Crossing the Clouds and Sky to Fall in Love with You - Chapter 56

Because of this video, those in the know—Ran Mian Yu (Man-Faced Fish), Tao Yi’an, and Yiting—teased me mercilessly!

Hmph! Talk all you want, you guys. My girlfriend congratulating and confessing to me via video is a public display of affection! It’s awesome, ha ha ha!

That video has become a source of fun and vitality in my life. Whenever I think of it, I click it open, listening to her voice over and over. Hearing her say “I love you” always touches my heart. Even though she has continuously updated her feed with many beautiful sights since then, always using simple yet elegant words to describe the deepest feelings, I still love the scenery she captures and her writing.

I don’t think I’ve ever told her, “I’m proud of you”? Although, in my eyes, she’s already accomplished a lot, more so than me!

The first semester of my senior year began just like that, without me even noticing.

When I saw Yiting at the start of the semester, I was also stunned; she had really kept her promise and lost a huge amount of weight! But it wasn’t an unhealthy skinny look. Her flabby ‘bat wings’ were gone, and her waistline had become very pretty, a clear sign of exercise!

She had given up almost all the delicacies she couldn’t live without before, exhibiting a willpower and determination that made me look at her with new respect!

This gave me a feeling that I wanted to compete! I want to do something big, that’s right! I can’t lose to her either.

So, I very straightforwardly channeled this determination into—the effort to ‘pester’ my girlfriend to come back sooner!

‘When are you coming back?’ Asking this has become a habit recently. She always smiles and says she’ll return after climbing the highest mountain. And she is indeed preparing; she later sent me private selfies—her fair skin had darkened quite a bit, but her body and complexion were still as good as ever. Seeing the waistline Yiting deliberately worked out didn’t move me, but for some reason, just seeing her bare midriff and belly button made my heart beat faster… Aww! So shy!

‘We’re going to follow the route from Nepal to summit. It took a lot of time to get the climbing permit and find a guide!’

‘Is that so? I heard climbing that is very dangerous.’ I’ve looked up some basic data and know the biggest fears when climbing Mount Everest are avalanches or earthquakes.

‘Mmm, I know. So I won’t push it. If it’s really dangerous, I’ll just give up on the summit, okay?’ Although she says that, knowing her personality, she would never give up easily if there’s a chance.

Putting that topic aside for now, I’ve started planning what I want to do with her after she comes back. ‘We’re graduating soon! We only have one winter break left.’

‘Hmm, do you want to go anywhere else?’

‘I want to travel around the island!’ I poked the screen, imagining traveling with her, backpacks and all.

‘Oh? How do you plan to go around the island?’

‘Lots of people choose to bike, but I don’t want to be that tired! That would take away a lot of the fun and the energy to appreciate the beautiful scenery. So, by train, maybe?’ For me, it’s less of a challenge and more of an experience.

A journey belonging to me and my beloved; just the two of us. She takes photos, and I sing and play, freely letting our footprints cover every station, every town worth visiting, leaving behind our memories.

‘By train? That works too!’

‘Then it’s a date? We can go during the winter break, spend two weeks or more…’ Just thinking about us riding slow trains together, getting off at every station, taking pictures or singing, or even leaving the station to go sight-seeing… Just thinking about it gets me excited!

‘Mmm, it’s definitely going to be fun.’

Exactly!

It’s definitely going to be fun, definitely!

Finally, it was time for her to depart.

In the photo, she’s fully geared up in her climbing equipment, making her face barely visible. It’s probably one of the few photos of her taken by someone else. Anyway, she’s wearing a backpack, a bit of snow on her body, and even her nose tip is red from the cold. Just looking at the photo makes me feel cold.

Such ambition! I poked her face on the screen, cheering “Go for it” in my heart.

Even with the semester starting, I continued my gig at “Tropical Night.” I don’t know if it’s because the income here is quite good? After understanding the situation, my parents actually support me continuing to sing; and just as the senior (Saya) said, Monk’s mandatory military service is scheduled for early November, which means our time as a six-person band is running short.

