Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Aromatic Hops

"—I want to see cattle." The reason why we decided to spend the last four days of summer vacation in the R plateau was all because of the words of the senior. R Plateau is a well-known local summer resort. It is about a three-hour drive from the city center of Asatsuki, where we are studying at Assuki University. Nature is the selling point. In addition, the R plateau is famous for grazing food cattle, and it is said that the vast pastures that stretch as far as the eye can see are also quite spectacular.The reason why I use the word "said" is because I have never been to the R plateau.

I want to see the cow so much now, you go with me - the one who invites you so openly is Senior Piaopao. Although he is known as the senior student, he is not a foreign student named Apollinaire; his real name is Yusuke Himami, and he is an out-and-out Japanese man. As for why he was given this inexplicable nickname?It all comes from the disturbing habit of borrowing money from college students and not changing it. He always asks for money in the name of sponsoring himself, but the reason is always the same: "I want to travel." It is said that wandering in Southeast Asia is his hobby, but no one has traveled with him, so it is not clear whether it is true or not.As long as he finds an opportunity, he will look forward and say proudly: "Please call me a traveler."

Obviously no one paid attention to him, but he blindly boasted, saying that he is a drifting bird in the country, a drifting bird in Anzuki, which is really annoying; later, the juniors combined this noun with his form, jokingly called him For the sake of drifting, it was later simplified as drifting. "What's the matter?" I was invited to appreciate the cattle for no reason, so I naturally had to ask. "Why do you have to go all the way to R plateau to see cattle?" "Oh, it's the so-called healing journey!" "Journey of Healing..." Hearing him mention this, I remembered a certain reason.This summer, he lost his friend; the details of the incident are not directly related to this story, so I will skip it; but even the usual cheerful and carefree senior, he was extremely depressed for a long time because of this incident.

No, until now, he still hasn't recovered fully; neither have I, it's only been a few days, how can I forget that painful experience?That's why he wanted to go out for a walk and change his mood.I know exactly how he feels. But why go to see the cattle? "In this case, you should look at the sea, right?" "Sea? That's the time to break up in love!" "...I went to the beach when I was broken up, so I went to the mountains at this time? It's easy to understand, but it's too uncreative and monotonous." "Listen to me carefully! Carpenter. I want to explore life and death head-on, and immerse myself in philosophical meditation."

By the way, my name is Jiang Qianxiao, commonly known as Jiang Zai. "Will the president be immersed in philosophical meditation?" "What's the meaning of that contorted look on your face? As if you've found yourself swallowing laxatives like vitamins! What's your opinion?" "No, not at all. Then why watch the cows?" "Have you ever seen the eyes of a cow? The eyes of a cow are broad and detached, but gentle and steady, right?" From the common sense of ordinary people, this should be used to describe the eyes of a horse, right?Although I think so, but taking into account the perception is different from person to person, so I did not say anything to refute it.

"I want to be born again under the embrace of those loving eyes!" The senior seems to intend to come to a poetic conclusion, but he shows the strange rhetoric of "under the embrace of the eyes" without any shame or even triumphantly; it seems that he has completely immersed himself in his own world.From past experience, I know that the drifting senior at this time is irresistible, so I agreed to accompany him to the R plateau. "But it's not interesting to just go with two handles, let's invite a few girls to go together!" Sure enough, it came again.

Yes, it is the eternal and common wish of all men to travel with girls; but a man who said that he should immerse himself in philosophical meditation, explore life and death head-on, and fall into the loving embrace of the bull's-eye, makes people afraid to say such words compliment. With a girl by my side, distracting thoughts arise, can I be 'reborn again'?Perhaps I, who have this idea, are the ones who are confused by the world! "I'm going to invite other people, and Gao Qian will leave it to you." "Huh?" I was so surprised that I couldn't help but stutter. "For, for, why me?"

