Chapter 35

Ying Quhe paused briefly on the other end of the line, his speech slowing down. “There are some things we should clear up once you get back.”

Xi Mi set her bowl on the floor and clutched her phone back in her hand. The battery was below ten percent, flashing red. She asked, “Did you just say… you miss me?”

“Mm.”

A single word, heavy as a boulder, weighed on Ying Quhe’s heart and left Xi Mi completely reeling.

“My battery’s almost dead, wait for me a second.” Panic over her dying battery forced her to pull back her inner glutton. She quickly returned the bowl to the kitchen and ran toward her bedroom, holding her phone tightly. Flying across flagstone after flagstone and crossing a small covered bridge in the backyard, she burst into the bedroom, plugged in the charger, and panted, “Okay, I’m ready.”

On the other end, Ying Quhe’s voice flowed like lukewarm spring water. “How was the car ride today?”

Only a single Chinese-style floor lamp was lit in the bedroom. Xi Mi gripped her phone, gazing at the lanterns lining the corridor outside as she leaned on the windowsill, her toes tapping rhythmically against the floor. “It was fine… We passed Baiyan Mountain near the ancient town today, and it made me miss Grandma.”

Ying Quhe fell silent for a moment. Across the phone line, he could almost see her hanging her head in dejection, yet he couldn’t reach out to touch her head of fluffy curls or offer any comfort.

Holding his warm phone, he walked back inside his home and stood before the French windows on the second floor, continuing their call. Outside, lights burned in every villa across the neighborhood beneath a bright moon hanging high in the night sky, and strangely, Xiao Guai’s little face floated into his mind.

Listening to the soft voice over the phone, he pressed a hand over his chest. That spot felt faintly itchy, yet faintly aching.

“It’s raining.” Xi Mi quickly got up to close the window, then sank back onto her carved Chinese wooden bed. The mattress was neither too soft nor too firm. The moment her head hit the pillow, the day’s exhaustion and weariness instantly spread through her entire body.

“Bastard Dao, I want to hear you sing.” Xi Mi yawned, running out of things to say to him, yet truly reluctant to hang up.

Even in silence, listening to each other breathe didn’t feel awkward at all. It was as if delicate threads of honey were trickling out of the receiver.

“Are you sure?” Ying Quhe’s voice deepened. He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, his voice was much clearer. “Should I read you a poem?”

“Okay…”

Xi Mi’s brain was already clouding over, her eyelids drooping uncontrollably. Her repeated yawns were broken by a clear baritone voice: “This poem is called 《j’toi》.”

– 《I Want to Live with You》

French. Xi Mi didn’t understand it, but she was too exhausted to ask what it meant. She turned on the speakerphone, set her phone by the head of the bed, and murmured a soft agreement.

Listening to her breathing, Ying Quhe began to read:

“j’toi,

(I long to live with you,)

j’i,

(I long to be intimate with you,)

i,

(A lifetime of intimacy with you,)

lavie,

(A lifetime, a lifetime, a lifetime)”

…

Ying Quhe’s low, deep voice resonated perfectly with the quiet night, sounding like a late-night radio host, only gentler and richer. Even though she couldn’t understand the words, the beauty of his voice was like music; it transcended language, and its beauty alone was enough.

“j’i,

(I long to speak with you,)

j’viedediren’quoi,

(I long to talk about anything with you,)

j’viepourvuquetusoislà,

(I long for you to be here,)

j’toi,

(I long to live with you,)

j’viei,

(I long for you by my side,)

j’viei,…

(I long for you by my side…)”

The sound of Xi Mi’s even breathing came through the receiver, and a moment later, the call disconnected.

*

The next morning, Xi Mi was woken by Ji Donglin knocking on her door, her mind still lingering on the memory of her phone call with Ying Quhe.

After having breakfast with the Ji Family, the fake couple quickly made an excuse to leave, afraid of blowing their cover. Nan Qing was heading the same way and shared a car with them to the airport.

In the car, Nan Qing and Ji Donglin sat head-to-head, holding a phone to look through last night’s photos. During their night tour of Nanhu, bright lights had lined both shores, and the two had taken plenty of pictures on the boat.

Xi Mi rested her head against the car window, biting her finger as she watched the two of them.

Nan Qing slapped Ji Donglin on the head. “Brat, can’t you take a proper photo? My face looks all distorted!”

