If You Like Someone, Be Brave and Say It

Chu Qiunan pursed his lips with a noncommittal smile. "Mhm, I saw, but I'm not convinced!"

"You're not convinced?" Liu Bo tilted his head to look at him with a grin.

"Mhm."

"Then why didn't any girls come say hi to you?"

"That's because that girl already knew Old Su yesterday, of course she came to greet him~"

"Still in denial, huh? Alright, alright. Want to compare again when we get to Li City?"

"Sure!"

They chatted idly for over ten minutes until a waiter came out from the kitchen and started serving dishes one after another.

Soon, the table where Su Yang and the others sat was filled with over ten different delicious local stir-fried dishes.

No one stood on ceremony. Everyone was a bit hungry by then, picking up their bowls and digging in heartily.

Half an hour later, everyone was full and satisfied. Chu Qiunan, who finished first, took the initiative to pay at the counter.

Then, the group left the restaurant.

Su Yang walked at the back. As he passed Tian Wei's table, she happened to be looking at him too.

"Take your time eating, we're heading off first~" Su Yang nodded to her with a smile.

"Okay, bye~"

"Bye."

"Oh, wait a moment, please..."

Just as Su Yang took a step, Tian Wei's somewhat urgent voice called out from behind again.

He turned to see Tian Wei stand up and jog over to him.

"What's up?"

"Uh..." Standing before Su Yang, Tian Wei suddenly didn't know what to say. For some reason, she just felt an impulse to stop him.

"Um... so, how many days are you planning to stay in Er City?"

"Just today, we're leaving tomorrow~"

"Leaving tomorrow already? That's so soon."

"Mhm, we're on a road trip, planning to play our way all to Sacred City."

"Oh... okay. So, where's your next stop?"

"Li City."

"Li City... okay. Well, have a pleasant journey~" Tian Wei looked up at Su Yang and gave a sincere smile.

Su Yang also smiled and nodded. "You too. See you if fate allows. We're off~"

"Bye... bye." By the time Tian Wei raised her hand, Su Yang had already turned and left.

She only returned to her seat after watching the group outside get on their electric scooters and disappear.

"Xiao Wei, what's wrong? You didn't fall for him, did you?"

"Yeah, this is like love at first sight~"

"Ah, what nonsense are you talking about? Who's in love at first sight?" Tian Wei picked up her chopsticks, feeling awkward.

Although she wouldn't admit it, her slightly flushed cheeks at that moment were proof enough.

"Xiao Wei, if you like him, just go tell him. What are you afraid of? If you don't say it now, maybe after this parting, you'll never see him again in your whole life~"

Hearing this, Tian Wei's hand, which was picking up food, froze mid-air.

"That's right, Weiwei, you can still catch up if you go now~"

"Yeah, Weiwei, if you like someone, you have to be brave and say it!! There's nothing to be embarrassed about!"

"Worst case scenario, even if that handsome guy doesn't like you and rejects you, you'll just be a little embarrassed at the time, but at least you won't regret it!"

"Right, Weiwei, you should still be able to catch up now!"

The three girls around Tian Wei kept cheering her on, almost convincing her.

But deep down, she was clear-headed. She and Su Yang had only met twice. Running up to him now and saying she liked him was too sudden and would be super awkward.

She absolutely couldn't bring herself to do it. Besides, she had Su Yang's WeChat, so it wasn't like she couldn't contact him later.

Thinking this, Tian Wei's face brightened with a smile, and she continued eating.

"Eh? Weiwei, why won't you listen? If it were me, I'd definitely go confess to him!"

"Yeah, it's hard to come across a guy this handsome who can also sing~"

"Stop it, you guys. Eat."

"Sigh, alright then. Looks like you've missed your chance~~"

......

At three in the afternoon, Su Yang and the others arrived one after another at the entrance of a food market on their scooters.

Meng Wenzhou and Liu Bo, who were in front, stopped their vehicles first.

Liu Bo turned to look at the others behind. "Should we buy some groceries here to take back?"

