"Get out!" Shen Moyu reflexively pushed him, as if to avoid that flirtatious wild flying over.
After the commotion, Shen Moyu straightened up, slowly looked at him, and asked softly, "You still remember?"
"Otherwise? We made a pinky promise, I don't want to be a dog." Su Jinning shrugged, looking like she was forced into a corner.
"Tch." Shen Moyu glared at him, then walked to the front on her own, tacitly acknowledging that this was a "trip" that couldn't really be called a trip.
Although this place is somewhat remote, there are still quite a few people here. From four in the morning to noon, it is a densely populated area. The sounds of car horns, elderly people bargaining over prices when buying vegetables, and vendors hawking their wares will fill the air for most of the day.
Many workers who work nearby come here in the early morning for a breakfast that costs only a few yuan.
Compared to the neon-lit city of Shanghai, this place has a more down-to-earth, human touch.
Su Jinning looked around but couldn't find anything she wanted to eat. She had gone to find Shen Moyu at around 8 a.m. this morning and hadn't had time for breakfast. She had been waiting downstairs at his house for half an hour, and her stomach was already growling with hunger.
"Hey, top student." Su Jinning, unable to bear the groans of her stomach, stepped forward and patted Shen Moyu on the shoulder.
"What?" Shen Moyu turned around and took off his headphones.
"I'm hungry, do you have any good food recommendations?" Su Jinning pouted, looking a little aggrieved.
Shen Moyu glanced at him, amused. "Didn't you have breakfast?"
Seeing Su Jinning nod pitifully, Shen Moyu stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then suddenly grabbed Su Jinning's wrist and walked out of the street without saying a word.
"Where are we going?" Su Jinning asked, staring at the back of Shen Moyu's head, which had been deliberately pleading for a long time.
"Did you ride a motorcycle?" Shen Moyu turned around and asked him, clearly not intending to answer Su Jinning's question.
"It's not open." Su Jinning shook her head blankly, then her face fell as she said, "My dad said I was always riding my motorcycle around aimlessly during the holidays, so he confiscated it."
This caused him to take a taxi to find Shen Moyu this morning, and he almost gave the wrong directions.
Seeing Su Jinning's expression of having her treasure stolen, Shen Moyu couldn't help but chuckle, then raised his eyebrows and said, "Then let's take the bus."
"What? A bus? Are you trying to kill me with heat?!" Su Jinning immediately protested, quickly pulling his wrist back. He had never ridden a bus before; he had always been driven around in private cars since childhood, and now that he was older, he had always ridden his own motorcycle. Naturally, he was not used to it.
"Stop dawdling and come with me." Clearly, Shen Moyu wasn't buying into his attempt to flaunt his status as a young master. He grabbed Su Jinning's wrist and led her toward the bus stop.
Su Jinning had no choice but to let him be. However, he was genuinely curious about what it would be like to sit on a bus.
He glanced at a bus slowly passing by. It wasn't crowded, but about half the bus was filled with people standing because there were no seats. Because he disliked the heat and was also a germaphobe, he had always been averse to buses. He disliked the feeling of being crammed together with so many people that you could smell their sweat.
"We're here, let's go." Shen Moyu nudged Su Jinning, who was still in a daze, and forcibly pulled him into the car.
Su Jinning looked around the car and saw that it was quite clean, and there weren't many people on their train.
It's barely acceptable.
Shen Moyu took out four yuan from his pocket and was about to put it into the money box when Su Jinning stopped him.
Shen Moyu looked up and met Su Jinning's chauvinistic gaze.
"I'll pay." Su Jinning took out her phone from her pocket.
“No, this…” Shen Moyu pressed down on his hand holding the phone, as if to stop a bad example.
Su Jinning hissed and said with his eyes: "A guy as rich as me doesn't need you to spend money on me." Then he looked up and asked the driver seriously, "Where is your WeChat payment QR code?"
Perhaps he asked too seriously, for the driver stared wide-eyed for a moment, stunned. As the atmosphere grew tense, the driver waved his hand and emphasized, "Kid, this is a bus."
"Hahahaha!" Laughter echoed through the carriage.
Shen Moyu pursed her lips, so embarrassed that she almost had to mentally construct a Barbie dream mansion with eight bedrooms and eight living rooms.
What a disgrace, Su Jinning!
"Huh? You can't pay with WeChat on the bus? What era are we living in?" Su Jinning was bewildered by the bursts of laughter. She said it again from the bottom of her heart.
Do you even know what era this is? What era is this? Don't you know that buses only accept change?
"Ahem. Let me do it." Shen Moyu pushed him back, stuffed four yuan into the carriage, and then pushed the conspicuous bag, facing everyone's gaze, to the last row and sat down. He wished he could dig a hole and disappear into it.
People on the bus would occasionally look back, as if reliving a captivating scene from a TV drama, and would exchange a few words with the person next to them. In short, without a doubt, they were all cursing Su Jinning as an idiot.
"No, am I wrong?" Su Jinning complained, arms crossed, like a child who had lost an argument. "Why did you pull me away? What are they laughing at?"
"Keep your voice down, my dear." Shen Moyu didn't even have the courage to look up, pleading with Su Jinning to shut up.
Su Jinning looked at him with a hint of anger, still trying to reason with him: "What, am I wrong?"
Shen Moyu shook his head and sighed, feeling worried about his intelligence. But it wasn't too surprising, was it? For a pampered young master like him, never having ridden a bus before wasn't something to be ashamed of.
"Just remember that you can't pay with WeChat on the bus. Remember to bring cash if you want to take the bus in the future," Shen Moyu advised earnestly, afraid that he would embarrass himself again.
"Oh," Su Jinning replied, seemingly understanding, then muttered under her breath, "Why would I take the bus if I didn't come out with you?"
Shen Moyu smiled and glanced at him, her peach blossom eyes sparkling with doting affection.
The bus stopped and started several times, and after a long fifteen minutes, it finally arrived at the place Shen Moyu was taking him to.
The two got off the bus and their eyes turned to the familiar alley.
It seems like a month ago today, a young master in a black trench coat riding a motorcycle and a boy with a baseball cap covering half his face... fought here?
Su Jinning paused slightly, then laughed incredulously, looking at Shen Moyu with a hint of suspicion: "Is this what you're talking about?"
Shen Moyu nodded, glanced at the familiar alley again, and turned back with a smile, saying, "Let's go."
"Let's go, what do you want to eat?" Su Jinning asked, and unconsciously took a step forward. Perhaps if Shen Moyu wanted to sell him now, he would follow without hesitation.
"Let's go eat fish balls."
The alley, seemingly endless, was narrow enough for two people to walk side by side. When they first met, the willow trees along the roadside were bare; now they were laden with green buds.
As they walked further in, a fairly large fried fish ball shop came into view.
No matter when, that fried fish ball shop always had a good business. The customers at the door always lined up in an orderly long queue, like the tail of a snake, gently wriggling as the crowd moved.
"So many people." Su Jinning couldn't help but gape.
"This shop is always so popular, come and join the queue." Shen Moyu explained with practiced ease, clearly having been here many times.
After waiting in line for an unknown amount of time, Su Jinning only knew that her stomach had started growling rudely again.
"Boss, two orders of fish balls, one extra spicy, one normal." Shen Moyu took out his phone from his pocket.