Chapter Seventy-Three: Linger and Forget to Return

  Chen Jianjun looked at them buying a full load of things, even the driver's room was filled with many fruits, and he felt a bit headache. These women had no restraint when it came to shopping, so many fruits would surely go bad before they could be eaten.

  "Xiao Yan, you bought too much fruit, it's impossible to finish eating it. If you want to eat it, just buy some more after finishing the previous ones." Chen Jianjun is a standard communist party member and an excellent soldier, he can't stand extravagance and waste.

  "These are not many, we have more than 30 people coming together, and on the way, others haven't taken care of us less. Buying some fruit to treat everyone is also a must." Zhao Shuyan didn't say it at first, but she also thought they bought too much. However, after Xiaoye told her that they should buy more to bring back and treat those big brothers and sisters who took care of them, she then realized this and felt ashamed in her heart, thinking that she wasn't as considerate as Xiaoye, and how come she didn't think of these social niceties.

  Chen Jianjun only then realized that there were still so many people waiting for the fruit, and he didn't make a sound. He took them directly to a noodle shop next to the reception office, where everyone had a late lunch. Qiu Feng said the noodles were delicious. Finally, Zhao Shuyan decided not to go out in the afternoon because she was worried about the seeds in the car, so they went back to the reception office to rest.

  Qiu Ye is now idle and feels weak all over, after all, she's still young and her ability to withstand stress is not as good as an adult's. She slept well last night, but got up early today because of worries about Yu Shi's situation. Her body can't hold on, so she agrees to go back to the hostel to rest for a day.

  Before Chen Jianjun left, Zhao Shuyan said to him: "Jianjun, you don't have to come and pick us up tomorrow. It's not good for you to take leave from the army all the time. We'll just rest well these few days and then we also need to participate in some group activities. If we don't, it won't be right when we get back. After all, I'm here as a teacher and have the responsibility of supervising students."

  Zhao Shuyan knew the discipline in the troops. Although Chen Jianjun was a leader, he also had to be more or less decent and couldn't possibly come out every day to accompany them for no reason.

  Chen Jianjun thought for a moment, indeed he didn't have that much time to come out every day. Before coming out today, the political commissar also informed him that there was a meeting tomorrow that he must attend, and besides, he couldn't be absent from training for too long every day. So he nodded his head and said: "Alright, you guys take a good rest these few days, I'll come pick you up again in two days after I've finished dealing with everything. Xiaoyezi, think carefully about where you want to go then."

  Chen Jianjun finally helped them move all their things into the room and then drove away.

  After Qiu Ye took a short nap on the bed, she heard the sound of footsteps and girls' laughter outside the door. She thought that the students from the university had returned from their outing. She lazily got up from the bed, tidied up her hair with her hands, and saw that her adoptive mother had also woken up to the noise. Then she said: "Adoptive mother, big brother and sisters have just come back from outside, they must be very hot and thirsty. Let's move the fruit to Uncle Feng's place now, and let him call everyone to his room to eat fruit."

  Qiu Ye had her own considerations for arranging this, firstly Zhao Shuyan is a female teacher and it's not quite right to have so many male students coming into the room, especially when there are three baskets of seeds in her own room. What if one of the students has wandering hands and starts rummaging through them? So it's better to eat fruit at Feng Ling's place instead.

  Zhao Shuyan also agreed, so they gathered up and Qiu Feng acted as the porter, moving the watermelon and other things back to Director Feng's place on the second floor.

  Director Feng was delighted to see the watermelon that Zhao Shuyan and others had brought, "Ah, Teacher Zhao, your fruit is really timely, we just came back from Hongshan, it's hot from inside out."

  Nowadays, Urumqi is still very hot during the day. Everyone wears shorts and short pants. At noon, they are still overwhelmed by the heat. Qiu Ye sees that Mr. Feng's face is a bit red, probably because of the scorching sun.

  After that, the teachers were busy, going to borrow a knife from the waiter, going to inform the students, and Qiu Ye was also assigned a task, going to the third floor to call down all the female students who had just gone up to eat fruit.

  Everyone came down to the room and first thanked Teacher Zhao, then rushed over to grab the fruit on the table.

  More than 30 people squeezed into a three-person room of over ten square meters. It can be imagined how noisy it was inside, but everyone was very happy. Basically, they all ate the fruit here for the first time. The female classmates were okay, holding a piece of watermelon or a small bunch of grapes and eating elegantly. Those male classmates were somewhat too excited, holding a piece of watermelon and taking big bites. Some people thought the room was too crowded, so they took their fruit to the corridor and squatted down to eat.

  There were many students with distinct personalities, eating fruit and discussing today's outing. Qiu Ye also sat on the bed with a slice of ham melon, listening to their lively discussions with relish.

  Director Feng also took the opportunity of everyone being present to tell everyone about the arrangements for the next few days. Qiu Ye listened to his arrangement and really looked at Director Feng in a new light, this Director Feng is also a clever person, no wonder he can be a leader.