"What? You think I don't know? Little Rabbit told me!" "tell you what?" "You went to Gao Qian's residence a while ago, right? You used Gao and Gao Qian's knees as pillows, right? Little Rabbit told me all about it! Bastard, let alone Gao Qian, you haven't heard of it in the past few years. Half a girl invited me to her house!" "Slow, slow." Takachi is Chiho Takase, who is also a second-year student at Yasutsuki University with me. What Senior Piaoba said is indeed true, I went to Gaoqian’s residence recently; but there is a reason for that, and that reason has nothing to do with this story, so let’s skip it for now.In short, it is by no means an enviable romantic event, or even the opposite.

"That, that was a misunderstanding..." "Whispering, sloppy, sloppy! I can't hear you! Ah, you bastard! I wanted to go for high school, but I was preempted by an abstract figure like Jiang Zai who looked like a child's scribbled cotton candy and had no sense of tension. How old Heaven has no eyes!" "You misunderstood!" The senior's eyes were originally teasing, but now he has completely lost his smile; seeing this, I desperately defended myself. "It's wrong!" "Do you think I'm Bao Qingtian? Well, I know. Since you want to keep it secret, I'll treat it as a misunderstanding. Anyway, Gao Qian will leave it to you. If she doesn't come, you will be responsible. Keep it in mind, understand. No?"

It may be strange to use the word "thank you"; originally I was still thinking hard about how to please Takachi who refused, but when I proposed to go to the R Plateau for fun, Takachi—Chiho Takase agreed.It also seems like she wants to change her mood before the new semester starts. "Isn't the scenery there beautiful?" Among our group, she is one of the few people from other counties and cities; seeing her eyes sparkle, her mouth does not seem to be full of compliments. "Actually, I've wanted to see it for a long time." Usually Gao Qian's attitude is indifferent, always with a stiff and cold expression like watching fire from the other side; it's rare to see her so amiable, and I can't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"By the way, invite Xiaotu to go with you, shall we?" Usagi's real name is Hazuki Yukiko, and she is a second-year student at Yasuki University just like us. "She asked me to invite her to an event before. It seems that she is also very free." "Okay! This is just right, the more girls there are, the happier the seniors will be." "Since we're going by Xiaopiao's car," although Anzuki University has a large campus, Gao Qian is the only one who simplifies the word "Piao" to "Xiaopiao". "Just curry favor with him!" Ever since, the four of us decided on a four-day and three-night trip to the R Plateau.Except for Gao Qian and Xiao Tu, Senior Piao Pao seemed to adopt the tactic of shooting birds with random guns. When he saw a girl, he would invite her, but all of them fell through. As far as the results are concerned, this small trip can be said to be a great success; the National Hotel we stayed in has just been redecorated, the rooms are beautiful and tidy, and the spacious and large baths are so comfortable that people can't help but want to soak several times a day. From the first day to the fourth day, the sky was clear and the sky was like a blue and white porcelain handed down from generation to generation, and the whole body was filled with a refreshing sense of comfort.With a guidebook in hand, we learned the scientific names while admiring various alpine plants. Sometimes we strolled in the mountains and looked at the herds of cattle grazing leisurely, enjoying the good time to cleanse our souls. I specialize in walking, and the active Gaoqian, Xiaotu, and Piaobao seniors rent bicycles from the hotel to roam the plateau. Sometimes they walk too far and disappear before dinner in the evening. Every night, there is naturally a big banquet.Although men and women have reserved two double rooms, we all gather in the same room every night, playing poker, chatting about unnutritious topics, and drinking to our heart's content. Tired from drinking, everyone fell asleep on the spot, and the next morning they rushed to the pasture with their hangover heads in their arms; it was like this every day after arriving here.Although we are young and strong, we are too patient. Senior Drifting also gradually regained his energy. It seemed that he had indeed been "reborn".As soon as I mentioned this, the little rabbit pressed the hat that was dancing with the wind, and showed a sweet smile like a puppet: "Well, that's it!" "You think so too?" "Of course! The look in his eyes is completely different from when he first came here." "Eyes?" "Well! At first he looked at the cow with a sentimental look, as