My Weekend Lover Turned Out To Be My Boss - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Getting Ready to Go. “Shangri-La”

Qiu Qi always presented a picture of being casual and carefree, but in reality, she was quite fastidious about the details of everything. For example, we decided to leave Chengdu for Daocheng tomorrow. This kind of self-driving trip requires self-determined route planning. After sweeping through the supermarket for several large bags of dry food, we found a famous local snack shop and had a meal of cold-pot chuan chuan (skewers).

At the dining table, she kept writing and drawing with a pen and paper, then compared the mileage and road conditions of the cities along the way using navigation. I sat quietly beside her with my hands between my knees. I unintentionally noticed that Qiu Qi’s hands were particularly beautiful. Her nails were neatly trimmed, her knuckles were distinct, and whenever she lifted the pen to write, the tendons on the back of her hand would stand out—a pleasing slenderness.

Qiu Qi was still focused on organizing the route, but a smile played on her lips. She said leisurely, “Other people sneak glances at my face, but you are strange. You are openly staring at my hands. What’s so good about hands?”

With that, Qiu Qi put down her pen and conveniently held her right hand up in front of me, flipping it over front and back. She continued teasingly, “Here, if you like it so much, get closer and look more. I’ll give you two minutes to compliment it~”

I raised my hand, laughing helplessly, and grasped her right hand. With a slight curiosity, my thumb pressed the protruding tendon on the back of her hand. Qiu Qi seemed to be waiting for my praise, so she quieted down. I snapped my fingers and said, “A woman’s hands are her second face. And Miss, this second face is world-shattering, breathtakingly beautiful, stunning, and loved by everyone…”

Whoosh! Qiu Qi snatched her hand back, looking at me contemptuously: “Stop, stop… That’s a bit too perfunctory!”

After speaking, she prepared to bury her head back into organizing the route. I leaned my head forward and asked weakly, “So, can we make it tomorrow?”

“If we drove the car like a rocket with our lives on the line, maybe.”

“Uh… I’m afraid of death…”

“I’m not asking you to drive, what are you afraid of, you coward?”

“Putting the distance aside, the road conditions definitely won’t be good. You’ll easily get fatigued if you drive alone. I should at least help out.”

I was just being polite, but with a clink, Qiu Qi directly tossed the car key to me and assigned the task without hesitation: “Fine, you drive first tomorrow. I’ll take over when we get to Ya’an.”

“You should at least pretend to decline, really…”

“Decline what? It’s settled. I’m going to the restroom…”

I stared at Qiu Qi’s retreating back, then my gaze fell upon her notebook. I randomly flipped through a few pages. Inside, it was full of route plans for different cities. It seemed she had traveled quite a lot, like a nomadic knight wandering the country. It wasn’t until the last page, the route to Daocheng, that I saw the time and geographical locations she had marked. I didn’t fully understand it, but one thing was clear: why she had arranged for me to drive and lead the charge.

I closed the notebook and poured Qiu Qi a cup of hot tea. The woman shook the water off her hands and grinned at me from afar. This girl was barely two years younger than me, but the vitality that permeated her from the inside out made me slightly envious. That feeling reminded me of myself, a long, long time ago.

“Here, here, General Manager Qiu, have a cup of hot tea~”

“Little You is quite savvy, learning fast, aren’t you? Not bad~”

“It’s all thanks to General Manager Qiu’s discerning eye in recognizing talent~”

“Cut it out, ‘discerning eye in recognizing talent.’ You’re so thick-skinned! Speak like a normal person!”

Qiu Qi couldn’t keep up the act and burst into laughter. We had known each other for less than three days, but we got along very well, with an astonishing speed of familiarity. I played with the car key and complimented her slightly: “Nameless Sister is quite thoughtful.”

Qiu Qi pulled out a tissue to wipe her hands. Hearing my tone, she shivered and replied with disgust, “Ew… Your sudden change in attitude makes me uncomfortable… Tell me, what do you want?”

I pushed her notebook toward her and explained, “The journey from Chengdu to Daocheng is quite long. The route you planned only has the section to Ya’an as an expressway. The rest are national or provincial roads. So, are you afraid that my driving skills aren’t up to par? You underestimate me! But… I realize you’re actually quite kind.”

Saying this, I raised my hand and rubbed Qiu Qi’s head, just like I would tease our golden retriever, Xiduo. Qiu Qi slapped my hand away, her cheeks actually blushing. She stammered, “You’ll die if you keep it inside; you just have to say it…”

“Your act of sacrificing yourself for others certainly needs a special mention and praise!”

