To get to the village, Blair and Miller took the tour bus that his company had hired. There were more than ten people on it, and they ranged from executives to common employees.
They were going to stay in a guesthouse run by the local villagers. Due to limited resources and number of rooms, the employee in charge of accommodations made Blair stay in a room with a young woman, while Miller stayed in another room with a man.
It was the beginning of July, but the weather was still cold in the South Mountain. People had to wear thick coats in the morning and in the evening.
The guesthouse itself was nested in the mountain. The scenery was spectacular—mountains, valleys, plants, and sunshine. Every now and then, a few clouds floated across the range.
Various kinds of blossoms filled the air with their fragrance, and all the way around a small stream, birds chirped pleasantly, jumping here and there among the boughs. The flora was marked mostly by willows.
The woman sharing the room with Blair got up early in the morning. The moment she got out of her bed, Blair, who hadn't slept well last night because of the cold and damp air, woke up as well, springing out of an uneasy sleep with a tired yawn.
After that, when the woman went to the bathroom and began to clean herself, the sound of running water was too loud for Blair to fall asleep again, so she had to get out of bed as well.
By the time they were ready and went downstairs to have breakfast, it was 7 a.m. and the sun was long out. Many of Miller's colleagues were already in the canteen.
Miller was sitting at a table nearby with someone from the company. When he saw Blair, he waved at her and called out, "Blair, over here!"
Blair walked over to his table. To her pleasant surprise, Miller had already brought breakfast for her—two boiled eggs, two small dishes of different flavors of pickles, two deep-fried dough sticks, and a bowl of congee.
When the man sitting opposite Miller saw Blair, his eyes lit up. Green with envy, he teased Miller, "Dude, it's quite a stroke of luck for you. You've got yourself such a pretty girlfriend."
The man had been busy last night; he hadn't taken the bus here with the others, and had arrived there by himself. So this was the first time he and Blair had met.
Blair smiled politely at the man. Miller felt proud and told him with a smug smile, "Dude! She's not my girlfriend; she's my fiance."
The man gave him a thumbs-up and then turned towards Blair, assuring her of a happy life. "Miller is a good guy. Although he's not that young, he will take good care of you. You'll be a happy wife."
Blair took a sip of her congee and gave the man a smile. "I know."
Actually, ever since she and Miller had gotten engaged, they had been pretty busy, and this was the first time they had been together for such a long while.
'I'll stay in Y City from now on. I think we'll spend more time together in the future, ' she thought to herself.
She had stayed in England long enough to change her taste in food. Congee and pickles, the traditional Chinese breakfast, suddenly tasted a bit alien to her. She might need some time to get used to it.
Therefore, she only ate a little before putting down her chopsticks.
Miller, however, was busy talking about work with his colleague and didn't notice that Blair had eaten a very small portion of her breakfast.
Afraid that she might get hungry later, Blair put the two eggs Miller had ordered into a clean, disposable food bag and put it into her backpack. Most of the guests had already finished eating and were starting to walk outside.
An old granny, who was clearing away the bowls and chopsticks, raised her head and looked at the sky with a deep, lungful sigh. Out of kindness, she then reminded the guests, "You better take some umbrellas with you, dears. I'm afraid it's going to rain."
Miller, Blair and the man they had been with were about to follow their companions when they heard the granny's prophecy. The man waved his phone and replied, "I just checked the weather forecast. It's a sunny day. No need to take umbrellas."
Blair had left her umbrella in her room. Looking back and forth between the man and the old granny, she chose to believe the latter. Age is wiser than technology. She stopped walking and told Miller, "I'm going to fetch my umbrella."
Miller frowned as he was a little unhappy. But he didn't turn her down. "I'll be right here waiting for you. Hurry up!"
Blair accelerated and hurried upstairs. She opened her suitcase, took out her umbrella, and then hurried back down.
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