Xu Zhou watched as the two of them walked side by side toward him from a short distance away. He hadn’t expected Ning Sui and Xie Yichen to seem so familiar with each other, and the sight gave him a reason to look at her more carefully as well.
Xie Yichen was still trying to figure out why Hu Ke’er’s boyfriend had been staring at him so intently. He had just extended a hand when the other person said with barely-contained urgency, “We’ve met before.”
A pause, then he added, “At the basketball game.”
They had only had that one brief encounter, but hearing it said like that, Xie Yichen quickly recalled, and curved the corner of his lips toward the other man. “I remember.”
Zhang Yuge hadn’t anticipated that Xie Yichen and Xu Zhou had any previous connection at all. Now that Xu Zhou’s attitude had warmed, he found him considerably more pleasant-looking.
“Oh, so you two already knew each other—that makes things much easier!”
Hu Ke’er was delighted and stepped into her role as introducer. Xie Yichen and Xu Zhou shook hands; he then exchanged a brief greeting with Shen Qing.
After a quick round of introductions, they decided it was time to head down the mountain. Since they’d run into each other anyway, the six of them would go down together.
Xie Yichen walked at the front, his long legs giving him an effortless advantage over the 3,000-plus-meter elevation. He moved with a languid, unhurried ease. The collar of his black softshell jacket hung casually open, the whole of him exuding an air that was difficult to put into words—effortlessly cool in a way that felt genuine rather than deliberate.
Ning Sui quickened her steps by two and just barely managed to come level with him. Slender-armed and slender-legged as she was, she was breathing just slightly harder, giving her cheeks a soft flush.
Xie Yichen glanced at her, and just ahead, came to a stretch of level ground crowded with people. He slowed his pace and turned back to wait for the others to catch up.
Cangshan Mountain earned its reputation as the foremost mountain range at the southern edge of Dali. Its peaks were majestic and grand, its vegetation dense and varied—if you could set aside the exhaustion of climbing and the heat generated by the crowds, the scenery here was rare and unparalleled.
Ning Sui found a rest break to upload her photos to the family group chat. Ning Deyan was the first to appear and exclaim: [Wonderful, wonderful—let us sing of what we see.]
The old man had quite a literary flair.
A while later, it was Fang Fang’s turn: [The cliffs are very high, and the path goes to the edge—watch where you step. Be careful.]
Ning Sui: “……” How have you both suddenly turned into poets?
Ning Deyan seemed to know exactly what she was thinking: [We’ve been helping the little creature study his middle school Chinese lately. We’re picking things up by osmosis [grinning emoji]]
They were certainly forward-thinking, pressing Ning Yue to memorize middle school classical poetry this early. Right now they were giving him dictation drills.
Fang Fang: [This thing hasn’t gotten a single classical poem right.]
Fang Fang: [Even tofu has more brain than he does. How is he possibly…]
In recent days, the parents’ nicknames for the little rascal had been steadily evolving—from “Yue Yue” and “darling” to “this thing” and “that creature”—a testament to how deeply their love had curdled into exasperation.
Ning Yue: [I’m still in the group chat!!!]
And yet no one paid him any attention.
Her phone chimed. Ning Deyan had sent a photo in the group: [[smile emoji]]
It was a piece of Ning Yue’s dictation work, executed in his signature chicken-scratch handwriting. Ning Sui opened it and glanced at a couple of lines.
——Little brother, upon hearing his sister’s arrival, sharpened his blade and aimed for Mom and Dad.
——On the verge of death I jolted awake from a dream, threw my head back laughing as I walked out the door.
Ning Sui: “……” Quite the talent, honestly—both lines are weirdly seamless.
Xia Fanghui finished venting in the family group chat and then switched to a private message, delivering all the usual, well-worn lectures that had callused her ears long ago: watch where you’re walking on the mountain, take care of yourself when you’re out, don’t drink, don’t go out too late, keep away from strangers who are men, don’t leave your phone on silent mode, and so on and so forth.
To all of these, Ning Sui answered agreeably, one by one.
The truth was that Fang Fang was a person who had very little sense of security. After a cluster of devastating events during Ning Sui’s second year of high school, she had become even more prone to anxiety—though she made a great effort to control it in ordinary times, so it was hard to notice. But her emotions could still be volatile, especially when it came to anything involving Ning Sui. If she ever failed to get through on the phone or couldn’t reach her, it was like a floodgate or switch being thrown open—she would become overwhelmed with worry and tension.
To prevent this from happening, Ning Sui’s phone was always set to both vibrate and ring simultaneously, ensuring she could always respond at the very first moment.
Shen Qing had been right—this was quite a challenging mountain. They had a late lunch of sandwiches, and the group pressed on through the towering cold-fir forest and the ethereally beautiful Seven Dragon Ladies’ Pool.
