Chapter 95 Going Home and Climbing the Mountain
The car was on the road, Du Ruo was driving and Xiang Yuanyuan was sitting in the passenger seat. The trunk and back seat were already filled with wine jars and local specialties.
"Why don't you get a driver's license?"
While driving, the two chatted. In fact, Du Ruo felt much better about Xiang Yuanyuan after visiting Xiang Yuanyuan's home.
In the past, it was inevitable that women who loved to drink would be associated with messy places such as nightclubs or bars. This was inevitable. People always like to think too much. Although they would not look at people with tinted glasses, they would still be a little worried when it came to marrying them.
However, after going to Xiang Yuanyuan's home, I realized that growing up in such an environment, it seemed normal for her to love drinking so much.
"I have a driver's license. I took it when I was in college, but I never bought a car because I was afraid of delaying drinking."
As Xiang Yuanyuan spoke, she took out a small bottle of white wine, unscrewed it and took a sip.
"You should drink less. There is water next to you. How did you survive in school when you were such a heavy drinker?"
Du Ruo was a little curious.
"It's okay. Drinking wine can quench your thirst. When you go to school, you can secretly fill a water bottle with wine and bring it to school."
Xiang Yuanyuan said this indifferently.
"Have you ever thought about quitting drinking or drinking less? You've already exceeded the limit of drinking alcohol. Drinking too much can easily damage your internal organs and nerves. Your alcohol addiction will only get worse, and you're still so young..."
Du Ruo stopped talking. The relationship hadn’t reached that point yet, and it would be inappropriate to say more.
"Well, I'll drink less next time."
Xiang Yuanyuan looked at Du Ruo for a while before whispering something. Then he capped the wine bottle and put it away. He didn't say anything else and just looked out the window.
The atmosphere in the car was dull, and only Du Ruo was driving seriously.
However, Xiang Yuanyuan did not act like she used to and just took out a bottle of wine to drink when she was thirsty.
Originally, Du Ruo planned to drive back directly, but considering that Xiang Yuanyuan was in the car, the two of them ate something at the service area at noon.
Xiang Yuanyuan still didn't eat staple food, but ate a little and drank some wine. Du Ruo didn't say anything at this time. Don't expect Xiang Yuanyuan to quit drinking all of a sudden, it would be bad to quit all of a sudden. All he could do was to reduce his drinking appropriately.
And you can see that a smile appears on her face as soon as she drinks. Perhaps for her, drinking is the happiest thing.
When we returned to the B&B, it was already around four or five in the afternoon, and Du Ruo moved the things out of the car.
The tiger bone wine was placed in Xiang Yuanyuan’s small wine cellar, and other specialties were also moved up there.
"I'm going to return the car first. Let's eat together tonight. I'll cut up some tuna and fry up some sea fish. We'll have a simple meal."
After putting away the things, Du Ruo said something to Xiang Yuanyuan and prepared to return the car.
"Give me the key. I'll take care of the sea fish. You can eat it when you come back."
Xiang Yuanyuan smiled and reached out to take the key from Du Ruo.
Du Ruo drove the car to the town, washed it, filled it up with gas and then drove to her sister Duna.
Du Ruo refused to stay for dinner and drove back. The sun had just set and it was already a little dim.
After parking the car, Du Ruo pushed open the yard door and walked in.
"Are you back? Let's get ready to eat. I think it's a little windy today and it doesn't seem so hot. Let's eat outside."
At this time, Xiang Yuanyuan just came out of the house carrying a plate of food. She was wearing an apron. Because of the backlight, the expression on Xiang Yuanyuan's face could not be seen clearly, but this scene touched Du Ruo a little.
"Well, it's so rich."
Du Ruo smiled. There were many dishes, boiled fish fillets, steamed fish, tuna sashimi, and stewed fish head soup.
Du Ruo ate very much in the evening, and the two of them also drank some wine, but not much, just one glass each and then no more.
"Boss Du, I saw in the weather forecast that it will rain the day after tomorrow. Let's go hiking then. Didn't we make an appointment last time?"
Du Ruo sent Xiang Yuanyuan out of the yard. Before leaving, Xiang Yuanyuan suddenly turned around and said something to Du Ruo.
"Okay, but you should stop calling me Boss Du and just call me by my name."
Du Ruo agreed naturally and said something by the way.
"I think Boss Du is pretty good, and it's easy to call him that."
"If you call me like that, I'll have to call you the boss lady."
……
The next morning, Du Ruo originally wanted to bring some fish and meat to see the clouded leopard, but after thinking about it, he finally gave up. Clouded leopards only eat fresh food, and they must be sea fish. More importantly, the clouded leopard's stomach is quite big, and it would be bad if it gets sick from eating.
Finally, Du Ruo took some time to buy some fresh beef before starting to climb the mountain.
Du Ruo is in a good mood every time he goes up the mountain. The mountain seems to be an isolated world. Every exploration can bring new discoveries and surprises, which always makes Du Ruo happy and relaxed from the bottom of his heart.
