Mount Cang Yan was one of the national scenic areas, famous for its sixteen scenic spots and numerous ancient temples. Many films had been shot there.
Chu Zhi knew of this place because of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” specifically the scene where Yu Jiaolong leapt from the Hanging Temple.
After getting off the train, they switched to a minibus, with tickets costing thirty yuan per person.
They had caught the Golden Week1 holiday rush—the station was packed like dumplings in a pot.
The tourists filed through in streams, and it wasn’t until they got on the bus that they could finally catch their breath.
The four of them maintained a strange silence after boarding the bus. Chu Zhi, usually the talkative one who had been chatting non-stop with Lin Tong, even during the high-speed rail journey, now sat with a pale face and red ears, her big eyes darting around without saying a word.
Cheng Yi, who had been chattering the whole way, was now as quiet as a chicken, silently protecting his bottom as he sat on the bus.
The four sat in pairs. As soon as they boarded, Cheng Yi adamantly refused to sit with Lu Jiaheng, dramatically insisting on switching seats with exaggerated wailing.
Chu Zhi thought about it and found Carrot Senior’s terrified reaction somewhat understandable, so she kindly offered to switch seats with him.
Thus, Chu Zhi sat by the window, alternating between looking at the scenery and the person sitting beside her.
Lu Jiaheng’s complexion wasn’t good right now.
In fact, his complexion was terrible.
Several times when she was secretly looking at him, she got caught. When he turned his head, their eyes would meet, and Chu Zhi would quickly turn away with lightning speed, mouth slightly open, gaze upward, pretending to look at the bus ceiling or the sky.
She missed Lu Jiaheng’s expression of wanting to say something but holding back.
Then after a while, she would secretly look again, and then, seemingly remembering something, suddenly cover her red ears and start shaking her head frantically.
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
The bus ride took about three hours. By the time they got off, it was afternoon, and they first looked for a hotel in the scenic area to drop off their luggage.
They got two rooms, temporarily putting all their belongings in one room.
Although they had asked for the best rooms, nobody had high expectations. However, when they went in, the rooms were surprisingly decent, with carved four-poster double beds that had an antique charm.
Cheng Yi, still protecting his bottom, scanned the room critically with his gaze. After a moment, he slowly commented: “This room, in our Crown Prince’s words, would be—”
Lu Jiaheng: “Pretty good.”
Cheng Yi: “?”
Chu Zhi, who had been rummaging through her bag for snacks, suddenly looked up at these words, glanced at the double bed, and her fair ears turned red again.
She held a packet of milk in her hand and looked between Lu Jiaheng and Cheng Yi, hesitating: “Should we get another room?”
“No need,” Lu Jiaheng’s lips curved into an eerie smile as he looked at Cheng Yi, deliberately lowering his voice, “This is fine.”
Cheng Yi: “…”
After putting their things away, Chu Zhi distributed snacks from her backpack to everyone, then put it on her back and ran out of the room with a milk packet in her mouth.
When Lin Tong and the others went downstairs, they saw her chatting with the hotel receptionist in the lobby before walking over to them.
She had a peculiar bouncing gait, especially when walking fast—she would spring upward with each step, like a hopping little rabbit.
The little rabbit bounced over excitedly: “The receptionist sister just said we can take the cable car up the mountain! The view is great for photos up there! But we might have to walk down later because they don’t know if there will be a power outage—she said power outages are common in the scenic area.”
Chu Zhi pulled Lin Tong along, bobbing her head as she led the way out of the hotel. She seemed to have recovered from her earlier shock of “I think I’ve discovered some incredible secret,” walking in front with her milk packet while Cheng Yi and Lu Jiaheng followed behind.
The path was too crowded, and Cheng Yi finally stopped protecting his bottom. He sidled up to Lu Jiaheng and continued to snicker: “Your Highness, your little loli seems to have quite a misunderstanding. What are you going to do about this? Your servant truly deserves death.”
Lu Jiaheng snorted with a laugh, glancing at him sideways: “Shall I grant you eternal companionship with the late emperor?”
Cheng Yi’s mouth twisted: “No, no, I’ll help you.”
He had been thoroughly enjoying watching Lu Jiaheng’s frustrated expression of wanting to say something but not knowing how. He had also confirmed through Lu Jiaheng’s reactions that it wasn’t a busty girl or a mature woman, but really this petite underclassman.
He immediately opened the discussion group [Crown Prince Lu Encounters Love But Doesn’t Understand Love From Past to Present] and shouted: [Brothers! The Crown Prince likes them flat!!!]
By now, the four had arrived at Mount Cang Yan’s cable car station. The bright yellow cable cars were strung together by steel cables, like little gourds hanging in the azure sky.
The cable cars were fully enclosed with glass on all four sides, not very big, with two seats facing each other, each side seating two people.
Just as Chu Zhi and Lin Tong were about to get on, Cheng Yi reacted with incredible speed, putting away his phone and trembling as he protected his bottom, his expression very pained as he firmly declared: “I’d rather die than sit with Lu Jiaheng!”
“…”
Lu Jiaheng rolled his eyes.
Lin Tong, who had been shipping Chu Zhi with Mr. Pink Water Cup since military training, immediately played along and cheerfully waved at him: “Alright then, you can sit with me.”
Chu Zhi still showed understanding and had no objections at all, watching Lin Tong and Cheng Yi get in before sitting in the car below them.
Lu Jiaheng followed her in, and they sat facing each other as the cable car door clicked shut.
The cable car was already small, and while it had felt quite spacious when she got in alone, once Lu Jiaheng came in and the door closed, the space seemed to instantly become more cramped.
Chu Zhi lowered her head, looking at her knees touching the man’s calves, truly feeling the height difference for the first time.
She accepted reality and stretched out one hand, measuring the length from his knee to her knee, then raised it to his eye level to show him, saying cheerfully: “Senior, look, just your calf is this—much longer than mine.”
Lu Jiaheng followed her gaze downward, his eyes lingering on her knee-high socks for two seconds before looking away and giving a faint “mm.”
Lu Jiaheng felt he needed to control himself carefully, to avoid looking too much like a pervert.
The cable car moved slowly forward, climbing higher and higher. The Hanging Temple, Princess Shrine, and other panoramic views came into sight, with ancient trees reaching to the sky and the rock faces gleaming with a warm, soft light in the afternoon sun.
Chu Zhi’s attention was completely drawn away. She pressed her forehead against the glass to look outside, watching for quite a while before remembering to take photos, reaching for her phone.
Before she could get her phone out, Lu Jiaheng, who had been sitting there like a statue, suddenly moved.
He abruptly reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Chu Zhi looked up in surprise, blinking at him: “What’s wrong?”
Lu Jiaheng didn’t speak, just frowned as he looked outside.
Chu Zhi followed his gaze.
Although the cable car had been moving extremely slowly, it had definitely been gradually moving upward at an angle.
But now, it seemed to have stopped moving completely.
They were just hanging there in mid-air, suddenly stopped.
Author’s Note: The Crown Prince and his Princess are about to have a hour-long date in the sky, isn’t it romantic? Isn’t it romantic? Tell me, isn’t it romantic?
- This is a week-long national holiday. ↩︎
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