My Exclusive Dream World Adventures - Chapter 121

On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, when Chen Xu left home with his backpack, the sky was a bit overcast, looking like it might rain, so he turned back to grab a folding umbrella.

He wore the new blue down jacket he had bought. Now that he was a bit more financially comfortable, he wasn’t willing to skimp on himself.

He walked to the intersection, and soon a black Volkswagen stopped in front of him. The car window rolled down, and the young driver asked in the local dialect, “Just one piece of luggage?”

Hearing the local dialect here made Chen Xu feel particularly warm, and he smiled, “Yeah, just one.”

The driver opened the trunk, letting him put his luggage inside. Then, Chen Xu got into the passenger seat.

“We still need to pick up three others,” the driver explained as he started the car.

Chen Xu’s hometown was more than four hundred kilometers away from this city. After the expressway was built in the last two years, the drive only took three to four hours. Previously he would take a bus, but in the last two years, he had switched to carpooling, which was more convenient and cost about the same.

The other three passengers were young girls, probably university students. Normally, people working in companies didn’t get to take holidays this early.

The girls chatted in the back seat while Chen Xu put on his headphones, listened to music, and closed his eyes to rest.

He used to get car sick quite badly as a child, vomiting every time he took a ride. It wasn’t until middle school that it got a little better. Now he no longer got dizzy but there was one thing – he couldn’t look at his phone or read books; doing so would make him severely nauseous.

So, when he was in a car, he either chatted with others or closed his eyes to rest.

Everyone got along smoothly on the road, and they arrived at his hometown without any problems.

It was a small county town that had developed much faster after the highway was built in the last two years. The ring road had opened, and the urban area had expanded several times over. Having not returned for a year, it all seemed completely changed.

Not until the car stopped at the entrance of the alley did Chen Xu find that exceptionally familiar feeling.

He got out of the car and looked up to see that at some point, the sky had cleared up, warm sunlight showering down, making him break a sweat.

By then, it was past twelve o’clock. He picked up his bag and walked into the alley. This area was filled with old residential buildings, most of which were decades-old constructions.

His home was in the second building. The door at the stairwell on the first floor had been replaced with a new one, which he could open with a pull as it wasn’t locked.

The narrow stairwell gave a cramped feeling, walking here, he regained those familiar memories.

He went straight to the top floor, the fourth floor, where the door was open, and television advertising could be heard from inside.

“Mom.”

As soon as he entered, he called out, but froze as he saw Chen Ziqi sitting in the old-fashioned wicker chair watching TV.

“Surprise.” Chen Ziqi jumped down from the chair, her face full of triumph.

Chen Xu was surprised, “Why are you here?”

“Why can’t I be here?” Chen Ziqi said with a giggle, walking up to him to take his backpack and placed it on the sofa.

“Xiao Xu is back.” From the kitchen, his mother heard the noise and came out with a spatula in hand. Seeing him, she said, “Sit down and have some water, take a rest, the food will be ready soon.” And with that, she went back to the kitchen.

Chen Xu picked up his backpack, about to head to his room, but was stopped by Chen Ziqi, “This room is mine, you’re staying in that one.”

Chen Xu asked curiously, “You’re not staying in your own big house, but you run to live in this old house?”

“None of your business,” Chen Ziqi said, pushing him towards another room.

This set of houses were old dwellings from decades ago, allocated when his grandfather was working. Originally it was a two-bedroom and one-living room flat, roughly eighty square meters, but later a small room was partitioned off from the living room, making it a three-bedroom flat.

Chen Xu’s parents occupied one large bedroom, and now Chen Ziqi had taken another, so he had to stay in the small room.

The room was indeed very small, with just a one-meter-wide bed and a desk that hardly had room for a chair in front of it.

The room had obviously been cleaned up, with fresh bed sheets, pillows, and a duvet.

He hung his backpack on the wall and asked Chen Ziqi, “How come you came back this year? Haven’t you always spent New Year’s with your dad?”

“Old Chen’s never around anyway; I wouldn’t see him even if I wanted to. Spending it alone outside is no better than coming back home,” Chen Ziqi complained.

Chen Xu thought about it and it made sense. Third Uncle had opened three chain supermarkets, quite a large operation. Near the New Year, he was too busy sending gifts to heads of departments like commerce, fire control, food safety, and dining out; there was no time to accompany his daughter.

