Chapter 5 I Never Want to Climb Mountains Again
Qiao Shuyan was indeed shocked, but fortunately he reacted quickly. So, all that was left was embarrassment.
"Sorry, I fell asleep." Qiao Shuyan didn't think there was anything wrong with the two of them being so close. Well, maybe there was, but at least he was only concerned with apologizing and didn't react at this time.
Liang Yu pulled back at the right time and said, "I was just about to call you."
"Are we there yet?" Qiao Shuyan looked out the window, but did not see the scene he expected.
Outside the car window is not a scenic spot parking lot, but a mountain ravine. It is winter now, and the once green Cangnan Mountain is a little chilly. Many leaves of the trees have been blown away by the wind, leaving only bare branches trembling slightly in the winter wind. Fortunately, there is enough sunshine today, so the scene does not seem too desolate. Not far away, you can see a small road, but it is not a man-made plank road, but it looks like a road that people have walked.
"We're here." Liang Yu said, preparing to get off the car.
Qiao Shuyan repeated: "Are we there yet?"
Liang Yu nodded and got out of the car.
Qiao Shuyan quickly unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car.
Liang Yu opened the back door and picked up the backpack on the back seat.
Qiao Shuyan ignored his doubts and looked at the gull-wing door with shining eyes. Then, he finally couldn't help it and opened the gull-wing door behind the co-pilot's car.
"So cool!" He stared at the door rising, with an unconcealable joy on his face.
Liang Yu smiled: "I like this door too."
Qiao Shuyan nodded frantically in agreement and asked, "When did you buy this car?"
"I bought it after I came to work in City B this year." Liang Yu said, "It just so happened that there were subsidies at that time, and the policy was better."
The two of them talked about the car while walking up the mountain along the road that was not really a road.
Liang Yu was wearing a black mountaineering suit today, which subtly reduced his mature temperament and made him look more youthful. He looked more like a peer of Qiao Shuyan.
Qiao Shuyan was still wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and a down jacket. Although he got up early in a hurry, he still dressed neatly.
Soon, Qiao Shuyan's words gradually became less and less, because he had to focus all his attention on climbing the mountain. The mountain road was really too rugged, not only steep, but also difficult to walk on. There was no proper road, and the crooked path was covered with various stones of different sizes, and it was sometimes up and sometimes down, which made Qiao Shuyan question his life.
Liang Yu walked forward with ease, not slowing down at all because of the bumpy road under his feet. Qiao Shuyan looked at Liang Yu's agile back and burst into tears. They are both human beings, but why is there such a big difference? As expected, people will die if you compare them with others, and goods will be thrown away if you compare them with others.
They walked like this for more than half an hour. As the altitude increased, the temperature dropped and the air began to become a little thin. Liang Yu saw that Qiao Shuyan was talking less, so he stopped chatting with him and just walked in front silently to lead the way. Qiao Shuyan regretted it a lot. Wouldn't it be nice to sleep at home until he woke up naturally on a weekend in the winter? Why did he succumb to his mother's power and come to climb the mountain? Does he love nature? Does he like to exercise? He is clearly stupid. At this moment, Qiao Shuyan wanted to cry but had no tears.
Finally, after holding on for another five minutes, Qiao Shuyan decided to give in. He gasped and shouted, "Liang, Liang Yu, can we take a break for a while?"
Liang Yu turned his head and looked at Qiao Shuyan. He saw that his fair face was a little red due to exercise, a healthy pink, and there was a drop of sweat on his forehead, but he was breathing a little hard. Liang Yu realized that he should take a different mountain road today.
"Sorry, I forgot to change the route." Liang Yu said, taking out a thermos from his backpack and handing it to Qiao Shuyan.
Qiao Shuyan took it without hesitation, thinking that Liang Yu was simply a devil. Who would come to such a barren place to climb mountains in such a cold weather? He opened the lid of the cup and took a sip. The water was poured by Liang Yu when he went out in the morning, and it was still warm. After taking a sip of water, Qiao Shuyan warmed up all over and his temper became better.
"Do you usually come here to climb mountains?" Qiao Shuyan felt incredible.
