Chapter 37: What to Do When You Can’t Hold It In

Luo Yue Lake Scenic Area is the only free 4A-rated tourist attraction in Jiangzhou.

It is located beside Mingyue Lake, to the north of Jiangzhou City.

The entire scenic area is nestled between mountains and water.

With Mingyue Lake in front and Luoye Mountain behind, the natural scenery is quite impressive.

Of course, this is what it will look like in ten years. At present, Luo Yue Lake is just a piece of undeveloped wilderness.

The flowers, grass, and trees remain in their original, untouched forest state, with only a few vendors selling outdoor cooking equipment.

Tourists are scarce, and there isn’t a single staff member in sight.

Even so, Jiang Ning and her group had already arrived at Luoye Mountain. They found a shaded spot and prepared to set up camp once again.

While the boys went to rent some outdoor cooking equipment, Jiang Ning and the other girls began setting up the area.

Picnic blankets, tents, sunshades, portable stools, and, of course, a pile of snacks—all laid out on the picnic blanket.

Once everything was set up, Jiang Ning couldn’t help but plop down onto a small stool.

At this moment, on Luoye Mountain—

The autumn sky was high and clear, the weather was pleasant.

The sun shone brightly but not harshly, the autumn breeze brushed past without being biting.

This kind of environment made Jiang Ning feel a rare sense of comfort. She couldn’t resist stretching lazily and sighing,

“This is so nice.”

“Yeah! This weather is just too pleasant,” Luo Shanshan chimed in.

Then, she picked up a jelly from the picnic blanket and handed it over.

Jiang Ning took it and saw that it was apple-flavored—something she didn’t like much. So she casually tossed it to Zhu Hui beside her.

Zhu Hui, unfazed, accepted it and started eating.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning chuckled, then dug through the pile of snacks to find an orange-flavored jelly for herself. She tore it open and took a bite.

As she ate, a thought suddenly crossed her mind, and she asked aloud,

“Who bought all these snacks?”

“Wang Zekai,” Luo Shanshan replied with a mischievous grin.

“Ever since he found out a certain someone was coming, he covered everything—snacks, skewers, drinks, you name it.”

“He even threatened us not to buy anything ourselves…”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk…”

Hearing this, Jiang Ning felt a bit awkward.

She suddenly found herself unsure whether to keep eating the jelly in her mouth or spit it out. In the end, she just pouted and swallowed it.

“Ugh, this is kind of annoying.”

“What’s there to be annoyed about?” Zhu Hui, unfazed, grabbed another apple-flavored jelly, munching as she spoke.

“When we get back, we’ll just calculate the cost and pay him back.”

Luo Shanshan and Qi Wen both nodded in agreement.

Just then, the boys who had gone to rent the cooking equipment returned.

Each of them was carrying grills, bags of charcoal, and tools as they made their way back.

“Alright, let’s split up the tasks,” Luo Shanshan said, pointing at the skewers and diced meat on the picnic blanket.

“We girls will handle skewering the meat, and you guys will be in charge of grilling. How about that?”

As soon as she said this, the three boys exchanged uneasy glances.

Seeing their expressions, Jiang Ning immediately understood.

“How about this: Qi Wen and I will do the grilling, and the rest of you handle skewering the meat. Does that work?”

“You know how to grill?” Luo Shanshan looked at Jiang Ning in surprise.

Ha! All those years of being a “tool” in her past life weren’t for nothing.

With a look of utter disdain, Jiang Ning stood up, grabbed a few pre-skewered meat sticks, and walked over to the grill.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the group—

Ignite the fire, drizzle the oil, turn the skewers, sprinkle salt, pour cumin, add chili flakes.

In just a few minutes, the fragrant, freshly grilled skewers were ready and in front of everyone.

Before Jiang Ning could say anything, the skewers in her hand were snatched away in an instant—not a single one left for her.

She puffed up her cheeks in frustration.

“Wow, this smells amazing!” Luo Shanshan said.

“It’s delicious!” Li Duoyong added.

“You’re such a great cook!” Qi Wen praised.

“This is simply too good!” Wang Zekai even looked like he was about to lose control.

Watching their exaggerated reactions, Jiang Ning’s forehead twitched.

Her grilling skills were decent, sure, but they weren’t that amazing.

Still, compared to these rich kids who didn’t even know when meat was fully cooked, she was clearly on a different level.

Seriously, where did they even get the confidence to suggest an outdoor barbecue trip?

No wonder they brought so many snacks.

And so, for the next couple of hours, Jiang Ning was basically glued to the grill while Qi Wen helped pass the skewers around.

The others focused on skewering the meat.

Meanwhile, Wang Zekai kept trying to butter up Jiang Ning, but she shot him down with a few sharp remarks every time.

Two hours later—

After eating and drinking their fill, the group decided to play cards.

Jiang Ning didn’t mind, but first, she needed to take a bathroom break.

She let them know, grabbed a pack of tissues, and walked off toward the restroom.

The weather was perfect for an outing today, and along the way, she was surprised to see quite a few visitors scattered across the hillside.

Seeing so many people here, she suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough—

By the time she finally reached the only restroom in the area, a ridiculously long line stretched out in front of it like a coiled snake.

Her face instantly paled.

She wanted to turn back, but the pressure in her lower abdomen forced her to stop and obediently queue up.

However—

She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but the line seemed to be moving slower and slower.

Minutes passed, and they had barely moved forward a few meters.

She wasn’t the only one struggling—others in the queue were also grumbling in frustration.

Yet, despite the complaints, the line remained agonizingly slow.

Nope!

She couldn’t wait any longer!

If she kept waiting, she was definitely going to wet herself!

Jiang Ning glanced at the empty men’s restroom beside her, tempted to just rush in.

But her rational mind held her back.

Just then—

She noticed a cluster of buildings down the slope, looking like part of another section of the scenic area.

Without hesitation, she abandoned the queue and walked toward it.

Once she was out of sight of the crowd, she even picked up her pace, practically jogging toward the area.

The buildings were enclosed by a fence, but Jiang Ning didn’t care.

She found the widest gap in the fence and squeezed through with all her strength.

Ouch, that hurt!

Rubbing her chest after squeezing through, she quickly scanned for a restroom.

Finally, in the corner of a garden, she spotted a door labeled “WC.”

Five minutes later—

Jiang Ning emerged with a look of pure relief.

After washing her hands, she turned around and finally noticed how eerily quiet this garden was.

There was none of the noise from the outside scenic area.

Wait… what was this place?

Puzzled, Jiang Ning walked out.

After passing through a doorway, she unexpectedly saw two elderly men with graying hair sitting in the middle of the garden, playing chess.

What kind of chess?

Curious, she approached and watched their intense match.

After observing for a while, she couldn’t help but mutter—

“Hey, you can’t move that piece like that!”