if he were talking to a friend; but now it's quite different." "What's the difference?" "It turned into the look of looking at a steak." Very keen observation.I think this is also a way for Senior Piao Piao to explore life and death!It's just that its significance is not discussed for the time being. Although the trip to the plateau was very successful, the story is not over yet—in fact, it should be said to be just about to begin.The unexpected happened at the last moment. On the afternoon of the fourth day, we went to have lunch after checking out, and the rest of the work was to drive the three-hour mountain road back to the city. At this time, Senior Floating disappeared.After checking out, we each went to the dressing room or went to the store to buy souvenirs to spend the last short free time; when I returned to the lobby, Gao Qian and Xiaotu were already sitting on the sofa obediently, and after the agreed time , senior floating still did not show up.At first we were optimistic that it was a delay in going to the toilet, but half an hour later, he still didn't show up, which made us worried, so I went to the toilet to check. Unexpectedly, he was not in the toilet, and there was no one around.I think I have already finished the check-out procedure, so it is impossible to go back to the room, right?But for the sake of prudence, I still ask the counter staff to check and broadcast the search for people on my behalf. However, the drifting senior has not yet appeared.Even if he is a rare and confused man, it is impossible for him to forget that we went down the mountain by ourselves, right?Just in case, I went to the parking lot to confirm: Of course, Senior Piao Pao's car is still parked there. After two or three hours, even the counter staff began to worry.Originally, he had always emphasized that there were no dangerous places near this area, and he also said that there was a possibility that the seniors would accidentally fall off the cliff by stepping over the guardrail. Just when our uneasiness finally reached its limit and we began to decide whether to call the police, Senior Drifting appeared. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I don't know where he went or what he did; I saw that he was sweating profusely and panting. "Give me a drink!" "Senior, where did you go? We are all worried, and we are discussing whether to call the police!" "Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The senior sipped the oolong tea that Xiaotu bought from the vending machine, desperately wiping away his sweat. "I went to catch the thief." The word "catch..." appeared so unexpectedly that I couldn't understand its meaning for a while. "Catch a thief? What's going on?" "Actually—" The drifting senior said as follows. After checking out, the senior went to the toilet next to the counter. The window was open and a cool breeze was blowing, so he casually looked outside when it was convenient.Outside, I could see the parking lot, and I could also see the car I was familiar with.Oh!It turns out that I saw the parking lot from here!Just as the senior was feeling so emotional while looking at—— Two men appeared.If that's the case, it wouldn't be surprising; but they actually got close to the senior's car, took out what looked like a gasoline can, and started to do things secretly. The gasoline thief... Senior Piaopao suddenly came to his senses, climbed over the window of the toilet, and rushed to the parking lot.On the other hand, when the two thieves saw the senior yelling "what are you doing?" The escaped men and the senior chasing behind started a game of hide-and-seek; the two fled blindly holding the gasoline barrel, and the senior chased all the way. However, when chasing to the outside of the ranch, a small car unexpectedly appeared and quickly picked up the two men. This is how the game of hide-and-seek was decided.After that, the senior still did not give up on chasing the small car, but naturally he couldn't catch up. The senior had no choice but to give up and return to the hotel; at this time, he discovered a big headache.It turned out that he was so focused on chasing the thief that he lost his way. "—and then I wandered about, and came back with great difficulty." "So, all the gasoline has been stolen? Huh? That's strange." Hearing this, Xiaotu suddenly tilted his head. "However, the senior's parking place is in front of the entrance, which is at the other end of the hotel. Isn't it visible from the window of the toilet?" "what?" What Xiaotu thought of was correct.The senior's car is still parked in the parking space in front of the hotel, and the parking space seen from the toilet window, although the model and color are the same, is not the senior's car. "Ah? What's