Yuanbao Mountain is not far away, and it only takes more than an hour to drive there. Because of the beautiful scenery, the mountain is large and high but not so steep, young people in Pengcheng like to go there when the weather is hot or cool.
Some people like to climb at night just to watch the sunrise over Yuanbao Mountain the next morning.
There are several farmhouses at the foot of the mountain, and their fish dishes are excellent.
It was just past four o'clock when Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai arrived, and the farmhouse at the foot of the mountain had just started operating.
It was obviously late to go up the mountain, but it was just the right time to have a meal.
Hang Jiabai and Lin Shuyue both knew very well that the purpose of their coming to Yuanbao Mountain was not to climb the mountain, so it didn't matter whether they went up the mountain or not.
They randomly chose a farm house and walked in. They ordered a fish with three dishes and, based on the recommendation of the waiter, chose two signature dishes.
The restaurant was semi-open-air. They sat on the side, chatting while waiting for the food to be served. As they waited, they saw thick black clouds gathering in the sky. Lin Shuyue said, "It's going to rain heavily."
Lin Shuyue was a little surprised. After all, normally the rain in winter is small and continuous, while heavy rain usually occurs in spring, summer and autumn.
Hang Jiabai took a look. He didn't check the weather forecast before going out, but it usually rains in winter, so he didn't take it seriously: "This rain will definitely not be small."
As soon as Hang Jiabai finished speaking, raindrops as big as pearls began to fall. Lin Shuyue and the others were sitting in a shed, and the sound of raindrops hitting the ceiling brought a sense of tranquility amid the noise. When people become quiet, they tend to feel hungry and sleepy.
Just like now, Lin Shuyue is a little hungry.
There were not many people at this time of the day, and soon the restaurant proprietress came up with the dishes ordered by Lin Shuyue and the others. The first dish served was sashimi. The sashimi at this restaurant was cooked differently from other restaurants. Although it was called sashimi, it was indeed cooked. The fish meat was cut into thin slices and poured with hot oil. The bottom of the basin was filled with steamed fish soy sauce, and the tender white fish meat was covered with a ball of very finely chopped green onions.
Lin Shuyue picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. The fish meat was very tender, fresh and smooth. The aroma of the chopped green onion brought out the deliciousness of the fish meat to the extreme. The sashimi was cooked with peanut oil, and the rich aroma of the peanut oil did not overpower the other ingredients, but instead added a fragrance to the sashimi.
"It's delicious." Lin Shuyue said to Hang Jiabai.
The second dish of fish head and tofu soup came. Hang Jiabai served Lin Shuyue a bowl of soup. The soup was milky white with tender white square tofu floating in it. The chopped green onion added a touch of color to the fish head and tofu soup, making it look even more beautiful.
"My second uncle loves to eat. Over the years, whenever he has a day off, he would wander around Shenzhen. He knows where there are delicious places, and some of them are even newly opened small restaurants." Hang Jiabai still smiled when he talked about this.
Lin Shuyue thought of the leader of the dismantling regiment who came from the army to support Liuwu Village. She hesitated for a moment and asked, "That leader Hang?"
"Yes, it's him."
Lin Shuyue was a little surprised. During the short time she spent with Hang Yuxing, they had not spoken a word to each other, but she knew that Captain Hang Yuxing was a very serious person.
She didn't expect that he was so different in private. He actually ran around to eat delicious food during his vacation.
Hang Jiabai seemed to be in a conversational mood and told Lin Shuyue about his family.
"My parents are quite busy. My father is still working in the mountainous area in the north. My mother has been following him to take care of him. My eldest brother was taken away by them. I grew up in front of my grandparents and my second uncle."
Hang Jiabai's father served as a soldier for several years. After retiring, he became a forest policeman and was stationed there for many years. Hang Jiabai seldom saw him. Compared to him, Hang Jiabai often felt that his second uncle was more like his father.
Lin Shuyue looked at Hang Jiabai, and Hang Jiabai stretched his legs: "My second uncle got married earlier than my father, and you have also met my cousin, he is a lawyer now."
After Hang Jiabai said this, she remembered the lawyer who had helped Liu Pei, a prion poisoning victim, free of charge.
Hang Jiabai said: "I met my cousin a few days ago. My cousin said that Liu Pei's lawsuit was very successful, and Liu Pei's condition was under control. Although there is no way to cure it, he can still live a few more years."
