The room in the hotel was less than 20 square meters, not as big as the bathroom in Huo Zhixiao’s house. There was barely a small window on the wall, which faces the street outside. Standing by the window, you can still hear the sound of the elder sister next door cracking melon seeds.
Ding Yinan was fine, he was not a picky person, but Huo Zhixiao couldn’t hide the disgust on his face. Ding Yinan had no doubts, if Huo Zhixiao could turned down this job, then he definitely didn’t want to stay here for a moment.
“Which bed do you sleep on?” Ding Yinan put down his luggage and asked proactively.
In fact, the two beds were similar, with a bedside table in the middle, and the other two sides were very close to the wall.
“Whichever.” Huo Zhixiao frowned.
“Then you can sit by the window.”
Although the room did not have an inner balcony, and the room neared the window were not much spacious, compared with the side near the bathroom, the view of the room near the window was better.
Secretary Liu was still downstairs waiting to take Huo Zhixiao and Ding Yinan to Sanyang Village to have a look, and it was inconvenient for them to store their luggage for too long.
But before leaving, Ding Yinan stopped Huo Zhixiao, then took out a bottle of toilet water from the suitcase, and sprayed it on him.
“What is this for?” Huo Zhixiao covered his mouth and nose, his face was full of impatience.
“Don’t underestimate the mosquitoes in the countryside.” Ding Yinan said and sprayed Huo Zhixiao twice, “If you don’t want to be devoured, spray more.”
Huo Zhixiao waved his hand, dispersed the pungent fragrance, looked at Ding Yinan and said, “You seem to be quite used to it.”
Ding Yinan let out a “hmm” and didn’t say much.
Liu Zhishu’s means of transportation was a common motorcycle in the countryside. He led the way, while Ding Yinan and Huo Zhixiao drive behind.
It took an hour to walk from Sanyang Village to the county seat, but in fact the distance was only six to seven kilometers, and it took less than 20 minutes to drive there.
The “open space” mentioned by Liu Zhishu was located at the entrance of the village, and anyone could see it immediately after turning into a small road.
But he had to say that the area was not so much an open space. It was similar as a wasteland, with weeds growing everywhere, next to a small hillside, and there were lambs grazing on the slope.
Huo Zhixiao closed the car door solemnly, and asked Ding Yinan who was opposite the front of the car, “What’s the smell?”
Ding Yinan also noticed it, or in other words, he was prepared for it. He hooked the corner of his mouth very lightly, and replied lightly: “The smell of nature.”
“Masters, come and have a look.” Liu Zhishu beckoned to the two of them, “This place is about this big. The main reason why we chose this library is to make this library the face of our village.”
Huo Zhixiao looked around, came to Liu Zhishu, and asked, “Is this the main road into the village?”
“That’s right.” Liu Zhishu said, “Everyone who enters or exits the village must pass through here.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Huo Zhixiao didn’t say anything more, but Ding Yinan has been with him for so many years, so he can somewhat guess what he thinks – the library was not suitable to be built here, because it may be a bit noisy here.
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When Zhishu Liu said this, his cell phone rang suddenly, he picked it up, and then frowned tightly: “Where did you fall?…Okay, stay still, I’ll be right over.”
After hanging up the phone, Liu Zhishu said to the two of them: “There is an old man who lives alone and fell down at home. I have to go over and have a look.” Then he quickly disappeared at the end of the path in a flash.
Ding Yinan slowly withdrew his gaze, looked at Huo Zhixiao, and asked tentatively, “Do you have any ideas about the library?”
Huo Zhixiao’s impatience finally showed, he glanced at the weedy wasteland, and said: “He wants a two-story library, build him one and it’s over.”
Ding Yinan’s heart sank when he heard this, he wasn’t sure if Huo Zhixiao said this purely as a complaint, or if he really had such a plan.
If it was just a two-story house, it could be considered an ordinary village building, and it could be repaired by any construction team.
It seemed that Huo Zhixiao really didn’t like this project. Ding Yinan pursed his lips, the words of persuasion had already reached his lips, but after hesitating for a while, he swallowed it back and changed his words: “Let’s go around first.”
The two walked towards the village along the path. When they passed a big tree, Ding Yinan walked under the tree and picked up a branch half a meter long.
The puzzlement in Huo Zhixiao’s eyes was obvious, Ding Yinan explained: “There are a lot of dogs in the countryside.”
As soon as the words fell, ferocious dog barking came from the yard not far ahead.
Huo Zhixiao paused, looked at Ding Yinan and said, “Aren’t those dogs tied up?”
“Some are tied.” Ding Yinan said, “But most of them are free.”
Huo Zhixiao was silent for a moment, then moved closer to Ding Yinan. Ding Yinan didn’t want to expose his boss, so he just pretended he didn’t see it.
The dog in the yard ahead was not tied up, but fortunately the gate was not opened, so the big yellow dog could only bark at the two of them through the iron railing.
Huo Zhixiao frowned and said, “Why is this dog so fierce?”
“Dogs in the countryside are like this.” Ding Yinan said, “They have to guard the house.”
Huo Zhixiao looked at the small farmyard in front of him, then continued to walk forward.
The houses in the countryside were sparsely built and irregular. Some are right next to the fields, while others are on hillsides. When the two gradually walked up the mountain, a yellow thing suddenly sprang out from the grass beside them, and rushed straight towards Huo Zhixiao.
Ding Yinan saw clearly that it was a wild dog, and he raised the branch in his hand to drive it away, but at this moment he suddenly discovered that the wild dog rushing over was actually a small puppy, at most three or four months old.
“Aww!” The little milk dog growled at Huo Zhixiao a few times, and then bit Huo Zhixiao’s trouser leg.
