they could be hung up properly.
The tables, chairs, and benches were borrowed from the three neighboring houses and were stacked up and down in the yard.
Second Uncle Wang Jianguo squatted by the stove chopping firewood.
My second aunt was in the kitchen directing two neighbor ladies who were helping her to kill and pluck the chicken.
A seven or eight-year-old boy was running around the yard, holding a string of unlit firecrackers in his hand.
The groom, Dazhuang, stood at the entrance of the main room.
He was wearing a brand new suit.
The cuffs were too short.
The tie around my neck was crooked and I couldn't tie it properly even after three attempts.
His face turned bright red.
"Haozi!" Auntie's voice boomed from the kitchen, "Get down here right now! Go to town and bring back the cigarettes and alcohol! Your dad drank too much last night and forgot!"
Wang Hao's muffled voice came from upstairs.
"Ah... what time is it...?"
"It's already 6:30 and you're still sleeping!"
"Auntie... let me lie down for another five minutes..."
"Five minutes my ass! Hurry up! And while you're at it, get your brother's leather shoes too! Size 43! Don't get the wrong ones!"
Wang Hao rolled down the stairs while wailing.
My hair is all messed up like a bird's nest.
His eyes were swollen like walnuts.
Seeing Zhang Yan standing in the courtyard, he immediately perked up.
"Yan-ge! Why are you up so early!"
Zhang Yan glanced at him.
"Your second aunt is calling you to smoke and drink."
Wang Hao's face instantly fell.
"I know……"
He grumbled as he washed his face, only to be handed a long shopping list by his aunt.
Tobacco, alcohol, sunflower seeds, peanuts, candy, beverages, disposable bowls and chopsticks, red cloth, firecrackers...
It took two whole pages to write.
Wang Hao stared at the list, his gaze gradually losing focus.
"Brother Yan." He turned to Zhang Yan, his eyes pleading, "How about... you come with me?"
Zhang Yan shook his head.
"I want to go for a walk in the back mountain."
"The back mountain?" Wang Hao paused, then asked, "Qinglong Ridge?"
"Um."
"Why go there? There's nothing on that mountain, just lots of trees."
Zhang Yan leaned against the door frame.
"Sketching".
"What?"
"I'd like to paint. You mentioned before that the mountains in your hometown are beautiful, so I'd like to paint a few."
Wang Hao opened his mouth.
He thought, why go to the deep mountains and forests to paint? He could paint by the pond at the village entrance.
But then I thought about it again. Brother Yan really does have top-notch painting skills. The skill he showed in front of the old master of the Nie family before was definitely not something he just talked about casually.
"Well... okay then." He said with a hint of regret, "I was hoping to go hiking with you, but I didn't get to go up any mountains last time I came back from vacation."
"Wang Hao!"
My second aunt's voice exploded again.
"If you keep dawdling, believe me, I'll hang you on the door and set you off like a firecracker!"
Wang Hao shuddered.
"Here it comes!"
He ran outside with a pained expression.
He ran a couple of steps, then turned back.
"Brother Yan, the signal is bad up in the mountains. Don't go too deep. Come down for lunch."
Zhang Yan nodded.
"understood."
Wang Hao was picked up by the old man next door on a tricycle, assigned by his second aunt.
The tricycle lurched and bounced down the slope.
Wang Hao sat in the truck bed, clutching the two-page purchase list in his hand.
The figure disappeared around the corner of the village road.
Zhang Yan went back upstairs.
He picked up that ordinary canvas backpack.
There were two bottles of mineral water and a few leftover steamed buns from last night in my bag.
And an old book.
—They look no different from people who go into the mountains to sketch.
But the real stuff is all in his system's storage space.
He pushed open the window and glanced at Qinglong Ridge outside once more.
The continuous mountain ridges disappeared into the depths of the clouds and mist.
Forty kilometers in depth.
Population density: zero.
perfect.
……
Zhang Yan climbed the mountain via a path behind the village.
A wild path half-hidden by weeds and shrubs.
The road surface was made of dirt and gravel, and it felt soft and spongy underfoot.
The bamboo groves on both sides were so dense that they almost blocked out the sky.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps, dappling the ground.
He walked very fast.
He doesn't seem like an artistic young person who came to sketch.
It's more like a hunter with a clear destination.
Half an hour later.
The altitude is 600 meters.
The village is no longer visible.
The cell phone signal dropped from two bars to one bar.
Walk for another ten minutes.
The signal disappeared.
Zhang Yan stopped in his tracks.
Open your phone and type in Nie Qingcheng's chat box.
"We've gone into the mountains, the signal isn't very good, we might not be able to contact you for a day."
It paused for a second.
Another sentence was added.
"Don't worry, there are only trees and bamboo around here, and there are hardly any snakes."
send.
The message shows "Sending".
A few more seconds passed.
It changed to "delivered".
The last signal.
Just enough.
The reply came quickly.
"Okay, be careful. You must message me tonight."
The sentence below was followed by another sentence.
"Otherwise, I'll buy a plane ticket and come find you."
Zhang Yan looked at this sentence.
The corners of her mouth curved into a smile.
He knows her too well.
This is not a joke.
She's really capable of doing it.
"it is good."
After sending that word, the signal was completely cut off.
Zhang Yan put away his phone.
Look up and look ahead.
At the end of the bamboo forest.
It is a more pristine and denser forest.
The direction of the main peak of Qinglong Ridge.
He started walking.
The real climb begins.
……