When Tao Lulu heard the young man's words, her eyes lit up right away. Pleasantly surprised, she guessed, "You're in university now? You're majoring in linguistics?"
"No, I'm majoring in biology," Zhang Lisheng replied.
"Biology? Hmm, biomedicine is very popular now. Oh yeah, Mountain Worm, which university are you studying in?"
"Stanford."
"What?" The girl who had been speaking Mandarin with her tongue stuck out suddenly revealed her native accent.
"Stanford."
"You're studying at Stanford University?" Tao Lulu's mouth widened. "Isn't that a world-famous university? H-How did you get in? That's right, I think you have to apply for a US university. Oh yeah, in short, how did you get in?"
"How did I get in?" Zhang Lisheng scratched his head. "I-It's just that I met a good teacher in high school, and I co-authored a paper and was admitted by Stanford.
What about you, Bumpkin? Are you going to school or working now? "
"I'm also in university now. The school is not as good as yours, but it's not bad either. Beijing Normal University's Department of History. My current name is Tao Lulu. You can call me Tao Lulu, Lulu, or Little Sister Tao. Just don't call me Bumpkin anymore."
"Yes, Little Sister Tao." When Zhang Lisheng was in China, he was always forced by his father to feed poisonous bugs with his blood. Living a life worse than death, how could he have the leisure to care about which university was better? After he came to the US, he was even more indifferent to the ranking of the domestic universities. Of course, he would not know whether Beijing Normal University was good or bad, so he just nodded and praised, "Beijing Normal University? Not bad! Not bad at all! It's not worse than Stanford."
"You're comforting me, right? So what if it's a world-famous university? I don't even know if it's true or not," The girl glared.
When the young man saw Tao Lulu's annoyed face under the moonlight, he suddenly recalled the bitter night a few years ago. At that time, it was at the entrance of the old house that the girl had sent him a can of chicken soup that warmed his almost frozen body and mind.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Lisheng shook his head and said with a wry smile, "How can that be? In front of you, I won't feel that it's a big deal even if I occupy a 'world'."
"Occupy a 'world'? What kind of strange metaphor is this?" Tao Lulu was stunned for a while. When she looked at the young man's sincere face, she felt an inexplicable sweetness in her heart. "Don't be so talkative. Hurry up and go to the house to bring the plates and chopsticks that my father sent this morning. I'll send them home quickly. I'm waiting to use them.
"Eh, how could I forget about this? Wait a minute, I'll go into the house and put it away." He put the bowls and chopsticks on the wooden table into the bamboo basket and returned to the door to pass the bamboo basket to Tao Lulu.
The girl didn't take the bamboo basket. She pursed her lips and said, "It's so heavy. Can't you help me take it home?"
"Yes, but, but I'm 'Old Man'. If I visit your Earth's Gate, I'm afraid, I'm afraid it's inauspicious."
Tao Lulu stared at Zhang Lisheng for a while and sighed. "Zhang Lisheng, are you really studying at Stanford? You still call yourself 'Old Man'? This brain of yours … Sigh! Why are you so superstitious?!"
"Even Newton believed that this universe was created by God. Now that so many foreign worlds have appeared, don't tell me that they're all superstitious?" Zhang Lisheng refuted in a low voice. However, he carried the bamboo basket and walked out of the house before turning around to close the wooden door.
"Religion and superstition are two different things, okay? Besides, what does the appearance of the foreign worlds on Earth have to do with superstition? You're just quibbling.
Forget it, if you think it's not good to enter my house, then just send me to the door. I'll carry the bamboo basket in myself, "the girl said and brought the young man to her house.
On the way, Tao Lulu hesitated for a while before suddenly saying, "Mountain Worm, I have a few classmates and friends who are traveling to our Qu County. They'll be attending a bonfire party later and there'll be a barbecue or something. Why don't you come along?"
"Sister, d-didn't you send me food? I won't be going."
"Can't you eat the food that I sent you as a midnight snack?" The girl said in dissatisfaction. "Mountain Worm, why are you still so introverted after going to the US for a few years? Isn't it good to make more friends?"
"That's good, that's good. I'll go, I'll go," Zhang Lisheng said with a shrug when he saw Tao Lulu getting angry.
The girl nodded and no longer said anything. She brought the young man to the door and took the bamboo basket. After entering the door, not long after, she brought nine young people, four men and five women, out while chatting and laughing.
"Lulu, they say that you're good at singing and dancing. Let's decide to rest for a whole day tomorrow. Tonight, you can at least dance a Miaowei dance and sing a folk song for …" Among the nine people, a young man who was not good-looking but appeared to be very spirited walked out of the door and said with a chuckle. When he suddenly saw Zhang Lisheng who was standing quietly under the moonlight, he choked on his words and shuddered.
Tao Lulu, who was by the side, quickly said, "Don't be afraid, Li Cheng. He's Zhang Lisheng who grew up with me from the same hometown. He's also just returned home during the summer vacation and will be attending the campfire party with us.
Lisheng, this is Li Cheng, a sophomore student of Beijing Normal University's English Department.
He's Lu Xiao, my classmate.
