Figure Skating: Waltz on Ice

Du Liangchen dared not look around carelessly, for fear of being mistaken for a bad person or a spy. He idly kicked at the pebbles on the roadside.

"Xiaochen."

Du Liangchen turned around when he heard the sound and saw Mei Jing riding a bicycle, standing behind him with one foot on the ground.

"Mei Jing, you're here! Why didn't you tell me you lived in the compound? I thought the driver had taken me to the wrong place."

Mei Jing: "You didn't ask me either?"

Du Liangchen rolled his eyes at him.

Mei Jing touched her nose with her finger: "Alright, it was my fault for not explaining clearly. I'll take you inside."

He pushed the cart, with Du Liangchen following behind him as they walked inside. When they passed the sentry post, Mei Jing stopped and greeted them.

Du Liangchen nodded and followed Mei Jing inside.

Mei Jing asked, "What's wrong? You seem very afraid of the soldiers at the gate?"

Du Liangchen glared at him, pouting, and said unhappily, "What kind of look is that? I wasn't scared, I was filled with awe and excitement, okay?"

Mei Jing raised an eyebrow: "You have a lot of respect for soldiers."

Du Liangchen said excitedly, "Of course, I admire them very much."

Mei Jing smiled happily, her eyes crinkling. Sitting in the car seat with one leg on the ground, she waved to Du Liangchen and said, "Get in the car, I'll give you a ride. It'll be a little faster to get to my house this way, since we still need to walk for a while."

Du Liangchen didn't hesitate and straddled the back seat: "Alright, we can go now."

"Hold on tight, let's go." Then he pedaled forward.

Du Liangchen suddenly realized that he was actually the son of a high-ranking official, so he must have had some training experience. The fact that he dared to go on a road trip right after getting his driver's license meant that he already knew how to drive beforehand.

"Mei Jing, did you learn to drive a long time ago?"

Mei Jing: "Yes, someone taught me that it's usually planted in wasteland."

"I see."

"Where did Xiao Jing go? She just got back. Is this your classmate?"

Du Liangchen looked over when he heard the voice and found an old woman.

Mei Jing: "Grandma Qian, this is my teammate. He's much better than me."

Du Liangchen greeted her with a smile, "Grandma Qian." Then he nudged her, signaling her to stop praising him and hurry up and leave.

Finally arriving at Mei Jing's doorstep, they greeted each other along the way, but Du Liangchen noticed that they were all older people or playmates of Mei Jing's age.

Upon entering Mei Jing's house, Du Liangchen discovered that his parents were not home: "Your parents aren't home either?"

Mei Jing told him to do whatever he wanted, and then calmly said, "My parents are divorced, and it's just me and my dad living at home, but he doesn't come home very often."

Du Liangchen didn't offer any words of sympathy, but instead said with empathy, "We're quite alike. It's like I have no parents at all. I only see them a few times a year. They're not as comfortable as they are with you."

Mei Jing didn't continue speaking, but instead asked, "What would you like to drink? We have fruit at home that we can make juice."

Du Liangchen waved his hand: "Don't go to so much trouble, plain water is fine."

Mei Jing got up and went to the kitchen to pour him a glass of water. The two chatted for a few more minutes and started talking about their road trip.

Finally, the two decided to visit a famous place in a neighboring province and try some local delicacies.

Because we couldn't get on the highway, we chose to take the national highway.

After saying goodbye to his grandparents and preparing for two more days, Du Liangchen set off with great excitement.

Because Du Liangchen was underage and only Mei Jing was driving, they weren't in a hurry to go to the next place. They prepared tents, planning to rest when tired and set up camp where they liked the environment.