He said, “Then spend the New Year with us this time.”

Chen Ziqi glared, “Of course, what else did you think, that you could send me away?”

“Who would dare to send you away,” Chen Xu said as he tapped her forehead.

Rubbing her forehead, Ziqi pouted and after a while, she said, “After dinner, come with me to go shopping for clothes. I’ve been back for two days, cooped up at home every day, bored to death.”

“Sure.”

Chen Xu agreed and walked to the kitchen door to see his mother bustling about. He asked, “Is Dad not back yet?”

His mother stir-fried vegetables while saying, “Business at the mall is even better this year, your dad can’t get away, and he’s been eating at the shop these past few days.”

Chen Xu knew that the mall was run by his father’s old classmate who wanted to find someone reliable to help keep an eye on things, and so, he had turned to his father. Because the salary was quite good, his dad took the job very seriously.

As for his mother, she helped clean at a nearby kindergarten. Now that the kindergarten was on holiday, she stayed at home.

Soon, his mom finished cooking the dishes. Chen Xu helped serve the food, and Ziqi had already wiped the table clean outside.

With one more person at the dining table, the atmosphere was completely different. When his dad was around, there wasn’t much conversation; it would usually be just the two of them, mother and son, chatting while eating. Now with Ziqi there, interjecting from time to time, the atmosphere warmed up a lot.

After eating, when Chen Xu was helping his mom wash the dishes, she whispered to him, “People used to say Third Uncle’s daughter was very rebellious, but she seems pretty sensible. Third Uncle is lucky.”

You obviously haven’t seen her rebellious side.

Chen Xu found it funny, yet he knew that his mother had always wanted a daughter and it was no wonder she had taken a liking to the sweet and pretty Chen Ziqi.

After washing the dishes, Chen Xu told his mom before taking Ziqi out.

In the small county town, there weren’t many places to shop. Chen Xu planned to take her to the square, where there were more clothing stores.

Once they descended the stairs, Chen Xu hailed a tricycle rickshaw, negotiated the fare, and then they got on.

Ziqi brought up something, “I heard Second Aunt talking on the phone yesterday. She was mentioning arranging a blind date for you. What are you going to do?”

“With the current state of our family, wouldn’t anyone who heard about it run for the hills?” Chen Xu shook his head and said, “It’s just my mom who’s still holding on to hope. People these days are so pragmatic. There aren’t many women willing to tough it out with you.”

“So, what you’re looking for is someone who’s young and naive…”

Chen Xu laughed as he looked at her, “What kind of grudge do you have against your best friend, trying tirelessly to throw her into a pit of fire?”

Ziqi was startled, “That’s the first time I’ve heard someone call themselves ‘a pit of fire.’”

Angrily, yet disappointed, she said, “Chen Xu, how do you expect to survive in this society with your character? A thin skin and a gentle heart, you’re just a lamb waiting to be eaten. It’ll be too late for regrets when it happens.”

Chen Xu tapped her forehead again, “Where did you pick up all this nonsense? Maybe it’s time for your dad to discipline you properly.”

“Am I wrong?” Ziqi retorted, looking at him defiantly.

Chen Xu was about to reply when the rickshaw stopped, and the driver turned back, “We’re here.”

Chen Xu gave her a glare, paid the fare, and they got off.

Perhaps it was the approach of the New Year, but the streets were incredibly crowded. The rickshaw stopped at a crossroad, where the traffic was jammed, and impatient drivers kept honking their horns.

Ziqi loved this kind of atmosphere and cheerfully said, “It’s quite lively.”

Chen Xu said, “It wasn’t this crowded before. Let’s go over there.”

“Chen Xu.”

At that moment, a surprised voice called out from behind.

The voice was so familiar that Chen Xu felt a jolt in his heart. He swiftly turned around to see a figure rushing over and embracing him tightly.

The force of the impact made him step back as he was enveloped in a hug, his nose filling with a somewhat familiar fragrance, and the warmth of a body pressed against him.

His face showed a mixture of astonishment and bewildered helplessness.

Yang Jinxia?

What was she doing here?

PS: I want to talk about updates after the book goes on sale. On the day of the sale, there will be at least five updates, more depending on the situation. After that, expect steady updates of at least three chapters, with a minimum of six thousand words daily. If the book does well, I will dedicate more energy to it. Everything depends on how things go on the day of the sale.