Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Don’t speak too quickly. Actually, these days I’ve been thinking, once I get better, I’m going to buy a small hill. On it, I’ll build some small cottages, plant some trees, vegetables, and rear chickens, ducks and goats on it. It’ll be returning back to nature,” Wei Hai said.

“Are you going back to nature or starting a farm?” Wang Yao laughed as he heard that.

“Oh, yeah. Doing too much would also defeat the purpose. Sigh. I’ve never been to your hilltop before. Could I come visit soon?” Wei Hai asked. He had heard Wang Mingbao mention before how Wang Yao lived on a hill in his village called Nanshan hill. On the hilltop, there was a small cottage and various trees and herb gardens. It was a reclusive lifestyle like that of Tao Yuanming.

“As long as I’m there, you can come anytime.”

As the two of them were talking, Wang Mingbao walked in.

“You’re here?” Wang Mingbao asked Wang Yao. He had seen Wang Yao’s car outside and so decided to drop by.

“I was hurting like crazy just now, so I called him over,” Wei Hai answered for Wang Yao.

“Wow, that’s pretty good service. Always on standby,” Wang Mingbao said, laughing.

“If you want some tea, you know where to get it.”

“Okay, you don’t have to get up,” Wang Mingbao replied. He brewed himself a cup of tea and sat down.

“Why do I feel that you’re rejoicing at my misfortune?” Wei Hai said, staring suspiciously at Wang Mingbao.

“No, you misunderstood. This is a look of sympathy and concern.”

“Mingbao, if you’re not busy with your shop, you should come and visit him more often. Anyway, he’s got tea here,” Wang Yao said. The situation just now was very dangerous, and if he hadn’t called Wang Yao in time but chose to endure further, he could have passed out from the pain. If he had fainted alone in his shop, no one would have known, and the consequences would be severe.

“Sure.”

“Your area should be pretty safe right?” Wang Yao asked. Looking at Wei Hai now, he definitely didn’t have the strength to even kill a chicken. Perhaps saying that he could be bullied by elementary school children would be a bit of an exaggeration, but he could definitely be threatened by middle school children.

“It’s fine. There’s a police station just 500 meters down the road. As long as the person isn’t blind or crazy, they wouldn’t try anything funny in this area,” Wang Mingbao replied.

It was still raining outside, and the three men sat inside the tea shop drinking tea and chatting. Time passed slowly as the rainwater washed down the streets. The sky began to darken.

After drinking the medicine, Wei Hai was clearly much better.

“Alright, you have a good rest. I’m going back,” Wang Yao said, standing up.

“Don’t rush to leave, have some dinner before going. I’m going to order some takeout,” Wei Hai said.

“Takeout? There’s a restaurant next door that grows their own vegetables. The vegetables are very fresh; the dishes are pretty good too. Shall we go there together?”

“Okay, let’s go then,” Wang Yao replied.

Wei Hai put on a thicker set of clothes.

When they opened the door, a gust of wind blew, and Wei Hai sneezed a few times. The restaurant was only about thirty meters from his teashop, but he walked very slowly.

It was a pretty big restaurant and was in very clean condition. Maybe because it was still early, but there weren’t many customers. For such a restaurant to survive so long in a place like Lianshan County was quite an achievement.

The three of them chose to sit at a table close to the window. They ordered a few dishes and a bowl of soup.

“Do you normally order takeout all the time?”

“Of course not. Sometimes, I’ll cook some noodles or porridge for myself. I found that cooking can also be pretty enjoyable, especially cooking something that you enjoy eating.”

“Hey, ever since you fell sick, you’ve become a philosopher,” Wang Mingbao said, amused.

“Life was always too hectic before, and I didn’t realize the finer pleasures in life. Ever since I fell sick, it allowed me to settle down and discover things that I never noticed before.”

“That’s good isn’t it?”

The three of them continued talking while the food was being served. Most of the vegetables served were in season right now and looked very fresh. There was a good balance of nutrients, with more vegetables and fewer pieces of meat. The soup was Flower Fish soup, and it looked very delicious.

“It looks pretty decent,” Wang Yao said.

“It’s alright.” This was Wei Hai’s assessment. This was already a pretty good assessment, after all, Wei Hai had eaten gourmet food from renown restaurants all over the world.

“Would you like to drink?”

“No thank you. I’m driving later, and he can’t drink. You can go ahead.”

“There’s no fun drinking alone. I guess I won’t drink then.”

Closer to dinner time, the restaurant began to fill up with more customers.

“How about staying over tonight? We can go and have some fun,” Wang Mingbao said, as he scooped some food for himself.

“No, I don’t think I could sleep well,” Wang Yao replied. In his opinion, Nanshan hill’s nighttime was the best.

“Come on, cheers!” This sound came from the table next to them, where there were four men seated. They looked to be enjoying themselves, and their glasses were constantly knocking against each other.