Lin Shuyue knew about what Hang Jiabai was talking about. Reporters from Pengcheng newspapers would interview Liu Pei from time to time.
He is living a good life now. After receiving the compensation, he bought a house in Pengcheng with the money and brought his family over. Now his children are attending the local primary school in Pengcheng. After receiving the compensation, he donated all the money he received to the local Cross Society.
In his words, he has already received compensation, which is a huge sum, enough for his family to live on, and also enough for his wife and children to live on after his death.
When Li Weisheng saw this follow-up report, he was very happy and took Lin Shuyue and others to a food stall for a meal.
Lin Shuyue asked Hang Jiabai: "Do you blame your parents?"
Hang Jiabai didn't want to lie to Lin Shuyue, he said: "I blamed them when I was young."
Hang Jiabai is not a perfect person. He couldn't understand why his parents took his brother away without him. He hated and resented it when he was a child. They were obviously his parents' children, so how could they take his brother but not him?
But as he grew older, he understood his parents. He was in poor health when he was a child, and the environment where his father was stationed was not good, and it was too far from the county town. If he went there and something happened, he might not even have time to go to the hospital.
"When I was twelve years old, I went to my father's base for the first time. It was spring, the wind was strong, and the whole sky and earth were yellow. The table at home was swept once a day, but not long after it was swept, there was still a lot of dust."
"My father said it was a sandstorm. We need to plant more trees to curb the spread of this sandstorm, otherwise the longer it goes on, the worse it will get. My mother, in addition to taking care of my father and my brother, pulls a cart of saplings and follows a group of tree planters to plant pine trees all over the mountains."
"My mother said that forty years ago, there was only one pine tree within a hundred miles of that place. Later, tree planters began to cultivate that pine tree species, and now there is a pine forest there. It is particularly beautiful when viewed from a high place."
After entering university, Hang Jiabai would visit his parents' workplace every winter and summer vacation. There were still many pine trees planted by him on the mountain. His brother took a photo of it some time ago. The pine trees he planted grew particularly well.
As soon as Hang Jiabai said this, Lin Shuyue knew where Hang Jiabai's parents worked. It was Saihanba, which was later called a world wonder.
Saihanba is also the only place in the world where trees are planted in the desert. Lin Shuyue has watched the documentary and she sincerely admires those who have planted trees in the mountains for generations.
"They're all great."
The rain was getting heavier, hitting the shed with crackling sounds, and a cool breeze blew, bringing a hint of coldness. The restaurant owner pulled the shed up a little.
"Yes. They are all great. So I don't blame them. I am proud of them." Hang Jiabai's face was full of pride.
"Where's your brother? What is he doing now?"
"Planting trees. He is a forest policeman like my father, and he is passionate about planting trees." When they grew up, the relationship between Hang Jiabai and his brother Hang Jiaqing became much better.
After talking about his parents, Hang Jiabai talked about his other elders: "My grandfather was an old Red Army soldier. After liberation, he served in the military region near Pengcheng. In 1998, my grandfather passed away."
"My grandmother gave birth to five children in total. My father was the second child. Above him, I have an aunt whose husband was my grandfather's former subordinate. She is now in Guangxi with my uncle."
"My aunt is working in Hong Kong and is now engaged in financial investment. My cousins are also making great achievements in their respective fields. Every year, except for my brother Hang Jiaqing, we kids get together."
"In a few days, our peers will have a gathering." Hang Jiabai restrained his smile and looked at Lin Shuyue seriously and solemnly: "Ah Yue, can I invite you to come with me then?"
Hang Jiabai's face turned a little red. Before he met Lin Shuyue, he never had any experience in love. It's not that no one liked him. Since he was in high school, many girls had confessed to him, but he directly rejected such confessions.
Lin Shuyue was the only person who made him feel hot inside just by thinking of her, and sweet inside when he mentioned her name.
If you ask him when he fell in love with Lin Shuyue, Hang Jiabai couldn't really tell.
Perhaps it was the first time she saw Lin Shuyue and the criminal lying on the fallen leaves in the forest. When she stood beside them holding a brick, his heart beat faster.
Hang Jiabai is a very reserved person, and words like this are already a confession.
He didn't say "I love you". Hang Jiabai felt that love expressed in words was too pale and was far less real than love expressed in actions.
Having been with him for such a long time and knowing him for such a long time, Lin Shuyue couldn't say that she understood him 100%, but she understood him about 80%.
