Departure to Licheng

Under the night sky, the two could only vaguely see the outlines of each other's faces.

Accompanied by a faint, fresh fragrance and the gentle night breeze,

they uncontrollably drew closer to one another.

As the distance narrowed, warm breaths drifted onto each other's faces.

Su Qingci's eyes grew hazy, her heartbeat quickened. Her mind went blank as she slowly closed her eyes.

Su Yang, no longer able to hold back, leaned in.

The moment they touched, they embraced each other fervently.

Two minutes later, Su Yang scooped her up in his arms and carried her towards the bed in the room.

Su Qingci didn't utter a single word the entire time, letting Su Yang carry her. Her mind was already in a daze from the previous two minutes.

Things had nearly gotten out of control earlier in the car; if not for the interruption, they probably would have "talked" already.

Now, in the pitch-black room, the atmosphere had reached its peak with no further interruptions. What followed happened naturally.

Su Yang reached the bedside. Su Qingci wrapped her arms around his neck, and they fell onto the bed together.

......

Good times are always fleeting.

In the blink of an eye, it was 9 AM. Su Yang woke up in his own room's bed.

After "talking" last night, he had returned to his own room to sleep. The others were still in dreamland.

Su Yang pushed himself up, leaning against the headboard, and rubbed his slightly tousled hair.

After sitting dazedly for two minutes, he spoke in his mind.

—System, show me the latest balance.

【Balance: 529,695,932 yuan】

—Damn, over five small goals. Suddenly, money feels like just a string of numbers.

—But I like this feeling. Money, who would ever have enough of it?

—Right, both side quests are complete. System, take out that Richard Mille for me.

【Retrieved】

As soon as the system's voice faded, Su Yang's vision blurred slightly, and a sleek black wooden box was already in his hand.

He brought it close, opened it, and examined it carefully. A tourbillon watch in blue and black lay before him.

The watch featured an openworked tonneau-shaped dial, paired with a blue strap and a TPT carbon fiber case, looking both stylish and sporty.

This watch was also hailed as the "Lamborghini Sesto Elemento" of the watch world, limited to 30 pieces globally. Its release price was over 9.2 million, but the current market price had been driven up to over 17 million.

Su Yang picked up the watch and muttered to himself, "This little thing is worth over 17 million? A walking villa! So extravagant~"

As he spoke, he casually put the watch on, looked at it from side to side, and nodded in satisfaction. "I'm not a huge fan of the design itself, but thinking about the price... the more I look at it, the better it looks~"

Su Yang checked the time; it was only 9:10 AM.

"The others probably aren't up yet. I'll lounge a bit longer~"

Picking up his phone, he thought of Zhong Qing, who had said she would come to see him today.

Opening Douyin, he saw the message notification bar had turned 99+ again.

Clicking in, he saw Zhong Qing had sent him a private message an hour ago; she was probably on the plane now.

"I'm on my way, see you soon~"

Along with the message was a photo from the airport departure lounge.

"Incredible. This girl really has guts, daring to make such a decision about someone she barely knows."

"Alright, come on then."

Thinking this, Su Yang replied: "I won't be heading to Licheng until around noon. Find yourself a place to stay when you arrive~"

After sending it, he continued scrolling through Douyin.

Time slipped by unnoticed until 11 AM, when the others began waking up one after another.

Su Yang took a shower, quickly styled his hair, then changed into a grey LV T-shirt, a pair of thin jeans, and blue-and-white reversed Swoosh sneakers, which actually matched the watch's color quite well.

He checked himself in the full-length mirror, nodded in satisfaction, grabbed his everyday bag, and pushed the door open.

Soon, he arrived at the first-floor living room. Pan Ning, Meng Wenzhou, Liu Bo, Tang Ziyun, Meng Qianyu, and Chu Qiunan were sitting around the sofa, having a combined breakfast and lunch.

The homestay originally provided breakfast, but everyone had gotten up quite late, missing the breakfast window.

So, Liu Bo had simply ordered some takeout.

Seeing Su Yang come down, Liu Bo waved and called out, "You're up, Yang-ge! Come get some food, it just arrived."

"Alright." Su Yang agreed and walked over to sit on the sofa.

Meng Qianyu, smiling, helped Su Yang open a box of Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles: "Here you go, Su Yang-ge."

"Thank you~ Where are the others?"

"Probably just woke up. I tagged them in the group chat. Never mind them, let's eat first."

"What time did you guys get up?" Su Yang asked, opening the disposable chopsticks.

"Only about half an hour ago."

At that moment, both Meng Wenzhou and Chu Qiunan noticed the new watch on Su Yang's wrist.

Chu Qiunan narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Lao Su, that watch of yours... is it the RM 53-01?"

