The young man’s forehead was covered in sweat, his T-shirt soaked through, outlining his solid muscles. Yet his pupils sparkled with laughter.

Meng Ting hugged her bag tightly. She only had one water bottle, and she had already drunk from it.

Meng Ting remained silent, leaning against a large tree, wordlessly refusing.

He was drenched in sweat, while she was clean and dry. The autumn breeze caressed her hair, and even the leaves seemed to adore her, gently falling on her shoulders. She lowered her eyes, and he could only see her long, curled eyelashes. Damn, how could she be so beautiful!

Jiang Ren chuckled softly, “You’re so stingy.”

Meng Ting’s face reddened slightly. In all her life, this was the first time someone had called her stingy. She realized that Jiang Ren had carried her halfway up the mountain, and anyone would be exhausted. Her behavior was indeed not very considerate.

So she unzipped her bag and took out the white thermos.

Inside was grape sugar water she had specially prepared that morning to replenish energy. The bottle was quite old, with a small azalea flower at the bottom. She unscrewed the cap, using it as a cup, and poured some of the sugar water into it. Then she handed it to Jiang Ren.

But he didn’t take it. “Give me the bottle. Who the hell wants to drink from the cap?”

Her eyes were pure as she replied earnestly, “The cap is very clean.”

Her fair cheeks tinged with a faint pink as she added, “If you don’t want it, forget it.”

Jiang Ren couldn’t help but laugh. “No, I’ll drink it.”

He took the cap and drank it in a few gulps. It was very sweet, a sweetness that seemed to seep into his bones.

His sharp eyes noticed a lunchbox peeking out from her bag. Jiang Ren reached out and took it before Meng Ting could react. The lunchbox was now in his hands.

The top was transparent, allowing him to see the simple egg-fried rice inside.

Meng Ting panicked, “Give it back to me.”

She instinctively tried to grab it, but he raised it slightly. Meng Ting stood up only to realize she wasn’t as tall as him. He held it just out of her reach, and sure enough, the girl stood on her tiptoes to grab it.

Jiang Ren chuckled softly and raised the lunchbox a bit higher. She nearly fell into his arms.

Meng Ting, who studied dance, had excellent flexibility. She nimbly moved away from him but was quite annoyed. She knew Jiang Ren was deliberately teasing her and gave up on getting the lunchbox back.

Meng Ting couldn’t help feeling a bit wronged. She had been forced to climb this mountain, and now this jerk had stolen her food.

Was he used to being a thug, always liking to snatch her things?

She turned to head down the mountain.

Jiang Ren frowned slightly. The wind was strong on the mountain, and her eyes were already dry from the prolonged exposure. Yet they looked moist now. She appeared both aggrieved and pitiful. He felt both amused and tender-hearted, worried that she might go down the mountain hungry.

His heart melted completely. While others brought light snacks like bread and cookies for mountain climbing, she had thoughtfully packed a proper meal. The lunchbox wasn’t light, especially with the rice inside. She had a beautiful and innocent face, and her personality was adorably silly.

There was a kind of serious and gentle foolishness about her.

Jiang Ren grabbed her backpack, preventing her from leaving. Without a word, he quickly wiped clean a rock sheltered from the wind near the big tree. Then he put the lunchbox on it and said, “Don’t be angry, okay? I’m sorry.”

He added, “You eat. I’ll keep watch. If anyone comes up the mountain, I’ll move away.”

After saying this, he truly moved far away from her.

Jiang Ren was afraid she might find his sweat-soaked body smelly, so he sat on the path leading up the mountain, looking down.

He had always lived casually. Sitting on the slope, he bent his long legs, resting his hands on his knees, watching for anyone who might come up the mountain.

Meng Ting looked at the lunchbox on the rock and remained silent for a long while.

The young man sat with his back to her, his shoulders broad, his posture carefree. She saw Jiang Ren unconsciously pat his pocket, take out a pack of cigarettes, then pause and casually put it back.

She didn’t know how tall this mountain was, but even a strong adult man would be exhausted climbing up there.

Jiang Ren had a rebellious personality. He hadn’t even brought water for the climb, let alone food.