She glanced at the heavy rain outside and said, "It depends on the situation. If there is time, I will go."
Lin Shuyue didn't express her agreement explicitly, but this sentence was already her agreement. Hang Jiabai smiled like a fool because of her words.
The proprietress saw the right moment and served the last fish dish, the salt and pepper fish fillet. The fish fillet was fried golden brown, even the bones were crispy, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and mixed with some chili powder, it was delicious.
Today's vegetable is stir-fried loofah. The loofah is cut into dice and the skin is not cleaned very well. It has a slightly rough texture and rich taste when eaten.
There is another dish, which is stir-fried pork belly with various kinds of peppers. It is quite spicy, and also contains fried tofu and eggs. It goes well with rice.
After that layer of window paper was broken, the atmosphere between Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai seemed to have changed. Before, when they looked at each other, they just looked at each other openly, but now when they looked at each other again, the feeling was different. Lin Shuyue blushed for a rare time.
Hang Jiabai was a few years older than Lin Shuyue, but he was very calm about it. He smiled and picked up some dishes and served soup to Lin Shuyue.
After dinner, the rain stopped.
Hang Jiabai paid the bill and the two of them walked outside.
The air is fresh after the rain. The flowers and plants on the roadside have been washed by the heavy rain. The trees are greener and the flowers are more colorful. Some of the withered flowers are knocked to the ground.
It is definitely not possible to go hiking now. Whether the mountain road is slippery or not is secondary. If they climb to the top of the mountain, it will be midnight when they come down. They are not wearing thick clothes and do not bring camping equipment.
Hang Jiabai's eyes swept across a shop, then looked at the towering mountain not far away, and said to Lin Shuyue: "Ah Yue, do you want to see the sunrise over Yuanbao Mountain?"
Lin Shuyue followed Hang Jiabai's gaze and thought about how she had never seen the sunrise on the top of a mountain in her life. She said, "I do."
"Then you wait for me here." Hang Jiabai strode towards the store he had just looked at. After a while, he came out with a big bag in his hands and a bulging backpack on his back.
He did not walk directly towards Lin Shuyue, but went to the shop next door. After a while, he came out with a small bag. Lin Shuyue saw bread, candy and water through the packaging of the bag.
"Let's go up the mountain to watch the sunrise." Hang Jiabai said.
Lin Shuyue nodded in agreement.
Lin Shuyue, carrying her small backpack and holding the bread she had snatched from Hang Jiabai, walked up the mountain along the cement road.
It was almost six o'clock and the sky was already dark.
Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai walked up the mountain. She listened to Hang Jiabai talking about the interesting things that happened to him when he was in college. He also told Lin Shuyue about his own school days. They had a very pleasant conversation.
Along the way, they met people coming down the mountain, and also people walking up the mountain like them.
Most of the people who come here for night hikes are young people. They walk together in a group and soon start talking to each other.
Just like the group of young people that Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai just caught up with, they are college students from Pengcheng University.
Because tomorrow is the weekend, they decided to camp in the mountains tonight and watch the sunrise tomorrow.
There was a girl who was not physically fit. She was already panting even before she had even finished half of the race. After seeing Lin Shuyue walking briskly without even a moment of breath disorder, she was particularly envious.
There were eight people in their group, and she had the worst physical strength. In order to accommodate her, they had already walked for half an hour.
Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai mingled among them. He was wearing a coat that concealed his iconic sky blue police uniform.
"Su Lin, it's not the first day you know you don't have enough physical strength, why did you sign up for this night climb? You are such a drag!"
The person who said this was a boy. He was quite short, probably less than 170cm tall, with a round face, sunken eyes, and slightly buck teeth. He squinted at the girl who was not in good physical condition.
The girl was tall but a little thin. She was panting and her face was a little pale. After hearing that, she stood up straight and no longer envied Lin Shuyue. She looked at the tallest boy in the crowd. He was gentle and handsome, about 18cm tall, wearing a light brown jacket over a white inner layer.
Hearing this, he glanced at Su Lin, then said with a dark face: "Cheng Mao, please stop talking."
The short man named Cheng Mao curled his lips, did not refute him, rolled his eyes, took a few quick steps, and left them.
The gentle and handsome boy walked up to Su Lin and said, "Su Lin, you know Cheng Mao is like that, he has a sharp tongue, don't take it to heart, I apologize to you on his behalf."
