frightfiction Chapter 287 A Promise to Travel Together
Chapter 287 A Promise to Travel Together
The small villa was very cozy. Song Yanchu had already cooked several dishes in the kitchen, and he had honed his culinary skills for Ting Nan's sake.
Everyone was chatting and laughing, but no one drank alcohol this time. Gao Haoran had developed a phobia of baijiu (Chinese liquor).
After dinner, Gao Haoran took Ning Xueyan for a walk near the house. The trees, arranged in a staggered pattern, were outlined in irregular shapes by the setting sun, creating a silhouette-like scene.
A path winds its way through the bushes like a ribbon shimmering with gold.
The two strolled hand in hand. Although there were no flowers in bloom this season, Ning Xueyan could still smell the fragrance of grass and flowers mixed with the cool breeze of autumn, which made her feel refreshed.
Song Tingnan escorted Ning Lingling back home. They were about the same age and both quite mature. They had known each other before and were now relatives. They let down their guard and got along very well.
"Lingling, what's your decision? Are you coming back to Yunxiang County with us? Let me tell you, we have so many delicious foods there. If you come, I'll take you to try them all. And my good friend's grandfather can even cook a Manchu Han Imperial Feast! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water."
Ning Lingling looked on with longing, but reality made her calm down. "I also want to go to your place, and I also want to leave that corrupt home. 'Yunxiang County' is such a beautiful name."
But, Tingnan, I am their daughter, and that cannot be changed. Even if I am adopted by my aunt, they will not let me go.
And they just want to get involved with my aunt. You have no idea how greedy and shameless they are. My aunt finally escaped, and I don't want them to bleed me dry again.
"Then what will you do? Will you continue to be controlled by them? You deserve a bright future." Ting Nan was very worried about this thin, young man.
Ning Lingling whispered, "Of course not. I plan to stay until I graduate from junior high. There's still one semester left. Once I get my diploma, I'll run far away. They won't be able to find me."
"You're all alone? It's not safe for a girl to be out alone. What if you encounter human traffickers?" Song Tingnan had personally experienced human traffickers, and she also vividly remembered her neighbor's experience of being deceived.
"No way? I can't be that unlucky, and besides, I'm not pretty."
"Lingling, don't let your guard down! You still need to be careful around your parents before you graduate!"
Ning Lingling smiled and said, "Yes, I will be careful. My dad works in a factory, so he still has some self-respect. I also listened to my aunt. Whenever my parents beat or scold me, I run away. The neighbors, the neighborhood committee, and the police station all have records of this, so they don't dare to push me too hard."
"That's good. Be careful during this period. While my master is in the city, come to the villa when you have some free time, and let my master teach you some self-defense techniques."
"Self-defense? Really? Can I still learn it at my age?" Ning Lingling's eyes lit up. She had seen her uncle fall from the sky that day, and the ghost story must have been his doing.
"Of course you can. It's never too late to learn. My master is amazing. His martial arts school even teaches girls 'anti-wolf techniques,' so at least you can protect yourself." Song Tingnan was a die-hard fan of her master.
"Okay! I will definitely study hard." Ning Lingling was also frightened by her aunt's incident. It was hard for her mother to find such an ugly girl. She didn't want to experience it herself.
"Lingling, I'm graduating next year too, and I want to go to Shanghai for college entrance exams. Why don't you come with me? We can keep each other company."
"Shanghai? That's quite far. Hmm, okay, the farther away they are, the less likely they are to find me." The two girls made that agreement.
Song Tingnan wanted to apply to Shanghai International Studies University, the first higher foreign language institution established after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It is a famous higher foreign language institution in China, upholding the school motto of "high ideals and lofty aspirations, and comprehensive knowledge of Chinese and foreign cultures".
It offers nine majors including English, Russian, German, French, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish, Greek, and Italian, with a three-year program.
This language school, which started from scratch and specializes in Russian language teaching, has undergone succession and transformation through the East China People's Revolutionary University Affiliated Foreign Language School, Shanghai Russian Language School, and Shanghai International Studies University, leading and witnessing the development and changes of foreign language education in New China.
Getting into this multilingual college is no easy feat. Ting Nan spends most of her weekends studying in her room.
Starting from the second semester of her first year of high school, she realized the gap between herself and her classmates in big cities, so she worked hard day and night, and her desk was filled with textbooks and reference books.
The reference books that Zuo Jinyue mailed over and over again were already worn out; she went through stacks of mock college entrance exam papers again and again, and did the wrong questions in her error notebook over and over again, thankfully the number of wrong questions was decreasing.