When Du Ruo arrived at the boulder, he still didn't see the clouded leopard. Du Ruo was not surprised. Clouded leopards are animals that are very good at concealing and hiding. They usually hide in trees. They probably lay on the boulder that day to bask in the sun.
Standing on the boulder, Du Ruo attached the "Qi" to the acupuncture points near his eyes, and then looked around, especially those tall and dense pine trees, which might be the clouded leopard's nests.
"Hey, I found it. It turns out they were hunting."
Du Ruo glanced around several times and finally found the clouded leopard in the forest where he had found the wild boar last time.
At this time, the clouded leopard was lying on the trunk of a pine tree, crawling forward cautiously. Not far away from it was a squirrel with a fluffy tail and a furry body. It was holding a mushroom and chewing it, and occasionally looking around.
The clouded leopard stared at the squirrel and moved forward cautiously on the tree trunk. Its bulging belly did not affect its movements at all until it was within ten meters of the squirrel.
The clouded leopard was at a higher place, while the squirrel was at a lower place. The squirrel, which was chewing mushrooms, seemed to have sensed something was wrong and looked around alertly, but did not raise its head to look at the pine tree next door.
"Shu~"
The clouded leopard jumped down from a high branch, and its long sharp claws stretched out from its pads. It bit the squirrel before the squirrel could react, while grabbing the tree trunk with its claws and hanging upside down on the branch.
After regaining its balance, the clouded leopard found that the squirrel in its mouth was dead. Looking around, the clouded leopard subconsciously ran towards the boulder where Du Ruo was standing.
Du Ruo stood on a boulder and witnessed the entire process of the clouded leopard hunting. Seeing the clouded leopard running towards him with the prey just in its mouth, he simply stopped moving and waited on the boulder.
"Woo~"
The clouded leopard came near the boulder and saw Du Ruo. It couldn't help but whimper twice. It climbed up the boulder, stretched out its head and rubbed it on Du Ruo's trouser leg, then put the squirrel at Du Ruo's feet, as if letting Du Ruo eat it first.
"Eat it yourself. I am not worthy of eating a Class II protected animal."
Du Ruo smiled and touched the clouded leopard's head, pushed the squirrel towards it, and then took out the beef from his pocket and put it aside.
"Meow~"
The clouded leopard meowed, sniffed the beef, and then chose the squirrel. It was obvious that the squirrel was its favorite.
Du Ruo just sat by the side, watching the clouded leopard feasting on its food. A squirrel was only enough to fill the gap between its teeth. After finishing the squirrel, it turned around and ate the beef that Du Ruo had put on the ground. While eating, it kept sweeping Du Ruo's body with its slender tail. It was obvious that it was very happy. "You are about to give birth, no wonder you want to bask in the sun on this boulder. I don't know how many cubs you will give birth to."
Looking at the clouded leopard's round belly, Du Ruo couldn't help but touch it. The clouded leopard didn't resist and even wrapped its tail around Du Ruo's arm. It was obvious that it was no longer on guard against Du Ruo.
The abdomen is an absolute forbidden area for animals. Many domestic pets will rage and injure people if their bellies are touched, let alone wild animals.
Du Ruo played with the clouded leopard on the boulder for a while. Today, he came mainly to see the clouded leopard, so he didn't continue to climb up. After staying for a while, Du Ruo didn't stay any longer and started to go down the mountain.
"Uncle Yang, where are you weeding?"
After going down the mountain, Du Ruo saw Yang Chenguang's father busy in the tea garden and smiled and said he cared.
"Well, you're going up the mountain so early in the morning. You should be careful. There are wild boars and snakes on the mountain. Don't get hurt."
Uncle Yang subconsciously glanced at the mountain, then kindly reminded Du Ruo.
"Well, okay, you are busy, I will go back first."
"Come over to my house for a drink when you have time. I'll ask your aunt to kill a chicken."
"Okay, maybe next time."
……
Du Ruo returned to his previous peaceful life, helping out in the B&B. In the afternoon, he went to the town to pick up Yaya and Maomao and went home for dinner together.
Yaya was happy because she had fish to eat, and sea fish didn't have to worry about fish bones. In the evening, her mother even tried to make fish rice according to what Du Ruo said. It seemed like a new world had opened up for Yaya. She realized that she could eat fish alone without rice, or in other words, she could eat fish as a meal.
"Mom, you take care of Yayaha for a day tomorrow. I have an appointment with someone to go hiking."
At the dinner table, Du Ruo told his mother that he had made an appointment with Xiang Yuanyuan, and it might rain on the top of the mountain, so it would not be convenient to take Yaya with him.
"Oh? Male or female?"
As soon as my mother opened her mouth, she asked about the thing that concerned her most.
"She's the woman who owns the pub across from my B&B."
Du Ruo had nothing to hide, and perhaps telling him about it could prevent his mother from arranging blind dates for him again.