Ji Donglin rubbed his head, pouting with an aggrieved look. “Heh, isn’t your face normally like this anyway?” He reached out and pinched Nan Qing’s chin. “Did you have work done?”

Nan Qing jerked her face away. “Get lost.”

Xi Mi felt the entire car was filled with the sour, sickening stench of… flirting.

She felt like a third wheel, inexplicably forced to swallow a mouthful of… dog food?

They stopped for lunch at a service station by Baiyan Mountain. Xi Mi bit on her disposable wooden chopsticks, staring at the two sitting head-to-head playing a game across from her. “Um… since we’re right at my doorstep, I’d like to go back and stay for a couple of nights. Why don’t you guys head back first?”

She couldn’t return to the ancient town, but she wanted to go up the mountain.

Ever since her grandmother passed away, she hadn’t liked going up the mountain much. Even when going up to forage for ingredients, she would hesitate and plan for a long time. But every autumn, she would spend a few days on the mountain. Autumn wasn’t rainy like summer, and the fruit trees her grandmother had planted were bearing fruit this time of year.

Ji Donglin looked at her in disbelief. “Goddess, are you going up the mountain to live like the Little Dragon Maiden^[1]?”

Nan Qing grew interested. “Let’s go together. Going up the mountain to cleanse our lungs sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it?”

Xi Mi slurped a mouthful of hot and sour glass noodles, bit them off, and swallowed. “Conditions on the mountain are really harsh, and there are lots of bugs and insects. You two probably shouldn’t come.”

Nan Qing looked at her earnestly. “Miss Xi Mi, we’re an officially recognized CP online, you know. Do you really think I’d let a young girl like you go up the mountain alone? I’m coming with you. It’s not as if I’ve never camped deep in the mountains before.”

Ji Donglin added, “Then… all of us together?”

With the three of them set on going up the mountain, Ji Donglin bought some Band-Aids, floral water insect repellent, and a giant bag of snacks at the service station. Nan Qing gave him a look of utter disgust. “Are you going up the mountain for a vacation?”

Ji Donglin stuffed his backpack to the brim with snacks. “What do you know? This is called making the best of a hard trip and enjoying life. The mountain is so high, do you know how much energy we’ll burn?”

Xi Mi stepped away from the couple who were busy flirting and turned aside to call Ying Quhe, but his phone was turned off. Signal was easily lost on the mountain, so Xi Mi could only leave him a WeChat message.

Baiyan Mountain was the longest mountain range in the region. Starting from Jialing Ancient Town was the shortest route, reaching the summit in just two hours. But heading up from the Nanjia Expressway service area doubled the distance, taking four hours on foot.

The moment they entered the mountain, the chirping birds, buzzing insects, and refreshing breeze washed over them, making Ji Donglin unusually excited. Lush trees blocked out the sky on both sides of the trail, green grass grew knee-high, and grasshoppers bounded out from time to time.

An hour later, Ji Donglin slumped over a boulder and said weakly, “My legs are completely ruined. Is it too late for me to head back now?”

Nan Qing exercised every morning, so she could handle this distance easily enough. She gave Ji Donglin a kick. “Get up and keep walking! If you stop to rest every three steps, when will we ever reach the summit?”

“What’s wrong with resting for a bit? You female pervert, just because you don’t rest doesn’t mean my Goddess doesn’t need to rest, okay?” Ji Donglin pulled out his phone to check the time. “Crap, there’s no signal! Are we cut off from the world?”

Xi Mi glanced at the winding mountain path and said, “Ji Donglin, if we don’t reach the top before dark, we might run into wild wolves or wild boars. Do you really want to end up a bloody mess?”

Ji Donglin scrambled off the boulder as if struck by lightning, looking all around. “Crap, there are actually wolves? Goddess, are you bluffing me?”

Xi Mi walked over and kicked his heel. “Only bluffing city folks like you. I’m not sure if there are wolves, but there are definitely snakes, bugs, rats, ants, and wild boars.”

Ji Donglin felt like crying. “Is it too late for me to turn back now?”

“Too late- ah!”

Nan Qing’s calf suddenly tightened as something clammy and wet wrapped around it. Looking down, her scalp went numb with terror as a patterned snake coiled around her lower leg.

Xi Mi walked over, swiftly grabbed the snake right by its seven-inch mark^[2], and pulled it off Nan Qing’s calf with her bare hands.

Ji Donglin held his forehead, nearly fainting. “Goddess, put the snake down. Let’s talk this out calmly.”

