"Qian Wei! I've finally found you!"
Just as Qian Wei was cursing Lu Xun in her heart, Liu Shi Yun's voice suddenly rang out. Qian Wei looked up to see Liu Shi Yun panting as she ran towards her, while behind her stood Qian Chuan with a very ugly expression on his face.
Qian Wei stared at the space behind Qian Chuan for a long time, but still did not see Mo Zi Xin. She curiously asked: "Where is Mo Zi Xin?"
Qian Chuan had an expression on his face like he had just eaten shit: "We got separated!"
"When did you get separated?"
"We got separated in the haunted house." Qian Chuan said impatiently, "Are you satisfied now?"
At this point, Qian Wei was indeed very satisfied. She didn't even try to hide her excitement. Lu Xun hadn't been able to accompany Mo Zi Xin the whole way, but fortunately the heavens had opened their eyes and prevented Qian Chuan from succeeding as well. Now Qian Chuan didn't have any advantage either, and his plan for a romantic outing had also failed.
To confirm, Qian Wei asked again: "So after that, you and Mo Zi Xin didn't run into each other at all, and you were with Liu Shi Yun the whole time?"
Qian Chuan turned his head away, and very grudgingly acknowledged this fact.
Qian Wei laughed loudly and hugged Liu Shi Yun: "You really are my bestie, ahahaha."
Qian Chuan let out a cold laugh: "She really is your bestie, scheming against me in the exact same way. Just look at this." He held out his arm to reveal several red and purple finger marks. "This is what she did!" He glared at Liu Shi Yun, "Aren't you the famous 'Bold Liu' known for ten miles around? Then why were you screaming and clinging to me the whole time in the haunted house? Fine, you clung to me, but you could at least not pinch me, okay? You two study law, look at this yourselves, isn't this considered a minor injury? Isn't this intentional harm? You're knowingly breaking the law!"
"Pfft, you're the one intentionally causing harm. I was just giving you some authentic Thai massage that I learned from Thai people. Letting you get it for free is already doing you a favor, what more do you want?"
Qian Chuan was furious: "How can you twist things like this, woman! You're trying to get undeserved favors and act coy! Is this what they teach you in the law school, to turn black into white?"
Liu Shi Yun rolled her eyes theatrically: "What do you mean turning things around, this is called eloquence, do you have the wisdom and brains for it? Pfft, I forgot, you're from the sports academy. Of course you don't, all your nutrition goes to your limbs. Your brain probably can't even qualify as hot pot ingredients, it would be a waste of the hot pot broth."
Qian Chuan was so angry he was incoherent: "You...you..."
Fortunately, it was almost evening by this time, nearing the scheduled meetup time, and the rest of the group gradually made their way back as well. Qian Chuan's eyes were sharp, and he immediately spotted Mo Zi Xin walking not too far away. So he immediately abandoned Liu Shi Yun, no longer wanting to continue the battle, and hurriedly adjusted his mood before putting on a sunny smile and stepping forward to greet her.
Unfortunately for such a beauty like Mo Zi Xin, even if she got separated from Qian Chuan, she would never be alone. At the moment, she was accompanied by a tall male student, and the two of them were chatting and laughing together. The male student next to Mo Zi Xin obviously had intentions towards the beauty as well. His eyes were guarded as he watched Qian Chuan, deliberately blocking him and not letting him get close to Mo Zi Xin.
Luckily, Mo Zi Xin took the initiative to walk over first: "Qian Chuan, I don't know how but I got separated from you all earlier. I could only go play by myself after that. Oh right, this is a little souvenir I bought, I have one for you."
Qian Chuan accepted the souvenir very smugly. He couldn't help but shoot Qian Wei a look to show off: "Look, she treats me differently. Even if you try every scheme to sabotage us, even though I wasn't able to accompany her today, I've known all along that in her heart, I already occupy the most unique and important position."
Qian Wei laughed mockingly: "Then take a look over there."
