1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 90: He forcefully pulled the person into his arms.

He howled and jumped a meter away, clutching his lower back, his face full of disbelief: "I'm fucking speechless. Why do you girls bring needles when you climb Mount Tai?"

"Should!"

Li Liang added insult to injury: "That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry"

Lin Xiyu was extremely annoyed: "It's my fault for not putting it properly. I shouldn't have put it on the outside of my backpack."

"It hurts so much, is it bleeding?"

Wang Fan, taking advantage of the situation, leaned in close, lifted his shirt to reveal his muscular back: "Class monitor, you decide what to do, or maybe you can put a band-aid on me too."

"Oh dear, it's really bleeding."

Wu Meng, with her sharp eyes, indeed found a bleeding point on his back.

"Give me."

Li Liang couldn't stand his slutty behavior, so he snatched the band-aid from Lin Xiyu's hand and pressed it hard onto his body.

"Ouch."

Wang Fan shuddered in pain and almost bounced up from the ground.

"Does it hurt?"

Li Liang smiled slyly: "How about I rub it for you again?"

"roll."

Wang Fan gritted his teeth.

"Hahaha"

Wu Meng hadn't expected Li Liang to have a talent for comedy, and at that moment, she found him inexplicably pleasing to the eye.

Li Liang noticed her gaze and gave her a cool, sidelong glance.

Wu Meng stopped smiling, feeling inexplicably guilty.

She regretted it; she shouldn't have been so obviously disdainful. Offending someone would make it harder to curry favor with them in the future.

-

After a brief hiatus, a new round of torment began.

The girls helped each other up the steps with difficulty.

The boys took the opportunity to curry favor, taking the backpacks of the girls they were closer to and carrying them on their shoulders.

Wu Meng rejected Li Liang so obviously that no boy wanted to try again.

She felt wronged but couldn't show it. After climbing for a short while, she was exhausted, and tears began to well up in her eyes again.

"Mengmeng, give me your bag, I'll carry it for you."

Lin Xiyu couldn't stand it anymore and pulled the backpack off her shoulder.

"no need."

Wu Meng felt embarrassed to let her carry her, and as the two were struggling, a strong and powerful arm suddenly darted out and snatched the backpack away.

"Ai?!"

Lin Xiyu turned around and, by the moonlight, saw who it was. She was clearly stunned for a moment.

Li Liang, it's him?!

Wasn't he leading the way?
When did we come full circle again?

"My bag?"

When Wu Meng recognized Li Liang, her ears instantly turned bright red with embarrassment.

Before she could refuse, Li Liang slung his backpack over his shoulder and strode away, taking two steps at a time.

"It's Li Liang."

Lin Xiyu nudged her with her elbow and smiled knowingly.

"I actually"

Wu Meng laughed awkwardly, "It's not that tiring, I can carry it myself."

"Really? I don't think so."

Lin Xiyu expressed her doubts: "It's good that someone is willing to serve a beautiful woman. Don't be so pretentious. Actually, I think Li Liang is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He's much more reliable than Qu Peng, that nice guy. At least he doesn't have so many girls surrounding him, which is disheartening to see."

"Qu Peng is the class monitor."

Wu Meng instinctively defended him: "He had no choice but to step forward and help them."

People who are secretly in love are all so stubborn.

Lin Xiyu sighed and rubbed her forehead: "You're just fixated on Class Monitor Qu."

"Hey, hey."

Wu Meng's ears turned even redder as she looked up at Qu Peng's back, a complex and unreadable expression flashing across her face.

-

Zhongtianmen.

While the girls were browsing shops and buying cloth shoes, Lin Xiyu pulled Gu Bin aside and whispered something to him.

"Wu Meng likes Qu Peng. What do you think of them? Is there any possibility of a relationship?"

"No way, tell her to stop thinking about it."

Gu Bin frowned slightly and shook his head without giving him any face.

"why?"

Lin Xiyu spoke up for her best friend, saying, "Wu Meng is good at studying and quite pretty. She's more than a match for Qu Peng."

"Being short is a major disadvantage."

Gu Bin found her pouting expression amusing: "Qu Peng's biggest pet peeve is being shorter than Wang Fan. He often teases him about it, so he won't date a short girl."

"What nonsense is this?"

Lin Xiyu couldn't understand: "He's shorter than Wang Fan, so he can't date shorter girls?"

"You think so."

Gu Bin smiled meaningfully and pointed out the truth: "Height is related to the parents' genes. He doesn't want to be ridiculed by Wang Fan for the rest of his life. His only chance to turn the tables is to marry a tall wife and let the next generation crush him."

