"Wife, I love you so much."

I like you too.

I like you so much.

"You really like me."

“You really like me.” Shi Jinzhe mimicked her speech.

"Stop making a scene, get off here." Shekh covered his mouth; he'd liked him the whole way, now it was time to stop.

After getting off the cable car, Sheh and Shi Jin took a different route to the summit.

The sun rose over the hills at noon, and the sunlight was a bit strong. Shi Jinzhe handed her a baseball cap and asked, "Do you want to wear your snake-suppressing cap?"

"It's breezy, but not too hot."

Shi Jin folded it and put it into his backpack, saying, "Tell me if you get hot."

"It's not hot now."

Shekh looked toward the building in front of the steps; it was very close, almost at the top.

Several scenic spots lay ahead, one after another. Once they were actually on the way, Sher took his time to enjoy the views.

The incense sticks burned brightly, and even without the mist swirling around the mountains, they exuded an ethereal aura.

Unwittingly, she noticed a snake-shaped stone carving on the balusters of the stone railing. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly walked towards it, her pace doubling.

The spiraling snake stone carving was very lifelike, with a red cloth tied around it. She curled it up a couple of times, saying, "I love it."

Shi Jinzhe opened his phone to record a video, saying, "I'll take a picture of us together later."

Shekh held the stone sculpture in both hands, turned around happily, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

I snapped a photo at the last minute, saving both the video and the photo. Then I took a few more photos of the snake-shaped stone carving and posted them on my WeChat Moments.

Chi Yu immediately liked the post and commented below, "Were you possessed by a snake?"

Time is running out: [Smiling face - jpg]

Chi Yu: [I heard you adopted two Burmese pythons and brought them home. When would be a good time for me to come over and take a couple of pictures, so I can pretend to be one? [Minion carrying a backpack.jpg]]

As long as the snake is on the other side of the screen, Chi Yu feels he can control its lifeline.

He's not afraid anymore; he's doing it again.

Shi Jinzhe: [Ask my wife, I can't make that decision.]

Chi Yu: [Would you be willing to give me her contact information?]

Shi Jinzhe: [I get jealous.]

Chi Yu: [I understand, I'm not worthy.]

"Why don't you just say no?" Shekh asked after reading their conversation.

"Chi Yu is a friend, there's no need to refuse him so bluntly."

"That's acceptable."

Shehe took a small cucumber out of Shi Jinzhe's backpack, gave him a bite, and asked Shi Jinzhe to bite off the cucumber head that he didn't like. Then he said, "Those two are quite affectionate. I saw on the surveillance footage that they both like their keeper."

“If you don’t mind, I’ll tell him to come when we get back.”

"It will be all right."

After visiting this place, they continued on. There were quite a few people at the summit, so they took a few photos of the buildings. Shi Jinzhe then pulled Shehe to find a spacious spot where they wouldn't obstruct other people's passage to rest.

They laid out a clean plastic sheet and sat down in a very down-to-earth manner.

There was also a pomegranate in the backpack. Shi Jinzhe leisurely peeled it, saying, "I feel like if we could go back to when we first met, you would eat the pomegranate peel and all."

Sher was tearing open a chocolate wrapper when he heard this, and Gaba snapped the chocolate in his hand.

"I can eat now, I'll eat you skin and all."

“That won’t do. Look over there.” Shi Jinzhe pointed to an inconspicuous sign in the distance. “Please do not damage the flowers, plants and trees.”

Shekh countered, "So pomegranates are animals, right?"

“Yes, animals.” Shi Jinzhe remained calm and began to spout nonsense, “When you peel a pomegranate, it oozes a red liquid, and the inside is white and yellow. That’s an animal.”

"I get it, actually you're balancing a watermelon on your neck."

A smile flickered across Shi Jinzhe's eyes. "I am a watermelon. What are you?"

"I was forced into this situation."

"Forced relationships are never sweet."

“But forced fruit is bitter.” Shekh stared straight at him.

A forced relationship is unpleasant...

Shi Jinzhe laughed without any regard for his image, so happy that a few pomegranate seeds fell out of his hand. "It's fine, I like forced melons."

"If you like it, peel it quickly, or it won't twist anymore."

"Don't suppress your nature."

Shech chocolates were thrown at him. “Born to eat people, hurry up and peel them.”

Seeing someone pass by, Shi Jinzhe stopped thinking about her cryptic language and said, "You eat first."

Sheh picked up a pomegranate seed and put it into her mouth one by one to sip the juice. No one spoke, but her gaze was fixed on the slightly protruding veins on the back of Shi Jinzhe's hand.

She couldn't get enough of looking at it, so she kept pressing on it, like playing whack-a-mole, pressing wherever the veins were bulging.

She didn't mind that Shi Jinzhe's hands would have juice on them; his hands were very clean.

Neatly sized nails, the habitual action of bending the wrist before pomegranate juice flows down the wrist bone into the sleeve, and the wet wipes always carried with her.

It's not the kind of cleanliness that comes from wearing clean clothes, but rather the cleanliness that is revealed beneath the surface through habitual cleanliness.

This made her feel comfortable, so she didn't feel anything when she ate the pomegranate seeds he held in his palm.

After playing for a while, Sheikh wrote his name on the back of his hand with his fingernail. "I want to go hiking again. It feels great. The wind and air are very comfortable. Can we go hiking again tomorrow?"

Shi Jinzhe: "Go whenever you want. You can also climb the back mountain, where the scenery is even more natural."

"Don't go to Qingcheng Mountain, find another one. The snakes here don't know any better."

"There are many mountains in China. My phone is in my pants pocket. You can search for which one you want to go to."

Shekh took out his phone to search, and after eating a whole pomegranate, he said, "Let's go to this one, it's closer."

Shi Jin raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping past the phone screen. "You want to replicate the White Snake's cultivation path?"

"No, I heard that on a clear day you can see the snow-capped mountains in the distance from the summit. I don't like it too cold and I don't want to climb snow-capped mountains, so going here is a win-win situation."

"So, are you going to take a car or walk? Taking a car will make you miss a lot of the scenery, but I don't think you can walk all that."

"I want to hike and enjoy the scenery; the cars are going too fast."

"It's a walk of dozens of kilometers."

"You can carry me on your back."

"..."

Shi Jinzhe looked at the three characters "Emei Mountain" and, at a loss for words, said, "...I meant kilometers."

Has Sheh forgotten that she took the cable car for half of her journey up Qingcheng Mountain?

This is like trying to do a 100-meter hurdles race when you've only just learned to walk!

If she weren't afraid of the cold, would she have gone to climb the snow-capped mountain?

“I know,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’ve looked at the others. Some mountains require climbing on both hands and feet. Even if you’re willing to carry me when I get tired, others might be afraid that you’ll lose your balance and fall, causing the people behind you to tumble down. This one is pretty good, easy to walk, just a bit long.”

"You are such a good wife to me."

"It's alright, I guess."

Sher touched his own lips with his index and middle fingers together, then pressed them to Shi Jinzhe's lips, asking knowingly, "The best husband in the world wouldn't disagree, would he?"

"Please stop your manipulative tactics against your husband."

"Shall we go?"

"Give me your phone, I'll book a guesthouse on the mountain first, and we'll split the days and climb over them."

Fortunately, he had skills, so this was not a big deal for him.

Otherwise, raising Shekh would require more than just money; it would cost them their lives.

Shekh touched his hand, sitting awkwardly, trying to gaze at him affectionately. "A mere few dozen kilometers is no problem for my husband. If it weren't so inconvenient here, I would definitely show my love for you through my actions."

Shi Jinzhe: "Don't try to drug me."