Qian Chuan turned his head, only to see Mo Zi Xin walk to the rest of the classmates and hand out identical souvenirs to each of them. Qian Wei and Liu Shi Yun also each received one.
Qian Chuan: "......"
After handing them out to everyone, Mo Zi Xin finally went to Lu Xun's side in a seemingly natural manner. She lowered her head slightly, lips pursed, looking a little shy: "Lu Xun, this one is for you."
Although Mo Zi Xin's actions were quick, Qian Wei still clearly saw that the packaging of the one she gave Lu Xun was different and looked bigger than everyone else's. Even though Lu Xun had been so cold to Mo Zi Xin, in the end she still treated him most differently.
Unfortunately, Lu Xun didn't show any enthusiasm for the beauty's overture at all. He was still his usual cold and indifferent self, like a thermoelectric device without heat transfer capabilities, politely and distantly nodding at Mo Zi Xin and curtly saying "Thank you", as brief as if saying two more words would cost him his life.
Qian Wei sweated internally. Lu Xun, your aloofness is a bit over the top!
Luckily Mo Zi Xin seemed quite resilient. She only showed a flash of awkwardness at Lu Xun's cold reaction before her radiant smile returned. She continued chatting with Lu Xun about something, but before Qian Wei could strain her ears to eavesdrop, that annoying Liu Shi Yun bounced over to her side.
"I'm telling you, it was absolutely the right call not to watch that 4D movie. Do you know what that thing is? When they rode horses in the movie, the damn seat shook me back and forth, nearly shaking me until I vomited. When the main character was running against the wind, it blasted me right in the face with gusts of cold wind, nearly blowing me into a cold. And when it rained in the movie, it actually sprayed water at me! Don't they know I put on makeup today? All my makeup was ruined!" Liu Shi Yun seemed very excited describing her first 4D experience. She glanced at Qian Wei, then got even more excited. "My god, you're so childish, actually buying such a gaudy lollipop."
"Someone else bought it in a buy-one-get-one-free deal. They didn't want to eat the extra one so they gave it to me, I didn't buy it myself."
Liu Shi Yun gave Qian Wei a huge eye roll. "Yeah right, don't think I didn't go wander around in that shop. I saw that candy just now still in the souvenir shop over there. It looks tiny but it's expensive, there's no buy-one-get-one-free deal. Just eat it if you want to, I won't make fun of you for it."
"Huh?" Qian Wei was taken aback. No buy-one-get-one-free deal? Then why did Lu Xun lie...
"Everyone gather up, gather up! We're heading to the next stop!"
Unfortunately, before Qian Wei could think more deeply about it, the student council members organizing this event started gathering everyone to get back on the bus and head to the next destination.
The schedule for this trip had the theme park today, and the forest park nearby for outdoor activities tomorrow. The forest park was a very mature tourist destination. Not only did it have designated barbecue areas, but there were also little log cabins where people could experience camping. These cabins were built on the mountainside, requiring climbing stairs to reach them. There were single room cabins as well as little villa-style treehouses. Qian Wei's group had booked a family apartment-style treehouse for tonight. Since there were many people, the student council organizers had booked several connected little treehouses. The insides of these cabins also had doors allowing access between them, very convenient for visiting at night.
The forest park wasn't far from the theme park. After a ten minute bus ride, they arrived at the destination. Qian Wei and Liu Shi Yun got off the bus and immediately heard the student council organizers arranging the lodging groups.
"Qian Wei, Liu Shi Yun, Mo Zi Xin, Lu Xun, Wang Hao, Zhang Ming, Chen Mengmeng... you few from the law school will be in one cabin."
One of the named people, Wang Hao, raised his hand: "Can I be with my friends from the electrical engineering college instead? We already agreed on it earlier."
