Xia Zhen doesn’t take any step closer before Pei Cheng An notices and approaches her. He puts away his newspaper and tells her, “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” She smiled at him. “When did you come? Have you waited for long?”
“I’ve just reached. Have you had your breakfast?”
“Yes.” As she is getting ready earlier, she has been wolfing down a mantou and a gla.s.s of milk. “What about you?” When she asks this, she belatedly remembers that she didn’t ask if Pei Cheng An had his dinner last night. Yesterday he came to the KTV straight after the phone call and would have totally no time to eat. She only lets herself feel guilty for a second before realising it turns out to be a good outcome because Pei Cheng An will be able to see her inconsiderate side.
“So have I,” he replies. “Let’s go.”
Their destination is Mount Huai Yang which is located in the suburbs. Xia Zhen has been there as a child but she has never tried climbing it.
Mount Huai Yang has been developed into a park but it is still relatively quiet because there are not many neighbourhoods around it. But there are still some retirees who live close enough who will exercise in the park and climb the mountain.
With a quick glance, she sees that most people there are middle-aged people above 50. Their arrival as a young and good-looking pair becomes especially eye-catching. Noticing Pei Cheng An’s lack of a reaction, Xia Zhen asks, “Do you come here often?”
“I come here every week.”
It is at this moment that a white-headed old man pa.s.sing by Xia Zhen and disappearing briefly after. It is as if she is seeing Pei Cheng An in his old age. En, he should look just like that uncle earlier. At most, he will just be slightly more handsome.
“What do you like other than hiking?”
“Running. But I don’t run at the gym. I think running in the nature is the best thing to do, as it is also the most relaxing. Of course, many people don’t have time these days and would choose to run at the gym. That is still better than people who don’t exercise,” Pei Cheng An answers as he walks.
Xia Zhen really wants to say that she is that kind of people who don’t exercise. She would play basketball a few times a year, run a few times a month, and basically that is it. Oh yeah, she thinks she understands a little why Pei Cheng An doesn’t have a girlfriend: chatting with him is really quite dull.
She should just focus on climbing.
Xia Zhen rarely hikes. Usually she would just play basketball or run. She has never once expected hiking to be so exhausting.
The winter is so cold that Xia Zhen just wants to hibernate all season long. If she doesn’t have to move, she probably wouldn’t move. The result of that inactivity is her lack of strength right now.
Mount Huai Yang is a steep mountain with a high peak, with winding paths and tricky roads. Xia Zhen begins puffing in the first ten minutes yet Pei Cheng An is being as calm and serene as if he is walking on a flat road. If not for him slowing down to adapt to her speed, he would probably already reach the mid-point by now.
“Tired?” Pei Cheng An stops and asks.
“So-so. I just feel a little warm.” She can still withstand being tired, but the heat is getting unbearable. When Pei Cheng An got off the car earlier, he took off his down jacket but Xia Zhen was afraid of the cold and didn’t.
“Then take off your jacket.”
Xia Zhen gives in and hands him the jacket. Out of instinct, she stretches her hand too far out of concern he would not be able to reach it. But his grasp is firm and he has even placed it on his other arm. Xia Zhen’s lonesome hand remains outstretched. Pei Cheng An lowers his head to look at it and then does something that shocks Xia Zhen.
He holds her hand.
Pei Cheng An’s senior have enthusiastically advised him on the physical intimacy between a couple. He said this: “This is a gradual progress. You should let it develop naturally but not allow it to chance at the same time. For you, of course you should take the initiative. Dating is not like researching and also unlike dealing with your family. Women don’t resist being intimate with their boyfriend and they will even antic.i.p.ate and appreciate it. If her boyfriend is indifferent to her, this is just a mockery of her charms. And another thing, some women would actually take the initiative but feel too proud to. Instead they would try hinting at you. You have to understand their hints and then strike.”
The senior continued to explain the steps in a relationship. Pei Cheng An doesn’t accept everything, only three of it. The rest he can only do after marriage.
The first step is holding hands.
He didn’t expect it to happen so soon. He is also aware that Xia Zhen wasn’t hinting at him. Earlier, he wanted to hold her hand so he did just that. His heartbeat quickens as he holds onto that small and soft hand. His heart feels like soaring.
He really likes this kind of feeling.
Xia Zhen widens her eyes at him, expression complicated. Pei Cheng An’s ears redden at her intense gaze so he looks away. “Let’s go.”
Xia Zhen has this thought: “Can you let go of my hand?”
She is about to open her mouth but closes it when she sees how shy he looks. She feels like if she says those words, she will hurt his innocent little heart.
Innocent…
Xia Zhen takes back this adjective. To hold someone’s hand in the second day of a relationship, this kind of person is completely not innocent!
Deng, deng, deng. They hear the sound of footsteps rushing behind them.
