Chapter 50

The next morning, or to be precise, it was very early in the morning, An Ning was awakened by Qin Weihang at only 5:30 a.m. He was so sleepy that he even thought that the deep voice appeared in his dream. It wasn’t until his shoulder was held and pushed that he woke up from the dream. When he opened his eyes, Qin Weihang’s voice was already far away from his ear.

Only one desk lamp was turned on in the room. At this time, the lights of the dormitory couldn’t be turned on. It seemed to follow the last scene of last night. An Ning saw Qin Weihang’s back as he stood in front of the desk, with a light gray pullover over his shoulders and being pulled down to cover his back, then he looked back at him.

“… So early?” An Ning said. He couldn’t help but look at the sky outside, it was so dark that it was just as dark as when Qin Weihang came back last night.

“Aren’t you going to go wild climbing with me?” Qin Weihang asked.

The light was too dim, so An Ning rubbed his eyes. He was unconsciously trying to see Qin Weihang, only to realize that he wasn’t wearing glasses, so he wouldn’t see clearly no matter how he rubbed them. Qin Weihang walked a few steps very cooperatively, and said: “It will be very comfortable to go at this time.”

The two looked at each other for a few seconds, then Qin Weihang turned and walked away. He walked back to the desk and sat down to wear his shoes. Without raising his head, he said, “Quickly come down.”

The idea of going rock climbing with Qin Weihang overcame his sleepiness. An Ning got up and went to wash up on the balcony. Qin Weihang also walked out, wanting to use the water flosser.

An Ning took a big step to the side, but couldn’t help but glance beside him. He saw that Qin Weihang was also tilting his head slightly, but Qin Weihang was not peeking at him with his head. This was just his habit when using the water flosser.

The sky was in complete darkness. There was only a faint moonlight outside, and the streetlights downstairs dimly illuminating the outlines of the buildings and trees. However, An Ning did not know why, but in such a dim light, he could see the details of the water from the floss dripping from the corner of Qin Weihang’s mouth. The transparent liquid flowed along Qin Weihang’s chin down to his neck, then gathered at a certain place, and the stream of water fell in the sink. Qin Weihang’s lips and entire jaw were wet and gleamed in the dim light.

Qin Weihang finished using the water flosser and wiped his chin with a towel. An Ning buried his head and felt Qin Weihang walking behind him. He instinctively went towards the sink to move out of the way—knocking his waist on the ice-cold ceramic tiled sink that was full of water.

Qin Weihang looked sideways and saw An Ning almost had to stand on the sink, so he said, “I don’t take up that much space.”

An Ning was ridden with guilt and did not respond to Qin Weihang by brushing his teeth.

Qin Weihang patted him on the back—it was a very light pat on his sleeveless shirt, probably just patted with his knuckles, but it seemed like An Ning’s whole body had been burned from that area. He heard Qin Weihang behind him say: “It should be okay now, you have been brushing for a long time.”

The tone was still dull; it was just as cold and indifferent as that time when he answered in class, yet An Ning was afraid that his unnaturalness would be seen through.

The two had to wash their faces together. Usually, he and Qin Weihang would go at different times when washing their face and brushing their teeth. After all, the sink was really not big. Today, in order to hurry, they didn’t go at different times. Qin Weihang turned on the faucet and washed his face, so An Ning had to make do with it and wash his face together with him.

In the past, he used to wash his face with hot water in a basin since it was freezing in the winter. However, since he saw Qin Weihang wash his face with cold water, he felt really ashamed that he did it in such a complicated way. Thus, he also learned to wash his face with cold water. After getting used to it, it seemed that he really didn’t feel cold anymore. Moreover, washing with cold water will make people instantly awake and feel very refreshed.

This was the second time he shared the sink with Qin Weihang. He found that Qin Weihang had probably been used to living alone since he was a child, so he would not be restrained when doing anything; every movement was very open. For example, Qin Weihang washes his face with especially big movements. When he lowered his head and held water to wash his face, his arms would hit him several times, but it may also be because it was too crowded when two people stood together. When Qin Weihang was washing his face, the water would splash on him, but An Ning somehow didn’t mind this kind of bumpy interaction. Particularly, the moment after Qin Weihang washed his face, turned off the faucet, and raised his head. Even though he was not wearing glasses, he could still vaguely see the water on Qin Weihang’s face dripping down his sculpted nose bridge. However, he may not have actually seen it, but it was what he imagined from the way Qin Weihang used the water flosser.