the matter, so it's someone else's car?" After confirming that the license plate of that car was different from his own, Senior Piaobao looked up to the sky and sighed: "Really, it's confusing! I ran a long way so hard. , for what?" "However, it is a fact that the gasoline of this car was stolen!" Gao Qian argued, "We should notify the owner of the car." Senior Drifting murmured in agreement, but a threatening voice suddenly interrupted him: "What are you doing!" Looking back, a young man wearing horizontal long sunglasses was standing there.His age is not far from ours, as if boasting of his dark and fat-free body, he deliberately cut off the sleeves of his T-shirt to expose his skin; his short-shaven hair seemed to be oiled, shining with a wet radiance. After Senior Piao Pao explained the whole story on our behalf, the man snorted, and his attitude was so indifferent that I, a coward, almost burst into tears. "Speaking of that, don't you think you are gasoline thieves?" "What words!" I had worked so hard just now, but what I got in exchange was this kind of attitude, which made Senior Piaopao rarely show a fierce look; it seems that the other party wants to find fault, and he also intends to accompany him to the end. "——Don't pay attention to him, Xiao Piao." Gao Qian intervened in this dangerous atmosphere that was about to explode like a piece of dry ice. "Anyway, it's not us who are troublesome. It's a waste of time to pay attention to this kind of people. Let's go!" Perhaps awed by Gao Qian's indifferent beauty, the young man suddenly showed astonishment, and leaned back slightly; the little rabbit took the opportunity to stick out his tongue at him.We closed it as soon as we saw it, and left the scene quickly. In this way, when we set off from the National Hotel, it was almost five o'clock in the evening.It wasn't a big deal, though; we were optimistic we'd be back in the city around 8pm if there wasn't traffic. "—Hey," not long after setting off, Xiaotu looked back and frowned. "Isn't that the car of the dark glasses bastard?" Take a closer look, although the car following behind is like a matchbox, it can still be seen that it is the same car and the same color as the one we are taking. "Tsk! What a bad luck." Senior Piao Pao smacked bitterly, and stepped on the accelerator hard. "Watch me get rid of him!" "Hey, Xiao Piao!" Gao Qian sternly stopped him. "Calm down while driving, don't drive too fast." "Don't worry, leave it to me. Besides, I don't want to die with Jiang Zai...and Gao Qian is okay." "I don't want to die with my senior either!" "Don't casually designate someone to be buried with." Even though the oncoming car had disappeared from the field of vision, the senior still did not slow down, turned the steering wheel skillfully to turn one by one, and galloped fast. About halfway through the mountain road, I was suddenly awakened by the emergency brake when I was drowsy under the vibration of the car body.At a glance, there is a road sign ahead blocking the middle of the road. "Wow! What the hell?" The senior in the driver's seat patted the steering wheel anxiously, and the horn made a short fart-like sound. "No way! Really." "When I came here, there was nothing there!" Xiaotu, who was sitting in the back seat with me, just frowned impatiently with her lovely semicircular eyebrows, and her tone was quite calm and objective at this time. "There is a circuitous route map on the road sign, shall I go down and have a look?" "No, just look at this." Gao Qian turned on the interior lights, took out the guidebook, and moved his slender fingers like a pianist along the map around the R high voltage on the top. By the way, the one who allocated the seats was naturally Senior Piao Piao.Since he was driving, he would never allow someone with a handlebar to sit on the assistant seat; and if Xiaotu was to sit beside him, Gao Qian and I would definitely sit next to each other.In order to avoid this situation from happening, the round-trip seats are arranged in this way. Not only the seats in the car, but for the past four days, Senior Piaopao has always deliberately prevented Gao Qian from being alone with me.In fact, he doesn't have to work so hard at all. I said before that it was all a misunderstanding! "But, we have to go a long way back!" "I can't help it." Senior Piaopao turned off the interior lights after reading the guidebook handed over by Gao Qian intently. "Since I can't go here, I have to take a detour." According to the map in the guidebook, there are two ways to drive on the national road from here and return to the urban area, except for this blocked road. One is to turn back to the original road, drive to the county first and then go down the mountain; however, this