After Confessing To My Childhood Friend - Chapter 45
Chapter 45: Sunrise
◎ A Kiss ◎
While they were eating, Chen Mengyin suggested going for a walk by the lake she had seen from her room. Xu Qingqing and the others had also noticed the lake and immediately agreed.
They quickly finished lunch, and Chen Mengyin brought her camera along as she followed them out of the hotel.
The lake was northwest of the hotel—not far, but they had to descend a small slope to find the trail leading to it.
The weather was unusually clear: the sky was blue, and the water even bluer. The lake sparkled like a sapphire, with snow-capped mountains in the distance reflected on its surface, adding a three-dimensional depth to this “sapphire.”
Chen Mengyin picked up her camera and captured its graceful presence amidst the snowy peaks.
They took many group photos by the lake, and Xu Qingqing even helped take quite a few of Chen Mengyin and Xie Zhirou.
The sky behind them was pure and vividly blue, like a curtain without blemish. Under the clear sky, Chen Mengyin wrapped her arms around Xie Zhirou, beaming radiantly at the camera. Even Xie Zhirou, who rarely smiled, managed a sweet smile while leaning into her embrace.
Thrilled, Chen Mengyin praised Xu Qingqing as the ancient Greek goddess of cameras, then made her take a few more photos before they reluctantly ended their short lakeside stroll.
“Let’s find a place to set up the tents,” Xu Qingqing said after they returned to the hotel. “Let’s take a nap this afternoon, then spend the night in the tents and watch the sunrise tomorrow.”
Chen Mengyin replied, “Sure—but how did you guys bring tents? Your bags didn’t look like they had space for them.”
Xu Qingqing laughed. “Silly! You think we’d carry them up ourselves? We’d be dead tired. We paid a little extra for the tent rental guy to drive them up for us.”
Chen Mengyin teased sarcastically, “Okay okay, I get it, our Qingqing is the smartest~”
Xu Qingqing mock-threatened, “Chen Mengyin, I’m going to kill you!”
“No way! Zhirou, save me!” Chen Mengyin hid behind Xie Zhirou and stuck her tongue out at Xu Qingqing.
“Enough! Get over here and help,” Wang Xueling called from nearby, nudging the gear with her foot. “Or we’ll end up freezing our butts off in the cold tonight.”
Chen Mengyin and Xu Qingqing set aside their “personal feud,” shook hands in truce, and started scouting around the hotel for suitable spots to pitch the tents.
They finally chose the best location and, after huffing and puffing their way through the setup instructions, managed to pitch two small tents. Xu Qingqing even hung a sign on hers that read, “Private items, do not use.” Laughing and chatting, they headed back to the hotel to rest and prepare for their all-nighter.
Back in the hotel, Chen Mengyin updated her WeChat profile and changed her Moments background to the photos Xu Qingqing had taken, flaunting her presence with her fresh new look across all her friend circles.
If she weren’t trying to avoid coming out before the college entrance exam, her profile pic and background wouldn’t just be her and Xie Zhirou hugging—it’d be them kissing.
Not long after, she received a message from Li Ran.
One was a smirking soybean emoji, the other a thumbs-up.
Chen Mengyin pretended not to understand Li Ran’s passive-aggressive sarcasm and interpreted it as a compliment. She responded with a smug emoji and got another smirking soybean in return.
Chen Mengyin laughed out loud but didn’t dare push her luck again—she didn’t want to get “bamboo shoots stir-fried with meat” (a play on being punished at home). She was already an adult and had a girlfriend; getting scolded like a kid would be embarrassing!
“Go to sleep,” Xie Zhirou murmured, hugging her from behind, her cold lips brushing against Chen Mengyin’s soft earlobe and making her entire body weak. Blushing, Chen Mengyin shoved her phone under the pillow and whispered, “Okay…”
The hotel bed was soft—but not as soft as Xie Zhirou’s embrace.
Chen Mengyin dozed off nestled in her arms, and even when the alarm rang, she was still dreaming of dating Xie Zhirou.
“Mengyin, wake up.” In her groggy state, she vaguely heard Xie Zhirou calling her name. She struggled to open her eyes but soon drifted back to sleep.
Then she felt warmth on her lips—sucking, nibbling—until a tongue slipped between her parted lips, exploring her mouth with teasing ease.