Alas, he never thought that there would be a day that he would be so smitten. An Ning sighed helplessly in his heart and covered his hot face with a cold towel.

Then comes the most difficult part—wearing contact lenses. It did not go very well last night, but at any rate, it was done on his own. However, when the time had come for him to wear them, he was a bit at a loss. His eyes were very resistant to the feeling of foreign objects being embedded in them. He blinked instinctively and couldn’t wear it. He sat at the desk and tried for a long time. Qin Weihang was sitting on the opposite side and waiting for him.

When he was almost able to get it in, he suddenly heard Qin Weihang lightly laugh.

This laugh was very light and fast, but it still made all his effort go down the drain. But all the effort going down the drain was a small matter—it was humiliation that was a big matter…

He heard Qin Weihang cough, then asked him, “Why do you have to open your mouth?”

He asked so seriously but An Ning could only blush and shut his mouth.

“Do you want me to help you?” Qin Weihang asked.

“No need, no need…” Give me another chance!

Qin Weihang stopped talking. He sat leaning on the desk and waited for a while. After waiting, he changed his posture. He arched his back forward and rubbed his lips with his fingers unconsciously. He liked to rub his lips, but at places where there were people around, he would not do this kind of small action because it was a habit developed during childhood, so it would be somewhat childish. But since An Ning couldn’t see right now, it doesn’t matter what he does in front of him.

An Ning finally put on the contact lens for his left eye. After turning his eyeball to move the lens to the center of the pupil, he looked at Qin Weihang for the first time and saw Qin Weihang sitting upright, putting his hands down on his thigh, and saying, “Congratulations.”

On the way downstairs, the sound-controlled lights in the corridor were quietly lit and extinguished behind them. At this time, the door of the dormitory had not been opened yet. The manager uncle would not open it until 6:30 a.m every day, so when they reached the second floor’s corridor, Qin Weihang stopped.

An Ning swallowed and thought, it can’t be.

Qin Weihang glanced back at him without saying anything. He only raised one eyebrow, and his eyes were saying: Come on.

An Ning watched Qin Weihang cross over the window with familiarity and ease. After his body went through the window, he quickly stepped down to the landing spot. An Ning saw Qin Weihang’s fingers detached from the window frame and looked down nervously. Qin Weihang had already landed—almost silently.

He didn’t even take off his backpack.

After Qin Weihang landed, he raised his head and said to him: “Give me the backpack.”

An Ning threw down his backpack, and Qin Weihang caught it and put it at his feet.

Although there was no safety rope at this height, An Ning was not particularly scared. If this were the past, he would definitely not dare imagine himself coming down from the window sill from the second floor. It was evident that rock climbing can really change a person. It was just that his movements would not be as skillful as Qin Weihang. After going through the window, he held the window frame and stepped down to the top of the door. He realized that it was not as easy as Qin Weihang had just done. He still tried for a while, and when he landed, there was still a slight instability. From the side, Qin Weihang quickly pulled him down.

It was his first time escaping from the dormitory by going through the window, so he felt that it was novel and quite exciting.

An Ning raised his head to say thank you. Qin Weihang let go, looked at him for a while, and said: “I feel that if you hang out with me a little longer, you might lose the scholarship.”

An Ning laughed, “That’s not necessarily true.”

I think if you hang out with me for a while longer, you will pass all of your exams!

The campus was strangely quiet and strangely cold. It was before 6 a.m, and even the subway hadn’t started operating. An Ning shrugged and walked as he asked: “Should we call a car over?”

“No,” Qin Weihang said, “I asked my teacher to borrow his car.”

After hearing the sound of beep-beep, An Ning looked in the direction where the car lights were lit. There was a silver-gray Land Rover parked under the Chinese parasol tree on the side of the road. The front of the car had a ‘Discovery’ word imprinted on it, and it was the kind of SUV that had quite a big build.

