Chapter 60
Lin Huaixi had successfully persuaded Zhong Chongqiu not to take his little sister up the mountain. That should have prevented the tragedy from happening, but he still had a bad feeling.
It was like a stone was pressing on his heart. His chest felt tight and heavy, and he could hardly breathe. Lying in bed, Lin Huaixi tossed and turned. He had already gone three nights in a row without sleeping properly, and even when he did fall asleep, he would wake from nightmares with a start.
Night gradually deepened, and the whole world became quiet. Listening to the dorm room filled with rising and falling snores, Lin Huaixi scratched at his hair and slowly sat up.
No, he still could not relax. He had to secretly go take a look. If Youyou was not there, he would head back down in peace. If Youyou was there, then he would protect her in secret and absolutely not let the tragedy happen!
Once Lin Huaixi made up his mind, he let out a long breath and finally slept well for one night. But then he ran into another problem:
How was he supposed to keep Qi Wang from noticing?
Lin Huaixi had thought about it for a long time and even made a plan, but the moment he started putting it into action, Qi Wang caught him red-handed.
The moment Lin Huaixi turned around and saw Qi Wang standing there, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He gave a dry laugh and said, “Why did you come back so early today? Oh right, I just bought some apples. I’ll go wash one for you.”
Just as he was about to make an excuse and slip away, Qi Wang caught his wrist and pulled him over to sit on the bed.
Lin Huaixi could only sit there obediently like an elementary school student, hands on his knees, not daring to meet Qi Wang’s eyes.
“Are you hiding something from me? Where are you going? Why have you been packing your things these past few days?”
When Lin Huaixi heard those last two questions, he went blank. He stared at Qi Wang in a daze. “How did you find out? How did you know I was going to…”
Though it had come out as a question, his reaction was no different from admitting it outright.
Qi Wang looked at him with dark, heavy eyes. “Answer me first. Where are you going?”
Lin Huaixi’s heart stirred, and he suddenly felt incredibly clever. “The Astronomy Club has a group activity. They’re going camping in the mountains to watch the stars, and I signed up too.”
“You’re lying.” Qi Wang stood in front of him, his shadow falling over Lin Huaixi and wrapping him up completely, creating a strange sense of pressure. “I already asked Zhong Chongqiu. He said you turned it down.”
Lin Huaixi: “…”
Qi Wang had always been cold toward Zhong Chongqiu. Lin Huaixi had assumed the two of them would never contact each other in private. He had not expected them to have already exchanged information in advance.
“Even if I’m not going with them, the destination is the same, so you don’t need to worry.” Completely thrown off his rhythm, Lin Huaixi stammered his response.
“If you’re going to the same place, then why not go with them?” Qi Wang pressed on, frowning as he advanced step by step.
Lin Huaixi was utterly cornered and had no idea how to explain himself. His lashes trembled twice, and he decided to use his tried-and-true secret weapon.
When he looked up again, his expression had already changed. He gave Qi Wang a sweet, ingratiating smile, reached out to hook his finger, and gently swayed it in a coquettish, clingy way. Yet his tone came out fierce and accusatory instead. “Qi Wang, your voice is too loud. You’re bullying me!”
The two stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Qi Wang surrendered completely. His tone softened. “Sorry. I don’t want to bully you. I’m just too worried.”
Seeing that Qi Wang really did fall for this every time, Lin Huaixi felt secretly pleased. Still hooking Qi Wang’s finger, he pulled him over so they could sit side by side on the bed.
“I’m grown up now. I have my own secrets. I’m doing this for a reason, but I can’t tell you. Can you just pretend you didn’t notice, okay?”
Lin Huaixi lifted one finger and placed it against his nose, then buried his fluffy head into Qi Wang’s chest and rubbed hard. His hair brushed against Qi Wang’s collarbone and chin, making him itch in that numb, tingling way that melted the cold shell around him.
Almost instinctively, Qi Wang raised a hand to pat Lin Huaixi’s head, his voice full of helplessness. “All right.”
