Chapter 619

At 3:30 a. m., Li Luo's alarm rang on time.

Around him, all was silent.

The farmstay had long fallen quiet; everyone was lost in gentle dreams.

Only the four people inside the motorhome were woken by the alarm.

Though Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng were far from the forehead bed, they still struggled out of bed after hearing the alarm.

Xu Youyu, who had personally vowed to wake early to climb and watch the sunrise, now groaned and snuggled deeper into Li Luo's arms, reaching out to turn off the alarm, utterly unwilling to get up.

Li Luo, pinned deep in the forehead bed and rubbed against, felt his blood stir—he held her helplessly.

Yan Zhusheng had already run downstairs, climbed the ladder, and peeked up, yanking open the curtain: "Li Luo, senior, wake up."

"Mm, I know," Li Luo replied, patting Xu Youyu's back, then said, "You and Chanxi go brush your teeth first."

"Okay," Yan Zhusheng nodded obediently and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face with Ying Chanxi.

Li Luo pinched Xu Youyu's cheek and chuckled: "Still not getting up? You were the one who wanted to see the sunrise."

"Mmm~" Xu Youyu wriggled in his arms, finally forcing her eyes open, "Whose fault is this? We didn't sleep till past eleven, only got four hours."

"Isn't it because someone kept tempting me?" Li Luo retorted. "Don't you know eighteen-year-old boys are at their most fiery?"

"Do you think I don't know?" Xu Youyu brushed her thigh slightly against him, then pouted, "Yeah, definitely fiery."

Li Luo: "... Stop that now, okay? It's time to get up."

The two bickered and dawdled on the bed a while longer, until Xu Youyu finally woke up enough to slump off the forehead bed and head to the bathroom.

Ying Chanxi had already put on her jacket, hung her camera around her neck, then turned to the tripod and said to Li Luo: "Take this too? At the summit, we can use it for group photos."

"Sure, give it to me," Li Luo nodded.

He was currently at the peak of his physical strength, having maintained daily exercise for three years—his body was excellent.

Carrying a tripod up the mountain wasn't much of a burden.

After washing up, all four put on their jackets and stepped out of the motorhome, ready to depart near the parking lot.

At 3:45 a. m., Li Luo confirmed all motorhome doors were locked, then led the three girls to the Dengshan entrance and set off.

At first, Xu Youyu was full of energy and vigor, waving her specially bought hiking pole, charging ahead as the leader.

But this display lasted barely over ten minutes—Xu Youyu was already panting, her waist and legs aching; she shoved one hiking pole into Li Luo's hand, held the other with one hand, gripped her waist with the other, utterly transformed from her earlier self.

"Senior, are you okay?" Ying Chanxi asked, concerned. "Should we rest for a bit?"

"N-no… I'm fine…" Xu Youyu panted, sweat beading on her forehead, yet stubbornly gritted her teeth and kept climbing upward.

Li Luo chuckled beside her: "I don't get how you thought of this—why did you suddenly decide to climb a mountain?"

"We rented the motorhome, didn't we?" Xu Youyu planted her hands on her hips, gasping as she spoke. "We had to find somewhere fun to go."

"We originally wanted somewhere by the sea or a riverbank, but around Yinjiang, it's all dams—nothing interesting."

"So Yin Mountain was the only place suitable for parking the motorhome."

Since we came here, we might as well climb a mountain for the sake of it.

And the less someone exercises, the more blindly confident they become about their stamina.

Walking from dorm to classroom feels like no effort at all, so they think they're still in shape.

Xu Youyu was probably exactly like this.

She'd already regretted it after barely twenty minutes of climbing.

But since they'd come this far, she couldn't give up.

So she gritted her teeth, held one hiking pole, clung to Li Luo's arm with the other, and climbed step by step.

She stopped to rest several times along the way, finally managing—barely—to reach the Longshan Pavilion on the eastern summit of Yinshan at around 4:40 a. m.

"Phew…"

Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng reached the summit, tired but manageable.

Especially Yan Zhusheng—she was slightly breathless upon arrival, but after a brief rest, she recovered almost completely.

