Chapter 60

There was suddenly a week-long break. In the dormitory, and even on the huge campus, there was no one in sight. This kind of atmosphere, as if alone with Qin Weihang, made An Ning secretly happy. However, this thought was also shameful.

On the second and third day of Chinese New Year, the temperature began to rise. On the third day, Qin Weihang probably couldn’t stand passing the time watching movies and playing games, so he said: “Let’s go to the climbing gym tomorrow.”

An Ning couldn’t have asked for anything better, so of course he said yes.

Compared with the small dorm room, the climbing gym was too big. The climbing gym was closed during Chinese New Year, thus, there was no one else except them. An Ning finally understood why the climbing gym was such an appealing place—it was an amusement park for adults!

After practicing for a day, An Ning had become more and more experienced in protecting Qin Weihang; he had now mastered Qin Weihang’s various rhythms. He watched Qin Weihang go up the wall under his protection, with a rope connecting the two of them. This feeling was very fulfilling, although Qin Weihang actually did not need his protection and could reach the top by himself.

On the subway back, he asked intently: “When will we go wild climbing again?”

Qin Weihang sat opposite and looked at him: “You have already climbed for a day, yet you’re still not satisfied?”

An Ning sat forward a bit and said, “I was thinking; the weather has been fine these past two days, and you most likely go out to climb at this time of the year, so you don’t have to forcibly lock yourself in the dorm room to accompany me—I can also accompany you. I can be your protector.”

When the station announcement sounded, Qin Weihang stood up and walked toward the door. He glanced at the person behind him through the reflection of the subway door, then said, “You should eat more meat then.”

An Ning said, “I went to the pharmacy last time and weighed myself; I have gained five pounds!”

Qin Weihang held the handrail to open the door, and said, “That’s not enough for me.”

An Ning asked: “How much do you want me to gain?”

Qin Weihang did not answer. The door opened, he stepped out and said: “We’ll go tomorrow.”

An Ning was extremely happy. Catching up with him, he stretched out his hand and said, “It’s a deal!”

It’s not like I’m going to bail out, Qin Weihang thought. He looked down at the hand, raised his own hand and held it casually.

They were only holding hands, but An Ning felt that Qin Weihang’s hand was almost enveloping his own.

The next day, the temperature rose by several degrees. According to the weather forecast, today was a rare sunny day. This time they drove the climbing gym jeep, setting off early in the morning to the Dark Horse Climbing Base.

During the Chinese New Year, An Ning didn’t see any rock climbers on the road to the climbing base. All the rock fields were empty, as if they were waiting for them. Qin Weihang drove the car, looked at the rocky peaks in the distance, and asked him, “Where do you want to go?”

An Ning couldn’t come up with a target: “I’m not familiar with these rocks, though…”

Qin Weihang said: “Look and see which one is beautiful, see which one you want me to redpoint, and you will be able to choose.”

These words were a bit too cool, and An Ning felt excited. He looked out the window with great interest. After a moment of being dazzled, he still couldn’t pick one: “You have basically climbed all the rock walls here, right?”

“How is that possible,” Qin Weihang said, “People have limited time, so it’s impossible to try every route.”

An Ning looked out again. At this time, the sky was slightly shining in the morning, and it was sunny when passing through the canyon. Shining in from a V-shaped gap, he saw a rock wall revealing an area of blue in the morning light, and asked, “Is there a route there too?”

Qin Weihang looked over and said, “Yes, there is one called ‘Blue Fall’.”

The name ‘Blue Fall’ sounded nice. An Ning couldn’t help but think that it was just like the name.

Qin Weihang retracted his gaze to look at An Ning: “Choose that one?”

An Ning asked: “Have you ever climbed it?”

Qin Weihang turned the steering wheel with his left hand, and the car drove to a fork in the road: “I haven’t.”

Although it was only two words, An Ning could tell from Qin Weihang’s calm tone that he was interested in meeting it.

