Chapter 31: Dining by the Riverside

In the end, Liu Yixue set aside her previous reserve and broke with her usual habits to have lunch with Zhou Xuan. When Zhou Xuan, playing the generous host, said they could go anywhere, Liu Yixue unhesitatingly chose to eat fish on one of the boats by the river.

They first returned to the classroom to put their things away, and then, at Zhou Xuan’s insistence, walked side by side out of the school together. On the way, they occasionally ran into classmates who knew them. The sight of the campus beauty, Liu Yixue, walking with a boy was quite the news.

Zhou Xuan, of course, didn’t mind, since few people knew him. Most of the attention was drawn by Liu Yixue, and under the weight of so many stares, she nearly lost her nerve.

It was only after they finally passed through the school gates that Liu Yixue let out a sigh of relief. Zhou Xuan, attentive as ever, hailed a rickshaw and invited her to ride. She hadn’t expected such thoughtfulness from Zhou Xuan. Though the river wasn’t far, it was a pleasant surprise to ride instead of walk, so she accepted gladly.

The driver up front pedaled with all his might, while Zhou Xuan’s mind wandered. The seat was just wide enough for the two of them to sit shoulder to shoulder, and the road to the river was bumpy and uneven. As a result, Zhou Xuan’s left leg kept bumping into Liu Yixue’s, the warmth of her skin making him feel a little flushed.

Having lived past ninety in his previous life, Zhou Xuan hadn’t had much experience with women in his last twenty or thirty years. Suddenly sitting next to a youthful beauty, breathing in her faint fragrance, he found himself as perturbed as any other teenage boy, his body responding despite himself.

To conceal his embarrassment, Zhou Xuan placed his hands between his knees and tried to make conversation with Liu Yixue. She too seemed unaccustomed to the situation, replying in half-sentences, her mind elsewhere.

Zhou Xuan, once so sure of himself after decades of experience, suddenly felt as awkward as the shy boy he had once been—introverted, self-conscious, easily flustered in conversation.

Fortunately, the rickshaw driver’s strong legs turned the half-hour journey into less than eight minutes. They soon arrived at the riverbank.

After getting off, Zhou Xuan paid the fare, and together they walked toward the vast expanse of the Yangtze before them. They followed a small path to a two-story boat called “Jiang Family Fishing Boat,” which, according to Liu Yixue, served excellent pickled fish.

For Zhou Xuan, this was his first time dining on a boat at the river. Generally, the larger boats offered better surroundings but at a higher price, while this modest two-story vessel seemed more like a fisherman’s own operation, likely more affordable.

That Liu Yixue, a girl of her refinement, chose this place suggested the food must be good. Though perhaps not as cheap as the bigger boats, it was probably pricier than the small restaurants ashore. Zhou Xuan glanced at Liu Yixue ahead of him, suddenly suspecting her family was well-off.

They boarded the boat carefully. A woman in her forties greeted them and led them upstairs. The first floor housed the kitchen and living quarters, with fish swimming in nets. The second floor was for dining, with two private rooms, each holding two tables, and several more set out on the open deck.

The breeze from the river felt chilly, so Zhou Xuan and Liu Yixue chose a table inside one of the private rooms. The server poured them each a glass of water and asked for their order.

Since Zhou Xuan was treating, he let Liu Yixue choose, especially as it was his first time there and he had no idea which dishes were best.

Liu Yixue ordered a three-pound serving of pickled fish, a small side dish, and two bowls of rice.

After the server left, Zhou Xuan asked, “Do you come here often?”

“No, only once or twice. But the pickled fish here is truly delicious.”

“Really? Then I’ll have to eat plenty today.”

“Three pounds should be more than enough for you. I can’t eat much.”

Zhou Xuan looked over her figure and smiled. “You’re not fat at all, no need to diet.”

Being scrutinized so openly, Liu Yixue felt uncomfortable. “Zhou Xuan, you seem different from before.”

“Oh? How so?” Zhou Xuan perked up, curious.

“You used to be just like everyone else, nothing special. Now you seem to have your own ideas, how to put it—just a little unconventional. From the way you look at people, it’s as if no one else even stirs your interest,” Liu Yixue said.

Since his rebirth, Zhou Xuan held decades of the future in his hands, and his timid, meek nature had entirely changed. Confidence, resilience, and a certain calm detachment now characterized him.

He hadn’t expected Liu Yixue to observe him so closely. Surprised, he said, “I didn’t know you had taken such notice of me. It can’t be just because my grades improved, can it? Or do you have feelings for me?”

Zhou Xuan’s teasing made Liu Yixue blush. “It’s just that lately you don’t seem like a middle schooler. What middle school boy makes such a splash?”

He laughed, “Curiosity about a boy can be dangerous, you know. You might fall for him.”

“You’re shameless! And you’re overthinking things,” she retorted, unwilling to admit anything.

He grinned, “You never eat with boys, yet now the whole third year is probably talking about me and our campus belle having lunch by the river.”

Annoyed, Liu Yixue replied, “That’s your fault. I said we should leave one after the other, but you insisted on walking together.”

“It’s just a meal—not such a big deal. Why sneak around?”

“Hmph, I think you did it on purpose…”

They were still bantering when the server brought a large platter of pickled fish and the side dish. The aroma was mouthwatering, the fish fillets tender, pale yellow, and thinly sliced—enough to make anyone’s appetite surge.

Having eaten breakfast early and with the afternoon already close to one o’clock, both were hungry and dropped all pretense, digging in without reservation.

Zhou Xuan had thought that, being so beautiful, Liu Yixue would eat with refined grace. To his surprise, she ate heartily, shoveling piece after piece of fish into her mouth—whether from genuine hunger or to mask her embarrassment from their earlier conversation, he couldn’t say.

In less than twenty minutes, they had nearly finished. Zhou Xuan went to pay the bill: a little over forty yuan. In 1997, that was quite a sum for two people, but the taste was worth it, in Zhou Xuan’s opinion.

After the meal, Zhou Xuan wanted to suggest a stroll along the riverbank, but Liu Yixue quickly made her excuses, saying she needed to go home, and left in a hurry.

“Well, eat and run, is it?” Zhou Xuan muttered to himself.

With so many people along the river in the afternoon, it would be easy to run into classmates or parents, and Liu Yixue obviously didn’t dare be seen taking a walk with Zhou Xuan.