"Oh, go ahead then."
My mother kept thinking about what the owner of the pub opposite the B&B looked like, and she replied subconsciously.
"Auntie Yuanyuan is a good person, very pretty, and has a lot of dried fish."
Yaya, who was eating fish at the side, said without raising her head, "Anyway, whoever gave her fish must be a good person."
"Oh? Tell grandma quickly..."
When mother heard that Yaya knew the answer, she immediately gave her a piece of fish and came over to ask.
Du Ruo shook her head, ignored them, collected the dishes and prepared to go upstairs.
"Bring it back for dinner some other day, and let us take a look at it."
Dad said quietly from the side.
"Ah? Oh!"
……
The next day, Du Ruo got up early and drove to the B&B. Before he parked the car, he saw Xiang Yuanyuan running out pushing her electric scooter.
"Come on, I'll take you there. It's hard to park your car, so I'll take you there."
Xiang Yuanyuan patted the back seat of the electric scooter and said happily.
"Okay, but can you do this? I'm actually quite heavy."
Du Ruo looked at the electric scooter and said something hesitantly.
"It's okay, at most you can just go slower."
Xiang Yuanyuan, on the other hand, didn't care at all and looked eager to try.
"alright."
Du Ruo thought for a while, took two bottles of water from the car, and then got on Xiang Yuanyuan's electric scooter.
Wearing a helmet, Xiang Yuanyuan drove a small electric scooter carrying Du Ruo towards the town.
Du Ruo was a little uncomfortable at first, and was too embarrassed to hug the other person's waist. He grabbed the back seat and let Xiang Yuanyuan's long hair hit his face. This was the first time for Du Ruo to experience riding an electric car as a girl.
In less than twenty minutes, the two arrived at the ticket office. They came quite early and did not need to queue. There are many routes to climb Mount Huangshan. If you are a mountaineering enthusiast, you can choose different routes and different weather. It can be said that you will never get tired of it, and there will be different scenery every time.
"Little Huangshan, here I come again. Today we are going to challenge our speed up the mountain."
This time they chose the most classic way to climb the mountain from the South Gate. They bought tickets and took the shuttle bus to Ciguang Pavilion. This is the most popular place for mountaineering. They can also climb Tiandu Peak and see the carp back. Standing at the foot of the mountain, Xiang Yuanyuan was excited. She can maintain her enthusiasm every time she climbs a mountain. Even though she has climbed Huangshan more than a dozen times and has walked all the routes, she still enjoys it.
The two of them didn't think of taking the cable car. Du Ruo didn't care about physical strength. It was just mountain climbing. It was not a challenge at all for him. The same was true for Xiang Yuanyuan. In addition to not eating staple foods, she maintained her figure more through sports like mountain climbing. Otherwise, she would never be able to maintain such a perfect figure with just drinking and not abstaining from food.
The two climbed the mountain from Ciguang Pavilion, and then came to Banshan Temple. They did not enter the temple. The mountains and rocks in Banshan Temple were extremely dangerous, and there were cliffs thousands of feet high. However, when the two arrived here, there was fog around them and the visibility was not high, so they did not stay for too long and chose to continue climbing the mountain.
It had not been long since they arrived at Banshan Temple, and the two of them headed straight for Tiandu Peak.
Tiandu Peak is one of the three main peaks of Huangshan Mountain. It is more than 1,800 meters above sea level. Climbing is naturally extremely difficult. Many places even form straight steep slopes, which is a constant test of the physical strength of climbers.
But it was not a problem for Xiang Yuanyuan. She walked in front first, chattering all the way and introducing Du Ruo, a local.
It was the first time that Du Ruo saw this side of Xiang Yuanyuan.
Tiandu Peak was formerly known as "the capital of all immortals", which means the capital of heaven. This is how Tiandu Peak got its name.
As they were walking happily, it started to drizzle. Xiang Yuanyuan took out a raincoat from her bag and handed it to Du Ruo. She was experienced and well prepared.
After climbing up Tiandu Peak, the drizzle actually stopped. Standing on the top and looking at the surrounding clouds, it really looked a bit like a fairyland.
When you go down the mountain from Tiandu Peak, you will pass by Jiyubei, which is one meter wide and more than ten meters long. There are cliffs on both sides and it is extremely steep.
When they got here, everyone else tried to lie down as much as possible, but Du Ruo couldn't help but stand up. Compared with this carp's back, the more than 100-meter-high cliff that Du Ruo climbed on the boulder was like a small slope, or there was no comparison at all.
If there weren't so many tourists here, Du Ruo might not be able to resist practicing boxing here. Practicing boxing here might be the real way to steal the secrets of heaven.
"Ouch~~"
Du Ruogang felt a little emotional. Xiang Yuanyuan, who was walking in front of him, twisted her foot, perhaps because she was too excited or didn't pay attention. Her body moved forward and her head slid backward. Even though she held on to the iron chain on the side tightly, her head still hit the stairs.
(End of this chapter)
