In the pitch-black night, deep in the forest, among the dense vegetation, an unidentified object flashed silver light.

Yu You swallowed hard, feeling his legs go weak: "Brother Shi Jin, could it be that we have encountered a ghost fire?"

Shi Jin stared at the place with a frown, then stepped forward amid Yu You's suppressed exclamation, and reached out to pick up the thing that was emitting silver light.

It’s strange that the thing that was shining just now disappeared as soon as it was in Shi Jin’s hand.

Yu You said "Huh" and walked forward: "What is this?"

Lying in Shi Jin's palm was a button-like thing, made of silver, square in shape, with rounded edges, and carved with intricate patterns, and two small round holes in the middle.

The more Yu You looked at it, the more he thought it looked like a button: "Why does it look like a button?"

"It is indeed a button." Shi Jin closed his palms and said, "It is from the clothes worn by the people in the village."

He had seen it on the clothes that Qiu was wearing last night, but he only took a quick glance and didn't have a deep impression.

"Buttons." Yu You lost interest instantly: "Maybe someone in the village dropped it when they were walking up the mountain on the path. It's boring."

"But why did it glow just now?"

Shi Jin put the button in his pocket and said simply: "Silver products will reflect moonlight at certain angles."

Yu You understood, so he lost interest even more. He scratched his head and continued walking forward: "Then let's go a little further and see."

He was looking forward to seeing some shocking secret waiting for them to discover at the end of the path, but the fact was - the path ended.

To be precise, the path is closed.

In fact, they discovered halfway through that as they walked deeper and deeper, the plants on both sides of the path grew denser and denser. Originally, there was a half-person-wide path at the entrance, but it became only one person wide halfway through. Later, they had to walk along the plants, and now, the path is so small that it is no longer passable.

In fact, it was not impossible to walk, as long as they pushed aside the bushes, they could still walk. It was just that the grass was thick in the deep mountains and the light was poor at night. Apart from the lighters, hemp ropes, flashlights and other things that Yu You prepared for the adventure, they didn't bring anything else.

If you lose your way in this mountain, it will be more trouble than gain.

After comprehensive consideration, Yu You gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Shi Jin, let's turn around and see if there is another way to go up the mountain during the day tomorrow."

If it doesn't work, we can go up the mountain directly from the scenic spot tomorrow, but we may have to take a few detours to find the way.

Shi Jin kept his eyelids drooped and did not move.

Yu You reminded him quietly: "Brother Shi Jin?"

Shi Jin suppressed the expression on his face and said calmly, "Let's go."

It was already four o'clock in the morning when we returned to the inn.

Yu You was in high spirits before he went out, but when he came back he was just yawning.

He rubbed his eyes, yawned, said good night to Shi Jin, and went upstairs.

Maybe it was because he slept too much during the day, Shi Jin didn’t feel sleepy.

He simply walked to the small corridor next to the living room and looked at the night outside with a calm expression.

In the midst of unconscious contemplation, a bright color appeared in the distant sky.

The daytime in the mountains comes earlier than in the city. At 5:20 in the morning, a clear yellow veil of light begins to rise from the distant mountains, as if a pocket has been cracked in the dark curtain, revealing a warm yellow halo inside.

Shi Jin stood on the outer corridor, watching the halo rise and dyeing the sky with rose red and bright yellow.

The sun, wearing a small warm-colored hat, shyly poked out half of its head from the top of the mountain, and slowly, it poked out its entire body following the light that was rising in the sky.

When the sun rises, all things come to life.

Aqiu got up early as usual. The temperature was a little cold in the morning. She had just put on her coat when she saw someone standing on the corridor.

Ah Qiu was startled at first, then reacted: "Brother Shi Jin, you got up so early?"

Shi Jin came back to his senses, pursed his lips, and walked into the living room: "Good morning."

"Good morning." Qiu smiled and went back into the kitchen. "How about corn porridge and pancakes for breakfast?"

"good."

When Qiu was busy in the kitchen, Shi Jin was helping her peel corn. But after peeling a few, Qiu pushed Shi Jin out of the kitchen: "Hey, go sit down, I'll do it myself. You're a patient and need to rest."

Shi Jin was pressed down on the chair by her, feeling somewhat helpless: "I'm fine now."

"How can a cold heal so quickly?" Qiu added flour to the basin neatly. "You just sit still, or if Brother Yu Ci comes down and sees me ordering you around, he'll definitely get mad at me."

Shi Jin pursed her lips: "No."

"Definitely!" Qiu tested the consistency of the dough and added some water to it. "I've never seen Brother Yu Ci care about someone so much. He was worried that the mattress in your room wasn't thick enough, so he asked me to get you a quilt."

Speaking of this, Shi Jin remembered the made bed in his room.

He said, "Thank you for making my bed."

"Make the bed?" Qiu turned around in surprise: "What do you mean by make the bed?"

"It's the bed that's been made in my room, with two quilts and a mattress..."

Qiu blinked, with a teasing smile in his eyes: "That's not me, I didn't enter your room."

There was a slight pause.

Then...was it Yu Ci who helped him lay it?

This time the dough was just right, and Aqiu closed the lid with satisfaction. He took the corn and sat in front of Shi Jin, peeling it while chatting: "I didn't expect that Brother Yu Ci would be so thoughtful one day and would take the initiative to help people make the bed."

"I heard from my grandma that Brother Yu Ci has been careless since he was a child. The same goes for the way he dresses. He doesn't care whether it looks good or not, as long as it feels good."

Shi Jin thought of Yu Ci's various fancy beach pants and old man's vests, and a smile appeared in his eyes: "Indeed."

"So that's why." Qiu looked at Shi Jin with a smile: "He is such a rough man, but he can actually think about whether the bed you sleep on is comfortable or not. Why do you think that is?"

