Chapter 16

An Ning, Liang Shenghan and Xiao Pang decided to leave the dormitory at 7 a.m. Xiao Pang, who loved to sleep the most, got up earlier than them this time. The three took the subway to the climbing gym Qin Weihang mentioned, called Jidao* Climbing Gym. The climbing gym occupied a larger area than they thought. Through the glass wall, they can see the extremely magnificent artificial rock wall inside. Xiao Pang leaned on the glass and raised his head with amazement, “That has to be as high as four or five stories!”

[*TN: My dictionary said this means yakuza, but if you read the characters separately tho, then its “peak/top” and “road/path”]

The climbing gym wasn’t opened yet, so the door was closed. Only a Beijing jeep was parked outside the door. An Ning was thinking that they may have arrived too early since it was only 7:30 right now. Qin Weihang did not give them the boss’s contact info, so the three of them had to wait outside.

After a while, they heard movements in the climbing gym. The three of them looked through the glass wall and saw a man in his 30s. He was wearing a blue jacket and walking out carrying two hiking bags with a cigarette in his mouth. After pushing the door open, the man looked at them and said: “Are you here to rock climb? It’s too early, the gym opens at nine.”

“Are you the boss?” Xiao Pang said, “We are Qin Weihang’s friends. He told us to meet with you in the morning!”

Yu Ran stopped locking the door, slowly turned his head, and looked at the three young men from head to toe. The cigarette in his mouth almost dropped to the ground. He was thinking, no way, where are the girls...

As expected of you, Qin Weihang.

When he got in the car, Yu Ran glanced at the seat beside him and the seats behind him. Before he started the car, he shook his hands and sent Qin Weihang a message: Why are they all boys?! Last night, laozi even went to a 24-hour pharmacy that was a kilometer away to buy motion sickness medicine!

Qin Weihang didn’t reply to him. Yu Ran threw the phone on the center console and started the car angrily.

While fastening his seat belt, Xiao Pang asked cheerfully: “Boss, what is your surname?”

“It’s Yu.” Yu Ran replied with a forced smile, “You boys can call me Yu-ge.”

Xiao Pang asked: “Is it the Yu in yúshì?” [于是=as a result]

Yu Ran said: “It’s the Yu in bùyú.” [不虞=unexpected]

Xiao Pang said after thinking about it: “Is it the Yu in zhìsǐ bùyú?” [至死不渝=Til death do us part]

Yu Ran patiently replied: “The Yu in ānquán wúyú.” [安全无虞=safe and secure]

The tan-skinned boy still wanted to get to the bottom of the matter: “Which Yu is in ānquán wúyú?”

The pale boy wearing glasses said: “It’s the Yu in yúměirén.” [虞美人=Poppies]

The boy wearing Japanese styled clothes, who was sitting next to the one wearing glasses, said: “Geez, it’s the Yu in Yújī!” [虞姬=Consort Yu]

[*TN: Xiao Pang wants to know which character the boss’s last name is, so he’s asking which words also has the same character. Boss’s name is 虞冉.]

Yu Ran thought to himself, what a group of clever boys…

Since high school, Yu Ran gets the most annoyed when he has to explain his last name to others. Every time he would say bùyú or wúyú, yet people act as if they were illiterate. He always had to use yúměirén or Yújī for them to get it! What was wrong with them?!

Yu Ran faked a smile and asked Xiao Pang: “Your Chinese isn’t good, right?”

Xiao Pang nodded, “Yes, but I still know Yuji and yumeiren. It’ll be fine if you just say yumeiren.”

Geez, why are you blaming me when you’re the one’s who’s illiterate. Youngsters these days!

Yu Ran had originally planned to pick up the three girls and ask them how they met Qin Weihang, but the desire to ask was gone now. It seemed that Tang Zi was right. He was now worried that Qin Weihang won’t be able to find a girlfriend.

While on the road, Boss Yu drove rather silently. Although he would answer them politely, he still drove without speaking much most of the time. An Ning thought that it was indeed true that birds of a feather flock together. Qin Weihang and his friends’ were the same type of people.

The car drove on the highway for almost an hour. They finally got off the road at an intersection. After passing a stretch of vast wilderness, An Ning saw mountain peaks one after another in the distance. He figured that the climbing base was probably hidden in such mountains in the wilderness. Unexpectedly, after passing through the wilderness, there was actually a well-developed old town.

