Chapter 318: Eh, I Know a Shortcut

After finishing her meal, Xu Qianqian walked down the street and asked.

"Where to?"

"How about climbing a mountain?" Song Xiyun suggested.

Hearing that, Xu Qianqian's expression changed, and she refused.

"No way, that little hill isn't worth climbing."

"Qianqian, why are you so nervous?" Song Xiyun was a little puzzled, instinctively sensing there was a story. "Could it be that that mountain has.....

"No, I just remembered climbing that mountain with a certain scumbag when I was little, just mentioning it makes me want to throw up."

Xu Qianqian gritted her teeth.

"What happened?" Song Xiyun was a little curious.

She was only quiet and reserved in front of the three of them, but after all she was a girl at heart. Her personality was innocent and romantic, naturally curious about gossip.

Of course, if the gossip involved herself, she wouldn't be so amused.

And now, the gossip involved Xu Qianqian and Jiang Nian. So, curiosity rose just like that.

Xu Qianqian hesitated for a while, then told an old story from years past.

"When I had just started middle school, Jiang Nian and I went climbing together. Halfway up, we went into the woods where it was a bit dark, and he pretended to be possessed to scare me!"

Hearing that, Song Xiyun couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Then what happened?"

"He scared me to death, so I..... gave him a good hard kick." Xu Qianqian felt a bit guilty. "Then he held his stomach and lay there for half the day."

Song Xiyun giggled for a while and stopped mentioning going to Qingmu Ridge.

"Let's go, to that milk tea shop from last time."

Since her mother's work had stabilized, the family only needed to support two people. They had plenty of money and food on hand, allowing her some small expenses.

Moreover, once the college entrance exam was over, their family would also leave Zhennan.

Maybe to the Magic Capital, maybe to some other city.

Xu Qianqian thought for a while, couldn't come up with a better destination, so she accepted the suggestion to go to the milk tea shop.

"Fine, let's go."

Outside Riverside Park, by the side of Qingmu Avenue.

Sun Zhicheng pulled his clothes tighter against the cold wind, his exposed fingers already starting to stiffen.

"Dong-ge, what's so good about climbing Qingmu Ridge?"

"That's where you're wrong, there are girls." Lin Dong waved his hand, cutting off Sun Zhicheng's complaint. "Two girls,

one for you, one for me."

Hearing that, Sun Zhicheng was stunned for a while, then muttered.

"I'm not interested."

Qingmu Avenue was close to the river, the land here wasn't worth much. The road was naturally wide, and looking out it actually seemed somewhat empty and desolate.

Across the street was a low sales office, and further away were tin-sheet factory buildings.

Lin Dong turned to look at Sun Zhicheng, hesitated for a moment, then said.

"A-Cheng, what you just said sounds like.

"Seeing through the mundane world?" Sun Zhicheng stood with his hands behind his back, expression calm. "I do have that thought now, too many messy thoughts, better to:::

"No, what I mean is." Lin Dong paused, correcting himself. "Like the kind of person who shrinks his little bird back in, a living eunuch."

Sun Zhicheng immediately fell silent in the wind, petrified on the spot.

"I'm not..:.. mainly I'm just not very interested in this stuff. Besides Dong-ge, you don't even know where you found these people."

"Two Gao Er schoolgirls, what are you whining about?" Lin Dong ran his hand through his hair. "I chatted with them for a long time,

girls from the key class and her best friend."

"Why would they come to you?" Sun Zhicheng was puzzled.

"Are you stupid, I'm the math class representative of the Olympiad class." Lin Dong shot him a look, quite proudly. "Those two combined don't score higher than me."

Sun Zhicheng was immediately dumbfounded, thinking, this works too?

Then what do all the ones he chatted with count for?

"That doesn't necessarily mean they're good-looking, Dong-ge, are you that starved?" Sun Zhicheng refused to accept it and argued back. "I'm not someone who goes for just anyone."

Lin Dong was about to say something more, but turned his head and caught sight of something, immediately saying happily.

"Hey, they're here."

Hearing that, Sun Zhicheng turned to look.

He saw two girls who looked very slim and not great at studies waving at them, their smiles full of energy,

holding milk tea in their hands.

In that instant, he froze.

His gaze moved down, and he saw short skirts and fleece-lined tights.

Warm.

A hundredfold warmth, bringing both clarity and warmth to this winter at once. The coat draped over them wrapped their slender, long figures.

Small faces, the lines of their chests like a steep ridgeline.

Sun Zhicheng couldn't help but take a sharp breath, and suddenly started feeling awkward.

"Dong..... Dong-ge."

Lin Dong had just been waving from afar, but turned his head and saw Sun Zhicheng looking like that, and immediately warned him.

"A-Cheng, don't look like some lecher, keep it in check, you hear me? Otherwise next time there's a good thing like this, I really won't bring you."

"Got it, got it." Sun Zhicheng nodded vigorously.

"You really watch lectures at an internet cafe?" Wang Yuhe stood behind Jiang Nian, looking utterly incredulous. "Doesn't anyone think you're a weirdo?"

Internet cafe.

Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe went upstairs to look for him, and found Jiang Nian at a seat in the back of the hall.

"You see something once and it's strange to you—can't stand to see me bettering myself, huh?" Jiang Nian closed the online lecture and prepared to log off. "Come on, I'll take you two to buy snacks."

"Aren't we going hiking?" Chen Yunyun was stunned.

"The mineral water up there is expensive, and the road is boring." Jiang Nian got up and led the two girls out, turning back along the way to remind them to watch their step.