road is winding like a folded snake belly, and the distance is long, so I will definitely not be able to reach home tonight. Therefore, the senior naturally chose another way to move.This way of walking also has to go back, but it doesn't need to drive on the road leading to the county. It only needs to make a big circle to connect to the downlink section of the blocked road and drive directly onto the national highway. Although it was much better than the county route, it was still a long detour compared to the original route; it seemed that we could not go home until midnight.Thinking about it this way, it is inevitable that I will feel tired, but there is nothing I can do. In short, we turned around the intersection and went down the mountain along a circuitous route.However-- "—Oh?" Senior Piao Pao was forced to stop again. "Ah, ah, ah... no way!" Senior Piaopao knocked on the steering wheel in an atmosphere, but this time the horn didn't sound, but I can understand his reluctance.After all, it was almost back to the original road. The road was blocked again, but this time it was different from before, the atmosphere was much more solemn; the red lights of police cars and ambulances shuttled through the darkness, and the white fire extinguishing agent sprayed by fire trucks was particularly distinct in the night sky. "--What happened?" "A rear-end collision." The elderly man in a safety helmet and overalls looked at the senior in the driver's seat through the gap in the car window. "The truck hit the own car going up from the rear." "Wow!" "Fortunately, the driver was only slightly injured, but the gasoline ignited and the car caught fire, and the fire almost spread to the woods." "Wow...that's serious!" Take a closer look, the fire extinguishing agent is piled up on the road like white snow, and the red lights are swaying on the surface, just like steaming.This is indeed a major event, and it may cause forest fires. The firefighting work seemed to be extremely difficult. Occasional roars sounded into the car, and the surrounding commotion made it difficult for us to continue watching. According to the man in the hard hat, the road will not be reopened until the next morning at the earliest; if such an accident happens, it is not easy to stalk people to let them go. We had no choice but to give up and go back again. "...God!" While holding the steering wheel, the senior touched a cigarette and picked it up.It was dark, so I couldn't see clearly; but since I didn't see him lighting the fire, I should just feel that his mouth was empty and uncomfortable, and he played with it as usual. "What should I do next?" "What else can I do?" Driven by my sense of duty, I replied. "I can only go down the mountain by another way!" "I don't know how long it will take to go the other way!" "The distance seems to be quite far." "Besides, I have never walked that road before. If there is no fork in the road, I don't have to worry about getting lost..." "Is there a fork in the other road?" "There are roads leading to neighboring counties on the way. I took a glance just now, and there seem to be many small fork roads. Well, what time is it?" "It's just after eight o'clock." "Well, the time is not enough. As long as you don't get lost, you should be able to get there by driving overnight. But to be honest, it's too tiring." "Then take turns?" Gao Qian glanced at me over his shoulder. "But one of them doesn't have a driver's license." "Ashamed." I was the only one among the four who couldn't drive. I was ashamed and suggested this way: "Anyway, we have to turn back. Why don't we just go back to the National Hotel!" "Huh? Why go back?" "Stay one more night." "Huh? Only now? Will they let us check in? Besides, what if there is no room available?" "It's already September, and the peak season is already over, so it shouldn't be a problem. Even if there are no vacancies, as long as you explain why, at least let us sleep in the hall!" "yes?" "No matter how bad it is, you can park your car overnight in the parking lot. It's at least much safer than driving on a strange road overnight with sleepiness." Everyone felt that it was reasonable, so they decided to stay on the R plateau for another night.So far so good. good is good-- The car turned back and walked for more than an hour; the rhythmic sound of the engine was like a lullaby, and it made me drowsy again.Half asleep and half awake, I felt that the car seemed to slow down. "...It happened." The senior's words made me fully awake, and the car had already stopped at this time. "Why..." I smelled the uneasy atmosphere, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" "Out of gas." "No……?" When I was about to repeat my senior's muttering to myself that punishment