Chapter 1: Are you sick?

  Tang Chong was woken up by Hua Ming's snoring, and when he pushed open the window, he saw that the wind had stopped and the rain had ceased, with a single cold moon hanging alone in the high sky.

  He quietly closed the door and came to the top of the small building, looking around at the low and sparse houses and the continuous mountainside that stretched out as far as the eye could see.

  There was a mountain peak that rose steeply, like a fairy trailing a long colorful ribbon. Tang Chong thought to himself, could it be the 'Jade Maiden Peak' they were going to climb tomorrow?

  After the rain, autumn is cool, the bright moon is in the sky, at midnight there are no people, only birds chirping and insects buzzing.

  "In the empty mountains, new rain falls. The weather comes late in autumn." Tang Chong suddenly remembered such a beautiful sentence.

  Dong Dong----

  The sound of footsteps is approaching.

  Tang Chong was surprised. It's probably around 4 o'clock in the morning now, who would come up to the rooftop at this time?

  He stood silently, quietly waiting there.

  Autumn's chill hadn't expected anyone to be going upstairs at this hour, saw a black shadow on the rooftop, first reaction was thinking of grandma's stories about mountain ghosts and tree demons, then opened mouth to shout...

  Tang Chong made a dash and wrapped Qiuyi Han in his arms ----- No, he covered Qiuyi Han's mouth.

  "It's me." Tang Zhong said softly.

  Her big eyes, cold as autumn, shone clearer under the moonlight, black as ink, white as snow, with long eyelashes blinking like a small fan that had been carefully trimmed and decorated. There was doubt, but more surprise.

  "I understand..." she said with a sob.

  Tang Chong worried that her scream would wake up the others who were sleeping, so he rushed over to cover her mouth. As soon as his hand touched her cheek, he felt an astonishing softness and elasticity.

  The first time they met, he thought the girl was like a beautiful porcelain doll. Now that he's touched her, he thinks - what kind of doll can have such a good feel?

  When she spoke in a low voice, her lips inevitably touched the palm of his hand. It was like Xiaoyi's rabbit using its tongue to greedily eat the green onion threads on the palm. Soft and itchy, making Tang Chong feel a slight electric shock.

  Although he was reluctant, he still let go of the girl's mouth.

  "I thought you were a monster." Qiuyi said with a cold breath: "Grandma said there are many lonely ghosts and monsters in the mountains."

  "What's gotten into you?" Tang Chong said with a smile. "If you're worried about monsters, how dare you run up to the rooftop alone?"

  "I didn't think so either." Qiuyi's pretty face turned cold and bitter, looking pitiful, she pulled up her sleeve to show Tang Chong and said: "You count, how many packets are on this?"

  Under the moonlight, looking back, there were quite a few small red patches on her delicate and smooth hands. When others were bitten by mosquitoes, it was just a small red dot. Because her skin was too tender, and possibly slightly allergic, the red dots spread into a large patch.

  "Your room doesn't have mosquito nets either?" Tang Chong asked.

  "No," said Qiuyi. "Wang Nainai wanted to take down the mosquito net from her own room and give it to us, but we refused. We already felt guilty for disturbing others, how could we take their mosquito net? Mosquitoes don't only bite young people's blood."

  Hearing the girl's cute and lovely words, Tang Chong couldn't help but narrow his eyes and smile, saying: "Didn't all three of them sleep very soundly?"

  "What's the big deal about sleeping soundly? They all wrapped themselves up in clothes and newspapers like dumplings. I didn't have any clothes to wrap myself in, and I wasn't willing to use theirs - so I had no choice but to run out." Qiu Yi explained, as if Tang Zhong was implying that he was too weak and couldn't take the hardship.

  "It's windy upstairs and there really aren't any mosquitoes." Tang Chong said with a smile. "You're not going to sleep?"

  "Are you sleeping?" asked Qiuyi Han. "If you sleep, we'll sleep together. If you don't sleep, then I won't sleep either."

  "Sleep together?" Tang Chong's eyes widened. "Aren't we developing too fast?"

  The autumn chill only then understood the linguistic illness in his words, and Xiāo Fēi's cheeks flushed as he hastily waved his hand, saying: "No. I didn't mean that. What I meant was... if you go back to sleep, I wouldn't dare sit here alone either. If you don't go back to sleep, I'll stay over here and chat with you. I... I didn't want to sleep together."

  "Oh, I was overthinking." Tang Chong said with a smile.

  "Uh... I..." Autumn's face turned red like a persimmon, and she didn't know what to say anymore.

  "Wait here for a moment," said Tang Chong. He went downstairs and moved a long stool over, saying: "Let's sit here for a while. The sun should be coming out soon, just in time to watch the sunrise."

  "Great, great!" Qiuyi's enthusiasm was stirred up, and she exclaimed happily: "I really want to see the sunrise once, but I never have the chance - every time I oversleep."

  Montenegro, crescent moon, cool breeze, rooftop, long chair, young girl, and the alluring body scent that draws you in as you get closer.

  Two people sat side by side chatting. After getting familiar, Qiu Yi's talkativeness was extraordinary, most of the time she was talking and Tang Chong was listening.

