Everyone’s Starting to Drool

“Oh man, I really miscalculated. I never checked the distance between the two places before. I didn’t expect it to be just over 150 kilometers—I thought it would be three or four hundred.”

“If I’d known they were this close, we could’ve just hired a car. We would’ve arrived before dark.”

Li Yuanying turned around and smiled. “It’s fine. We’re already on the train, so we might as well take our time and sway along.”

“You’re not in a hurry anymore?”

“Didn’t you just tell me that, for everything, I should lower my expectations a little first? I’ve thought it through. There’s no point in getting too impatient. Taking things as they come is best.”

“Haha, all right, then. We’ll just sway along slowly. But riding such a slow train is really uncomfortable. Even the old-fashioned trains I rode when I was little weren’t this slow. This has to be the slowest train I’ve ever taken, without a doubt.”

“I looked it up. People in Switzerland take things slowly no matter what they’re doing. They go about everything at a leisurely pace every day. Some people even ride horses when they go out,” Li Yuanying said with a laugh.

“Really? That is slow. But slow is good. Men shouldn’t be too fast, either.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m going to sleep.” Su Yang smiled and closed his eyes again.

Li Yuanying stared blankly for a moment before turning to look out the window.

...

The yellow train trundled along for three and a half hours. By then, the sky outside had darkened, and the scenery had become a pitch-black blur.

Only a few scattered points of light could be seen in the distance. The train was exceptionally quiet. Apart from the sound of the wheels grinding against the tracks, there was hardly any other noise.

Everyone had their eyes closed and was resting. At some point, Li Yuanying had fallen asleep as well, her head resting on Su Yang’s shoulder. In the seats beside them, Yoshie and Qingxia were leaning against each other too.

Clack-clack, clack-clack...

A few minutes later, a voice announcement with a faint electric crackle sounded throughout the carriage.

The announcement woke most of the passengers from their sleep.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will soon be arriving at Grindelwald Station...”

At the sound of the announcement, Li Yuanying jolted awake and sat up straight. Su Yang glanced at her, then stretched hard. “Ah, we’re finally almost there. My butt has gone completely numb.”

Li Yuanying rubbed her eyes and looked out at the pitch-black window. “What time is it?”

Su Yang raised his hand and checked his watch. “Seven forty-five. It’ll be eight soon.”

“It’s already dark before eight.”

“It’s autumn now. It gets dark early here in Europe.”

“Good grief, I was totally dazed when I woke up. I didn’t even know where I was.”

“You fell asleep?”

“Mm-hmm. I unconsciously rested my head on your shoulder just now. Don’t take it the wrong way.”

Su Yang smiled. “You can lean on me whenever you want. It’s no big deal. You don’t have to be so polite.”

“Hehe.” Li Yuanying gave Su Yang a cute smile.

By then, Yoshie and Qingxia had also recovered from their groggy sleepiness.

Yoshie took a sip of water and looked at Su Yang. “We’re almost there.”

“Yeah. They just announced that we’ll arrive in about ten minutes. Oh, right, I should ask whether the owner of the house has arrived yet.”

Su Yang took out his phone, found a woman named Aleia, and sent her a message.

“Hello, Ms. Aleia. We’re about to arrive at Grindelwald Station. Are you there yet?”

A few seconds later, Aleia replied, “Hello, Mr. Su. I’m already at the entrance to the train station. I’m waiting for you.”

“Is that so? Great, great. Sorry to trouble you.”

“Not at all. It’s what I should do. You’re my clients, so of course I have to come pick you up. Besides, you paid me more than the usual rate, so I absolutely had to come.”

“Haha, all right. We should arrive in about ten minutes.”

“Okay. Grindelwald Station is small, so you’ll be able to walk out in just a few steps. I’m driving a white Toyota SUV parked in the space to the left of the station entrance. You’ll see it as soon as you come out.”

“Got it. See you soon.”

“See you.”

After ending the conversation, Su Yang looked at the three women. “The owner is already waiting for us at the station entrance. We can get in her car as soon as we go outside and head over to the house.”

“Great. Ah, my back is so sore from sitting, and I’m hungry too,” Li Yuanying said, rubbing her lower back.

“Me too. I’m starving,” Yoshie chimed in. “Right now, I’m craving something made by Su-san.”

“Don’t say that! The more you talk about it, the hungrier I get. I’m practically drooling,” Li Yuanying said with a laugh, swallowing hard.

“Everyone, hang in there a little longer. I’ll make you a proper meal once we get there.”

“Yay!”

The three girls grew excited again.

Clack-clack—clack-clack.

About ten minutes later, the train began to slow down. The voice announcement sounded again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will soon be arriving at Grindelwald... blah blah blah.”