"Buy groceries? For what?" Tang Ziyun asked, puzzled.

"Hehe, to have Brother Yang cook us a big feast tonight. The villa has a kitchen, you know."

Tang Ziyun thought for a moment, then smiled. "That's true. Su Yang's cooking is really good~"

Just then, Ji Bo rode up and stopped. "Why'd we stop?"

"We're discussing whether to buy some groceries from the market to take back."

"Oh, sure, sure." Ji Bo said, turning to look at Su Yang, who was riding over slowly with Meng Qianyu.

"Brother Yang!! Let's buy some groceries here~"

"Groceries?" Su Yang suddenly remembered the others mentioning during the day that they wanted him to cook dinner for everyone.

He shook his head with a resigned smile. "Fine, let's go buy some then."

"Great, hehe."

"Qianyu, what do you want to eat tonight?" Su Yang tilted his head to ask Meng Qianyu behind him.

"I want sweet and sour pork ribs."

"Alright, I'll make it for you."

"Heehee, Brother Su Yang is so good to me~"

At that moment, Pan Ning, with Su Qingci, also rode up. She looked at Su Yang. "What's up?"

"They want to buy some groceries at the market. I'll cook dinner for everyone back at the villa."

Pan Ning nodded. "That works. Let's go~"

Once everyone was together, they rode into the market.

As it was almost dinner time, the market was quite crowded. Su Yang said to the group, "Let's split up to buy. Get whatever you feel like eating, but don't buy too much—just enough for tonight so nothing goes to waste."

"Got it." Everyone agreed and scattered on their scooters.

Su Yang took Meng Qianyu to a pork stall and stopped.

"Qianyu, wait here. I'll go buy the ribs."

"Okay~"

Su Yang got off and walked towards the pork stall.

Before he could get close, the stall owner greeted him warmly. "Handsome, buying meat? This pork was freshly slaughtered today, very fresh~"

Su Yang nodded and walked to the stall to look. The counter was laid out with various cuts of pork.

"Boss, do you have spare ribs?"

"Yes! How much do you want, handsome?"

Su Yang thought. Besides sweet and sour ribs, he could also make braised pork ribs for dinner.

After deciding, he looked at the boss. "About four pounds."

"Great! Need anything else? This pork belly is good too."

Su Yang picked up a piece to look and smiled. "I'll take some of that too. Just one pound is fine~"

"Great, one moment."

Soon, the boss weighed and packed the ribs and pork belly. After Su Yang paid, he returned to the scooter and hung the bag of meat on the handlebar.

"Qianyu, wait a bit longer. I'll go buy some other things."

"Okay~ I'll watch the scooter."

"Mhm." Su Yang smiled and walked towards the vegetable vendors by the roadside.

A few minutes later, he returned to the scooter with some garlic chives, scallions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, a small bottle of vinegar, a small bag of white sugar, and some dried chili peppers.

Meng Qianyu was sitting on the scooter looking at her phone.

"Qianyu, anything else you'd like to eat?"

"Can't think of anything right now~ I'll like whatever Brother Su Yang makes~" Meng Qianyu looked up with a smile.

"Alright, this isn't enough yet. I'll go buy some more."

"Oh, Brother Su Yang."

"What's up?" Su Yang turned to look at Meng Qianyu.

"Do you remember what we talked about before, in that little garden near the hot spring hotel?"

Su Yang looked up at the sky, thought for a moment, and then smiled. "You mean the meteor shower?"

"Yeah! I just happened to see online that there's a Perseid meteor shower over the next few nights."

"Is there a specific time?"

"Let me check." Meng Qianyu lowered her head to look at her phone.

Two minutes later, she looked up. "It says the peak, with the highest number of meteors, will be from 11 PM the day after tomorrow until 3 AM the following morning."

Su Yang thought for a moment. "Really? The night after tomorrow... Okay, we'll be in Licheng by then. There are plenty of great spots there for watching meteor showers. I'll take you to see it then."

"Great!!"

Meng Qianyu stared straight at Su Yang, her bright eyes seeming soft and tender.