On Saturday, Du Fei and the others packed their belongings and set out.
As the car pulled onto the road, Liu Shishi called her best friend Xu Qianqian.
The previous evening, she had arranged with Xu Qianqian to pick her up the next day.
"We're leaving now, it will take about twenty minutes to get to your place. Okay, I'll send you a message when I'm closer."
After hanging up, Liu Shishi ended the call.
Having been in Rongcheng for so long, Du Yunyun was going out for fun for the first time, so she was very excited in the car. She looked out the window at the scenery on both sides of the road, then turned on the car's stereo to listen to music. She was quite lively.
Du Fei glanced at his sister through the rearview mirror. Seeing her so happy, he immediately felt regretful, realizing he had been too focused on work and neglected her.
Although learning was important, there needed to be a balance between work and rest. Taking breaks and going out to play were also necessary.
So Du Fei silently vowed to take his sister out more often in the future.
"Oh, Du Fei, when I was buying swimsuits for Yunyun at the mall the other day, I also bought one for you on impulse."
Looking at Du Fei, who was driving, Liu Shishi suddenly said.
Du Fei was a little surprised. "Speaking of which, I didn't plan to go into the water at first."
"Brother! You're so boring. We've finally come out to play together, are you just going to hide in the room by yourself?"
Du Yunyun immediately complained about her brother's words.
Du Fei felt that what Du Yunyun said made sense.
Fortunately, Liu Shishi was thoughtful and had prepared a swimsuit for him, so Du Fei wouldn't be left out.
Soon, the car arrived at Xu Qianqian's place.
When Du Fei saw Xu Qianqian by the roadside with two oversized suitcases, he was a bit shocked.
"Qianqian, we're only going for one day, isn't this a bit excessive?"
Du Fei got out of the car to help Xu Qianqian with her luggage, while Liu Shishi looked speechlessly at her best friend.
Xu Qianqian got into the car, greeted Du Yunyun inside, and then said, "You guys are only going for a day, but I'm staying there for half a month, so of course I need to pack more things."
"Staying for half a month? Why are you staying so long?"
Liu Shishi was surprised when Xu Qianqian said she would be staying at the hot spring resort for half a month.
"It's all my parents! I told them before that there's no way between me and that Zheng Xiang guy, but they insisted he's perfect in every way and threatened to disown me if I don't marry him. We had a huge argument about it again yesterday, so I've decided to leave for half a month and don't want to see them for now!"
No wonder she brought so much luggage. It turned out Xu Qianqian planned to run away from home for half a month.
Liu Shishi was a bit puzzled. She had known Xu Qianqian for many years and had met her parents countless times, so she felt she understood them well.
Xu Qianqian's parents had always doted on her, readily agreeing to whatever she wanted to do.
Why this time, even though they knew Xu Qianqian was unwilling, they were forcing them together? It was quite strange.
However, no matter what, they were still Xu Qianqian's parents, and Liu Shishi couldn't say much.
"Qianqian, your parents will be so worried if you run away from home for half a month. I think you should sit down with them and explain things clearly."
Liu Shishi said gently, but Xu Qianqian wasn't listening at all.
With Du Fei and Du Yunyun in the car, Liu Shishi couldn't say too much, so she decided to put it aside for now.
She planned to find an opportunity to have a good talk with Xu Qianqian about this matter once they arrived at the hot spring resort.
Yuntai Mountain is located southeast of Rongcheng.
The hot spring resort Du Fei and his group were going to was situated in one of the mountain ranges of Yuntai Mountain.
It was surrounded by mountains, bathed in warm sunlight, with beautiful scenery. The oxygen content in the mountains was very high, giving first-time visitors a feeling of altitude sickness.
Traveling through this beautiful, picturesque place, all worries seemed to vanish.
"Wow, I didn't expect it to be so beautiful. It was definitely the right decision to come here."
Although Xu Qianqian's father had invested in this hot spring resort, it had only recently finished its development and was in its trial operation phase, so this was her first time visiting as well.
After parking the car in the parking lot, Xu Qianqian stepped out and spread her arms wide, as if embracing nature.
Liu Shishi and Du Yunyun, who got out of the car afterward, also took deep breaths of the fresh, floral-scented air, their faces filled with delight.
After a while, the group, carrying their luggage, headed straight for the hot spring resort's front desk.
Seeing the beautiful scenery, everyone was eager to unpack their belongings and then enjoy a soak in the hot springs to wash away their fatigue.
"Welcome, honored guests, to Sen Shan Hot Spring Resort."
As soon as they entered the lobby, a receptionist with a sweet smile greeted them.
Led by the receptionist, the group arrived at the front desk, and Xu Qianqian directly handed over a card.
This card was given to her by her father earlier, who called it a super VIP card with many privileges, encouraging her to bring her friends to have fun.
"I'm sorry, guest, there seems to be an issue with your VIP card."
The receptionist took Xu Qianqian's card, made some operations on the computer, and then looked up at her with an apologetic expression.
Xu Qianqian was taken aback. "That's impossible. Are you sure? My dad gave me this super VIP card."
The receptionist operated again, and to let Xu Qianqian see, she directly turned the screen towards her.
It showed that the card had been voided.
"I..."
Voided?
What was going on?
If Liu Shishi and Du Fei weren't standing beside her, Xu Qianqian would have almost sworn.
"Qianqian, then what about us..."
"It's okay, since we're here, we'll just pay for it ourselves."
Xu Qianqian then took out her bank card from her wallet and asked the receptionist to book two rooms for them.
This time, something even more frustrating happened: her bank card was unable to process any transactions.
Xu Qianqian could no longer ignore the argument she had with her father. She picked up her phone and called him.
"What? You've suspended all my cards? You must be dreaming! I'm absolutely not going back!"
After the call, Xu Qianqian finally understood. After her argument with her parents, they had directly suspended the supplementary cards they had previously given her for spending.
"They're going too far! They've suspended all my bank cards!"
Xu Qianqian felt like she had been tricked by her parents.
She never imagined that her parents' attitude would be so firm this time. Her father had told her on the phone that he would only reactivate her bank cards if she returned obediently and started dating Zheng Xiang.
Otherwise, Xu Qianqian would have to fend for herself.
"I'm sorry, Shishi, I..."
Xu Qianqian was furious. She had brought Liu Shishi and the others to the hot spring resort, only for her parents to suspend her cards. The super VIP card not working was probably also her father's doing.
Liu Shishi also didn't expect Xu Qianqian's parents to be so direct this time.
She could only offer some words of comfort, telling Xu Qianqian not to be too upset.
"Excuse me, could you book two rooms for us?"
At this moment, Du Fei stepped forward and asked the receptionist to book two rooms for them.
Xu Qianqian originally wanted to say that she would repay Du Fei once she got back, but thinking of her father's attitude on the phone just now, she said nothing.
Besides, since they had already come this far, they couldn't just turn back and drive home now.
After Du Fei paid, the group took their luggage and room keys, ready to put their things away first.