Chapter 7
"I looked at the guide. There are ninety-nine turns at the back. It's a very difficult section of the road to climb." Jiang Bai said as he walked.
Lan Shuqing walked beside her. After resting for a while and eating something, her strength returned. "Isn't this the hardest part to climb?"
Jiang Bai recalled, "The hardest part to climb is at the back. It's called something like 'Slope'..."
She had thought the road ahead would be difficult, but as she walked, it began to go downhill. As she walked, Jiang Bai thought to herself that this must not be the 99th turn yet. She looked at Lan Shuqing beside her, who looked at her puzzledly, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Bai shook his head, "Nothing."
The two of them returned to a state of being deserted in front and behind. In the quiet environment, the only sounds could be heard of the two people walking and the collision of bamboo sticks. The mountain road was flat, and Lan Shuqing slowed down her pace. Since they entered the mountain, the two of them had been walking and walking, and had no time to talk. Lan Shuqing suddenly thought of the purpose of herself and Jiang Bai coming to climb the mountain. Jiang Bai seemed to be just walking and walking for the sake of climbing the mountain, but she didn't come here just for climbing.
Lan Shuqing looked at Jiang Bai in front of him and glared at her secretly.
Jiang Bai felt that Lan Shuqing had slowed down, perhaps because she was tired, so she also stopped and turned back to wait for Lan Shuqing. The moment she turned back, Lan Shuqing's body shook, and she felt nervous as if she had been caught. She suddenly woke up, avoided Jiang Bai's gaze and walked forward, even walking in front of Jiang Bai.
Jiang Bai looked at her puzzledly. What did she mean?
Lan Shuqing couldn't explain it to her, so Jiang Bai had no choice but to follow Lan Shuqing forward.
Jiang Bai looked at Lan Shuqing's back. She seemed to be half a head taller than her. Jiang Bai herself was 166cm tall, so Lan Shuqing should be around 168cm tall. She was pretty and slender, looking like a beauty.
After looking at Lan Shuqing's back for a while and walking for about ten minutes, a steep slope appeared in front of them. Jiang Bai and Lan Shuqing looked at each other, took a deep breath, and then stepped onto the steep slope, slowly climbing up as if they were facing danger.
Holding a stick, he walked up three steps, holding a stick, he walked up three steps. Jiang Bai's eyes were all on the steps in front of him. He climbed up step by step. After climbing this section, there was a turn. He turned and climbed dozens of steps. Then he turned again, turned more than ten steps, and turned again. It went on and on like this. It was worthy of being called the Ninety-Nine Turns.
After climbing for more than ten minutes, their legs felt weak again, so they stopped at a bend to rest.
Two stone pillars were placed at the bend for climbers to rest. Jiang Bai and Lan Shuqing sat on one each, both of them panting while holding their backpacks. The twists and turns almost made them dizzy.
“Are there really ninety-nine turns here?”
Lan Shu glanced at the stairs ahead and thought that if there really were ninety-nine turns, she was afraid she would be dead.
Jiang Bai shook his head. "Actually, there aren't that many. I think there are only about sixty."
Over sixty isn't a small age. Lan Shuqing simply leaned on Jiang Bai and asked, "Sister, how did you come up with the idea of climbing Damei Mountain?"
With the extra weight on her shoulders, Jiang Bai carefully sat up straight. The child started calling her "Sister" again. She touched her nose and said, "I climbed Xiaocheng Mountain before, but it wasn't satisfying enough. I've always wanted to climb Damei Mountain."
This is the truth. Jiang Bai likes hiking, but she is busy with work and most weekends she just wants to lie down. This weekend, she finally made up her mind to go hiking.
Lan Shuqing leaned against Jiang Bai and found a comfortable position. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You have so much energy."
Jiang Bai tore off two pieces of paper in her right hand to wipe the sweat off her face. Others also said that she didn't seem tired when she was working and was full of energy.
Seeing that Jiang Bai didn't reply, Lan Shu turned his head to look at her, "Did I say something wrong?"
Jiang Bai smiled and glanced at Lan Shu lightly, "No, that's correct."
The distance was very close, Jiang Bai turned around and straightened his back a little.
Lan Shuqing leaned quietly on Jiang Bai, took out a sip of water, and said, "Oh, I'm a little tired, but Jiang Bai is still easy to lean on. Lan Shuqing smiled in his heart."
After sitting for about ten minutes, Lan Shuqing got up from Jiang Bai. Jiang Bai moved, put his things away, and took the crutch in his right hand. "Shall we go?"
Lan Shu nodded slightly, then reached out to Jiang Bai, "Pull me."
Jiang Bai paused, then stood up, moved the bamboo stick to her left hand, held Lan Shuqing's hand with her right hand, and then pulled her up with force. Her beautiful face suddenly came in front of her, and Jiang Bai felt her heart skip a beat.
