The closet was stuffed full of clothes, all of which Dad had asked Yang Le to buy.

As he went downstairs, Xie Ci caught a glimpse of Dad taking Xiao Fang for a walk in the garden through the floor-to-ceiling glass. Last night, Xiao Fang had been sound asleep on his bed, pressing down on his legs, but when he woke up in the morning, the little guy was nowhere to be found.

“Dad, so early?”

Xie Ci patted the little Fang that pounced on him, noticing that he looked a bit haggard. “Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?”

“Can’t sleep, I’m used to it.”

Xie Qian didn’t say much more and turned to Xie Ci, “You don’t have class today, right? Up so early, going for morning exercise?”

Xie Ci mentioned the group activity, and Xie Qian immediately offered to drive him there. He had originally planned to take the bus, but suddenly being driven there meant they arrived at the meeting point twenty minutes early, and there wasn’t a single person around.

Not long after, a familiar Land Rover stopped in front of him, and a tall boy with slightly messy hair and bleary eyes got out of the back seat.

“The morning sun is so glaring.”

Gu Yu Feng saw Xie Ci sitting by the flower bed eating breakfast and walked over, tossing his backpack onto the ground before sitting down next to him. “Can’t we go hiking at noon? Why set such an early time?”

“Have you eaten?”

Xie Ci handed over the bag he was holding.

“Soup dumplings?”

Gu Yu Feng took one and stuffed it into his mouth, finding it quite good, then grabbed another. “This is the first time I’ve seen you buy this. Isn’t it better than that street vendor?”

Xie Ci replied, “This shop has been popular since I was a kid, always has long lines. If you go late, there won’t be any left. Usually, when I’m in a hurry, I can’t even buy it.”

Hearing him mention “when I was a kid,” Gu Yu Feng paused slightly, glanced at the “Fu Ji Xiao Long Bao” printed on the bag, and turned to ask, “You’ve loved this shop’s soup dumplings since you were little?”

“Can’t say I love it, but if I don’t eat it for a long time, I’ll miss it.”

Seeing that Gu Yu Feng liked it, Xie Ci placed the bag between them. He couldn’t help but glance at Gu Yu Feng’s hair sticking up and reached out, but it was dodged.

“Trying to sneak attack me?” Gu Yu Feng looked alert.

Xie Ci felt a bit helpless: “You think I’m you? Your hair is sticking up.”

Gu Yu Feng lowered his head slightly, still holding the soup dumpling, allowing Xie Ci to help him fix it.

Being close, he could smell the shower gel and the scent of laundry detergent lingering on Xie Ci’s clothes, which was completely different from what he remembered.

It was rare for Gu Yu Feng to be so obedient. Sometimes Xie Ci felt that this kid’s “beastly” side could overpower his “human” side, just like as long as you fed him well, he would let you do whatever you wanted, like a feline creature.

After eating a few soup dumplings, Gu Yu Feng’s mind finally cleared up a bit, and he suddenly realized, “Did you just grab the soup dumpling with your hand? Did you wipe your hands?”

Xie Ci deliberately replied, “No, I forgot.”

Gu Yu Feng distanced himself in disgust: “I just washed my hair, and now it’s all greasy because of you.”

Xie Ci looked at his head with a serious expression: “A whiff of soup dumpling aroma, isn’t that nice?”

Gu Yu Feng cursed under his breath and tilted his head to rub against Xie Ci.

“Don’t rub your face on me.”

“You deserve it.”

“Such a good relationship, so early in the morning, all ‘sweet nothings’.” Zhang Ruo Chuan walked over with a grin to greet them.

Xie Ci looked over: “Where’s Old Fang?”

Zhang Ruo Chuan replied, “He went with Old Jiang to arrange the vehicles, they’ll be here soon.”

As the time for gathering approached, students began to arrive one after another.

The previously quiet open space suddenly became lively.

Soon, two large buses drove over, and Fang Si Ze got off to call out names one by one, signaling them to board.

The number of participants for the activity eventually increased to thirty-five, mostly from the school basketball team, soccer team, and cheerleading squad, like a joint team-building event.

As they boarded the bus, Jiang Chen Yu nudged Zhang Ruo Chuan and pointed to the back bus with a sly smile, “Your girlfriend got on that bus, aren’t you going to join her?”

“Not yet!”

Zhang Ruo Chuan quickly covered his mouth, sneaking a glance back, his ears turning red from shyness. “Don’t mention this in front of her, got it?!”