Liang Yu shook his head and said, "No, this is my first time here too." Then, he took the cup of water that Qiao Shuyan handed back to him. He was also a little thirsty, so he opened the lid of the cup and wanted to drink. But then he remembered that Qiao Shuyan had just drunk here, so he couldn't help but frown. But after thinking about it, he still drank it to prevent Qiao Shuyan from misunderstanding anything.
"First time?" Qiao Shuyan asked, "Where did you go hiking before?"
Liang Yu said: "Not necessarily. There are many mountains in City B. I will go to see all of them, whether they have names or not. I usually don't go to scenic spots because there are too many people and it's boring."
Qiao Shuyan: “…” It’s much more interesting than this weird place!
Seeing Qiao Shuyan's speechless face, Liang Yu couldn't help but feel a little apologetic. In fact, he didn't forget to change the route, but wanted to use this hike to make Qiao Shuyan give up. At least, the two of them shouldn't have any contact when he arranges to hike on weekends in the future. He really didn't want to have anything to do with this straight man anymore. However, he didn't expect this section of the mountain road to be so difficult to walk on. It was indeed a bit difficult for Qiao Shuyan.
Alas, Liang Yu sighed slightly, put the water cup back into the backpack, took out two trekking poles from the backpack and handed them to Qiao Shuyan: "Can you still hold on?"
Qiao Shuyan took the trekking pole stubbornly, and decided to be a Chinese man who would be strong for life. He had calmed down a little now, but he was still complaining in his heart, who climbs mountains like this? He had lived for 26 years, and this was the first time he experienced such a primitive way of climbing mountains. Although this Cangnan Mountain has not been overdeveloped, the proper plank roads and mountain roads in the scenic area are also built in a regular manner, unlike here, which can't be called a road at all. So climbing the mountain is really a climb, and Qiao Shuyan almost had to use his hands and feet several times. Fortunately, he didn't carry anything today. If he had to carry such a big backpack like Liang Yu, he would probably have collapsed halfway.
"By the way, why do you like to climb such a difficult mountain?" Qiao Shuyan was puzzled.
Liang Yu replied: "I don't like climbing difficult mountains, I like the scenery along the way. I don't like those mature scenic spots. First, there are too many people, and second, most of the scenery can be seen on the Internet. But this kind of primitive mountain road always allows me to gain new things. I have made many discoveries before, which are quite interesting."
This is indeed true. Although the journey was extremely difficult, under the baptism of the warm winter sun, the entire Cangnan Mountain showed a warmth that is rarely seen in summer. This place is rarely visited by people. In the cold winter, most animals have hibernated, birds have long since migrated south, and most trees are withered. Occasionally, you can see a patch of grass that is also withered and yellow. It is clearly a lifeless scene, but this extremely lonely scenery cannot be seen in any other season, and it is quite interesting.
Of course, even so, Qiao Shuyan did not have any good feelings towards the mountains in winter, especially at this time and place.
After sighing silently, Qiao Shuyan still asked curiously, "What did you find?"
Liang Yu: "I have seen some stone carvings or statues in the mountains that I have never heard of before. I have not found any traces of them on the Internet. I guess they were carved spontaneously by the people. I don't know when they are from. I am not a student of this and I have not done much research on this, but I think it is very interesting."
Speaking of this, Qiao Shuyan became interested and asked, "For example?"
Seeing that he had recovered, Liang Yu began to walk forward slowly. The mountain road ahead was a little flatter. Qiao Shuyan was holding two trekking poles, so it should be no problem. He said as he walked, "I have seen some Buddha statues carved in the mountains. They are scattered, not in scale or climate, but they are also very lifelike, not worse than those in scenic spots." As he spoke, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket to find photos for Qiao Shuyan to show.
Qiao Shuyan came over to look at his phone screen with interest, and indeed saw a Buddha statue carved into the stone wall hidden behind the lush leaves. Qiao Shuyan knew a little about Buddha statues, so he said, "This statue is Manjusri Bodhisattva."
"You also know this?" Liang Yu had to stop because Qiao Shuyan came up to look at his phone. He was surprised to hear that he could recognize the Buddha statue.
Qiao Shuyan rubbed his head and said, "I know a little bit, I know a little bit." Then he pointed to the Bodhisattva statue in the phone and said, "Look, he is holding a sutra, which is the characteristic of Manjusri Bodhisattva. The carving is really detailed, even the fine wrinkles of the clothes are carved out."