The buildings in the old town were not high and there were antique buildings along the streets. Without the protection of high-rise buildings, the black umber mountain peaks appeared behind the white walls, which was refreshing to look at.

Xiao Pang asked Boss Yu a lot of questions. Boss Yu told them that there were many rock fields here, which were regarded as popular rock climbing spots. Later, the area was developed and became the Dark Horse Climbing Base. Often, people would come rock climbing in groups, both from in and out of the country.

“We’re almost here.” Boss Yu said.

The jeep drove along the stream, not long after, the old town disappeared from behind them. Ahead of them were towering mountain peaks and gigantic rocks. An Ning pushed his glasses and looked out the window. He discovered that some rock walls still had ropes on them. There was a shocking sense of coming to a different world.

After a series of twists and turns and several bumps later, they finally reached their destination. After getting off the jeep, they needed to travel on foot. When they went through the tree line, An Ning looked at his phone and saw that it was already 8:45.

Yu Ran was leading the way. Soon, voices could be heard from up ahead. Yu Ran pointed to the towering rock in front of him and said: “That’s the route we’re climbing today.”

An Ning looked up at the rock from a distance. The rock wall didn’t look that high from afar, but when they got closer, An Ning discovered that it was quite steep. It was almost perpendicular to the ground and looked a little higher than their dormitory. Their dorm was exactly seven floors, so the rock wall was about 30 meters in height.

At this moment, he could already see the rock climbers gathered under the rock wall. At a glance, there were more than ten to twenty people. Various equipments and backpacks were placed on the ground. With one look, An Ning was able to spot the back figure of Qin Weihang, who was wearing a light gray hooded sweater.

Yu Ran shouted at this moment: “Qin Weihang!”

When Qin Weihang turned around, An Ning quickly raised his hand to greet him. Qin Weihang nodded towards them.

Yu Ran walked over quickly, saw Qin Weihang slowly buckling a harness around his waist, and said: “You just arrived? You came alone again?”

Qin Weihang lowered his head to buckle the harness and asked Yu Ran to check it for him, then he said: “I arrived earlier than them, and they arrived not long before you guys did.”

When An Ning and the others came over, Qin Weihang had already finished checking the harness. He pulled down the loose gray sweater, covering the harness.

Yu Ran bursted into a laugh from besides him and whispered: “You aren’t even a girl, what is there to be shy about?”

Qin Weihang ignored him, acting as if he didn’t hear it. The leader came to look for him, and he went with them.

Most of the people who came to participate in the rock climbing activity this time were rock climbers from other countries. The leader of the club had everyone warming up. An Ning looked around curiously while listening to Boss Yu talking. Because there were so many people, there were two climbing routes. One had a grade of 5.10*, and the club leader was responsible for clipping the top rope*. Most climbers climbing this route were novices, deciding to choose it since it was safer. The one next to it was the more difficult 5.12 route, which was suitable for those with a certain amount of experience. For advanced climbers, what they want to try was lead climbing*. Qin Weihang was the first to take up this route. He would be responsible for the hooking the quickdraws, which will allow people from behind him to see the climbing route clearly. Furthermore, the follow-up climbers will be much more relaxed as they climb.

[*TN: (1) Grade: The difficulty level of a route. 5.0 to 5.7 is considered easy, 5.8 to 5.10 is considered intermediate, 5.11 to 5.12 is hard, and 5.13 to 5.15 is reserved for a very elite few. (2) I think the newbies are going to do top roping, since it’s safer and physically less demanding compared to lead climbing. Top roping: The climber is securely attached to a rope which then passes up through an anchor system at the top of the climb, and down to a belayer(protector) at the foot of the climb. So the leader is probably going up there to set up that ‘anchor system’. (3) Lead climbing: In a roped party, one climber has to take the lead while the other climbers follow.]

Top roping

A lead climber(QWH’s position)

Quickdraw on wall

An Ning walked to the bottom of the rock wall, pushing his glasses to observe it. Some places on the rock wall had something nailed to it. The light from the sun reflected on it, and he figured that this(bolt) was the place where the ‘quickdraw’ should be clipped to. He raised his head and asked the boss behind him: “Yu-ge, did the previous rock climber nail this clipping spot?”

