…

Fang Henian pulled Xiaomei to sit next to him. The two of them automatically ignored the people around them and talked sweetly in low voices.

Xu Mengyao sighed helplessly and had to sit down next to Lin Xiaohe, who was concentrating on reading the documents.

"Evan, has he caught you with any evidence? Why do you have to be used as a light bulb by him now?" Xu Mengyao asked Lin Xiaohe in a low voice, with the spirit of gossip burning in her eyes.

Lin Xiaohe was amused by her words, put down the information in his hand, looked at her gently and said:

"You think too much. I came here voluntarily."

Xu Mengyao curled her lips, obviously not believing it.

Voluntary, what the hell? Graduation is the busiest time. They've even brought their materials here to look at, and they still say it's voluntary. There's definitely something fishy going on, but since it involves personal privacy, Xu Mengyao didn't ask any more questions. She put on her headphones, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes to rest.

She slept for an unknown amount of time, then she felt someone shaking her shoulders.

"Yao, wake up, we are going to get off the bus." Lin Xiaohe's voice came.

Xu Mengyao rubbed her sleepy eyes, stretched lazily, and looked out the car window. She saw a picturesque natural environment.

The classmates had already gotten off the bus one after another. Xiaomei and Fang Henian were standing outside the window, waving at her.

She picked up her luggage and prepared to get off the car. Lin Xiaohe took her suitcase and got off the car behind her.

After arriving at a suitable spot to set up camp, everyone divided the work between them. Some set up the tents, some busied themselves with sorting out the dishes, and some washed the vegetables. Fang Henian then dragged Xiaomei towards the lake, claiming he needed to fetch some water.

"Yao, can you go to the woods and pick up some firewood?" asked a classmate who was setting up a tent.

"sure."

Xu Mengyao agreed and prepared to leave with her eco-friendly bag.

"Wait, I'll go with you." Lin Xiaohe offered, "Although there aren't any dangerous beasts in the woods around here, it would be troublesome if you got lost."

The two of them walked into the woods together, picking up dead branches and enjoying the natural scenery around them.

Xu Mengyao took a deep breath of fresh air and sighed, "The air in nature is really much better than in the city. Just breathing here makes me feel like my soul is purified."

Lin Xiaohe nodded in agreement: "Indeed, especially after the rain or in the early morning, the air is filled with the fragrance of flowers and plants, which makes it even fresher."

Suddenly, Xu Mengyao's eyes lit up and she exclaimed in surprise: "Wow, look, there are so many flowers over there!"

She ran quickly and saw all kinds of flowers blooming in the distance - familiar rape flowers, tulips, hydrangeas, and some small white and purple flowers that she couldn't name.

Lin Xiaohe followed closely behind, looked around, and introduced her: "This area should be a protected primeval forest. It has a very rich variety of plants. Not only are there common oak and ash trees, but there are also beech and cherry trees over there."

"Really?" Xu Mengyao walked in the direction he pointed to the cherry tree and reached out to pick a bunch of unripe cherries.

There are completely unripe green fruits mixed with half-ripe yellow ones, and a few have turned red. They look very beautiful together.

Looking at the fresh cherries, Xu Mengyao's saliva began to secrete, and she couldn't help but want to taste it.

"I wonder how it tastes?" She thought for a moment, then turned around and handed the cherry to Lin Xiaohe, not hiding her thoughts at all. "Why don't you try this red one first to see if it's sweet?"

Lin Xiaohe smiled and was about to take the cherries from her hand, but suddenly his smiling eyes became serious and deep.

"What's wrong?" Xu Mengyao asked, sensing the change in his aura.

Lin Xiaohe lowered his voice and said very seriously: "Don't talk, and don't look back."

After saying that, he quickly reached behind Xu Mengyao.

When Xu Mengyao reacted, she felt that he seemed to have thrown something far away very quickly.

"The sun has set. Let's go back first. It's not safe here."

Before she could ask, Lin Xiaohe quickly grabbed her hand and ran in the direction they came from.

The two ran all the way back to the camp. Fang Henian saw them running back hand in hand. Just as he was about to make a joke, he found that they were both out of breath and his good brother's face looked strange.

"Evan, what happened?" Fang Henian asked.

"Nothing, I just encountered a snake in the woods."

Lin Xiaohe recalled the slippery feeling just now and felt a little uncomfortable.

"What?" Xu Mengyao was stunned. "Did we encounter a snake?"

Seeing Lin Xiaohe's indescribable expression, she suddenly realized, "You don't mean... you just grabbed a snake from behind my head and threw it away?"

Not getting the denial she wanted, Xu Mengyao screamed frantically, "Ah! There's a snake!"

Realizing that their hands were still holding each other, she immediately pulled them back, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she said,

"You're grabbing me with the same hand you used to grab a snake?"

The last sentence was shouted out.

Lin Xiaohe was quite helpless as he didn't expect her to react like this, while Fang Henian burst into laughter.

"Xiaomei, I want to wash my hands. Come with me, I want to wash them ten times! Use the most fragrant hand soap!" Xu Mengyao shouted in despair.

God knows, the animals she fears most in her life are animals that crawl without legs. There will be many earthworms on the road after it rains, and she will always jump as she walks with her scalp tingling, for fear of stepping on them.

Among all reptiles, she was most afraid of snakes. When Huang's father bought loaches home, she was so scared that she didn't dare to look at them. Even if Huang's mother cooked them and served them on the table, she was unwilling to sit at the table to eat.

The word "snake" gave her goosebumps, and she had almost come into close contact with one just now! Just thinking about it made her collapse.

During the meal, Xu Mengyao kept squeezing in the middle of the crowd, fearing that uninvited guests would appear again.

Before going to bed at night, she asked her classmates to help check the tent several times and sprinkled several circles of insect repellent powder outside her tent.

Lin Xiaohe didn't expect her to be so scared, and couldn't help feeling a little annoyed that he shouldn't have told the truth just now.

Now all he could do was comfort her again: "Don't worry, we have a lot of people here, and we're stationed in an open area. We'd already spread some medicine powder around when we arrived this afternoon, so there won't be...those things coming over."

Xu Mengyao said with a sad face, "I'm sorry, Evan. I lost my composure just now. Thank you for saving me. I've been afraid of mollusks since I was a child, especially those."

Xu Mengyao has always left Lin Xiaohe with the impression of being positive, beautiful, and intelligent.

This was the first time I saw her show her weak side. Seeing the girl's frightened look, I couldn't help but feel distressed.

"Don't be afraid, I'll be on duty tonight, you can sleep peacefully."