After getting in the car, Qin Weihang closed the car door with a clang. An Ning sat in the passenger seat and felt a warm current flowing out inside the car, thus, his body became warmer. He asked Qin Weihang: “You even know how to drive this?”

“Mm, on many occasions motorcycles are inconvenient.” Qin Weihang fastened his seat belt and said, “If you are sleepy, then go to sleep for a while.”

“It’s okay, I’m not sleepy.” An Ning tried to keep his eyes open.

Qin Weihang started the car. When the car slid out, he turned his head to look at the passenger seat, and said: “Then do you want to say something to me?”

An Ning asked, “Where are we going?”

“Inviting you to go to my secret garden. “

An Ning smiled: “Really?”

“It’s still the case now, but it may not be so in the future,” Qin Weihang said, “These rocky cliffs are not mines alone.”

An Ning looked at the road ahead. The sky was still so dark, but he could vaguely feel that dawn was approaching, which reminded him of the Dawn Wall, so he couldn’t help asking: “Did you name them?”

“No.”

When he spoke, he made an inadvertent gesture of curling his lips–it was quite child-like. An Ning said with a smile: “Then why not give them a name that belongs to you? You are the first to discover them, so you have the right to name them.”

Qin Weihang thought for a while: “I’m pretty bad at naming. It will be at the level of Just so so.” He paused, then suddenly said, “Otherwise, you can help me name them.”

“Ah? Can I?” An Ning sat up straight and asked, eager to try, but felt like it was wrong, “But it’s your first redpoint route…”

“It’s fine.”

Qin Weihang replied very straightforwardly. An Ning thought for a moment: “Then I will suggest a few and you can choose.”

The road ahead was straight and wide; Qin Weihang put his hands on the steering wheel and nodded: “OK.”

The interior of the car warmed up quickly, and An Ning unknowingly became tired. Qin Weihang looked at him sideways and said, “You can sleep for a while, after all, you need the physical strength in a while.”

An Ning nodded, and said a little apologetically, “Then I’ll sleep just for a little while.”

Qin Weihang stopped the car in front of the red light and said, “There is a button next to your chair that can put the chair down.”

An Ning fumbled for the button on the side of the leather seat, and the back of the chair was lowered a bit. Qin Weihang said, “It can still be put down,” then loosened his seat belt and leaned towards him.

An Ning was caught off guard—Qin Weihang was helping him level the chair. In these few seconds, Qin Weihang was pressing on him like a bully. His whole body was stiff and became fossilized. When Qin Weihang sat back, he forgot to say thank you.

The moment when Qin Weihang pressed down, he shamefully imagined that the other party did not hold up and actually fell on him. Qin Weihang weighed 74 kilograms, so what kind of feeling would that be? If he suddenly fell, then he might press on me and make me vomit…

Oh my god, what am I thinking?! This is too abnormal!!

The red light turned green, and the car drove forward again. An Ning closed his eyes in disgust and heard the sound of Qin Weihang opening the zipper, and then a soft material draped on him. He really couldn’t pretend that he was sleeping anymore. He opened his eyes in flattery and said, “No need, I’m not cold!”

Qin Weihang said: “You didn’t fall asleep.”

An Ning said helplessly: “No one can fall asleep so quickly…”

What was with this aggrieved tone? Qin Weihang was filled with amusement and said: “I wasn’t blaming you.”

An Ning closed his eyes again, and in a daze, he couldn’t help but say: “Thank you, Qin Weihang. This may be the happiest birthday I have ever had…”

He dazedly heard Qin Weihang say: “That’s not necessarily true.”

He was repeating other people’s words again, or perhaps he had heard wrong. However, it was really satisfying. In this warm atmosphere of only two people, he knew that the person he liked was sitting really close to him. He knew that what was covering his body was his clothes. And he also knew that the place they were going to was his secret garden.

They didn’t really need to go to that place, because the feeling of being on the road was already very satisfying.

Only wishing that life had no destination, forever on this kind of road.