Jiang Chen Yu swatted his hand away: “With your level of courage, if you had even a fraction of Old Gu’s success, you would have already won her over.”

Zhang Ruo Chuan: “… The problem is I don’t have that.”

The bus headed towards Qiming Mountain, taking about half an hour.

A group of boys came out like they were going on a field trip, excited and singing along the way, making a ruckus.

Gu Yu Feng took off his jacket and covered his head, falling into a deep sleep. Xie Ci, who wasn’t originally tired, started to feel drowsy as well, infected by him.

“Hey, isn’t your team’s power forward Wang Hao coming?” a boy from the back seat of the soccer team asked.

Zhang Ruo Chuan was busy distributing snacks and casually replied, “Haozi seems really busy, hasn’t even come to training, haven’t seen him in a while.”

The soccer team boy asked, “Aren’t you in the same class?”

Zhang Ruo Chuan replied, “He’s in Class Three.”

Fang Si Ze had communicated with the camping base manager and answered, “Haozi has some family matters recently, he might be busy for a while.”

The bus stopped at the foot of the mountain at the distribution center, taking another route into the mountain, heading straight to the camping base.

After they got off the bus, they started hiking up the mountain.

Qiming Mountain is a five-A scenic area in Blue Sea City, featuring typical flow rock volcanic landforms, with spectacular peaks and strange rocks.

Xie Ci saw Gu Yu Feng looking for angles to take pictures of the mountain scenery with his DSLR and stopped to wait for him. “You have a hobby for photography?”

Gu Yu Feng turned around and snapped a picture of Xie Ci with the lens.

“Is it strange?”

Xie Ci didn’t find it strange; he just thought it was a bit new since he had never seen Gu Yu Feng mess around with a camera in his past life, nor had he ever heard him mention wanting to go outdoor photography.

Gu Yu Feng checked the photo he had just taken and gestured for Xie Ci to catch up. “But I haven’t taken pictures in a long time, too busy, no time.”

They followed the crowd, walking up the mountain path.

Xie Ci chatted casually, “A long time? How long?”

“More than ten…”

Gu Yu Feng started to say but suddenly snapped back to reality, changing his words at the last moment, “More than ten months.”

“More than ten months is over a year, right?”

Xie Ci looked at him curiously, “Your Mandarin level needs improvement.”

“Do you want to tutor me?”

Gu Yu Feng was in a good mood, smiling as he teased him, “I’ll allow you to climb into my bed at midnight and whisper ancient texts in my ear.”

Xie Ci: “… I don’t have such a perverted hobby.”

The excitement of the group of boys hadn’t faded by noon. They found a flat spot to rest, casually ate some food, and then set off again.

It was sunny when they started climbing, but by the middle of the mountain, it turned cloudy, and not only did the wind pick up, but it also started to drizzle.

“What the hell is this weather? Didn’t the weather forecast say it wouldn’t rain today?” someone in the team complained.

“Should have brought a raincoat.”

“What if it gets heavier? We’ve already walked more than halfway, it’s not like we can go up or down.”

“Going back halfway would be so disappointing.”

“I don’t want to go back like this! I heard that camping base is really fun.”

“There’s still sun down the mountain, look!” A boy in the team pointed down the mountain, “It might clear up soon.”

But the rain only got heavier.

The mountain path began to accumulate water, mixed with wild-growing weeds and moss, making it very slippery. Gu Yu Feng turned around and saw that some girls in the back of the line had already fallen.

With the physical exertion, the girls were already supporting each other, gritting their teeth to hold on, their legs trembling, making it easy for something to go wrong.

Gu Yu Feng was considering whether to suggest stopping to wait for the rain to stop when suddenly a jacket was draped over his head.

“Old Fang, Old Zhang, come over here, the captain of the soccer team is over there, let’s go to the back.”

Xie Ci took out a rope from his bag and turned to the people in front, “Keep moving forward slowly, don’t block the way, communicate if there are any issues.”

The named people replied, “Okay!”

The rain kept pouring, and Xie Ci’s black short-sleeve shirt quickly got wet.

Gu Yu Feng struggled to return the jacket he was wearing to Xie Ci: “I don’t need it.”

“Put it on!”

Xie Ci pressed down on Gu Yu Feng’s head, not letting him take it off, “If you get rained on, you’ll have a headache again.”

Gu Yu Feng’s eyes flashed: “How do you know I get headaches when I’m rained on?”