"Hey, hey."

Lin Xiyu's ears burned when she heard about the child: "You're thinking quite far ahead, aren't you?"
"It is a must."

Gu Bin leaned down and teased with a smile, "Could it be that you've never thought about what kind of child our excellent genes would produce?"

"Boring, I'm ignoring you."

Lin Xiyu couldn't stand his endless flirtatious talk, and with her ears turning red, she ran away in a flash.

"hehe."

Gu Bin loved seeing her shy and annoyed expression, and he would let out a pleasant laugh.

-

The passenger service center did not disappoint; it did indeed have a counter selling cloth shoes.

The girls who needed it bought a pair of well-fitting old Beijing cloth shoes at their own expense. After putting them on, they finally felt comfortable and stopped whining and grumbling, which was annoying to listen to.

"Is everyone here?"

Qu Peng breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as he counted the number of people.

"We're all here."

The girls gathered around him, chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere.

"Tch, what a heartless playboy."

Wu Meng was short and weak, so she was pushed to the very edge.

She felt neglected again, and a sour feeling welled up inside her.

"Mengmeng is in a bad mood, and I'm worried about her hiking alone."

Lin Xiyu had just gone over to comfort her when Gu Bin grabbed her arm.

"do not go."

Gu Bin had his own reasons: "You're always by her side, how can anyone else have a chance to be attentive to you?"

"Didn't you say there was no chance for them?"

Lin Xiyu frowned slightly, glaring at him with some dissatisfaction.

Just because Qu Peng can't have it doesn't mean others can't.

A glint of malice flashed in Gu Bin's eyes, and he smiled mockingly.

"other people?"

Lin Xiyu was completely bewildered and visibly confused.

"Believe me."

Gu Bin calmly calculated with his fingers: "Her destined love for the main wife will appear soon, at the latest by tomorrow morning, it will definitely come true."

Lin Xiyu: "." This aloof male god also has the potential to be a charlatan?!

This was something she didn't expect.

-

The Eighteen Bends rise straight into the sky; it's not a ladder to heaven, but it's even better than one.

From the moment they stepped onto the first step of the Eighteen Bends, the upward-climbing team gradually quieted down. Everyone was focused on climbing, and no one was in the mood for chatting or laughing anymore.

After two arduous hours, around 3 a.m., the group finally arrived at Nantianmen after overcoming numerous difficulties, reaching the best spot to watch the sunrise – Yuhuangding.

The mountaintop was bitterly cold, with extremely low temperatures; without warm clothing, it would be difficult to keep warm. Wang Fan paid for a military overcoat to rent for each of his classmates.

There are many people climbing Mount Tai on weekends, and the good spots for shelter from the wind behind the rocks have already been taken.

Qu Peng circled around several times but couldn't find an open space large enough to accommodate everyone.

"This won't work."

He looked at the girls wrapped in military overcoats, shivering in the wind, and rubbed his temples with a headache.

"Go back to Nantianmen."

Gu Bin hesitated for a moment, then made a decision: "The wind is less strong uphill, so we can sit down and rest."

Wang Fan grumbled in dissatisfaction, "We finally made it up, and now we have to go down again?"

"You don't have to go down if you don't want to."

Qu Peng glared at him disdainfully: "As long as you're not afraid of the cold, you can stand in the wind for as long as you want. Nobody cares."

"I want to go down."

Wang Fan was afraid of the cold, so he decisively admitted defeat.

"If you're cold, leave. Don't linger here."

Qu Peng pushed him away impatiently and walked down the steps first.

-

The group returned to the South Heavenly Gate and descended several dozen meters before feeling the wind lessen and become less biting.

Many people were resting on the steps, waiting for the sunrise.

As the class monitor, Qu Peng worried himself sick.

He then encouraged Wang Fan to pay out of his own pocket to buy two loaves of bread and ten sausages for each of the boys.

The saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding; he who takes another's money is bound to do his bidding."

Inspired by the sausages, the boys responded enthusiastically to the call and voluntarily formed a circle around the girls to act as a windbreak.

Lin Xiyu and Wu Meng weren't the type to fight, so they were pushed to the last row by the girls. Not long after they sat down, they suddenly felt the wind behind them subside.

Lin Xiyu, with a sudden flash of inspiration, turned around and smiled, and sure enough, her eyes met Gu Bin's gentle and affectionate gaze.

Wu Meng also glanced back, and her heart couldn't help but tremble three times.

Li Liang was sitting behind her.

The boy was tall and strong, and his broad, sturdy back shielded her from the howling wind.

She shifted uncomfortably a few times, craning her neck to look for Qu Peng.

