sovbooks Chapter 20: Only 1 room left.
Chapter 20: Only 1 room left.
As evening approached, the two of them went to the night market at the foot of the mountain.
The night market in the small town in 04 was completely different from the monotonous commercial streets that followed.
There is no unified storefront, no chain brand; they are all stalls set up by locals themselves.
There are vendors selling kebabs, fried noodles, candied hawthorns, and pirated DVDs—you name it, they have it.
The air was filled with the aroma of various foods, and the smell of cooking filled the air.
The streets were packed with people, and shouts rose and fell.
This is what a bustling scene looks like in a small county town during an economic boom.
Yang Mi was like a fish out of water, so excited she couldn't take it all in.
She strolled from one end of the street to the other, stopping to look at almost every stall.
Lin Hao followed behind, carrying all sorts of random things she had bought, making him look like a mobile storage cabinet.
"Why don't you just buy everything and take it all at once? You make me carry each item separately, like I'm your errand boy."
"If you find it annoying, then don't follow me."
"Will I be able to find my way back if I don't follow you?"
Yang Mi thought about it and decided not to refute it for the time being.
After wandering around most of the street, she finally stopped in front of a stall selling handmade jewelry.
The stall displayed various small pendants, bracelets, and necklaces. The workmanship was not exquisite, but the styles were novel.
Yang Mi squatted there for a while, and finally picked up two phone charms.
The two pendants are exactly the same, both being small cartoon monkeys, only the colors are different, one red and the other blue.
"Boss, how much are these two?"
"Ten yuan."
Yang Mi paid the money quickly, then ran up to Lin Hao and shoved the blue one into his hand.
"Here! This is for you!"
Lin Hao looked at the monkey pendant in his hand, and then at the red one in Yang Mi's hand.
"Don't overthink it! It's just a buddy gift!" Yang Mi glared at him. "See how much I care about you, giving you this as a gift. Aren't you touched?"
"I'm so touched. This is the first time in my life I've received such a precious gift—a five-yuan monkey toy."
"Can you please stop being such a spoilsport every time?"
"Okay, okay, thanks."
Lin Hao hung the pendant on his Nokia phone.
The little blue monkey is swaying around under the phone; it's quite amusing.
Yang Mi also hung the red one on her Motorola.
The two of them held up their phones and compared them, and hey, they actually looked quite compatible.
Yang Mi smiled with satisfaction, then quickly wiped the smile off her face and resumed her nonchalant expression.
Next, we ate.
The two found a roadside food stall, sat down, ordered a few dishes, and two bottles of soda.
I didn't drink alcohol.
Although the checks weren't strict in this era, Lin Hao's habits from his previous life meant he didn't like drinking while working.
Yang Mi didn't care; she didn't drink much anyway.
After eating and drinking their fill, the two walked back along the street.
The autumn nights in the mountains are a bit chilly.
The crowds on the street gradually thinned out, and the shops on both sides began to close one after another.
The streetlights cast a dim, yellowish light overhead, stretching the two people's shadows long.
For some reason, the two of them didn't talk much on the way back.
Yang Mi was unusually quiet, with her hands in her hoodie pockets and her head down as she walked slowly.
Lin Hao didn't say anything, and just walked half a step away from her.
The two of them walked on in silence.
Occasionally, a car would drive by, its headlights sweeping across their faces.
Occasionally, pedestrians returning home at night would brush past each other, their hurried footsteps fading into the night.
This silence is not awkward.
It's a tacit understanding that only exists between very familiar people, a comfortable understanding that doesn't require words.
The atmosphere wasn't broken until the two arrived at the hotel they had booked in advance.
Because of something the receptionist said.
"I'm sorry, there's only one double room left."
Yang Mi's expression changed instantly.
"What did you say, sister? There's only one room left?"
"Yeah, it's the weekend, there's some kind of event on the mountain, and all the rooms are booked. There's only one double room left, with two beds. Do you want it?"
