Chapter 34

It was his first time rock climbing, and An Ning seemed to have opened a door to a new world. Qin Weihang had given him a personal demonstration of the route. He saw that Qin Weihang was climbing as if walking on leveled ground on this kind of bouldering wall route. However, when he went up, he realized that it was not so easy. Although the route was elementary level, and he was able to climb up, but the effort used for this activity was in an area that wasn’t visible. Especially those holds that were small. There was just enough space to put his fingertips on it and stay there for a second. But, the burden on the body will rise in a straight line, and his arms would tremble after a long time. He really does not have the strength and endurance to persist for a few rounds of such moves.

As a coach, Qin Weihang didn’t talk much. An Ning sometimes wondered if Qin Weihang had left because he couldn’t hear a word. However, when he turned his head, Qin Weihang stood there, holding his arms and looking up at him.

When he turned around, Qin Weihang finally made a sound. He blinked his eyes first, and then solemnly said: “Quite good.”

An Ning turned his head back and blushed, thinking, did he think I wanted a compliment from him?

Under Qin Weihang’s gaze, he tried several routes one after another. Qin Weihang didn’t demonstrate for him when he tried the third one. He had to figure out every movement himself; where he should step first and where he should grab later.

Qin Weihang watched him making gestures by the side. After waiting for a long time, An Ning did not ask him anything, but finally turned his head and said to him confidently: “Then I’ll be going up!”

Qin Weihang didn’t know what to say, so he only nodded.

An Ning tried a new wall, but didn’t know that Qin Weihang hadn’t touched this bouldering wall. He only climbed two steps before he felt the difficulty of it.

In some places, he took it for granted. He stretched out his hand to grab a hold, thinking that he could hold onto it just like last time, however, when his fingers touched the hold, he realized that the hold was too shallow and too small this time.

He couldn’t grab onto it at all and fell off.

From the height where he was at, he would be fine even if he fell off the mat, but Qin Weihang still supported his back when he fell so that he would not fall backward unprepared.

Qin Weihang came in such a timely manner, it was obvious that he predicted that he would not be able to get past that point.

An Ning stood upright. Unknowingly, there was already a layer of sweat on his face. The feeling of sweating and the feeling of his body opening up made him feel particularly comfortable: “Am I a little stupid?”

Qin Weihang said: “How do you feel about it?”

An Ning looked down at his fingers: “I feel that my hands are a little weak.”

Qin Weihang said, “I will install a fingerboard in the dorm room later. You can practice on it if you have nothing to do.”

“Okay.” An Ning nodded, wondering what a fingerboard was…

After only climbing three times, An Ning’s cheeks and neck were already pink. Maybe people with fair skin were prone to this? Qin Weihang thought this and said: “Take a break.”

An Ning sat down cross-legged on the bouldering mat with a little frustration while facing the wall. Qin Weihang handed out a sports bottle at this moment.

An Ning hurriedly rubbed off the chalk powder on his hands and said, “Thank you.” This should be Qin Weihang’s own water bottle. It was big and the body of the bottle was transparent. There was also an activated carbon filter in the center of the bottle too. He followed Qin Weihang in a daze, so he forgot to bring water.

An Ning opened the lid, unscrew the mouth of the bottle, and raised his head. Instead of drinking directly from the mouth of the bottle, he poured it into his mouth at a distance.

Qin Weihang sat down beside him and said, “Although your fingers are not strong enough, they are very flexible and better than mine’s.”

An Ning almost sprayed out a mouthful of water, so he quickly moved Qin Weihang’s bottle away.

Qin Weihang explained: “I was really not flexible at first.” He sat with his knees bent on the bouldering mat, raised his arms to put them on his knees, examining them as if observing an object. He was examining them while saying: “Because I have a relatively large skeleton.

An Ning closed the lid of the water bottle and said with a smile: “Boss Yu said the same thing. You have a large frame, tall stature, and high center of gravity. In fact, you are not suitable for rock climbing, so it’s really amazing that you can be so good now.”

Qin Weihang stared down at his own ankle, smiling: “Are you the type that likes to praise others?”

An Ning also lowered his head and smiled, habitually trying to push his glasses, but found that the glasses were so tight that they couldn’t be pushed. No wonder, today’s Qin Weihang looks exceptionally handsome because of his clear vision.

Qin Weihang turned his head to look at him: “The student you’re tutoring, do you often praise them like this? You’re really good at it.”

Mentioning Yuan Xiaoye, An Ning imagined the boy who would hit his forehead on the desk: “He is actually quite smart, just not willing to study properly.”

Qin Weihang pondered for a while, then said: “… You’re not trying to educate me, are you?”

“No, no!” An Ning straightened his back, “I didn’t mean that, really!”