The kiss felt so good that even half-asleep, Chen Mengyin responded instinctively, chasing the “little snake” with her own tongue.
“Ha—” As their lips parted, a thin trail of silver thread connected them. Chen Mengyin got kissed several more times before her dazed brain finally cleared.
The first thing she did after regaining consciousness was flip over and pin Xie Zhirou underneath her to return that heated kiss.
Forehead, lips, chin, neck, collarbone—the kisses came endlessly.
They made up for all the kisses they had missed before, intense and unrestrained, refusing to part.
Xie Zhirou’s long fingers tangled helplessly in Chen Mengyin’s hair. As her scalp was gently pulled, Chen Mengyin lowered her head and left a trail of kisses like raindrops along her collarbone, now covered in red, intimate marks—a declaration of territory.
…
“You two are so slow. Any later and this beef would’ve been gone,” Xu Qingqing complained outside the tent, where a small lamp had been set up and a grill had been lit. She sat on a folding chair, flipping beef with tongs from who-knows-where.
Chen Mengyin licked her lips and replied, “You guys don’t get it.”
Xu Qingqing and Wang Xueling rolled their eyes. Honestly, they didn’t want to get it—afraid they wouldn’t be able to look their two friends in the eye afterward. Xu Qingqing tilted her chin toward two empty chairs. “Do I need to invite you two personally to sit?”
Chen Mengyin dropped her backpack and sat. “Nah, I was just too busy being amazed by how professional your gear is. I forgot to sit.”
Xie Zhirou sat beside her and pulled out snacks from her bag to put on the small table. She was also curious where they got the grill and beef from.
Xu Qingqing grinned. “Ah, you didn’t know, huh? Xueling, grab two more sets of utensils. The meat’s ready.”
“Coming,” said Wang Xueling.
She handed out disposable chopsticks and bowls while Xu Qingqing put freshly grilled beef into their bowls. “The beef? Xueling and I carried it up ourselves. You have no idea how awful it was dragging two packs of beef and ice up the mountain. If not for the promise of fresh-cut meat, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“As for the grill? Same as the tents—paid the guy to bring it up. With money, anything’s possible—even summoning a grill to the mountaintop!”
“Try it. There’s dipping sauce too. If it’s too plain, just add some.”
“It has to be good,” Chen Mengyin said dramatically. “Even if it weren’t, after all your hard work, I’d still close my eyes and say it is.” She stuffed the beef into her mouth and chewed with an exaggerated grimace before swallowing. Then she gave a thumbs-up. “Delicious!”
Xu Qingqing kicked her. “Keep it up and I won’t give you any more! I’ll give it all to Zhirou and Xueling.”
Wang Xueling giggled—she wouldn’t mind more meat.
“Noooo, have mercy—” Chen Mengyin whined.
Xu Qingqing scoffed and dumped a whole tongful into her bowl. “Behave. Or you’ll be breathing exhaust fumes all night.”
Chen Mengyin zipped her lips… for about three seconds. Then she was chatting and laughing again with Xie Zhirou, totally in love and utterly shameless.
Xu Qingqing & Wang Xueling: … What do we do when all our friends are lovestruck idiots?
“Oh right, Qingqing—didn’t you ask me to buy marshmallows? Wanna roast some?” The grilled beef was good, but after a while, it got greasy. Chen Mengyin remembered the marshmallows Xu Qingqing had insisted she buy.
“Sure! I’ve got bamboo skewers here. You do the honors.”
“OK!” Chen Mengyin and Xie Zhirou skewered the marshmallows together. Xu Qingqing moved the grill plate to reveal the charcoal underneath. “Roast your own, everyone. We’ll grill more beef later if we get hungry.”
No one objected. Everyone roasted marshmallows by the fire.
It was already cold on the mountain at night—especially at an 800-meter altitude. Earlier, the warmth from grilled beef helped. But with the grill plate gone, the small fire pit was their only source of heat.
Soon, everyone was shivering and rubbing their hands for warmth.
Xu Qingqing handed her skewer to Wang Xueling and poured herself hot water from a thermos. “So cold. And it’s not even the coldest part of the night yet.”
Wang Xueling sniffled. She was freezing too.
Among the four of them, only Chen Mengyin didn’t seem cold. But she was worried Xie Zhirou might be, so she gave her all the scarves and blankets, wrapping her up snugly.
