Chen Chuan lowered his eyelids to look at her upon hearing this.
Her height was considered tall among girls.
But before him, she was still a head shorter.
Wind passed through the treetops, and mottled tree shadows fell across her bright face, sweeping over her curved lips, like light ink lightly washed over cooked xuan paper—every stroke exuding a lively, spirited charm.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, puzzled, "Girlfriend?"
"Mhm." Yu Ning responded lightly, smiling as she looked at him. "May I ask what my boyfriend called me for?"
Chen Chuan was speechless. "You sure answered readily."
"Of course." Yu Ning raised her chin proudly.
Chen Chuan looked away from her face and asked, "You found your way here yourself?"
"Otherwise? Someone didn't even call out to me." Yu Ning looked at him askance. "It got me stopped right when I came in. I didn't have any entry permit, so I could only tell that uncle I was your girlfriend."
"Uncle didn't believe you could have such a beautiful girlfriend as me, so I had no choice but to have him lead the way and ask you in person."
Chen Chuan: "..."
Even at a time like this, she didn't forget to praise herself.
He didn't ask more about this matter. "Going to pick?"
"Pick what? Didn't you say the peaches aren't ripe yet?"
"Plums, cherries, and pears can all be picked, and there's also our Jidong Town's specialty sweet melons."
"Then cherries."
"Mhm, let's go." Chen Chuan picked up the scissors and pruned branches from the ground.
In the cherry orchard, three girls were currently having their experience. As luck would have it, one of them was the girl who had just been chasing Chen Chuan for his contact information.
"Oh ho." Yu Ning bumped his arm. "What a coincidence, your peach blossom is here too."
"The ladder is over there. Moving it yourself?" Chen Chuan ignored her words and asked instead.
"You move it."
"..."
Not paying to enter the orchard was one thing, but now ordering him, the boss, around came so naturally.
Chen Chuan turned to fetch the ladder, placed it under a cherry tree, and tipped his head to indicate, "Climb up."
The cherry trees in the orchard weren't considered tall, but the fruit on the upper branches got more sunlight and were basically fully red.
Yu Ning walked over, placed her hand on his shoulder, and slowly stepped onto the ladder.
The path in the orchard wasn't very even. When she stepped on the third rung, the ladder suddenly shook, making her heart leap to her throat.
But within two seconds, the ladder stabilized as a strong palm supported her back.
Feeling the strength of that hand behind her, Yu Ning's heart inexplicably settled back down, and she let out a long breath.
"Hold it and don't let go."
The hand Chen Chuan had braced against her thin back, light as butterfly wings, paused, but ultimately didn't withdraw. "Pick."
Yu Ning didn't climb any higher. She pulled over a branch, picked a few handfuls of cherries, and tossed them into the small basket he handed her.
After picking for about five or six minutes in total, she jumped down, supporting herself on the man's shoulder.
The basket wasn't even half full.
"Your orchard is so big. Won't you be exhausted when harvesting the fruit?" She stretched her slightly sore arms.
"There are machines, and hired workers."
"So this entire orchard belongs to your family?"
"Mhm."
"The mountain too?"
"Contracted."
"So many trees were all planted by your family?"
"Hired workers."
Yu Ning nodded. She tasted an organic cherry—sweet and sugary. She curved her eyes and eyebrows, picked one out, and brought it to Chen Chuan's lips. "Taste it, so sweet."
Chen Chuan leaned back to avoid it. "Not eating."
Probably because he ate too much fruit year-round, he didn't really like eating fruit.
Yu Ning shot him a look.
Fine, don't eat.
She withdrew her hand and popped the cherry into her own mouth.
Walking toward the main entrance of the park, Chen Chuan asked her, "Not picking anymore?"
"Not picking, it's too hot." Yu Ning shook her head. She was already sweating.
It was almost ten o'clock now, and the sun was getting stronger.
The casual tracksuit she wore was something she'd put on because it was cold in the morning. Now that she was active, she wanted to take off her jacket, but was afraid of bugs in the mountains.
Auntie Chen was right.
One should come up the mountain earlier.
Coming up at her time, she'd just climbed up when the sun came up too.
She asked, "You still have work to do?"
"Mhm."
"Alright then, I'll go down myself. You get back to work." Saying this, she waved her hand with a flourish, carried the cherry basket, and left.
By the time she reached the fork in the road, she'd almost finished the cherries in the basket. Her hands were stained with cherry juice, sticky and uncomfortable.
It was nearly half an hour's walk from here to the foot of the mountain.
She couldn't endure it.
The sign at the fork in the road outside the orchard on the right read "Yunxi Mountain Peak"—presumably the place Chen Chuan mentioned for watching sunrises and sunsets.
She planned to wash her hands by the stream.
After walking five minutes, she saw the stream below the forest path. She carefully walked down, squatted, and washed her hands.
Just as she was about to get up, a black snake suddenly swam from the stream to her feet.
Of all animals, apart from bugs, what she feared most was snakes.
She let out an "ah," instantly losing her composure. She stamped her feet frantically, her body staggering, and one foot stepped right into the stream.
Her shoe and pant leg were completely soaked.
Fortunately, the snake was scared away by her big movements.
She didn't dare stay down there long. She quickly walked up to the forest path, slowly squatted down, and took off her soaked shoe.
With a splash, it felt like two jin of water poured out from inside.
What was going on?
How many times had she been frightened in just a few short days?
Her image as a calm, composed workplace elite was completely ruined in Jidong Town.
Looking at her still-dripping socks and pants, she sighed helplessly. How was she supposed to go down the mountain now?
Go back like this, soaking wet?
She sat and thought for two minutes, deciding not to let this good opportunity to be affectedly delicate slip by. She took out her phone and dialed Chen Chuan's number.
The ringtone played for more than ten seconds before it connected.
She really wanted to put on that sniffling, weak and helpless appearance, but even after taking two deep breaths, she couldn't manage it.
She could only say, "Chen Chuan, I encountered a snake by the stream."
Chen Chuan on the other end of the line hurriedly asked upon hearing this, "Snake? Were you bitten?"
"No, I just stepped into the stream. My shoes and pants are all wet."
"In the forest across from the orchard?"
"Mhm."
"Got it."
After saying this, Chen Chuan hung up, quickly climbed down from the ladder, pulled off his gloves, stuffed them to a worker beside him, gave a few instructions, and walked toward the orchard entrance.
A few minutes later, he saw the figure sitting on the road, with a soaked dad shoe placed beside her.
Yu Ning heard the footsteps, looked up at him, and raised a smile. "You're here."
Chen Chuan walked over with furrowed brows. "What did you run over here for?"
"Washing my hands."
Chen Chuan asked again, uneasy, "Not bitten?"
"Really not. If I had been, I'd have started playing the pity card with you long ago."
"..."
Chen Chuan didn't engage with her unseriousness. He only glanced at her pant leg, soaked up to her calf. Her other pant leg must have been splashed by water.
The shoe should be fine.
Walking down the mountain in wet shoes for half an hour would definitely be very uncomfortable.
He pressed his lips together, meeting her unfathomable gray-black pupils. "Pick up your shoes."
Yu Ning didn't ask why. She picked up her shoes.
In the next instant, a dark shadow suddenly crouched before her. "Get on."