After Lan Shuqing put on his bag, the two continued to walk up. After walking a few steps, Jiang Bai saw some white marks on the steps. She looked closely and then laughed.
Someone wrote two big words on the steps with white chalk: Come on, followed by three exclamation marks.
Jiang Bai stood on the steps and pointed to Lan Shuqing, "Lan Shuqing, look, let's do our best."
Lan Shuqing also saw it. She smiled helplessly. These people were quite good at finding joy in adversity.
There were chalk words written about every two or three turns. Jiang Bai and Lan Shuqing felt numb after seeing them. About ten minutes later, they climbed up a little further. Lan Shuqing fell a few steps behind Jiang Bai. She looked a little tired. Jiang Bai immediately encouraged her, "Come on! Come on! We've already climbed a third of the way!"
We don't know if there's actually a third, because neither of us counted. But in this situation, we have to give people hope.
Lan Shuqing looked up at Jiang Bai, who was holding the bamboo stick and shouting. She was amused for a moment. She didn't expect Jiang Bai to cheer her up. She walked a few steps to Jiang Bai, looked at the sweat on the elder sister's face and her pink face, and breathed softly, "I will try my best, I will try my best."
Jiang Bai smiled and stretched out her hand towards Lan Shu. "Do you want my help?"
Lan Shu shook his head slightly, "No, I'm younger than you." That's why he wouldn't fall down so easily.
Jiang Bai nodded, "Yeah, good luck then."
The two of them walked and rested along the way, and slowly someone caught up with them. It was the uncle and aunt they had seen at the first stop, but the group of children had not seen them. The uncle and aunt walked slowly, and the mountain road was obviously more lively.
Jiang □□'s spirits lifted, and her hand holding the bamboo stick had a little more strength. She stepped onto a step, and suddenly caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. She walked down reflexively, walked back a few steps before she stopped, sweat pouring down her forehead.
Lan Shuqing saw her suddenly take a few steps back and asked, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Bai glanced at Lan Shuqing. She wiped her face with her sleeve and said softly, "There, there is something. Can you help me get rid of it?"
Lan Shuqing glanced at her doubtfully, then walked to the stairs Jiang Bai had just walked back to, but didn't see anything. "What is it? I didn't see it."
"It's right there, can you help me get rid of it?"
This time the voice was obviously shaky. Lan Shu frowned slightly and looked at the steps carefully again. Then she saw a colorful caterpillar crawling on the steps. The color of the caterpillar was somewhat similar to that of fallen leaves, so she didn't see it at first glance. Is this it?
Lan Shuqing turned around and asked Jiang Bai uncertainly, "Jiang Bai, are you afraid of caterpillars?"
Jiang Bai's body trembled, and her voice became even more panicked. She turned sideways to face the mountain wall, not looking at the stairs. "Don't say those words."
It seemed that he was really scared. Lan Shu turned back and used a bamboo stick to drive the caterpillar down the stairs. "Okay, it's gone."
Jiang Bai turned around and looked at Lan Shuqing, with some panic and uncertainty in his eyes.
Lan Shuqing saw this and walked up the stairs, "Really, he's gone."
Jiang Bai finally breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly walked up, crossed the step, and quickly climbed up to the corner.
Lan Shuqing wanted to laugh after watching all these actions. He never expected that this person would be afraid of caterpillars. What was there to be afraid of caterpillars?
The uncles and aunts behind them also heard their commotion, and some laughed a few times. Lan Shu glanced at the people behind them, then caught up with Jiang Bai and said as they walked, "Caterpillar..." She had just said these words when she saw Jiang Bai's body tremble again and took a few quick steps forward. "Can you please stop talking?"
Jiang Bai was afraid, not just of caterpillars, but of insects with many legs. She had trypophobia. In the summer before, there was a park road in her hometown that was full of insects with densely packed black legs. No one knew what kind of insects they were. After seeing them once, Jiang Bai never dared to walk on that road again and always took a detour.
She couldn't stand it, and couldn't bear to hear the name.
Seeing her reaction, Lan Shuqing didn't say those words again. Instead, he caught up with Jiang Bai and said, "I won't say it anymore."
Jiang Bai finally breathed a sigh of relief. She thanked Lan Shuqing as she walked, "Thank you." If it weren't for Lan Shuqing, she wouldn't know what to do. She was scared to death. How could there be so many in the mountains? Jiang Bai glanced at the trees on both sides of the mountain road with lingering fear, fearing that one would fall at any moment.
Thinking of this, Jiang Bai's pace quickened. Lan Shuqing was puzzled. Could her stamina be so strong? Seeing Jiang Bai walk such a long distance without looking tired at all, Lan Shuqing could hardly keep up with her pace.
