Chapter 40
Che Nanbei: "Jiang Zhuochun, are you sure Wanwan has a boy she likes?"
Shen Feiyang: "And it's right here in the mountaineering club."
Jiang Zhuochun looked at the two of them and said irritably, "How many times do I have to say it? Wanwan told me herself."
"She said she had a crush on a freshman in finance, and he was very handsome."
Upon hearing this, Che Nanbei and Shen Feiyang exchanged glances, both with a hint of suspicion in their eyes. It was one thing for Xiang Wan to have a crush on a guy and not tell them.
The first person to know was actually Jiang Zhuochun!
Suspicion filled their eyes, and Shen Feiyang was the first to question, "Then how can you be sure that the junior student Wanwan likes is in the mountaineering club?"
"If that weren't the case, why would a workaholic like Wanwan join an obscure little club?"
Jiang Zhuochun became more and more confident as he spoke, "If Wanwan wants to join a club, why not join her favorite golf club?"
Upon hearing this, Che Nanbei and Shen Feiyang exchanged a glance: 'He makes a good point!'
Che Nanbei asked the second question: "Have you figured out which junior student Wanwan likes?"
Both she and Shen Feiyang looked at Jiang Zhuochun, waiting for his answer.
He didn't disappoint them, gesturing with his eyes to Zhou Chengze diagonally in front of him: "That's suspect number one."
"..."
"..."
The two looked at Zhou Chengze one after the other, but Shen Feiyang looked at him for a few moments and then looked away: "The junior is quite handsome, but I feel like he's not from our circle."
Che Nanbei agreed, nodding in agreement: "He has a kind of hard-working, simple, and unfortunate school heartthrob vibe, which doesn't quite match Wanwan."
After listening, Jiang Zhuochun gestured for them to look at Chen Yan, who was on the far side: "He is suspect number two, named Chen Yan, and he is also in finance."
Che Nanbei glanced at Chen Yan several times, and after a while said approvingly, "I think this one is more likely to be suspect number one."
“I agree, and besides us, Xiang Wan only greeted him,” Shen Feiyang echoed.
The three people in front were having a lively discussion, while Xiang Wan followed behind them with a dark expression on her face.
At first, she was puzzled as to why these three people had joined the mountaineering club. It turned out they had switched careers to become entertainment reporters to dig up headlines.
Moreover, Jiang Zhuochun has a really big mouth. She just made up some random things on the spot, and he actually betrayed her right away!
What can I say? No wonder Cha Nam-nam likes this guy.
After a while, one of the trio seemed to suddenly realize, "Wait a minute, where did Wanwan go? I can't see her anywhere."
"That's impossible, she was just up there a moment ago."
The three of them carefully searched through the crowd until a soft female voice came from behind them: "Here she is."
"!!!"
The trio stiffened simultaneously, then turned back to look at her obsequiously after a moment: "Wanwan, when did you get here?"
Xiang Wan's face remained expressionless: "I came here when you were discussing the suspect." As she spoke, she gave Jiang Zhuochun, the instigator, a cool look.
"..."
Someone was so guilty that he whistled. He pretended to tie his shoelaces and said, "You guys go first, I'll tie my shoelaces first."
"..."
Xiang Wan found it amusing, but she still softened and gave the three of them a way out: "Let's go draw lots."
Che Nanbei: "Okay!"
Shen Feiyang: "Mmm!"
The three of them drew lots one after another. When they unfolded the slips of paper and saw their companions' names on them, Xiang Wan was also a little surprised.
She looked at the two characters "Chen Yan" on the note, then quietly folded it back and hid it in her palm.
Xiang Wan also couldn't quite put her finger on when her feelings for Chen Yan began to change.
Was it from the moment he walked down the stairs after the college entrance exam, or from the moment she casually made up a story that she liked Chen Yan so as not to put Jiang Zhuochun under any psychological burden?
Or perhaps it was when she heard the trio consider Chen Yan as suspect number one and discuss whether she might like him that she stopped seeing Chen Yan as a younger brother.
So when Xiang Wan saw that Chen Yan was her teammate for the day on the note, her first reaction was panic, which is why she subconsciously tried to hide the note in her hand.
However, just as she hid the note in her palm, she heard Chen Yan's voice behind her: "Senior, who is your teammate in the lottery?"
The boy's voice was deep and incredibly pleasant to hear, yet it made her unconsciously clench the note in her hand.
At 19 years old, Chen Yan is already 186 cm tall. Even Xiang Wan, who is not short, has to look up to meet his gaze if they are close.
He stood against the light, and the sunlight shining directly into Wan's eyes made her frown slightly. It wasn't until Chen Yan stepped to the side and blocked the sunlight from her eyes that she could see his face clearly.
In the gaps in the sunlight, Chen Yan's eyebrows and eyes shone like the shimmering surface of a lake.
The edge of the note gently brushed against her palm, causing a slight itch, and even her heart felt as if it were being scratched by a cat's claw, making her a little distracted.
Because it was a two-person team, the club president randomly selected half of the people to draw lots, and the names of the remaining people were made into lots and placed in a box.
Xiang Wan was one of the people who drew lots, and Chen Yan's name was one of the names in the lottery box. Jiang Zhuochun was also one of the people who drew lots; after pretending to tie his shoelaces, he also came over.
Everyone's eyes were on Xiang Wan, even Zhou Chengze, who was not far away, was looking in their direction.
