“You only need me.”
Suddenly losing her balance, Song Chan quickly grabbed Zhong Lingyu’s neck. Zhong Lingyu stood up and smoothly carried her on his back.
Song Chan realized she was on Zhong Lingyu’s back and froze, her previously cold face rapidly warming.
She felt the warmth of Zhong Lingyu’s back, warm as a branding iron; she touched his broad, strong bones, filled with a reassuring strength; the unique scent emanating from his clothes or skin gently and deeply enveloped her.
“From the foot of the mountain to here, it’s not even six thousand steps.”
“How come you’re so tired? It shows how lacking in exercise you are.”
“I didn’t know you disliked exercise so much.”
Song Chan didn’t answer, making it seem like Zhong Lingyu was talking to himself, but he didn’t seem to mind this one-sided conversation, displaying surprising tolerance and patience.
“I’ll bring you out often from now on, don’t even think about objecting, objections are invalid.”
Song Chan clenched her fingers, her palms sweating profusely.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to answer Zhong Lingyu, but… she was so nervous. Like an insignificant blade of grass on warm soil, she curled up, overwhelmed with gratitude.
In the silent mountain forest, Song Chan could hear Zhong Lingyu’s breathing beside her ear. As they climbed higher, he exhaled warm breath, which condensed into a small white mist in the cold air.
“Look.”
Zhong Lingyu suddenly stopped.
Song Chan belatedly snapped out of her reverie by looking at Zhong Lingyu’s profile and following his gaze, and saw a small pavilion ahead.
“Where is this?”
“This is the mountaintop, silly.”
“The mountaintop!?” Song Chan looked back in surprise. “It’s only about 500 meters from where I rested!”
Zhong Lingyu continued forward. “500 meters? It’s just around the corner, probably not even 500 meters.”
Upon reaching the pavilion, Zhong Lingyu put Song Chan down.
Her feet hadn’t hurt much while walking, and she’d rested on Zhong Lingyu’s back for a while, but now that her feet were on the ground, the pain almost made her lose her balance.
Seeing Song Chan swaying, Zhong Lingyu’s previously serious expression vanished, and she finally laughed. She naturally put her arm around Song Chan’s shoulder and led her to sit by the railing.
“Look at you, you’ve really ruined your feet in just a short while.”
Zhong Lingyu teased, squatting down in front of Song Chan and gently massaging her ankles.
Song Chan was startled, but forgot to pull her foot back. She noticed that Zhong Lingyu, while doing this, seemed completely focused, his eyes lowered, as if his mind were utterly free of distractions, his only concern being her poor, swollen ankle. Moreover, his movements were practiced and effortless, without a trace of deliberate effort.
A moment later, Zhong Lingyu stood up, gazing into the distance, massaging his aching shoulders and neck. “Song Chan, look behind you.”
Song Chan turned her head and saw a city, peaceful and serene amidst the hazy sky and the first lights of dusk, bathed in a vast expanse of mist.
Her heart felt like it had been lit.
“I never knew Liquid City was so beautiful.”
“Remember that problem you were struggling with on Friday? Conic functions?”
“Huh? Why did the topic change so quickly?”
Song Chan was clearly still reeling from the shock of seeing such a beautiful sight.
Zhong Lingyu had already taken out his tablet from his bag, lit up a blank page, and quickly wrote down the problem, the conditions word for word.
“Try this problem again.”
Song Chan’s shoulders slumped, pleading, “But I don’t want to do it now.”
Zhong Lingyu’s expression turned serious again. She shook her head at her, just as ruthless as when she forced her to climb the mountain.
Song Chan muttered, “I don’t understand. When I wanted to study, you wouldn’t let me come down the mountain. Now that I finally want to enjoy the scenery, you make me study.”
Despite saying this, Song Chan still thought about it very seriously.
Song Chan had looked at the correct answer to this problem many times, but she still didn’t understand why it had to be done that way.
When she picked up her pen, Song Chan felt a little timid.
She steeled herself, summoning the courage she had had when she was climbing the mountain, and forged ahead.