Su Yang was momentarily surprised, then smiled. "Oh? You recognize it?"

"Of course. I've been researching this watch for ages, trying to get someone to source one for me, but still no luck. How did you manage to get your hands on it?"

Su Yang thought for a moment, preparing to come up with a random excuse.

But Meng Wenzhou spoke first: "You're making a fuss, kid. If he can get his hands on an F80, he naturally has his own channels for buying this watch too."

"That's exactly why I want to ask who he bought it from. I want to get one too."

"Looks like you're pretty well-off yourself, kid. This watch is going for nearly twenty million now."

"I could bite the bullet and afford it if I had to."

"This watch is two thousand? Let me see~" Meng Qianyu leaned closer to Su Yang for a better look.

"It's not that nice-looking either. A two-thousand-yuan watch doesn't suit Su Yang-ge's style. I'll get you an expensive one another day, hehe."

Hearing this, the others exchanged amused glances.

"Qianyu, I meant twenty million," Meng Wenzhou said with a faint smile.

"T-twenty million? For this watch?!" Meng Qianyu exclaimed in surprise.

It wasn't that she thought twenty million was expensive; that amount was just a matter of asking Meng Jianyun or Meng Wenzhou for her.

It was just that she knew nothing about watches and hardly ever wore one, so she found it hard to understand why a little thing worn on the wrist could cost so much.

"Mhm." Meng Wenzhou nodded.

Meng Qianyu sat back in her seat and continued eating her noodles, not interjecting further.

"Lao Su, hurry up and tell me, you're killing me with suspense," Chu Qiunan pressed.

Su Yang smiled. "I'll ask around for you when we're back in Haicheng."

"Great, great! Thanks a lot then."

......

After everyone had been eating and chatting for a few more minutes, Tang Ziyun asked, "What time are we setting off later?"

Meng Wenzhou thought for a moment. "Let's wait for the others to get up and have something to eat, then we'll go~"

"Sounds good."

After they finished eating, the others gradually trickled into the living room.

Su Yang specifically looked towards Su Qingci as she walked in. He had expected her to seem somewhat awkward or shy.

But she appeared completely normal, her demeanor usual, showing not a hint of anything out of the ordinary.

Su Qingci walked over carrying two coffee-colored leather bags and greeted everyone.

Picking up one of the bags, she looked at Tang Ziyun and asked, "Ziyun-jie, is this bag yours?"

Tang Ziyun looked up and examined it carefully, asking somewhat blankly, "Huh? That looks like mine. How did you end up with it?"

"Last night, I realized I hadn't brought my bag down, so I asked Brother Su Yang to go with me to fetch it from the car. Who knew your bag looked so much like mine? I grabbed the wrong one the first time."

"Oh, I see. That explains it."

"Hehe, here you go. I didn't open it to look."

"No worries." Tang Ziyun gave a gentle smile, reached out to take the leather bag Su Qingci handed over, and placed it beside her.

After returning the bag, Su Qingci plopped down next to Meng Qianyu with a smile. "What are you eating?"

"Crossing-the-bridge rice noodles. Eat them while they're hot, or they'll get cold."

"Alright." Su Qingci agreed, opened the container, and started eating.

......

Twenty minutes later, after everyone finished eating, they picked up their personal belongings and headed out the villa gate one after another.

Soon, the group arrived at the parking courtyard. Su Yang went to the lobby to check out.

The others got into the cars first to wait.

At exactly twelve o'clock, three cars drove out of the guesthouse courtyard and headed towards Lijiang, the neighboring city.

The distance from Ercheng to Lijiang is just over 170 kilometers. Compared to the previous two trips of over 800 kilometers, this leg of the journey felt very relaxed.

In Su Yang's car, the three girls in the back chatted cheerfully the whole way.

Pan Ning chimed in occasionally but spent most of the time leaning back with her eyes closed, resting.

A little over two hours later, at 2:10 PM, the three cars exited the Lijiang highway toll station.

"Brother Su Yang, where are we staying today?"

Su Yang glanced at Meng Qianyu in the rearview mirror and smiled. "When you come to Lijiang, you definitely stay in Dayan Ancient Town."

"Where's Dayan Ancient Town? How come I've never heard of it?" Meng Qianyu asked, puzzled.

Tang Ziyun, sitting beside her, explained with a laugh, "Dayan Ancient Town is the Lijiang Ancient Town, the one that's the most popular and crowded."

"Ohhh, so it's the same place after all."

"Exactly."

"That's great. I've seen it online; that old town is really beautiful, with mountains and a little river running through it."

"Let's drive there first, find a place to park, and then book a guesthouse."

"Sounds good."