But Xie Ci’s attention was entirely on the back row, and with the sound of wind and rain, he didn’t hear what he said.

“I’ll go too.” Gu Yu Feng grabbed him.

Xie Ci wasn’t sure if Gu Yu Feng had experience hiking in the wild, so he tossed his backpack into his arms: “Just keep walking forward, I’ll catch up.”

Not far ahead was a relatively flat area, and Gu Yu Feng followed a few boys ahead. After reaching that flat area, he turned back to help his companions.

The mountain was damp and cold, and the wind howled.

Gu Yu Feng was wearing Xie Ci’s windbreaker, and his face was still inevitably getting wet from the rain.

He stood on a protruding rock, watching Xie Ci below directing a few boys to maintain order. Xie Ci’s clothes were already soaked, his pant legs muddy, and rainwater dripped down from his hair tips.

Busy, messy, and inappropriate, yet still calm and composed, completely different from the perfect image of the old fox Gu Yu Feng remembered, yet subtly overlapping.

As if sensing something, Xie Ci suddenly looked up.

Their gazes met through the heavy rain, blurring the boundaries of two lifetimes, making it feel somewhat unreal.

Gu Yu Feng suddenly felt very unwilling.

Why couldn’t this person belong to him? Where did he lose?

Soon, Xie Ci and Fang Si Ze, along with others, successfully pulled a few boys and girls from the back row to the flat area using ropes, and only after the rain lightened did they continue on their way.

In the end, they successfully arrived at the camping base around three in the afternoon.

A group of people, drenched from the rain, looked quite disheveled. After Fang Si Ze communicated with the manager, they each went to their cabins to shower and tidy up.

When Xie Ci came out drying his hair, Fang Si Ze and the others were already fiddling with the barbecue grill.

The camping base was surrounded by towering mountains, shrouded in mist, and after the rain, it was even more breathtaking.

Some students were wandering around in flip-flops looking for angles to take pictures, while Jiang Chen Yu sat on a folding stool skewering meat, rolling his eyes: “These guys, just now they were exhausted, and now they’re full of energy, they really know how to act.”

Fang Si Ze replied, “That’s why you can’t find a girlfriend.”

Jiang Chen Yu: “… What does that have to do with anything?”

The captain of the soccer team nearby chuckled: “Look, even Zhang Ruo Chuan has run off to play with the girls, and you’re still here skewering meat.”

Jiang Chen Yu pointed to Xie Ci, who was not far away skewering meat: “Our Xie team hasn’t gone to find girls either, right?”

Fang Si Ze adjusted his glasses: “Do you think he needs to actively go find girls?”

Jiang Chen Yu turned to look, and sure enough, the barbecue grill was surrounded by girls.

“… ”

So it’s just him who’s left out, huh?

When Gu Yu Feng came out, he saw Xie Ci being surrounded by a crowd, thinking to himself that this kid, no matter how old he was, loved to flirt.

“Why didn’t you dry your hair?” Xie Ci noticed Gu Yu Feng coming over, and his hair was still wet.

The girls were chatting while eating skewers, and upon hearing this, they turned around, feeling their hearts skip a beat.

Wet hair accentuated Gu Yu Feng’s three-dimensional and exquisite face, making his mixed-race features stand out even more, drawing attention away from the surrounding scenery.

“The wind from the hairdryer isn’t as strong as the wind outside.”

Gu Yu Feng’s gaze swept over the grill, “Is there anything you didn’t grill?”

Xie Ci thought of the message Gu Yu Feng had sent in the group chat and found it a bit funny: “You have so little confidence in my cooking skills?”

Gu Yu Feng replied coldly, “Who told you to have a face that makes everything you do taste bad.”

Xie Ci: “…”

You didn’t say that before.

Wang Wei encouraged Gu Yu Feng: “Xie team’s skewers are really delicious, you should try some!”

“Really?”

Gu Yu Feng casually picked up a skewer of lamb, and under Xie Ci’s expectant gaze, took a bite and nodded in satisfaction, “Your skills have improved.”

Xie Ci looked at him in confusion: “You’ve eaten my cooking before?”

Gu Yu Feng cursed himself for his loose tongue, making another mistake today, and quickly added, “Isn’t that what people usually say as a courtesy? Don’t take it so seriously.”

Xie Ci: “…”

Courtesy?

