Ding Ruola returned to the village like a little bird just out of its cage. Carrying her luggage, she ran towards Grandma Bi's house.
She didn't even get the chance to knock on the door, for Grandma Bi was already waiting at the door for the two girls to come back.
"Grandma!"
Ding Ruola gave Grandma Bi a bear hug and kissed the old lady on the cheek several times in a row.
Grandma Bi liked Ding Ruola's personality very much. She didn't stop the girl but instead led Ding Ruola into the house.
"Grandma! I'm your real granddaughter!"
The old lady took out half a watermelon from the fridge and gave it to Ding Ruola. Bi Shuang was very observant. She went to the kitchen and fetched three spoons, then stuck them into the watermelon.
"Xiaoshuang, tell me the truth! What was up with your previous boyfriend?"
Although Grandma Bi lived in the village, she knew about any little stir in the capital, especially regarding her two well - behaved grandchildren. She knew what each of them had been up to during this period. But now that she saw the kids, she still pretended to be in the dark.
"He's just a snob! He likes girls from well - off families!"
Grandma Bi was taken aback. She thought the Bi family's situation was pretty good and it was unlikely for her granddaughter to be dumped because of family background.
"Then which family's girl did he take a fancy to later?"
Grandma Bi thought it would be a girl from the Lu family at least. But to her surprise, Bi Shuang said it was the Qin family. She had never even heard of the Qin family.
"Xiaoshuang, you didn't reveal our family's background, did you?"
Ding Ruola saw the confusion on the old lady's face. She felt a bit sorry and told Grandma Bi the real situation.
"At least you've got some sense."
For the rest of the time, the two girls basically watched TV with Grandma Bi and took walks in the evening. But such a life could get boring after a while.
Bi Shuang was just complaining about the stupid idol drama on TV when suddenly there came a knock on the door.
"Xiaoyan, you're back!"
Grandma Bi opened the door and saw Li Yan standing there. The boy was holding a big basket of grapes in his hand.
Li Yan's parents had contracted this area of land. There were large vineyards, which specifically supplied grapes for a winery in the capital. Every year when the grapes were ripe, Li Yan would bring a big basket of them to Grandma Bi.
"Xiaoyan! Do you want to come in and sit for a while?"
Li Yan originally wanted to leave, but when he heard Bi Shuang's voice, he readily agreed. When he entered the house, he found that Ding Ruola was also there. He was quite surprised at Ding Ruola's presence.
"I didn't expect you to be back at this time!"
Bi Shuang thought Li Yan would stay in the capital since his business there was so big. She didn't expect him to still think about the old folks at home.
"Isn't this the place where I started my business?"
The three young people sat in the living room chatting while Grandma Bi sat beside them with an embroidery frame in her hand, embroidering a flower.
"If you're bored, we'll go crab - catching tomorrow."
Crab - catching?
Bi Shuang remembered that was something she did back in primary school. She hadn't been to that river for many years and now she couldn't even remember the way there.
Ding Ruola was even more curious about this activity. She had never known where crabs lived. To be honest, she had never seen a live crab before.
Since she was so interested in crab - catching, the other two couldn't refuse.
Ding Ruola got up early and woke Bi Shuang, who was lying beside her.
"Xiaoshuang! Get up!"
Bi Shuang opened her eyes. Half - squinting, she rolled over in bed to find her phone and checked the time.
"Seven o'clock! Sis, the crabs are still sleeping!"
They had to wait until noon when the sun was just right for crab - catching. That was when the crabs would come out. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to find them.
Ding Ruola naturally didn't believe it. She thought Bi Shuang just wanted to sleep in and made up an excuse to fool her. She kept waking Bi Shuang up again and again.
Bi Shuang was exhausted!
If she had known Ding Ruola was so enthusiastic about crab - catching, she shouldn't have let Li Yan mention it.
Finally, it was noon. Grandma Bi urged Ding Ruola to eat.
"Ruoruo! It's going to be a strenuous activity!"
Ding Ruola only took two bites reluctantly for Grandma Bi's sake.
After the meal, there was a car parked in front of Grandma Bi's house.
When Ding Ruola got in the car, she noticed there was a person sitting in the front passenger seat. She didn't think much of it at that time and thought it was one of Li Yan's village friends.
After she got in the car, she saw the man's face in the rear - view mirror.
The man was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn't see his whole face clearly. She felt that she had seen this man somewhere before. She frowned and tried to recall his face in her mind.
"Do you think I look familiar?"
The man in the front felt the inquisitive gaze from the back seat. He took off his sunglasses and turned around boldly.
"Ah! Bai Lijingming, why are you back!"
"I've paid off my debts, so I'm back."
Li Yan, who was driving in the front, didn't say a word.
Bai Lijingming's appearance was a surprise to both Ding Ruola and Bi Shuang.
Ding Ruola looked at Bai Lijingming's back. She felt that this man's return this time was not that simple. But with her current ability, she still couldn't see through this man's purpose.
Bi Shuang couldn't figure out why Li Yan was with Bai Lijingming.
She had heard that Bai Lijingming was a profit - driven man. The only reason he would choose Li Yan must be because there were some interests involved with Li Yan. If it was just about the Han Gu Bin Yan Lou, it wouldn't be enough for Bai Lijingming to be so close to Li Yan.
Bi Shuang thought Li Yan was not as simple as he seemed. There must be some unknown things about him.
The four people in the car each had their own thoughts.
After about forty minutes' drive, the four of them finally arrived at the river.
Bi Shuang put a sun hat on Ding Ruola's head. Ding Ruola was like a crazy husky. She ran on the river beach alone, looking down as she ran. She just wanted to find a crab.
Bi Shuang was a bit helpless. She followed behind Ding Ruola.
She was afraid that Ding Ruola would fall. The place was full of stones. If she fell, she would either break her arm or scrape her knee.
"Slow down! You have to turn over the stones to find the crabs!"
Ding Ruola finally stopped after receiving Bi Shuang's order.
Bai Lijingming still wore his sunglasses. In casual clothes, he held a parasol in his hand and followed Li Yan like a noble lady.
"Are you sure you don't want to join us?"
"Who wants to play this boring game with you."
Li Yan pursed his lips and rolled his eyes at Bai Lijingming, then walked away quickly.
Although crabs weren't very dangerous, it still hurt a lot if you got pinched by them.
He was afraid that Bi Shuang and Ding Ruola would get pinched by the crabs, so he quickly walked to the two girls.
As it turned out, the two girls were just very enthusiastic. Trying to find crabs under the dry stones was just a pipe dream.
Sometimes, if you were working in the wrong direction, no matter how hard you tried, it would be in vain.
He led the two girls to a low - lying area where there was water under the stones. He turned over a stone and there was a fist - sized crab lying there.
Bi Shuang was just about to pick up the little thing by its back and put it into the bucket when there came a man's scream from not far away on the river beach.
The three of them all looked over in unison and saw Bai Lijingming fling something away.