Meng Ting crouched down. There were two spoons in the bag with the lunchbox. Originally, she had prepared them for Zhao Nuancheng.

She divided out a small portion of the rice, then walked over and, under his surprised gaze, crouched down to give him the larger portion along with a spoon.

This time, she didn’t give him the cap.

She used the cap for her portion.

The rice in his hands seemed to carry a different kind of warmth.

Young Master Jiang had eaten all sorts of things in his life, but looking at this modest portion of rather ordinary-looking rice in his hands, he couldn’t help but smile, “You’re giving it to me?”

She nodded.

That year, the mountains were lush and green, the old trees swaying in the wind. The wild grass on the mountainside had turned yellow in autumn, creating a beautiful golden-green landscape.

He sat on the mountainside, and as she looked up, her brown eyes held a serious expression, “Jiang Ren, can you please stop snatching my things?”

His eyes filled with laughter, “Okay.”

“And don’t force people to do things.”

“Okay.”

She was surprised at how agreeable he was, and her eyes sparkled with a bit of brilliance, “Also, don’t come looking for me anymore. Focus on your studies, okay?”

This time he didn’t respond. After a while, he switched the two portions of rice, pushing the larger one back into her hands, “Eat your food. Come any closer and I’ll kiss you, believe it or not.”

“…” Her eyes widened, unable to believe what he had just said! Did he have any shame?

The next moment, as he leaned in closer, she pushed his head away.

This push was a bit hard, landing on his black hair.

Meng Ting saw his unpleasant expression and instinctively panicked. She often heard boys in class say that a man’s head could be cut off, blood could be shed, but his hairstyle couldn’t be messed up.

A man’s head shouldn’t be touched.

Although she didn’t understand why, she knew she had pushed him quite hard just now.

Jiang Ren’s smile was roguishly handsome, with a unique charm.

When he wasn’t smiling, though, he looked cold and stern.

So fierce that he looked like he might hit someone. At times like this, even Jiang Ren’s usual companions like He Junming would feel uneasy.

Meng Ting looked at him and said softly, “I didn’t mean to. Please don’t hit me.”

Jiang Ren laughed, both angry and amused.

Angry enough to make his heart ache.

For the first time, he felt that maybe looking a bit more gentle wouldn’t be so bad. How could she think he would hit her?

Wanting to kiss her was serious, but he had expected to be pushed away. She disliked him so much, of course, she wouldn’t let him kiss her. He just couldn’t help testing that one-in-a-million chance, foolishly.

He said, “Keep looking at me, and I’ll throw you down the mountain.”

Meng Ting thought to herself, why was his temper so bad? She quickly ran back. The small red flags around them fluttered in the wind. These were supposed to be medals for mountain climbers, but unfortunately, everyone had given up.

In the end, they all belonged to Jiang Ren.

Jiang Ren looked at the small portion of rice in his hand and clicked his tongue. This bit of food, who did she think she was kidding? Even if she had given him the whole box, it wouldn’t have been enough to fill him up. Nevertheless, he ate every last grain.

Before they went down the mountain, Meng Ting thought they shouldn’t have come for nothing: “Everyone originally came up to make wishes to the ancient tree.”

Jiang Ren looked up at the ancient tree.

“So, do you want to make a wish?” He had worked so hard to climb up here, that he could wish to get into university or for a smooth life and such.

Jiang Ren said, “It doesn’t work.”

She looked at him puzzled.

He smiled a bit mischievously, “I know what works. Want to hear it, good student?”

She had a bad feeling, the tips of her ears turning red, “I don’t want to hear it.”

He chuckled softly, “What are you embarrassed about? Can’t even handle the truth?”

Anyway, she wasn’t going to listen!

She zipped up her bag, ready to go down the mountain. If they delayed any longer, they might not catch up with their classmates.

When it was time to count heads and gather to go down the mountain, Fan Huiyin realized something was wrong. Two people were missing from their class: Meng Ting and Zhao Nuancheng.

Remembering that Meng Ting had eye problems earlier, and considering they were both girls, Fan Huiyin became a bit worried. She quickly asked if anyone in the class had seen Meng Ting and her friend.