Su Lin hummed: "Yao Hongyi, your roommate has a bad temper. You should have less contact with him in the future."
Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai separated from them and walked forward, but Yao Hongyi's answer reached her ears.
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
Lin Shuyue didn't look back, so naturally she didn't see that among their group, Yao Hongyi made eye contact with a boy in black clothes.
The street lights on the roadside were on, and the dim light was very bright, illuminating the main road up the mountain.
Hang Jiabai asked Lin Shuyue: "Are you tired? Are you cold? Are you thirsty?"
Lin Shuyue shook her head: "Not bad, how about you?"
"I'm fine too." The two walked side by side, very close to each other. When they took bigger steps, their hanging hands touched each other.
When they met for the third time, Hang Jiabai gritted his teeth and held Lin Shuyue's hand.
Lin Shuyue's hands were very beautiful, straight like green onions, and with an indescribable softness, which was quite different from Hang Jiabai's rough, dry and hot hands.
The warmth from his hands seemed to burn Lin Shuyue.
The two of them didn't speak. The voices of the college students behind them seemed to be accompanying them. Lin Shuyue didn't pull her hand away, and Hang Jiabai held it tightly.
It takes three hours to walk from the foot of the mountain to the top. Along the way, there are winding concrete roads with some shelters built on both sides.
They didn't encounter much rain when they climbed the mountain, and it was already half past nine when they were about to reach the top.
Yuanbao Mountain is as its name suggests, with the top of the mountain shaped like a gold ingot. The flat land in the middle can be used as a camping site. If you want to watch the sunrise tomorrow morning, you can just find a mountain top and climb up. It only takes a few minutes.
There is a hotel near the summit. The owner of the hotel is a talented person. He knows that most people who come to climb Yuanbao Mountain come for camping, so he opened a barbecue stall at the same time as the hotel.
The aroma of roasted meat in the air hit people's noses. Even though she had just finished her meal at the foot of the mountain, Lin Shuyue felt her stomach was rumbling after three hours of trekking.
Hang Jiabai is a man with a big appetite and gets hungry more easily, so he directly pulled Lin Shuyue towards the hotel.
There were seven or eight plastic tables in the open space at the entrance of the hotel, and half of them were already occupied. Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai had just sat down and ordered a barbecue when the group of college students also arrived.
They were at the table behind Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai. Seeing that there were so many of them, the waiter joined the two tables together. They seemed to have endless things to say, and they continued to chatter after they sat down.
Lin Shuyue got up and went to the bathroom. Not long after she went in, someone came in from the two cubicles next door.
Lin Shuyue squatted inside and listened to their conversation.
"Xiaomi, do you think Su Lin is too overbearing? She controls who Yao Hongyi makes friends with. Yao Hongyi is so unlucky that he actually becomes Su Lin's boyfriend."
The girl named Xiaomi said at the side: "It's a bit overbearing, but if Yao Hongyi is willing, what does it have to do with us? Besides, Su Lin is not bad either. Although she is not physically strong, she has strong professional skills, is pretty, and is generous to us."
"Wang Lan, I remember you ran out of money a few days ago, and you borrowed money from Su Lin to get through this month. She also treated you to meals in recent days. It's not good for you to eat her food, take her things, and say such things about her behind her back, isn't it?"
"Okay, okay. I won't say anything more. I just think Su Ling is a bit overbearing and meddles too much. Wang Lan, don't tell her what I'm telling you about her."
"Okay, I'll keep this a secret for you for the last time, Wang Lan. If I hear you say that about her again, I'll tell her."
There was a bang, the sound of the cubicle door being closed.
Lin Shuyue came out of the cubicle and washed her hands in front of the mirror. She heard that in the innermost cubicle, the girl named Wang Lan was very angry and secretly cursed her as a flatterer.
Lin Shuyue washed her hands and left.
When she arrived, the barbecue was already on the table. Hang Jiabai hadn't eaten yet and was waiting for her. There was a bottle of coconut milk and two bottles of beer on the table.
There was one person missing at the table of college students. Su Lin was eating barbecue in small bites, and Yao Hongyi was skewering the meat and putting it on her plate.
They ordered some steamed shrimp and he started peeling them after grilling them.
Lin Shuyue's table also ordered. Hang Jiabai, wearing disposable gloves, peeled the shrimps and put them in a bowl for her. In front of her was a dish of soy sauce with mustard and a little bit of chopped ginger floating on the soy sauce.