Lin Huaixi’s eyes lit up at once. Like a heartless scumbag who had just gotten what he wanted, he pulled himself out of Qi Wang’s arms and turned his back on him. “Then I’ll keep packing my stuff. Move aside. I need to get something.”
Qi Wang was pushed to the side and could only stand there watching him.
Lin Huaixi was never neat in these things. The moment he started searching, he tossed his suitcase into chaos. Qi Wang’s eyebrow twitched. Enduring the discomfort with great effort, he stepped forward and moved Lin Huaixi out of the way. “What do you need? I’ll do it for you.”
This scene was far too familiar. Lin Huaixi stood there with complete peace of mind, directing Qi Wang to help him pack.
Qi Wang was more than willing. Afraid Lin Huaixi would get bored from standing around, he even handed him a bag of potato chips.
When Liu Zhengnian and Zhang Yunqiu returned, this was the scene that greeted them.
Qi Wang was working away like an old ox, laboriously organizing the cabinet Lin Huaixi had rummaged into a mess. Lin Huaixi stood off to the side like a supervisor, idly snacking on potato chips while pointing and directing with his mouth, even finding time to complain now and then.
The image was far too bizarre. It was definitely not the kind of thing that happened between ordinary dorm roommates. But Lin Huaixi and Qi Wang were always like this, to the point that Liu Zhengnian and Zhang Yunqiu had developed immunity. They walked right past without even blinking.
Lin Huaixi did not find it strange either. He greeted them, threw away his empty chip bag, and went to inspect the luggage Qi Wang had already packed.
Qi Wang pulled out a wet wipe, caught Lin Huaixi by the wrist, and carefully cleaned his fingers one by one before saying, “Check it.”
Lin Huaixi nodded, all his attention focused on the luggage.
Qi Wang looked at him quietly. “Put the rest of your things into my bag. It’ll be too tiring for you to carry everything alone.”
Seeing how thorough Qi Wang had been, Lin Huaixi nodded again and again. Three seconds later, however, he finally realized something was wrong. “Put them in your bag? You’re going too?!”
Qi Wang nodded calmly. “I’m worried about you.”
This was exactly the sort of situation Lin Huaixi feared most. He immediately panicked. “No, you can’t go.”
The rejection in his tone was far too strong. Qi Wang did not show any hurt. He only looked at him quietly and asked, “Why not?”
Lin Huaixi made a small sound, lacking confidence. “This is an Astronomy Club activity. You’re not one of them.”
“That’s fine. I can talk to Zhong Chongqiu. He’ll probably agree,” Qi Wang said.
“No, absolutely not!” If that happened, then things would tilt back toward the original plot, and the possibility of tragedy would only increase.
Lin Huaixi knew Qi Wang well. Qi Wang was not overbearing, but in matters like this, he was exceptionally stubborn. Even if Lin Huaixi refused over and over again, in the end Qi Wang would still go with him.
Since that was the case, Lin Huaixi decided he might as well take the chance to lay down some ground rules.
“Fine then. But you have to promise me three things.”
“All right,” Qi Wang agreed very readily.
Lin Huaixi raised one finger. “First, you have to listen to me the whole time. If I tell you to go east, you cannot go west. And you can’t ask me why.”
Qi Wang nodded without hesitation.
Lin Huaixi raised another finger. “Second, there’s a good chance we won’t meet up with Zhong Chongqiu. You have to hide with me and make sure he doesn’t discover us.”
“All right.” Then Qi Wang asked, “And the third?”
Lin Huaixi’s face went blank for a few seconds. “I can’t think of one yet. I’ll owe it for now.”
Both of them had achieved their goals, so it could be counted as a good outcome.
Time passed bit by bit, and soon it was the day of the hike.
The journey itself would take four full hours, so they had to set out especially early. Lin Huaixi was so sleepy on the bus that he sagged in every direction, his eyes almost never opening. It was only because Qi Wang held onto him the whole time that he did not wander off.
By the time the bus came to a stop, Lin Huaixi woke up. It was like someone had hit his power button. He bounced out of his seat full of life again.
