Chapter 558: Chapter 558: Going to Qiyun Village

"No way," Chen Meizhen said in surprise. "Didn’t you say your third cousin had to go back to Xiangcheng to take care of something? Don’t tell me that ’something’ was getting married?"

Even though the girls of Dorm 206 knew nothing could happen between Su Qing and Meng Chenghui, they were still incredibly surprised that he was getting married so soon.

And angry!

Yes, absolutely furious.

If he was about to get married, why did he still come and flirt with Su Qing? A man like that was utterly despicable.

Ye Qingqing said thankfully, "It’s a good thing Su Qing didn’t agree to be with your third cousin back then. Otherwise, wouldn’t this be terribly embarrassing for her? Yan Jing, I don’t mean to criticize, but what your third cousin did was really out of line."

Meng Yanjing was frustrated too. "That’s why I feel so bad for Su Qing. What my third cousin did was truly improper."

Su Qing, however, didn’t really care. She had no feelings for Meng Chenghui, so whether he was getting married or dating someone else had nothing to do with her. Still, she was a little surprised he was marrying so quickly. ’Logically, Meng Chenghui is only in his twenties. Given his playboy nature, you’d think he’d mess around until he was in his thirties before even considering marriage.’

"Alright, it’s no big deal. It’s not like I have anything to do with your third cousin now, so you don’t need to feel embarrassed," Su Qing said to Meng Yanjing with a smile. "You’re heading back to Chuncheng tomorrow, so let’s have a nice dinner together tonight."

"That’s right! Let’s just have a great dinner tonight and not talk about anything else," the other girls all said with a smile.

With that, the matter was dropped. Su Qing did, however, remind Meng Yanjing to be careful about everything once she got back to Xiangcheng, and that if she went shopping, it was best to have someone with her.

After all, Xiangcheng was more chaotic than the mainland. There were quite a few gangs, and it wasn’t uncommon for their grunts to get into street brawls or turf wars.

The next day happened to be Sunday. The girls saw Meng Yanjing off on the train to Chuncheng, then went shopping for a while before returning to the university.

It was late April, and May Day was just around the corner. The flowers were in full bloom, and many classes were planning trips for the holiday. Su Qing’s class was no exception. This time, Zhao Xiaohui and Song Yufang didn’t cause any trouble. Under Huo Tao’s organization, the destination for the trip was quickly decided. They were going to a place called Qiyun Village, north of Beijing. Since it was quite far, they would be staying in the village for two nights.

There was no need to worry about accommodation either. With the opening of the market, more and more people were going into business, and naturally, some had come up with more creative ways to make money.

One of the villagers in Qiyun Village was a prime example.

This villager was a relative of one of Su Qing’s classmates, a student named Wu Zhongpeng. The area around Qiyun Village was beautiful. Not only were there valleys, but the villagers also cultivated large flower gardens and orchards. Furthermore, next to Qiyun Village was a large reservoir full of fish. Word was you could go fishing there, as long as you paid the fee.

Taking advantage of this environment, Wu Zhongpeng’s relative had built a small inn to provide lodging for visitors.

The inn had just been completed. You could say that Su Qing’s class would be its very first guests.

The trip was organized on a go-dutch basis. Everyone first paid 3 yuan to cover public expenses like lodging, transportation, and meals. The difference would be settled later, with refunds for overages and additional payments for shortfalls.

Because they would be staying overnight, many of the students were very excited. In the days leading up to the trip, they couldn’t stop talking about it. The girls of Dorm 206 were no exception. Even with several days left before departure, they were already packing their bags, trying to decide what to bring, each one buzzing with excitement.

Seeing this, Su Qing prepared some easy-to-carry snacks like meat jerky and small pastries, sharing some with each of the girls in her dorm. This made them ecstatic. They had been friends for a long time and all knew Su Qing wasn’t short on money and wouldn’t accept payment. So, the other girls all prepared plenty of their own snacks and made sure to bring a share for Su Qing too. In the end, everyone was carrying a huge pile of snacks that took up more than half of their backpacks.

The journey from Beijing University to Qiyun Village was quite long. It involved a two-hour-plus long-distance bus ride to Pingqing Town, north of Beijing, followed by a walk of over half an hour on a mountain path. However, they were all energetic young students. Lured by the wonderful prospect of beautiful scenery, fishing, and admiring flowers, they were all in high spirits. When they got off the bus, they were still chattering and laughing nonstop.

"Xiao Peng, over here, over here!" The group of students had just gotten off the long-distance bus when a middle-aged man driving a donkey cart in the distance began waving at them.

Wu Zhongpeng saw the middle-aged man and, pointing at him, said to Huo Tao with a smile, "My uncle’s over there."

Huo Tao quickly led the class over to the middle-aged man. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he said, "We’ll be troubling you this time, Uncle Qi."

"Hey, no trouble, no trouble at all." The middle-aged man was Wu Zhongpeng’s uncle, Qi Dazhu. He looked at the twenty or thirty students before him with a broad smile and said, "So these are all the classmates who came on the trip."

"That’s right," Huo Tao said. "There are twenty-five of us in total. Will there be enough room, Uncle Qi?"

The trip was still voluntary, so some classmates hadn’t come.

"Yes, no problem," Qi Dazhu said with a laugh. "My inn has over a dozen rooms. They’re all doubles and triples, so it’s more than enough."

Hearing Qi Dazhu’s words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Before they arrived, they had been worried that there wouldn’t be enough space for so many people.

"Let’s get going. We still have a walk of over half an hour," Qi Dazhu said, patting the flatbed of the donkey cart. "If you have any heavy luggage, put it on the cart. It’ll make the walk easier."

Huo Tao called out, "Let the female students put their backpacks on first, then the male students."

After loading their backpacks and luggage, the group followed Qi Dazhu up the mountain path. Qiyun Village was located in the mountains. Because the villagers frequently traveled back and forth to Pingqing Town, a flat dirt path had been worn into the ground even without any formal road construction. The walk was relatively smooth. Watching the squirrels that occasionally scampered across the large trees and seeing the wildflowers and green grass by the roadside, everyone was in a fantastic mood, chattering excitedly about the wonderful three-day vacation that was about to begin.

"Look, our village is just ahead," Qi Dazhu said with a smile, pointing to the settlement that had appeared in front of them after walking for over half an hour with the large group of students.

"Wow, it’s so beautiful!" one of the students exclaimed, their eyes wide with surprise. More than half of the students in Su Qing’s class were from the city and had never seen such a pristine, rustic village. They were all utterly amazed.

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