Wang Yuhe had a sudden whim and asked,

"Are there restrooms on the mountain?"

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then answered,

"The world is vast—there is plenty one can do."

"What do you mean?"

"Find a bush, squat, and you're done. At worst I'll suffer a little and stand guard for you."

Hearing this, both girls went pale.

After entering the snack shop, they deliberately only brought one bottle of water. Along with some snacks that wouldn't upset their stomachs,

they brought a little candy and biscuits.

After leaving the snack shop, both girls were dumbfounded.

"How do we get there?"

"Let's wait for the bus. Walking is tiring and slow." Jiang Nian glanced at the bus stop across the way, pointed at it, and said,

"Let's head over first."

The bus comes every twenty minutes.

The three were lucky—after only about seven or eight minutes of waiting at the bus stop, the bus arrived. There were quite a few people on board, so the three could only sit in the back row.

The bus drove along the county center all the way to Qingmu Avenue, with more and more people getting off.

After crossing Zhennan Bridge, only five or six people were left on the bus. Two middle-aged men, plus Jiang Nian and the others in the back row—the carriage was empty.

As the bus headed into the mountains, the scenery suddenly changed.

"That's the Nanjiang tributary." Jiang Nian pointed at the big river outside the window. It was the dry season, and the calm river surface shimmered.

"What a big river." Wang Yuhe pressed her face against the bus window, thought for a moment, and said, "If I could swim, I could swim across to the other side."

"You're a real genius." Jiang Nian gave a thumbs-up.

"Naturally!" Wang Yuhe snorted lightly.

Jiang Nian chuckled and said, "As far as I know, a corpse drifting from upstream to downstream takes three days to cross. Once you get in the water, you can cross the river."

Chen Yunyun sat in the middle, her legs only five centimeters away from Jiang Nian's.

"Getting in the water is dangerous, isn't it?"

Wang Yuhe's cheeks puffed out as she said defiantly,

"I don't think it's dangerous."

"It's still a little dangerous. What if you run into a floater?" Jiang Nian said with mock seriousness. "My great-grandfather swam across the Nanjiang."

"He got in the water at noon, but halfway across he ran out of strength. He could only float on the surface to rest, and as he drifted along he felt something under the water pulling his foot."

"What was it?" Wang Yuhe grew nervous, her eyes wide and round.

Jiang Nian lowered his voice and described it vividly,

"My great-grandfather thought it was strange too. People were bold back then. He figured he couldn't just sit and wait to die, so he decided to take courage and take a look."

"He dove straight down into the water with one plunge. Guess... what did he see?"

"What?" Wang Yuhe held her breath.

"He saw a person! There was someone under the water grabbing his foot." Jiang Nian's voice quickened. "That person! That person spoke!"

"She said... 'I am Wang Yuhe, drifting down from upstream.'"

Hearing this, Wang Yuhe was dumbfounded.

Then she flew into a rage!

"Go to hell! Go to hell! Don't let me see you in the water—I'll catch you every single time."

"Already putting yourself in the floater's shoes, huh?" Jiang Nian grinned.

He paid no mind to Wang Yuhe's fury—after all, Chen Yunyun was between them, so she couldn't reach him.

Chen Yunyun, meanwhile, was a bit speechless. At first she'd been quite tense listening, but halfway through she sensed something was off and figured it was mostly made up.

She was sandwiched between the two of them, used as a human partition.

On one side "I'll kill you," on the other "Can't touch me, nyaa nyaa." It gave her the biggest headache, like she'd turned into a kindergarten teacher.

"Stop it. We should be almost there, right?" Chen Yunyun changed the subject.

Jiang Nian glanced out the window and nodded,

"Indeed."

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he slapped his thigh hard and said,

"Oh no, I forgot to bring an umbrella!"

Chen Yunyun rubbed her own thigh and asked quietly,

"Why'd you slap my leg?"

"Sorry, the legs were too close together." Jiang Nian apologized, patted her twice, then picked the topic back up. "If it rains, that'll be trouble."

"It won't. I checked the weather forecast yesterday—it's supposed to be sunny..." Chen Yunyun stopped mid-sentence when she suddenly saw dark clouds floating in the distance.

Chen Yunyun:

6

The car stopped at the foot of the mountain, and Jiang Nian and the other two got out.

Wang Yuhe looked around and found that the surrounding mountainsides were covered in withered trees. Looking up, she could see a few houses in the distance, their outer walls whitewashed.

A yellow dirt road stretched far off into the mountains.

At the foot of the mountain stood a tattered large umbrella, reflecting the advertisement for an iced black tea drink.

"Let's climb the mountain first. It might not rain," Jiang Nian said hesitantly, making the decision. "There are umbrellas for sale at the summit,

and a rest pavilion too."

"Mm, as long as we come down early." Chen Yunyun nodded.

Wang Yuhe, for her part, didn't feel much of anything. She tilted her head back for a glance at Qingmu Ridge. Stepping in and out unevenly as she walked inward, her brows furrowed, and she complained,

"This mountain's so short — it won't take long to reach the top, right?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian stopped in his tracks.

"If you're taking the main path, it really isn't that tiring. But since you said that — I know a small trail that cuts straight across Qingmu Ridge."

Chen Yunyun was stunned, turning her head to look at Jiang Nian.

"A small trail?"

On the mountain-climbing path.

Sun Zhicheng glanced at the entrance ahead and couldn't help but swallow hard. Quietly, at the back of the group, he tugged Lin Dong once and asked in a lowered voice,

"Brother Dong, the small trail won't be easy."