Chapter 11

「I’m worried that any small pieces of evidence will let you see my unacceptable selfish desires.」

–

The act of secretly taking photos of people can become addictive. If there’s a first time, there will naturally be a second and third time. It’s the same with taking a picture of his back through the crowds when they were about to depart, or taking a picture of his side profile when he was walking with Liang Chen.

Even if Cheng Yan knew this is bad, he couldn’t help but carry on. He would capture those scenes and upload them to the Cloud storage.

He despised his course of action. Yet, between stopping and his selfishness, he couldn’t resist the latter.

He was feeling quite happy from taking the picture, but once they were climbing the mountain, he felt overwhelmed, realising he had overestimated himself.

Maybe he was too carried away by the fact that he can do the activity with Huo Sheng. Half way through, he, who couldn’t stand the sun, couldn’t resist it anymore. He told the administrative team that he wanted to leave the group and walk slower by himself.

The people there were going to refuse because this was a team activity, seperating from the group would not be meaningful. However, seeing his pale face exposed to the sun, they were worried that he was feeling sick. After a discussion, they finally told him to not push himself and rest at the meeting point if he wanted to, and then they left.

Cheng Yan wasn’t completely tired because of the climbing, it was because he woke up too early without enough sleep. Once he’s exercising, he was feeling drained.

The good news is that he was told by the administrative team that there was plenty of time, so he began walking up the mountain slowly.

The temperature in the mountain wasn’t high but the sun was very strong.

There were many mountain springs along the way. Cheng Yan sat beside a spring, finding it unbearable. He used the bamboo tube given by the locals to pour some water on his arm.

The coolness made him feel somewhat better. After resting for a while, he hesitated if he should go back down or not.

He didn’t care if there were many people passing by. He merely hung his head, trying to ease the discomfort.

After sitting for a few minutes, he didn’t expect to hear a gentle male voice coming from above, asking him, “Are you okay”

Cheng Yan’s glasses were placed on a rock beside him. When he looked up, his view was blurry, but he could still identify the person. He replied quickly, “I’m, I’m fine.”

Huo Sheng was surprised when he looked up.

Cheng Yan usually kept his head slightly down or wore his thick-rimmed glasses. He couldn’t see his eyes most of the time.

With a clear view of him, he realised that his eyes are beautiful, with thick eyelashes and standard almond shape eyes. His eyes were staring out of focus without his glasses.

Huo Sheng watched him reaching over to rock to pick up his glasses, placing it back on the bridge of his nose and returning to his usual look. Huo Sheng couldn’t help but smile, “I noticed that your eyes are quite beautiful.”

Cheng Yan’s heart thumped wildly. He looked away with slight embarrassment, paused, and then shook his head.

Huo Sheng thought he had misunderstood something. He quickly explained, “I meant that your eyes are quite pretty. If you have children in the future, they will definitely be very cute.”

Hearing this made his heart calm down.

So it was like this. He didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed. He could only thank him with a slightly reddened face and asked, “By the way, why did you come down? What about the group?”

”The group has gone up the mountain. I couldn’t find you there so I asked the administrative team and they said you weren’t feeling well. That’s why I came down just in case something happened to you.” Huo Sheng stated.

Cheng Yan’s heartbeat calmed down with difficulty but it suddenly started beating rapidly again. He couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from rising, and he said in a quiet voice, “I’m fine. I just don’t exercise often.”

Huo Sheng laughed. “You’re very young. Why not move around more?”

Cheng Yan paused for a second and muttered, “I’m not that young.”

“Not that young?” Huo heng found it funny. “How old are you to say that you’re not that young.”

“27, it’s not a small number.” Cheng Yan stood up, looking slightly up at the other party.

“That’s true, but you’re not too old either.” Huo Sheng then changed the topic, “But you’re very mature. When I was your age, I was quite cocky.”

Around his age, which is probably 6 years ago? Cheng Yan reckoned. He then expressed his disbelief on his face.

Huo Sheng laughed because of his expression. “Is it that hard to believe it?”

“No.” Cheng Yan said on the surface.

Yet, he kept thinking about the first time he met him seven years ago and also Huo Sheng who was full of high spirits when Cheng Yan first joined his former company, which was one year after he met him.

In his heart, rather than saying that Huo Sheng was cocky, it was more accurate to say that he wasn’t as reckless. Back then, Huo Sheng was a courageous person who would do things that people wouldn’t dare think of. Not only did he dared to mention it, but he would also have the courage to put it into action.

An example was that project some years ago. The project had a high budget but many people thought that it was too difficult to do and would avoid it if they could. If they submitted something with uncertainty, they might lose their reputation and it would be very hard to rebuild it again.

However, Huo Sheng offered to do it and many people, whom he had worked with before, raised their hands and said they’re willing to join him when he asked for people.

That year, Cheng Yan, who was still new, was very impressed when he heard people gossiping in the cafeteria.

And of course, Huo Sheng was successful on the project although there was some element of luck in the feedback. Yet, it was these sorts of things that decided the outcome and that settles everything.

Huo Sheng smiled at him, clearly not believing what he said. “What about you, did you start working right after graduating?”

Cheng Yan replied with a grunt.

“Is it fine if I ask you which company you have worked in before?” Huo Sheng only wanted to follow the flow of the conversation.

However, Cheng Yan hesitated, and after a moment of thinking, he finally said, “The company wasn’t really well known so you probably haven’t heard of it before.”

Huo Sheng didn’t continue asking. They continued to walk.

Cheng Yan couldn’t help but feel some regret in his heart as neither of them brought up any new topics for a while. There was nothing he could do about it. He once followed him to the same company and also resigned at almost the same time. Now, he would become too easily nervous, always afraid that he would be suspicious of him.

In the silence, he was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t even see a gap in the steps in front of him.

He missed a step and his knee knocked against a stone, followed by the sound of falling stones. In an instant, the pain caused him to clench his teeth and furrowed his eyebrows.

Huo Sheng, who was two steps ahead, didn’t notice at first until he heard a passerby say, “That was a nasty fall”. Huo Sheng hurriedly turned around and ran back. He held his arm and said with concern, “Are you alright?”

The jagged stones had badly injured his knees and scraped his palms. Cheng Yan couldn’t make a sound as he was feeling too painful. He turned around and sat down. He rested for a moment before whispering, “I’m okay.”

Despite what he said, his hands and knees were oozing with blood. Huo Sheng rolled up his trousers and inspected it. He firmly said, “We should head down the mountain first.”

The light enveloped Huo Sheng, as if carving out a shape for him. At this moment, Cheng Yan suddenly recalled that boiling hot year when he first met him.

It almost felt surreal.