The next morning, after having breakfast at Yu Qian’s grandparents’ house, Yu Qian and the others, took Yu Hui and Yu Zhi, the sibling pair, and headed out carrying sickles and baskets.

To make sure Jiang Zheng and the others didn’t feel like they had come for nothing, Yu Qian planned to take them hiking.

It was mid-August and the mountains were filled with ripe fruits and produce. Among them was the yellow raspberry, Yu Qian’s childhood favorite. Unfortunately, she could no longer remember where to find them, so she had to rely on Yu Hui and Yu Zhi to lead the way.

Yu Qian’s hometown was a small town, and after walking for about twenty minutes from home, they arrived at the outskirts of the mountain forest.

Jiang Zheng glanced at Yu Qian, who was dressed like a country girl, and found her quite adorable. Unable to resist, he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of her.

Lin Niannian, slightly out of breath, trailed behind them, wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat and covering herself from head to toe. Though a little exhausted, her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Bai Qiming followed behind Lin Niannian to make sure she wouldn’t trip and get hurt.

Their destination was a moderately steep hillside. Of course, it wasn’t considered steep for Yu Qian and her cousins, but Lin Niannian had never climbed such an untouched mountain before.

After all, in the capital, the land was flat as far as the eye could see, with no hills in sight. The places they usually visited were either abroad, famous scenic spots, or private estates. Even the mountains they climbed during childhood summer camps weren’t this challenging.

Halfway up the mountain, Yu Qian noticed that Lin Niannian was struggling to walk any further, so she simply stopped and let everyone take a break.

Bai Qiming naturally reached into the basket on Jiang Zheng’s back and handed Lin Niannian a bottle of water.

“What’s this? Can we eat it?” Jiang Zheng held a bright red fruit in his hand and asked.

“You can try.” Yu Qian said with a mischievous smile. But she hadn’t expected Jiang Zheng to take her words seriously and bring the fruit toward his mouth. Startled, she immediately grabbed his hand.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? You dare eat something you don’t recognize?” Yu Qian scolded, exasperated.

Jiang Zheng was still reveling in the small joy of Yu Qian holding his hand. Unbothered, he replied, “I was just going to taste it, not swallow it.”

Yu Qian rolled her eyes, unwilling to argue with this ignorant guy.

Along the way, whenever they encountered familiar wild fruits, Yu Qian would explain them and pick some for the group to taste.

Finally, as they neared their destination, Yu Qian spotted clusters of golden yellow from a distance. Her face lit up with excitement and she quickened her pace toward them.

“Is this yellow raspberry?” Lin Niannian eyed the yellow, nail-sized berries growing in the waist-high thorn bushes, skeptical of their taste.

Yu Hui and Yu Zhi had already started picking them, tossing some directly into their mouths as they did.

Yu Qian plucked one and held it to Lin Niannian’s lips. Lin Niannian took a bite, and her eyes instantly brightened.

It was sweet and tangy, bursting with juice— delicious!

Without hesitation, Lin Niannian joined the picking crew.

Bai Qiming frowned slightly at the thorny bushes everywhere but didn’t stop Lin Niannian. Instead, he reached out to pull away any branches that nearly snagged her.

Jiang Zheng stood close to Yu Qian, picking the higher-up yellow raspberries for her. Every time he gathered a handful, he placed them in the small box in her hands.

“Sis! There are white berries over there!” In another patch of yellow raspberry, Yu Hui suddenly spotted small white dots on the ground and excitedly shouted.

Yu Qian, thrilled, wanted to rush over immediately, but just as she stood up, her hair got caught in the thorns.

“Hiss—” Yu Qian winced as pain shot through her scalp.

“Don’t move, don’t move.” Jiang Zheng quickly set down the yellow raspberries and carefully helped untangle her hair. As his hands brushed against her head from time to time, Yu Qian felt her face growing warm.

The moment her hair was freed, she turned and fled.

She squatted down near the white berry bushes and called Lin Niannian over.

Lin Niannian stared at the tiny, strawberry-like fruits and muttered, “They look like white strawberries.”

“They are wild white strawberries.” Yu Qian replied absentmindedly.

Hearing that, Lin Niannian couldn’t resist picking a few and trying them. The ones that weren’t fully ripe were a bit sour, but the fully ripe ones had a distinct milky fragrance and were incredibly sweet— even tastier than the yellow raspberries!

Excited as a child, Lin Niannian picked fruit enthusiastically, and in the end, it was Yu Qian who had to urge her to leave.

“Picking so many is pointless, they’ll spoil by tomorrow.” Yu Qian explained, looking at Lin Niannian’s overflowing container.

Lin Niannian hadn’t realized that. She had wanted to bring some back for her parents and brother to taste.

In the end, she reluctantly left the mountain with the group.

When they returned to the Yu family’s house, they were greeted with another feast.

“Little Girl, eat more. Look at how thin you are.” Grandma Yu pushed a plate of meat toward Lin Niannian, urging her to eat.

To the elders, Lin Niannian looked way too skinny— like she was malnourished.

Lin Niannian felt suffocated under the special attention. She shot a desperate look at the others for help, but even Bai Qiming kept his head down, unwilling to come to her rescue.

Bai Qiming had always hoped Lin Niannian would eat more. Now that someone else was making sure she did, why would he ruin it? That said, he still planned to buy her some digestive tablets later.

Yu Qian and the others stayed in her hometown for three days. When it was time to leave, Grandma Yu packed a large amount of food for them and sent them off to the station with great reluctance.

This time, instead of heading straight to the airport, Yu Qian went to the city and spent an extra day with Wang Jiajia and the others before returning to the capital.

The moment she got back, Lin Niannian immediately pulled out a scale. To her horror, she discovered she had gained two kilograms!

This result delighted everyone— except Lin Niannian.

────ρя


With the new school year approaching, Yu Qian began preparing her dormitory essentials. Freshmen at Peking University were required to live on campus for their first year.

Moreover, the university was quite far from the Bai family’s house. Even if she were allowed to live off-campus, Yu Qian didn’t want to waste over two hours commuting every day.

With two college students in the house, Bai Jin and Wang Hui wanted to take time off work to personally send them to school, but both Yu Qian and Bai Qiming refused.

In the end, the two rode together with Jiang Zheng and Lin Niannian in one car to Peking University.

────ρя


“Which department are you two from? I’m a sophomore. I can show you around.” A senior in a red shirt enthusiastically greeted Yu Qian and Lin Niannian as soon as they got out of the car.

Before they could answer, Jiang Zheng pulled them behind him and smirked at the other party. “Senior, don’t you think you’re being a little biased? Why don’t you ask which department I’m from?”

The senior’s smile froze. Who wanted to ask a guy? But seeing the unfriendly expressions on both Jiang Zheng and Bai Qiming, he mumbled a few words and quickly turned to find other freshmen girls.

“Hmph.” Jiang Zheng snorted at the retreating senior before turning to Bai Qiming. “Let’s take them to their dorms first.”

Bai Qiming nodded, clearly not in the best mood either.

On the way, two more seniors tried to approach the two girls, making Jiang Zheng and Bai Qiming’s expressions even darker.

Since Lin Niannian and Yu Qian’s dorms were in different buildings, Jiang Zheng and Bai Qiming split up, each escorting one of them.

“Room 303. Little Fish, this is your dorm.” Jiang Zheng said, pulling Yu Qian’s suitcase into the room ahead of her.

Yu Qian followed him inside and found that a girl had already arrived. She was looking at Jiang Zheng with curiosity.