I Promise

The group chatted happily. Over two hours later, Chu Qiunan and Gao Yue finished buying their gear. After stowing their purchases, they headed to the café to regroup with the main party.

"Damn, have you guys just been sitting here the whole time?" Chu Qiunan asked as he and Gao Yue walked up to the second floor and looked at the others by the window.

"Yup."

"You guys have some serious sitting stamina. You were here two hours ago, and I didn't expect you to still be here when we finished shopping," Chu Qiunan said as he and Gao Yue found a place to sit.

"Isn't sitting and chatting slowly the whole point of a café? Did you guys get everything?"

"We're good. By the way, do we need to restock any supplies here in Ya'an?" Chu Qiunan asked, looking around the group.

"What kind of supplies?"

"You know, snacks, water, canned food, that sort of thing."

"We could buy some, but there's no rush. It's not like we can't buy things at the next few stops," Zhang Ziming said indifferently.

"Yeah, true. Let's wait until we get to the Holy City then."

As they chatted, a server walked over with two menus and handed them to Chu Qiunan and Gao Yue.

"I'm actually thirsty. I'll have a coconut Americano."

Gao Yue looked at the menu and ordered a mint lemon soda.

The server nodded with a smile and turned to leave.

Since it was still early, everyone continued to sit and chat in the café. For dinner, Su Qingci won the right to pay the bill. She booked a table at a Ya'an Clay Pot Ya Fish restaurant that had a high rating on the Tuantuan app.

At 5:30 PM, the group got up and left the café, strolling toward the restaurant about a kilometer away.

Along the way, just as Meng Qianyu had mentioned earlier, the streets were indeed full of cars plastered with "Must Drive Route 328 in This Lifetime" stickers.

SUVs were the most common, followed by sedans, EVs, and fully equipped motorcycles.

Suddenly, the atmosphere of a self-driving road trip into Tibet became increasingly intense.

The girls were visibly excited, especially Meng Qianyu. Every time a car with stickers drove past, she would call out for the others to look.

"Seriously, Qianyu, why are you so excited? You've been chattering and making a fuss the whole way. It's just a few cars."

"I don't know! I'm just pumped!"

Meng Wenzhou shook his head and smiled. "You really are just a big kid."

They strolled leisurely. The afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto the straight street, casting a layer of golden shimmer that looked like holy light.

Combined with the diverse crowd of tourists on the street and the verdant mountains in the distance, it was like a beautiful, moving painting slowly unfolding before them.

"It's so beautiful!" The girls hurriedly pulled out their phones to take pictures.

Meng Qianyu ran up to Su Yang, beaming. "Brother Su Yang, take a selfie with me!"

"Sure." Su Yang cooperated perfectly, looking at the camera lens and flashing a peace sign.

After taking the photo, Meng Qianyu nodded in satisfaction and ran over to Meng Wenzhou and Pan Ning. "Bro, Sis, let's take one of the three of us."

"Alright."

Meng Qianyu happily stood between them and stretched out her arm for a selfie.

"Okay!"

"All right, that's enough. It's crowded, let's stop taking photos for now," Meng Wenzhou called out.

"I know, I know. We can take more on the road tomorrow!"

Chatting and laughing, the group soon arrived at the restaurant serving the clay pot Ya fish.

This time, Su Qingci had reserved a private room in advance. Since they arrived relatively early, they only had to wait about ten minutes before a server led the group of twelve into a spacious private room.

Clay Pot Ya Fish is a classic dish of Ya'an, one that almost every tourist visiting the city tries.

The dish is stewed using local Ya fish. The meat is delicious and lacks any fishy aftertaste, while the soup base is milky white, resembling milk itself. It looked incredibly appetizing.

But fish alone wasn't enough, so they ordered many other specialty dishes.

Soon, a large table was filled with a sumptuous spread.

No one stood on ceremony; everyone picked up their bowls and started digging in.

An hour and a half later, fully satisfied, they left the restaurant and walked along the night streets to digest their meal.

"Any plans for tonight?" Meng Qianyu ran to the front of the group and turned around to ask everyone.

"What kind of plans do you have in mind?" Meng Wenzhou asked with a smile.

"I feel like it's been a long time since we all played a game together. Since there are so many of us, why don't we buy a deck of cards, or maybe Legends of the Three Kingdoms or Werewolf, and play at the hotel?"

"That sounds great!" Su Qingci nodded, clearly interested.

"Hehe, I knew you loved that stuff."

"I vote yes!" Zhong Qing quickened her pace to the front and raised her hand.

"I vote yes too!" Tang Ziyun added.

"Awesome. What about the rest of you?" Meng Qianyu looked at the others.

The others smiled nonchalantly. "If that's the plan, let's do it. We'll just hole up in the hotel and play cards tonight instead of going out."

"Alright! I'll go buy the cards."

"The hotel has them, you don't need to buy any," Meng Wenzhou called out to stop Meng Qianyu.

"What if they don't?"

"I saw them on the front desk counter during the day."

"Really?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

"Then I won't buy any. Let's go!" Meng Qianyu happily linked arms with Su Qingci and Tang Ziyun, skipping ahead of the group.

At that moment, Su Yang looked at Meng Wenzhou and whispered, "I'm going out for a bit later."

"Did you tell Pan Pan?"

"Not yet."

"You'd better tell her, so she doesn't worry."

"I know."

Su Yang slowed down and dropped back to Pan Ning at the rear of the group. "I need to tell you something," he said quietly.

"Go ahead."

"I'm going out alone for a bit later..."

Su Yang briefly explained to Pan Ning that he was being followed.

Pan Ning trusted Su Yang unconditionally, but after hearing this, she became visibly worried. "Then I'll go with you."

"Why would you go? Stay at the hotel and play games with everyone. I'm just going to check on something. I'll be back soon."

"But..."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"Then I'll give you an hour and a half, tops. You have to be standing in front of me in an hour and a half, or else..." Pan Ning stared at Su Yang, leaving the threat unspoken.

Su Yang looked at Pan Ning and smiled gently. "I promise."

......