The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 87: Chance Meeting

“Little Si?” Gao Yang was surprised too. “Why are you here?”

Wan Sisi grew shy after her joy of seeing Gao Yang quieted. She reflexively brushed her fingers through the slight curls at the end of her hair. “My grandma is having her eightieth birthday. My mom and I came back to the countryside to celebrate with her. How about you?”

“My granny is staying with my uncle. I came to check up on her.”

“What a coincidence. I didn’t expect to run into you here.” Wan Sisi’s eyes curved as she smiled. “Ah, why haven’t you come to school the past two days?”

“Well.” Gao Yang said the first lie that came to mind. “I took a few days off to take care of my dad.”

“Is he doing better now?” Wan Sisi asked with genuine concern.

“Yeah, he’s better...”

Gao Yang’s words were interrupted by an old woman's voice. “Yang Yang?”

Gao Yang turned around to see his grandmother standing outside the fruit shop with a walking stick. She was dressed in a shirt with flower patterns, her silver hair tied neatly with a pink hairpin. His grandmother had a cute side to her. According to his mother, his grandmother still retained the youthfulness of her teenage years and loved colorful clothes and candies. She acted cute like a child sometimes as well.

“Granny!” Gao Yang hurried up to her and took her hand. “I was going to visit you at Uncle’s place! Why did you come out on your own? Don’t walk around without company. What if you fall?”

“Your uncle leaves home to take care of some business.” His grandmother took out a red envelope from her pocket, her eyes and brows curving softly as she smiled. “Granny is going to attend a birthday banquet. Why don’t you come with me, Yang Yang?”

“Granny,” Wan Sisi went up to them, “Are you attending Feng Guihua’s birthday celebration?”

“Oh, you know her too, young woman?” His grandmother looked up and beamed at Wan Sisi.

“Of course, that’s my grandmother from my mother’s side!” Wan Sisi chuckled and held the old woman’s other hand. “What a coincidence. Let’s go together.”

“Of course, of course! It can’t be better!” All the lines and creases on his grandmother’s face radiated joy.

Supporting her on each side, Gao Yang and Wan Sisi walked with her for about ten minutes before they arrived at where Wan Sisi’s grandmother lived.

It was a two-story house built by the family themselves. In the front courtyard was a big tent, under which stood a dozen or so tables. About half of the seats had already been filled.

Wan Sisi led Gao Yang and his grandmother to one of the tables. Then she was told to go help in the house by a relative.

“How’s your dad, Yang Yang?” his grandmother asked.

“He’s recovering well. He’s been in good spirits as well.” Gao Yang didn’t tell her about his father’s loss of mobility. “When are you coming home, Granny?”

“I’ll stay a little longer. The air in the countryside is clean. I’ve stopped coughing because of that.” Then she said like she had just remembered something, “Ah, your uncle said that your dad hadn’t been able to pay his workers for two months...”

“Don’t worry, Granny. The factory got an investor today. It’s all good now,” Gao Yang said. “It’s a classmate of mine. His family is super rich.”

“Oh, that’s good.” His grandmother didn’t understand the details of it, but she smiled in relief when she heard her grandson’s reassurance.

“You don’t have to worry about our family, Granny,” Gao Yang promised.

His grandmother held his hand and patted it. “Our Yang Yang has gotten more and more dependable. One day, you’ll become an even more successful man than your dad!”

“Granny, not so loud...” Gao Yang was a little embarrassed to hear his grandmother praising him in public.

A few minutes later, the star of the birthday celebration made an appearance.

Dressed in celebratory colors, an old lady walked up to the makeshift wooden stage with the support of her children. Her son picked up the microphone and said a few pleasantries for her, thanking everyone for making the time to attend and telling them to enjoy the food and drinks. Then the elderly members of the town said a few words to celebrate her birthday. The banquet commenced in a boisterous fashion.

The dishes were served one after another. Gao Yang stood up to pick up food for his grandmother. Then he sensed someone sitting down by him. He turned to see that it was Wan Sisi.

Face flushed, Wan Sisi gave him a shy glance. “My grandma’s table is full. You don’t mind me joining you here, do you?”

“Of course I don’t.” Gao Yang smiled.

