“Jiaojiao, Xiao Mei told me you were here. She"s the girl working at the front desk and she called me saying that she saw Zhen Xin. Just a while back, everyone was binge-watching your work. After I found out that you checked into our hotel, I immediately rushed over. While I was standing outside your door, I was still very nervous since I was afraid you might not talk to me now that you"ve become a celebrity. It"s been a while since we have spoken.”w.a.n.g Wei circled around Sheng Jiaoyang and chattered continuously.
“You"re overthinking this.” Sheng Jiaoyang rummaged for her pajamas in her suitcase.
“You say that, but I have tried contacting the others who had also made it into the finals, but none of them even replied to my messages. Some of them probably even blacklisted me.”
“You didn"t even tell me that you got married.” Sheng Jiaoyang turned around to look at w.a.n.g Wei.
“I just got the marriage certificate and I haven"t set up the wedding yet. I"ve decided to set up both the wedding and the baby"s one month birthday banquet together after the baby is born,” w.a.n.g Wei giggled.
“I might not have time to attend when you hold your banquet.”
“It"s fine. I know you"re busy, so it"s fine even if you don"t make it. But don"t forget you promised to invite me when you get married. Don"t be upset and dislike me if I can only give you a small amount of gift money when the time comes.”
Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at w.a.n.g Wei and said, “You think I care about your money? As long as you come, it"s fine.”
“Jiaojiao, then when are you getting married?” w.a.n.g Wei asked curiously.
“I don"t know.”
“Ah? Wouldn"t it be quick when you find a boyfriend or someone suitable?”
“Why would I want to marry that early?”
w.a.n.g Wei was stunned and said, “As long as you think they"re suitable, just get married. Why do you have so many questions?”
Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at w.a.n.g Wei and didn"t say anything else. Everyone had their own goals and thoughts. She couldn"t force people to have the same mindset as her.
“Jiaojiao, go shower. I"ll be leaving now.”
Glancing at w.a.n.g Wei"s stomach, Sheng Jiaoyang reminded her, “Since you"re pregnant, don"t go running around.”
“Yes, I know!” w.a.n.g Wei waved her hands.
Sheng Jiaoyang walked w.a.n.g Wei to the door and watched as she headed into the elevator. She only closed the door when w.a.n.g Wei was no longer visible.
Sheng Jiaoyang was exhausted from today"s itinerary so she quickly went to sleep after rinsing and was.h.i.+ng her face.
The next morning, Sheng Jiaoyang woke up early according to the schedule. By the time she was done her morning routine, it was only 6:30 AM.
Sheng Jiaoyang left the room and was about to knock on Gu Zhou"s door when she saw him coming out from the elevator.
“Just in time, we"re just waiting on you. Let"s go. We"re about to head out.” Gu Zhou said.
“Okay.” Sheng Jiaoyang returned to the room and dragged her suitcase out.
When they arrived on the ground floor, everyone else was waiting in the lounge while she went to return the room card.
“Are you sure you guys don"t want to stay for another day? There was a thunderstorm last night and although it stopped right now, it"s probably going to keep raining.” The girl by the front desk reminded them out of kindness.
“No need. It"s perfect to leave when the rain has stopped.” Cen Jin took the room deposit back and then had everyone get in the coach bus.
In order to catch up, they had packed their breakfasts to eat in the coach bus.
Breakfast was just , soymilk, and ; it was the simplest breakfast sold by vendors" stands.
“It"s not to your taste?” Gu Zhou noticed that Sheng Jiaoyang was glancing out the window and only took a bite of the deep-fried breadstick, so he asked out of concern.
“No, it"s just that I forgot to bid farewell to my friend.” Sheng Jiaoyang withdrew her gaze from the window.
“Once we"re done shooting the scenes in the mountain, we will pa.s.s by here on our way back, so you can say goodbye to her then.”
Sheng Jiaoyang nodded.
“Do you want to try the soup dumplings? It tastes pretty good and the meat stock is quite fresh.” Gu Zhou took out a clean plastic wrap containing a soup dumpling and handed it to her. “Try one.”
Sheng Jiaoyang took a bite and as expected, the meat stock flowed down her mouth. It indeed tasted pretty fresh.
“Is it delicious?” Gu Zhou asked.
“Yep, the ground meat was mixed pretty well.” Because it did taste good, Sheng Jiaoyang complimented it.
“Not just the taste, but also the texture of the meat. It"s probably pork from pigs that people in this town had raised themselves,” the stylist, Xiao Zhuang, said.
“Last evening, the dishes in the restaurant were great as well. The stir-fried pork was delicious. We should try it again when we return!” Even the photographer was attracted by the authentic tastes here.
On the luxurious coach bus, people chatted while eating breakfast together. They talked about all sorts of topics. They had no idea when it started to rain again.
On the zigzag and curvy mountain path, the coach bus was going at a relatively slow pace. Suddenly, the driver of the coach bus stepped on the brakes and abruptly stopped.
Everyone had their seat belts on, so besides leaning forward, they were all fine.
“What happened?” A few people asked in unison.
Then they heard the driver"s rigid voice ringing, “There is a rockslide ahead.”
“What?”