Hang Jiabai moved quickly, and soon the plate in front of Lin Shuyue was full. Hang Jiabai then took off his disposable gloves, and when he was about to eat the lamb skewers, a shrimp appeared in front of him, and he looked towards Lin Shuyue.
Lin Shuyue held up the shrimp and looked at him with a smile: "Officer Hang, you have worked hard. Please keep it up."
Hang Jiabai smiled, lowered his head, and took the shrimp in his mouth. The taste of mustard and the sweetness of the shrimp instantly filled his mouth. He said, "I will peel the shrimp for you next time we eat it."
Lin Shuyue gave Hang Jiabai a big smile.
Just as he was about to speak, something strange happened at the table of college students behind him. This time, everyone's attention was drawn over there.
Su Lin stood up and angrily looked at Cheng Mao who was sitting opposite her: "Cheng Mao, are you sick? I have been tolerant of you again and again, but you are just taking advantage of me, aren't you?"
"Yao Hongyi is my boyfriend. It's only natural for him to take care of me. What does it have to do with you? You're standing up for him so much. Why? Do you like him? Are you jealous of me?"
When Cheng Mao heard Su Lin's words, his face darkened in an instant, and he stood up as well: "What bullshit are you talking about? Would I be jealous of you? I just can't stand you. You're already 20 years old, an adult, but you need someone to peel a shrimp for you to eat. What's wrong? Don't you have hands? Or are you still breastfeeding?"
Cheng Mao's words made the shrimps in Lin Shuyue's mouth no longer taste good. After all, she didn't peel the shrimps herself.
Hang Jiabai's face suddenly turned cold, and he looked at Cheng Mao with some displeasure.
His inner thoughts now were the same as those of most people present. He felt that Cheng Mao was somewhat sick. What did the relationship between the young couple have to do with him?
Su Lin snorted, "Why, now is not the time for you to pursue me? Why? If you can't get me, you'll make an enemy?"
As soon as this sentence came out, everyone looked at Cheng Mao with strange eyes. Did he target Su Lin all this time because he couldn't get her love? Su Lin's real boyfriend looked at Cheng Mao with strange eyes.
Cheng Mao's face flushed and he sat down.
Su Lin continued to sit down and eat. Yao Hongyi, with a gloomy face, continued to peel shrimps for her. Su Lin ate generously.
The farce ended just like that. Lin Shuyue turned around and continued to eat. The two of them drank three bottles of beer. It was around ten o'clock before they paid the bill and went to the campsite.
There were already quite a few tents at the camping site. Hang Jiabai put down the things in his hands and started to set up the tents, with Lin Shuyue also helping.
Su Lin and her group came up. They did not choose to set up their own tents, but chose to stay in already set up tents, which cost more than 100 yuan a night.
The sky was gloomy tonight. Lin Shuyue sat on a stone that had been rained on and still had a hint of moisture. "There may not be sunshine tomorrow."
Hang Jiabai also laughed. There is a saying that goes, lust blinds the mind. Even though they knew there might not be sunrise, they still chose to climb the mountain and expose their camp.
He said to Lin Shuyue, "I have already booked a room at the hotel at the foot of the mountain. If it continues to rain, we can stay there."
"When did you book the room?" Hotel rooms are not cheap. A standard room costs at least one or two hundred yuan.
"When you went to the toilet." Hang Jiabai looked calm. It was he who asked Lin Shuyue to come to Yuanbao Mountain. He had to consider every aspect. He booked two adjacent rooms, just like tonight, and he bought two tents.
Lin Shuyue had never been in a relationship, and she didn't know whether Hang Jiabai was qualified as a boyfriend, but she did feel very touched.
The two chatted for a while outside the tent. At twelve o'clock, they each crawled into their tents and began to sleep. Halfway through their sleep, Lin Shuyue was awakened by the urge to urinate. She crawled out of the tent and walked towards the toilet at the edge of the campsite.
Coming out of the bathroom, she passed by a two-person tent, and with her acute hearing, she heard an indescribable gasp.
As an adult woman who has seen pigs run even if she has never eaten pork, Lin Shuyue blushed when she heard this.
Just as she was about to speed up her pace, Lin Shuyue heard a man's voice: "Hongyi, come on, tell me, is it more comfortable to be fucked by me or to be fucked by Su Lin?"