A boy in the class said, “We saw them walking together earlier, but later everyone found places to rest, so we didn’t see them after that.”

Teacher Fan immediately consulted with the other teachers leading the trip: “What should we do? Two students are missing.”

The group of teachers also looked alarmed. They thought for a moment and decided they couldn’t send students to search. The mountain had poor signal, making it difficult even for teachers to communicate with each other.

“Let a few teachers stay behind to search, and the rest take the students down. We can’t stay here any longer.”

The signal to go down the mountain was quickly given.

The students felt relieved but also realized that the journey down would be a long one too.

As Meng Ting was going down, she met a dejected-looking Zhao Nuancheng, who was still laboriously climbing up, trying to find Meng Ting. She was walking and eating cookies, almost choking.

Seeing Meng Ting, she nearly burst into tears, “Ting Ting, are you okay? It’s all my fault.”

Meng Ting felt touched but also worried for her. She quickly patted her back, telling her to drink some water.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry. Let’s go down.”

Zhao Nuancheng glanced at Jiang Ren beside her, finally managing to swallow the cookie.

Meng Ting said to Jiang Ren, “Thank you. I need to go now.”

Jiang Ren knew they would soon rejoin the Seventh High group. This time he didn’t force the issue and returned her backpack. On the side of the bag, a small red flag fluttered in the wind.

Meng Ting took out the small red flag and handed it to him, “I don’t need this.” It wouldn’t be normal for her to keep it.

She had understood early on that she couldn’t have too much involvement with Jiang Ren. If he hadn’t forced her up the mountain, as Jiang Ren had thought, she wouldn’t have even spoken to him.

The smile in his eyes faded.

He silently accepted it, watching her go down the mountain with Zhao Nuancheng.

The expression on Zhao Nuancheng’s face was familiar – a mix of fear and anger towards him. Meng Ting probably looked at him the same way.

He looked at this stupidly small red flag, a fire burning in his heart that was hard to extinguish. He threw it on the ground.

When He Junming and the others found him, panting, Jiang Ren was leaning against a pine tree smoking.

The black-haired youth lowered his eyes, with a somewhat cold expression.

He held the cigarette between his long fingers, its smoke blending with the mountain’s ever-present mist.

He Junming grinned, “How did it go, Brother Ren?”

Fang Tan was smarter. One look at Brother Ren’s face told him it hadn’t gone well. So he didn’t ask, but mentally lit a candle for the foolish He Junming.

Jiang Ren curved his lips, “Come here, I’ll tell you.”

He Junming: “…” Having grown up together, he finally caught on and quickly waved his hands, “I don’t want to know anymore, Brother Ren. I was wrong.”

Jiang Ren wasn’t in the mood to deal with him either.

“Let’s go. Down the mountain.”

Jiang Ren put on his jacket. She was gone, what was he doing here?

However, after walking a few steps, Jiang Ren couldn’t help but turn back. In the soil, that stupidly small flag lay carelessly discarded under a tree.

Something she didn’t want.

He paused, went back to pick it up, brushed off the dirt, and carefully placed it in his jacket pocket.

The other boys watched him with dumbfounded expressions.

He paid them no attention.

Seeing how preciously he treated such a worthless thing, He Junming was at a loss for words.

He said, “Brother Ren, are you serious?”

Seeing Jiang Ren’s silence, He Junming seriously advised him for the first time, his face solemn: “Give it up, Brother Ren. Meng Ting is the school beauty of Seventh High, and she’s the top student in her grade. When we were kids, the good students in class wouldn’t even talk to us. We’d whistle at them and they’d cry in fear. Girls like Meng Ting, they’re not our type, you know? She’s too hard to chase.”

What he wanted to say even more was, why demean yourself?

Jiang Ren remained silent throughout, but the small flag pressed against his chest, making his heart ache with a burning sensation.

He Han couldn’t help but advise too, “Yeah, yeah, I don’t think it’ll work either.”

After they had walked far away.

He finally responded in a low voice, “What do you idiots know.”

After a while, he smiled. That painful spot gave birth to a thread-thin sweetness. What do you know…