Everyone looked ahead and saw a pile of crushed stones blocking their path. Due to the numerous rocks and the mud in the area, the entire path had become an inclined plane. There were still some crushed rocks rolling down.
Everyone sucked in a deep breath. If they were to be buried here, who knows if they could survive.
“Turn around, turn around!” Cen Jin hollered.
Facing this situation, there was no need for Cen Jin to command since the driver knew what to do. Furthermore, besides turning around, there was no other choice since this was the only path towards the mountains.
The driver carefully made a U-turn and drove back.
“Boom—” They heard the rumbling of thunder.
“What was that noise?”
“I don"t know.”
“This noise doesn"t seem to be too far…OMG!”
As the coach bus turned a corner, the road ahead of them became visible.
The entire path not far from them had collapsed and the mudstones mixed with the stream had washed away the concave mountain road.
The coach bus stopped at the corner and they were stuck, unable to move ahead or back.
The coach bus had sunk into a dead silence and everyone"s hearts felt heavy.
“Will this path also collapse?” Xiao Zhuang murmured, her face paled.
“Let"s call for help.” Gu Zhou was the first to suggest the phone.
Sheng Jiaoyang also took out her phone.
“d.a.m.n it! There"s no signal!” Cen Jin was about to smash his phone in anger.
Sheng Jiaoyang also noticed that there was no signal on her phone and she remembered that she had forgotten to charge it. She didn"t have much battery left.
“I don"t have signals either.”
“Me neither.”
Gu Zhou stood up from his seat and walked towards the door.
“Where are you going?” Cen Jin hurriedly asked.
“I"m going down to see if I can get signal elsewhere.”
“Don"t bother. It"s pouring outside and the road is only that long. You definitely won"t be able to get a signal,” Cen Jin advised.
“How do you know if you don"t try?” Gu Zhou grabbed an umbrella and got out of the bus.
Sheng Jiaoyang sat by the window and watched as Gu Zhou held an umbrella in the hazy rain and walked far. She pursed her lips, feeling heavy.
There were very few vehicles on this road and those from the city won"t be able to detect the landslide and collapsed road so soon. If they weren"t able to call for help, only death awaits them.
The middle road could collapse at any time.
“If we can"t make a call, are we really going to die here?” Xiao Zhuang muttered pessimistically.
“Even if we are able to reach someone, they may not come in time.”
“OMG! Why do we have to experience something like this?!”
“If only we spent an extra day in the hotel.”
“My mother was telling me that she"ll make for me once I"m done with work. If she finds out that I"m dead, how will she be able to endure the news?”
“Boohoo…” To everyone"s surprise, the lightning expert was the first to break down from this mental pressure, not Xiao Zhuang.
Following that, Xiao Zhuang couldn"t hold it in anymore and also began to cry. Sheng Jiaoyang looked outside the window, stunned. She was unable to see anything clearly, but the sound of sobbing mixed in with the sound of the rain was echoing sharply in her ears.
She never thought something like this would occur either. She finally didn"t need to worry about her illness, but she was doomed due to the natural disaster now.
If she gets into another accident, how could Grandfather endure the news?
Gu Zhou had returned and was completely soaked.His expression was grave like the gloomy weather.
Seeing his expression, everyone was very disappointed and the atmosphere within the coach bus became even more anxious and depressing.
“A"Zhou, were you able to get a signal?” Cen jin asked, unresigned.
“No.” Everyone had already expected Gu Zhou"s response, but it was still hard to hear.
“Boohoo…Mother, I won"t be able to come back and taste your Three Cup Chicken.” Xiao Zhuang lay against the back of the chair and sobbed.
“Life and death are ruled by fate. Since this moment has come, let"s just be more open-minded. If you guys want to say anything to your family, you can record a video and then place your phones inside a waterproof bag. If we… our family will get a chance to see the last images of us,” Gu Zhou said.
His words led everyone panicking in another direction.
That"s right. Since they"ve encountered this situation, there was no point in regretting it. There was no use to being afraid, so why not leave the last image of themselves for their family?
Sheng Jiaoyang clicked on the recording function and aimed the camera at herself.
Seeing the panicking face through the phone, she took some deep breaths and tried her best to adjust her emotions, revealing a faint and forced smile.
“Grandfather, if you see this video, it means that my good fortune has come to an end. Last time, I wasn"t able to record a video of myself in time, but I finally got to bid farewell to you this time. Grandfather, I can"t stay by your side anymore. There"s nothing wrong with this since people will have to die one day. It"s just that I will be leaving first. Grandfather, please give the dairy that I placed in the bedroom"s safe to Sheng…Father. Tell him that I don"t hate him. Also…”
She cupped her phone and said a whole bunch of things until the phone gave her the notification that the battery was running out; only then did she stop.
After saving this video, she started to record a new one.
“Lin Yan, I don"t regret ever knowing and liking you. I am also very happy that you feel the same, but we are destined to meet but not fated to be together. If there"s an afterlife…nevermind. I find my life worthy since I was at least able to love someone before dying. Take care! And also take care of my Mei Niu. Look over her and George and make sure they are blessed for life on behalf of me.”
After recording this short video, Sheng Jiaoyang hesitated and started to record the last one.
“Zhining, I…” The phone screen turned black.Previous ChapterNext Chapter