Chapter 209: Chapter 209

All the way, Li Xianglu was in a bad mood and did not wish to speak, staring out the window or quietly leaning on Qin Xi’s shoulder, lost in thought.

In front, a woman fussed with her make-up for a while and then took a nap. When she woke up, she looked outside to see the same yellowish-brown slopes and asked the driver unhappily, "Why are we still here? Why don’t you drive faster?"

The driver glanced at her but did not speak, just drove as usual.

Seeing this response, the woman got irate and turned to look at Qin Xi and Li Xianglu sitting behind her.

When she saw Qin Xi, her eyes lit up and she feigned a surprised tone, "Comrade, where are you going? I wasn’t feeling well when I got on and took a nap, so I didn’t have a chance to greet you."

She obviously ignored Li Xianglu, a living person right there, and only greeted Qin Xi.

Qin Xi gave her a bland look and, without saying anything, leaned back in his seat and pretended to sleep.

Surprised by his lack of response, the woman felt somewhat embarrassed. Being naturally thick-skinned, it didn’t affect her and she called out to Li Xianglu, "Hey hey, where are you going?"

Li Xianglu turned her head and saw the woman’s heavily made-up face looking like it was smeared with clay. She couldn’t help but smile wryly, leaning softly on Qin Xi’s shoulder as if she too was about to fall asleep.

The woman in front was dumbstruck. She could tell that these two were probably girlfriend and boyfriend, but she didn’t want to accept it, wondering why such a good man already had a girlfriend.

Seeing that no one paid attention to her, she stared irritably out of the window, urging the driver to go faster from time to time.

Halfway through the trip, the woman insisted on stopping to eat, so the driver had no choice but to stop in front of a State-owned canteen in a county town.

The woman, clutching her purse, stepped out with her head held high.

Qin Xi said to the driver, "Brother Liu, no hurry, let’s have some food before we go. I apologize for troubling you today by personally taking us to the province."

Driver Liu, in his thirties, was a driver for high-ranking officers. This vehicle was specially requested via a phone call by Commander Lan to their superior to take them directly to the province. He had heard that the people they were transporting were influential, hailing from a prominent family in the capital, whose presence simply outshone others.

The woman had already ordered food by the time they entered and was sitting with chopsticks in hand, waiting to eat, pretending not to know them.

Li Xianglu shook her head, ignoring her, and walked forward to politely ask, "Master Chef, do you have any rice today?"

Seeing Li Xianglu’s politeness, the master chef felt good and shook his head, "No, today we have some lamb head meat and soup, but not much left."

Li Xianglu happily requested, "Then three bowls of lamb head meat soup, and if there’s lamb head available, could you serve three portions?"

"Lamb head is indeed available, but it’s a popular dish and usually reserved. Since you asked politely, we have two heads left, but they are 30 cents each."

Li Xianglu smiled and nodded, "Alright, two will do. Also, bring two jin of Baiji Bread, and a small dish of chopped hot peppers marinated in vinegar." In Guanzhong, coarse slices of hot peppers mixed with vinegar and salt serve as a dish, added into the bread for a spicy and savory treat.

The chef then collected the food tickets and money and shouted to the kitchen, "Three bowls of lamb head meat soup, two lamb heads, two jins of bread, a dish of vinegar-marinated hot peppers!"

Li Xianglu walked up with regret and said, "Can’t drink while driving, otherwise I’d let Qin Xi and Brother Liu enjoy a good drink. What a coincidence today, we’ve got sheep’s head meat."

Driver Liu usually drives for high-ranking officials and meets a lot of people, so he’s used to eating and drinking a lot. When he entered, he was about to pay with food tickets, but Qin Xi rejected it, saying that they were all friends.

Hearing the polite words from the young lady now made him feel even more embarrassed.

The woman next to them heard the entire conversation and snickered, thinking how a mere driver was overly eager to please, was it really necessary!

The sheep’s head meat was already cooked; they only needed to add vermicelli and chopped green onions to the broth, so it was served quickly, and in nearly ten minutes, someone called out. Qin Xi and Driver Liu quickly got up to help serve the food.

The woman sitting by them saw the three each got a bowl of soup with visible meat and became displeased, she yelled towards the service window, "I was here first, where’s my meal?"

The staff at the State-owned canteen weren’t easy to push around, and with seasoned tactics, they responded sarcastically, "If you can’t wait, just leave, no one is begging you to stay!"

The woman was shocked and wide-eyed, "You guys!"

Li Xianglu looked at the large bowl of sheep’s head meat, her mouth watering, eight yuan each, a full bowl, with just a tiny bit of expensive vermicelli, and milky white soup. Instead of eating right away, she scooped half for Qin Xi and wanted to save room for a sheep’s head herself.

Seeing the full bowl, Qin Xi said to Brother Liu with a wry smile, "Now that my wife has seen the sheep’s head, she won’t eat the meat, and I can’t finish it either. Brother Liu, you’ll have to help me out."

Brother Liu, hearing this, laughed heartily, "You two are married?"

Qin Xi replied, "Yes," and passed some over with his chopsticks without further comment.

Brother Liu, surprised at how young they looked to be married, cheerfully said, "You two seem very well matched!"

The three of them were sweating as they ate, enjoying the chewy textures from the collagen-rich meat which was slightly fatty but considered premium food in those days, so everyone ate happily.

In contrast, a person at the opposite table mixed oily noodles which didn’t look appetizing, nor did they taste great. It was supposed to be white flour but looked so dark, obviously a swindle because only one person was being deceived! Nonetheless, unable to let it go, she managed to finish, but seeing the trio still enjoying and laughing made her feel even more frustrated, shouting, "Hey, are you guys ever leaving?"

Driver Liu, no longer holding back, casually said, "If you can’t wait, you go first. After all, it’s not you that our Commander asked me to drive."

The woman was furious upon hearing this, her eyes reddened. It turned out he was specifically assigned to drive these two, but considering their decent appearance, why were they being so polite to a driver?

The woman angrily turned and left.

Driver Liu then whispered, "That’s the daughter of the Wang Family’s servant, said to have secured a job in the province. Hearing there was a ride going there, she came. So old and still so unserious!"

So that was the reality. They didn’t speak further, didn’t leave immediately after eating, asked for some hot water, and then got into the car.

The woman, having grown impatient, rolled her eyes and went straight to sit in the front.

Li Xianglu didn’t bother about it—it was just someone they met on the road, why bother entertaining them. She just didn’t expect that two years later she would meet this person again, appearing in a different role.

ps: I need to go buy some groceries, I’ll be back to write at eight, there should be at least two more updates tonight, thanks to everyone this month! Bowing in gratitude!