In Praise of Director Xia

Hearing Su Bai's suggestion, Xia Lin just felt it was ridiculous!

There was absolutely no scientific basis for this at all!

To be fair, Xia Lin still respected science.

But then again, there were already many unscientific elements about Su Bai.

So why not give it a try?

The moment this thought popped into Xia Lin's mind, she was instantly amused by herself.

Seriously, whenever something involved Su Bai, why did the rational and clear-headed Xia Lin disappear?

It was as if she had turned into a naive little girl.

Perhaps women in love were all like this.

"Let's drive and follow the group first, we'll talk about it when we get there."

"True, it's not that far to Tianrong Mountain anyway. When it's time for free activities, I'll help Xia refresh her mind."

Su Bai looked completely righteous.

Those who didn't know better would think the "refreshing" he mentioned was some serious business!

Xia Lin looked at him and revealed a helpless expression. She found that when she was with Su Bai, she always showed helpless yet amused emotions. Perhaps it was because Su Bai liked to show his relatively childish side in front of her.

This was a good thing.

She also enjoyed the feeling of being a big sister. Originally, she would occasionally worry whether a mature boy like Su Bai would dislike this dynamic, but now it seemed that Su Bai was also enjoying it.

Then it was fine.

The driving experience of an off-road vehicle generally brought a feeling of increasing joy the more you drove it. Especially with high-priced luxury off-road vehicles, it gave people the illusion of becoming a general charging into battle.

This was the emotional value of a luxury brand.

It could be seen that compared to delicate small cars, Xia Lin preferred this kind of large car.

"Indeed, you do like them big, sister," Su Bai deeply agreed.

"You're being glib again~" Xia Lin reached out and hit him.

"Sister Lin, when the tent is set up later, I want to lie on your lap and watch the clouds."

"You like watching clouds?"

"Of course. When I was a kid, there wasn't much to play with, so I just ran around in the wild fields of my hometown, went to unfinished construction sites to find all sorts of random things to build a small bed, and lay down to look at the sky... Jiangcheng is good in every way, except it's too bustling. Sure enough, occasionally one still needs to come to Tianrong Mountain to get close to nature."

Su Bai now understood why those rich people always liked to run to desolate places when they had nothing to do.

After living in a bustling place for a long time, one needed to balance it out.

"Then I'll take you around more. I've seen quite a lot of great rivers and mountains, and my travel experience is somewhat rich... Hmm, richer than those little girlfriends of yours."

"What girlfriends? You're just talking nonsense, Xia. They're all just female confidantes."

Su Bai lied through his teeth.

He could hear the hidden hint of jealousy in Xia Lin's tone.

Sure enough, even someone as strong as Xia Lin would vie for favor.

But then again, she wasn't actually wrong. Among these female confidantes, Xia Lin had indeed seen the most of the world.

Praise Xia!

...

On the bus.

Xue Tao sat in a relatively conspicuous seat near the aisle in the middle of the bus.

It wasn't that he was conspicuously ugly. Although Brother Tao's looks were indeed somewhat sorry, they weren't that hideous.

Mainly, the logo on his windbreaker was quite large.

And it was freaking fluorescent.

Huang Ran sat next to Xue Tao, occasionally glancing at the fluorescent logo, feeling... well... ah...

Xue Tao's aesthetic taste was indeed a bit ridiculous.

It completely fit her stereotype of a local nouveau riche in Jiangcheng.

And Xue Tao's roommate from Shanghai also perfectly fit Huang Ran's stereotype of a wealthy Shanghainese... Plus that mysterious otaku they mentioned who didn't come camping, focused on 2D games, and even opened a mobile game studio...

What a fascinating dorm room!

It was hard to imagine how happy Su Bai, as a top-tier rich guy, must be hanging around these three clowns every day.

Of course, this happiness was from a bystander's perspective.

If she were his girlfriend, it would be uncomfortable.

So she had to extract enough benefits from him to make it worthwhile.

Thinking this way, Huang Ran leaned her body toward Xue Tao's shoulder. Suddenly, Xue Tao felt something, his whole body inexplicably shivered, and he became incredibly nervous.

"Hey, Xue Tao, this hiking backpack of yours looks very professional. Can you introduce it to me? I don't know anything about this, I only know how to buy popular items on Taobao."

"Hahaha, professional? It's alright, this is just a regular sixty-liter hiking backpack."

Saying that, Xue Tao shook his bag, which was covered in all sorts of weird buckles. He even wore a special belt with a multi-tool and a strong flashlight hanging from it...

A true gearhead.

"I feel like any bag is pretty much the same," a sophomore senior from the computer science department sitting across the aisle chimed in, looking a bit annoyed at Xue Tao's showing off.

"Hehe, of course you should try to buy professional gear. What if you encounter an accident?"

"Bro, what accident could there be on Tianrong Mountain... Tianrong Mountain is safer than the road in front of your house..."

"Hey, that's what they say, but I still want to challenge dangerous peaks in the future." Xue Tao started his classic preaching again. "See this? The weight of the backpack has to press on the hips, and the shoulder straps can't be too tight... Hey, your shoes won't do. You need professional hiking shoes, anti-slip and waterproof! My pair, a classic LV model, although a bit expensive, is definitely worth the money..."

The senior from the same department was dumbfounded. You know, it was really his first time knowing that LV even made hiking shoes...

Although he felt this guy was a bit crazy, he was too embarrassed to flame him. After all, Xue Tao's outfit was indeed quite intimidating, creating a suppression on an economic level.

More than an hour later, the group arrived at the foot of Tianrong Mountain.

After parking the cars, the team gathered and prepared to take a popular classic route to a spacious area halfway up the mountain suitable for setting up camp.

Last year and the year before, the outdoor club also took the same route, though the chosen campsite was slightly different, it wasn't far. The captain leading the team for this activity... which was the vice president who hooked up with Liu Yuanyuan, claimed he had scouted the location in advance and there would be no problems.

This also showed that the organizers had thought things through, making a little variation based on a familiar route to ensure safety while adding a bit of novelty.

Liu Yuanyuan looked at the vice president with an approving gaze. Yes, this man was much more mature than Xue Tao.

Just as she was about to set off with him, the vice president suddenly looked apologetic and said, "Junior Yuanyuan, something came up temporarily, and I have to travel with a male classmate. Our families are old friends, and we have some family matters to discuss... Sorry, I can't play with you these two days!"

"Eh? No, wait..."

The vice president slipped away super fast.

This was the difference between an old hand and a rookie like Xue Tao—knowing how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

As for Su Bai and Xia Lin, they were currently walking at the very front of the group, leading the way.

After all, these two were definitely the man and woman with the best physical fitness among all the participants.