Most critically, the trail they’d chosen appeared to be one of the more demanding routes, clocking in at seven or eight kilometers. By past four in the afternoon, they still hadn’t finished.
Hu Ke’er was long past done—she felt like a puddle of softened clay, her legs doing nothing but mechanical repetition, no longer belonging to her. But even so she was in better shape than Xu Zhou, whose physical stamina was genuinely poor. He was panting heavily at her side, and the two of them were trailing far behind the rest of the group.
Too drained to prop herself up, let alone support Xu Zhou, Hu Ke’er swapped places with Shen Qing and fell into step alongside Zhang Yuge.
Zhang Yuge was a big, strapping guy with muscles on him, and he’d been sweating profusely the entire climb. Seeing the front and back of his shirt soaked through, Hu Ke’er couldn’t help but blurt, “What is this—you’re gushing like a burst pipe. You’re this unfit?”
Zhang Yuge, gasping between words, fired back: “In the prime of youth, some people have grown into succulents. How does that give them the nerve to criticize anyone?”
Hu Ke’er caught his meaning instantly. Where exactly did she look overweight? “Screw off!”
But the delivery was notably short on energy. The two of them staggered along, one after the other, looking like a pair of dogs on the brink of drowning.
“The heavens—what have I done to deserve this? Six-thirty this morning to catch the sunrise, and now a full day of high-intensity exercise.”
Zhang Yuge’s glasses had fogged up from the steam of his own sweat. He was muttering to himself when he happened to glance ahead and felt a fresh surge of indignation. “What the hell—how is he still this put-together after a whole afternoon?!”
Xie Yichen was already quite far ahead, separated from them by a good number of people—some twenty meters off—only his upright, composed silhouette visible in the distance.
The mountain path was rough and uneven. Fine strands of hair at his temples had inevitably dampened with sweat. He’d shed the black jacket, leaving only the white T-shirt beneath, its hem catching the wind in a cool, sharp arc.
His jaw line was clean, with the occasional trace of sweat following the contour of his neck. His shoulders were broad, his arms defined with muscle. Sunlight slanted down, casting a soft shadow along the fringe of his lashes.
Ning Sui walked half a step behind Xie Yichen, and just by lifting her head she could take in all of this with perfect clarity.
Her heart was beating slightly faster from the exertion. The sunlight was warm and bright. She’d only just allowed herself one wandering glance upward when she heard his low, meaningful voice. “What are you doing.”
“Nothing.” Ning Sui quickened her pace by two steps and walked up beside him, holding the two bottles of water she’d just bought. She ventured to ask, “Xie Yichen, do you want some water?”
Xie Yichen looked at the mineral water in her hand. “Mm.”
Ning Sui quickly offered him a bottle. Xie Yichen took it, unscrewed the cap, tipped his head back and drank a couple of swallows. His prominent throat bobbed once, and he reached back to put the bottle into the backpack.
Earlier, Ning Sui had gotten too warm and taken off the white jacket, also putting it back in his bag. Between that and her little bag, it now seemed there might not be enough room. Ning Sui said, “Should I hold it for you?”
Xie Yichen didn’t stand on ceremony, and answered with a quiet sound of agreement.
He kept his focus on the path ahead, his chest rising and falling slightly with each breath. Ning Sui studied him for a moment, then asked with some hesitance, “Are you tired? Would you like me to take a turn carrying it?”
Xie Yichen’s dark, deep eyes glanced over at her in an unhurried sweep.
He said nothing, but somehow Ning Sui read a layer of meaning in the look.
——Do you think that’s necessary?
Very cool. Very collected.
Not a trace of room for negotiation in it.
Ning Sui inexplicably closed her mouth.
Eyes downcast, nose aligned. “Oh.”
After a couple of steps, she suddenly thought of something. “…Hey.”
“Mm?” Xie Yichen looked at her.
“I think we probably won’t be able to watch the movie tonight.”
Never mind the two of them—the stragglers behind them were genuinely exhausted beyond all limits. In this grand, grueling mountain migration, they couldn’t even maintain basic dignity. Tonight they’d probably need to eat a proper, restorative meal and then rush back to the inn to rest.
As for wandering the old town or any other leisure activities—that depended on whether Hu Ke’er could still hold herself together. Xu Zhou was certainly going to have no interest; everything sold on the street was the kind of thing girls liked.
Xie Yichen’s unhurried steps continued. “Mm, then forget it.”
Ning Sui thought for a moment. “Then tonight can I treat you to dinner instead?”
He finally looked at her, raising an eyebrow with an unreadable expression. “It has to be today?”
“……”
Ning Sui interpreted his meaning as: why are you so eager to thank me?
She curled her fingers slightly, brushing away the sweat from her fingertips, and quickly found her footing. “Because after we leave tomorrow we might not see each other again.”
