I'm back in 1990

Chapter 181: Group Activities

A few days after the tofu incident, Dai Xiaoguang, who had been waiting outside the door for a long time, entered the classroom after the four classes of the 90 Economics major had just finished their general courses.

After greeting the teacher, he said to the students, "Wait a moment before you leave, I have something to tell you."

Some students who had just stood up sat down again upon hearing this.

"The day after tomorrow, which is Sunday, our department is organizing an autumn outing to Suzhou for the four classes of economics majors from the class of 90. Please make preparations in advance. Since this is a group activity, you are not allowed to ask for leave without special reasons. I will have the class monitors inform you of the specific itinerary and departure time."

The classroom buzzed with excitement as everyone started whispering and discussing among themselves.

After Dai Xiaoguang finished speaking, he left, taking several class monitors with him.

Huang Xiaochuan and the others left the classroom with their books.

Ding Yi specifically reminded Huang Xiaochuan, "Xiaochuan, your camera will come in handy now, so be sure to bring it!"

"No problem, you buy the film rolls." Huang Xiaochuan readily agreed, but with one condition.

"Huh? This isn't like you at all! How come you, the big spender, have become so stingy?"

"Get lost! I know you too well. Whenever we go out together, the camera never ends up in my hands. You're having so much fun taking pictures all by yourself, aren't you? It's all the film I bought that's being wasted. I get it now. I might as well just give you the camera and let you do whatever you want with it. I can at least save a few rolls of film."

"Hey! Look over there, doesn't that look like Senior Sang?" Ding Yi patted Huang Xiaochuan on the shoulder and pointed to the back of a girl a few dozen meters away.

Damn it, is this never going to end?

"With your tiny eyes, how can you see that far? Alright, alright, I'll buy the film, okay?"

Having achieved his goal, Ding Yi beamed smugly: "Damn it! You think I can't handle you?"

After saying that, he winked at Gao Lei and Chen Zhe.

These two aren't good people either; they even gave Ding Yi a thumbs-up.

Alas! A single act of generosity can lead to eternal regret!

Back in the dormitory, Ding Yi opened his locker and took out two bottles of Wuliangye liquor.

"It's been a long time since we drank together. I went home and secretly stole two bottles of good wine. When Lao Wu gets back, we'll go to Xiao Nantian near the school gate and order some dishes. It's on me tonight."

Huang Xiaochuan curled his lip: "Treating me to dinner is no problem, but let's get this straight: who's going to pay later?"

Huang Xiaochuan still remembered the last time Ding Yi said he would treat them to a meal and took them to Huanghe Road. In the end, Huang Xiaochuan was ripped off and had to pay the bill. This time, he was determined not to fall for Ding Yi's tricks again.

"Look how scared you are! Of course I'll pay for it since it's my treat."

"real?"

"It's only a few dozen yuan, why would I lie to you? Don't you even know what kind of liquor I brought?"

"Alright! I'll trust you one more time."

Wu Duo returned shortly afterward.

Zhang Gaolei then asked him, "Class monitor, what instructions did Teacher Dai give you class leaders?"

When Wu Duo entered the room, he picked up his teacup, but it was empty. He then picked up his water bottle to pour himself a drink, only to find that his thermos was also empty.

"Does anyone have water? Pour me a glass, I'm dying of thirst!"

Chen Zhe picked up his thermos and shook his head: "Mine's gone too."

None of them had filled their thermos bottles with water; they were so busy talking when they came back that they forgot to get hot water.

"I'll go borrow a cup of water from the next dorm." Huang Xiaochuan took Wu Duo's teacup and went to the next dorm to borrow a cup of water.

The hot water that someone had just brought back was too scalding to drink, so Wu Duo could only put the teacup back on the table and start talking about the group activity the day after tomorrow.

"We were notified that we will depart at 6:30 am the day after tomorrow. The tour company will send three large buses, carrying a total of 120 people including students, teachers, and teachers' family members. Each bus will carry 40 people, so everyone will have plenty of room to sit comfortably."

Chen Zhe asked Huang Xiaochuan, "Xiaochuan, isn't your hometown Suzhou? What are some fun places to visit in Suzhou?"

"Isn't it said that there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below? Suzhou has many classical gardens, each with its own characteristics. I estimate that we will mainly visit these gardens this time. Suzhou has two of the four famous gardens in the world, namely Lingering Garden and Humble Administrator's Garden. You must have heard of them. There is also Hanshan Temple and Tiger Hill. These are all part of Suzhou's cultural history. You'll have to experience them for yourselves when you visit! I can't explain it in just a few words."

Huang Xiaochuan briefly explained that the domestic tourism industry was not very developed at that time.

People in mainland China don't really have the concept of tourism. Usually, they use the excuse of business trips or training to organize some cadres and employees of their work units to go on trips. When they arrive at their destination, other work units will send people to specially receive them. This is considered publicly funded tourism. Do you expect ordinary people to pay for their own travel? Such situations are extremely rare.

However, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou are all open tourist cities, and many foreign visitors came to these places during this period, so the foreign tourism industry in these cities developed very well.

These cities also import luxury buses from abroad to receive these foreign guests, including Greyhound buses from the United States, and most commonly Hino luxury buses from Japan.

If nothing unexpected happens, the tour company will definitely pick up Huang Xiaochuan and his group in a Hino bus the day after tomorrow. Since the 1980s, Hino buses have been the main vehicles used by Shanghai Travel Company.

If Dai Xiaoguang hadn't made it clear beforehand that no one could be absent without a valid reason, Huang Xiaochuan wouldn't have wanted to go. Having grown up in Suzhou, he had visited all these gardens.

Especially Lingering Garden. Back then, my grandmother was still quite mobile, and she would go there once a year, in every season. Sometimes she would bring Huang Xiaochuan with her, and sometimes she would go alone.

The history of Suzhou was told to Huang Xiaochuan by his grandmother, word by word. For example, the last owner of the Lion Grove Garden was surnamed Bei, and the earliest people to build this garden were actually a group of monks. The garden was first built in 1342 and changed owners many times over the centuries. It was through the continuous renovation and transformation by successive new owners that the Lion Grove Garden came to be what it is today.

Zhang Gaolei discussed with Ding Yi: "Old Ding, you're a professional photographer, so stop running around with your camera. Take some nice photos for us to remember this moment."

"Don't worry about that, I've got it covered. The squad leader is back, everyone's here, we can set off now."

The five people shared two bottles of wine, and the wine made them slightly tipsy, just right.

After drinking, they naturally talked more, and the five of them walked back arm in arm, talking as they went.

Wu Duo continued the conversation at the dinner table: "We are in a period of great change. We don't know what the future holds, but I believe it will definitely get better and better."

Huang Xiaochuan smiled but didn't respond or offer any grand pronouncements.

He had already experienced it once, so no one understood better than him how powerful this country would become after thirty years of development.

Ding Yi and Chen Zhe chatted about everything from inflation to competition in the commodity market, all related to their majors. At twenty years old, they were full of passion and dreams, and after having a few drinks, they all wanted to express their opinions.

Back in the dorm, the group continued their conversation, while Huang Xiaochuan quietly climbed into his bed.

Since he couldn't sleep anyway, Huang Xiaochuan pulled out a small drawing board and some paper and pens from the bedside table, sat cross-legged on the bed, and started drawing while drunk.

He wanted to give Yu Xiang a unique gift.

He designed clothes specifically for Yu Xiang, but of course he could only draw a simple sketch; the complete design would need to be completed by a fashion designer from Hong Kong.

Huang Xiaochuan also took some time to measure Yu Xiang's body size.