The last stop on my itinerary in Chang'an was Mount Hua.

At six o'clock in the morning, Xia Minmin and her friends were wearing outdoor sportswear sets purchased in Shenzhen and carrying backpacks outside the corridor.

Xia Minmin repeatedly asked, "Did you bring your cotton gloves?"

"I've brought it."

"Let's go!"

Xia Minmin didn't want to keep asking, but she had no choice. The original plan was to leave at five o'clock in the morning, but one person forgot something, another forgot their ID card. It was already 5:30 and they still hadn't left.

It takes about 90 minutes by train to get to Mount Hua. On a summer morning at six o'clock, when the sky is already bright, there are already tourists coming and going near the train station, all heading to different places.

Xia Jianguo asked, "Buy train tickets?"

Xia Minmin and Li Qing both raised their hands, "Me!"

Grandpa Xia made the final decision, "You two go together! We'll buy some roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) and soy milk for breakfast."

Wang Aimin added, "Shall we meet at the entrance of the train station?"

"Um."

Xia Minmin and Li Qing walked to the entrance with their train tickets and ID cards, while the others waited nearby with roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) in their hands.

"The train departs in thirty minutes. Let's have breakfast in the waiting hall!" Xia Minmin was already attracted by the aroma of the steaming roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), and her stomach kept rumbling.

Everyone says the food near the train station is expensive and unpalatable, but this roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) is actually quite delicious.

Let's go line up!

Xia Minmin and her friends were still sitting on the chairs eating their roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) when the tourists sitting around them got up to queue up. Xia's grandfather was anxious when he saw the three-meter-long queue. He quickly finished his roujiamo and joined the queue, urging the others to hurry up.

"Hurry up, it's too late."

Xia Minmin slowly wiped her mouth, "Grandpa, there's really no need to be in such a hurry. Even if you're last in line, you can still catch the train."

Grandpa Xia glared at his granddaughter who was dragging him down, but didn't say anything more. After all, he had the lowest status in the family, and no one dared to offend him.

After getting off the train, I took a taxi and rushed to Huashan before eight o'clock.

After looking through the travel guide, Xia Minmin asked, "Which way do we go? West up, north down? West up, west down? North up, west down? Or north up, north down?"

Li Chunmei asked, "Is there any particular custom?"

Xia Minmin sorted out her thoughts and said, "Hiking the entire north-to-north route is the most tiring, suitable for people who love mountain climbing, but not friendly to the elderly; north-to-west is the second most tiring, with fewer tourists and more uphill sections; west-to-north is the third most tiring, with more downhill sections; and west-to-west mostly uses cable cars, which is the easiest."

Without hesitation, Li Zhonghua said, "I'll accompany my parents on the cable car up and down!"

Sun Erni and Wang Aimin both chose to go up and down the mountain. They were both quite old and had bad knees. Since ancient times, there has only been one path to Mount Hua, and its perilous nature can be imagined.

Xia Minmin and her parents exchanged a glance and said, "Since that's the case, our family has chosen to hike the entire way north and south. What about you, Qingjie?"

Everyone looked at Li Qing, the only one who hadn't made a decision.

Li Qing was conflicted. Neither of these two paths suited her; they were either the most difficult or the easiest. She wanted to go north or west, but she had no one to accompany her.

"Then I'll follow my second aunt and the others north and south."

Wang Aimin said, "We'll meet at the foot of the mountain, and send each other a text message when we arrive."

The nine people split into two groups and headed to their respective destinations.

The four people stood under the Yuquan Temple archway, doing warm-up exercises at the foot of the mountain, just like other tourists.

The tourists were extremely curious about Xia Minmin. Most of the people climbing the mountain here were adults with only one child. She was skillfully doing warm-up exercises, and her shoes were professional hiking boots, so it must have been her first time climbing the mountain.

The man standing next to Xia Jianguo said, "Brother, is this your child? How old is he? It's admirable that he's so young to climb Mount Hua!"

“She’s eight years old this year. She used to go hiking with my husband and me all the time. She also likes all kinds of sports and has a very good athletic ability. She also practices Sanda and Muay Thai. She’s also very good at skateboarding and tennis…” Xia Jianguo said, listing all the sports his daughter had learned. He kept showing off to the strangers next to him.

The strangers who tried to talk to him left after less than ten minutes of warming up.

Li Qing asked, "Which route should we take?"

Xia Minmin drew the specific locations on the map: "Starting from Yuquan Temple, we passed through Qianchi Cliff and Baichi Gorge, went up to the North Peak, then to Canglong Ridge and Jinshuo Pass, went up to the Middle Peak, then to the East Peak, South Peak, and West Peak, and then returned to the North Peak from the Middle Peak back to the starting point, Yuquan Temple."

Li Qing's eyes went black as she looked at the route; it was practically a devil's route. She was probably going to be wasting her time on Mount Hua today.

Xia Minmin and her family walked briskly among the hikers, even jogging when they encountered flat sections of the trail.

When Li Qing reached the middle peak, she braced herself on her knees and took deep breaths of air. She rubbed her aching calves and felt incredibly remorseful for her past ignorance. She shouldn't have chosen this path; looking down from the Thousand-Foot Cliff, she was almost scared to death.

After a brief rest and replenishment at the summit, the group resumed their journey.

Standing on the East Peak viewing platform, Li Chunmei said, "It's such a pity. This is the best place to watch the sunrise. Next time, we'll come here for a night climb to see the sunrise."

Xia Minmin thought about the sunrise at the East Peak and the sunset at the West Peak, and how they could see the starry sky during a night climb. "Okay! I agree."

Hearing her aunt's words, Li Qing felt heartbroken and on the verge of tears. How could they act as if nothing had happened and even plan to climb again?

Back at Yuquan Temple at 4:30 this afternoon, Li Qing leaned on Li Chunmei, too tired to speak.

Xia Jianguo's phone rang with a text message: "It should be a text message from your uncle."

After Xia Jianguo looked at it, he said, "Let's go, they're waiting for us downstairs."

Grandpa Xia, Grandma Xia, and their three grandparents sat on chairs outside the restaurant, drinking tea and eating snacks.

When Li Qing saw the empty chair next to Grandpa Xia and the others, she rushed over and sat down as if she had seen a relative.

Looking at Li Qing's appearance, and then at her sister-in-law's family who seemed to be in good spirits, Sun Erni asked, "Are you that tired?"

Li Qing was too tired to speak, so she nodded.

"Xiao Qing, what would you like to eat?" Li Chunmei asked, holding up the menu.

Li Qing replied listlessly, "Whatever."

Xia Jianguo and Xia Minmin acted as if nothing had happened, running to the front desk to order food, showing no signs that they had been hiking for eight hours.

Grandma Xia saw the whole family sitting at the table. "What they said today almost scared me to death. I still feel a little scared thinking about it now. Your dad..."

Grandpa Xia coughed lightly. "This old woman says everything without thinking. She doesn't give me any face. I won't have any authority in front of the children anymore."

Grandma Xia glanced at him and continued, "Your dad screamed so loudly that I almost went deaf from his shouting. Apart from being scary, the cable car was fine. We got off around 1:00 PM."

Grandpa Xia said softly, "It's so high, isn't it normal to be scared? You were the same, your legs went weak when you got off the cable car."

Li Qing sat up straight. "Never go hiking with my second aunt and the others again. You'll be exhausted. You have no idea how tough they are. They can jog on flat roads. I'm never going hiking with them again."

After a quick bite to eat and packing their bags, the group had to take the train back to Chang'an.