ECG -Chapter 97 The Landlord Has Plenty of Leftover Grain

The days that followed were very carefree. Every day, Lin Hao stayed at home reading books, and whenever he got tired, he would sit at his desk and write down from memory those classic songs from his previous life.

Because he hadn’t gotten the scanner back yet, even after finishing writing them, he couldn’t immediately scan and upload them to apply for registration. So he could only save them up and wait until after school started to scan them all at once. Fortunately, he wasn’t singing these songs right now anyway, so there was no rush.

He had also taken responsibility for cooking lunch and dinner. Occasionally, he would go up to the fifth floor and supervise Wu Xiaozhou’s training.

Wu Xiaozhou was fairly restrained. He didn’t go looking for Bai Zhitao every single day. The two of them had agreed to meet every weekend.

On the night after they ate with Zhou Dongbing and the others, the two of them went together to walk Bai Zhitao home. On the way back, Lin Hao took 2,000 yuan out of his coat pocket and gave it to Wu Xiaozhou. That guy just chuckled and accepted it without any hesitation.

He had originally wanted to get broadband installed. Although it was expensive, it would be much more convenient for him to use the internet at home. When he mentioned it to Wu Xiaozhou, that guy patted his chest and said there was no need—he had his own way.

The next day, that guy brought a technician over. They lowered a cable down from his fifth-floor window, drilled a hole through Lin Hao’s windowsill, and pulled the cable inside.

Lin Hao had no idea what kind of equipment they installed on the other side, but once he plugged it in, he could get online.

…

In the blink of an eye, it was the weekend again. When Wu Xiaozhou left in the morning, he even came over to Lin Hao’s place to show off for a while.

Lin Hao was lying on his stomach on the bed, reading the news on his laptop.

That day after eating hotpot, he went home and fell asleep. It wasn’t until the next day that he searched online for information about the Fangcaodi Rock Music Festival. There was a blog post on Houlang Net that introduced it in great detail.

This music festival had been planned and organized by a record company, and it was also their first one. Recently, its promotional momentum had been very strong. This record company was one of the top ones in the country, called Jushi International Music Co., Ltd.. It had countless superstars under its banner, and its biggest shareholder was a person from Hong Kong.

After browsing the blog post for a while, he also registered an account on Houlang Blog. At this time, blogs had only just started becoming popular, and Weibo had not appeared yet.

Most blog content was mainly text-based, though some blogs focused on videos, art, photography, music, and various other topics.

Unfortunately, smartphones had not come out yet, and the spread of blogs was far slower compared with Weibo.

Lin Hao was reading an article introducing the major record companies in the country when his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Xia Yumeng.

“Lin Hao, where are you?”

Xia Yumeng’s voice was very pleasant, bright and cheerful yet carrying a hint of sweetness.

Lin Hao said lazily, “Where else could I be? It’s freezing cold outside, so I’m lying at home.”

Xia Yumeng giggled. “Come out and treat me to a movie!”

She said it very naturally, without any hesitation or shyness. But Lin Hao still hesitated for a moment. Back in the provincial capital, their group of people had gone to watch movies together before, but that was different—it had been a crowd.

But this time was different. A man and a woman going to watch a movie alone together… at the very least, anyone who saw them would assume there was something going on between them.

There was no denying that Xia Yumeng was extremely beautiful. Whether it was her figure or her face, both were top-tier. Especially her personality—straightforward yet carrying a gentle and charming side.

When he first saw her on the train, he had felt that she looked especially like the actress he had liked in his previous life, Gao Yuanyuan, and his heart had skipped a beat at the time.

Although he had always said that he wanted to seriously date someone during college, his thoughts had all been spent on studying and making money. He really hadn’t paid much attention to the girls around him.

There were so many pretty girls in his class, and it wasn’t like there weren’t any who tried to get close to him. But why hadn’t any of them made his heart move?

Was it because his mental age was too old?

Or was he really no longer interested in young girls?

Logically speaking, that shouldn’t be the case!

In his previous life, even when he was almost forty years old, he still liked youthful and beautiful girls. So why had he changed in this life?

Could it be because he wanted so badly to truly live this life properly that he had put all his thoughts into studying?

Or perhaps, after experiencing so much in his previous life, his interest in women had faded?

But he was damn sure he wasn’t interested in men either!

While he was still lost in his thoughts, Xia Yumeng’s voice came from the other end of the phone:

“What’s wrong? You stingy old landlord, are you reluctant to spend money again?”

This sentence amused Lin Hao. Whenever these friends went out to have fun, he was the one who paid the bill. After all, they were all poor students, while he earned quite a lot from singing every day. So they had all gotten used to it. Whenever they wanted to make him spend money, they would always say: “The landlord’s family has plenty of leftover grain. If we don’t take advantage of him, it would be a waste.”

