The afternoon bus ride was as boring as ever, even a bit painful.
The next stop was Zhangjie, which was also the mountain-climbing destination in Xia Yanchun's travel plan. There was a mountain in Zhangjie called Mount Tian. According to reviews on Xiaohongshu, the climb wasn't very difficult, and there was a cable car, so even climbing novices could give it a try.
Xia Yanchun was more than just a climbing novice. Going back to her hometown for Tomb Sweeping Day and climbing a small hill left her half-dead, let alone a proper mountain climb.
She had already decided that if she got too tired, she would drag Shen Nian onto the cable car with her. Ideally, they would ride it almost to the top and just walk the final stretch. That way, it wouldn't be much different from walking the whole way herself.
She had some self-awareness about her own physical stamina. Three of her wouldn't add up to Shen Nian's fitness level.
She had looked up a hotel in Zhangjie in advance but hadn't booked it. After confirming they still had rooms, she and Shen Nian took a taxi over.
"Hello, do you have a reservation?"
"No. I'd like a twin room. I'll renew it in advance if we still need it later."
"Alright, let me scan your code. There's a 100 yuan deposit, which will be refunded to your original payment method upon checkout. Here is your room card."
Taking the room card, Xia Yanchun hummed as she followed Shen Nian into the elevator.
"Let's go to bed early tonight to recharge our batteries. Tomorrow, we climb!" Xia Yanchun pumped her little fists as if to cheer herself on.
"You're not going to make me carry you halfway up, are you?"
"I don't know, maybe. I saw online that other people's boyfriends let their girlfriends ride on their shoulders all the way up. Don't lose points now."
"Are they even human?" Shen Nian looked at her with one eye squinted. What kind of god could carry a hundred-pound person up a mountain? Bro, are you playing without cheats too?
Shen Nian also knew that Xia Yanchun was probably just joking around to tease him, so he didn't take it seriously.
The room Xia Yanchun booked wasn't cheap, and the layout was much nicer than the one in Jintan—wider, more comfortable, and it even came with a free dinner.
The only downside was that the hotel they were staying at this time also had a vending machine for family planning products, placed right next to the small bedside lamp. It left Xia Yanchun completely speechless.
It seemed like hotels nowadays had made these things standard.
In a hotel, a two-yuan bottle of water could sell for five. These things were similarly overpriced commodities. Would anyone really spend more money to buy things in a hotel when they could just go to a convenience store to get them?
Well, Xia Yanchun definitely wouldn't buy them.
Xia Yanchun put her luggage away and checked inside and out for hidden cameras before letting out a breath of stale air. "I'm going to take a shower first. Sitting in the car for so long made my head spin."
"Sure, I'll help you hang up the clothes from your suitcase."
"Mhm."
The bathroom this time was very normal, so Xia Yanchun could take a nice, beautiful shower.
This shower ended up taking forty minutes.
Coming out of the bathroom with wet hair, her skin looked even smoother after the hot water wash, as if glowing with a faint, soft light.
Xia Yanchun had already changed into the clothes she planned to wear tomorrow: a light blue short-sleeved shirt and brown shorts. She also prepared a thin jacket that wouldn't be too hot to wear and could still block the sun.
Shen Nian glanced at her and felt it was just alright.
Honestly, silly Chun wasn't as fun as playing Sanguosha. Did anyone get that?
Shen Nian would gladly sacrifice two seconds of Xia Yanchun's lifespan in exchange for getting the God-tier Jiang Wei card.
Propping half her body on the bed, Xia Yanchun leaned over across from Shen Nian to look at his phone. "What are you playing?"
"Sanguosha."
"What's so fun about that?" Xia Yanchun pouted. "Feels like it's not as good as Fight the Landlord."
"Of course you don't get it since you don't play games. Just like I don't get what's so nice about applying lipstick."
"That is typical straight-male thinking." Xia Yanchun straightened her back, half-kneeling. Being a head taller than Shen Nian gave her a condescending angle, making it much more satisfying to lecture him than usual.
"Not handsome-guy thinking?"
"Handsome my foot. I won't think you're handsome until you take a shower."
"Heh, what a duplicitous woman. You've successfully caught my attention. Just wait till I come out of the shower and mesmerize you."
A match had just ended, so Shen Nian plugged his phone in to charge, grabbed a pair of pants, and quickly slipped into the bathroom.
By the time he came out, Xia Yanchun was already wrapped in the blanket, playing on her phone.
Turning the AC down to 16 degrees and then snuggling under the blanket—silly Chun really knew how to enjoy life.
Considering Xia Yanchun was a bit tired and tomorrow would be a big day, Shen Nian turned off the lights early.
He was super incredibly well-behaved tonight, only touching Xia Yanchun's stomach.
...
Morning came.
A low moan pierced a small opening in the peaceful room. The daytime energy gradually replaced the sleepiness accumulated during the night. As if reaching a certain threshold, Xia Yanchun's eyelashes fluttered, her eyes heavy with sleep.
"Mmm..."
Snuggled in the warm blanket after so long, Xia Yanchun didn't really want to get up.
When she first opened her eyes, her vision was hazy. She couldn't even see Shen Nian clearly despite him being so close. It wasn't until her vision cleared and she took a look at Shen Nian's sleeping face that she contentedly went back to sleep.
She had obviously decided to travel, but... once she was in bed, she just didn't want to go out anymore.
No wonder some people just stayed in their hotel rooms and played on their phones when they traveled. Xia Yanchun felt she was in that exact state right now.
Although it was very comfortable, it was a sign of depravity. The young girl who wanted a beautiful trip refused to be depraved. Without lying down for too long, she playfully pinched the ends of her hair and tickled Shen Nian's face.
The gentle Sister Chun would never use a rough method like punching and kicking to wake Shen Nian up.
"What the hell..." Shen Nian's face twitched.
Seeing the clarity in Shen Nian's eyes, Xia Yanchun was a bit startled. "When did you wake up?"
"Before you woke up and secretly sniffed me."
"Damn it, you were pretending to be asleep..."
"I was just keeping you company for your morning snooze, how is that pretending?" Shen Nian stretched, getting out of bed full of energy, and said loudly, "Time to get up and climb the mountain. Today, your bro is going to conquer the great mountain!"
"Good, very energetic!" Xia Yanchun also quickly got up. Mimicking Shen Nian's momentum, she said loudly, "Today, your sis is going to step right on the top of the mountain!"
After her burst of energy, Xia Yanchun started muttering again: "By the way, wouldn't it be better if we went in the early hours of the morning? We could watch the sunrise when we reach the top."
"What's so good about the sunrise? I see it every day when I work out, I'm sick of it."
"Watching it from the top of the mountain is definitely different from watching it in the city. The sunrise from the mountaintop is so, so beautiful. In that kind of environment, even if you asked to be best friends forever with me, I might just agree!"
"Might? That means no."
His nemesis had eight hundred hidden motives, always nitpicking words.
Being best friends forever was just silly Chun's excuse to string him along. How could Shen Nian not know? Climbing a mountain to watch the sunrise? If he just called her sister a couple of times, they would probably be best friends forever today.
Her little trick seen through, Xia Yanchun snorted lightly. "Fine, looks like we can't take beautiful photos. Sigh, in the end, it's just a boyfriend who doesn't love me, a childhood sweetheart who doesn't care."
"..."
Damn Lin Daichun, he thought.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
