Chapter 5 Little Boy

  The young man with the surname Du had a single English name. He was slender and tall, with a refined appearance, and on his slightly long inch-head, there were a few strands of hair dyed bright yellow. If it weren't for the delicate neck and large bamboo basket on his back that gave off an incongruous feeling, he would look no different from young people outside the mountain.

  After a few words, Su Yuna's language barrier-induced hallucination dissipated a bit. Du Yingcao spoke fluent Mandarin and was enthusiastic. Although his Mandarin had a hint of the common southern accent, communication wasn't a problem at all!

  This place naturally cannot ask for three large beds, so Du Ying directly took the three to the second floor guest room of the tourist reception center. Inside were ordinary double-decker iron frame beds, with slightly peeling paint indicating simplicity, but very clean, and a hint of fresh floral scent in the air.

  "It rained heavily yesterday and there were fewer tourists, you are the first batch today." Du Ying said, pointing to those iron frame beds, "When there are many people, we have to set up beddings on the floor, now you can choose freely!"

  Jing Sheng pushed his glasses and was very satisfied. "The three of us can live in one room." With him keeping an eye on things, Jiang Siqi was already exhausted himself, double guarantee, what little tricks could that kid still play?

  Su glanced around roughly and felt that although it was not as good as a university dormitory, it was already very good in this mountain village. "It's okay," he waved his hand, "Anyway, just sleep for one night, as long as it's clean." When they arrived at the top of the mountain, where could they find a bed to sleep?

  "That's right." Du Ying nodded and asked, "Are you going up the mountain early tomorrow?"

  "That's right." Jing Sheng replied, "Is there anyone available to show us the way?"

  The south foot of Paiyun Mountain has been developed into a scenic spot, with the top-rated Shouyangping Hotel having four-star facilities. The road is lined with shops and supporting facilities for tourists, making it a safe and secure destination. The north foot is much steeper, making construction more difficult, so it remains an undeveloped forest to this day. As for snakes, insects, and other wildlife, the terrain is also treacherous and complex. They came here to survive in the wilderness, not to risk their lives, so they made all necessary preparations, with a local guide being essential.

  "It's just climbing a mountain, everyone in the village is familiar with it!" Du Ying smiled, revealing a row of shiny white teeth. "Don't look at Pingpo, she's old, but till now no one knows more about the mountain than her!"

  Su Yu was stunned for a moment before realizing that Ping Po was the old lady who was hard of hearing earlier. "Don't worry about it, old lady, we're not worried either!"

  "Haha, I just said that!" Du Ying laughed. "Then how many days are you planning to stay on the mountain?"

  Su You and Jing Sheng subconsciously turned their heads to look at Jiang Siqi. The latter had long since climbed onto the bed, now sprawled out in a big "da" shape. Probably sensing this eerie silence, his narrowed eyes half-opened, then he realized something: "What are you all looking at me for? As long as I don't starve to death, I can last several days!"

  Obviously lacking in inner strength, just being stubborn.

  "Pffft!" Du Ying had been smiling all along, and now she couldn't help but burst out laughing. "You'll never starve for the rest of your life, does that mean you'll never have to come down from the mountain again?"

  This demolition was done quickly, and in return, Jiang Siqi gave a pair of sanitary balls and Zhang Sheng gave a big thumbs up. Su You had no choice but to say: "I heard that the scenery of Shouyang Pingfeng is not bad, let's rest on the mountain top for a day before coming down."

  Du Ying narrowed his eyes, counted on his fingers. "It's about a week, no need to bring too much stuff." He looked at the three large hiking bags by the door and glanced at Jiang Siqi on the bed. "Do you want someone to help you carry your things up?" His tone was normal, but the implication was undoubtedly that Jiang Siqi couldn't do it himself.

  Jiang Siqi's face turned red with rage and he almost jumped up. Fortunately, Su You was standing beside the bed and pressed him down, asking: "Then we need to hire two people?"

  Du Ying looked at Su You with a surprised expression: "Why two?"

  "Doesn't the tour guide need to bring anything?" Su You was even more surprised. "We have a tent and stuff in this bag, it's heavy!"

  Du Ying laughed again. "Did you see that bamboo basket of mine just now?"

  "You won't be saying you're bringing just one of them, will you?" Jing Sheng was also shocked.

  Du Ying raised two fingers and shook them. "That's for carrying fresh fish, we all go empty-handed. Anyway, whatever you want, the mountains have it!"

  Three people are staring at each other in shock. Their food, clothing, and shelter all rely on the mountain... Hmm, it's too much of a test for these people who are used to living in high-rise buildings!

  So things were settled. The three of them spent the evening checking their gear, and tomorrow morning Du Ying would lead them up the mountain. According to Du Ying's experience, he could make the round trip in two days; with Su You and Jin Sheng, it would take at most five days; but with Jiang Siqi, it would be at least a week. But anyway, they had three months off, and only half of that time had passed, so none of them were in a hurry.

