Reborn: I'll Never Fail My Childhood Sweetheart Again-Chapter 350 - 143: A Call from Huang Panpan’s Parents
This summer vacation, the holidays of various universities in Lin’an ended around the same time, so I went home together with Qin Shiqing, Lu Haoran, and Xiaoyanzi.
Train tickets during the summer vacation were easier to buy. Unlike the peak travel season, they’re not that hard to come by for college students, so Su Zelin didn’t need to look for ticket scalpers.
Similar to last winter vacation, Su Zelin took a taxi past Zhejiang University and picked up Qin Shiqing to go to the train station and meet up with his buddy Xiaoyanzi.
After meeting up with his childhood friend, the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Ever since that night on Su Zelin’s birthday, when Qin Shiqing kissed him before sending him onto the bus, although everything seemed normal on the surface, there was always a feeling like something had been breached.
"Zelin, you’re here!"
"Yeah, I’m here."
"Did you have breakfast?"
"I did!"
"What did you eat?"
"Pian’er Chuan noodles."
"What a coincidence, I had the same thing this morning."
"..."
This was their conversation in the car, somewhat like trying to find something to talk about. Even the taxi driver found it awkward.
This situation continued until they reached the train station and saw Lu Haoran and Xiaoyanzi.
After the four got on the train, Xiaoyanzi found an excuse to quietly say to the honest guy, "Lu Haoran, did you notice something weird between Shiqing and Su Zelin?"
"Yes, I also feel something’s off."
Even someone as oblivious as the honest guy noticed it.
"What do you think happened to them? Could they be having a tiff?"
Xiaoyanzi was quite puzzled, but she quickly dismissed her own guess.
"It doesn’t look like it. If they were really quarreling, they shouldn’t want to talk to each other at all. Moreover, Shiqing has such a good temper, there’s no way she’d argue with Su Zelin, no matter how over-the-line he was, she would usually endure it!"
Unable to get an answer from Lu Haoran, after Su Zelin climbed to the upper bunk to read a newspaper, Xiaoyanzi couldn’t help but sit next to Qin Shiqing: "Shiqing, is there something between you and Su Zelin?"
Qin Shiqing was a little absent-minded, thinking of something, and when she heard this, she said blankly, "Huh, Xiaoyanzi, what did you say?"
"I asked if there’s anything going on between you and Su Zelin?"
Xiaoyanzi repeated the question.
"No, nothing’s going on between us!"
Qin Shiqing hurriedly denied it.
Xiaoyanzi found it even stranger.
I was just casually asking, why are you so nervous?
"Then why are you two acting so weird? Even Lu Haoran noticed it. I thought there was some conflict!"
Qin Shiqing was taken aback.
Is it really that obvious?
This is a case of those involved being clueless while bystanders see clearly.
Actually, that day, she was just impulsive, gathering the courage to kiss her childhood friend, and later felt very embarrassed, always thinking she was too forward, doing such a thing.
So even when chatting online later, she felt a bit ashamed, let alone when meeting in real life.
Was I over the line?
What does Zelin think about this?
Qin Shiqing’s heart was in turmoil, but Su Zelin wasn’t calm either.
Despite looking at a newspaper, his gaze was constantly fixated on an ad for a rich woman seeking a child in the crevice: "I am Li Ting, female, 30 years old, height 163, fair-skinned and voluptuous, charming, husband is an elderly Hong Kong businessman, infertile, seeking a healthy man from another region to have a child together, under 40 years of age, satisfactory call, deposit 200,000 yuan, fly to your place to meet, generous reward of 500,000 yuan upon pregnancy! Contact number: **********"
If you’re from that era, you would’ve seen these ads plastered all over street corners, electric poles and trees, identical in content.
In short, the women seeking children in these ads are all gentle and beautiful, with husbands who are infertile Hong Kong, Taiwan or overseas Chinese businessmen, and despite the eye-burning content, many people were brainwashed, feeling their genetic traits were superior and hoped to be chosen by a rich woman, followed by various transfers for medical check-ups, accommodation fees, travel expenses, notary fees...
Then, that’s it, there’s nothing more.
However, among these scam ads, a very small fraction actually represented real stories, but those were through online or matchmaking avenues, and would never stoop to posting on electric poles.
If you really ran into such a good deal, you’d only sigh, "This rich woman means business, she actually wants a child."
Naturally, Su Zelin wasn’t interested, even if the ad was real, he didn’t need to live off a woman, he was just uneasy.
Qin Shiqing’s unexpected kiss made things a little out of control.
He never thought that in this lifetime, having never pursued Qin Shiqing, his childhood friend would take the initiative instead.
Although he didn’t wash his face the next morning after the birthday, it didn’t stop him from ridiculing the situation in his heart.
Qin Shiqing, what were you doing kissing for no reason?
This isn’t causing trouble!
The whole way back home.
Before entering their respective homes, Qin Shiqing stopped: "Zelin!"
"Hmm?"
"I drank a few beers that night and got a bit tipsy, anyway, let’s just forget about it."
After dropping those words, the girl, with a blush, dragged her suitcase into her yard, leaving a dazed Su Zelin.
Was it really just because of a few drinks?
...
New Heaven and Earth Internet Cafe.
In the blink of an eye, five days had passed since returning home, and Su Zelin was online at their old spot with Lu Haoran.
ADSL broadband would not be popular in Xia Country until around 2004, but being someone with money, Su Zelin could use it a year earlier by just spending a bit more.
However, for home broadband charges to truly drop and speed to increase, you still had to wait until 2004.
Before this, even if you had money, it was useless, surfing the internet at home with dial-up through a phone line was painfully slow, no experience to speak of, so you still had to go to an internet cafe.
