Crossing the Clouds and Sky to Fall in Love with You - Chapter 35

In the end, we still shared half of our flavors with each other. We snuggled in bed and finished the whole package, then leaned against each other in silence, spaced out. Although the mountain cabin was quite luxurious, the electricity supply was limited, so of course, there was no heating. We each changed out of our damp clothes. She busied herself organizing her backpack and even went outside to refill some water. When she saw me sitting on the bed, dozing against my backpack, she simply draped her windbreaker over me and whispered softly in my ear, “You sleep. I’m here.”

The jacket carried her scent. Perhaps it was the sense of security after confirming our relationship, but I slept soundly until the other roommates checked in. She greeted the other hikers and realized it was a university club climbing to the summit.

“Are you two the only ones?” one girl, about my age, pointed at us and asked.

“Uh, yes.”

“That’s quite an accomplishment, then. Are you with a club, too?”

“We’re friends.”

“Oh… You don’t look like a university student!” The rising intonation was clearly laced with curiosity.

Sizhi didn’t reply. Knowing her, she probably just smiled it off.

I was already awake when they were talking, but I kept my eyes closed, pretending to sleep, wanting to hear what they were saying. The cabin provided hot water. They didn’t seem to have ordered meals and planned to cook instant noodles for dinner. When they left the room to prepare their meal, and it was just the two of us again, I intended to open my eyes. Unexpectedly, she suddenly pinched my nose!

“How long do you plan to pretend?” She tugged quite hard on my chilled nose! I let out an “Ah!” and flailed my arms to shoo her away, which drew a string of soft laughter from her.

I rubbed my nose. “How did you know I was awake?”

“I’ve lived with you for over a month. I know you’re particularly sensitive to sound. With all those people talking just now, it would be strange if you hadn’t woken up!” I never thought… she actually remembered even my habits. “It’s about half an hour until dinner. How about we go for a walk?”

“Is it safe to leave our things here?”

“They’ve all left theirs here, too! Take your valuables, but no one will steal the other gear or anything. Don’t worry.”

We quickly put on our shoes and closed the door before leaving. As the hour grew later, more and more hikers were moving in and out near the cabin. Although everyone who arrived here had endured a long trek and their bodies were tired, their faces were almost universally adorned with smiles—either very excited or radiating a strange sense of joy.

Before personally making this trip, if someone had told me that people who walked eight kilometers on a mountain path could still be smiling, I would have definitely questioned that statement. But seeing it now… it seemed to be true.

The sun had moved a little further west and was significantly dimmer than when we first arrived. The sunlight hitting us wasn’t hot, but it effectively modulated the temperature of the cold wind. With dry clothes on, I didn’t feel the chill. I stood outside the cabin with her, watching the sunset glow. She hesitated for a moment, then immediately raised her camera to capture the afterglow.

“Does your head hurt? Or are you feeling dizzy?”

I gently rubbed my temples. “It’s a bit of a throbbing ache, but not serious. I think I should be fine.”

She gave a relieved smile and, facing me, snapped another photo! “You’re like this the moment I let down my guard! Tell me! How many pictures have you taken of me?”

“I haven’t counted! I don’t know.” She smiled mischievously. I made a move to snatch her camera, but she didn’t move her feet to evade, simply raising the camera high above her head. Darn it! She’s just bullying me for being short!

My voice, tinted with a whine, sounded utterly non-threatening. “You’re so annoying!” Then I thought about stomping on her foot, but her boots were so thick that it probably wouldn’t hurt her at all!

She blinked and said flirtatiously, “I’ve heard that if a person isn’t a little naughty, they don’t win a girl’s affection?”

“You…” I puffed out my cheeks, knowing I couldn’t grab the camera from her. “Hmph! Who starts bullying someone non-stop the moment we start dating?”

“I’m sorry! You’re too cute, and I can’t help wanting to play with you. If you don’t like it, I’ll restrain myself later.” She smiled and reached for my hand. Like before, I brushed her away, but after a few tries, she finally held it. She led me toward the other side of the cabin, where several tents were pitched—presumably a space prepared for hikers who wanted to try camping.

“Xiaoning, look there.” She first pointed to the signpost, and my gaze followed her direction. “That’s the direction we’ll be heading tomorrow… I mean, in the early morning.”

Yushan Main Peak, with an elevation of $3952$ meters. I used to only read this number in geography textbooks and memorized it well because it was on the exam, but I genuinely never thought I would one day challenge this altitude and stand on this mountain’s peak.

“We have to set off at two in the morning?”

“Yes, to watch the sunrise. It will get light before the sun rises, but the section we climb will pass through a very long scree slope and a wind gap. That will be the most difficult part of this journey.” She squeezed my hand, as if to cheer me on.

“I’m not afraid.” Looking up at her profile, I stated clearly. “With you here, and besides, I believe I can do it.”

“It’s a pity it’s getting dark now, or I’d want to take a picture and treasure that expression of yours.” She sighed with a smile. “Oh my! It wasn’t until I pressed the shutter button today that I realized how much I desire to capture the beautiful figures, joyful smiles, and all kinds of joys and sorrows of people! I deliberately avoided these in my past travels and, as a result, missed many exciting moments belonging to people.”

“That’s great!” I held her waist, and we looked at each other. “Being able to rediscover your passion for photographing people also means you’ve finally moved past things, doesn’t it?” I pursed my lips, glanced around to see no one nearby, and then hugged her even more boldly. “I’m so glad… that I helped you find that passion again. I feel like I’ve finally brought some positive influence into your life, not just accepted your comfort and your giving.”