Huo Zhixiao immediately raised his calf, trying to break free from the bite of the little milk dog, but he probably also cared that the other party was just a puppy, so he didn’t use too much force, he just took a few steps back.
“Secretary Ding.” Huo Zhixiao frowned and looked at Ding Yinan, “Are you having fun watching?”
His words reminded Ding Yinan. Before Ding Yinan was cheated by Han Shuo, wasn’t Huo Zhixiao just watching the fun?
“Little dog, let him go.” Ding Yinan said.
“Ding…” Huo Zhixiao obviously lost his temper, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a puzzled look flashed across his face, and then he directly ignored the little milk dog who was biting his trouser leg, put down his calf and stood still, ” What’s your full name?”
Ding Yinan: “…”
The little milk dog was still biting Huo Zhixiao’s trouser legs, but its lethality was almost zero.
Ding Yinan had seen enough excitement, he raised a branch and knocked on the little milk dog twice, and said to Huo Zhixiao: “Ding Yinan.”
The little milk dog’s attention was immediately attracted by the branch, and then began to circle around the branch. Ding Yinan threw the branch into the grass, and the little milk dog swished into it.
“Ding Yinan.” Huo Zhixiao repeated word for word, “I seem to have a little impression.”
Ding Yinan’s roommates also have such people. For four years in college, they only went to class and hardly participated in class activities, so that when they graduated from senior year, they couldn’t even recognize the faces of the female students in the class. If they met each other on the road, they would probably be able to recognize him as someone in his class, but they couldn’t tell him his full name.
Ding Yinan had long been used to Huo Zhixiao ignoring him, he clapped his ashes and continued walking up the hillside.
Huo Zhixiao followed up with long legs, and teased: “How about I call you Nannan from now on?”
Ding Yinan glanced at Huo Zhixiao and asked, “Why don’t you call me Dingding?”
Huo Zhixiao smiled and didn’t answer any more. At this time Ding Yinan could also see that Huo Zhixiao’s mood was not as irritable as before.
After the two walked up the hill, the scenery of the village had a panoramic view.
Huo Zhixiao relaxed, took a deep breath, and said, “The air here is good.”
There was no farmland on the hillside, unlike when they entered the village just now, there is a strong “natural atmosphere”.
Ding Yinan gave a “hmm” and said again: “And it’s very quiet here, did you notice it?”
The sound of traffic was everywhere in the city, and people living in the city have long been used to it. But when you come to the countryside, you will find what is real leisure and tranquility.
“Indeed.” Huo Zhixiao felt it for a while, then looked at the houses down the mountain and said, “The buildings here are also very interesting.”
Ding Yinan looked at Huo Zhixiao in puzzlement.
“Look at that rammed earth wall over there.” Huo Zhixiao pointed to a dilapidated house and said, “That’s a building from the last century.”
Ding Yinan nodded.
“Look at that house again,” Huo Zhixiao pointed to another newer house, “The outer wall is covered with white tiles, which became popular around 2000.”
Ding Yinan thought about it for a while, and it seemed that this was really the case.
“And over there,” Huo Zhixiao turned his gaze again, looking at a brand new house not far away, “The columns have been repaired, and the decoration is emphasized. It should be a new house built in recent years.”
Ding Yinan’s sensitivity to architecture wass far lower than that of Huo Zhixiao. After Huo Zhixiao mentioned it, he discovered that there are also famous buildings in a small village.
At this time, the mountain suddenly became noisy, and several children carrying schoolbags came in from the entrance of the village.
Ding Yinan looked at the time, and before he knew it, he and Huo Zhixiao had been wandering around the village for several hours, and it happened to be the time when the children came back from school.
A few children used the branches as swords, and played happily for a while, then put their schoolbags on the side of the pond, and went into the water to catch loach.
Ding Yinan couldn’t help recalling that it was the same in his childhood, and he couldn’t help showing a faint smile. And his smile made Huo Zhixiao feel as if he had discovered a new world, and his gaze stayed on his face motionless.
Ding Yinan soon realized that Huo Zhixiao was looking at him, he coughed uncomfortably, and said, “I was like that when I was young.”
“Are you from the countryside?” Huo Zhixiao was a little surprised, “You were like this when you were a child…” After a pause, he looked at the child at the bottom of the mountain and said, “Are you running around in the fields like this?”
“Yes.” Ding Yinan said.
Huo Zhixiao nodded thoughtfully, and said, “No wonder you are so wild.”
What a pun.
Ding Yinan was immersed in childhood memories and was in a good mood, but when Huo Zhixiao said this, the good atmosphere in his heart was completely destroyed.
He glanced at Huo Zhixiao, and said calmly: “I was more naughty when I was young.”
“How?” Huo Zhixiao asked.
“I also took my sister to blow up a cesspit with firecrackers.”
Huo Zhixiao’s expression froze for a second, and then, as if he couldn’t believe what he heard, he asked, “Cesspit?”
“There should be some in this village,” Ding Yinan raised the corners of his lips lightly, “Do you want me to take you to find them?”
Huo Zhixiao was silent for a moment, and soon realized that Ding Yinan was deliberately teasing him. He looked at the corners of Ding Yinan’s upturned mouth, and said in a daze, “It’s absolutely unnecessary.”
Thanks for the update
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter !
Ty for the chapter!❤️
The process of getting to know each other is sweet 🤭
Pfft, Ding Yinan is now teasing his boss 😁
Thanks for the chapter 💞
Wonder how ml changed, if he has so much passuon for architecture before 😔
Aiyaa~ and here i thought it’d just be one bed 🤭
Ml is noticing mc more and more now 🤭
What do you mean, it IS absolutely NECESSARY 😉
I hope Huo Zhixiao can find his passion for architecture again. I think a big part of his loss of passion has to do with his dad giving him projects that are the opposite of what he wants to design ☹️