Drops of water, not yet dry from his hair, trailed down his neck, rolling onto his chest.
As he raised his hand to touch his hair, she could clearly see his broad shoulders, flat and strong, his narrow waist, his well-proportioned legs… His skin was fair and clear, almost glowing white, and his features were handsome and strong.
And his whole being, shrouded in steam, seemed unreal.
Yes, for the first time in her life, Gu Siyi understood the meaning of the word "enchanting."
Her gaze wandered, accidentally landing on the only white cloth that covered him… Realizing her gaffe belatedly, she abruptly raised her eyes, only to meet Xia Zhijun's gaze.
They stared at each other, both stunned, a blush creeping up their cheeks.
"…"
"…"
Gu Siyi was the first to react, shoving the thermos into Lu Jiaye's hand. "I'm leaving, see you tomorrow…"
With that, she quickly turned and hurried out of the room.
Lu Jiaye watched her retreating figure disappear through the door, then looked back at Xia Zhijun, who was blushing in the room. He clicked his tongue. "You sly dog, taking advantage of your sister bringing you ginger soup to parade around half-dressed…"
Xia Zhijun explained unnaturally, "I didn't know she was coming."
He really didn't know, otherwise, how could he have come out like this, with only a pair of white underwear on…
"Yeah, right. You're so smooth with the ladies, I'm surprised you haven't charmed the pants off a nun."
"Get out!" Xia Zhijun snapped, turning away to quickly dry his hair. He tossed the towel aside and put on his pajamas.
Lu Jiaye continued to chatter, "Zhou Xiao, did you see the look on Little Wine Cup's face just now? Her eyes were glued to him, and her face was flushed! Damn, Little Wine Cup is definitely going to be seduced by this scoundrel!"
Xia Zhijun paused in the act of buttoning his shirt. An image of Gu Siyi just now flashed through his mind…
Silly, dazed, and brazenly looking him up and down, her gaze lingering…
…Very bold.
Facing Lu Jiaye's heartbroken cries, Zhou Xiao said calmly, "She's someone else's sister. Why do you always like to stir up trouble?"
"…" Lu Jiaye collapsed onto the bed, utterly exasperated.
Little Wine Cup, such a beautiful and lively girl, and tall too, simply perfect.
Such a good girl, how could she be snatched away by that sly fox Xia Zhijun…
Lu Jiaye felt he needed some time to heal his wounded heart.
Xia Zhijun finished dressing and opened the thermos Gu Siyi had brought. Steam billowed out.
With a faint smile, he took out three disposable paper cups and divided the ginger soup.
He picked up his cup and took a sip. The slightly spicy, slightly sweet, warm, and invigorating taste spread from his throat to his heart and lungs.
Back in her room, Gu Siyi felt flustered. She rolled around on the bed, the heat in her cheeks refusing to dissipate.
Zheng Peipei leaned against the headboard, chatting with Su Han. As they chatted, she noticed Gu Siyi's strange behavior and put down her phone to ask with concern, "What's wrong? You went to deliver ginger soup, why do you look like you were molested by a gangster?"
Gu Siyi didn't say anything.
Zheng Peipei exclaimed, "Did you really encounter a pervert?"
"No, no…" Gu Siyi hurriedly denied.
"Then why do you look so…off?"
"I, I'm just…too tired, really exhausted, tired to death,嘤嘤嘤…"
"Yi Ge, don't be like this. You are the hero in my heart, you are the indomitable Yi Ge! You suddenly acting weak, I can't take it!"
"Sleep, sleep, Yi Ge needs to rest, I can take you up the mountain tomorrow."
"Okay!" Zheng Peipei responded sweetly.
In the darkness, Gu Siyi lay under the covers, trying her best to control herself and not toss and turn, but even if she were a stiff board, she still couldn't calm down and sleep.
Too embarrassing, too embarrassing, embarrassing to death… That scene kept replaying in her mind, and the more she told herself not to think about it, the more she thought about it.
Just as Gu Siyi was getting restless, her phone buzzed.
From the quiet sound, it was a WeChat notification.
Could it be from him…?
At the thought, she didn't even dare to pick up her phone.
After a while, her overwhelming curiosity defeated her embarrassment. She fumbled for her phone under the covers and turned it on.
It was indeed a message from Xia Zhijun, still a voice message.
Holding her breath, Gu Siyi gently tapped on the message.
His low, pleasant voice with a magnetic timbre slowly said, "Don't overthink it, rest early, good night."
Such a nice voice… so nice…
Gu Siyi replied, "Good night," while still immersed in his voice.
After three minutes of immersion, "…???"
Why shouldn't I overthink it??
Another three minutes passed, and she clutched her head in her hands, "…!!!"
What am I overthinking? Thinking about…that image?
…How do you know I'm thinking about it?！！
No! I have to clarify myself! Even if it's fake, I have to clarify! I can't leave a bad impression on the top student!
Gu Siyi picked up her phone, staring at the screen. Before her fingers could even press down, her courage had already dissipated.
After struggling for a while, she finally decided to play dead. Just sleep, don't reply, otherwise, the more she explained, the worse it would get.
.
Early the next morning, as dawn broke, Gu Siyi was awakened by the alarm clock. She got up and got dressed.
When Zheng Peipei was dragged out of bed, she was miserable.
After getting ready, the two left their room.
Xia Zhijun, Lu Jiaye, and the others were already waiting for them in the courtyard. Once everyone was assembled, they went to the temple's dining hall for breakfast.
As they opened the door and left the warmth of the room's air conditioning, a blast of cold air hit them. Gu Siyi and Zheng Peipei shivered at the same time.
