love on the turquoise land

Chapter 37

While talking, Nie Dongyang reached for his phone to bring up the payment code to scan for her, but Nie Jiuluo no longer insisted and really wasn't in a hurry. She pressed down the car window to look at the street scene outside.

Nie Dongyang had to put his phone back and paused for a moment before continuing to tell her about the arrangements: "Xixi, I won't entertain you today, there's too much to do tomorrow, I have to explain to people when I get back. You'll have to get up early tomorrow. I'll pick you up at the hotel at seven-thirty, and then we'll go to burn paper and pay respects. That's just one busy day. Relax in the evening, I'll have your aunt find a good restaurant for us to eat together as a family and chat."

Nie Jiuluo said, "Don't bother booking a restaurant, it's a waste of money. I want to eat Aunt's cooking. Let's just have a simple meal at home."

Nie Dongyang also thought it was more practical this way, but he still had to insist, "Home-cooked food isn't classy enough, it doesn't look good."

Nie Jiuluo smiled, "It's just family, no need to be fancy."

***

The hotel was in the central city area, surrounded by many restaurants. Nie Jiuluo randomly chose one for dinner. Originally, she was going back to the hotel to rest, but when they reached the lobby, she changed her mind.

She wanted to walk along the road to her old home, see if the trees that had been sprayed with insecticide were still there on both sides of the road, and also wanted to see from where on the road she could look up and see the building where her father had last stood.

However, what was easy to imagine was confusing to execute. After nearly twenty years, Anta had changed so much that even if it developed slowly, it was completely unrecognizable - many old streets had been lengthened and widened, many non-street areas had become streets, and many landmark buildings such as schools and hospitals had moved...

She couldn't recognize it at all.

The night wind was cool, lifting the corners of her coat, and she hugged her arms and shivered. Hometown was far more than just a geographical location, it was a combination of geography, specific years, specific people, and specific memories. Adding or subtracting any element would change its flavor - for those who had been away from home for many years, returning was never about hometown, it was just where other people were living now.

So, there was no need to nostalgically linger here, there was nothing old to reminisce about.

She brought up her phone's navigation, planned the shortest route back to the hotel, and had only walked a short distance when her sixth sense suddenly sounded the alarm.

Someone was watching her, or rather, following her.

Nie Jiuluo was afraid she was being overly suspicious, so she deliberately walked a little further to confirm.

Sure enough, someone was following her, but their tracking skills were completely amateurish. Twice, she intentionally pretended to tidy her hair in front of a shop window, using the glass reflection to get a good look at the person's appearance.

It was a thin old man in his fifties or sixties, who looked quite cultured but somewhat awkward. He was wearing a faded casual jacket and a pair of sports shoes with cracks on the sides. He wasn't very agile, and almost slipped once.

Damn it, why did she always encounter inexplicable people these days? If it were on normal days, she would probably guess it was a stalker, but in this extraordinary period, she couldn't help but think in the direction of Yan Tuo's accomplices.

She continued to stride forward, her high-heeled boots stomping on the ground with determination.

After walking about ten steps, she suddenly stopped, then turned around and headed straight for the old man.