This is Hu Xiaoran, my best friend in the same dormitory … "
The girl pointed at her classmates and friends and introduced Zhang Lisheng to them one by one. Although the young man did not care at all, he still smiled and greeted them one by one, "Brother Lu, nice to meet you.
Sister Hu, nice to meet you … "
His accent was strange and he had a head of slightly sparse short hair that resembled a hedgehog's. His appearance was strange and when one looked at him carefully, there was an inexplicable sense of humor that made people laugh.
However, for the sake of Tao Lulu, those young men and women could only suppress their laughter in their hearts. Among them, that Beijing Normal University student named Li Cheng even whispered to Lu Xiao who was in the same class as Tao Lulu, "Xiaozi, your love rival is really strong. His accent, his temperament, he's a hundred times better than you …" However, all he got in return was a punch from his best friend who was suppressing his laughter.
It was until a tall and strong man with a beard who looked like he was in his thirties was introduced that the man suddenly laughed out loud and pointed at the tip of Zhang Lisheng's nose. "Lisheng, you little brat! Do you still remember me? I'm Xiong Zhuangming, the Xiong Zhuangming from the Amazon River."
Zhang Lisheng was stunned. Only then did he take a good look at the tall and strong man in front of him and said in astonishment, "Brother Xiong? W-What a coincidence! I can't believe I actually bumped into you! You look much younger than before!"
"This is called 'there's no story without coincidences'. My dad always refused to let me go out, so in the end, I still had to take the postgraduate examination in the country. I was annoyed so I formed a group on the Internet and came out to relax.
On the other hand, you're an American Chinese and you've grown up together with Lulu? Oh, I know! This is your hometown, so you went to America after you found your mom? "
Zhang Lisheng nodded with a smile.
"How was it, brother? Did you have a good time in America for the past two years? Did any unknown little stories happen between you and those two super beautiful hot girls?"
"Ah, erm, erm, you mean Tina and Trish?" Zhang Lisheng felt a little panicky for no reason as he stuttered, "I've told you many times that I'm very good friends with them. We're still very good friends now …"
"Big Bear, you know Lisheng?" Tao Lulu frowned upon hearing Xiong Zhuangming's words. She looked at Zhang Lisheng with a faint smile and asked Xiong Zhuangming.
"I know him, of course I know him. Not only that, we're quite good friends.
Two years ago, I was transporting wood with my dad in the Amazon and we came across Lisheng and a few US young men burning wood by the Amazon River to ask for help.
After we rescued him, we asked if he was alright. He was so bold that he actually teamed up with his friends to cross the Amazon jungle. In the end, they encountered a flood and the native tour guide was washed away. They managed to escape with their lives, but three of their friends ate the poisonous fruit and became demented. Only Brother Zhang was left to support the whole situation and brought two super beautiful women to spend a few days in the jungle … "
"Brother Xiong, the purpose of my trip to the Amazon was not to travel but to conduct a scientific investigation in the biological sense. Even though I was not a biologist at that time, you know, I went to the Amazon to collect 'research materials', not to sightsee.
Later on, it's because of the soft beetle that I found in the Amazon that I co-authored a paper with my teacher that allowed me to skip a grade and be admitted by Stanford, "Zhang Lisheng interrupted Xiong Zhuangming's words.
"Oh? You're admitted to Stanford? Not bad, Brother! You're even more famous than my Tsinghua University!
Sigh, actually, I can also go to a famous school if I want to study abroad, but I can't get a full scholarship. I don't want to work part-time overseas either. Without my dad's support, everything would be in vain, "Xiong Zhuangming sighed.
Upon seeing his melancholy look, a little cute girl by the side gently patted Xiong Zhuangming's stomach and said with a sweet smile, "Don't sigh anymore, Brother Xiong. Let's talk about it at the campfire party. I purposely starved myself so that I can wait for a big piece of barbecue."
"Aiya! I've delayed your meal! My bad! Let's go! Let's go and barbecue!" Xiong Zhuangming chuckled and took the lead to stride towards the village entrance along the mountain road.
On the way, when Xiong Zhuangming still wanted to chat with Zhang Lisheng, the little cute girl pulled his ear and whispered a few words, causing this bold and humorous man who was somewhat heartless to have a look of realization.
Then, he looked at Zhang Lisheng apologetically and shut his mouth. He did not say a word along the way.
The bonfire in the threshing floor was already lit. The whole fat sheep and pigs were skinned and washed before they were cut open. They were pierced with iron rods and sprinkled with rich spices. Then, they were oiled with a long iron brush and barbecued on the fire. The fragrance was unforgettable.
The sky had just turned dark but there were already many noisy tourists around the fire. Fortunately, there were still many empty spaces.
Zhang Lisheng accompanied Tao Lulu and the rest to the village entrance and sat on the ground. Listening to the villagers howling folk songs, he fell into silence for a while and said with an embarrassed smile, "It's a whole pig and sheep. Who would be willing to do that other than during the New Year?"
"The village is rich now. It's not a problem for every household to earn two to three hundred thousand a year. Who would be willing to kill a few pigs and sheep? Besides, it's not like we're not collecting money.
Of course, we can't be compared to your US no matter what. You went to the Amazon just like that and even went on a scientific expedition? You've only left Guawo Village for a few days at that time. You're really capable as soon as you go abroad. "
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