Qin Weihang pressed his lips, preventing a smile from almost leaking out. He picked up the water bottle An Ning placed between them, opened it, and took a sip with his head up.

An Ning silently looked away from the scene of Qin Weihang’s Adam’s apple rolling while drinking water.

The climbing gym opened at 9 a.m, and a few regular customers came sporadically. Because it was a working day and there were not many people, the whole place was still slightly deserted. An Ning came down from the bouldering wall. This time, he actually landed without falling back, and even landed standing. After he landed, he opened his eyes and looked at Qin Weihang incredulously. He also pointed at his feet, so excited that he was speechless.

Qin Weihang thought, I really want to laugh, so please don’t amuse me like this, okay?

A rock climber was climbing a 15-meter tall artificial rock wall over on another side. An Ning watched him, then asked Qin Weihang: “When will I be able to go on that one?”

Qin Weihang raised his eyebrows: “You are the first person to be asking me this question on their first day.”

An Ning suddenly felt very ashamed. It must be the landing just now that made him feel complacent.

Qin Weihang glanced towards the artificial rock wall and said: “If you want to go on that, I can let you go now. I’ll only be a little tired at most.”

An Ning quickly said: “I just wanted to ask about my progress.”

Qin Weihang raised his eyebrows and said: “There’s no need to hold back.”

An Ning walked back on his own, patted the bouldering wall with fondness, and said earnestly: “It’s better to hold this first.”

Qin Weihang pressed his lips tightly, clearly feeling a great urge to smile. He really couldn’t restrain the urge to smile, because such a person was really cute.

An Ning was nervous when he fell off the wall for the first time. The second time he fell, his heartbeat didn’t beat as fast. Moreover, Qin Weihang didn’t help him anymore, but just squatted and watched him.

He fell down once again without holding on, lying back on the bouldering mat. He was too tired, so he just laid there and did not get up at all. From the angle where he was lying, he looked sideways at Qin Weihang, who was squatting on one knee on one side of the bouldering mat. He looked like a panther staring at him silently, An Ning thought. Then Qin Weihang asked him: “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” He lay on his back on the mat, “Occasionally, it is very comfortable to fall like this.”

Then he heard Qin Weihang laugh in a low voice. An Ning turned his head and looked; Qin Weihang stood up and was walking towards him. Every step he took, An Ning could feel the ups and downs of the bouldering mat on his back.

Qin Weihang walked to him, knelt down on one knee, looked down at him, and suddenly patted An Ning’s waist with his hand: “It’s time to go, you should go to Marxism class.”

That pat was accompanied by a pa sound. An Ning was patted, so he whooshed up. He was wondering why he was reacting like this, like a little girl! Qin Weihang had already got up, but the side of his waist that was hit by Qin Weihang was still feeling hot. It was probably because his waist had always been a little sensitive.

Qin Weihang was right; in just one morning, An Ning was already aching all over. There was pain from bumping and aching from pulling. Before leaving, he changed out of the clothes and said: “This…”

He wanted to say that he would wash it and return it to him, but Qin Weihang interrupted him and said: “Give it to you. I can’t wear it anyway “

An Ning knows that this outfit was definitely not cheap. Although he doesn’t know the brand, it didn’t feel tight when he wore it, but it was cool and comfortable. He remembered Qian Fei’s words, nodded, and accepted it: “Thanks.”

Putting on his backpack and leaving the climbing gym, he passed by Qin Weihang, who was resting on the bouldering mat. Qin Weihang took out a pair of white headphones from his bag and was about to put them on. Before he started listening to music, An Ning stopped and asked: “You’re really not going to Marxism class?”

Qin Weihang sighed, looked up at him, and said: “Can you let me off the hook?”

It was a rare moment for him to stand in front of Qin Weihang while Qin Weihang was sitting down, so An Ning was able to easily look down at Qin Weihang. Although Qin Weihang was the kind of guy that looked handsome in all 360-degree angle, but he was exceptionally handsome from this angle—this was Qin Weihang’s fatal angle. An Ning felt that no one could refuse the gaze of such a handsome guy, so he easily gave up.

After walking a few steps, he turned his head and raised his voice and asked: “Is this clothes really what you wore before?” He was still a little worried that Qin Weihang bought a brand-new set for him…

“Yes,” Qin Weihang pulled off the earphones and replied to him, “I have worn it before.”

Obviously, he had asked himself, and Qin Weihang only answered normally, but An Ning somehow was embarrassed by how clearly Qin Weihang spoke those five words. While riding the subway back to school, he opened his backpack. This outfit was a dark blue and black design. He couldn’t help but imagine the 15-year-old Qin Weihang wearing it. He seemed to have approached Qin Weihang’s world a little.