Yang Mi turned her head to look at Lin Hao, then looked at the dark street outside.
It's too late to find another hotel now.
Moreover, it doesn't seem very safe for a girl like her to be searching for a room in a strange town late at night.
In the end, it was Lin Hao who spoke up.
"This room is fine. It has two beds, not just one."
The receptionist happily handed me the key.
I went upstairs, opened the door, and found the room to be small but fairly clean.
Two single beds, separated by a bedside table with a lamp on it.
After the two went inside, neither of them spoke first.
The atmosphere became somewhat strange for a moment.
Yang Mi stood at the door, looked around the room, and then broke the silence first.
"What's going on with this hotel? All the rooms are gone for the weekend? Rat, you didn't conspire with the front desk, did you?"
What's on your mind?
"Hehe..." Yang Mi suddenly grinned mischievously, "Just say you like me, maybe I'll give you a chance if I'm in a good mood."
"An opportunity? What opportunity? An opportunity for me to carry your luggage for one night? Thank you, no thanks."
Yang Mi rolled her eyes.
"Boring."
She plopped down on the bed by the window and started rummaging through her bag.
After a while, perhaps feeling that the atmosphere was too quiet, she spoke again.
"Mouse, what kind do you like?"
"What kind of?"
"Girl, what type do you like? Someone like Liu Yifei? The pure and cute type?"
Lin Hao looked up at her with an expression that said, "Why are you here again?"
"She is underage."
"Someone like Liu Xiaoli? The mature and intellectual type?"
"..."
"You're actually considering it?" Yang Mi's voice rose a few octaves.
"I didn't say anything!"
"You hesitated! You clearly hesitated just now!"
"I don't!"
"You have it! I saw it! Your eyes betrayed you!"
Lin Hao deeply understood what it meant to be "unable to defend oneself."
Arguing with someone like Yang Mi about this kind of issue is simply walking into a trap.
No matter how you answer, she can always find a way to criticize you.
The only correct thing to do is: not to answer.
"I'm going to sleep." Lin Hao lay down on the bed, pulled the blanket over himself, and said, "I have to go back to Beijing tomorrow."
Yang Mi scoffed.
"Going to sleep so early? You're a grown man, sharing a room with a pretty girl, don't you have any ulterior motives?"
Lin Hao's muffled voice came from under the blanket.
"have."
Yang Mi's body stiffened slightly.
"I want you to shut up so I can get some sleep."
"...Lin Hao, you just wait."
Yang Mi grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.
After arguing for a while, the two finally calmed down.
Yang Mi was lying on her bed when she suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, are you going back to Beijing to go back to school? Finally, it's your turn to suffer, haha."
"I'm not going back to school," Lin Hao's voice came from the other bed. "Director Yu told me there's a role in a play that would be perfect for me, and they're casting. He gave me the audition time and address, and told me to go back and give it a try."
The room was silent for a few seconds.
Yang Mi slowly turned her head, her eyes widening in the darkness.
"What did you say?"
"Director Yu recommended a role to me."
"...You just finished filming, and you've already taken on a new project?"
"I haven't accepted the role yet, I'm just going to the audition."
Yang Mi remained silent for a long while.
Then she turned over, her back to Lin Hao.
In the darkness, no one could see her expression.
I'm happy.
This gave him a new opportunity.
There was also a hint of... urgency that was hard to explain.
Her portrayal of Guo Xiang hasn't even started filming yet, and he's already going to audition for his next project.
We agreed to pursue acting together, but this lazy bum ran away way too fast.
"Go to sleep," Lin Hao's voice rang out in the darkness, tinged with drowsiness.
"......Um."
Yang Mi closed her eyes.
My phone is on my pillow, and the outline of the blue monkey keychain is faintly visible in the darkness.
She quietly reached out and touched it.
Then she turned over and buried her face in the blanket.