  As the sun sets on the horizon, just as night falls, a tiger-headed and tiger-brained little boy peeks into the three-person room from the doorway. He quickly sticks his head in and then quickly pulls it back out, with a timid look on his face.

  Jing Shengzheng was playing with his phone, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed him, but thought it was interesting, so he pretended not to see. As for Jiang Sizhi, he finished washing up first and went back to bed, which was truly unnoticed.

  So Su You wiped his hair and came out, couldn't help but beckoned to Jing Sheng's head: "Bad taste is acting up again?" Then he turned to the door and asked in a gentle tone: "Little brother, do you have something to say?"

  He didn't say a word, and as soon as he did, the little boy immediately hid on the side and disappeared.

  Su Yu stared at the door for a while, only to confirm that the other party had been scared away by him. He couldn't help but be shocked. "Am I that scary?" he asked in disbelief.

  Jing Sheng was lying on the table, and had already been silently laughing so hard his stomach hurt. At this time, he heard Su You ask, and he forced himself to come up with a reason: "Maybe they've never seen such a sturdy and beautiful figure like yours before? And also such new and trendy clothes?"

  "Screw you!"

  Jing Sheng couldn't help it anymore and burst out laughing.

  The voice woke up Jiang Siqi, who was pretending to be asleep. "What are you doing?" he asked vaguely, sticking out half of his body from the upper bunk and staring directly at Su You: "Brother, I'm hungry."

  Those pitiful eyes, that helpless tone of voice, Su You's loving heart immediately burst forth. "Come on, come on," he casually threw the towel onto the bed and went to grab his wallet, "Brother will take you out for a good meal!"

  Although Su You said this with absolute sincerity, his wallet was bulging, but these two things were of no use in Shouyang Village - because there were no restaurants in Shouyang Village. Anyway, the three went downstairs and saw the flickering flames on the empty ground in the village, and a whiff of roasted meat wafted through the air.

  "This is purely natural and non-polluting roasted wild flavor!" Jing Sheng's eyes lit up, and he immediately walked over. "Smells like rabbit meat?"

  "Is this a dog's nose, Teacher Jing?" Jiang Siqi muttered, but his belly weakly protested with a single growl.

  Su You had good eyesight. He saw Du Ying waving at them from over there, and directly dragged Jiang Siqi, who was being stubborn, over to her.

  "I've asked Tongzi to call you for dinner," said Du Ying with a smile as they approached, glancing over their shoulders, "Where's Tongzi?"

  "If you're talking about that little boy in the dark green suspenders," Jing Sheng pointed to Su You, "for some reason, he was scared off by him."

  "Ah, I know." Du Ying smiled somewhat helplessly, "It's because he's afraid of strangers that I asked him to go, but...". He shook his head, "This kid probably ran back home again, I'll go look for him later."

  At this time, the people who went down to the ground came back one after another. The village began to make a noise, and several dim bean lights were lit up. Seeing outsiders, they didn't seem surprised, apparently having seen them often before.

  Su You San sat down on several large tree stumps by the bonfire, each taking a roasted rabbit leg. It had to be said that Du Ying's craftsmanship was good, and it further solidified the determination of the three people.

  The tour guides have such skills, can't they abandon those disgusting compressed biscuits?

  "Was this rabbit caught on the mountain?" asked Su You while eating.

  "Yes, set a few traps along the way, and we won't need to bring food." Du Ying said, his hands quickly flipping over the branches still on the fire, his face lit up red by the flames. "Bring some salt and spices, and that's it. Walking along the Jiuxi Creek, water is not a problem either."

  Jing Sheng glanced at Du Ying, noticing that the other had a dagger tied to the outside of his thigh. He thought to himself that it was probably used for handling prey. "How do you guys sleep at night? Do you just climb up into the big trees?"

  "Alright!" Du Ying temporarily let go of his hand, gesturing to the height, "In the mountains there are ginkgoes, spruces, and also junipers, green cypresses and so on. If you really can't find a big tree, bamboo is all over the ground, chop it down and tie up a bed."

  Jiang Siqi swallowed the meat in his mouth with difficulty. Hearing this, it's too easy to say? Just zip up a bed? He doesn't even like folding blankets! At once he decided that no matter how heavy the mountain pack was, he would definitely carry it on!

  Jing Sheng wanted to ask more questions, but his eyes strayed and he saw the little boy from before peeking out from behind a fence in a nearby courtyard. He thought for a moment, then nudged Su You with his elbow. "Take a look over there?"

  Su You turned his head inexplicably, only to see a small back view again, and he couldn't help but feel depressed. This five-virtuous, four-beautiful, three-good youth, why did the other person's child not want to see him?