Green Tea-Flavored Tsubaki

The disposable toothpaste in the hotel was green tea flavored.

After brushing their teeth, every word spoken carried a subtle and elegant green tea fragrance.

Soft, warm, and green-tea-flavored Chunbao was also quite delicious—Shen Nian had already tasted her.

The hotel provided breakfast. The restaurant had a pretty good spread, like a little food corner in a supermarket, offering plain congee, sticky rice, small pastries, and the like.

"After we finish breakfast, let's go back up to use the restroom. Don't tell me you need to take a dump later."

"I'm eating congee here, can we not talk about crap and piss?"

"Just reminding you. After all, lazy people always have so many issues."

"I wouldn't know. I saw the 5 AM sunrise during my senior year of high school. Have you?"

"Hmph." Xia Yanchun secretly stepped on Shen Nian's foot under the table where no one could see.

After breakfast and a trip to the restroom, right before heading out, Xia Yanchun pulled out two sanitary pads. She planned to put them in Shen Nian's shoes as insoles. She heard this would make his feet hurt less—a little trick she learned during military training.

Shen Nian didn't reject Chunbao's kind intentions. Unlike Xia Yanchun, he didn't have a pair of sneakers worth thousands of bucks. Although he had his Miraculous Healing ability and wasn't afraid of foot pain, who would say no to a little extra comfort?

"How is it? Comfortable?"

Shen Nian hopped in place a couple of times. "It's actually quite comfortable. Haki-chun, you're surprisingly attentive."

"Sigh, that's just the kind of person I am. Even though my boyfriend doesn't love me and my childhood sweetheart doesn't care for me, I still love this world."

"You're never going to let that go, are you? Take this, you green tea!"

"Ah! Shen Nian, you're asking for it!"

Getting punched in the arm hurt a little. Xia Yanchun was furious and wildly slapped Shen Nian a few times, taking the chance to get some good hits in. When they set off, she deliberately sulked to make Shen Nian guess what was wrong, ignoring him the whole way.

The hotel wasn't far from Tianshan, just a twenty-minute drive.

Tianshan was a popular local attraction. Many people came here out of admiration, carrying basic gear to challenge the mountain.

Shen Nian looked up into the distance. Tianshan was quite majestic. It wasn't just a mountain; it was also a forest park. At the foot of the massive mountain, there were many vendor stalls, bustling with noise and packed with crowds.

"Shen Nian, help me take a picture first!"

Xia Yanchun shoved her phone into Shen Nian's hands and skipped over to a large tree. She struck a pre-planned pose, her eyes and brows filled with a smile—the very picture of a sweet, beautiful girl.

After he snapped several photos in a row, Xia Yanchun happily squeezed in next to Shen Nian. "Not bad at all. This one looks really good."

"Guaranteed. Under my hands, even the ugliest person turns into a beauty."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Xia Yanchun rolled her pretty eyes, too lazy to scold him. Like she used to do on their way to and from school, she jogged a few steps ahead of Shen Nian and ignored him.

Shen Nian quickly caught up and bumped against her. Even though Xia Yanchun turned her head away and ignored him, he smoothly hooked her small hand, wrapped it in his palm, and walked alongside her.

Conquering a great mountain was nothing to Shen Nian. In his eyes, this mountain was just a thousand-meter-tall little loli.

It was no exaggeration to say he could treat mountain climbing like a jog and run all the way up without stopping.

"Say, if we started a live stream right now, do you think we'd get more traffic than usual?"

"We could try. The internet connection here is pretty good."

"Hmm, never mind. I was just saying." Xia Yanchun shook her head, gripping Shen Nian's large hand tighter. She raised an eyebrow and said, "We'd have to talk during the stream. Wouldn't we run out of breath?"

"That's just you. I wouldn't."

"Oh, so your stamina is that good, huh? Later, when I can't climb anymore, you'd better be able to carry me on your back to the rest station."

"I could carry you all the way up the mountain."

"I hereby declare you the number one braggart of the post-00s generation."