Then, as she wrote, she discovered that she had actually successfully applied the formula. The foggy path seemed to suddenly become clear. Song Chan straightened her back, her eyes brightened, her writing speed increased, and an indescribable excitement boiled within her. She wrote down the correct answer without a doubt.
Looking at the long list of steps, Song Chan exclaimed in disbelief, “Zhong Lingyu, I actually solved it! But how did I suddenly understand the solution’s logic?”
Zhong Lingyu, resting her chin on her hand, seemed genuinely pleased with her, her eyes crinkling like crescent moons. “Do you feel a sense of exhilaration, as if you’ve surveyed all the mountains below?”
Song Chan looked down at the distant city below. “Not quite a panoramic view, but I definitely feel refreshed.” She took a deep breath. “I think I know why my thinking suddenly became so clear.”
A chilly evening breeze blew, but Song Chan didn’t feel cold. She even childishly felt a surge of excitement.
“Get close to nature, broaden your horizons, and change your mindset.”
“Didn’t you know these things before?” Lost in the night, Zhong Lingyu spoke slowly. “No, you didn’t know. Someone must have told you long ago to go out more when you’re feeling down. But you always stubbornly brooded over the headaches from studying, forcing yourself to be like an ascetic. As if only through torment could you endure hardship and rise above others.”
“Achieving something is indeed not easy, but that doesn’t mean you have to deliberately suffer.”
“Climbing mountains makes you feel like you’re wasting time, but isn’t the time you spend mentally drained even shorter?”
Song Chan murmured to herself, “I can’t liberate myself, and it seems I don’t want to.”
Zhong Lingyu looked intently into Song Chan’s eyes, perhaps prepared to listen to her woes, but Song Chan, who had never been good at expressing herself, remained silent.
Zhong Lingyu pointed at the dazed Song Chan, gesturing for her to look towards the corner diagonally behind her. There, a streetlamp stood quietly, casting a warm glow in the peaceful night atop the mountain.
However, Zhong Lingyu didn’t want Song Chan to look at the streetlamp, but rather at the intersection.
“Just like how you were exhausted and didn’t want to walk anymore, but the summit was actually less than 500 meters ahead of you, success is the same. When you’re feeling down and gloomy, a turning point might be just around the next corner. People usually don’t realize that they’re actually incredibly close to success.”
Song Chan: “Do you think I’m close to success? But you can see, my level is still far below the class average in math.”
Zhong Lingyu: “Just half an hour ago, you were worried, not only unable to solve the problems, but you couldn’t even understand the suggested answers. But now you’ve written down the answers on your own without consciously memorizing them. Isn’t that success? Half an hour is nothing, just the time it takes to eat a meal. Do you know what this means?”
Song Chan: “What does it mean?”
Zhong Lingyu: “It means you actually have potential that you haven’t even seen yourself.”
Song Chan was stunned.
Zhong Lingyu smiled, “Your efforts may not yield immediate results, but every step you take will be worthwhile; they will definitely help you at some point in the future.”
Song Chan remained silent for a long while before softly humming in agreement, the meaning of which was unclear.
As she seemed lost in thought, a photograph appeared before her. “This is… my exam paper?”
Zhong Lingyu crossed his arms. “Yes, after you left on Friday, I analyzed your math paper.”
Looking at the densely packed analysis of the photograph, Song Chan was deeply impressed. “You actually went to this much; I don’t even know what to say now.”
Zhong Lingyu said seriously, “So you think I only offer empty platitudes? I’ve done a lot of real work.” He added, “So you’re only one step away from success—me.”
Song Chan squatted down for a moment, then chuckled, “Are you serious about that, haha?”
Song Chan’s mood had improved considerably; Zhong Lingyu’s words of encouragement had given her a sense of clarity.
Seeing that Song Chan was no longer upset, Zhong Lingyu breathed a sigh of relief, a relaxed smile spreading across his face. “Serious, yet not serious.”
Song Chan seemed to suddenly realize something, a question arising in her mind: “Right, didn’t you say math was hard and you couldn’t do it? But judging from your notes, it doesn’t seem like that’s true.”
Zhong Lingyu had almost forgotten his pretense of being a poor student. “Just slightly better than you, I can occasionally teach you.”