is better than displeasure, I was interrupted by Xiaotu. "Ah? I can't believe it!" She waved her hands and feet and pouted, "How can this happen! How could such a thing happen! It's so miserable, so miserable!" "This is called misfortunes never come singly!" "Even if you're unlucky, there should be a limit, right?" Seeing Gao Qian's indifferent tone, Xiao Tu kept patting her seat from behind as if venting her anger. "It's not a copy of Chaplin's movie. How can there be such a wave of ups and downs?" "Could it be..." I just felt powerless and couldn't help muttering to myself: "Is the gasoline really stolen?" "Xiao Piao, what should I do?" Gao Qian asked, but she didn't seem to be asking for the advice of her seniors. "Looks like I'll have to spend the night in the car." "No—" Senior Piaopao seemed to cheer up, and opened the driver's door with great momentum. "Put the car on the side of the road first, we will use it by walking." Huh?The little rabbit sang in unison with our calls. "Use, use to walk? Learn from seniors, are you serious? Go back to the National Hotel?" "Idiot, how is it possible? If you have to walk, you won't be able to get there until dawn." "That's how..." "There is a folk house in front." "Minjia?" "Let's borrow a night." "Really...really?" I couldn't help but feel a bit more doubtful in my voice: "Is there really a folk house in front?" "I saw it from the driver's seat when I went down the hill." He pointed up to the left side of the road. "It's in this direction. As long as we walk and pay attention to this direction, we don't have to worry about not being able to find it." "Xiao Piao, are you sure?" Gao Qian stepped down from the assistant's seat. Although her calm voice remained unchanged, it was a little more restless. "If there are no folk houses at all, it's not a joke. We will really encounter mountain disasters." "Walking around mountains, south, mountains and north~hahaha!" No matter where you are, you will never forget the spirit of entertainment, which is the true nature of a senior. "Ann! I saw it with my own eyes. I dare not say anything else. I have the most confidence in my eyesight." "Are you wrong? It should be physical strength." "That's right." "However," being in direct contact with the mountains and the air in the dark seemed to make Xiao Tu quite uneasy; she was seen holding onto Gao Qian's hand tightly. "How far is that folk house? Senior." "It's just a little distance, it's nothing. Thirty minutes should be more than enough. Alright, brothers, let's go!" Even if you are confident in your physical strength and eyesight, you have serious problems in terms of intelligence—afterwards, everyone blamed the seniors for this. Drifting Senior made the following two mistakes. First, most people would keep a flashlight in the car as a backup, but he didn't. It seemed that he forgot to put it back when it was used up.If it were a peaceful daily scene, we would laugh and forgive him for his carelessness; but in this extraordinary situation, everyone is naturally shouting and beating and attacking him in groups. Although the sky was clear and the moon was shining brightly that day, some places were surrounded by the shadows of trees. If we proceeded rashly without a light in hand, we might not be able to fall off the cliff, which made us very uneasy about our feet. The vision problem is okay, and you get used to it after a while; the real problem is the second fault, which is too major. We each took our basic luggage and climbed up along the circuitous route; but after walking for more than 30 minutes, two hours later, we still found nothing. Looking back afterwards, I knew that the senior had miscalculated the distance, but he didn't think so at the time.Are there really folk houses?Could it be a mistake?Everyone secretly doubted.At first, the girls refused to help with integrity and carried the luggage by themselves, but then they turned into a world-weary and gloomy tone, and unceremoniously pushed the luggage to the men. For a while, Gao Qian was aggressive: "So I didn't say it? This is not a joke, we will really encounter difficulties in the mountains!" After a while, Xiaotu cried endlessly: "They are all stupid seniors! I can't go anymore I’m moving, I’m so tired! I’m so hungry! Come up with a solution!” Of course, I also complained: “I’ll never travel with my senior again!” At this time, the senior is besieged on all sides. Devastated. Everyone prayed for a car to pass by, but God was merciless, and there was not even a shadow on the road. "Strange, it's strange, I can't make a mistake, right?" Even the senior who combines the concepts of innocence, boldness and openness began to say frustrating words, we finally saw—— ——The shadow of "House of Beer".