Chapter 200: Chapter 200

The next morning, Qin Zhen helped the two of them get to the train station, having obtained two sleeper tickets through a contact.

Qin Zhen watched the two go through the gate, a look of grievance on his face, wondering why he couldn’t go along.

Li Xianglu, seeing the pitiful Qin Zhen, couldn’t refrain from calling out, "Go back quickly, I’ll bring back something delicious for you."

Qin Zhen’s mood quickly lifted, and he happily went home.

Qin Xi shook his head; his younger brother was still not grown up.

They didn’t arrive early and reached half an hour before the train was set to depart; fortunately, it was the first train of the day and was not delayed, and it set off almost as soon as they settled in.

It was Mr. Xun’s second son who had helped purchase the tickets this time, two tickets for soft sleepers, top and bottom berth, which was quite convenient.

The compartment was for four people, and the other two were men in their late thirties who were not very talkative. They just greeted each other after boarding and then busied themselves with their own activities.

Li Xianglu brought a large lunch box of cold noodles, with sauces separately packed, and also rou jia mo with lean meat. The two enjoyed their meal a lot. The others, seeing the lunchbox, knew it was homemade and were too embarrassed to ask about it.

Both had brought books, and since there were strangers around, aside from reading and sleeping, they went to the dining car for meals. The journey was quite pleasant, and they arrived in the province by the next afternoon.

Prior to this, Qin Xi had called He Chongguang to tell him he was going back to his county for a visit, and in turn, He Chongguang had informed Qin Xi that he was also going to the province for a meeting and could take the two back with him.

So, upon disembarking the train without stopping for a meal, they went straight to the guesthouse where He Chongguang was staying.

He Chongguang was still in a meeting, so Qin Xi simply booked two rooms and decided they’d stay the night.

Having traveled by train for a day and a half, neither had rested well. They had already eaten lunch and weren’t hungry, so after entering their rooms and washing up fleetingly, they both went to sleep.

They slept until the evening when someone knocking on the door woke them up, and Li Xianglu changed her clothes and came out rubbing her eyes, smiling at the tall, robust man in front of her, saying cheerfully, "Uncle He!"

He Chongguang sighed and smiled back, "What made you think of coming back?"

Then he playfully tapped Qin Xi, saying, "You rascal, getting married and not even mentioning it!"

Qin Xi grinned and replied, "I only got engaged and obtained the marriage certificate. I plan to hold the wedding next year. You must definitely grace the occasion, Uncle He!"

He Chongguang chuckled, "Of course, if I’m not tied up, I will definitely come to the capital and attend your wedding!"

Qin Xi immediately nodded, promising to host him well.

In the afternoon, the three found a famous paomo restaurant and ordered three servings of lamb paomo, a plate of cold dishes, and He Chongguang brought a small bottle of liquor.

Speaking of which, the Guanzhong paomo is a true delicacy; it’s not just any soup with torn bread and some slices of meat put together. It definitely has a legacy.

Some places make it just a tad lacking, not authentic enough. Some have the broth and bread separate, not blending well, others have tasteless bread, flavor not fully absorbed into it, and some just don’t have fragrant enough meat. In essence, the broth is key, the bread is key, the meat is key - all must be done well, reflecting the heritage.

And the restaurant opened by He Chongguang is a state-run one, specializing in paomo and basin mutton balls soup, always doing brisk business. Regardless of whether hot weather suits eating mutton, the place is crowded, wealthier folks opting for a bowl of paomo and those less affluent settling for a bowl of meatball soup.

Li Xianglu has had flatbread soaked in mutton soup in her previous life. She knew that one shouldn’t haphazardly stir it with chopsticks, or else it would turn into chicken feed. You could only eat a small bit in front of you and then gradually eat your way to the back until all was finished. It’s more and more delicious the more you eat it, with some pickled garlic added, the flavor was simply incredible.

A bowl of mutton flatbread costs one dollar and eighty cents, a plate of cold dishes fifty cents, a whole big stack of them, all together cost five dollars and ninety cents. Li Xianglu really loved the purchasing power in Guanzhong.

After the meal, everyone was sweaty from eating. Qin Xi and He Chongguang had some alcohol during the meal and were even more jovial in their conversation.

The three of them walked back, a bit tipsy, and all went to sleep since they would depart at six in the morning.

Li Xianglu had a dreamless night and was woken up by knocking on the door. First, she turned on the light to check the time—it was five-thirty—then got up and went to the door to ask, "Who is it?"

Qin Xi answered from the other side, "It’s me, hurry up and get up, eat some food, and we’ll be setting off soon."

Li Xianglu opened the door to let Qin Xi in and then turned around to flop back on her bed. So sleepy.

Seeing her , Qin Xi helplessly said, "Hurry up. You can sleep more in the car. Uncle He is already downstairs getting the car ready."

Li Xianglu pouted unhappily. Seeing this, Qin Xi could only come over, hug her, give her a kiss, and then finally saw her get up and start changing.

By the time they were ready to leave, it was exactly six o’clock. He Chongguang, all smiles, said, "Alright, let’s go have breakfast before we leave."

Speaking of eating, it was more like buying breakfast. Qin Xi went down and directly bought thirty pork buns and filled two thermoses with rice porridge.

Including the driver, He Chongguang, and the two of them, there were four people total. Thirty buns were more than enough and could be eaten along the way if not finished.

Li Xianglu had no appetite that morning, just drank some porridge and dozed off leaning on Qin Xi.

It wasn’t until past ten that she felt hungry. The ride was quite bumpy. Along the way, they stopped at a canteen, ordered four stir-fried noodles, reheated the morning’s buns, and drank some tea. The four of them hardly rested before hitting the road again.

Li Xianglu could be said to be a sleep god; no matter how bumpy the ride, she could always sleep, which made He Chongguang, who got carsick easily, extremely envious.

The drive was much faster than the long-distance bus. They arrived in the county at one in the afternoon. They couldn’t stay at home, and the two had no plans to stay there anyway. So, they had someone park the car at the county guesthouse. They planned to stay there for a day and head to Li Family Village the next morning.

He Chongguang saw that the two were really not in any trouble, but actually the house accommodated many as Mr. Li’s eldest son’s wife had just had a baby, and the place wasn’t spacious. But after all, it was Mr. Li’s house. With people coming and staying at the guesthouse, he felt somewhat guilty, so he said, "Qin Xi, I know you are back for some matters. Here’s what, you can use this car tomorrow. Just give me a notice if you use it."

Qin Xi happily replied, "Thank you, Uncle He. Actually, I was just planning to go to Li Family Village tomorrow to pick up a patient. Your timing couldn’t be better!"

He Chongguang, seeing that he had hit the nail right on the head, also happily said, "That’s good, as long as it’s convenient for you."

Li Xianglu and Qin Xi stayed at the guesthouse, and Li Xianglu took a quick wash and went straight to sleep.

Meanwhile, Qin Xi went out to collect some things. Li Xianglu had prepared a big black cloth bag in advance to keep things out of sight.

Qin Xi found it amusing—how greedy this girl was!

ps: Did it offend someone? Can’t figure it out.

It’s past one, I’m going to sleep, this Chapter is timed for seven. I need to go upstairs for a meeting, with a dinner afterward, and it will be past two before I can return to the office, then probably around three or four when I will post the new Chapter.