Although Song Chan was happy, she still couldn’t accept Zhong Lingyu’s kindness: “I’ve already troubled you enough; how could I possibly delay your studies?”
Zhong Lingyu pretended to think, resting his chin on his hand: “I should be able to finish my studies before evening self-study ends, then I can study with you when we get home.”
Song Chan seemed to have heard something incredible: “Why can we study together when we get home? Zhong Lingyu, are you going to live at my house from now on?!”
Zhong Lingyu added, “You live across the hall.”
Song Chan took a deep breath, unsure how to react.
Living so close to Zhong Lingyu, just thinking about it made her anxious and flustered!
When Song Chan returned home, it was already dark, and a light rain was falling.
A little while later, Song Qing returned, soaking wet, missing a front tooth, and looking at Song Chan with a resentful expression: “Where did you go?”
Song Chan: “I should be asking you where you went! Why are you back even later than me?”
Song Qing stood in front of Song Chan: “You’ve been with Zhong Lingyu until now?”
Song Chan seemed to remember something, and a smile appeared on her face: “We went to the mountain to study.”
Song Qing looked at Song Chan with some suspicion, but sensing that Song Chan wasn’t lying, he turned and went to the bedroom with relief.
Song Chan grabbed Song Qing, “You still haven’t told me where you went! Your wound hasn’t healed yet; catching a cold could easily lead to a chronic illness.”
Song Qing hesitated. How could he explain that he had actually been following Song Chan?
He climbed halfway up the mountain, but suddenly got hungry. Unable to bear it any longer, he went down to eat a bowl of noodles. After eating, he continued climbing, but halfway up again, his stomach suddenly started hurting. Unable to bear it any longer, he went to the restroom. After coming out, he climbed a little further, but his stomach started to hurt again, so he went down and ate another bowl of noodles… Song Qing’s excellent digestive system prevented him from reaching the summit.
Seeing that Song Qing wasn’t speaking, Song Chan took out her phone and saw that Song Qing’s step count was 30,000 steps. “Did you go on a long walk? I only took a little over 10,000 steps in total. Where did you get 30,000 steps?”
The only reason for 20,000 extra steps on the same mountain could be that the person is going back and forth…
Thinking about what had just happened, Song Qing felt a toothache. “Ugh, ugh.”
Song Chan felt her brother was acting strangely, but after a moment’s thought, she realized her brother had never really been normal.
She didn’t suspect anything further, tidied up the house, and went out to take out the trash.
The old man at the convenience store in the building said the trash cans had been moved to the alley. As Song Chan headed towards the alley, a chill ran down her spine.
The quiet alley was uneven, with puddles everywhere, making it difficult to walk. The overhead light illuminated the fine, thread-like raindrops. Song Chan looked up for a moment, blinked her wet eyelashes, and then continued walking.
Suddenly, Song Chan heard hurried footsteps. She turned around nervously and saw someone standing behind her. Startled, she covered her mouth.
Recognizing the person, she was relieved she hadn’t screamed. “Liang Zhuo, are you here to take out the trash too?”
Liang Zhuo didn’t speak. His expression seemed different than usual. His short hair was soaked through, and his clothes looked like they could be wrung out; he had either just finished strenuous exercise or had been standing in the rain for a long time.
Song Chan felt a pang of regret and forced a dry laugh. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”
She turned around, bewildered, when Liang Zhuo suddenly grabbed her arm. Startled, she turned back to see that Liang Zhuo’s eyes were red-rimmed. “Song Chan…”
Liang Zhuo called her name hoarsely, his tear-filled eyes twitching uncontrollably, seemingly consumed by grief. “Be careful of the people around you, be very careful!”
Song Chan was completely disoriented. “What? What do you mean by that?”
Liang Zhuo suddenly pressed his temples, his eyes losing their luster. He struggled to speak, “There’s still a time, you must be careful… the end of October… especially the end of October… hiss…”
“What are you talking about? What about the end of October?”
Song Chan tried to stop Liang Zhuo, to get an explanation, but Liang Zhuo seemed to be in unbearable pain. He forcefully broke free from Song Chan, turned, and ran into the rainy alley, quickly disappearing from sight.
Song Chan stared at the dark, deserted alley, a chill running down her spine. xee