Chuxia took several sips of water and nodded, “Let’s go.”

At first, the path up the mountain wasn’t difficult, but as they climbed higher, it became increasingly exhausting.

Chuxia soon found herself physically drained.

However, since she had insisted on climbing, she simply wiped the sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief and gritted her teeth to continue.

Cen Zhengnian suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm: “Let’s take a break.”

Saying this, he cleaned a flat stone by the roadside with a handkerchief and let Chuxia sit down.

“Do you want some water?”

As soon as they started climbing, Cen Zhengnian had taken the water from her, so aside from her own supplies, she wasn’t carrying any extra weight.

“Yes!”

Chuxia felt her throat was particularly dry. In her previous life, she had no problems climbing the mountain to collect herbs; she hadn’t expected that while her willpower remained strong, her body was failing her this time.

She usually did some simple exercises, going for walks and practicing Five Animal Frolics with Cen Zhengnian every evening, but none of that seemed to reflect in her stamina while climbing the mountain.

After drinking half a bottle of water, Cen Zhengnian handed her a rice ball from his bag. Chuxia hesitated for a moment but eventually took it and ate.

“I just consumed too much energy; I need to replenish it.”

“I know.” Cen Zhengnian tucked her stray hair behind her ear: “Eat slowly; there’s no rush.”

“Are you going to eat?” The rice ball had been made that morning, and it was still somewhat warm.

Cen Zhengnian leaned over and took a bite from the rice ball, leaving Chuxia with more than half.

“It tastes good,” he said.

Chuxia looked at the small piece of rice ball left, raised her head to look at Cen Zhengnian, and said, “There’s more in the bag; please get me another one.”

However, she didn’t finish the rice ball and ended up feeding it to Cen Zhengnian.

As they were eating and drinking, other climbers passed by and couldn’t help but glance at the two of them.

Chuxia had long since become indifferent to others’ gazes, and Cen Zhengnian didn’t mind the scrutiny from strangers either.

They continued climbing only after ensuring that Chuxia had rested enough.

The mountain wasn’t very high. Initially, Chuxia had worried about whether she could make it to the top, but after resting and walking a bit, along with Cen Zhengnian supporting her, they actually reached the summit.

Standing on the mountaintop, looking down, there was no sense of being on top of the world because this mountain was the shortest among the surrounding peaks; everywhere they looked, there were taller mountains.

However, the air up there was indeed fresh, and they could hear various pleasant birdsongs.

Arriving at the top just in time for noon, Cen Zhengnian found a clear spot, laid out a floral cloth from his bag, and set out the remaining food and drinks before looking up.

At that moment, Chuxia was standing not far away, facing the wind.

The breeze tousled her hair, and her clothes billowed, making her appear as if she were about to take flight.

Cen Zhengnian’s heart tightened: “Chuxia!”

His voice trembled slightly, sounding a bit anxious.

Chuxia turned around, flashing a big smile at Cen Zhengnian as she jogged over, and the previous tension melted away.

Cen Zhengnian’s wildly beating heart gradually calmed down.

“You’ve set everything up! I want to eat ‘Donkey Rolling’.”

Cen Zhengnian scooped some ‘Donkey Rolling’ into a small bowl for her.

Chuxia sat opposite Cen Zhengnian, leaning closer and opening her mouth: “Feed me.”

Cen Zhengnian brought the bowl to her lips: “It’s a bit big, don’t eat it all in one bite.”

“Mm-hmm.” Chuxia took a bite, and the soft, sweet flavor of ‘Donkey Rolling’ instantly satisfied her taste buds.

“So good,” she said, her words slightly slurred.

Cen Zhengnian replied, “Let me have a taste.”

Then, naturally, he popped the remaining half of the ‘Donkey Rolling’ into the corner of his mouth, nodding with a slight smile: “It really is delicious.”

Chuxia’s eyes turned into crescent moons as she reached for the rice ball again to eat.

It was difficult to start a fire on the mountain, so the food Chuxia prepared was all ready to eat.

Some climbers, not as well-prepared as the two of them, looked at them enjoying their food with envy in their eyes.

Among them were couples hiking together; one woman even pinched her husband.

“I told you to bring some food; you said it was heavy. Now look, you’re just watching others eat! Useless!”

After saying this, she angrily stomped down the mountain, and the man quickly chased after her.

Chuxia and Cen Zhengnian, who were not far away, heard the conversation but were completely unaffected; their eating actions didn’t pause at all.

Chuxia hadn’t prepared a large quantity of food, just enough for herself and Cen Zhengnian, so they finished their meal quickly, and the soda was also gone, leaving a lot of space in the backpack.

What embarrassed Chuxia was that she suddenly felt the urge to use the restroom, but there were no facilities at the summit.

She bit her lip, her face reddening, and leaned closer to Cen Zhengnian, whispering in his ear.

After saying this, she felt even more embarrassed, her face growing even hotter.