“Should we also do a toast?” Wei Hai said. He seemed vigorous but was obviously feeling weak. He raised his glass of water.

Ding ding. The door opened, and two young ladies walked in. They were very young, around twenty years of age. One looked rich, while the other was pleasant to look at. The second girl was around 1.6 meters tall with fair skin and refined features. Her gaze was gentle and elegant, and it made people feel relaxed.

“Hmm,” Wang Mingbao’s eyes lit up, as he stared at the girl.

“What is it?” Wang Yao asked, turning his head. Coincidentally, the two girls decided to sit at the table beside theirs.”

“Mmm, not bad,” Wei Hai said. He continued eating.

“What’s not bad?”

“The food is not bad; the people are not bad too. If you like, go and ask her out,” Wei Hai said, smiling.

Wang Mingbao didn’t say anything and lowered his head, continuing to eat. Occasionally, he would sneak a glance at the gentle-looking lady.

“Waitress,” Wei Hai called the waitress over and ordered two more dishes. In all honesty, the dishes on the table were already more than enough for the three of them.

“What a feast for the eyes!”

Wang Yao sat quietly, laughing without saying anything. The three of them continued eating slowly.

Wang Mingbao found it a little weird. He also owned a shop and had seen guests from all over the world. He also went out often and had seen his fair share of beautiful women. However, it was only today when a random stranger had captured his interest like so, so much that he wanted to go over and introduce himself. He wanted to ask if she was single, exchange contacts, invite her out for a meal and a movie. Suddenly, all these things started surfacing in his mind.

Could this be love at first sight?

At the table beside them, there were already three empty glass bottles.

“Bro Yu, see that girl?”

“Pretty.”

“Why don’t you go ask her out?”

Wang Mingbao put down his cup. His eyebrows furrowed and he turned to look at the red-faced men who had been drinking next to them.

One of the men stood up. He was about 1.8 meters tall with wide shoulders and hips—he looked pretty handsome. He got up and walked over to the two ladies eating at the table.

“Gorgeous, what do I call you? Let’s get to know each other.” A completely unoriginal pick-up line came out. The lady was stunned. She clearly hadn’t encountered such a situation before.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know you,” she replied, smiling.

“You have a beautiful smile. Well, we didn’t know each other before, but now we do.”

“That’s right!” one of his companions shouted.

“Apologies.” Once again, the same reply.

“Are you really going to be like that, lady?” The man suddenly sat down by her side. The lady’s face paled.

“She’s not interested! Stop being a pest!” Wang Mingbao turned around and said.

When he heard this, Wang Yao laughed and put down his chopsticks. Wei Hai continued reclining in the chair, watching the show.

“Hmph, and who are you? Is she your girl?” The man laughed coldly. The other companions at his table also looked at Wang Mingbao unkindly, sizing up Wang Mingbao, Wang Yao, and Wei Hai.

“Protect me if things get nasty.” As the atmosphere was heating up, Wei Hai couldn’t help but say this. Wang Yao found it very amusing.

“Wenting, let’s go,” the gentle lady said to her companion.

“Okay.”

“Don’t rush to leave!” The big guy stretched out his hand to obstruct their way.

“If you continue doing this, I’m going to call the police,” the lady said, raising her voice.

“Woah, don’t. I just want to be friends with you, beautiful. I don’t have any other intentions.”

Wang Mingbao stood up.

“Hey lad, what are you trying to do?” The people at the other table stood up. Thump. Immediately, one of them stumbled, sitting his butt back on the chair.

“Hey, what’s going on?” The two of them were dazed, shaking their heads.

“You’re already unsteady after drinking a bit of alcohol?”

At this moment, Wang Mingbao had arrived at the other man’s side. Wang Mingbao was also pretty big, and his body was well-built. If the other man was a bear, then Wang Mingbao was a tiger. He stood there glaring at the other man. Who was Wang Mingbao? He was the one in the village who specialized in dealing with rowdy customers, bullies, and those who had nothing else to do but go around making trouble for people. He had never been afraid of them nor was he afraid of these drunkards in front of him.

“Acting like some bigshot!” The three men from the table stood up. One of them held a beer bottle in his hand.

A confrontation was going to happen.

The surrounding people noticed the commotion. Some of them moved further away, not wanting to get caught up. Others took out their phones and began to take videos, preparing to publicize this. Others ordered a few more bottles of alcohol, getting ready to watch the show.

Wang Yao flicked his finger and looked at the three men who stood up.

“Have you eaten your fill?” Wang Mingbao suddenly turned and asked the pretty lady.

“Yes, I have,” the girl, who looked very much like a child, replied after a moment.

“Then you should quickly go back and rest.”

“Ah.” The lady quickly regained her wits and, with her friend, she started to walk out. The other man who was hitting on her tried to stop her but was immediately blocked by Wang Mingbao.