“Wе... wе’rе аll taking them.” Аftеr а lоng рause, the slоw-tеmperеd Fu Xingyuе finаllу mаnаgеd to squeеze out a sentencе.
Dа Qiang wаved his hаnd, роinting аt the рilе оf bоttlеs and jаrs in their hands. “Vitamins shоuld bе supрlemented bаsed on уour bodу’s nееds, рrеfеrаbly with a dосtor’s аdviсе. If yоur dailу intаke is sufficiеnt, thеre’s nо need to tаke so manу. Ginsеng is highlу nourishing—whу not try two stiсks а dаy?”
Fu Хingуuе раniсked а littlе, tossing thе vitamin С in her hand аs if it werе а hоt pоtаtо. “Тhen I won’t takе them anymore.”
“Нey! I’m not tеlling you tо rejесt evеrything outright,” Da Qiang sighed. “What I mean is, after you go back, consult a doctor or a nutritionist and get an absorption test done. If you absorb certain substances well and already consume enough in your daily diet, there’s no need to supplement. Besides, it’s best to rely on food for nourishment. After all, natural things are always…”
Jiang Aohang didn’t join their discussion on health knowledge, looking quite dejected. In Bayunye’s eyes, it was clear that his little scheme had been inadvertently exposed by Da Qiang, forcing him to start planning all over again, leaving him resentful.
Fu Yingtao returned after vomiting, his face pale. “I’m never eating those vitamin pills or capsules again…”
Fu Xingyue poured him a cup of hot water, her gaze vacant.
“Boss, I think you should quit smoking as soon as possible,” Bayunye couldn’t help but interject.
Fu Yingtao glanced at her unhappily, completely ignoring her words. Then he turned to Fu Xingyue and said, “How many times have I told you? These disposable cups are toxic and shouldn’t be used for hot water. Do you want to kill me too?!”
“This… I…” Fu Xingyue was left speechless by his rebuke, unable to come up with an explanation. She could only fetch his thermos and refill it with boiling water.
“From now on, before taking anything, make sure to consult a doctor properly. Look at all these useless vitamins you bought!” Fu Yingtao was furious.
Da Qiang felt awkward and quickly explained, “That’s not what I meant… Having risks doesn’t necessarily mean something bad will happen. For example, the stock market is risky, but some people still get rich overnight, right?”
Fu Yingtao didn’t listen, sternly scolding his daughter and son-in-law as if they were truly holding a knife to his throat.
Jiang Aohang remained unusually silent. He let Fu Xingyue pack away the pile of nutritional supplements without eagerly helping. He kept turning his phone on and off, as if trying to contact the outside world but forced to give up due to poor signal.
It took a long time for Fu Xingyue to notice her husband’s unusual behavior. “Ah Hang, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Maybe a bit of Altitude Reaction, feeling dizzy,” he muttered gloomily.
Seeing his unhappy expression, Bayunye was quite pleased, raising an eyebrow at Diao Zhuo and Hippo.
“A doctor’s heart is full of compassion,” Diao Zhuo said, placing a hand on Da Qiang’s shoulder. Da Qiang rubbed his stomach. “My stomach feels like it’s tied in knots. Can anyone heal me?”
His buddies and Bayunye exchanged glances, perfectly in sync as they pulled out the typical straight-guy comforting routine—
Bayunye: “Drink more hot water.”
Diao Zhuo: “Go to bed early.”
Dong Bai: “Good night, mwah mwah.”
“Get lost!” Da Qiang roared.
Outside, the cold grew even more biting. A fierce wind mixed with sand and gravel swept through, hitting the tents with a “thump-thump” sound. Some climbers had already gone to sleep before The Brotherhood of Blades finished playing, while others, unable to bear the physical discomfort of Altitude Reaction, packed their belongings overnight, planning to head back at dawn.Lu Jianyi said that tomorrow's training would involve a trek and climbing a glacier, during which they would wear ice claws to experience real ice climbing.
Da Qiang asked curiously, "What's the highest altitude Master Ba has ever reached?"
"6,872 meters," she answered succinctly.
"A true heroine among women," Dong Bai couldn't help but clasp his fists in admiration.
"Forced by livelihood, if the clients want to go, I can only risk my life to accompany them," the heroine modestly replied.