Before the announcement had even finished, the darkness outside the windows gradually gave way to light. The train slowly entered the station and came to a stop.

“We’re here, we’re here. Get ready to get off,” Su Yang said as he stood up and took down all three suitcases.

When the doors opened, a conductor stood beside them, directing passengers as they disembarked.

Their seats happened to be right next to the doors, so the four of them were the first to get off the train.

As soon as they stepped down, a slightly chilly evening breeze brushed against them.

Qingxia rubbed her arms. “It’s a little cold here.”

“The town is more than a thousand meters above sea level, and it’s autumn now, so it’s bound to be chilly. Did all of you bring warm clothes?” Su Yang asked, looking at the three of them.

“I only brought a few light jackets,” Qingxia replied.

Yoshie shook her head. “I only have two light jackets too.”

“I didn’t bring any at all...” Li Yuanying said blankly.

“All right, we’ll deal with that later. There should be clothing stores around here. We can go shopping tomorrow and buy a couple of things.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go. Just follow the other passengers out of the station.”

The four of them pulled their suitcases and followed the crowd toward the exit.

Since this was only a small town, the station itself was tiny. It took them just a few minutes to leave.

The area outside the station was very simple, consisting of nothing more than an open space with parking spots on both sides.

Su Yang turned to the left and spotted the white Toyota SUV among the other vehicles.

A woman who looked to be in her forties was standing beside it. She had long, yellowish-brown hair. She didn’t look particularly old—just like an ordinary European woman—and had a slightly plump figure.

This was the owner of the house, Aleia.

“There she is. Let’s go,” Su Yang said, calling the three women over as he walked toward Aleia.

“Hello, Ms. Aleia,” Su Yang called out with a smile when they drew close.

Aleia looked up and immediately stepped forward with a smile, extending her hand. “Hello, hello. You must be Mr. Su?”

“That’s right. I’m Su Yang.”

“Wonderful. I’ve finally managed to meet you.”

“Are these your friends?”

“Yes. I told you about them before. There are four of us in total.”

“All right. Let’s get in the car first. We can chat on the way.”

“Sure. Could you open the trunk so we can put our luggage inside?”

“No problem.”

Aleia quickly opened the trunk, and Su Yang loaded everyone’s luggage inside.

Yoshie and Qingxia’s suitcases weren’t very large, so everything fit perfectly.

Once they were done, the three girls instinctively took their seats in the back, while Su Yang walked around to the front passenger seat.

“It’s pretty cold here at night,” Su Yang remarked as he fastened his seat belt.

“Yes. Once autumn arrives, the temperature difference between day and night becomes quite significant here. It’s around fifteen degrees Celsius during the day, but drops to four or five degrees at night.”

Aleia spoke in French. The three people in the back couldn’t understand her, so only Su Yang was able to communicate with her.

“Indeed. By the way, I wanted to ask—are there any clothing stores near your house?”

“Clothing stores?” Aleia started the car and turned the steering wheel. “There are some, but not up on the hillside. Most of the buildings there are guesthouses or entire houses like mine that are rented out for short stays. How should I put it? It’s basically a wild residential area with beautiful scenery.”

“The place is situated at the foot of the Eiger, so it’s not very convenient to buy things. If you need anything, you’ll have to walk down to the town. The town has all the usual goods.”

“Is that so? How far is it from the hillside to the town?”

“Not very far—about two kilometers.”

“Oh, all right. How long does it take to drive there from here?”

“It takes about seven or eight minutes from the station. Oh, and Mr. Su, all the ingredients and beer you asked me to prepare have been bought and placed inside the house.”

“Great, great. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s what I should do. We have each other’s contact information, so just let me know if you need anything. I can buy more food for you once you run out.”

“Okay. Where do you usually live?”

“I live in town. The house on the hillside was left to me by my father. It sat empty after he passed away, so I renovated it and planned to turn it into a guesthouse. But it wasn’t large enough, so I could only rent out the entire house instead.”

“That works pretty well too. For groups of four or five tourists like us, renting a whole house is very comfortable.” Su Yang smiled.

“Exactly, exactly.”

As the two chatted, the car soon arrived at the foot of Dreamy Hill.

The slope wasn’t very steep, but it was broad, with several dozen scattered cottages and small villas built across it.

Cars could follow the narrow road up the hill. Aleia’s house was halfway up the slope, in an especially excellent location.

There were no other houses within thirty or forty meters in any direction. The area was surrounded entirely by lush green lawns and trees. It was impossible to see clearly at night, but once dawn came, they would be able to admire scenery that looked straight out of a fairy tale.

......