“Stop dawdling. Are you full? If you’re full, let’s go…”

I packed up my backpack and prepared to pay the bill. Qiu Qi pulled my sleeve and walked toward the door: “I already paid. Let’s go.”

“Why do I keep bumming off you for every meal? If you won’t let me pay, at least let’s split the bill!”

“It’s all counted as favors, noted under your name. You can slowly pay them back later!”

“Won’t I be at a huge disadvantage?”

“Am I the one who’s at a disadvantage? Get in the car quickly!”

“Your tactics are truly deep!”

We got into the car one after the other. Qiu Qi rolled up her sleeves and tidied her long hair. Her side profile was illuminated by the lights outside the car, and her hands rested casually on the steering wheel. I raised my hands to hug my chest and exclaimed softly, “Such a beautiful girl, yet she insists on living her life like a man. Tsk, tsk, tsk!”

Qiu Qi heard my words, puffed out her cheeks as if to counterattack, but then thought of something, raised her eyebrows, and shook her head proudly: “I’m happy to, what are you going to do about it~ You can’t envy it even if you tried~ Annoy~ you~ to~ death~”

So, judging by this, there must be a child living inside Qiu Qi’s heart. I spread my hands and shrugged, playing along with her: “Yes, yes, yes, I’m so envious~”

Starting the car, Qiu Qi looked at the time again: “It’s time to head back. Wash up early and rest. We’re leaving at 6 o’clock sharp tomorrow.”

“6 o’clock? That’s too early!”

Qiu Qi gave a fake smile and copied my gesture, petting my head as she replied, word by word: “What else? Sleep until tomorrow night before leaving?”

Qiu Qi squinted her eyes, scrutinizing me. I quickly waved my hand: “No, no, no. Whatever General Manager Qiu says goes…”

…

Back at the hotel, I carried all the bought dry food back to the room. After taking inventory, Qiu Qi sat at the table seriously studying something. Suddenly, she clapped her hands, startling me: “Done! It’s all sorted out!”

I approached her curiously, staring at the scribbled route on the notebook. Sigh, I really couldn’t understand it! Qiu Qi leaned against the wall and began to explain in detail: “Tomorrow, we’ll get on the expressway first. Ya’an is quite close, just an hour and a half drive at most. Once we reach Ya’an, we’ll have lunch and rest, then head toward Kangding. We’ll drive steadily and should be able to reach Kangding by night.”

“And what about when we get to Kangding?”

“Of course, we’ll find a hotel to settle down first. The drive from Kangding to Daocheng takes about seven or eight hours, and from Daocheng to Yading is over 500 kilometers. The road conditions aren’t great either, so that’s another ten-plus hours of travel. Of course… I have some good news!”

I rested my chin on my hands and asked curiously, “What good news?”

“A small town very close to Yading, a place we must visit—Shangri-La Town. Of course, that’s different from Shangri-La City in Yunnan that you might be thinking of. Although both belong to the Tibetan region, the Shangri-La here in Sichuan hasn’t been fully developed yet. There are relatively few tourists, and since it’s the off-season, we can have the beautiful scenery all to ourselves. We can even stay in some trendy internet-famous hotels for a few days, just for the fun of it~”

Qiu Qi’s face was full of excitement, talking non-stop like a machine gun. She seemed very determined about going to Shangri-La Town. I was stunned for a moment. She noticed my unusual expression and nudged my shoulder: “Why are you spacing out? Don’t you want to go?”

I quickly came back to my senses and shook my head: “Traveling thousands of miles like going on a pilgrimage, it would be a shame not to go. Of course, I want to go!”

The years had made me almost forget that I once sang her a song about a place with a ‘little wooden house, a red roof, and the address is a secret.’ I was actually going to that place. It was just a pity that no matter how beautiful the expected scenery was, the person admiring it beside me was no longer Phoebe.

I turned my head to look out the car window and softly hummed: “The rain will fall and the rain will stop, that’s an unchanging truth. The North Star in the night sky, people who are lost are not afraid. I sing, you listen, everything is calm and serene. The root note of the G chord soothes the fragile soul…”

Reaching this point, I choked up and stopped singing. Qiu Qi pulled the car over and turned on the emergency flashers. She rolled down the window, and amid the noise outside, she picked up the relay, humming with a breathy sound: “I just want to hold your hand, and walk into a distant dream. The little wooden house, the red roof, the address is a secret. You hold the little kitten, and your blue eyes are no longer melancholic… Shangri-La is there, let’s go find it…”

I stared at Qiu Qi with a hint of surprise, then cracked a smile: “You’re the first person to sing this song with me.”

Qiu Qi rested her head on the steering wheel and looked at me seriously. In the dark space, there was light shining in those beautiful, twinkling eyes….