Xi Mi felt oddly excited. Staring into the pair of snake eyes, she asked Ji Donglin for a plastic bottle.

Ji Donglin dumped out his half-finished drink, closed his eyes, and passed the empty bottle over. “Goddess, don’t you think that thing is disgusting?”

“Not at all, it’s a delicacy.” Xi Mi unconsciously licked her lips. “There was a path to heaven you didn’t take, yet you barged straight into a human stomach. My apologies. Remember to be a smart little Xiao Guai snake in your next life.”

Nan Qing wiped her calf with a wet wipe in disgust, her scalp still tingling with horror. For the rest of the trek, both of them tacitly kept their distance from Xi Mi, terrified that the snake might crawl out of her backpack.

By the time they had covered a third of the mountain trail, dusk was settling in. Reaching an open area, her phone finally got a signal.

Xi Mi opened WeChat and froze for a moment when she saw Ying Quhe’s message. He had actually… brought Ulrica to Baiyan Mountain?

After getting off the plane, Ying Quhe saw her WeChat message and learned she was going up Baiyan Mountain with Ji Donglin. He immediately took a car to Jialing and headed up from Jialing Ancient Town.

He had sent Xi Mi a WeChat message before heading up. Judging by the time, he and Ulrica should have reached the summit first. At seven in the evening, Xi Mi, Ji Donglin, and Nan Qing finally arrived at the wooden cabin at the top.

Surrounding the wooden cabin were fruit trees and a vegetable patch. Having been left untended for months, the vegetable patch was completely overgrown, but the persimmons in the orchard were growing well, their skins turned red. Xi Mi looked around, but Ying Quhe was nowhere in sight. Calling his phone only resulted in an out-of-service signal.

Entering the cabin, she put her things down and called Zhou Ming instead.

When the call went through, Zhou Ming asked in turn, “What’s wrong? Has the boss not met up with you yet?”

Xi Mi said, “No. Who else went up the mountain with him? Do you have their number?”

Zhou Ming said, “The boss went up with Ulrica and told me to head back to Jinyang first. I just got off the plane.”

Xi Mi felt a wave of panic, just as a soft drizzle began falling over the mountain.

Looking out the window at the pitch-black forest without a single ray of light, an uneasy feeling welled up in Xi Mi’s heart. She retrieved a raincoat from the room, dug out a flashlight from the wardrobe, tested the beam, which had plenty of charge, put on rain boots, and rushed out of the wooden cabin.

Ji Donglin was opening a bag of chips. Seeing her about to head out, he asked, “You’re going out this late? It’s raining!”

Xi Mi pulled up her raincoat hood, turning around to instruct Ji Donglin, “If I’m not back in an hour, call the police.”

Ji Donglin popped a chip into his mouth and asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to look for Ying Quhe.”

*

Ying Quhe had originally intended to take a shortcut up the mountain, but he wandered into dense woods and lost his direction. Helpless, he could only backtrack and stick to the wider mountain trail.

After nightfall, relying only on the faint glow of his phone, his visible range shrank. To make matters worse, a light rain began to fall in the mountains. With poor light on the muddy mountain trail, Ying Quhe’s foot slipped, and his entire body pitched backward, tumbling into the dense thicket.

The slope was steep, and Ying Quhe tumbled out of control down the incline for some distance until a tree caught him at the waist. His head had taken a hit, leaving him in too much pain to walk. Catching his breath, he slumped back against the tree trunk.

Ulrica rushed over to lick her master’s face. Ying Quhe gasped from the pain, painstakingly rubbing the dog’s head. “It’s fine. I just need to rest a bit.”

Ulrica circled around him, acting extremely anxious.

Ulrica retrieved the phone from the grass in her mouth, her teeth bumping a button so the screen lit back up.

Miraculously, the screen remained lit despite the rain, but there was still no signal.

Ulrica suddenly turned around, leaving Ying Quhe behind as she bolted into the deep darkness.

*

Walking down along the mountain trail, Xi Mi suddenly froze when she heard the howl of a wolf.

There couldn’t… actually be wolves, right? QAQ

The fine rain pattered densely against Xi Mi’s raincoat. She didn’t dare look into the dense woods on either side of the trail. They were pitch-black and bottomless, as if a dark claw could reach out at any moment to tear her to pieces.

Walking mountain paths on rainy days was what Xi Mi loathed most, and walking them after nightfall was a first for her.

