After seeing Lu Jingming off, Xu Yanxia went home and spent some time organizing things with her aunt and cousins.
She didn't feel at ease enough to go to sleep until everything was put away neatly.
It was already past ten at night. Lying in bed, she scrolled through her phone and saw the WeChat Moments post Lu Jingming had made over two hours ago.
Smiling, she gave it a like.
Just as she was about to exit the app, there was activity in the Lu Family Foodies group chat.
It was Lu Jingyao, who was currently training hard far away in Jingbei, tagging his brother and asking, [Brother, what first day? Haven't you been on vacation for several days now?]
[Ahhh, I still have twenty days before I can go home!!!]
Before Lu Jingming could answer, his sister Lu Jingxi chimed in, [Idiot, someone ran off to find his true love last night. It's probably his first day seeing his true love.]
Immediately after, Lu Jingyao sent three question marks in a row and tagged his brother again, [Brother, you actually went to Sister Xiaoxia's hometown??? Wow, you're practically the god of pure love!!!]
[I don't care, you have to bring me back some good food from Sister Xiaoxia's hometown when you return!]
His sister Lu Jingxi immediately followed up, [I want some too!!!]
Lu Jingming finally came out to reply to the two of them, [One of you has a competition, and the other has a concert, yet your heads are still full of food?]
But his sister Lu Jingxi just sneered, [Brother, you're totally love-struck, how do you have the nerve to lecture us?]
Lu Jingyao also chimed in, [Exactly! You make it sound like you aren't a foodie yourself. Who knows what good stuff you've been secretly eating in Xiao Xia's hometown, and you even posted on Moments just to make us jealous!]
Xu Yanxia, "..."
Following that, Lu Jingming sent a few smug emojis and said, [I did indeed eat a lot of delicious food.]
Xu Yanxia, "..."
Just as she was wondering whether to say something, the next second, Second Brother Lu and Third Brother Lu tagged her together—
Lu Jingxi, [Xiao Xia, I want delicious food!!!]
Lu Jingyao, [Sister Xiaoxia, I want some too!!!]
"..."
Xu Yanxia had no choice but to quickly reply, [No problem, I will definitely bring some back for both of you. Don't worry.]
Only then did the two finally drop the subject.
However, Lu Jingming sent her a private voice message, "Go to sleep early. Good night."
His voice was filled with tenderness.
Xu Yanxia also replied with a smiling voice message, "Good night."
Then she turned off her phone and fell asleep.
...
When she woke up the next day, she changed her clothes and headed out, taking Lu Jingming to the old town.
Their first stop was to eat some delicious pan-fried buns.
The beef filling was rich and juicy, while the tofu filling was savory and refreshing. Combined with the soft, fluffy dough on the outside and the crispy, fragrant bottom, it was so delicious that they couldn't stop eating.
After filling their stomachs, the two of them strolled along the bluestone paved roads of the old town.
They visited the centuries-old East Garden, fed the koi in the pond, touched the stone drums in front of the old Ming and Qing dynasty houses, and greeted the cats basking in the sun.
They also visited a European-style church.
In just one morning, they had pretty much explored the entirety of the rather small old town.
Lu Jingming asked, "Are you tired? Do you want to find a place to sit down for a bit?"
Because the morning buns were too delicious, both of them had eaten a bit too much. Even though it was already noon, they weren't hungry; their legs were just a little sore from walking.
"Sure,"
Xu Yanxia was about to nod when she suddenly heard someone calling her from the side, "Xu Yanxia?"
It was a girl's voice.
She paused for a moment and turned to look. In a dessert shop by the side of the road, a round-faced girl wearing an apron and a headscarf was waving at her.
She hesitated for a few seconds before recognizing the other person. She led Lu Jingming over to greet the girl, "Sun Yanan?"
The girl smiled happily, "You actually still recognize me? How rare!"
"Even if I couldn't recognize your face, I'd recognize your voice."
Xu Yanxia also smiled and said, "It's still just as loud."
Saying that, she introduced her to Lu Jingming, "My elementary school classmate. We haven't seen each other in many years."
"Yeah, we basically haven't seen each other since you got into that key high school."
Sun Yanan smiled, then looked at Lu Jingming and asked her, "Boyfriend or husband?"
"...Boyfriend,"
Xu Yanxia said with a smile, "I only just graduated this year, how could I get married so quickly."
"I almost forgot, you top students are different from us slackers."
After Sun Yanan said this humorously, she showed off the ring on her ring finger and said, "I'm married."
Xu Yanxia let out a sound of surprise, quite unexpectedly, "So fast! When did you get married?"
"This year on May Day,"
Sun Yanan said, "I only went to a vocational high school, and I had nothing to do after graduating, so I just got married early."
Saying that, she introduced the dessert shop behind her, "My husband and I opened this. We both studied pastry making, and after we got married, we opened this shop."
So that was it.
Xu Yanxia quickly said, "Congratulations!"
The other girl thanked her, then quickly ran back into the shop and brought out two small boxes of cake for her, "Here, try some. They're fresh out of the oven."
"How could I accept?"
Xu Yanxia hurriedly took out her phone, intending to go into the shop to scan the payment code. "I can try it, but I can't eat for free. It's not easy for you to run a shop."
However, Sun Yanan forcefully shoved the cakes into her arms and kept pushing her outward. "It's free, I told you it's a gift! I can at least afford to treat you to this."
She paused, then said quite seriously, "Just consider it an apology for when we were kids."
"I was ignorant back then, saying things like you had no dad or mom. Please don't take it to heart."
This made Lu Jingming, who was standing to the side, pause.
Xu Yanxia froze for a moment and stopped her movement to pay, then smiled and said, "Alright then, I accept."
Sun Yanan smiled at her and then added, "For so many years, I've always wanted to apologize to you, but I just never saw you. Anyway, our cakes are made with real, high-quality ingredients. If you think they taste good, come back and buy some next time."
"I know,"
Xu Yanxia said with a smile, "I could smell it. The ingredients are indeed very pure."
She then asked her, "By the way, Yanan, do you know where I can buy silk threads nearby?"
"Are they for weaving things?"
Sun Yanan pointed in a direction not far ahead, "There's a shop right at that intersection."
"Okay."
Xu Yanxia waved at her, "See you next time."
Then, carrying the small cakes and holding Lu Jingming's hand, she walked away.
...
"Baby,"
They hadn't taken many steps when she suddenly heard Lu Jingming call out to her.
Xu Yanxia's footsteps halted, and she looked at him with wide eyes, "What did you call me?"
"Baby,"
He smiled very candidly.
Xu Yanxia still found it unbelievable, "Why are you suddenly calling me something so cheesy?"
But she saw him stop walking as well, pull her closer into his arms, and say, "Because I consider you my precious baby."
Saying that, he lowered his head and kissed the top of her head.
Then he continued pulling her, caught off guard and looking completely bewildered, forward.
"Let's go weave a true lover's knot."
