Crossing the Clouds and Sky to Fall in Love with You - Chapter 33

Taking a deep breath of the cold air, my first reaction was one of relief—I finally made it to morning!

How long had I actually slept? I had no idea. I only knew that I was far, far away from sleeping soundly until dawn. I had been awake the whole time, and since she next to me was already asleep, I had no one to talk to. I just let my thoughts wander everywhere, momentarily thinking about school, then remembering the people from the “Man-Faced Fish” story, thinking of Xiaopei and Xiaowen, and including my ex-boyfriend, whom I really didn’t want to think about but who kept jumping back into my mind.

Finally, when I couldn’t fight off the drowsiness any longer, I fell asleep, only to be soon woken up by the hard, cold floor and the chilling air. The hand warmers had stopped working at some point, and I was too lazy to get up and unwrap a new one, so I could only endure it.

Speaking of sleeping, at one point I genuinely longed to dive into her arms and enjoy her warm embrace, but—we were in sleeping bags! My hands couldn’t even reach out, so it was all just wishful thinking? I was disappointed, especially after I had been looking forward to it…

As soon as I got up, I managed to go to the restroom under her “supervision”—I have to say, going to the bathroom at six in the morning in such a beautiful yet completely exposed place was a kind of torture! I used to hear Yu Xiaowen complain about how troublesome and annoying it was for guys to go to the bathroom in the winter. I wish I could make him try doing it the female way here! I bet he’d never complain again!

“Why do you look so grumpy just from going to the bathroom?” She, unaware of my thoughts, couldn’t help but ask with a smile when she saw my wrinkled face.

“Nothing, I just suddenly thought how good guys have it.” My backside felt like it had a big ice pack strapped to it right now.

She didn’t reply, but she must have understood what I meant.

We had bread for breakfast, which we had bought yesterday at the convenience store, along with a packet of milk tea. Naturally, the milk tea was ice cold, preserved by the environment’s full-time refrigeration. I suppose this was the only advantage of being in such a frigid place.

We were packing up the tent, while the other group, although they woke up later than us, packed very quickly because there were more of them.

“Where are you two going next?” one of the bespectacled boys waved at us and ran over to ask, “Do you have a car?”

Of course we don’t, isn’t your car the only one here? I wanted to reply, but the negotiation was up to her. Almost instantly, an agreement was reached: they had space in their car and were willing to drive us to the trailhead.

“Thank you so much!” Tao Yian shook hands with the boy coolly. I noticed he seemed a little flushed. Perhaps he hadn’t seen such a tall, handsome beauty before?

We left the Husband and Wife Trees this way, and unavoidable small talk began in the car. However, they were clearly more curious about Tao Yian than me. Upon hearing that we were only two girls, they all showed admiring expressions. “It’s quite something for just two girls to come here to climb and summit Yushan!” Hearing them say that, I couldn’t help but smile with vanity. Oh, it’s really nothing!

Since our destinations were the same, we felt comfortable riding in their car. One of the guys, who looked short and unassuming, was quite the gentleman; despite being squeezed in with the two of us girls, he kept his distance, trying not to have any physical contact with us, and was very polite when chatting.

We first stopped at the Visitor Center to clean up some trash and check if we needed to restock anything, then headed to the trailhead together.

“Since you don’t have a car, how about you leave your tent and some heavier items in ours?” Their planned itinerary time was the same as ours, but since the guys had better stamina, they planned to climb more peaks.

I thought she would agree, but to my surprise, she decided to carry it herself. With the tent, her trekking backpack, and water/supplies, her pack was stacked almost taller than her!

The group of guys saw that we didn’t want to accept and didn’t press the issue. The four of them arrived at the trailhead. After bidding each other farewell, they bravely went ahead and quickly vanished from sight.

Tao Yian fastened and tightened all the buckles on her backpack. She had told me yesterday about how to wear a hiking backpack, so I knew it was most energy-efficient to keep it as close to the back as possible.

Her gear was about twice as heavy as mine—perhaps even more—yet she remained unfazed. “Let’s go! You go first.”

“Huh? But I don’t have experience…”

“Didn’t you hear what they just said? The person with poorer stamina should walk in front.” She pointed her trekking pole toward the trailhead. “So, please go ahead!”

I inexplicably felt looked down upon, but… she was right. The load we both carried was enough to prove her point, not to mention her pace was definitely faster than mine.

I walked onto the hiking trail, starting today’s journey while still able to see a trace of the early morning mist.

I later asked why the person with the poorer stamina should walk in front. “Because the person walking in front gets the most rest time! Besides, if I walked in front… do you think you could keep up with me?”

That one sentence swept away the doubt in my heart. “If you walked in front of me, I’d probably have to ask you to wait for me constantly!”

She smiled faintly. “Although I brought you on this trip, the real focus is on you, so no matter what, whenever you’re tired, rest. Don’t worry about me.”

She made it sound like I was destined to keep stopping for breaks!

My competitive spirit surged, and for a while, I just kept my head down and walked. She, however, occasionally stopped on her own to take photos or simply look at the forest on the right side of the trail. I tried hard to lose her, but she always managed to stay within my line of sight. After walking for nearly forty minutes, my feet started to ache slightly, and I finally confirmed that her pace was super-fast and her stamina was excellent… Her appearance was deceiving; she was as thin as a rail, but she was actually super strong!

I couldn’t go on! The sun was out, I was sweating a lot, and after finding a rock of suitable size, I decided to take a brief rest and hydrate.

She came over to me with a smile and waited until I caught my breath before saying, “Do you remember what I told you yesterday?” She wasn’t even breathing hard!

