Chapter 1376 - 898: Reunion (Part 2)
"He seems..."
"How come he changed his attitude, and didn’t even..."
Here, the two women felt a bit anxious and uncertain. On the other side, Jiang Nian had already arranged to meet with Li Hua and the others.
"Are you free? Want to hang out?"
Li Hua: "?"
Liu Yang: "?"
Below, a chain of question marks followed. It’s the New Year, what’s the point of gathering, what can be done?
Li Hua: "Visiting relatives."
Tao Ran: "I’m free, but what’s the plan?"
Liu Yang: "I’m planning to play ball in the afternoon. How about we meet up for a game? Breaking a sweat is better than eating and drinking?"
Lin Dong: "Are there any girls?"
Ma Guojun: "Jiang Nian is such a schemer, who knows what he’s planning, but I’m not going."
Jiang Nian glanced through the messages, thinking it seemed pretty good.
His reputation was holding up.
Estimating that these five people could make it, he said, "There will be girls, let’s meet up for a riverside BBQ."
"How about DIY? I’ll provide the ingredients."
"Girls?" Lin Dong was more interested in this, "Who? Don’t call anyone random!"
"I have a girlfriend now, no lolis, mature ladies, juniors, seniors, or married women!"
Jiang Nian: "..."
"Are you ordering off a menu?"
Li Hua: "I agree with Lin Dong, there should be a reason for a gathering, who else is coming?"
"Old Liu," Jiang Nian replied.
Tao Ran: "Then I’ll come, there’s no dress code, right? I’ve been wanting to show off in front of him."
Jiang Nian: "No restrictions."
Liu Yang: "Alright, it’s been a while since I saw Old Liu. Which girls are coming? I prefer a more mature type."
Li Hua: "Is Qianbao coming?"
Jiang Nian: "???"
Liu Yang: "???"
The group chat turned chaotic. After inviting people for so long, not many guys were coming, most of them were at their hometowns.
Or they had plans and were too lazy to rush over.
However, Li Hua privately messaged Jiang Nian, asking if he could bring a relative who wanted to join in for some food.
Jiang Nian replied that it was no problem and went off to invite more people. He contacted Little Bailin and Tingzi and their friends.
Why not invite Chen Yunyun.
He could only say, haha.
He just wanted to host a party and meet up, and also invited Qingbao to make it lively.
He wasn’t looking to create trouble for himself.
"Fangfang, where are you?"
"I’m at home," Huang Fang replied briefly, "What’s up? I won’t be the scapegoat."
Jiang Nian: "..."
"Such stereotypes! There’s a barbecue party, will you come? I’m organizing it, if you want to come I’ll pick you up."
Huang Fang: "Not coming."
"How disheartening," Jiang Nian continued, "It’s settled then, wait at home for me this noon."
Huang Fang: "???"
Women love to say one thing and mean another, Jiang Nian knew she wanted to come, so he directly made the decision for Fangfang.
On the other side, Little Bailin also agreed.
Happily accepted the invitation.
Zhou Yuting had no objections either, she originally planned to visit relatives. Weighed it up and decided to skip it.
"Sure, in the afternoon?"
"Yeah."
Old Liu had already agreed, no need for a special invitation. But to be safe, he asked once more.
After getting a definite answer, he started inviting Qingbao.
As expected, Qingbao agreed. She was originally free, so it was a good chance to relax with the classmates.
For some reason, Yu Zhiyi contacted him.
"Why didn’t you invite me?"
Jiang Nian: "???"
"No, who told you?" He didn’t mind having Yu Zhiyi join, but felt she was too high-profile.
"Fangfang, I asked her."
Jiang Nian: "...."
Fangfang, who wouldn’t keep things to herself, he was really impressed by her.
"Alright, I’ll pick you up tomorrow."
"Yay️!"
....
The next day.
Jiang Nian woke up early to borrow a car from Xu Shuang. Also asked if she had a barbecue grill to borrow.
Since it was the New Year, buying one was out of the question.
Luckily, Xu Shuang had everything, almost like Dora A Frost, pulling out a bunch of stuff from the storeroom.