As for Xu Youyu, who had clung to Li Luo and barely dragged herself up, she collapsed onto his back, gasping heavily, her head spinning.

"Are we there?"

"Yeah, we're here," Li Luo chuckled, helping Xu Youyu sit on the bench at Longshan Pavilion, then checked the time. "The sunrise in Yuhang City today should be around 4:52 a. m. —still seven or eight minutes away."

"I'll set up the tripod," Ying Chanxi dashed to the side of Longshan Pavilion, aimed the camera toward the direction where dawn was breaking, and mounted it.

"Looks like there's no one here," Yan Zhusheng glanced around, seeing no other figures.

Hearing this, Xu Youyu grinned triumphantly: "I did my research, you know."

"The trail we took is actually a side peak beside Yinshan's main peak—this side is called Longshan, and this pavilion is Longshan Pavilion."

"The best spot to watch the sunrise on the main peak is Wangchen Pavilion—tourists who come to Yinshan all go there."

"So there are far fewer people here."

Li Luo smiled at her self-congratulatory look: "Is it because this side is a bit lower than the main peak, so you don't have to climb as high?"

"Don't slander me," Xu Youyu grumbled. "It's only a few dozen meters lower than the main peak."

"Enough talking—rest more," Li Luo stretched, walked to the railing by the cliff, and gazed into the distance.

The sky had not yet brightened; a deep indigo canopy covered the earth, like a gradient canvas fading from light to dark, from the direction of sunrise to the opposite horizon.

Li Luo felt the mountain breeze brush his face; the sweat on his forehead cooled, prompting him to tighten his jacket.

Below, distant roads and elevated highways twisted and overlapped, streetlights still glowing like stars on the ground.

The entire city still slumbered in dim twilight, slowly edging toward awakening.

Soon.

As Li Luo stood admiring the view, clouds above the eastern ridge seemed torn apart by invisible hands, revealing a few strands of pale gold dawnlight.

That light first touched the eave corner of Wangchen Pavilion far away, then spread across hundreds of meters, reaching the railing before Li Luo's eyes.

A metal plaque engraved with "Longshan Altitude 230 Meters" was instantly bathed in a warm golden hue.

"Wow~ The sun's come up!"

Xu Youyu, ignoring her still-weak body, rose and hurried over to Li Luo's side.

After calibrating the camera, Ying Chanxi called out to Yan Zhusheng, and they both ran over to Li Luo.

The four of them turned around, facing the camera lens, and this warm scene was quickly captured by the camera.

"Got it?" Xu Youyu secretly made a victory sign behind Li Luo's head and turned to ask Ying Chanxi.

"Mm, it should be done," Ying Chanxi said. "I set it to burst-shot ten photos. Once the sun's fully up, we'll take another group photo."

"OK!" Xu Youyu retracted her mischievous hand, turned back to face the sun, now just peeking above the horizon, cupped her hands around her mouth, and suddenly shouted—

"Aaaaaahhhhh!"

"What are you doing?" Li Luo chuckled at her.

"When you're here, you just wanna scream," Xu Youyu grinned. "And you can make a wish too, like this."

Saying that, Xu Youyu shouted again toward the sun: "I wish I become a Grandmaster by the end of this year!!!"

"That's a good one," Li Luo clapped and cheered beside her.

"Don't just stand there watching," Xu Youyu tugged Li Luo. "You try too."

"I don't have any wishes."

"How can you not?" Xu Youyu winked at him mischievously, urging with a grin. "Didn't you say some bold wishes last night?"

"What wishes?" Ying Chanxi leaned in curiously.

"Uh…" Li Luo felt a twinge of guilt, then waved his hand. "You two go ahead. I'll pass."

"So fussy," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, then turned her gaze to Ying Chanxi, grinning as she stepped behind her and placed her hands on Ying Chanxi's shoulders. "Any wishes you want to shout out, Xi Xi?"

"Me…?" Ying Chanxi blinked, momentarily unable to think of anything.

If she had to name a wish… Ying Chanxi unconsciously glanced at Li Luo, then immediately pulled her gaze away, her eyes flickering with guilt.

