CHAPTER 199: CHAPTER 199: THE JOURNEY HOME

There were still three days until New Year’s Eve, but there were already many vehicles on the road out of the city.

Just after leaving the city center, the city’s street scenes gradually receded outside the car window. The skyscrapers still retained some festive atmosphere in the sunlight, and the red lanterns by the roadside swayed gently in the wind.

When they got on the highway, the buildings on both sides of the road turned into rows of frost-covered plants. The roadside trees stood like sentinels, with a desolate yet resilient beauty in the cold winter. Occasionally, remnants of snow hung on the branches, resembling tiny, sparkling diamonds.

Li Jing drove while playing soothing music, enjoying the scenery retreating past, feeling an inexplicable sense of ease and freedom.

Zhou Li’s initial nervousness and excitement upon meeting Li Jing gradually calmed down, and she began to take note of Li Jing’s car.

She didn’t know much about cars and only recognized about ten percent of all the makes on the road, aside from the well-known Audi, Mercedes, and BMW.

So when she saw the Maserati trident logo, Zhou Li just found it somewhat unique and didn’t realize it was a luxury brand, only vaguely feeling that this car must be expensive.

To find a topic, Zhou Li glanced at Li Jing secretly, then spoke: "Did you buy this car recently? It looks expensive."

"Yeah."

Li Jing had no intention of hiding it and calmly said, "Over three hundred when it hit the road."

"Over three hundred?"

Zhou Li was taken aback, and then thought of a possibility, but couldn’t believe it: "You don’t mean over three million, do you?"

"It can’t be over three billion. I’m not that rich," Li Jing chuckled.

Zhou Li was stunned, her expression frozen on her face, eyes wide open, and she asked again: "This car really cost over three million?"

"Why would I lie to you? Do you think it’s not worth that much?" Li Jing and Zhou Li’s conversation was relaxed, partly due to their easygoing personalities, and partly because they were in a good mood heading home.

"Oh no, no, it’s just my first time riding in such an expensive car."

Zhou Li hurriedly waved her hand, then looked again at the car she was sitting in, becoming more restrained, afraid of dirtying or damaging the seats.

"You’re amazing, being able to afford such an expensive car."

Seeing the admiration and awe in her eyes, Li Jing felt a bit embarrassed, explaining: "It’s not as impressive as you think; I just got lucky."

"Luck is also a part of someone’s strength."

Zhou Li looked at Li Jing admiringly: "Just like before, you’re always better than me."

Li Jing glanced at her: "Actually, you’re great, you just lack confidence."

As he spoke, seeing her looking a bit constrained in the car, he joked: "We’re going to be in this car for another dozen hours at least, so don’t hold back too much, or it won’t be a pleasant trip."

Hearing this, Zhou Li understood the idea and gradually relaxed.

She then looked back at the rear seat, filled with bags containing snacks and drinks, and said, a bit surprised: "Are these all for eating on the road?"

"Yes, my friend said there might be traffic jams, so she prepared more snacks and water for me. Enough for us for a day or two."

Li Jing glanced at the huge snack bags in the back through the rearview mirror, filled with instant noodles, self-heating meals, drinks, and various other foods and drinks bought by Zhang Xinxin this morning.

Originally, Li Jing didn’t want to bring so much, but recalling that they might get stuck in traffic and spend the night on the highway, he let her fill up the back seat.

Zhou Li nodded and checked the time: "Let’s take turns driving. I can drive too; with two people taking turns over such a long time, you won’t be as tired."

Hearing her, Li Jing instinctively wanted to refuse, but considering the long drive ahead, he nodded.

As the car moved forward, they entered the southern countryside, where white-walled black-tiled houses were scattered along the fields.

From a distance, smoke rose gently from the rooftops, and the fields were like a yellow-green carpet, seemingly a picture woven from unharvested winter wheat and withered wild grass.

Occasionally, they spotted children in bright new clothes playing in the fields, exuding a strong festive atmosphere.

By this time, Li Jing and Zhou Li had already switched driving once, with Li Jing back at the wheel.

After a few hours together, Zhou Li and Li Jing felt much more relaxed and natural.

They chatted about everything from childhood to adulthood, from school to work, at times sentimental, at times laughing, making the dull driving hours pass more quickly.

As night fell, Zhou Li turned back and grabbed a snack bag from the rear and sifted through it: "Are you hungry? What would you like? I’ll open it for you."

Li Jing glanced at the snack bag: "Give me a pack of spicy strips, something spicy to stay alert."

"You still love spicy food."

Zhou Li smiled sweetly and tore open a pack of spicy strips for him. Seeing he couldn’t eat on his own conveniently, she offered: "I’ll feed you."

Li Jing was slightly surprised, then opened his mouth to eat a strip with her help.

Seeing the success of feeding, Zhou Li beamed happily, and immediately turned around to open a drink: "Have some water."

Their relationship became increasingly natural and harmonious, until night fell, and they finally reached a traffic jam.

Watching the queue of cars ahead resembling a long dragon, Li Jing shook his head helplessly: "We can’t move at all. The map shows a jam for tens of kilometers ahead, probably due to several accidents. Why don’t we head to the nearest toll gate, get off, and sleep in a hotel for the night?"

Zhou Li hesitated for a moment but, seeing the red line on the map indicating severe congestion, finally nodded in agreement.

With such a jam, it might not clear all night, so it’s better to rest and set off again tomorrow.

After finally making it out of the midway toll gate, they found it was a county toll gate.

Given the late hour and the county’s small size, they drove around but discovered all hotels were full.

"Look at the parking lots of those hotels; most of the cars are from out of town."

Zhou Li looked at the hotel parking lots outside the car window and analyzed: "Likely many people had the same idea as us, planning to sleep here tonight and leave in the morning."

Since there were still three days until the New Year, people weren’t in as much of a rush and didn’t need to stay up all night in traffic, so many chose to sleep in this county for the night.

But because of this, Li Jing couldn’t find a single hotel with a free room.

"You’re saying there’s only one room left? Are you sure there’s only one room?"

At this time, Zhou Li connected with a nearby hotel through an app, glanced at Li Jing while on the phone, hesitated for a bit, then nodded and said: "Alright, we’ll book that room and head over now."

After the call, Zhou Li looked a bit embarrassed and turned to Li Jing: "There’s only one room left, shall we just make do for the night?"

"One room?"

Li Jing raised an eyebrow: "I don’t mind, are you... okay with it?"

"I..."

Zhou Li’s eyes shifted, her cheeks turned red, and then she nodded: "It’s fine, I trust you."