"How’s this pickup truck?"
Bam bam!!
Xu Shuang patted the truck bed, "But I’m curious, why did you think of me but didn’t invite me?"
"Afraid you’d feel awkward, we’re all classmates." Jiang Nian reached out for the keys.
"Your class leader hasn’t returned," Xu Shuang grasped the keys tightly, "Why, feeling guilty?"
"Guilty?"
Jiang Nian pried her hand open and took the keys, "Next time we’ll have a private BBQ just for you."
"How many days?" Xu Shuang asked.
"Days?" Jiang Nian was puzzled, "One day is already pushing it."
"Three days," Xu Shuang raised two fingers.
"One and a half days."
"Two and a half days, I want to visit Lijiang," Xu Shuang said, "I’m going alone, does that worry you?"
"What about the Taoist priest?"
"She needs a break too, she’s not a mule."
Jiang Nian: "..."
Thinking over the schedule on his calendar, he agreed, "Alright, we’ll finalize it then."
Indeed, there’s no free lunch.
Everything was prepared flawlessly.
In the morning, Jiang Nian drove to pick up Xu Qianqian and the others to the airport. On the way, the two women were intrigued by the pickup.
"Where did you get the pickup?"
"Borrowed from a friend, their family raises pigs," Jiang Nian said, "They weren’t transporting pigs today, so they lent it to me."
"Ugh!!" Xu Qianqian almost retched, "Don’t say such disgusting things, or I’ll throw up on you."
However, there wasn’t any bad smell in the pickup. In fact, with the windows open, it felt quite pleasant.
"To be honest," Jiang Nian said while driving, "Our class is having a barbecue party."
"So, I borrowed this truck to haul the stuff."
Upon hearing this, the two women exchanged looks. They both glanced at Jiang Nian at the wheel, momentarily falling silent.
After a few seconds, Xu Qianqian asked.
"Is everyone from your class going?"
"Of course not. Mostly the homeroom teacher and the teachers, and those I’m close with."
"Your deskmate?" Xu Qianqian asked, pursing her lips.
"We had a falling out."
Jiang Nian gripped the steering wheel, "If you were leaving a bit later, I’d want to bring you along."
Xu Qianqian: "...."
Song Xiyun: "..."
Both women held back their words; they were friends now. Besides, Jiang Nian was genuinely busy these days.
There wasn’t much to say at this moment.
"Are you going to Yuhang?"
The two women remained silent.
"Why are you asking?" Xu Qianqian, a bit annoyed, couldn’t help but snap at him.
"None of your business!"
Jiang Nian feigned hurt silence, and drove quietly ahead, pondering about an evening visit to Yuhang.
There’s more scheming in the city, and slipperier paths in the county.
Song Xiyun couldn’t hold back and answered.
"Yes, going to Yuhang."
After saying this, she added, "My mom bought a house, we’re planning to stay there for a while."
"Alright," Jiang Nian nodded.
At the airport.
Jiang Nian handed over the luggage to the two women, giving a brief look at Xu Qianqian, reaching out but then paused.
"A hug goodbye?"
Xu Qianqian reluctantly hugged him briefly.
"We’re leaving."
With a few words, she dragged her luggage and walked inside. Song Xiyun hesitated for a moment, hugged him quickly and left.
"Goodbye."
Jiang Nian stood still, not intending to leave until he saw the two women turn back to look at him.
Only then did he pick up his phone to send them a message.
"Safe travels."
....
Noon.
Jiang Nian went to pick up the people, meanwhile, all the barbecue equipment and even the ingredients were ready.
Couldn’t help but thank Dora A Frost.
A genuine sponsor.
The spot for the party was at a dry riverbed by the river, often visited during the winter.
Li Hua and the others arrived, starting to move crates of drinks, some refreshments, mineral water, and food supplies.
"Wow, so fancy?"
"I thought we’d use plastic bags, but you’ve got styrofoam coolers!"
"Indeed, Jiang Nian must have hit it big," Liu Yang nodded, "When is Old Liu getting here?"
"Should be soon," Jiang Nian said.
As he turned his head, something clad in a fox suit swaggered towards the crowd.