In the first place the mountain path is narrow, but with Xia Zhen and Pei Cheng An holding hands and blocking the path, it is worse. It’s difficult for them to move out of the way, so Xia Zhen takes this opportunity to remove her hand from Pei Cheng An’s hold.
After the middle-aged man goes on his way, she acts as if nothing happened. “Let’s go. You can go first.”
Pei Cheng An clenches his fist in disappointment. “You should walk ahead of me.”
Xia Zhen has no opinions about his suggestion. Thus when she walks past him in that path, she steps on the staircase that is narrower than usual and even has moss on it. Her step isn’t firm enough and she slips.
“Aiya!” Her body loses balance and she clutches on the only person next to her. Pei Cheng An’s movement is swift and he catches her, pulling her to him. Xia Zhen also instinctively holds onto him for safety. But she has thrown herself too far into his arms that she can feel his hard bones and rapid thumping.
A heartbeat. A startled Xia Zhen has yet to notice the arm around her waist.
In that cosy embrace, the numb pain in her chest is gradually forgotten.
Who knows how long has pa.s.sed before he took the initiative to let go.
This is too quick! His plan is to hug her within a month. By then, the temperature in their relationship would have risen. If they hug at that time, it would truly be the result of their feelings for each other. Even though this is an accident, he cannot covet her. He cannot disrespect Xia Zhen.
“Are you okay?” His ears are incredibly warm but his face is still calm.
Xia Zhen’s face is red. Even though she has many male friends and will occasionally hug their shoulders, she has never hug anyone, including a woman. But earlier? Their embrace is so tight that her chest is hurting from pressing against him. Chest…
Ahhh, this is her basically serving herself up in a platter for him!
Even though she appears to be very outgoing and open-minded, and she can crack dirty jokes without blushing, but she is only good at talking. Her actual experience is pitifully limited.
She inhales deeply and then smiles. She tries to sound relaxed and says, “I’m fine. Let’s keep going.”
“I’ll guide you [hold your hand].” Pei Cheng An is not asking for her opinion. His hand is already holding hers.
Xia Zhen’s heart who had just been pumped with courage becomes weak all over again. To be honest, holding hands is no big deal for her. Yet when it comes to holding hands with Pei Cheng An, she finds that it is just the opposite.
But to reject him would be too awkward for her. This is not her style.
Just hold hands then. She will just think of him as an old man [senior in life] guiding his junior. Eh, it seems like this thought is not quite true.
Her thoughts are occupied and her focus is not at all on hiking. She allows Pei Cheng An to drag her anywhere. She doesn’t realise that she feels very safe and secure allowing him to take her.
After resting halfway there, they finally make it to the peak.
It is especially windy at the top but to an exhausted and sweaty Xia Zhen, it is a very welcoming and refreshing thing.
The view from the peak is limitless and the sun still hangs low. The buildings from afar seems to shrink in the horizon. In one glance, she can see the entire city.
With a sudden stroke of inspiration, she recites a poem: “I will definitely reach the peak of Mount Tai, where the mountain I will overlook will definitely be small.” [expresses the poet’s desire to have lofty ambitions]. She places one hand behind her. With a confident gaze and serious expression, she looks like a scholar who had sprouted those words herself.
Pei Cheng An smiles looking at her. He couldn’t help the desire to tease her. “Not bad. Go on,” he says.
Xia Zhen’s brain stops functioning at that moment. She knows quite a few poems about mountains but she cannot remember them at the moment.
“Wow, is that the Starlight Avenue?” Xia Zhen looks like she has just discovered the new world and points excitedly at somewhere in the horizon. The clouds has not yet to be dissipated but if she looks closely, she can make out the outlines.
Pei Cheng An doesn’t pursue the topic anymore, knowing she doesn’t remember any, and looks in the direction she is pointing at. “Yes. Then do you know where is your house located at?”
Xia Zhen looks carefully for a moment before pointing at a particular spot. “I think it’s somewhere around there.”
Pei Cheng An laughs and points at a spot quite a distance away from where Xia Zhen pointed at. “It’s there.”
She frowns. “Are you sure? I remember we came from the direction of the Starlight Avenue. We basically drove straight all the way and I don’t remember us taking any big detours.”
Pei Cheng An explains, “Starlight Avenue is in the east. Your house is in the southwest of this district. But you’re pointing in the direction of northwest.”
Xia Zhen recounts the route she usually takes to reach home in her head and realises she mixed up the left and right directions. It is just a moment of carelessness, and not because she is stupid. She tries to find an excuse for herself. “It just deviates a little. My sense of direction is still not bad.” As a person who has laughed at others for being directionally-challenged, she doesn’t want to admit her sense of direction is poor.
Pei Cheng An nods lightly. With a solemn tone he says, “En. You only have some trouble differentiating north and south. There’s still hope for your sense of direction.”
Xia Zhen: “...” Is it okay to speak to your girlfriend like this?