An overwhelming sense of dread surged through her, but thinking of Ying Quhe brought an inexplicable spark of courage.

She took a deep breath and kept heading down, praying to her grandmother for protection while hoping to find Ying Quhe as quickly as possible. Suddenly, a black beast burst from the thicket, startling Xi Mi so badly her legs went weak and she stumbled back.

Her flashlight beam swept over the beast, catching pointed ears, a flash of white teeth, and a low beastly growl rumbling in its throat.

The “beast” pounced right into her arms, nuzzling its head against her chest. Xi Mi saw clearly that it was Ulrica and instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

The adult dog’s bark was low and deep. Wagging its tail, it turned quickly and led her into the dense forest.

The rain gradually stopped, but the path inside the dense woods was treacherous and muddy, every step sinking into the slush.

After walking for about five minutes, Xi Mi finally caught sight of Ying Quhe. Holding her flashlight, she hurried over and flashed the beam across his face. “Bastard Dao? Are you okay?”

The pain in Ying Quhe’s leg had gradually begun to fade. Supporting himself against a tree, he stood up. “Just took a tumble, not dead yet.” He reached out and ruffled her hair, as if trying to comfort her. “Let me walk.”

Looking at the man gritting his teeth and toughing it out in front of her, Xi Mi felt a sudden sting in her nose. She grabbed his arm and draped it over her shoulder. “Lean on me.”

The height difference between them was too great, making it strenuous for Ying Quhe to bend over. Once they made it out of the dense forest, the strength in his leg finally returned. He pulled Xi Mi by her shoulders close to his chest, adjusted her hood, and held his palm facing down over her head to shield her from the water droplets dripping off the trees.

Xi Mi felt both touched and pained for him. He was injured so badly, yet he was still trying to act tough.

Back at the wooden cabin, Ying Quhe took off his wet clothes. With no spare clothes to change into, he had to wrap a thin blanket around his lower body.

Ji Donglin took one look at Ying Quhe’s disheveled state and couldn’t help bursting into laughter. “Mr. Ying, getting lost on such a short mountain trail… your sense of direction is really something.”

Nan Qing walked in carrying a basin of warm water and gave Ji Donglin a fierce glare. “Are you ever going to stop kicking a man when he’s down?”

Ying Quhe sat on the edge of the bed with his feet soaking in the warm water. He took the towel Xi Mi handed him and wiped his face.

Xi Mi crouched down to wash the mud off his legs, only to spot a shocking cut on his calf.

She first disinfected it with medicinal alcohol, then asked Ji Donglin for a few bandages and applied them over the wound.

“See? What did I tell you? When we were down the mountain buying emergency supplies and snacks, who was nagging in my ear saying it was all unnecessary?” He glanced toward Nan Qing.

“You talk too much.” Nan Qing dragged Ji Donglin into the adjacent room.

The cabin’s soundproofing was poor, and Ji Donglin’s complaining could be clearly heard from next door: “What are you doing?”

Nan Qing lowered her voice. “Don’t you feel bright enough being a third wheel?”

…

Xi Mi, blushing as she crouched by the basin, poked his calf gently with a finger and looked up at him. “Does it still hurt?”

“Not anymore.” Ying Quhe tousled her rain-dampened bangs. “Go dry your hair.”

Xi Mi stared at his wound, the rims of her eyes reddening. “Ying Quhe, are you stupid? Can’t you walk properly? How did you even fall down there? If not for Ulrica, no one would have found you tonight even if wild boars tore you apart!”

Ying Quhe let out a helpless sigh.

She really was just a young girl…

He grabbed a small towel, wrapped it around her head, and gently dried her wet bangs. “Don’t I have you?”

Xi Mi stood up and sat on the edge of the bed, grabbing his wrist. “There are so many scrapes on your arms too. When you fell… did it hurt really badly?”

“Not really.” Tenderness flickered in Ying Quhe’s deep eyes. His long fingers hooked under her chin as he leaned his face close, deliberately teasing her. “Thinking of you made the pain go away.”

Xi Mi let out a long breath, her tone laced with helplessness. “Ying Quhe, stop trying to seduce me.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Ying Quhe pulled her into his embrace.

Her face pressed against his bare chest, no fabric separating skin from skin. The searing heat radiating from him nearly scorched her cheeks.

His clear, smooth voice echoed soft against her ear, carrying an irresistible spell.

“It’s not seduction. It’s my true feelings showing.”