Blue Fall was a beautiful piece of granite. The rocks next to it were white or yellow, but this side was a blue that looked like it had been soaked in seawater. The grade of Blue Fall was about 5.13b, the height of the route was 39 meters, and there were six quickdraw spots. If it was any higher, then he would need to protect in sections, thus An Ning will not be able to provide protection for Qin Weihang on the ground. He also hadn’t learned how to set up a protection station*, so he still had a long way to go before he could become Qin Weihang’s protector.

[*TN: Belay station in English. It’s setting up an anchor for fall protection. An anchor is a device/method of attaching a climber, rope, or load on a climbing surface. Also, a grade of 5.13 means it’s a very difficult route.]

*Top Rope Anchors w/ Quickdraws

Today’s visibility was very good. After the fine weather in the past few days, the condition of the rock wall was also quite suitable for rock climbing. When they were observing Blue Fall, An Ning looked up and saw something on the rock wall, so he asked: “Is that a flower?”

Qin Weihang walked to his side, looked up and nodded, then he said: “It seems to be.”

An Ning couldn’t help but feel sentimental: “It’s amazing how it can bloom in such a place.”

Qin Weihang looked down at him, then retracted his gaze and let out a “mn”.

When Qin Weihang was wearing the equipment, An Ning noticed that Qin Weihang finally wasn’t bothered by the harness anymore, so he was finally able to check the harness for him. Although Qin Weihang’s expression still seemed a bit unwilling, it was a good sign.

Qin Weihang squatted down to change his shoes, then got up and asked him, “Are you nervous?”

An Ning nodded, “A little.” Being Qin Weihang’s protector was much more nerve-racking than having him go up there himself.

Qin Weihang said: “It’s okay, I won’t fall anyway.”

An Ning nodded, but he was thinking that for climbers like Qin Weihang, it was more important to have a reliable protector. This was because he was too strong, so it was too easy for people to lower their guard. His protector must always be vigilant to allow Qin Weihang to conquer every rock he wants to conquer without any distractions.

Although Qin Weihang said that he would not fall, he had to prepare himself for the crash. Even though there were no dumbbells in his backpack, he kept several large books borrowed from the library.

Qin Weihang turned around and said, “Are you going to carry a backpack to protect me?”

An Ning said he was going to carry it.

Qin Weihang nodded and walked to the bottom of the rock wall. An Ning, just like when Qin Weihang protected him last time, also walked under him to protect him.

The 5.13b grade and 39 meters height was still child’s play for Qin Weihang. Even if there were no quickdraws, or even a quickdraw hooked on every spot before clipping the rope, he could still accomplish it effortlessly.

An Ning gave full attention to the rope, feeling that Qin Weihang had already reached more than half of the distance just as he had entered this mindset. He kept looking up at Qin Weihang and found that Qin Weihang was preparing to dyno before reaching the last quickdraw spot. This was originally not a problem, because Qin Weihang would use a lot of dynamic movements when he was rock climbing and would always climb wildly. However, now he was climbing in the wild, and Qin Weihang’s protector was him. The last quickdraw spot was already over 30 meters high, but An Ning still gulped.

The leaping movement was completed in the blink of an eye, and he had reached the spot, but what was unexpected was that Qin Weihang didn’t grasp it!

The fall came without warning. There was a gap of one or two seconds between the climber’s fall and the buffering of the protector—it was like thunder and lightning. An Ning felt the impact of the fall, abruptly pulling him up a second after he saw Qin Weihang fall. He was surprised, but fortunately, he had previously done his homework. When he was dragged off the ground, he hurriedly jumped, raised his feet and firmly pressed them against the rock wall. This action eliminated part of the impact of the fall. An Ning’s only thought was that he had been suddenly pulled up to that of Qin Weihang’s height, and the thick books in his backpack obviously had little effect against such a pulling force.