Xiang Wan was caught in a dilemma. She clenched her fist, put the slip of paper in her pocket, and said in a nonchalant tone, "I drew Chen Yan."
With outsiders present, the trio didn't make any strange noises upon hearing this, but they all secretly exchanged glances until they saw the teasing in each other's eyes, then pretended to be nonchalant and lowered their heads.
After the trio finished laughing secretly, Shen Feiyang seemed to suddenly remember something: "Speaking of which, why does the name Chen Yan sound so familiar?"
Neither Xiang Wan nor Chen Yan made any rash moves upon hearing this, but Che Nanbei chimed in, "Have you forgotten? When Wanwan was in junior high school, she had a younger sister with the same name, Chen Yan."
"Yes, yes, I remember too. I went abroad later." So much time had passed that none of the three took it seriously and forgot about it as soon as they finished speaking.
Jiang Zhuochun then looked at the other two and asked, "So, who did you two draw?"
Seeing that they didn't connect 'Chen Yan' with 'Chen Yan', Xiang Wan and Chen Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
On the other side, Jiang Zhuochun leaned over to look at the note in Shen Feiyang's hand, then turned back to Che Nanbei and asked, "And what about you?"
Che Nanbei's face, which had been full of teasing Xiang Wan just moments before, suddenly flushed slightly: "...I drew you."
Unlike her usual loud voice, this time her voice was very soft, unusually soft. Hearing this, Jiang Zhuochun didn't say anything more, but her ears turned slightly red.
Looking at her blushing friends, Shen Feiyang was just as happy as the two involved. She teased them, feigning disappointment, and said, "Sigh~ I'm all alone."
As she spoke, she stood behind Chen Yan, glanced at Xiang Wan from a distance, her eyes pointing in Chen Yan's direction, and gave her a thumbs up.
Xiang Wan: "..."
"I'm going to find my teammates." After saying that, Shen Feiyang walked towards the girl on the note.
Without disturbing the two who were blushing, Xiang Wan said to Chen Yan, "Let's go too, junior."
As she spoke, she emphasized the words "junior" at the end.
Everyone recognized Chen Yan with her hair tied up in a flower, but no one knew that Chen Yan, the most handsome guy in the 2020 Finance Department, was the same Chen Yan from nine years ago.
Looking at Chen Yan, who was a whole head taller than her, Xiang Wan felt a strange, stimulating sense of transgression.
At school, he called her "senior sister," but no one knew that at home, he called her "older sister" with a smile in his eyes.
They headed towards the summit without looking back. At the foot of the mountain on the other side, Zhou Chengze watched their retreating figures, his eyes filled with desolation.
Zhou Xinyi, standing beside him, lowered her eyes, her drooping eyelashes obscuring her slightly reddened eyes: "Brother, I drew you. Do you want to go and exchange it with her?"
“She probably won’t change,” Zhou Chengze murmured, as if he were talking to himself.
Hearing the disappointment in his words, Zhou Xinyi felt her heart being squeezed, and her nose stung with tears: "Then I'll go and beg Chen Yan to let me be in a group with Miss."
Zhou Chengze shook his head, his tone returning to its initial calm: "No need, Xinyi, let's go up the mountain together."
"……good."
Knowing her brother's feelings for the young lady, even the joy of climbing a mountain with him for the first time was largely dampened. The remaining bitterness, like water dripping on stone, slowly tormented Zhou Xinyi…
*
Everyone was climbing the mountain, some faster and some slower. By noon, almost everyone had reached the halfway point.
At noon, when the sun was at its strongest, most of the teams in pairs were resting.
Besides Xiang Wan and Chen Yan's group, only Zhou Chengze and Zhou Xinyi, a brother and sister who grew up in the mountains, are still persisting.
Because the hiking distances vary for each group, the members of the mountaineering club are mostly scattered.
Xiang Wan brought a full set of mountaineering equipment, and with half an hour of exercise time every day, she and Chen Yan were only slightly out of breath.
Unbeknownst to them, the once densely packed crowd of tourists had mysteriously dwindled by more than half, leaving only the two of them around.
Chen Yan looked at Xiang Wan and handed her a bottle of water: "Sister, have some water."
Xiang Wan had a sweatband on her forehead, and her hair was a little messy from the wind. She looked at Chen Yan with a subtle look in her eyes: "Why don't you call me senior anymore?"
Both of them had slightly flushed faces from the long climb, but their eyes were clear.
It was just an ordinary sentence, and even the tone of voice was as flat as usual, but it inexplicably gave off a kind of ambiguous tension.
Chen Yan lowered his eyes, his emotions flickering, and threw the ball she had thrown at him back: "So, does my sister like me calling you 'senior sister'?"
As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on her eyes, appearing completely at ease, but the hand behind him, which had pinched her thigh until it was bruised, did not let go.
Xiang Wan did not answer easily upon hearing this, her smile remaining as calm and serene as ever: "If you've rested enough, let's continue on our way."
Chen Yanshun nodded obediently, but the disappointment in his eyes was obvious.
The two did not speak again until they reached the summit.
*
Meanwhile, in a small room in another dimension, a woman is sitting in front of a computer screen, frantically writing a manuscript.
She tied her hair into a bun with a pencil, her face looking tired from staying up all night, but her ten fingers were typing rapidly on the keyboard.
Unbeknownst to Xiang Wan, who was climbing the mountain, a trap was being perfected and was waiting for her at the summit...
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