  She knew that it's not always the case, a leader isn't necessarily the most knowledgeable person, but must be the most capable one. For example, in the Fine Arts Department of Normal University, Aunt Lin's professional quality should be the highest, but she didn't become a leader. One reason is that Aunt Lin was a bit too proud and looked down on these external things. Another main reason is that Aunt Lin didn't know how to "be a person". Now looking at Director Feng's plan, it can be seen that this person's ability is great, learning and playing are not neglected. Basically, every day's sketching task was arranged in various scenic spots in Urumqi City, and the time arrangement wasn't too tight, leaving some spare time to play after completing the task.

  So Director Feng's arrangements were unanimously approved by the students and teachers. Qiu Ye was also very happy to have the opportunity to visit various places in the city.

  In the following days, Qiu Ye and her three companions went to Nan Shan Pasture with the main troops. It was the most beautiful place she had ever seen. The snow-capped peaks were towering, the hills were rolling, the forests were lush, the flowers and grasses were everywhere, the springs were gurgling, the cattle and sheep were in groups, and the felt houses were dotted about. The scenery was extremely enchanting.

  Qiu Ye's eyes were not enough from the moment he got off the car. In his previous life, when he was in school, he had no money and no time, so he didn't have the chance to travel. After graduation, he was busy with work and busy fighting wits with his wife, even more without money or time to go out and play.

  This time, coming to such a beautiful place, she felt completely relaxed. On the grassland dotted with wildflowers, she lay down and looked up at the azure sky, feeling that her soul had been washed clean once again.

  Smelling the natural fragrance of the flowers and grass beside her, gazing at the clear sky with clouds drifting by from time to time, she thought back on scenes from her past life, contrasting them with the warmth of this one, and smiled beautifully, her eyes narrowing. The gentle breeze blew and blew, and she became dazed, lost in the past.

  Wait until she wakes up naturally, opens her eyes to see the blue sky, and after a daze, she realizes that she is in Nanshan. How long has she slept? Why hasn't anyone come to find her? Where's her brother? Where's her godmother?

  When she sat up from the flowers, she saw a circle of people standing several meters away with easels and brushes. Her godmother was among them, and she immediately realized that they had taken her as their model.

  "Xiao Ye, wait a minute, you're lying down, we'll finish drawing in a bit." Zhao Shuyan was focused on the painting board, and as soon as she looked up, she saw Xiao Ye wake up, sit up with a confused expression, looking adorable. Zhao Shuyan smiled at her, but still had to let Xiao Ye suffer for a little while longer, everyone was just one step away from finishing the drawing.

  "Okay, Auntie, you have to give me the painting you're going to finish later." Qiu Ye heard her aunt's request and obediently lay down again. In fact, she was still a bit lazy and wanted to lie down for a while longer.

  Qiu Ye lay there for over ten minutes before being called up by everyone, her modeling task was completed. She got up and patted the grass dust off her body, then ran over to see everyone's work.

  This time, the classmates who came were all students of the art department, but not all of them drew sketches. There were also those who painted oil paintings and watercolors. Qiu Ye looked through a pile of works, still feeling that her godmother's painting was the best, so she took her godmother's painting over, planning to take it back and collect it.

  Later, the teachers from Xinjiang Normal University contacted local herders for them. That night, they camped on the grassland and had a whole roasted sheep and high-proof mare's milk wine. Of course, Qiu Ye and Qiu Feng didn't get any of it.

  They stayed in Nanshan for a week, leaving their footprints in scenic spots such as Xiaogouzi, Juhuatai and Xibaiyanggou. A week later, they returned to the hostel, preparing to rest for two days before setting off to Tianchi.

  After two days of rest, Chen Jianjun finally caught up with Qiu Ye and the others again, leading them to eat Urumqi's specialty food once more before hastily returning to their troops.

  Qiu Ye and they set out on their journey again, heading to Tianchi Lake in Tianshan. The journey was uneventful, but Qiu Ye felt that it wasn't until they left Urumqi City that he saw the real Xinjiang - the Gobi Desert, desolate and uninhabited, with only occasional sightings of camel caravans passing by.

  Arriving at Tianchi Lake in Tianshan, the scenery there once again left Qiu Ye enchanted. The sun shone through, casting a pale blue hue over the sky, with white clouds resembling cotton balls, and dark mountains that seemed to be hiding secrets. In the distance, there were still patches of white snow, green mountain ridges, and the azure waters of Tianchi Lake. With words alone, she couldn't even begin to describe one-tenth of this breathtaking scenery.

  Standing high up, looking down at the Tianchi water below, everything is still, time and scenery are also still, that feeling can only be sensed but not expressed.

  When Qiu Ye returned to Urumqi from Tian Shan, she was still thinking in her heart that she had seen such a beautiful scene and might not forget it for the rest of her life. It was really shocking. The other students were also like Qiu Ye, unable to come back to their senses from the beauty of the scenery.