On the morning of Xia Xiao Lan’s birthday, Liu Fen indeed made her a bowl of longevity noodles. Not only did Xia Xiao Lan get a serving, but Zhou Cheng wasn’t left out either.

The biased future mother-in-law even put an extra fried egg in Zhou Cheng’s bowl. As soon as Xiao Lan glanced at his bowl, Zhou Cheng very consciously picked up the extra fried egg and gave it to Xiao Lan.

Liu Fen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “You silly girl, Zhou Cheng is a young man, his appetite is naturally bigger.”

“Auntie, I’ll make sure Xiao Lan gets the best of everything at home.”

Was this really about the fried egg? No, it was about family status!

Zhou Cheng’s survival instinct was quite strong, and seeing the smile in Xiao Lan’s eyes, she was satisfied with his response.

It was just a fried egg, not like in the past when they were too poor to afford food – why be so frugal?

Yang Gong ate his noodles silently, thinking that dating seemed very complicated. Why couldn’t they just cook more fried eggs instead of all this giving and taking? As a single person, Yang Gong couldn’t understand.

The single dog couldn’t comprehend Zhou Cheng’s cleverness. By giving up one fried egg, he made his wife happy and demonstrated his attitude to his future mother-in-law. Yang Gong didn’t understand, which explained why he couldn’t find a partner.

After the morning’s fried egg incident, Liu Fen felt particularly reassured when boarding the train.

“You two rarely see each other, take Xiao Lan out for a few days of fun.”

As the train departed, Liu Fen slipped an envelope into Zhou Cheng’s pocket.

Zhou Cheng could feel it contained money, but before he could return it, she had already closed the window.

Xiao Lan glanced at him: “You gave up a fried egg, and my mother took a big loss.”

Indeed it was a big loss! Before leaving, Liu Fen had given Zhou Cheng one thousand yuan, wanting him to show Xiao Lan a good time while worrying her future son-in-law might not have enough spending money.

Such a concerned mother-in-law.

Liu Fen’s train was headed to Beijing, while Yang Gong’s was bound for Yang City, with different directions and different schedules.

After Liu Fen’s train departed, Yang Gong was still waiting. Seeing Zhou Cheng receive a red envelope, Yang Gong sincerely admired him: so this was how it worked – impressive, he’d learned something!

Zhou Cheng ignored Yang Gong’s envious looks and handed the envelope to Xiao Lan: “I still have my salary, I’m not short of money.”

Xiao Lan refused, “What did you say when Grandmother Zhou gave me the bankbook? This money is for you from my mother, just keep it.”

When Grandmother Zhou gave her savings to Xiao Lan, Zhou Cheng told her not to feel burdened, to use it as needed, and they would repay more in the future. Now with Liu Fen giving Zhou Cheng “allowance,” Xiao Lan naturally wouldn’t take it from him.

Xiao Lan couldn’t bring herself to take all her boyfriend’s money. They were both adults – shouldn’t Zhou Cheng have control over his own money? He’d already entrusted her with managing their major savings; if she took every little bit too, it would be heartless.

Zhou Cheng didn’t insist and was quite happy. If his mother-in-law didn’t like him, she wouldn’t keep secretly giving him money.

Though they weren’t hugging or embracing, Yang Gong felt uncomfortable: “Director Xia, I can wait for the train alone, a grown man won’t get lost.”

They should go about their business – seeing him off made Yang Gong feel particularly pressured.

That was true – Yang Gong was a university graduate, and this wasn’t his first time traveling far.

Zhou Cheng also wanted to be alone with Xiao Lan.

After bidding farewell to the third wheel, they left the train station together.

Zhou Cheng held Xiao Lan’s hand, and this time she didn’t resist.

“Tell me, where are we going next?”

Today was Xiao Lan’s birthday. Liu Fen had made noodles in the morning, which counted as a celebration. It was already noon, but Zhou Cheng hadn’t shown any special gesture, remaining unusually calm, which Xiao Lan found strange.

“Just follow me today, don’t worry about anything.”

Zhou Cheng was full of confidence, and Xiao Lan was somewhat curious.

Well, she’d listen to Zhou Cheng this time.

Xiao Lan wanted to relax for a couple of days too – she needed a break from her busy schedule!

Zhou Cheng had arranged a taxi in advance, which took them to the dock.

A small passenger ship was moored at the dock, with mist rising from the river surface, bringing hints of coolness to Jiang City’s intense summer heat.

“Are we taking a Yangtze River cruise?”

Boarding the ship, Xiao Lan found the deck empty except for a large sunshade umbrella, under which sat a table and two chairs.

“Where is everyone?”

Zhou Cheng pulled out a chair, “On such a hot day, they’re probably staying inside.”

True enough – who would sunbathe on deck in this weather?

Xiao Lan sat down with Zhou Cheng and the ship set sail. She hadn’t noticed anything unusual yet.

After a while, a female server brought out cut fruit.

Chilled watermelon, sliced pears, and grapes – Xiao Lan felt utterly content eating fruit while lounging in her chair.

Though the weather was hot, once the ship started moving, the river breeze and rising mist, combined with the chilled fruit, dispelled the summer heat. Sitting on the ship watching the scenery along both banks, taking in all of Jiang City’s riverside views, Xiao Lan was quite satisfied: “Zhou Cheng, I like this birthday gift!”

Like her mother’s noodles, Zhou Cheng accompanying her on a river tour of Jiang City made Xiao Lan very happy.

Because this gift showed thoughtfulness and involved Zhou Cheng’s time.

Zhou Cheng wasn’t short of money, but time was more precious to him. Being able to accompany Xiao Lan continuously – what more could she ask for?

Zhou Cheng just smiled, without answering Xiao Lan’s question.

The ship circled Jiang City but didn’t dock, instead continuing downstream.

Xiao Lan finally noticed something was amiss.

The deck was too quiet.

Even if other passengers were napping when they first boarded, several hours had passed – shouldn’t they be awake by now?

During this time, except for the female server occasionally bringing fruits and snacks, the deck was silent, with only Xiao Lan and Zhou Cheng present.

Could the other passengers be so well-behaved, staying quietly in their cabins without making any noise?

“Are you hiding something from me?”

“That’s for you to discover – feel free to look around.”

Zhou Cheng was mysterious, so Xiao Lan ignored him and went below deck.

There were no other passengers at all – besides the crew, servers, and cooks, the entire ship had only Xiao Lan and Zhou Cheng as passengers. Zhou Cheng had gone crazy – he’d chartered the whole ship?

Xiao Lan thought this was the height of extravagance.

But as the ship continued downstream with no sign of turning back, Xiao Lan realized Zhou Cheng’s “craziness” was just beginning.

“Zhou Cheng, tell me honestly, where is this ship headed?”

“How about Shanghai? You’ve never been there.”

Taking a ship from Jiang City to Shanghai?

Even going downstream would take two or three days.

Would she and Zhou Cheng spend these days just on the ship?

How different was this from a modern-day cruise?

Well, there was a difference – this was probably a regular passenger ship, not as luxurious as a cruise ship.

But this was 1985 – where could Zhou Cheng find a luxury cruise ship?

Besides, on this entire passenger ship, there were only two passengers – her and Zhou Cheng. Did the ship’s condition matter? What mattered was that Zhou Cheng had invested thought and effort into arranging this water journey. What mattered was that she was with Zhou Cheng.