She couldn't possibly shout out a wish like that.

After thinking it over, Ying Chanxi softly called out: "I hope everyone stays healthy!"

"That's not bad," Xu Youyu nodded approvingly, then turned to Yan Zhusheng.

Unfortunately, Yan Zhusheng wasn't good at shouting—she merely raised her hands in a mock megaphone, expressionless, and said: "I wish… uh… I wish to be with Li Luo forever."

"You gotta shout louder!" Xu Youyu egged her on.

"It's fine," Yan Zhusheng turned to look at Li Luo. "As long as you heard it."

Ying Chanxi bit her lip, secretly envious of Yan Zhusheng.

This cheap sister of hers always did the things she herself dared not do.

The four of them went wild on the mountaintop, especially Xu Youyu, who kept shouting at intervals—no sign of exhaustion from the climb.

When the sun fully rose, Ying Chanxi called them together for another group photo.

The four gathered close: Xu Youyu lunged behind Li Luo, wrapping her arms around his neck and sticking her head out.

Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng leaned in on either side of Li Luo.

Above Xu Youyu's head hung the newly risen red sun.

"This photo's great," Xu Youyu leaned over to Ying Chanxi, peering at the image on the camera screen.

Li Luo also leaned in to look: "Send me an electronic copy of this one later."

"Sure," Ying Chanxi nodded. "Shall we head down now?"

"Sounds about right," Li Luo turned to Xu Youyu. "Need more rest?"

"Nah, let's go back," Xu Youyu shook her head. "We can catch a nap sooner if we leave now."

"Then let's go."

The descent was noticeably easier than the climb.

But for Xu Youyu, it was another kind of challenge.

Having expended too much energy climbing, her legs were already weak.

Now, stepping down one stair at a time, each step made her legs tremble.

Fortunately, her hiking pole supported her, and Li Luo kept watch beside her all the way, slowly guiding her safely down.

Back in the motorhome, Xu Youyu didn't care if she was dirty—she scrambled straight to the rear bunk, flopped down, and fell asleep.

Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng followed right behind, entering the motorhome. Seeing Xu Youyu had not gone to the front bunk but lay on the rear one, their gazes shifted to the front bunk, then instinctively met each other's eyes.

In that instant, they both guessed the other's hidden thought.

At this moment, Yan Zhusheng's initiative was stronger.

After noticing Ying Chanxi's gaze, she immediately sprinted to the ladder of the front bunk and climbed up nimbly.

Seeing this, Ying Chanxi's eyes widened—she cursed herself for being too slow, glanced around, and suddenly didn't know where to go.

"Where are you sleeping?" Li Luo stepped into the motorhome, closed the door, and finally took in the new layout inside. He turned to Ying Chanxi and asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Ying Chanxi pursed her lips. "Where do you want to sleep?"

"Li Luo, come here," Yan Zhusheng called from the edge of the front bunk. "Let Sister go sleep with Senior."

Li Luo had actually preferred the rear bunk—last night's front bunk had been too cramped.

But Xu Youyu had collapsed the moment she lay down, clearly asleep already—Yan Zhusheng was clearly the more appealing option.

So Li Luo turned to Ying Chanxi, raised an eyebrow, silently asking for her opinion.

Ying Chanxi huffed, originally planning to copy Yan Zhusheng—fine, the three of them would squeeze together on top rather than let them be alone.

But after thinking it over, wrestling with herself internally, she couldn't bring herself to do something so embarrassing—she yielded Li Luo to Yan Zhusheng and turned toward the rear bunk to sleep.

Watching her sister surrender, Yan Zhusheng beamed happily and waved for Li Luo to come up.

Li Luo returned again to the forehead bed and lay beside Yan Zhusheng, soon being entangled by her.

"Can't you just sleep properly?"

"I already slept enough yesterday," Yan Zhusheng said. "Did you stay up late with your senior? I saw her coming down in the middle of the night to brush her teeth—did you sneak snacks?"

Li Luo: "... You're still young, don't ask such questions."

(End of Chapter)