Chapter 273: Not What Was Expected
Yun Xiangxiang was nervous, scared, but she was also excited. But Song Mian pushed her away.
She looked unfocused, but she quickly picked up the sound of footsteps. She immediately covered herself with the towel and lowered her head, pretending to be eating.
“Young master. The car is ready,” Song Yao said respectfully. He was standing around seven or eight steps away from them.
“Noted,” Song Mian was eating his breakfast seriously. Only Yun Xiangxiang, who was close to him, could hear the dullness in his voice.
With that romantic air ruined, Yun Xiangxiang felt a little awkward. She finished her breakfast silently before immediately going to the bathroom to change.
When she was done, Yun Xiangxiang saw Song Mian in greige casual pants, and a white s.h.i.+rt with its sleeves rolled up. The two topmost b.u.t.tons were unb.u.t.toned. He was standing in front of a car.
She trotted toward him. Today she was wearing a chiffon-ruffled half-sleeve long skirt. It was light pink with some sakura petals on it as decor. She looked youthful and fairylike.
She went to him like a sakura petal that was flowing with the wind, “Are you taking me out for a great time?”
“En,” Song Mian already made plans before she arrived.
“Won’t it get in the way of your work?” Yun Xiangxiang asked.
“It’s my birthday. I’m giving myself a few days off,” Song Mian said matter-of-factly.
“I thought I had to go to the lab or the outbreak area with you,” Yun Xiangxiang thought about the situation here before she came.
“It’s not urgent. And it would be best if you don’t go to those places,” Song Mian opened the car door.
Yun Xiangxiang was surprised, as Song Mian opened the left door for her. When she entered the car, she noticed that the driver’s seat was on the right.
The car here was different from those in China, where the driver’s seat was on the left.
About twenty minutes later, when they were waiting for the light to turn green, a small, red car stopped beside them.
The car’s interior took an all-black design. Black and red were bold colors. When Yun Xiangxiang took a glance, she was shocked. She grabbed Song Mian, “Ah Mian, n.o.body’s driving this car!”
But how could a car with no driver even get here? When Yun Xiangxiang turned to look again, she noticed the young black driver grinning at her, showing his gleaming teeth. Yun Xiangxiang was embarra.s.sed.
Song Mian grinned.
“Hey, you can laugh if you want to!” Yun Xiangxiang snorted.
It wasn’t her fault. The driver camouflaged too well, His car’s interior was black, and he was even wearing a black s.h.i.+rt.
It was nothing but darkness in the first glance. He moved and turned to the side to smile because he noticed Yun Xiangxiang’s gaze.
If not because of that, Yun Xiangxiang would think that the car was an awesome self-driving one.
She knew people here had darker complexions. She experienced it in the films. But it wasn’t until she was here herself that she know how they looked in real life.
Song Mian brought her to El Dorado’s natural reserve first. All the animals here were in their natural habitat. Nothing was restricting them.
The penguins on the penguin island were arrogant. Many people were photographing them, and they looked at the humans with disdain, thinking that they were kings. The only thing they didn’t do was puff up their chests and act like royalty. Even so, humans thought their arrogance was interesting.
The naughty baboons took cars as toys. They would jump all over and even urinate on them if they were not happy.
Fortunately, Yun Xiangxiang and Song Mian didn’t have to suffer such things.
It was the month of June, where the antelopes would start their three-thousand-kilometer migration. As the antelopes galloped through the land, the earth was flung into their air, creating yellow, earthy smoke.
It was Yun Xiangxiang’s first time snapping photos here. She couldn’t stop taking it. Song Mian a.s.sisted her from the sides, handing things to her and tidying her things up.
If she wanted to see a place far from where they were, he would give her the binoculars. If she tried to snap some photos, he would give her the camera. In between all these, he would give her some water or feed her some fruits.
Yun Xiangxiang was delighted. Her smile never left her face.
Song Mian brought Yun Xiangxiang to enjoy the local delicacy, ostrich meat, for lunch.
He took her hiking in the afternoon. He would hold her hand when she was in a steep place. Whenever the scorching sun shone on her, he would block it with his body. When she was tired and resting, he would fan her.
When they arrived at the top of the mountain, below them were waves of clouds. As she stood there, she thought she was at the top of the world.
Yun Xiangxiang used to think this was a barren wasteland, with groups of wild animals and scorching weather…
She had heard of its abundance of gold and diamonds, but she couldn’t shake away the image of it being muddy, backward, parched, and barbaric.
But it only took a day for her to understand how extreme and one-sided that thinking was.
An exciting place like this was indeed the country of the rainbow.
The animals galloping on the gra.s.slands showed natural, primal freedom.
The birds soared freely in the sky, and the ivory waves danced with the sand of the beaches.
It was a country where nature could s.h.i.+ne at its brightest.
As dusk approached, Song Mian took the still-energetic Yun Xiangxiang to see the view of the night.
When she looked down from the top of Table Mountain, Yun Xiangxiang was impressed, “It’s simply gorgeous.”
What greeted her was a sprawling El Dorado, s.h.i.+ning like a dazzling treasure kept in a treasure box.
“If anyone tells me that the United States has most magnificent night view, I’ll have to disagree,” Yun Xiangxiang snapped a few photos.
Yun Xiangxiang calmed down as the quiet night approached. She leaned on Song Mian’s shoulder as she enjoyed the breeze. “Ah Mian, did you know that I have never been this delighted before? I’ve never had this kind of experience either.”
The freedom, happiness, and laughter she had today were more than both her lives combined.
“We’ll go to more places which are even prettier,” Song Mian wrapped his arm around Yun Xiangxiang’s slender waist.
Yun Xiangxiang nodded. She smiled as she thought of something, “Hey, I have to tell you something. Before I came here, I told Mengmeng about coming here for a few days. She took some time over the weekend to get a lot of chocolates and hardtacks, in case I starve.”
Whenever she thought about Song Meng’s earnest reminder and what she saw here, Yun Xiangxiang couldn’t help but laugh.
She sent the picture of the night view to her teasingly: [I brought back the flashlight you insisted on giving me. You can use it yourself.]
“Mengmeng thought there wasn’t even electricity here,” Yun Xiangxiang beamed. Song Meng thought she would be out of reach.
“They have two nuclear plants and a lot of thermal power stations here. Aside from providing electricity to their own country, they even export it,” Song Mian resigned.
Some things couldn’t be concluded through what TV showed.