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Chapter 38 - 1: Is This a Date?
Mother Chen was about to take some freshly cut fruit upstairs to feed her daughter when she saw Chen Yu hurriedly run downstairs.
“Shishi, are you going out?” Mother Chen asked in surprise.
“En.” Chen Yu said happily while trying to calm herself, “Mom, I’m going to climb the Great Wall so I may come back a bit late today.”
“You’re going with your classmates to climb the Great Wall?” Mother Chen asked.
“Ah, en.” Chen Yu nodded vaguely.
“Then you should put on another coat, it’s cold in the mountains.” As soon as it is December in the Imperial City, temperatures will slowly drop. Weather here wasn’t like the south as it won’t be warm even when the sun was out.
Chen Yu ran back upstairs again and put on a loose baseball uniform before leaving the house.
Chen Yu trotted all the way to the gate and turned to the right to see two black cars parked on the side of the road, a smiling Tian Fei was standing beside the car.
“Assistant Tian.” Chen Yu greeted happily.
Tian Fei waited until Chen Yu got closer to the car before he opened the door to the back seat with a face full of smiles. Chen Yu looked in and saw Lou Ming sitting inside, smiling softly towards her.
“Third Brother.” Chen Yu waved her hand joyfully.
“Come on in.” Lou Ming said.
Chen Yu got in obediently, because she ran all the way, Chen Yu’s breathing was a little ragged. When Lou Ming heard this, he frowned, got a bottle of water, unscrewed the lid, and handed it to Chen Yu. He reproachfully asked, “Why run in such a hurry?”
“I’m afraid that you’d wait too long, ah.” Chen Yu raised her head and took a sip of water.
“We’re not in a hurry, it’s okay if you’re a little late.” Lou Ming said.
“But I want to go early, ah.” Chen Yu said excitedly, “I saw the Great Wall in a book when I was in elementary school. The teacher said that it was one of the eight wonders of the world. The world is so big, but there are only eight wonders and I’m going to see one of them soon, I’m so excited!”
“The eight wonders of the world don’t mean there are only eight wonders in the world.” Lou Ming corrected with a smile.
“How many wonders are there?” Chen Yu asked with gleaming eyes.
“…” When Chen Yu asked him so suddenly, Lou Ming didn’t know how to answer. Actually, thinking about it carefully, there were many wonders in the world, of course it’s impossible to have only eight, but the most widely known and recognized by the world seemed to be only these eight. From a certain perspective, what Chen Yu said was quite right too.
“The most famous are these eight.” Lou Ming had no other choice but to say so.
Fortunately, Chen Yu wasn’t a serious person so she didn’t dive further in this topic, her eyes were full of joy as she was about to see the Great Wall.
“Have you never been to the Great Wall with your classmates?” Chen Yu had been in the Imperial Capital for more than three months. College students are the ones who have the most spare time, so Lou Ming couldn’t help asking when he looked at Chen Yu’s appearance as if she was going there for the first time.
“No.” Chen Yu shook her head, “Most of my old classmates have never left Qingmu Province while my university classmates are completely the opposite. They seemed to have been everywhere and people who have never been to the Great Wall are so rare, moreover, it’s still inside the Imperial Capital.”
“I haven’t been there yet.” Lou Ming had lived in the Imperial Capital for almost thirty years of his life and had never been to the Great Wall even once. He felt a little dazed when he thought he was going today.
“Me too.” Chen Yu blinked wittily, “Such a coincidence, oh.”
“Heh…” Lou Ming couldn’t help but stretched out his hand and rubbed Chen Yu’s head. The little girl’s hair was cut short and she didn’t tie it anymore, it felt softer now.
Seeing Lou Ming’s mood improve, Chen Yu happily took a chips pack that was set aside for her and ate it while chuckling.
Tian Fei drove quietly in the front seat, taking a glance in the rearview mirror from time to time, Lou Ming’s emotional changes could be seen in full view. He affirmed for the ten thousandth time as long as Miss Chen Yu was here, Third Young Master’s mood would easily improve.
Badaling [a section of the Great Wall that’s popular with tourists] was still some distance away from the city, it took two hours to drive to the Great Wall’s foot compound. Iit was already noon when they arrived, after looking at the majestic structure, Lou Ming and Chen Yu decided to first eat something, after all, you wouldn’t have the strength to climb without eating, ah.
However, they couldn’t find a single restaurant inside the huge Badaling area, it was filled with rows and rows of souvenir shops. The two of them were too lazy to drive again just to find something to eat, so they found a small shop and bought two bowls of instant noodles, eating them while squatting at the foot of the Great Wall.
After filling their stomachs with instant noodles, the two started the difficult walk climbing the crowded Great Wall under the protection of the four assistants.
“So many people, ah!” Chen Yu sighed.
“Yeah.” Pushed by so many people, Lou Ming felt for the first time it wasn’t always happy to be in contact with people.
“You see, there are a lot of worn steps. Did they get weathered over time or were they trampled on by so many people?” Chen Yu asked, pointing to the bumpy steps under her feet.
“Most of the steps we’re stepping on have already been repaired, the remaining original steps can only be found inside inaccessible mountains, but they should be worn too.” Lou Ming said.
“Let’s just say, a house needs to be renovated after several decades, while this Great Wall is already thousands of years old.” Chen Yu said, climbing up again, looking at the endless ups and downs of the Great Wall, unable to see the end. She sighed, “It’s really long, ah, I don’t even know how long it is.”
“According to the Historical Relic and Survey Map Department of the national Great Wall resources, the total length of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty is 8,851.8 kilometers, while the early stages of Great Wall in Qin and Han Dynasty are more than 10,000 kilometers, totaling more than 21,000 kilometers in length.” Lou Ming said along the way. [around 13,049 miles]
“Third Brother, how come you know everything, ah?” Chen Yu looked at Lou Ming with an admiring expression.
“I read a lot of books.” Lou Ming said in a bad mood.
Feeling Third Brother’s dislike, Chen Yu stuck out her tongue and continued to climb up. The more she climbed up, the less people there were, when she reached the top of the mountain, there were only a few tourists left. Looking at the majestic and winding Great Wall on the lofty mountains, Chen Yu couldn’t help but take out her phone to snap some photos.
Lou Ming had just arrived and leaned his back leaning against the wall. His slightly long hair was messed up by the mountain wind while his gaze wandered to the far horizon with a calm and gentle expression.
Snap!
Lou Ming turned around abruptly and faced the phone Chen Yu had put down, he couldn’t help but smile, “Next time you try to sneak a shot, remember to turn the sound off.”
“Who’s taking a sneak shot?” Chen Yu denied, “I’m obviously taking pictures in broad daylight.”
Lou Ming shook his head helplessly.
“Third Brother, the shot just now was from the side, let’s take it from the front this time.” Chen Yu was reaching for a yard after getting an inch.
She really did it in broad daylight. [open and honest]