"Jiang Bai."
Lan Shuqing called out to Jiang Bai at the previous turn, who had already reached the next turn.
Jiang Bai stopped and looked back at her.
The uncles and aunts behind had already walked to Lan Shuqing's side and continued forward. After a group of people passed Jiang Bai's position, Lan Shuqing walked towards Jiang Bai. Jiang Bai looked at her and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lan Shu leaned on the bamboo stick and panted, "You're too fast. I can't keep up."
Jiang Bai uttered an "Ah" and blushed slightly, "Sorry."
Lan Shu poked her belly lightly and looked up at her. "No matter how scared you are, you have to wait for me. Who would just walk forward without caring about their companions?"
Jiang Bai nodded obediently, "Okay."
Lan Shuqing looked at Jiang Bai. How could this man be so obedient? Lan Shuqing was speechless. "Okay, let's go."
Out of guilt, Jiang Bai helped Lan Shuqing and said, "Do you want to take a rest?"
Lan Shu glanced at her lightly and said, "No need, let's go and rest later." The uncle and aunt had already walked ahead, and it would be too weak for the two of them to rest later.
After turning two more corners and climbing a little higher, the two sat down to rest again. After eating the last two jellies, they vaguely heard voices from behind. Someone else had climbed up.
After drinking the water, Jiang Bai threw the empty bottle into the trash can. She looked around and saw steps below. She couldn't see the end if she went up. There were green trees all around and she could hardly see the depths of the forest. Jiang Bai took a deep breath, refreshed herself, and climbed up again with Lan Shuqing.
Lan Shuqing looked at her and saw her walking up energetically again. She smiled in her heart. This person really doesn't know how to be tired. The more tired she is, the more energetic she becomes. She supported herself with the bamboo stick, rubbed her legs, and then followed Jiang Bai's pace.
Jiang Bai said as he climbed, "We've already climbed two-thirds of the way, we're almost there."
With a tone of coaxing and lying to a child, Lan Shuqing couldn't help laughing, hummed twice in his heart and then walked up.
After walking and stopping for about twenty minutes, Jiang Bai, who was walking in front, finally saw a corner of the roof and heard someone talking.
Jiang Bai was delighted. "Lan Shuqing, do you see that?" She pointed to a corner that was barely visible behind the trees in front of her. "We're almost there."
They were about to reach the next resting place. After turning the last corner, they saw a steep slope with thirty or forty steps. They climbed up slowly to the top.
There is a pavilion on the left and a small house on the right. An aunt is selling drinks in front of a broken glass cabinet that is one meter long and one meter high. Maybe because the cabinet is too high, there are only a few bottles of Coke, Sprite and the like in the cabinet, and there is not much stock.
In this place, even to transport things, people have to walk, which is very tiring.
The uncle and aunt in the pavilion next to them were already preparing to leave. Jiang Bai climbed the last step with difficulty and sat down next to the pavilion. He then moved in to make room for Lan Shuqing and called him over, "Lan Shuqing, come quickly."
Lan Shu walked over with a bamboo stick and sat down next to Jiang Bai. The first thing he did was put down his backpack and leaned on the railing to breathe lightly. This mountain is really not to be underestimated.
Jiang Bai also put down her backpack, then took out the roast duck from the bag and placed it between the two of them, and took out her small bread, the kind with red bean paste, and then gulped down half a bottle of water before she recovered. She looked at Lan Shuqing, who was leaning against the railing, resting with his eyes closed. His hair tied behind his head was a little messy, and there was a thin layer of sweat on his delicate face.
It was already half past two. It should have been sunny, but there was no sunlight in the mountains and it was still a bit cold.
Jiang Bai put down the mineral water and said to Lan Shuqing, "Eat something."
Then she took out a tissue and started wiping the sweat, starting from her forehead. After wiping her face, she touched her head and found that her hair was all wet with sweat and dew. She tore off several pieces of tissue and pressed them on her head, rubbed them, and when she took them off again, they were all wet.
When Lan Shuqing opened her eyes, she saw Jiang Bai's hair disheveled and the action of throwing the tissue into the trash can. She laughed.
Jiang Bai turned around and glanced at her, his eyes somewhat puzzled.
Lan Shuqing just leaned against the railing, smiling, but didn't say anything.
Jiang Bai withdrew his gaze and said nothing. Her back was also covered in sweat and her body was sticky. Jiang Bai suddenly remembered something and pulled out a blue towel from his backpack. He put it on his head and wiped the sweat off roughly. Then he put it on his neck, pulled out the rubber band and started to fix his hair.
At this time, voices were heard from the road below. Two, four, five young men climbed up. Some of them were familiar faces, and behind them were those high school students.
They climbed up too.
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