Chapter 42: Gathering
It only took about ten minutes, and Chen Hai was already accompanying Lin Lan to find Li Ying and Sun Fang.
In front of strangers, Lin Lan was somewhat restrained.
Perhaps to avoid suspicion, she spoke very little with Chen Hai and deliberately kept some distance between them.
That Sun Fang always looked at herself with a hint of disdain.
As for Li Ying, that girl didn't seem to look down on Chen Hai at all.
However, she always liked to find ways to hand over her bags, both big and small, to him to carry.
The slogan "gender equality" had been chanted for so many years, it seemed all in vain!
In Li Ying's eyes, the greatest use of Chen Hai, who followed the girls around, was probably just to carry bags.
In front of Lin Lan, acting like a lovesick puppy was something Chen Hai could reluctantly accept, since he fancied progressing their relationship a bit further.
But to grovel before others was truly something he had no interest in accepting!
After loitering around with the girls for a while, Chen Hai casually made up an excuse to go back to the hotel and sleep.
When he woke up, it was already about half-past one in the afternoon.
Hurrying out of the hotel and seeing that time was running short, he decided to splurge and, with a wave of his hand, hailed a rickshaw, heading towards Hongjun Pier.
In Liuyuan County, four-wheeled taxis were basically nonexistent now.
Human-powered rickshaws, used for hiring out, were plenty, and "rickshaw" was the local term for this mode of transportation.
Though the rickshaw was not very fast, it was still much faster compared to his public bus route number 11.
By the time Chen Hai arrived at Hongjun Pier, it was still a few minutes before two.
At the pier, more than a dozen classmates from Class 103 had already gathered.
"Chen Hai, hurry up, we're just waiting for you, I thought you were going to stand us up!"
It was Li Ying's loud voice that greeted him.
As for Lin Lan beside her, she kept her head down all the time, hardly daring to make eye contact with Chen Hai.
It seemed as if she feared being discovered, just sneaking glances at Chen Hai when others weren't watching.
"Happiness has to be fought for by oneself—if you like me and have a crush on me, why don't you know how to be brave and pursue me actively?"
With a helpless face, Chen Hai sighed to himself internally.
He truly didn't know what to say about Lin Lan's timid nature!
"Class leader, I'll give you the fee for the gathering first!" Fishing out a banknote, he quickly walked up to Hu Zhiyong and handed over the money.
"Chen Hai, I thought you really weren't going to come to the gathering. It seems Li Ying and Lin Lan have quite an influence on you!" Hu Zhiyong chuckled as he pocketed the money.
"That's natural, when Li Ying steps in, who dares to not show face!" Li Ying waved her fist, quickly picking up the conversation.
"Class leader, I really had something urgent yesterday when I said I couldn't come to the gathering!"
"Last night, I had already rushed from the town to the county. Fortunately, my business went smoothly and was Perfectly completed last night!"
"And coincidentally, I met up with Li Ying, Lin Lan, and the others, they told me the time and place to meet, and I didn't hesitate at all and agreed right away." Chen Hai explained with a smile.
As he spoke, he casually scanned his classmates gathered on the pier.
There were about six or seven female classmates and roughly ten male classmates, including Zhang Yong, with whom he had had conflicts before.
However, this guy had been genuinely frightened by Chen Hai to the point of wetting himself, and it seemed he had developed a deep-seated fear of Chen Hai, always behaving very submissively in his presence.
Soon, the ferry arrived.
There were no regular passenger ferries from Hongjun Pier to Shuang State, only some private fishing boats used to ferry passengers across the river.
Chen Hai and his group of more than ten couldn't all fit on one boat, so they had to make three trips before everyone finally gathered on the rocky beach at Shuang State.
Of course, taking the boat was much more convenient than walking all the way around to Shuang State.
After all, taking the detour would encompass a much larger loop, and speaking of distance, it would certainly be close to ten miles if not quite.
On the rocky beach of Shuang State, besides Chen Hai and his group, there were six or seven other groups present.
Firewood was available everywhere, and the stones scattered on the river beach made it easy to construct a simple stove.
The group, in high spirits, some gathered firewood, some began to set up the stove, and others washed rice and cleaned various kinds of food.
Two male classmates, holding the fishing rods they brought, cast their lines into the river, planning to catch a few big fish for everyone to grill and eat that night.
"Class president, if we say we're having a barbecue tonight, doesn't that mean we won't be returning?"
"With so many of us, where are we going to sleep? Surely, we can't just spend the night on this rocky beach, can we?"
Suddenly thinking of this, Chen Hai approached the class president, Hu Zhiyong, to probe further.
"Chen Hai, why are you worrying about nothing? Who said that we can't return tonight?"
"Most of our classmates have relatives in the county, I've already talked to the boat owner, he will come at eight-thirty to take those classmates to the other side of the county!"
"As for the others, of course, they'll spend the night up here on Shuang State!"
"This place, almost every year it gets flooded, the original residents who lived here have mostly moved downtown, and many houses have been abandoned."
"I've already found a good place to stay, it's been abandoned before, but I've put a lock on the door so no one else can get in unless it's us."
Hu Zhiyong explained with a smile, and to prove his point, he took out a key and flaunted it in front of Chen Hai.
"With this arrangement, just one abandoned house, how many people can sleep there?"
Frowning, Chen Hai felt that something was amiss.
Hu Zhiyong, with a secretive aura, leaned close to Chen Hai and whispered, "I'll tell you, the classmates staying overnight here will be in pairs!"
"Like me with Sun Fang, Li Ying with Zhang Zhi, Zhang Yong with Yang Hua, and so on!"
"If you have someone in mind and can persuade her, I suggest you join in."
"After all, this is a great opportunity to deepen your relationship with her. If you miss this one, who knows when you'll find such a chance again!"
Saying this, Hu Zhiyong even wore an expression that all men understand.
"I knew it, how come the barbecue was suddenly scheduled for the evening, so this was your plan!"
Chen Hai suddenly realized and chuckled.
At their age, the attraction between boys and girls was mutual.
As long as there was mutual affection, the female classmates were generally hesitant but interested, and the boys would try their best to advance their relationships further.
It was normal for Hu Zhiyong to think this way, and Chen Hai didn't find anything strange about it!
With a clever glance, he used the pretext of gathering firewood to approach Lin Lan and mentioned the plan to her.
After only a moment's hesitation, Lin Lan shyly nodded in agreement.
The stressful college entrance exams had just ended, and breathing in the free air of Shuang State, everyone was in high spirits and quite enthusiastic.
By the time dinner was ready, it was already four or five o'clock.
Too lazy to wait for the evening, everyone brought out the barbecue ingredients and started grilling by the bonfire.
The supplies prepared by Hu Zhiyong and the other guys also included a few cases of beer.
After a satisfying meal, it was already around eight or nine o'clock when they finally finished.
A part of the group took the ferry back to the county.
Including Chen Hai and Lin Lan, those who planned to stay overnight, four guys and four girls, totaled eight.
Led by Hu Zhiyong, they left the rocky beach, followed a forest path for about fifteen minutes, and finally stopped in front of an extremely old wooden house.