“You told me a lot of things yesterday, which one?”

“The process is important.” She sat down beside me and pointed to the scenery in the distance. Even though the sun was out, the breeze was still cool. I followed her fingertip and looked at an open valley. The golden sunlight meeting the emerald forest was a common sight, yet I found it beautiful.

The process is important… I finally realized that because of my competitiveness, wanting to overcome the stereotype of “poor stamina,” I had rushed forward with my head down, missing many easily overlooked sights. Clouds sometimes obscured our view, and at the next corner, the view might suddenly open up. The scenery in the mountains is ever-changing, unpredictable, and colorful.

A bird call came from not far away. “It’s a Vinaceous Rosefinch!” she exclaimed excitedly, raising her camera without hesitation to take a photo. The shutter clicked continuously several times.

“Did you get it?” I only saw a small red figure flash past my eyes.

“Yes, it’s a bit blurry, but I got it.” She showed me the result through the small camera screen. “I also just photographed a few Steere’s Liocichlas; they’re common this season.”

“You seem to know everything.”

“You have to do your homework!” She shrugged. “Enough rest, shall we keep going?”

I picked up my trekking pole and started walking again. After a few steps, I turned around and said, “There are only two of us, so we’re not much of a team. If the path is wide enough, can we walk together?”

“Walk together?”

“Like friends walking side-by-side.” I kept walking, stepping onto a section of laid-out wooden planks. “Wouldn’t it be easier for you to talk to me that way?”

She tilted her head and smiled, seemingly seriously considering the proposal. “But I want to watch you keep moving forward.”

“Why?” I kept looking back.

“To me, you are part of the scenery.”

“Forget it! You wouldn’t actually put me on your fan page.” I intentionally argued, knowing she wouldn’t point the camera at people again. “By the way! Did you update yesterday?”

“I’ve set up a daily update time, so yes, I updated.”

“Very dedicated! I heard you talking to Elder Brother Lin yesterday about holding a book signing?”

“Yes! Possibly, I’m still considering it, but the publisher said the sales of this book batch are quite good. The fan page reached five thousand likes the day before yesterday, you know that?”

“I didn’t! That fast?” I was happy because she was becoming more and more popular. “Maybe it will hit ten thousand before the book signing!”

“I don’t know! Just do my best, I guess.”

We chatted as we went, occasionally focusing on the path ahead. One section of the trail suddenly narrowed, requiring us to use both hands and feet. While she cautioned me to be careful, she also had to climb up with such a heavy load, and her usually relaxed expression became slightly more cautious.

However, the difficult section wasn’t long. I rubbed off the moss and mud stuck to my hands, gripped my trekking pole, and continued.

We started very early, and the number of people climbing today was clearly more than just us and the four college students who drove us. Along the way, a group of older hikers passed us. Though strangers, we naturally smiled and greeted them, not forgetting to encourage each other.

I exchanged a look with her. She shrugged, “This is proof that the distance between people is being shortened.”

“I already felt that when we hitched that ride this morning!”

We passed through a section with an exposed rock face. I held on and passed through carefully, while she lingered there, taking a few serious photos.

After passing it, the view opened up again. The distant coniferous forest rose and fell unevenly against the mountains, with a few trees growing exceptionally tall. I was panting, knowing we were constantly gaining altitude, and my accelerated breathing might not be due to fatigue but the effect of the thin air.

Although my feet and knees were already starting to protest, and we hadn’t even reached the halfway point, having learned to enjoy the process, I no longer cared how slow or fast my pace was—slow is fine! As long as I take one step at a time, I’ll get there eventually.

I only knew that I was starting to feel happy. This trip—starting as just insisting on tagging along, then becoming what she called “finding myself,” or simply wanting to prove that I could do it—I seemed to be gradually gaining some rewards from this journey, even if they couldn’t be expressed in words, without having to wait until the journey was over.

After only a brief stop, I continued forward, suddenly remembering the song Xiaopei had been singing on the ukulele a few days ago. I had watched that Japanese drama… the melody of that song, I seemed to recall it somewhat.

I hummed the tune, thinking of how Xiaopei was scolded by Mom for singing too badly, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Let me tell you something funny… my sister bought a ukulele and joined her school’s club.”

“Oh, I know the ukulele, the small, charming instrument like a guitar. Your sister joined the club, what happened?”

I told her everything, from Xiaopei buying the instrument to being scolded by Mom. She also laughed! “My mom even said if she sang again, she would smash the instrument over my sister’s head!”

“That bad? Now I’m curious. I think your voice sounds very nice, so your sister shouldn’t be too bad!”

My eyes lit up, probably encouraged by her saying my “voice sounds nice”! “I’ll sing it for you! But I’m just like my sister and go off-key easily. Her voice is only slightly lower than mine… I played that song when I lent you the TV for the Japanese drama; I wonder if you remember?”

I hummed as I walked, even wanting to dance to the cheerful and gentle rhythm during the chorus. I tapped my feet, recalling the melody… It was a shame I didn’t understand Japanese, otherwise I could sing it for her…

A “click” sound came, the familiar sound of a camera shutter.

“What are you photographing agai…” I laughed and turned my head, but I couldn’t see her face because it was hidden behind the camera. We were less than five steps apart, and she pressed the shutter repeatedly.

She lowered the camera with a smile. “That expression is very cute.” She stared at me and pressed the shutter again.

She… photographed me.

I had no idea how to react.

“You… took a picture of me?”

“Yes,” she admitted frankly, her smiling eyes full of tenderness. “Did you not realize how beautiful the smile on your face was when you were humming that song… You are the most beautiful Yu Xiaoning I have ever seen.”