Because they were looking at the same phone, they couldn't help but get closer. Liang Yu felt the scent of Qiao Shuyan in his every breath. He was still not used to being so close to people, so he raised his head and nodded, moving a little further away from him.
"Anything else?" Qiao Shuyan looked very interested.
Liang Yu cleared his throat, put away his phone, and said, "I'll show it to you when I get back."
Qiao Shuyan also felt that the mountain road was not suitable for viewing the photos, so he nodded and said, "Okay."
The two climbed up the mountain in silence. This was Liang Yu's first time here. He had no goal in mind, so he just climbed up the mountain road. According to his past experience, if he reached a flat area, there would be some residents living in the mountains. However, with the difficulty of the mountain road he was walking on today, he was afraid that he would not see many ordinary people.
After climbing for more than an hour, Qiao Shuyan spotted a dying fox lying in the dead leaves. At first, he just thought that the leaves there seemed to be thicker than elsewhere, because the color of the fox's fur was very similar to the dead leaves. Later, he took out his mobile phone and took a photo in that direction. After zooming in several times, he found that there was actually a fox there, with a wound in the abdomen and blood coagulated, but it was still breathing.
Qiao Shuyan called out to Liang Yu: "Liang Yu, there is a wounded fox over there." As he spoke, he walked towards the fox.
Seeing this, Liang Yu turned around and followed Qiao Shuyan, saying, "I brought some alcohol and bandages for external injuries. I can help bandage him."
"That's great!" Qiao Shuyan said happily.
As they talked, the two of them had already walked up to the fox.
This was the first time that Qiao Shuyan had such close contact with a fox. This was an adult fox, and it looked very strong, but the wound on its abdomen looked very scary. Liang Yu took out a roll of bandages, a bottle of alcohol, and some cotton swabs from his backpack. Qiao Shuyan opened the alcohol and carefully disinfected the fox. Perhaps because the alcohol stung its wound, the fox moved slightly, then opened its eyes weakly. When it saw the two of them, there was some vigilant ferocity in its eyes, its body was a little tense, its mouth moved slightly, revealing its sharp fangs, and it was in an attacking posture. However, it might have been injured too badly, so this posture collapsed in a few seconds, leaving only slightly heavy breathing.
Seeing this, Qiao Shuyan gently stroked its head with his other hand and said softly, "Don't be afraid, we are here to bandage you and will not hurt you."
The fox slowly relaxed under Qiao Shuyan's hands, but its breathing was still heavy.
Liang Yu took in his gentle look and saw that he had already disinfected the wound.
After checking the wound, Qiao Shuyan said, "Fortunately, it is only an external injury. There is no internal damage. It is so weak probably because of excessive blood loss. It should be able to survive if it rests well." After saying that, he picked up the bandage and bandaged the fox.
"What are you going to do?" Liang Yu asked.
Qiao Shuyan said: "Let's see if there is a more secluded place to hide it. As long as it can rest safely for a few days, it should be able to survive... We can't take it away from here, and it should have its own home." After saying this, he couldn't help but sigh. Nature is very cruel.
Liang Yu raised his eyebrows and said nothing.
Qiao Shuyan packed up the things and put them back into Liang Yu's schoolbag, then picked up the fox and asked, "See if there is a cave nearby?"
"It seems the task is very difficult." Liang Yu said.
Qiao Shuyan said: "Come on, Liang Yu, it's time to show your strengths!"
Liang Yu: "...So I'll pay for your good deeds?"
Qiao Shuyan laughed and said, "How can you say that? It was obviously the two of us who saved this poor little fox together!"
Liang Yu shook his head helplessly.
"By the way, let's take a selfie," Qiao Shuyan said, "This may be the only chance in this lifetime to save a fox!"
Liang Yu had no choice but to take out his cell phone to take a photo of Qiao Shuyan, and at his strong request, took a selfie with him and the fox.
On the phone screen, Qiao Shuyan was holding the dying fox with a smile as bright as the sun. Liang Yu was standing beside him, with the corners of his lips slightly raised.
This is indeed a rare experience.
The picture is quite harmonious, except that Liang Yu's arms are not long enough, so his face looks a bit big in the photo.