  She was talking about some trivial jokes that Tang Chong had heard before or her own childhood memories, such as the time when the toy of the frog prince got lost and she cried for three days only to have it come out by itself, or the time when she secretly went ice-skating with her classmates and fell and scraped her knee and was scolded by her grandmother. But Tang Chong still listened very seriously.

  Time passes minute by minute, second by second. A pale dawn like goose feathers peeks out from behind the distant mountains, revealing half of its shy face.

  Tang Zhong wanted to remind Qiu Yihan to take a look, turned his face around, and found that she was leaning on his shoulder, sleeping soundly.

  She had fallen asleep without realizing it.

  Her long hair was scattered, her body curled up into a ball, her small mouth pouted slightly, and a pool of saliva flowed out.

  "What a child." Tang Chong opened his mouth and smiled.

  After eating the porridge and pancakes made by Grandma Wang for them, Tang Chong led a group of people to start their journey towards Yuniang Peak.

  When I walked onto the stone bridge, I ran into Zhou Wei and a group of people again.

  "Did you find a place to sleep last night?" Zhou Wei ran up to Liang Tao and asked.

  "Of course." Liang Tao said with a pleased expression. "We not only found a place to stay, but also had the local chicken hot pot - wow, that aroma!"

  "Unbelievable?" Zhou Wei said disbelievingly. "The local people's free-range chickens are all kept for laying eggs, the price they get is not enough, they can't possibly sell them to you."

  "If I told you they didn't even want our money, would you believe me?" asked Liang Tao.

  "Do you think I'm an idiot?" Zhou Wei said with a cold smile.

  "Really!" Hong added from the side. "Their little grandson hadn't had a bowel movement for several days, and Tangzhong massaged his belly for a while, and then he went to the bathroom - and then they slaughtered a chicken to make hot pot for us. It was so delicious! Just thinking about it now makes me drool."

  Zhou Wei's face turned somewhat strange. He glanced in Tang Chong's direction, thinking to himself, this kid is not only good at fighting, has a silver tongue, and can even heal illnesses - is he an all-powerful Ultraman?

  Zhou Wei suggested that everyone go on a mountain tour together, and Tang Chong did not refuse. Because Chen Xuebing from Zhou Wei's side was a local, he should be able to find some unique scenic spots.

  A deep and dark slit of sky, inside is the Buddha's ear cave which is filled with metal Buddha's ears that produce pleasant sounds when lightly struck, and there is also the Golden Jade Lotus Flower Valley, bamboo raft drifting.

  When they climbed to the Jade Maiden Peak, it was already past lunchtime. They could only fill their stomachs with biscuits, instant noodles and mineral water, and people were also exhausted from walking.

  A few boys were better off, their physical fitness was stronger than that of girls. Moreover, due to the face of men, no matter what they had to grit their teeth and hold on.

  The girls were no longer able to bear it, sighing and complaining endlessly, unwilling to get up even when sitting on a rock.

  Why do boys like traveling with girls? It's just for this moment.

  Then those physically capable boys flocked to show their enthusiasm to the girls they had been eyeing for a long time but never had the chance to make a move.

  "Xiao Li, I'll carry you. I still have plenty of strength."

  "Xiao Hua, come and I'll support you - can't sit. Once we sit down, we won't be able to get up again. We must hurry to the top of the mountain as soon as possible."

  "Xiao Hong, although I may not be able to carry you on my back, my heart is with you. If you want to go up, I'll accompany you and climb up together. If you don't want to go up, I'll sit here with you and wait for them to come down."

  Among girls, Autumn Cold has the weakest physical strength.

  Her small face was deathly pale, with beads of sweat covering her forehead. Her footsteps were unsteady, and she walked in a zigzag pattern, as if she might fall over at any moment.

  "It's cold, let me support you." Zhou Wei ran over and said with a worried face: "This way can save some energy. Otherwise, you won't be able to persist in climbing to the top..."

  "No need." Qiuyi coldly rejected his kindness.

  Liang Tao also couldn't let his rival be the only one to shine, so he ran up and said: "The autumn air is cold, why don't we just not go up? Anyway, there's only one Taoist temple on the mountain, nothing much to see - we can just sit here and wait for them to come back."

  "I'll go up." Qiu Yi Han said through gritted teeth as he stared at the figure walking in front.

  Hearing their voices, Tang Zhong finally turned around and looked over.

  Seeing Autumn's current state, he couldn't help but furrow his brow.

  This girl's physical strength is almost exhausted, what's the point of insisting on going further?

  "Sit here and wait," said Tang Chong. "We'll be right down."

  "No, I'll go up." said Qiuyi Han stubbornly.

  Tang Chong thought for a moment, stretched out his hand to her and said: "Come. Hold onto my clothes."

  Her small face, chilled by the autumn air, broke out into a smile more radiant than the sun in the sky. She quickened her pace, grasping Tang Chong's arm with one hand.

  "You don't have to force it," said Tang Chong. "I'll drag you along."

  "Hmm." Autumn nodded in response.

  She grasped Tang Zhong's arm with her small hand and quietly slid down, and down, all the way to the center of Tang Zhong's palm.

  Big hands hold small hands, let's walk together!

  (PS: During the holidays, Lao Liu can only bury his head and write. Everyone throws some red envelopes to comfort him.)