The sun had begun to sink westward. The golden warmth at the edge of the sky slowly descended and deepened into a rich, vivid orange-red. Cliffside trees stood a lush, dark green. The shadows of the two of them fell one tall and one shorter, drifting close and apart like something neither here nor there.
The colors of the sky were breathtakingly vivid. She tilted her head to the side and saw Xie Yichen bathed entirely in the halo of light—and yet his silhouette was sharper than ever. More inexplicably, genuinely real than he had seemed at any other moment—as if even the fleeting sunlight falling on him had become tangible and within reach.
Ning Sui was dazedly on the verge of saying something, but before she could, his low voice came first. “You’re heading to Jing University, right? Mathematics.”
She startled slightly, then nodded. “Mm.”
“I’m going to Qing University. Five hundred meters from the west gate is Jing University’s east gate.”
“And you already have my WeChat.”
Xie Yichen’s voice was unhurried and even, but it produced, somehow, a soft, ticklish feeling somewhere in her chest.
His lips held a trace of a smile so faint it was almost imperceptible. He held her gaze for a few seconds before Ning Sui was the first to look away. “I meant this trip. Not after.”
“What about the trip?” Xie Yichen was still looking at her, his eyes holding an unreadable quality.
Today Ning Sui was wearing a mint green round-neck T-shirt underneath, simple in design. Her collarbones were delicate and pretty, and the curve from her chest to her waist was elegantly proportioned.
She tucked a loose strand of hair back behind her ear and said, continuing up the mountain at an unhurried pace, “If someone’s going to treat me, they need to act quickly. I’m worried that given enough time, I might just conveniently forget I owe anything.”
“……”
The cable car entrance was just up ahead at the mid-slope. Nearly five o’clock now—a beautiful sunset had begun to float at the edge of the distant sky. They moved forward along the flow of people in orderly progression.
Shen Qing had caught up from somewhere behind them, and from further back called out Ning Sui’s name.
Ning Sui turned around, and smiled with mild surprise. “Oh, you’re here.”
She looked past him. “Where are Ke’er and the others?”
“Still behind. I told them it’s not far now—why don’t we wait at the cable car entrance?”
“Sure.”
Shen Qing nodded to Xie Yichen as a form of greeting, then after a moment, his attention returned to Ning Sui, and he said gently, “That was quite a solid hike. I didn’t think it would take this long.”
“I know—I feel like I absolutely have to properly relax afterward.”
“The scenery along the way was really beautiful though. I took a lot of photos.”
Ning Sui made conversation. “Oh really? What kind?”
Shen Qing had brought along a relatively professional mirrorless camera. At the question, he lit up with interest and pulled it out, flipping through the photos one by one to show her.
It had to be said—he had a real eye for capturing quiet, natural beauty in its details: the lake surface reflecting sunlight, unnamed wildflowers low to the ground, and the lushly layered green vegetation covering everything in sight.
Ning Sui bowed her head to look at the photos and unconsciously drifted closer to Shen Qing.
He showed her the few shots he was proudest of, and Ning Sui praised him generously. “You took these really well.”
Shen Qing: “Ha, no—I just happened to notice them and wanted to capture the moment.”
Their conversation came to a natural pause. The air was warm and still. Ning Sui stood between the two of them, idly fanning herself with her hand.
She could see Hu Ke’er and the others’ heads cresting over a nearby ridge not far away. Ning Sui quickly raised her arm high and waved. The response from that direction was practically tearful in its relief. “Sui—! I missed you so much—!”
Shen Qing happened to be on his phone browsing restaurant options. While waiting for the others to reach them, he scrolled through some reviews, pointed to one establishment, and said, “From the looks of it, we probably won’t have time to make it to Longkan Pier tonight. What about stone slab barbecue somewhere near here?”
Ning Sui: “I’m fine with anything—ask Ke’er and Xu Zhou?”
Shen Qing: “Sure, let me check a bit more.”
The mention of food made Ning Sui instinctively glance up toward Xie Yichen, wondering whether to bring this up with him. Shen Qing probably wouldn’t say no anyway.
This person had been silent the whole time and was now looking down at his phone, one hand in his pocket, his whole bearing loose and unhurried.
Ning Sui moistened her lips, went through several rounds of deliberation, and finally said, “Hey, do you want some water?”
Xie Yichen had apparently been rather absorbed; he looked up at her sound, unhurried. “What?”
Ning Sui tilted her face up and asked again. “Do you want water or not?”
His gaze dropped down briefly. After a moment he nodded. “Mm.”
Ning Sui handed him the mineral water she had in her hand. Before she could say anything else, she heard Hu Ke’er’s oblivious voice bellowing from behind them: “Ning Sui! Has someone stolen your bag?! Where did it go?!”