After landing, he realized that it was actually not as high as he had imagined. It was probably only the height of Yuan Xiaoye, but the feeling of his feet suddenly leaving the ground was too stimulating, so the senses were magnified. After landing, he looked up at Qin Weihang, who was hanging in the air. He did not prop or step on the rock wall, but hung there in a very relaxed manner. He not only looked safe and sound, but also calm. After the swing stabilized, he turned his head and looked down, calmly asking, “You okay?”

As expected of you… An Ning responded loudly: “I’m okay!”

Qin Weihang nodded and continued climbing. It was as if the fall was just an exercise.

After hooking the last quickdraw, he stopped. An Ning was a little puzzled and looked up at him.

Qin Weihang looked to the right—on the edge of Blue Fall, at the place where the blue rock wall and the white rock wall conjoined, there was a precipitous flower blooming in the very narrow crack of the rock, blowing in the breeze. From afar, it looked like a butterfly that had stopped there, still flapping its wings. It was very beautiful, but unfortunately, An Ning couldn’t see it.

He suddenly shouted downwards: “DO YOU WANT THAT FLOWER—”

An Ning was so surprised that he thought he had heard wrong, and asked loudly, “WHAT—”

Qin Weihang lowered his head and shouted, “THE FLOWER, I CAN PICK IT FOR YOU—”

This time, An Ning had heard clearly. Qin Weihang’s voice, the low-pitch voice that he had grown accustomed to, was raised to a higher frequency for the first time—it was like a sharp and clear teenager’s voice echoing in the valley. He heard his chest pounding loudly.

The flower was three to five meters away from Qin Weihang’s climbing route, deviating from the route. He didn’t want Qin Weihang to take the risk. Even if it wasn’t a risk for Qin Weihang, he had just fallen. Hence, he raised his head and loudly said: “No need! Let it be!”

Qin Weihang heard him and smiled. You shouted so loudly, did you think I would really go over there to pick it?

But it was hard to say. If he said he wanted it…

It seemed like his thoughts suddenly cut off here. As if he was doing a dyno in his heart, it was suddenly rushing to the bottom of his heart for the answer—

If he really wants it, I will really go and pick it.

But An Ning will not say he wanted it; whether it was for the flower or for him.

He hoped that this flower would bloom here for many years. He hoped that the climbers that will come here in the future can see this hope of survival when they become tired or when they fall.

An Ning raised his head and saw Qin Weihang redpoint Blue Fall like he wished. He stood on top of the rock; standing there and basking in the gust of wind.

An Ning wanted to cheer and applaud for him, but remembered that he was now Qin Weihang’s protector, so he just shouted: “Bravo!!”

Did Qin Weihang hear? Did he see? The only regret of being his protector was probably such a moment.

But even if he couldn’t see the scenery he saw, nor could they see each other, they could still feel each other through the rope that links them.

Qin Weihang slowed down when he came down from the summit and retrieved the quickdraws while he was at it. After landing, An Ning couldn’t wait to ask him: “Did you deliberately fall just now?”

Qin Weihang turned his head with surprise written in his eyes, then asked after a long while: “Why do you ask?”

The other party said completely innocently, “You wouldn’t fall from this kind of difficulty level, so you’re actually trying to give me more experience, right?”

Qin Weihang squatted and packed his things with a “mhm”.

An Ning smiled and said, “I knew it.” Then he also lowered his head and obediently helped him clean up.

Qin Weihang raised his eyes and glanced at An Ning—his protector still had a trace of a smile on the corners of his eyebrows and lips. In fact, it wasn’t. He didn’t understand why he fell; he made risky moves that were unnecessary, and his hands sweated unnecessarily, which caused his fingers to fail to hold the rock. He didn’t know why just one undistinguished 5.13b-grade route, this Blue Fall, made his heart beat faster. He experienced the adrenaline rush that he had not felt in a long time.

When the fall occurred, he subconsciously thought it was game over for him, but when the safety rope pulled him firmly, he remembered that this time he was not rock climbing alone; his protector was standing there ready to protect him from his every mistake.

His heart pounded quickly because of this person’s existence, yet it was also because of this person’s existence that his heartbeat stabilized.