Chapter 36: Yuan Xiao'e's Love

On the way back, the sky had turned dark. Fortunately, a full moon hung high in the night sky, allowing everyone to see the path clearly without relying on flashlights or lanterns.

"Wei Lin, what do you do for a living?"
"Wei Lin, thank you so much just now! If you hadn't stepped in to resolve that conflict, who knows what those two migrant workers might have done!"
"It's no exaggeration to say that you're my savior, Wei Lin!"
"Wei Lin, are you thirsty? I have some water left."
"..."

Yuan Xiao'e crowded next to Wei Lin, trying to strike up a conversation the entire way. A smile she deemed charming was plastered across her face, which bore obvious signs of minor cosmetic procedures. She had also made a clear break from the two "hiking experts." Having lost face and feeling unable to continue interacting with them, the two experts had been leading the group from the very front. Whenever they occasionally looked back at the others, their expressions were sour. During the minor confrontation at the broken bridge, their performance had been so pathetic that they hadn't just lost the chance to get closer to Zhuang Qing and Han Ying—they had even lost Yuan Xiao'e. The two experts were fuming but helpless.

"Heh, what a pair of cowards! Leaving women behind to run away—what kind of men are they?" Zhao Yuanqing kept throwing out cold sarcasm in a volume that was low enough to be discreet but loud enough for the two hikers to hear. Hearing his barbs, the two experts tapped into their athletic prowess, surging forward with high-paced strides, clearly wanting no part of his bickering.

"Wei Lin..." Yuan Xiao'e asked, her eyes filled with affection, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Wei Lin took a deep breath, his face filled with feigned sentimentality, and said languidly, "I have a wife, and two children, a boy and a girl. I love them very much."

Yuan Xiao'e’s expression dimmed, and she spoke much less afterward. Zhao Yuanqing coughed, his expression odd. Zhuang Qing and Han Ying remained silent. Wei Lin ignored them all, quietly distancing himself from Yuan Xiao'e as if she were carrying a contagious disease.

"Damn it! What is this all about?" Wei Lin cursed inwardly. Ever since they left the parking lot, this woman hadn't given him a second glance. Apart from the two hiking experts, Han Ying, and Zhuang Qing, she had only spoken to Zhao Yuanqing during the climb. Before the incident at the broken bridge, she hadn't even said a word to him. Why the sudden shift in attitude? Was it just because those two cowards ran off and he had stepped up to resolve the conflict, leading her to discover a "new continent"?

He had zero affection for Yuan Xiao'e. On one hand, she viewed her own female friends as resources for networking with high-quality men; on the other, he despised her attitude toward the two men at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The latter, in particular, made him feel repulsed. Because he despised her from the bottom of his heart, when Yuan Xiao'e contributed "Affection Points" (not even "favorability") to him, he didn't feel happy—he felt like he had taken a ton of emotional damage. To him, the affection of such a woman was a burden.

...

At 8:30 PM, the group, having picked up their pace, arrived early at the intersection marked with a "No Entry" sign, where the two hiking experts, Zhang Xun and Qi Muyang, had already been waiting for a long time.

"Continue up the mountain? Or head down?" Qi Muyang asked coldly. Zhang Xun remained silent.

"Zhuang Qing, open your payment QR code and make them scan for five thousand," Wei Lin said, his face cold. Holding his hiking pole in one hand and the dagger he hadn't yet discarded in the other, he said in a low voice, "You two were the ones who started the fight. We resolved the conflict with five thousand, so the medical expenses must be paid by you two!"

With that, he took a step forward, his eyes flashing with an uncompromising ruthlessness. Zhao Yuanqing, who usually loved to blather, stayed quiet this time, stepping forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

Looking at Wei Lin in that moment, both Qi Muyang and Zhang Xun felt a chill in their hearts. When the migrant worker had pulled out a knife, they had chosen to flee the moment they realized what was happening, whereas Wei Lin had not only dared to stay but had apparently intervened decisively. Both admitted to themselves that they lacked that kind of nerve. Hostility aside, they were now somewhat in awe of him, and seeing him still holding the knife made them even more afraid.

"Pay up!" Zhuang Qing didn't coddle them either; she held up her phone with the payment code displayed, pointing it toward their faces. Cowards are cowards. The two exchanged glances and obediently took out their phones to scan the code, paying twenty-five hundred each.