Cen Zhengnian had already packed everything up; he stood up, pulled Chuxia up, and said, “I’ll go with you.”

In a place away from others, hidden behind a tall tree and some grass, Cen Zhengnian let Chuxia go to the restroom.

Chuxia felt a bit embarrassed and asked him to step back.

“I can’t walk far if I’m facing away from you; it’s not safe on the mountain.”

There was no one around, and they could still hear some animal sounds in the mountains.

Chuxia knew that Cen Zhengnian was worried about her, and she couldn’t help it; she stopped dwelling on it.

Once they were done, Chuxia’s face was as red as a tomato; she thought Cen Zhengnian must have heard the sounds.

Cen Zhengnian touched her face: “Wait for me a moment; I need to take care of some physical needs too.”

Chuxia felt less embarrassed since she wasn’t the only one going to the bathroom.

When Cen Zhengnian came out, he asked Chuxia to pour some water from the kettle for him to wash his hands, and she washed hers as well.

They had enjoyed the mountain scenery enough, so they began their descent.

Going down the mountain was even harder than climbing up.

Chuxia felt as though her legs didn’t belong to her anymore, and for the rest of the journey, she completely hung onto Cen Zhengnian.

Cen Zhengnian wanted to carry her, but Chuxia refused. However, hanging on like that wasn’t much less tiring than being carried.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Cen Zhengnian surprisingly looked fine; Chuxia didn’t feel like he was tired at all.

She sat in the car and reached over to touch Cen Zhengnian’s arm: “I’ve never seen you work out much; how do you have muscles?”

Cen Zhengnian was drinking water, and a smile appeared in his eyes when he heard her: “I don’t just sit in the lab.”

Some of their experimental work involved heavy labor, and without strength, it couldn’t be done. Plus, he would run when he had time, but because Chuxia got up late, she never knew when he returned.

“Let’s go home; I’m so tired I just want to sleep.”

Chuxia said as she lightly punched her legs.

Even though she was exhausted, Chuxia still enjoyed today’s hiking trip. She took out the camera she had brought and flipped through the photos one by one.

Most of them were taken by Cen Zhengnian; his skills were quite good, honed over the years by Chuxia.

Since buying the camera, whenever they went out to take pictures, she would teach Cen Zhengnian a few things, and Cen Huai’an learned too.

He didn’t learn much, but he could at least take photos that weren’t a total disaster, which made Chuxia very satisfied.

As she looked through the pictures, she couldn’t help but smile.

She had already thought about how to print these photos and put them in an album.

After a while, Chuxia yawned; she was truly exhausted, so she put the camera on the back seat.

“I want to take a nap.”

Cen Zhengnian said, “Go ahead and sleep; cover yourself with your coat, and I’ll wake you when we get home.”

---

Cen Huai’an and Zhang Lu were also having a great time in the mountains.

On the first day of hiking, the group was in their prime physically.

Even the girls, who lacked strength, had the boys to help them, and in the end, they all made it to the top of the mountain.

They stood at the summit, shouting their dreams towards the towering mountains across from them. Some even confessed their feelings out loud while others cheered them on.

Some were in love, and two couples actually got together.

Tang Song looked at the opposite side, opened his mouth, glanced at Zhang Lu, then closed it again.

Zhang Lu had just shouted that she wanted to be a pilot, the best pilot in Huaguo, when she noticed Tang Song had been silent.

She smiled at him: “Tang Song, you should shout too! It feels really good; it’s like all the pressure is gone.”

Tang Song opened his mouth and finally just shouted, “I want to go to Jinghua!”

Cen Huai’an refused to shout and ignored Zhang Lu, who called him several times: “I’m going to walk over there.”

The others took turns shouting the universities they wanted to attend, while Cen Huai’an glanced at them and walked over to an ancient temple that no longer had any monks.

The temple gate was closed, and it looked quite dilapidated with only two rooms.

Cen Huai’an seemed to think of something, putting his hands together and sincerely bowing three times at the temple.

After descending the mountain, the group of teenagers became even wilder.

They barbecued, sang, and played truth or dare games in the villa, even drinking together.

Having graduated, they all felt grown up, as if to counter the restrained selves of their past, letting loose and having fun.

Of course, they only played within acceptable limits and didn’t go overboard.

After drinking, everyone returned to their respective rooms to sleep.

Cen Huai’an wasn’t allowed to drink because he was still underage; he only had drinks and juices.

In the end, he was the only one still sober, helping the housekeeper send everyone to their rooms to sleep.

He even checked on the girls in the middle of the night to ensure they were alright, and he also looked in on the boys.

He had learned from Chuxia that alcohol could be toxic, and if someone felt like vomiting in the middle of the night, it might block their esophagus.

Fortunately, everything was fine. The next day, Cen Huai’an told Zhang Lu that they hadn’t gotten as crazy with the drinking.

They spent three whole days enjoying themselves in the villa area, playing tennis, swimming in the pool, and watching movies in the dedicated movie room, opening everyone’s eyes to new experiences.