After two movies finished, it was almost eleven o'clock. Bayunye crawled into the tent and took out her sleeping bag from her pack. Just then, she heard rustling outside the tent, and the flap was lifted as Diao Zhuo also crawled in. The dim yellow light accentuated his thick eyebrows and bright eyes, making him look exceptionally handsome and heroic. The dense stubble on his chin added a touch of rugged masculinity. The tent, which had originally felt spacious, suddenly seemed cramped with the addition of a strong man, but the temperature inside seemed to rise slightly.
She deliberately played dumb, kneeling on the ground to spread out her sleeping bag without even lifting her eyelids. "Don't tell me you're afraid to sleep alone in the wilderness."
"Bayunye, nothing good ever comes out of your mouth," Diao Zhuo half-knelt beside her, his words gritted through his teeth, yet he gently pulled her into his arms, leaned down, and sealed her lips with his.
Bayunye was kissed into a daze but still managed to retort, "Why don'tt you prove you're not a dog by saying something good?"
The next second, she cursed inwardly—Damn, it hurts. His stubble scratched her face. Yet amidst the pain, there was also an itch, sliding from her lips down her neck, over her chest, and gradually spreading throughout her body.
Diao Zhuo had long wanted to hold her. From the moment she suddenly appeared at West Great Beach, he realized that this woman missed him too. He held her firmly in his arms, his arms so strong, the taut muscles hard as iron. He didn't speak, but every cell in his body screamed, shouted, declaring possession and fervor. Whether in strength or physique, Diao Zhuo had the advantage, his onslaught fierce and hard to withstand. At over 5,000 meters in altitude, Master Ba was left breathless from the kiss.
After turning off the light, the two of them squeezed into the same sleeping bag, Diao Zhuo's chest and stomach pressed against Bayunye's back, his arm wrapped around her waist.
After all, it wasn't yet deep winter, so Bayunye had brought an egg-shaped sleeping bag. It was quite roomy for one person, but with Diao Zhuo squeezed in, it was different. The two were pressed tightly together, with no space even to turn over. Bayunye chuckled, "This is the first time I've ever squeezed into a sleeping bag with someone."
"Sharing Master Ba's first time is an honor."
She deliberately challenged him, "Well, well, Diao Zhuo, do you have a thing for first times too?"
He didn't take the bait—it was a losing battle either way—and simply said, "This is also my first time squeezing into a sleeping bag with a woman."
"Were you with men before?"
Diao Zhuo let out a heavy sigh, seemingly defenseless against the question.
Bayunye didn't gloat for long before her earlobe was bitten by him. She cried out "Ah!" and covered her ear, suddenly remembering the scene in Qiangtang when they encountered poachers and he shielded her from the buckshot. She had always been straightforward, and with a question in her heart, she asked it right away, "When did you start liking me?"
"When you aimed and fired the gun," Diao Zhuo was equally honest with her. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he thought, perhaps even earlier. After all, falling in love only takes 15 seconds; the rest of the time is just discovering that fact.
"Hah, what the bullet hit wasn't the tire, but your heart, Diao Zhuo."
"You can even write poetry.""I just want to say, it's quite necessary for women to learn how to shoot, because you never know when you might need to take down your man with one shot."
Diao Zhuo felt a pang in his chest, a chill rising from his feet. "By 'take down,' you mean shoot dead?"
"If you can handle him, you hook up; if you can't, you shoot him dead." She grinned, baring her teeth.
"Your command of idioms is among the best of anyone I know."
"First best or second best?"
He fell silent for a few seconds. "Second."
Truly second-rate.
Bayunye elbowed him backward, and he grunted—it must have hurt. He grabbed her arm, pinning both her hands firmly against her sides. "This is the first time I've fallen victim to a woman's 'hidden arrow.'"
Bayunye threw his words right back at him—"I'm honored to share Diao Zhuo's first time."
Diao Zhuo didn't reply, just held her tighter.
After a while, Bayunye said, "As long as Jiang Aohang doesn't come up with some new scheme to harm his father-in-law and hinder our climb, judging by the weather, we should be able to make the summit the day after tomorrow. We're not professional climbers, so we can't stay on the mountain for long. Finding the thermos is all up to luck; if it doesn't work out, we'll just give up on that. Finding the location where the photo was taken is more important to me, so you might have to put in more effort."
"Why are you suddenly being so polite to me?"
She reverted to her true self. "Damn it, when you ask for help, you have to have the right attitude."
"I don't need your attitude."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want you."