Qu Peng sat in the front row, his back to them.

"Ugh."

A soft sigh escaped her lips. She forced a bitter smile and looked away in disappointment once again.

"Very sleepy."

Xu Yi, standing next to his sister, covered his mouth with his hand and yawned.

"Go to sleep, I'm holding you."

Wang Fan sat behind him, wrapping the little guy completely in his military overcoat, leaving only his sleepy little face showing.

Xu Yi trusted him completely, leaned into his arms, and comfortably closed his eyes.

Thank you.

Lin Xiyu's impression of Wang Fan improved slightly, and she was genuinely grateful: "You took such good care of Xiaoyi, which helped me a lot. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to catch up with him on my own, and I would have been driven crazy."

"Children have a lot of energy, it's normal for them to run and jump around."

Wang Fan flattered and fawned, not missing any opportunity to win over the beautiful woman: "You don't need to thank me. Just because Xiao Yi likes to stick to me so much, I genuinely like him too, and I treat him like a younger brother."

"I wish he had a rich brother like you."

Lin Xiyu smiled, about to praise him a few more times, when suddenly a hand flashed before her eyes, blocking their view.

"You should go to sleep too. I'll wake you up when the sun comes out."

Ignoring the astonished looks of his classmates, Gu Bin domineeringly pulled the person into his arms, asserting his ownership.

"Yo"

A considerable commotion arose from all around, mixed with the boys' shrill whistles.

Lin Xiyu's cheeks flushed red. She tried to break free, but he held her too tightly. Helpless, she could only pretend to be dead and cover her face with her hands.

"hehe."

A playful laugh rang out from above; the low, soft voice revealed his delighted mood.

-

After climbing the mountain for more than seven hours, everyone was exhausted.

After a brief period of noise, the surroundings gradually quieted down, and the students leaned against each other and closed their eyes.

Two hours passed in a flash, and at 5 a.m., the crowd became noisy again. People who wanted to grab a good spot to watch the sunrise squeezed onto the Jade Emperor Peak before dawn.

"Wake up, wake up! The sun is about to rise, everyone stop sleeping."

Qu Peng let out a loud, powerful shout, waking everyone from their sleep.

"what!"

There is someone else whose voice is louder than his.

Wu Meng opened her eyes and found herself drooling and lying on someone's lap. Overwhelmed with shock, she jumped up from the ground.

"what happened?"

"What are you yelling about so early in the morning?"

Unsurprisingly, the entire class was drawn by the sudden shout, and pairs of eyes, gleaming with gossip, swept over like searchlights.

Lin Xiyu reacted quickly, grabbing Wu Meng's arm before anyone noticed anything amiss, and made her sit down again.

"Me me me"

Wu Meng's cheeks flushed bright red, she was so ashamed she wanted to disappear: "I fell asleep, I don't know when I leaned against him, how embarrassing."

"It's nothing, it's just leaning against it for a bit."

Lin Xiyu smiled and comforted him, "He's a boy, he's not at a disadvantage."

"But."

When Wu Meng opened her eyes, she saw a large wet patch on Li Liang's legs, let out a wail, and covered her face in pain.

"There's no 'but' about it, all your classmates are watching you."

Lin Xiyu earnestly advised, "You don't want anyone to know what's going on, do you? Cheer up. If you're not embarrassed, it's others who will be."

"Is this okay?"

Wu Meng was shy, and when she peeked through her fingers, she saw that her classmates were indeed looking at her in surprise, so she quickly closed her fingers again.

"Listen to me, you won't go wrong."

Lin Xiyu gave her a strong dose of medicine: "Look how calm Li Liang is, acting like nothing's wrong. If you keep worrying like this, people will suspect you have ulterior motives and are trying to attract boys' attention."

"I didn't, I'm not."

Wu Meng was stunned and hurriedly tried to explain herself.

"Shhh."

Having achieved her goal, Lin Xiyu put her finger to her lips and winked playfully: "Some things are better left unsaid; there's no need to rush to say them out loud."

"Alright, everyone stop watching the show."

Qu Peng yelled again, drawing the students' attention back to himself: "We should go, or all the good spots will be taken."

"Let's go, let's go see the sunrise."

The boys obligingly echoed in unison.

"Follow the class monitor."

"Squad leader, wait for us."

The girls, unwilling to be left behind and having lost interest in watching the show, stood up in a flurry and rushed to his side.

When Wu Meng saw that Qu Peng showed no concern as he passed by her, a hint of loneliness flashed in her eyes.

This incident completely broke her heart, and she lost all hope.

(End of this chapter)