Chen Mengyin held her cold hands, concerned. “Still cold? Want to go warm up in the tent?”
There were sleeping bags and quilts inside—no fire, but definitely warmer than staying outside.
Xie Zhirou shook her head. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“Okay, but tell me if it gets too much. I’ll go with you.”
Xie Zhirou smiled gently, and Chen Mengyin stared, dumbfounded. Her marshmallow nearly burned until Xie Zhirou nudged her. “Mengyin, your marshmallow’s getting scorched.”
Snapping back to reality, she checked the marshmallow—sure enough, the edges were darkening.
“Phew. A few more seconds and it’d be inedible.” She moved it away from the fire, relieved it was only slightly burnt.
Xu Qingqing laughed. “See? You just had to stare at your girlfriend while roasting. Now look.”
Chen Mengyin replied confidently, “Every smile from Zhirou is different. I have to look. What’s wrong with that?”
Xu Qingqing snapped, “Are you sick?”
Chen Mengyin pulled a face. “Wanna fight me?”
Xu Qingqing shoved the marshmallows into Wang Xueling’s hands and stood up. Wang Xueling tried to stop her. “Let her be, Qingqing. She’s just love-crazy.”
“Zhirou, talk some sense into Mengyin before I lose it!” Xu Qingqing yelled.
“She’s beyond saving,” said Wang Xueling.
“I swear if I don’t smack her today, I’m not worthy of my surname!” Xu Qingqing stormed after her.
Chen Mengyin handed her skewer to Xie Zhirou and bolted, laughing as Xu Qingqing chased her, cursing the whole way.
With the two chaos-makers gone, the campsite fell quiet.
Wang Xueling looked at the marshmallow in her hand and sighed. “Let them mess around. We’ll eat.”
“Okay,” Xie Zhirou replied.
The two quieter girls stayed by the fire eating marshmallows, while the other two played a ridiculous game of cat-and-mouse around the tents.
“Okay okay, I’m done. I’m going back to Zhirou!” After several laps, Chen Mengyin let Xu Qingqing get a few hits in to calm down.
Xu Qingqing panted. “See? If you’d just said that earlier!”
Thinking of Xie Zhirou, Chen Mengyin hurried back to camp, telling Xu Qingqing to work on her stamina—she was slower than her seventy-year-old grandma!
“Not talking to a stamina freak like you,” Xu Qingqing muttered.
Back at the camp, the roasted marshmallows were all gone. Xu Qingqing flopped into her chair and begrudgingly started roasting a new one.
Total loss—no marshmallow, no peace!
“I burned mine. I’ll roast another one for you later, okay?” Chen Mengyin told Xie Zhirou, determined to make a perfect one just for her.
Xie Zhirou rested her chin on her hand, quietly watching her roast.
Time passed, and the charcoal started dying down. The temperature dropped even lower. Xu Qingqing stomped her feet and crawled into the tent with a blanket.
Wang Xueling soon followed, and the two huddled together for warmth.
“Shall we go in too?” Chen Mengyin asked, warm breath forming a white cloud as she held Xie Zhirou’s frozen hands.
Xie Zhirou looked up at the stars above. From the mountaintop, the sky seemed clearer, closer, more reachable.
She exhaled a white puff and turned to Chen Mengyin. “Okay, let’s go.”
Chen Mengyin opened the tent flap and sat in the sleeping bag after taking off her boots. She draped a blanket over her shoulders and opened her arms.
Xie Zhirou took off her shoes and curled up in her embrace. They chatted softly and soon drifted off.
…
When the sun finally rose, everyone held their breath, eyes wide, awed by the unmatched beauty of the sunrise.
The sea of clouds surged, pierced by a beam of golden light like an arrow, forcing Chen Mengyin to squint and tear up.
She raised her camera and captured the moment the sun broke through.
“Ah——” Xu Qingqing shouted toward the sun, “Good luck on the college entrance exam——!”
People nearby chuckled. Someone else called out, “Good luck, kid!”
With that, voices from all over the mountaintop echoed one after another, cheering for the exam.
Xu Qingqing looked at Chen Mengyin and the others with a smile, and together, they shouted toward the sea of clouds: “Thank you——!”
Chen Mengyin turned and looked at Xie Zhirou. Xie Zhirou looked back.
Amid all the blessings, they kissed.