"It's so cold… why is it so cold…" Zheng Peipei said, her teeth chattering as she hugged herself.
"Because the altitude is higher, the higher you go, the colder it gets…" Gu Siyi took out her phone to check the temperature. "Oh my god, zero degrees."
Zheng Peipei: "What I'm wearing is already my thickest clothes…"
Gu Siyi: "Me too…"
The two looked at each other with tears in their eyes, speechless.
Zheng Peipei was wearing a denim jacket with a cotton lining and only a T-shirt underneath. Gu Siyi was wearing a loose long sweater with thermal underwear underneath. In order to look stylish, she had paired it with a red cashmere scarf.
Before tonight, they both thought they were prepared enough for the cold.
Now, as the sky brightened, they stood shivering in the morning breeze.
"Maybe it's because it's still early. The temperature difference between day and night is big in the mountains. Once the sun comes up and we start hiking, we'll warm up…" Gu Siyi said, putting on her backpack. She patted her face and stamped her feet, trying to warm herself up. "Let's go."
"Let's go! A little cold can't stop us!" Zheng Peipei declared, waving her arm.
Gu Siyi cheered, "Go, go, go! We're not cold!"
Zheng Peipei chimed in excitedly, "Whoever's cold is a wimp!"
Gu Siyi: "…"
"Hey, over here, over here!" Lu Jiaye waved to them from a distance.
As Gu Siyi and Zheng Peipei approached, they saw that Lu Jiaye was actually wearing a padded jacket! A winter padded jacket! And Zhou Xiao, who was beside him, was wearing a green jacket that looked as thick as a military coat but much nicer. He looked very warm!
Zheng Peipei felt tears welling up in her eyes. "How did you know to bring such thick clothes?"
"Eh, didn't Zhou Xiao tell you? It's very cold on Mount Emei, like winter. It's even colder when it rains or snows." Lu Jiaye looked at the two delicate-looking girls in surprise. "You girls brought a whole suitcase of things, but no down jackets or anything like that?"
Gu Siyi and Zheng Peipei shook their heads pitifully.
Gu Siyi said, "Zhou Xiao just told us to bring thick clothes… He didn't say how thick…"
Zhou Xiao said awkwardly, "My fault, I wasn't clear enough."
Lu Jiaye laughed gleefully. "You youngsters, so focused on looking good, and now you're freezing."
"Get lost! We're not cold!" Zheng Peipei retorted.
"That's right," Gu Siyi chimed in. "We'll warm up once we start hiking."
Zheng Peipei looked around. "Where's Xia Zhijun?"
"Our master photographer is over there taking pictures. Look, he's coming."
Gu Siyi looked in the direction Lu Jiaye pointed. Xia Zhijun was passing by a huge rock.
He was wearing a dark blue jacket with a stiff texture, a DSLR camera in his hand, walking towards them at a leisurely pace.
Gu Siyi had met Xia Zhijun in the summer, then autumn… At most, she had seen him wearing a casual jacket.
Seeing him suddenly in this uniform-style jacket, which accentuated his tall and slender figure, making him look heroic and imposing, coupled with his handsome face…
Gu Siyi felt as if a hot spring had erupted in her stomach, causing her entire body to heat up.
Zheng Peipei, who was beside her, was also looking at Xia Zhijun. She sighed, "See, even if Xia Zhijun has a million flaws, just his looks alone are enough to forgive him."
She leaned on Gu Siyi's shoulder and sighed, "Just for his face, I forgive him several times a day, painstakingly maintaining this fake childhood friend relationship."
"It's not just his face…" Gu Siyi suddenly realized what she was saying and abruptly stopped, the second half of the sentence stuck in her throat.
"What?" Zheng Peipei didn't hear her clearly.
Gu Siyi calmed her flustered heart and her intelligence came back online. She said calmly, "I said it's not just his face, he's good at studying too."
In fact, at that moment, the image of his body had involuntarily popped into her mind, so it wasn't just his face that was good-looking, he…
Stop, stop, stop overthinking.
Xia Zhijun walked over and saw how Gu Siyi and Zheng Peipei were dressed. He asked, "Aren't you cold?"
"Not cold! Not cold at all!" Zheng Peipei said boldly.
"Yeah, not cold…" Gu Siyi laughed dryly, averting her gaze from Xia Zhijun and looking at anything else.
She couldn't maintain the initial amazement she felt when she first saw him. Ever since that image surfaced in her mind, it was as if she had X-ray vision, able to see through his thick clothes directly to his…
"Let's go, let's go, hurry up and eat breakfast, we'll set off after eating." Lu Jiaye called out.
"Let's go, let's go, let's go…" Gu Siyi responded enthusiastically and walked quickly ahead.
Breakfast at the temple was very simple, just plain porridge, steamed buns, and eggs.
Everyone's expectations weren't high, and they were content to have something warm to eat.
After a breakfast of hot porridge and steamed buns, the two girls felt warm all over.
After breakfast, they set off. Xia Zhijun said, "We'll reach Leiping after another 3.5 kilometers. If we walk faster, we can still catch the sunrise there. But this section is one of the steepest and most difficult hiking trails on the entire mountain."
"No problem…" Zheng Peipei waved her hand nonchalantly. "We survived last night's ordeal, how can we fall before dawn arrives."
"Awesome!" Gu Siyi gave her a thumbs up.
Zheng Peipei immediately hugged her arm and smiled. "At critical moments, I still have my Yi Ge to protect me."
"Let's go." Xia Zhijun reached out and pulled Gu Siyi away from Zheng Peipei, putting her arm in the crook of his own.