“Mn.” Qin Weihang’s voice came from behind, “It was me and my teacher who nailed it.”

An Ning turned around in surprise. He didn’t know when Qin Weihang came over, but he was holding a quickdraw in his hand. Qin Weihang looked up at the rock wall, then retracted his gaze. He lowered his head to lift his sweater and fastened the quickdraw on the harness. An Ning saw that other people were wearing their harness directly outside their jackets. He didn’t know why Qin Weihang didn’t fasten it over his sweater, or simply just take off the sweater and put on the harness.

“This place wasn’t a rock climbing base at the time,” Qin Weihang recalled. He buckled the quickdraw and pulled down the hem of his sweater. “It was three years ago. This rock wall and these two routes were found by me and my teacher when we went climbing in the wild. While we were here, we nailed it with expansion bolts and even named them.”

“They even have names?” An Ning asked, “What are the names?”

Qin Weihang raised his head and said, “This route was named by me. It’s called…” He looked down at An Ning and said, “Just so so.”*

[*TN: The name is in English]

An Ning laughed, not because of the name, but because of Qin Weihang’s expression. The name was funny, but his expression was completely cool, making it contradicting. He asked again: “Then what about that route over there?”

“My teacher named it. It’s called Eryang Fingers.”*

[*TN: I did some digging, and I think this is referring to a pose where you stick your index and middle finger out and point it in a certain direction/at someone. Picture examples: (1) (2)]

An Ning smiled: “Your teacher must be a very playful person.”

Qin Weihang said softly, “He used to be. “

“Wait…” An Ning suddenly realized something, “Three years ago? Weren’t you just 16 years old at the time?” “15 years old,” Qin Weihang corrected lightly.

An Ning had never pictured it. Now his head was full of what 15 year old Qin Weihang would look like. He was probably around the same height as me. What was I even doing at the time… He glanced at Qin Weihang who was standing in front of him. We really are from two different two worlds…

Qin Weihang responded to his gaze calmly, as if asking: Why are you looking at me? An Ning was a little embarrassed to be stared at. He obviously was just looking at him normally, so why did he always feel guilty?

Maybe it was because he was too tall, so he had to lift his head up to look at him, and it ended up feeling like he was peeking.

“Anything else you want to ask?” Qin Weihang asked.

An Ning seized the opportunity to ask: “The bolts were nailed there for a long time, won’t they loosen?”

Qin Weihang said: “It was drilled in so it’s safe.”

An Ning asked again: “How many bolt hangers are there on this route?”

Qin Weihang said: “There are only four.”

An Ning’s eyes widened—there was only four of them at 30 meters, and he felt a bit scared. “Then it must be hard to climb up…”

“The bolt hangers are mainly used to clip the main rope*. “Qin Weihang said, “It’s fall prevention. Rock climbing doesn’t rely on this. Besides, nailing too many bolts can easily damage the rock, so we try not to nail too many.”

[*TN: Couldn’t find the equivalent words for this in English, so I left it as main rope. Baidu said it’s the climber’s life-line. It’s the rope that connects the climber with his protector.]

An Ning nodded, trying his best to understand what was being said.

Qin Weihang looked at him, thinking, he’s pushing his glasses again. I guess he wasn’t trying to be cute—those glasses were probably quite heavy.

At the side, Qin Weihang’s protector yelled out to him: “Dashen*, I’m ready over here!”

[*TN: Dashen means Great god/deity/expert. It is used for people who are really skilled at something. Typically, those whose skills you admire.]

Qin Weihang nodded at his partner and said to An Ning: “That is my temporary partner. He is responsible for giving me the rope.”

An Ning didn’t expect Qin Weihang to take the initiative to introduce his partner to him, so he felt a little flattered. Qin Weihang didn’t seem to have much to say, so he turned sideways to take off his gray sweater. When the left sleeve was taken off, he was about to habitually throw it on the backpack resting on the rock. An Ning thought Qin Weihang wanted him to hold it for him, so he took the initiative and stepped forward with both hands to take it. Qin Weihang wasn’t prepared for him to do this, so when the left sleeve was suddenly about to fall, An Ning had to bend down and stride over to be able to grab it with his hands. Qin Weihang looked at him and didn’t say anything. He simply pulled off the other sleeve and put the clothes in An Ning’s hands, then turned around and said “Thank you” in a low voice.