"You really love me to death."
He let out a soft, low hum. Bayunye yawned widely. She didn't have Altitude Reaction, but her body was tired and full of sleepiness. She sat up. "Brother Diao probably doesn't want to squeeze into a sleeping bag with me all night. I'm going out to pee. You go get your own sleeping bag."
"Let's split up." Diao Zhuo stood up as well.
Bayunye pulled her coat collar tight and braved the wind as she headed toward the camp toilet. Most of the tents were dark, their occupants likely asleep. Only two or three tents still had lights on, glowing like giant fireflies in the pitch-black camp. Pikas scurried about, their small figures darting and leaping in the beam of her flashlight.
"Hippo, still awake?" she called out casually as she passed a tent.
There was a sudden rustling inside, and Hippo's voice sounded flustered. "I'm... I'm about to sleep! Why are you outside? I... I just saw Diao Zhuo heading your way!"
"Heh heh, nature calls." Bayunye's tone was lighthearted, but her face showed no smile. She stood quietly in the biting cold for half a minute, then suddenly yanked open the zipper of Hippo's tent, leaning halfway in with a laugh—"It's freezing out here, and you're still not asleep?"
Hippo was clearly startled. His sleeping bag was already laid out, but he was sitting bolt upright on top of it, empty-handed, as if he didn't know what to do.
"What are you doing?"
"Get out, get out! Can't I meditate? Don't disturb my spiritual practice." Hippo waved impatiently. "Every moment of a spring night is precious! Go do whatever you need to do with your Diao Zhuo!"
"Then I won't disturb your path to immortality." Bayunye stuck out her tongue and zipped his tent back up.
Hippo stared warily at the tent flap, making sure she had left before letting out a sigh and shaking his head, still unsettled.After finishing her business, Bayunye quickly pulled up her pants and hurried back. Suddenly, she heard a few sobs that didn’t sound like the Tangshan Sisters but more like Fu Xingyue. She pricked up her ears and followed the sound, hearing Fu Xingyue say tearfully, "I’ve listened to him in everything since I was little… He didn’t have to speak so harshly… Did I mean to harm him on purpose?! He ate it, and so did we! With so many people around… scolding me like that…"
Oh, so she was upset about Fu Yingtao publicly reprimanding her. Bayunye thought Fu Xingyue was really stuck in the crossfire.
"Alright, don’t cry. If you were his biological daughter, he wouldn’t treat you like this," Jiang Aohang’s voice came through.
Bayunye froze.
"There’s still me… I’m the closest person to you, always on your side. He’s just overly suspicious, whether it’s work or life. When I first pursued you, how much humiliation did he put me through? As if I was after something from him. Later, when he finally agreed, he still never gave me a good look in private, especially after your mother passed away—he couldn’t stand me anywhere. For your sake, I endured it. But honestly, I really feel for you, and I understand your situation…"
Fu Xingyue was still sobbing. "It wasn’t me who begged him to adopt me back then, but now he acts like I owe him… Sob… Always saying things like ‘without me, you wouldn’t be where you are today’… Am I not filial? Most people move out after getting married, but I stayed at home because I wanted to take care of them. I’m the one who cooks every day, washes and cleans everything. When he comes home, he doesn’t have to worry about anything—he just picks up his chopsticks, eats, and leaves… And today, he even said I wanted to harm him! I’m just so heartbroken…"
"Sigh, he’s lonely too, and he has his own struggles. Don’t worry, I’ll always be on your side…" Jiang Aohang’s voice was gentle and earnest.
The wind grew stronger, slapping against her forehead like someone was hitting her. Bayunye wasn’t wearing a hat and knew she couldn’t stay outside any longer, so she quickly hunched over and hurried back to the tent.
So Fu Xingyue wasn’t Fu Yingtao’s biological daughter, and it seemed she wasn’t living well at home. Bayunye thought, if Jiang Aohang succeeded in harming Fu Yingtao in the future and revealed his true colors, wouldn’t the gentle and timid Fu Xingyue be in an even worse situation?
Every family has its own troubles. Though Bayunye was worried, she had no evidence now and feared Jiang Aohang might turn the tables on her. She could only wait for the right moment to tell Fu Xingyue about the words Hippo had overheard by chance and the information she had discovered on Jiang Aohang’s phone.
But would Fu Xingyue believe her, a stranger she had known for less than a week?
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