"Heh!" Wei Lin was in a great mood. He suddenly noticed a new change in the progress bar in his mind. *Affection: 73.5/100.* The new 3 points came from the endlessly annoying Yuan Xiao'e, while the 0.5 points of favorability were contributed by Zhuang Qing at that very moment.

*Favorability—if it keeps increasing by half a point at a time, will it eventually reach a qualitative change? Through the accumulation of small affections, could it suddenly change at some point into... love?* Wei Lin pondered.

Forced to pay, the two hiking experts didn't even acknowledge Yuan Xiao'e this time. Clearly unwilling to continue traveling with them, they gripped their hiking poles and headed straight for the summit.

"It's 8:30 now. It takes two hours to go up and about the same to go down," Wei Lin suggested. "Everyone is exhausted today. By the time we get down and find something to eat, it'll be too late, and we'll be driving back in complete fatigue. Since we're already here, why not push ourselves to the summit and watch the sunrise tomorrow?"

Based on his recent study of the dynamics between men and women, a leader within a group often wins more favor from women. He was practicing this subconsciously.

"Okay!" Yuan Xiao'e, who had been exhausted, had been silent on the road ever since Wei Lin mentioned his wife and children, but she was the first to respond now.

"Qing, I want to see the sunrise," Han Ying pleaded, dropping the "Zhuang" from "Zhuang Qing."

"Okay," Zhuang Qing nodded. On the way back, because Yuan Xiao'e had been pestering Wei Lin, she hadn't managed to speak much with him, but his move to force Zhang Xun and Qi Muyang to pay had given her a slight boost in favorability toward him. Since she had no plans for tomorrow, her physical condition was good, and she had enjoyed Wei Lin's company, so she agreed.

"Let's go! To the summit!" Wei Lin took the lead.

"Why the hell didn't you ask me?" Zhao Yuanqing scolded.

"Why ask you? You'll go wherever Han Ying goes anyway," Wei Lin mocked.

Zhao Yuanqing rubbed his nose, laughing without shame, even feeling proud: "That's true!"

Although there were twists and turns during this hiking trip, the results were clear. Han Ying, who had previously been somewhat repellent and indifferent to him, had a much better attitude, and the two had chatted happily for the entire return journey.

*Push harder, strike while the iron is hot!* Zhao Yuanqing thought to himself.

"Wait, let me check if there are rooms at the summit first. If there are, we'll head up," Wei Lin opened a mobile app. Zhuang Qing and Han Ying realized this too and hurriedly pulled out their phones to check.

"Sunset Inn, I've booked it!" It was actually Yuan Xiao'e who booked a room first. She called out, "All the others are full, you guys should book Sunset!"

The others immediately followed suit. Wei Lin and Zhuang Qing booked their rooms shortly after. Zhao Yuanqing, who was a step slower, found it fully booked when he tried and couldn't help but curse, "Damn, I'll have to make do with Wei Lin for the night!"

...

By nearly 11:00 PM, the five of them reached the summit, exhausted. Their water had long since run out, and they were both hungry and thirsty. Fortunately, there were lights at the summit. When they found the Sunset Inn they had booked to check in, they discovered Zhang Xun and Qi Muyang already drinking beer in the lobby. As true hiking experts, they had arrived earlier and checked in first. They had already finished five bottles of beer each.

"Hey, aren't these familiar faces?" Zhao Yuanqing laughed loudly. After picking up his ID, he aggressively occupied an eight-person table and shouted with the air of a big spender, "Boss! Bring us one of everything on the signature menu! And two cases of beer—one iced, one room temperature!"

"Coming right up!" The boss, who ran both the inn and the restaurant, saw big spenders arriving at such an hour and smiled, "I'll arrange the dishes for you; I guarantee you'll be satisfied!" He could tell at a glance that they were likely starving, and at this moment, whatever they ate would taste like a rare delicacy.

"Check please." Zhang Xun cursed under his breath, told the boss to settle the bill first, and left with Qi Muyang, each carrying two bottles of beer.

Wei Lin and the others checked in, went to their respective rooms to wash up briefly, and returned to the dining table. Boiled fish, bamboo forest chicken soup, braised eggplant, twice-cooked pork, and dry-pot pork intestines were already on the table, and plastic cups and beer had been laid out.

"Eat up! Drink up!" Zhao Yuanqing opened the beers and asked the three women, "What do you say?"

"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"

The last "Cheers" came from Yuan Xiao'e. She lowered her head slightly and added, "I want an iced one."