“Ahh—”

A sudden yawn interrupted their conversation.

Yu You yawned and went downstairs: "Good morning."

Aqiu turned around and replied with a smile: "Good morning."

Yu You sat across from Shi Jin, feeling sleepy and looking listless: "What are you going to eat in the morning?"

"Corn porridge and pancakes." Qiu answered and looked at Yu You curiously: "You still look very sleepy, why don't you continue to sleep?"

"Don't mention it." Yu You hammered his aching shoulder and said, "Sister Qiu, your bed is too hard. My back and waist ache from sleeping on it."

As he said that, he glanced at Shi Jin again, a little puzzled: "I thought that Brother Shi Jin, you should be weaker than me, why don't you have any reaction at all? Doesn't your waist hurt?"

Qiu smiled secretly.

It would be strange if it would hurt to have two quilts and a mattress.

Sure enough, Shi Jin only paused for two seconds and shook his head: "It doesn't hurt."

Yu You was completely depressed: "Sister Qiu, why don't you prepare a thicker mattress?"

A Qiu explained earnestly: "It rains a lot in the mountains. A mattress that is too thick is not easy to dry in the sun and easily absorbs moisture. So we can only use a thin mattress so that it can be dried in the sun and will not get moldy."

At that time, her eyelashes drooped slightly, as if she was thinking about something.

Can I only use a thin mattress?

Ah Qiu saw his expression and said, "That's Brother Yu Ci's mattress. He buys a mattress and sends it here every year before coming here."

Yu You looked left and right and said, "What kind of mattress? I want to hear it too!"

Shi Jin pursed her lips and poured him a glass of water: "Drink some water."

Yu You was indeed thirsty, so he took the cup and thanked him cheerfully, "Thank you."

The corn porridge is cooked and the dough for the pancakes is ready.

A Qiu washed his hands and sat at the table, planning to wait until the corn porridge was almost cooked before making the pancakes.

After working for a while and sweating a little, she took off her coat, revealing the clothes she was wearing underneath.

Shi Jin's gaze fell on Aqiu, and he suddenly remembered the button in his pocket.

He took out the button and said, "Aqiu, could you please help me take a look at this button?"

"Huh?" Ah Qiu's eyes were filled with surprise. She picked up the button and looked at Shi Jin in surprise: "Where did you pick up this button?"

Shi Jin pursed his lips and lied: "I found it on the road yesterday morning."

After a pause, he asked again: "Is there anything wrong with this button?"

Yu You watched from the side holding the cup.

His instinct told him that he should remain silent now.

"No." Qiu shook his head: "This button is a unique decoration on our national clothes. Look, it's the one on me."

As he spoke, Qiu pulled up the hem of his clothes and stood up: "The row of buttons on the chest is called plain buttons, usually carved with simple flowers and plants. The pattern of each button is different, and it is used for decoration."

She raised her hand and showed Shi Jin the location of the cuffs: "The cuffs here are called complex buttons, which are used to identify clothes. There are not many people in our village, and we make our own clothes. Everyone has a representative pattern."

"Sometimes when the weather is fine, everyone will hang out their clothes in the square together. To make it easier to identify their own clothes, they will carve their own representative patterns on the buttons so that they don't take someone else's clothes by mistake."

Yu You's eyes lit up instantly: "Then do you know who this button belongs to?"

"If it's another trick, I might not know it, but I do know this one." Qiu frowned, with some confusion in his eyes: "I just think it's a bit strange."

Ah Qiu said as he glanced at the button again: "It's carved with an egg. Only Arnold has this pattern in the village."

"Egg?" Yu You poked his head to look at the pattern on the button and indeed saw an oval: "Is there anything strange about this?"

"Arnold is a very calm person. If it was any other child who dropped the button, I would understand. But Arnold's words are a bit strange."

Shi Jin's eyes moved slightly: "Maybe the button happened to be loose, and it fell off without me noticing."

Ah Qiu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but finally closed it again: "Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll send this buckle back to Arnold later."

"I'll take you there." Shi Jin said, "I just happen to want to go for a walk in the village."

A Qiu thought about it and nodded: "Okay, then you can talk to Brother Yu Ci later and ask him to take you there."

"Tell me what?"

The three people at the table looked in the direction of the sound.

Yu Ci was walking down the stairs, and when he saw his eyes falling on him, he curled his lips and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Ah Qiu was the first to laugh: "Looking at the handsome guy."

Yu You was not to be outdone: "I'm watching **."

Yu Ci raised his eyebrows, tilted his head, and looked at Shi Jin with smiling eyes: "Brother Shi, what about you?"

Shi Jin was silent.

After a while, he pursed his lips and said, "Looking at Jiang Tang."

Thanks to the strange dream yesterday, whenever he saw Yu Ci, he would think of the "ginger hot spring" that he had been soaking in last night.

Yu Ci raised his eyebrows: "Ginger soup?"

There was a smile on his lips, and the smile in his eyes gradually deepened: "It seems that Brother Shi is very satisfied with my ginger soup."

Shi Jin paused and changed the subject: "Is the porridge ready?"

A Qiu stood up: "I'll go take a look."

Yu Ci sat down next to Shi Jin, his eyes paused slightly on his cold white face, and then quickly moved away: "What were you talking about just now?"

Seeing that Shi Jin didn't seem to be planning to speak, Yu You said, "Sister Qiu just told us to look for you and take us to find Arnold."

"Arnold?" Yu Ci paused for a moment as he tapped the table. "What do you want to see him about?"

"We found his fancy button." This time it was Shi Jin who spoke. He lowered his eyelids and placed the exquisite button on the table: "Let's take a walk around the village."

Yu Ci raised his eyebrows: "Okay."