Qian Chuan seized the opportunity: "Brother, perfect. I'll switch with you. I'll go to the law school cabin, and you can be with your electrical engineering buddies and the sports academy people. My parents always tell me when I'm out I have to protect my sister at all times and never leave her side. If you make me unable to stay with my sister at night, I won't be able to sleep from worrying."
"Alright, then you go to the law cabin."
Qian Wei watched dumbfounded as Qian Chuan swaggered over to her group, smiling at Mo Zi Xin: "There's more girls and less guys in your law school group. Unlike a hotel, these little treehouses in the mountains don't have much protective features outside. If something happened in the middle of the night, it'd be better for me to be there to protect you all." As he spoke, he pretended to absentmindedly pull up his sleeve to flex his muscles.
"Qian Chuan, didn't you just say you have to protect me and never leave my side??? Come stay by my side and protect me then!" Qian Wei grabbed Qian Chuan and dragged him away from Mo Zi Xin. "Protect me well now that you're by my side."
Qian Chuan glared at Qian Wei, but settled down for the time being.
Everyone went to different tree houses according to their groups to put away their luggage. The family-style small tree houses had three floors in total. The first floor was a spacious living room and activity area. The second floor had two rooms and a bathroom, and the third floor had the same layout. The final rooming arrangement was that the girls would all live on the third floor, Qian Wei and Liu Shi Yun in one room, Mo Zi Xin and another girl, Chen Mengmeng, in the other; The boys lived on the second floor, Qian Chuan held on to the principle of knowing yourself and knowing your enemy, and followed Lu Xun closely, going out of his way to get close to him and insist on rooming together. The other two boys took the remaining room.
"Let's go, let's go, hurry up and go outside to prepare the barbecue!" When Liu Shi Yun thought about food, she became excited, "After eating barbecue we can go into the forest to see the fireflies, they were specially imported here, so beautiful!"
This forest park had good business sense. Near the low hills, they built various tree houses for tourists to stay in, and in the open areas they opened up a barbecue zone specifically for picnics. People could bring their own ingredients here, but not their own drinks. The barbecue grills were rented by the hour, and people had to buy charcoal, foil, and skewers. Plus most people didn't bring enough ingredients, so when they got excited while eating they would buy more at the gift shop. This way the park made money, the tourists had fun, and it drove up the number of visitors to the forest park - a win-win situation.
The group divided up tasks clearly - the girls were responsible for washing vegetables while the boys took care of starting the fire and grilling. Before long, along with the smell of barbecue smoke, the aroma of the food spread out as well.
The weather this evening was very nice. Although the sunshine was already blocked by clouds, residual warmth still emanated from it. A light breeze blew by, bringing a refreshing sensation. Qian Wei sat and watched everyone eat barbecue while chatting - the young faces of each person seemed to radiate hope and yearning for the future.
Qian Wei suddenly thought of a poem by Bei Dao: "Back then we had dreams, about literature, about love affairs, about journeys across the world." She couldn't help feeling emotional - youth is so wonderful. At this moment, she sincerely felt grateful that heaven had given her the chance to experience this kind of carefree innocence of youth again. At this moment, she temporarily let go of her urge to try to change her future, and just wanted to fully cherish this instant.
Not far away, Qian Chuan and Liu Shi Yun were bickering, Mo Zi Xin was laughing, and Lu Xun still had that aloof demeanor as he sat drinking a beverage. The glow of the setting sun shone down on each of them, lighting up their faces, making them seem almost unreal and glowing. Qian Wei thought, this moment will pass quickly, but I want to remember it firmly - even if in the future Qian Chuan settles abroad and seldom returns home, becoming less close with Qian Wei; even if Liu Shi Yun can't share the details of life with Qian Wei anymore because she is focused on her own career; even if Mo Zi Xin disappears completely from her life; even if Lu Xun becomes her oppressive boss; as long as she has the memory and warmth of this moment, in the later days of growing up, in the years we have to maturely and steadily face life alone, Qian Wei felt that just the power of this moment could sustain her through it alone.