Wan Sisi picked up a pair of chopsticks and put a soft meatball into the bowl before Gao Yang’s grandmother. “This is really good, Granny. Very flavorful and doesn’t stick to your teeth. Try it.”

“Okay, okay.” His grandmother chewed on it slowly. “Ah, it’s good. Real good...”

“Try one, Gao Yang.” Wan Sisi picked up another meatball for him.

“Is that someone from your school, Little Si?” One of the middle-aged men at the table asked as he drank.

“Yeah, he’s Gao Yang. We’re classmates.”

“Classmates? Isn’t he your boyfriend?” another man teased. Then he turned to the others at the table. “Don’t you think so?”

“Hear hear!”

“You look good together.”

“Please stop teasing me, Uncle Wu!” The blush on Wan Sisi’s face spread to her neck. She made to stand up. “If you won’t stop, I’m going to find another table!”

“Hahaha, I’ll stop. Come on, more drinks.”

The men went for another round of alcohol.

Gao Yang’s grandmother didn’t have a big appetite. They were one of the first to take their leave.

Gao Yang supported his grandmother and bade everyone farewell. When they walked to the street, Wan Sisi ran up to them with two longevity peach buns[1]. “Granny, Gao Yang, you forgot your peach buns.”

Gao Yang took the buns from her. “Thank you.”

Blinking, Wan Sisi put her hands on her abdomen and said, “Would you mind if I walk you, Granny? I’ve had too much to eat, and walking would help with digestion.”

Gao Yang was going to decline politely, but his grandmother cut in with a smile, “Of course I don’t mind. Come, chat with Granny.”

His grandmother gave him a pointed look. “Yang Yang is a boy of few words. There are only a few things he talks about. I’m growing tired of the routine.”

“Okay!”

On their way home, Wan Sisi helped his grandmother walk and chatted happily with her, leaving Gao Yang the outsider of the group. He trailed behind them and used his phone to kill time.

Once they were home, his grandmother invited Wan Sisi inside for tea. Wan Sisi agreed, and the two women got along so well despite the age gap that they talked until it was four thirty in the afternoon.

Gao Yang got a message from White Rabbit then, telling him to attend a meeting tonight at the Millennium Tower. Gao Yang said goodbye to his grandmother and went to the bus terminal to catch a bus back to the city.

“Are you going now?” asked Wan Sisi.

“Yeah.”

“I, I need to go back to the city as well. May I join you?” Wan Sisi was a little nervous.

To level up his Talent, Gao Yang had been using Lie Detection whenever he could, and without thinking, he used it on Wan Sisi.

—Lie.

Gao Yang concluded that originally, either Wan Sisi’s mother was going to drive her to the city, or she was returning tomorrow.

But he didn’t expose her. Instead, he nodded with a smile. “Let’s go then.”

When he stood up, he felt a wave of sensations rushing into his head, making him dizzy for a moment.

He knew it meant that Lie Detection had reached level 2. As expected, it only took a few uses.

Ah, it doesn’t feel as good to level up a lower-ranking Talent like Lie Detection compared to the high-ranking ones like Fire and Replicate.

...

Half an hour later, the two of them reached the bus terminal and bought a ticket to Li City. Unfortunately, the bus had just left, and the next wouldn’t come until an hour later.

They sat on the bench in the waiting hall, each using their own phone.

Wan Sisi was chatting with someone on WeChat. Gao Yang snuck a glance and saw the name ‘Mommy Supreme’. She must be explaining to her mother why she was going back to Li City on her own instead of what they originally planned.

Wan Sisi put her phone away after the conversation and let out a sigh of relief—it seemed that she had talked her way out of trouble.

Wan Sisi looked happy. With excitement dancing in her eyes, she turned around and asked, “Gao Yang, would you come with me for a moment? It’s quite close.”

“Where to?”

Wan Sisi said cryptically, “You’ll know when you get there.”

Gao Yang didn’t suspect Wan Sisi, but just to be safe, he secretly accessed the system to make sure that the Luck acquisition rate was still the same.

He nodded. “Alright.”

1. Sweet buns that are common at traditional birthday celebrations for elderly people. They are made to resemble peaches because of the connection between peaches and longevity in mythology. ?

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