Chapter 178: On the Road

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: On the Road

Zhang Wei Qiang and Lin Qin had their own little scheme. This sleeping arrangement was just a temporary measure; there was no way the two of them could rest easy. What if Gu Nuan Nuan rolled over in the middle of the night and fell off the bed? So, the couple secretly planned to move her to a different spot once she was sound asleep. But to their surprise, Gu Nuan Nuan had already guessed their intentions. Her consciousness remained immersed in her space, communicating with Cao Cao, keeping her wide awake the entire time. In the end, it was Lin Qin who couldn’t stay awake any longer and was the first to fall asleep.

"Nuannuan, don’t you trust your uncle at all?" In the darkness, Zhang Wei Qiang knew Gu Nuan Nuan was still awake, so he could only ask in a soft, resigned whisper.

"Of course not. I usually trust you, Uncle," Gu Nuan Nuan whispered back, blinking her eyes. "But this is too important, and I’m scared. Uncle, don’t even think about moving me after I fall asleep. When I want to be alert, I’m *extremely* alert. If you so much as twitch while I’m sleeping, I’ll know immediately."

’Of course, it wasn’t that Gu Nuan Nuan was actually that alert. She just had a secret weapon no one knew about. She had already instructed Cao Cao to wake her up the moment her uncle made any sudden moves.’

"Fine, go to sleep. We have a long bike ride tomorrow," Zhang Wei Qiang said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Since you’re so alert, just make sure you don’t fall off the bed yourself." For the first time, he was discovering what a handful this little girl could be.

Gu Nuan Nuan let out a dry, private laugh to hide her awkwardness. ’No one knew that at this very moment, having successfully squeezed her way into her uncle and aunt’s bed, she was internally having a meltdown. She even had the urge to bury her face in her hands and never show it in public again.’

’Oh well. I can worry about burying my face in my hands or digging a hole to hide in later. For now, I’m just a genuine, bona fide kid.’ While repeatedly hypnotizing herself with this thought, Gu Nuan Nuan also instructed Cao Cao to keep a close eye on her uncle and wake her up if anything happened. Only then did she gradually drift off to sleep.

"Master, Master, wake up! Your uncle is already out of bed." In her sleep, Gu Nuan Nuan heard Cao Cao’s call and jolted awake. Opening her eyes, she sat up to find the bed empty. The only other person in the room was her uncle, who watched her with an amused expression as he got dressed. "You really are alert."

"Of course I am." Gu Nuan Nuan yawned and glanced outside. It was still pitch-black. She sent her consciousness into her space and saw the hands on her watch pointing to 3:50. "It’s so early," she remarked.

"It’s a long way. If we leave early, we can make it in time for lunch." Seeing that her sleepiness hadn’t faded, Zhang Wei Qiang couldn’t help but persuade her, "Do you want to sleep a little longer? Your aunt still needs to prepare breakfast and snacks for the road. There’s no point in you getting up now. Why not sleep for another forty-five minutes?"

"Okay." Gu Nuan Nuan nodded and immediately lay back down, clutching the thin blanket. She didn’t forget to give Cao Cao an instruction before falling back asleep almost instantly.

"There we go. Finally back to normal." Zhang Wei Qiang shook his head with a faint, smiling sigh and went to the kitchen to help.

A little before five, having gotten some extra sleep and eaten her fill, a revitalized Gu Nuan Nuan set off, perched on the crossbar of her uncle’s bicycle. The sky was already brightening; summer days always dawned early.

Besides its passenger, the bicycle was loaded down with quite a few things for the trip. A small bamboo basket hung from the front rack, filled with snacks and water for them to replenish their energy along the way. The rear rack was tightly strapped with over ten pounds of wild boar jerky, the two wild pheasants and two rabbits that Zhang Wei Qiang and Gu Nuan Nuan had caught in the mountains yesterday, and some dried, farm-style mountain specialties like shiitake and wood ear mushrooms.

Their haul from the mountains yesterday wasn’t limited to just those two pheasants and rabbits. Because her uncle knew his hearing was sharper than most, Gu Nuan Nuan had thrown caution to the wind. With her tips and Zhang Wei Qiang’s coordination, it was as if they had activated a cheat code, bringing back a whopping seven wild pheasants, five rabbits, and dozens of wild chicken eggs. The family was stunned when they saw the harvest. But even with her uncle of extraordinary skill by her side, Gu Nuan Nuan was secretly a little disappointed that they hadn’t managed to run into a wild boar.

"Getting uncomfortable?" After riding for three or four hours straight, Zhang Wei Qiang wasn’t feeling particularly tired himself, but he noticed Gu Nuan Nuan, perched on the crossbar, constantly squirming and shifting her position. Feeling a pang of pity, he said, "We’ve covered more than half the distance, but we’ve still got at least two more hours to go. If you’re really uncomfortable, we can pull over and wait for the regular bus to pass. We can just take that."

"No bus."

Gu Nuan Nuan reached back to rub her numb bottom and shook her head firmly. ’Who knows if that bus will even have a chance to pass by us again?’ she thought sorrowfully. ’In her past life, she was too young at the time to learn the exact details of the time and place of her uncle’s bus accident. As she grew older, the incident became an untouchable scar on her heart. She refused to even think about that past tragedy, so how could she have ever gone back to find out those specifics?’

"Suit yourself." Zhang Wei Qiang felt helpless in the face of his hopelessly stubborn niece. After riding for another long stretch, he saw Gu Nuan Nuan squirming restlessly again. With a final sigh, he stopped the bike, lifted her off, and leaned it against the mountainside. "Alright, we’ve been riding long enough; it’s time for a break. We ate so early, you’ve got to be getting hungry by now. Let’s have a bite to eat and some water. We can set off again after that."

"Great!" The moment she was off the bike, Gu Nuan Nuan eagerly started swinging her arms and kicking her legs, not stopping until she’d shaken off the numb sensation. Only then did she feel much more comfortable.

"On the way back, your uncle will find something soft to put on the back seat for you. We can take turns in the front and back, and maybe that will be more comfortable." Zhang Wei Qiang was both amused and pained as he watched Gu Nuan Nuan stretch her stiff limbs. The truth was, being the passenger on a bicycle was far less comfortable than being the rider. A rider was at least in constant motion. Despite the physical exertion, it was better than being unable to move freely; that feeling of your whole body stiffening up after sitting for too long was much worse.

"Mhm, mhm." Gu Nuan Nuan nodded eagerly.

"We have boiled eggs, steamed buns with savory pork, fried spring rolls, tomatoes, and cucumbers. What do you want?" Zhang Wei Qiang asked, grabbing a steamed bun with savory pork for himself as he spoke.

"A spring roll." Gu Nuan Nuan reached into the small basket and grabbed one of the golden, crispy spring rolls, which looked delicious enough to make anyone’s mouth water. She took a huge bite and mumbled while chewing, "Auntie is incredible. In just a little while this morning, she not only cooked a full meal but made all this extra food, too."