Qi Wang laughed at his reaction and reached out to smooth down the tuft of hair that had been pressed up the wrong way.
Lin Huaixi shook his head to show he knew, then grabbed the curtain and peered out through it, leaving only his eyes visible as he stared fixedly outside.
He had already asked around. Zhong Chongqiu had left at almost the same time as them, so he should be at this same plaza right now.
The Astronomy Club had a lot of members. It should have been obvious at a glance.
Lin Huaixi’s eyes kept sweeping back and forth, searching for that tiny little figure. And the moment he spotted a pink, glutinous rice-ball-like shape, his whole heart dropped into the pit of his stomach.
!!! What was Zhong Chongqiu doing?!
He had clearly promised! So why had he still brought Youyou along to climb the mountain?!
Lin Huaixi was not angry. Instead, he felt a strange sense of fatalistic inevitability. His mood grew heavy.
A tragedy that was destined to happen would not be that easy to avoid. But since he was already standing here, he absolutely would not sit back and do nothing!
Lin Huaixi turned to Qi Wang, his eyes full of sorrow. He said nothing else, only squeezed Qi Wang’s hand hard. “From now on, you absolutely have to listen to me. We’re going to follow behind Zhong Chongqiu, and no matter what, he must not discover us!”
Though Qi Wang still did not know exactly what Lin Huaixi planned to do, he nodded in cooperation.
Thus the two groups went up the mountain, one in front and the other behind.
The mountain was absurdly tall. Reaching the top would take at least three hours, and since Youyou, a small child, was with the group, the total time nearly doubled. Lin Huaixi followed behind, stopping and going, and by the time they finally made it to the summit, the sun had already begun to sink westward.
The mountain path was steep, but the summit itself was quite flat. A layer of soft grass spread out in all directions, swaying lightly in the wind and making the whole world seem gentler somehow.
Lin Huaixi had sweated a lot. He tugged at his collar and let out a long breath of hot, muggy air.
“You rest here for a bit first. I’m going over there to take a look.”
Remembering their agreement, Qi Wang could only nod. “Be careful.”
Lin Huaixi gave a vague sound of agreement and circled around Zhong Chongqiu’s group toward the western side, planning to inspect which areas were dangerous so he could pay special attention to them later.
There were no artificial lights on the mountain. The sun had withdrawn all its beams and turned into a strip of gold at the horizon, and visibility around them had grown lower and lower.
Lin Huaixi was so lost in thought that he did not even notice the footsteps behind him drawing closer and closer. It was only when he saw the shadow falling at his feet that he suddenly came back to his senses.
Someone was following him.
Who was it? The real culprit behind Youyou falling off the mountain?
When he first read this part of the story, he had already found it suspicious. How could Youyou have just wandered off by herself and fallen off a cliff? Unfortunately, the focus of the novel had been on the emotional entanglements and grudges between the main characters, so that scene had never been described in detail, and Lin Huaixi had found no clues.
And now, he was meeting that villain in advance.
Lin Huaixi could not help growing tense. His heartbeat thundered like a drum, his tongue felt dry, and yet his throat bobbed twice.
His brain worked at high speed, trying to think of a natural way to respond. But out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw the shadow on the ground slowly extending a hand toward him.
!!!
Lin Huaixi’s pupils shrank. Instinctively, he spun around, one arm raised protectively in front of his chest, all color draining from his face.
His vision wavered twice. It swept across the distant mountains and the white clouds beyond before finally settling on that person’s face.
Handsome features. Deep, sculpted bones. A pair of elegant peach-blossom eyes full of feeling. The corners of his lips held the faintest trace of a smile. His whole aura was gentle and romantic, like the kind of prince from fairy tales who existed solely to satisfy people’s fantasies.
His hair was slightly long and casually tied into a small knot behind his head, the loose ends brushing his shoulders, giving him an easy, unrestrained air, like the free wind moving through the mountains.
Lin Huaixi narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. Then, under the man’s wounded gaze, realization suddenly struck.
“Y-you—you… Zong Nanze?! What are you doing here?!”