Xie Ci was busy grilling skewers, and Jiang Chen Yu was talking to him about the ingredients, distracting him. So when Gu Yu Feng brought the skewer to his mouth, he didn’t think and just took a bite. It wasn’t until he heard a few girls gasp that he realized it was too late.

“Eat your own.” Xie Ci’s tone carried a warning.

Gu Yu Feng didn’t care at all, smiling as he continued to skewer meat: “Isn’t this what they call ‘mutual skewer brothers’?”

Xie Ci: “…”

“Pfft… cough cough cough…”

“Mutual, mutual skewer?!”

Gu Yu Feng’s shocking words kept coming, causing a group of students to laugh, some choking, some blushing.

Jiang Chen Yu laughed loudly from the side, shouting at them: “The ‘skewer’ in mutual skewer isn’t this kind of skewer! Old Gu, where did you learn these indecent words?”

“Isn’t it? Skewering meat is also skewering.”

Gu Yu Feng feigned innocence as he looked at Xie Ci, “Right?”

He even dared to ask him, and Xie Ci replied expressionlessly: “Doesn’t count.”

Just as Gu Yu Feng was about to respond, he heard Xie Ci say again: “Only I skewered yours, it doesn’t count as mutual skewering.”

Gu Yu Feng: “…”

Jiang Chen Yu and the others: “…?!”

The lamb skewers aren’t as suggestive as you, Xie team!

After grilling for a while, Xie Ci handed over the grill to Fang Si Ze and the others and went to play cards with Gu Yu Feng.

Wang Wei patted Shen Qiu Ya beside her and nodded towards Xie Ci: “Didn’t you say you wanted to confess to Xie Ci during this hike?”

“Let’s wait a bit.”

Shen Qiu Ya glanced over at the boys, whispering, “I think Gu Yu Feng is also pretty good, now I don’t know who to like, hehehe…”

Wang Wei was speechless: “You fall in love with every guy you see?”

Shen Qiu Ya wrapped her arm around her excitedly, asking, “Wei Wei, should we go probe Gu Yu Feng’s thoughts later?”

Wang Wei hesitated for a few seconds but couldn’t help but speak up: “Qiu Ya, don’t blame me for not reminding you, that Gu Yu Feng looks easy to get along with, but he’s not someone you can control.”

Actually, Xie Ci gave her the same feeling, but she had interacted with Xie Ci before and understood his character. Even if he didn’t like her, he wouldn’t hurt a girl, making it relatively safe.

Shen Qiu Ya: “Just asking, it won’t cost me anything.”

Wang Wei: “…”

As night fell, a group of people sat around the bonfire chatting.

Wang Wei, along with Shen Qiu Ya, stealthily moved to Gu Yu Feng’s side, pulling at him for a while before finally cutting to the chase.

Gu Yu Feng asked, “What’s my type?”

Shen Qiu Ya nodded eagerly.

The other boys and girls also looked over, curious about what kind of person someone like Gu Yu Feng would like.

Xie Ci pretended to be uninterested, looking at the photos Gu Yu Feng had taken with his DSLR, but he was all ears for what came next.

Gu Yu Feng thought seriously for a moment: “I don’t have a specific type I like.”

“Ah?”

Shen Qiu Ya was anxious, “You don’t have standards for finding a partner?”

Gu Yu Feng noticed Xie Ci’s movements out of the corner of his eye and said slowly, “Someone like me is destined not to make dating the focus of my life. I won’t revolve around them all the time, nor do I expect them to think of me all the time, so we don’t need to like each other.”

The group of boys fell silent.

What a niche view of love; they didn’t even know how to respond.

Shen Qiu Ya’s mind was a bit confused: “You said she doesn’t have to like you, then why would you accept her?”

“Being together doesn’t necessarily mean liking each other; it can also be useful.”

Gu Yu Feng spoke casually, “I can accept that he only has his career in his eyes for a lifetime.”

After saying that, Gu Yu Feng felt he hadn’t expressed himself accurately enough and added, “He doesn’t have to like anyone, but if he does like someone, that person must be me.”

Shen Qiu Ya: “…”

No way, I can’t understand at all.

Xie Ci listened quietly, realizing that he perfectly matched Gu Yu Feng’s standards, so why was he dumped?

If he had known he would care so much now, he should have asked clearly that night.

Back then, he thought there would be plenty of time, and he could wait until Gu Yu Feng calmed down to ask, but he never expected there would be no more chances.

So where exactly did he lose?