Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

Fang Yu did not sit outside.

He pushed open the door, found an empty table against the wall, and pulled Liu Yifei to sit down.

"Boss!"

Fang Yu shouted towards the stove.

"Two bowls of tofu pudding, a steamer of pork and scallion buns, and two fried dough sticks!"

"Okay, coming right away!"

The boss readily agreed.

Liu Yifei pulled down her hat brim and her mask down to her chin, revealing a clean and fair face.

She rested her chin on her hands, looking at Fang Yu opposite her with a half-smile.

"I thought you would order old Beijing specialties like douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) and fried liver to prank me."

Fang Yu broke a pair of disposable chopsticks in half, rubbed the rough edges together, and handed them over.

"What are you thinking about?"

"With a budget of two hundred dollars, every penny must be spent wisely."

"If you drink a sip of douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), I'll have to spend extra money to buy you bottled water to rinse your mouth. I'm not doing this kind of business that's a complete loss."

Liu Yifei took the chopsticks and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"So you're not worried I won't like the taste, you're just reluctant to buy bottled water?"

"That's just one aspect."

Fang Yu leaned closer and lowered his voice:

"Secondly, my girlfriend is so smart, she's not some naive and clueless girl who's never seen the world."

"Trying to fool you with biological weapons? Isn't that insulting your intelligence?"

The phrase "my girlfriend" was uttered with utmost naturalness. Liu Yifei's eyelashes trembled slightly, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned upwards.

Not long after, the boss came over carrying a tray.

The steaming hot tofu pudding is placed on the table, sprinkled with chopped green onions, cilantro, and pickled mustard tuber, and drizzled with a spoonful of chili oil.

The steamed buns are plump and white, and the fried dough sticks are fried until golden and crispy.

"Here, have a taste."

Fang Yu picked up a steamed bun and placed it on the small plate in front of Liu Yifei.

"Be careful, it's hot."

Liu Yifei took a small bite.

The meat juices mixed with the aroma of scallions spread in her mouth, and her eyes immediately lit up.

"tasty."

She picked up another piece of fried dough stick, dipped it in the tofu pudding, and happily put it into her mouth.

Seeing her eat so heartily, Fang Yu also developed a strong appetite.

The two of them quickly finished their breakfast.

Fang Yu went to the front desk to scan the code and pay.

"Thirty-four in total."

"drop."

A payment notification popped up.

Fang Yu stared at the screen for two seconds.

He turned around, his expression slowly turning serious.

"Fairy Sister, I need to inform you about our current dire financial situation."

"Our relationship fund currently only has 166 yuan left."

Liu Yifei took a tissue to wipe her mouth, stood up, and patted his shoulder like a leader inspecting work.

"Tour guide Fang, you've got the accounts pretty clear."

She tilted her head, her eyes full of laughter.

"So what's the next step?"

"With so little money left, you're not planning to make me spend the whole day walking the streets with you, are you?"

Fang Yu smiled mysteriously and pulled his mask up.

"That's not the case. Come with me."

……

A few minutes later.

The two strolled to the side of the busy main road.

Fang Yu stopped and pointed ahead.

"Next stop, Beijing Zoo."

"zoo?"

Liu Yifei was somewhat surprised.

The zoo is indeed a great place for a date, but it's not very close to here.

She glanced at Fang Yu.

"A taxi ride there would cost at least forty or fifty yuan, wouldn't it?"

"Can you manage this budget?"

Fang Yu didn't answer, but instead put his hands in his pockets and rummaged around for a while.

Then, he stretched out his hand in front of Liu Yifei and slowly opened it.

Four coins lay quietly in the palm of my hand.

Liu Yifei was stunned.

"What does this mean?"

"The starting fare for a taxi is fourteen yuan, let's take this one."

Fang Yu raised his chin and gestured towards the bus stop a few dozen meters away.

"Two yuan per person, fair and honest, focusing on cost-effectiveness."

Liu Yifei followed his gaze.

A blue and white double-decker bus is slowly pulling into the station.

Since her debut, she has almost never used public transportation.

The phrase "taking the bus" is like a memory from a past life to her.

But at this moment, there was no disgust in her eyes; instead, they slowly brightened.

It was a long-lost sense of novelty.

"What are you standing there for?"

Fang Yu suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"The car is leaving!"

The two rushed over before the car door closed.

The car door beeped.

The next second, the two had just stepped into the car when the door closed behind them.

"Clang! Clang!"

Four coins were inserted into the coin box.

The morning rush hour was more than halfway over, and the carriage was quite empty, with only a few elderly people carrying shopping baskets dozing off in their seats.

No one would associate these two young people wearing hats and masks with the top celebrities on the trending topics list.

Fang Yu led Liu Yifei to the last row of the carriage, where the two sat down side by side.

The blue plastic seats were a bit hard, and there was a faint smell of leather and disinfectant in the carriage.

"Sizzle—"

With the sound of the air brakes being released, the bus started moving steadily.

Liu Yifei sat by the window and turned to look out.

The early summer sunlight streamed through the car window, casting a soft glow on her profile.

Along the road, the shadows of the plane trees receded, and dappled sunlight shimmered gently on her white T-shirt.

Fang Yu leaned back in his chair and glanced at her sideways.

At this moment, Liu Yifei looked exactly like a female college student who went out on the weekend to accompany her boyfriend on the bus.

There was no red carpet, no flashing lights, and no crowd surrounding her calling her "Teacher Liu".

There was only an ordinary bus and her rather unusual boyfriend beside her.

The car lurched as it drove over the speed bump.

Liu Yifei leaned to one side and rested on Fang Yu's shoulder.

Fang Yu's body stiffened slightly, then he relaxed.

He pulled a pure white Bluetooth headset out of his pocket.

He put one on himself, then turned to the side and gently tucked the other into Liu Yifei's loose hair.

The earphone touched her earlobe, and Liu Yifei's eyelashes fluttered, but she didn't pull away.

She simply nuzzled her cheek against Fang Yu's shoulder, finding a comfortable spot.

Then, her left hand reached through the gap in the seat and grabbed Fang Yu's fingers.

Their fingers were intertwined.

Palms touching.

A gentle love song happened to be playing in my headphones.

No one spoke.

But this bus ride, which only cost two yuan, suddenly felt like something out of an idol drama.

……

Outside the car window.

A black Passat is accelerating to overtake the bus from the left.

The passenger-side window was completely rolled down.

Old B had almost half his body leaning out of the bus, his telephoto lens fixed on the last row of passengers.

"Did you get a picture?!"

Old A kept an eye on the road conditions while asking urgently.

"Got it!"

Old B glanced down at the camera screen, his voice trembling.

"Holy crap, A-bro, that's amazing!"

Through the telephoto lens, looking through that dusty glass window—

The national goddess, with her natural beauty, leaned on the shoulder of a young top star, the two sharing a pair of white headphones, their fingers tightly intertwined.

The sunlight streaming through the window shone directly onto their clasped hands.

For a moment, even Old B, a paparazzo who chases celebrity gossip every day, was somewhat mesmerized.

"This composition..."

He muttered to himself.

"This artistic conception..."

"A decisive blow!"

Old B's eyes were almost red.

"I suddenly want to go back to my hometown and get back together with my first love."

Old A paused for a moment, then quietly slowed down and followed steadily behind the bus.

He lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Ah B".

"Um?"

"Remember this photo from today."

Old A stared at the slowly moving bus ahead, his tone unusually serious.

"As long as the people around you are the right ones..."

He paused, then spoke softly.

"Even if you only have two yuan left in your pocket, you can still feel like you're on Titanic when you take a regular bus ride."