“Fine, who told me I have plenty of leftover grain?” Lin Hao chuckled. “Where are you? I’ll go find you!”

“I’m at the mall. Come over! We can have lunch together. I’ll wait for you!”

Lin Hao hung up the phone and noticed that a little rabbit avatar on the lower-right corner of his laptop screen was flashing. Q-Message was an instant messaging software, very similar to QQ from his previous life.

He clicked it open and saw that it was Chu Xiaomei again. During this period of time, the two of them would occasionally chat on Q-Message, and usually, Chu Xiaomei was the one who talked more.

“Lin Hao, has your head hurt recently? It’s cold outside, so try to go out less!”

Looking at the message Chu Xiaomei sent him, Lin Hao couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Emotional debts were debts too! Sigh!

If he had to choose between Xia Yumen and Chu Xiaomei, he would choose Xia Yumen without hesitation. This really had nothing to do with whether someone had a bigger or smaller chest; it was mainly about personality.

Both girls were cheerful, but they were different in their own ways. Although Chu Xiaomei looked delicate and pretty on the outside, she was a complete tomboy. After spending enough time with any guy, she would become just like a buddy to them. Meanwhile, Xia Yumen was cheerful and generous, but she also knew her boundaries, with a hint of feminine charm.

He typed back: “It’s nothing, I’m fine now. Don’t worry!” Then he shut down the computer.

Lin Hao put on his military-style coat, got on his bicycle, and rode toward the mall. His home was on the north side of Chunhe, while the mall was in the middle of the city. Luckily, the Chunhe River wasn’t very wide, and after more than twenty minutes, he arrived.

After locking his bicycle, he quickly rushed into the mall. It was simply too cold outside. In just this short while, he felt like his entire body had frozen through.

He had originally planned to call Xia Yumen after entering, but when he lifted the thick cotton curtain at the entrance, he unexpectedly saw her.

Xia Yumen was wearing a beige cashmere coat, with a golden fox fur collar framing her beautiful face. Lin Hao was surprised to find that she seemed to have put on a little light makeup, making her whole face look delicate and radiant. Compared to her usual plain, makeup-free appearance, she looked completely different.

People often say that a woman dresses up for the one she loves. For some reason, Lin Hao felt inexplicably happy.

“Why are you waiting here? It’s so cold!” Lin Hao’s tone carried a hint of blame. This spot was right where the wind blew through, and since it was the weekend, there were many people coming in and out, bringing strong gusts of cold air.

“I guessed that you, this rich landlord, wouldn’t be willing to take a taxi. If you rode your bicycle here, you’d definitely come through this entrance!” Xia Yumen said with her hands behind her back, smiling smugly and looking quite pleased with herself.

Xia Yumen was tall and graceful, only eight centimeters shorter than Lin Hao. From a distance, she even looked taller than him.

“What do you want to eat?” Lin Hao tugged at her arm and followed the crowd inside while asking.

Xia Yumen said somewhat shyly, “When I was at school, I kept thinking about the rice noodles from our hometown. I always felt that the ones in the provincial capital weren’t authentic!”

Lin Hao laughed. “So after all that, you’re just taking advantage of me for a bowl of rice noodles? Your knife isn’t very sharp!”

The two of them found an old rice noodle shop behind the mall and started eating steaming hot bowls of noodles.

At this moment, Xia Yumen was not ladylike at all. While eating, she said, “The rice noodles from our Chunhe are still the most authentic and delicious!”

Lin Hao picked up a quail egg and tossed it into his mouth. “You know, these are Yunnan rice noodles. How could the ones made in our Chunhe possibly be authentic? You’re just used to the taste.”

Xia Yumen’s lively big eyes rolled at him. Lin Hao felt his heart pounding fiercely. He couldn’t help but complain inwardly: What’s wrong with me? The old me had walked through countless flowers without being affected, so why do I look like a complete beginner today?

“You’re not even that old, so why do you always act like some old man? You think everything through so thoroughly. Is that really interesting?”

Xia Yumen couldn’t clearly say when she had started liking Lin Hao. If she thought carefully about it, perhaps it was the first time she met him, when he sang the song Blue Lotus on the train.

Since middle school, there had always been many boys surrounding her. But she always felt that there was something missing from those boys. It wasn’t until she met Lin Hao that she understood what those boys lacked—maturity.

And that kind of maturity was displayed to the fullest in Lin Hao. Whether it was the melancholic look in his eyes when he held a guitar and sang, or the steadiness revealed in his words and actions, everything about him attracted her deeply.