Xia Yanchun knew Shen Nian had good stamina and could carry her on his back for two laps around their residential compound. But carrying someone to the top of a mountain was an exponentially harder task. That kind of thing was too counterintuitive; it was impossible for anyone in the world to do it.

"I tell the truth and you don't believe me." Shen Nian didn't dwell on it and started looking around at the scenery of Tianshan.

The weather was perfect. Looking out, lush greenery covered half the view, and a glance upward revealed mountain peaks hidden in the mist.

There were many people ahead, quite a few of them here specifically to climb. A quick scan revealed several young couples holding hands. Shen Nian, relaxed and carefree, became one of those couples.

Perhaps the people behind them were looking at them the exact same way.

Noticing her hand being squeezed, Xia Yanchun narrowed her bright eyes slightly and squeezed his hand back.

Hmph, this silly little brother insists on holding his big sister's hand even while climbing a mountain. I really can't do anything about him. I'll just indulge him for a bit.

Having been in this ambiguous relationship for so long, Xia Yanchun was no longer the little girl from the first semester of senior year who would blush just from holding hands. Not even in broad daylight in front of a crowd.

She was a mature woman who would only blush when kissed.

Feeling delighted, Xia Yanchun began to focus on the climb. Knowing full well how exhausting mountain climbing could be, she tried to conserve her energy as much as possible along the way.

She was wearing the canvas shoes Shen Nian had bought for her. Walking in them was incredibly comfortable.

"What do you want for your birthday?" Xia Yanchun suddenly leaned forward, a lock of smooth hair slipping from behind her ear and falling softly.

"I want..." Shen Nian rubbed his chin, bared his teeth, hesitated for a moment, and said nothing.

"I hate it most when you leave a sentence hanging. Hurry up and tell me."

"Hmm... Then I want a pair of shoes too."

"What? That's definitely not what you were just thinking about." Xia Yanchun was very smart; it only took her 0.01 seconds to see through Shen Nian's little thoughts.

She covered her mouth and leaned in close to Shen Nian's ear, blowing hot air. Her voice was soft, mixed with a messy bit of teasing. "You were definitely thinking about something dirty."

"I've been wronged! I really wasn't... I honestly don't know what I want. I was just thinking about it." Shen Nian laughed in exasperation and pointed at her nose. "I bet you're the one thinking about it. You've always had a dirty mind."

Xia Yanchun's fair little face began to flush pink. "Am not!"

"You're getting defensive."

"I'm not getting you a gift anymore. Go cry about it. Alright, let's stop talking. I need to save my energy!"

"Alright, alright. Chunbao is a woman who's going to conquer the mountain, after all."

Shen Nian casually pinched the girl's soft, warm cheek, pulling his thoughts back.

When it comes to mountain climbing, everyone starts off full of ambition.

Halfway up, that ambition usually starts to wilt.

As the altitude increased, the number of people ahead noticeably dwindled. It seemed like for a long stretch of the path, it was just the same few familiar faces in front and behind them. Those who had only come to climb for fun had probably already backed out.

Shen Nian looked sideways at Xia Yanchun. She was holding up much better than he had expected.

Since they were holding hands... it was probably his Miraculous Healing taking effect.

Still, Shen Nian gave her a thumbs-up. "You're top-notch."

"I've always been top-notch." Xia Yanchun hummed proudly. "It feels really easy. I'm not even that tired."

"I hope you can stay this calm when we climb a bit higher."

"Guaranteed, guaranteed!"

"Your tone is wrong. It should be like this, repeat after me: Guaranteed, guaranteed~"

"Tch, who wants to learn that."

Xia Yanchun grumbled playfully.

She was well aware of her own physical limits, but she had no idea what was going on today. Even though she had been climbing for so long, the soles of her feet only felt slightly sore, and her thigh muscles weren't particularly fatigued. Whenever she did feel a hint of discomfort, simply slowing her pace was enough to recover...

Do I actually have a natural gift for mountain climbing?

It seems that conquering this mountain isn't impossible after all!