CHAPTER 174: CHAPTER 174: ONE SHY DOG

Unexpectedly, she smoothly arrived at the island without encountering any trouble or human traffickers.

Instead, on the bus from Yangcheng to Jiangkou, she met a woman who was heading to the island to join the military.

The woman’s surname was Yang, first name Qing, aged twenty-six, from the Northwest.

She was an open-hearted and straightforward person without any hidden intentions. The two of them started chatting as they boarded the bus from the same initial station, and since their seats were beside each other, they quickly found out that Yi Chichi was also visiting the island to see her boyfriend’s family. This naturally opened up the conversation.

She talked about everything, about herself, her hometown, and how excited she was to be tagging along with the military this time.

Then she asked Yi Chichi if she was going to join the military.

Yi Chichi smiled and said, "We’ll talk about that later."

She’s not ready for marriage yet, discussing joining the military seems too early.

She still needs to see how Wen Shi treats the topic of carrying her.

Yang Qing didn’t think much of it and simply felt that her smile was a bit odd.

Just as that moment, the bus started moving.

Yang Qing, who originally wanted to chat some more, immediately closed her eyes and leaned back, tense.

Yi Chichi saw the veins pop on her clenched fists and was just about to ask if she was nervous when she noticed Yang Qing suddenly clamped her mouth and made a gagging sound.

"Motion sickness?"

She instantly understood, Yang Qing acknowledged with a hum, unable to speak as she worked hard to suppress the queasy feeling.

But anyone experienced with motion sickness knows, once it starts, suppressing the physical reaction with willpower is hard.

Unfortunately, Yang Qing is severely affected by motion sickness.

She was dizzy to the point of being disoriented, her face pale as paper.

Listening to her constant retching, Yi Chichi, who normally doesn’t get motion sick, felt nauseous herself. She quickly handed Yang Qing a sour apricot, "Sister, have one to suppress it."

If that doesn’t work, she might have to give Ms. Yang acupuncture to relieve it a bit.

The intense sourness of the apricot invigorated Yang Qing, and she eagerly took it and put it in her mouth, her mouth watering, successfully suppressing the nausea.

After she chewed and swallowed the whole apricot, she brazenly asked for more.

"Sister, can I have another one?"

"Sure!"

Convenience for others also means convenience for herself, so Yi Chichi generously gave her the entire small bag of apricots.

"Sister, have one when you feel unwell."

Don’t throw up, please don’t, there are many people on the bus, and the air is already poor. The chain reaction from vomiting would be terrible.

Yi Chichi genuinely didn’t want to suffer that.

"Thanks, sister."

Yang Qing didn’t opt for politeness; motion sickness is truly terrifying, and she really didn’t want to puke.

It’s such a waste if she vomits the food she just ate.

She apologized with a smile at Yi Chichi, "Let’s chat after we get off the bus."

"Okay."

For the rest of the journey, Yang Qing entered a phase of keeping her eyes closed with apricots in her mouth.

Whenever the sour taste faded, she replaced it with a new one.

In this way, relying on the ten or so sour apricots from Yi Chichi, she managed to persist until they reached Jiangkou Station.

"Sister, let’s take the ferry."

"Okay."

Yi Chichi followed beside her out of the station.

Today, Jiangkou’s weather was beautiful, the sky was clear blue, but there was wind.

The gentle breeze was unlike the dry northern wind; it carried a moist, refreshing humidity.

"Where’s the port?"

She curiously asked, and Yang Qing, who had been here once two years ago, laughed, "It’s very close, about half an hour walk."

That indeed wasn’t far.

She could persist for half an hour empty-handed, but with a lot of luggage, she felt she couldn’t manage.

Thus, she asked, "Is there an electric tram to the port?"

"There should be, but I don’t know how to take the bus."

Last time she came, Old Huang picked her up, saying he wanted her to see what Southern cities look like, so she walked there.

She knew how to walk, but taking a bus required asking someone.

"Why don’t we find someone to ask for directions?"

"Let’s go."

If it’s something money can solve, it’s not a problem, after all, Yi Chichi didn’t want to carry heavy loads on foot just to save on fare.

So, they found a friendly-looking woman just about to ask for directions when Wen Shi’s booming voice suddenly came—

"Chichi, over here!"

Yi Chichi’s eyes widened, was Wen Shi right on time to pick her up?

She felt joy in her heart, swiftly turned her head towards the direction of the voice, and saw Wen Shi running over, sweating profusely.

Beside him was a man in a navy uniform.

Tall and thin, with a dark face, eyebrows thick and black, his face serious enough to remind her of the principal from the original world.

Yang Qing smiled broadly and waved to him, "Old Huang, I’m here."

Huang Qingshan grinned, "I see you, don’t move."

Before the words were out of his mouth, he flashed over.

Wen Shi almost arrived at the same time.

Then, the two men both stretched out their hands towards them.

"Give us your stuff."

Yang Qing agreed with a sound and swiftly unloaded her large and small bags onto Huang Qingshan.

Yi Chichi didn’t hesitate either.

The two men transformed into mobile luggage stands, exchanged a look, and chuckled wryly.

No wonder they ended up together, the relationship seemed decent, looked like both women had similar personalities.

Weighing the load in his hands, Wen Shi turned to ask her, "What is this? So heavy?"

"New sauce, aunt swapped pine nuts with the team leader uncle, dried mushrooms and such, as well as mushroom meat sauce and jerky you like."

For her trip this time, Wen’s mother almost emptied the family’s savings.

Not only scavenging good things for Wen Shi but also buying her a pair of White sneakers, and bringing out a piece of precious sky-blue brocade kept at the bottom of the chest for years to make an outfit for herself.

Old brocade, probably from a weaving technique that’s extinct, was something that could become an heirloom.

This fabric only suited making cheongsam—anything else would squander it.

However, this isn’t the era for wearing cheongsam, thus she could only refuse, letting Wen’s mother continue to keep it.

Thinking of the sourness when refusing the brocade, she glanced at Wen Shi and said teasingly, "Aunt is really good to you."

"Don’t be sour, she’ll be good to you too,"

The tone was robust, but his ears blushed, red as if they’d ignite.

Lagging a few steps behind, Huang Qingshan saw his red ears, his mouth twitched. This hopeless fellow, when retorting to Mr. Li, wouldn’t stop until he made them cry.

In front of his girlfriend, he turned into a bashful dog.

"Sister-in-law, do you know Old Wen’s temperament?"

Huang Qingshan started speaking in a dialect, and Yi Chichi instantly got it, having been inadvertently influenced by Wen Shi’s crowd.

Northeast dialect has a kind of magic, no matter what accent the speaker starts with, after a while with them, it unconsciously shifts.

She smiled and answered, "I know."

Pretty cheeky.

Even if she didn’t know before, the nearly year-long correspondence let her understand his nature.

He smacked his lips, stepped back beside Yang Qing, and softly said, "Wife, look at them, no chemistry at all."

"You’ve been a long-time couple, naturally not as passionate as us."

Wen Shi, like he had sensitive ears, retorted without turning back.

Huang Qingshan instinctively wanted to retort, but Yang Qing nudged him with her finger, "Don’t be annoying, okay?"

Let people whisper sweet nothings, it’s delightful.