“Xiaoning, don’t say that… what I’ve gained from you is far more than you can imagine.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, truly, I’ve gained a lot from you.”

“Like what? Don’t tell me you’re going to say you learned how to prepare confinement meals or something!” I self-deprecatingly joked with a smile. A look of tenderness flashed in her eyes as she silently caressed my face.

We looked into each other’s eyes, completely failing to notice people walking toward us from the Main Peak side; their headlamps betrayed their presence. We exchanged smiles and greetings with them. The sky was even darker now. We hadn’t brought headlamps, and even though we weren’t far from the cabin, we still had to be careful on the completely darkened scree path.

“Time for dinner.” I obediently followed her back.

Walking behind her, I intentionally pressed myself against her. She bent over, laughing out loud, while I pretended to be fierce and pressed her for an answer! “You still haven’t told me what it is!”

“You’re very persistent!” She hesitated for a moment. “Alright… I enjoy your reliance on me! Is that okay?”

I smiled somewhat wickedly and intentionally poked her waist. “But you also said you hoped I would learn to be independent, you’re so contradictory!”

“That’s just how people are,” she shrugged. “Hurry up and eat dinner, then rest early. Tomorrow morning is the main event.”

“Hmph! Dodging the question… It doesn’t matter; you promised to let me snuggle in your arms tonight!”

“Yu Xiaoning…” A string of helpless, yet doting, calling out. I turned away and snickered to myself!

After we finished dinner—the meal wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined, actually—we stood outside the cabin door for a while. We ran into the four young men who drove us up; they had already conquered Yushan Front Peak, and the sky was completely dark when they arrived.

“I heard it might rain tomorrow,” one of the guys I’d spoken with earlier mentioned this news inadvertently.

The weather on the mountain changes unpredictably, so it shouldn’t be strange for it to suddenly rain halfway up, right?

Back in the room, our roommates were also discussing this matter. Sizhi had already returned to her bed, looking down, examining the results of her photography from the day.

“I was wondering where you went. Why didn’t you call me when you came back?”

“You rarely talk to people other than me, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”

She took out another small backpack and packed rain gear, gloves, and water into it. “Why are you packing a separate bag?”

“The summit climb is short, so we can go light. That small backpack of yours will come in handy.”

I nestled close to her and sat down. “I heard that guy say it might rain tomorrow.”

Her beautiful profile showed no ripple of emotion. “Mm.”

I frowned. “Aren’t you worried?” She’s so calm! Or did she already prepare herself?

“If it really rains during the climb, it will certainly be troublesome, but it’s still worth the risk for the sunrise.” She crossed her legs and propped her chin on one hand. “So, tomorrow we’ll put on our rain gear before heading out, and we definitely can’t forget the gloves and things.” She ignored the other hikers who were still chatting beside us, grabbed my hand, and asked with a closeness that went beyond friendship: “Are you worried? About the rain or whatever? It’s so cold, it might even snow.”

“Snow!” I’ve never seen snow before!

“Hmm, I advise you not to have any romantic views about snow!” She mercilessly shattered my fantasy! “The snowy scenery in my photos looks beautiful, right? But when it actually snows, it’s very inconvenient! It’s even worse if it turns into ice. Although we don’t need to worry about deep snow accumulation, snow melting on your body is more annoying than rain.”

“Hmm… Well, let’s pray it doesn’t rain, so it doesn’t affect watching the sunrise.”

“Yes.” She continued browsing the photos. When she got to the Great Cliff section, I suddenly realized she had secretly taken several photos of me because I lingered there for a long time!

“You took so many!” I bit my lip, grabbing her wrist in disbelief. She smiled faintly, her eyes gentle, as if water could be squeezed out of them… Oh no, why do I keep thinking of descriptions from romance novels?

“Is that a problem?” she raised an eyebrow.

“I just inexplicably feel like you were taking pictures of me the whole way!” Although, the pictures she takes are genuinely flattering; it gives me the illusion of being beautiful myself!

“Because you’re very cute.” She exited the preview mode. “How about this… let’s take one together!” She suddenly hugged me tightly, quickly aimed the camera at herself, and the flash lit up simultaneously with the shutter sound.

She’s using a high-end camera like this to take a selfie! “Let me see… that turned out pretty well!”

I leaned over to look, but she hooked me, pulled me into the corner, and used her tall body to block the sight of the others, giving me a quick, secretive kiss!

She ambushed me! “Mmmph!” I was startled and covered my mouth with my hand. She wore a proud and beautiful smile, pinching my cheek.

“Isn’t that pretty?”

“Y-yes, yes…” Ugh! She was the one who said we should be careful, and now there are four other people in the room besides us! What if someone saw us!

“You organize your things first; I’m going to brush my teeth.”

She casually hung the camera around my neck, took her toothbrush and cup, and walked out of the room. Feeling the weight on my neck, I slowly came back to my senses.

This… does this mean she’s letting me use her camera?

I held it like a treasure, pressed the button, and the screen, which was on the preview mode, lit up. It was the selfie we just took.

Her expression was very pleased, but mine looked clumsy, as if I had been frightened! How is this successful? I wanted to delete it, but hesitated… Maybe I shouldn’t mess with it; it is hers after all.

I looked at the photos she had taken along the way. I was completely engrossed in the fun of exploring until she returned to my side.

“That selfie was so ugly!” I complained.