My ukulele needs microphone assistance on stage; the sound it produces is very different from the electric guitars of the junior (Little Brother) and Luser (Loser). Besides playing, I occasionally sing duets with Saya. The fans seem to be gradually accepting my singing, and sometimes Saya even lets me sing solo while she keeps the beat on the side.

‘Thank you all for coming tonight. On behalf of Ran Mian Yu , I’m here to present tonight’s finale.’

I can’t shout to hype up the atmosphere like Saya, but I’ve found a way to interact with the fans that feels most natural and suitable for me.

‘It’s a beautiful, gentle, and comfortable song—”Yongyuan de Huamian” (Eternal Scene).’

I used “Xiao Xiao  Lian Ge” (Little Love Song) as my signature song for quite a while, but after practicing many Chinese songs, I found that I particularly love this kind of gentle, slow-paced track. “Fengzhong de Yiyi” (Wings in the Wind) is one I can barely manage, and “Yongyuan de Huamian” is simply one I love for its imagery.

It makes me unconsciously think of Siki.

When she comes back, I must sing it properly for her.

My finale song is liked by quite a few people. Now, on Ran Mian Yu ‘s fan page, there are already specific friends who leave me comments! A few people know that I went from a fan to a member, and some even know that I used to be with Lu Hanjun… I accept both the good and the bad comments. As Siki said, those are the past things that have happened to me.

I won’t deny them, or even feel sad or ashamed; I just face these comments honestly and naturally; and then, I just be myself.

Singing has now changed from a hobby and a way to relieve stress to my job. Can it become a real profession?

I don’t know, and I’m not sure how long this current situation can last. So, I cherish every opportunity to perform on stage.

Searching for sheet music, practicing new songs, and academic work take up a lot of my time. After officially announcing me as a member of Ran Mian Yu , Jack also gave me permission to manage the fan page. Not only that, but he also apologized, saying, “You won’t be able to truly participate in the production of the first album from start to finish.” I actually don’t mind this, as I haven’t signed any record or management contracts like them; and compared to becoming famous, I still prefer singing happily and joyfully.

I still click on her fan page, especially needing to listen to her voice at least once every night before falling asleep!

No update today, either.

I can’t help but feel a little disappointed, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it.

Until someone posted a news link under her most recent post—three weeks ago, she’d never gone this long without an update before—it immediately garnered hundreds of likes, but there were even more responses below.

Her not updating is one thing. I was so happy busy with my own things a while ago that when I came back to reality, I realized… she hadn’t updated and hadn’t contacted me?

Climbing, climbing Mount Everest… does it take a full three weeks?

What exactly is this news?

Somehow, an ominous feeling suddenly arose in my heart—I clicked it open, finding that the news was posted two weeks ago, from a well-known news website.

“Massive Avalanche on the Mount Everest Route in Nepal…” I only saw the headline, and my heart instantly nearly stopped!

No way… When did it happen? This avalanche… I hastily scanned over the terrifying words like “earthquake,” “the power of the avalanche…” and “over a dozen people killed”… The report claimed the avalanche occurred on October 24th.

That was the sixth day after Siki departed.

The sixth day… Six days surely isn’t enough to complete a summit attempt and return safely, right? Right? Is that what this means?

Wiping away my tears, I frantically used keywords to search for other recent news about Mount Everest! Whether in English or Chinese…

The reliability of this fact, confirmed by every search result, only made me feel more desperate.

I returned to the fan page and carefully read every comment below the news link!

Some people were already lamenting why Chu ran into such a thing, while others reprimanded, saying, “The news hasn’t been confirmed, so don’t speak carelessly, okay?” But the responses they got were, “Then have you seen Chu not update for three whole weeks?” and “It’s a shame… my favorite backpacker, a great beauty,” and so on.

“Mount Everest is indeed very dangerous,” “Please let this not be true!” “Someone must know where Little Chu is, right?” Various speculations were flying around, and some people had even started an event to “Gather strength to cheer for Chu.”

‘I’m here, I miss you so much. Please wait for me to return to your side. I will keep my promise.’

I recalled the one line from that video I listen to every day.

I turned off the screen, grabbed my phone, and immediately called Tao Yi’an!