November 22nd. Clear skies.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the nights are long and the days are short by November.
At six o’clock, two G63s of different colors were parked in the square by the school gate, their headlights on.
"Boss! Come help me move this stuff!" Liu Yongheng yelled to Wu Yun, dragging a large cardboard box out of his trunk.
Wu Yun walked over and found the large box crammed with all sorts of miscellaneous items.
"We’re only gone for two days. What on earth did you buy?" Wu Yun grumbled, pulling the box out a bit more. He used his phone’s flashlight to get a better look at its contents.
Liu Yongheng pried open the box’s flaps and pulled out several cans of oxygen. "We’re going to a high-altitude area, so I brought some oxygen canisters—one for each of us!"
"These are anti-skid chains. It’s only ten degrees in Rongcheng during the day right now, so I was worried the mountain roads might be icy. Just in case!"
Wu Yun moved the box of chains and the oxygen canisters into the storage compartment in his trunk, then turned and went back to Liu Yongheng’s car.
"Walkie-talkies! Two per person! One to use, one as a spare!" Liu Yongheng then fished out two boxes of Great Wall walkie-talkies, tuned two of them to the same channel, and handed them to Wu Yun.
Next, Liu Yongheng pulled a case of water and a metal box from his trunk. "This is water and compressed biscuits! Just in case!"
Slightly exasperated, Wu Yun loaded the items into his car, then walked over and asked, "Anything else?"
Liu Yongheng grinned slyly and pulled out a large bag of snacks and a pack of toilet paper. "That’s it. The rest of the pots and pans can just stay in my car!"
Once everything was ready, Wu Yun finally opened his door and got into the driver’s seat.
Wen Meng and her two other roommates were in Wu Yun’s car.
Lai Yi, naturally, took the front passenger seat in Liu Yongheng’s car.
Wu Yun picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Yongheng, follow me for now. We’ll grab some buns before we hit the road."
Wu Yun released the transmit button, and Liu Yongheng’s voice immediately crackled from the walkie-talkie, "Roger that, Boss!"
The white G63 took the lead, pulling onto the main road.
Wu Yun drove to the entrance of the Shida Modern Garden District and stopped. Wen Meng and the other two got out to pick up something to eat at a breakfast shop.
A moment later, the front passenger door opened. Wen Meng was holding two bags of buns in her left hand and a cup of steaming soy milk in her right.
"Let’s go!" Wu Yun said into the walkie-talkie.
As he drove, Wu Yun enjoyed being fed by Wen Meng.
One bun after another, Wu Yun quickly polished off a whole steamer of soup dumplings.
Once on the highway, the car drove smoothly.
Soon, Wu Yun noticed the other passengers had dozed off, leaning against their seats at odd angles.
Hearing Wen Meng’s steady breathing, Wu Yun turned the music down a bit.
Two hours later, Wen Meng woke up groggily. She looked out the window to see it was already bright out. The early morning sun from the east was shining directly on the mountaintops along both sides of the river, and some of the snow-capped peaks glittered with golden light, a truly beautiful sight.
"Junior! Where are we?" Wen Meng twisted open the bottle of mineral water Wu Yun had been drinking from and took a small sip.
Wu Yun glanced at the GPS and said, "We’re almost at Luding. We’ll hang out there for a bit, have lunch, and then head on to Kangding."
This was the route they had planned out long ago.
A little while later, seeing there were only a few minutes until their highway exit, Wu Yun picked up the walkie-talkie from the cup holder. "Yongheng, exit’s in a few minutes! Don’t lose us!"
"Got it, Boss!"
Liu Yongheng hadn’t even hung up when another voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Honey~ Where are we~"
Wu Yun instantly felt goosebumps break out all over. Without turning his head, he asked Wen Meng, "Is Lai Yi always like this?"
Chang Yuanyuan, who was now awake in the back seat, piped up, full of resentment, "You have no idea! Those two are a match made in hell! Every night on the phone, it’s one cutesy whine after another, then ’honey’ this and ’honey’ that! We’re dying to just kick her out!"
"I’m so jealous of Wen Meng, being able to stay out whenever she wants! That way she doesn’t have to be force-fed their disgusting PDA every day!"
Wu Yun chimed in, "You guys could come stay over too! We’ve got plenty of rooms."
Qin Rui, the other girl who had a small mole by the corner of her eye, said, "Nah, we’re good! We wouldn’t want to intrude on your little world for two!"
"It’s fine! I’m away on business sometimes anyway. You could keep each other company!"
After getting off the highway, Wu Yun and the others pulled into a parking spot. It was exactly nine in the morning.
"Let’s go! Time to buy tickets!" Liu Yongheng seemed impatient, hurrying everyone as they stretched lazily.
From a distance, he looked at the iron-chain bridge suspended over the green waters of the Dadu River. Liu Yongheng ran straight to the ticket office and bought eight tickets.
"Quick, quick! Let’s get a group photo with the Luding Bridge behind us! So this is the legendary Luding Bridge! It looks as treacherous as they say!" Liu Yongheng took out his phone and asked a tourist to take a picture for them.
By now, the sun was up. Although it was still cold, the sunlight was already a bit glaring.
So, the eight of them put on the sunglasses Liu Yongheng had bought for everyone, and the image of them smiling with their backs to the Luding Bridge was captured on the phone.
On the Luding Bridge, they took more photos in small groups of two or three, as well as all together. Aside from the girls, who were decent at taking pictures, Wu Yun’s skills were the best.
So in the end, Wu Yun was relegated to being the photographer. Even his photos with Wen Meng had to be selfies.
"Dammit, Tang Taizong! If you f*cking shake it again, I’m gonna leave you here to fend for yourself!"
"Aiya~ Mommy! I’m so scared! My legs are jelly!"
"Li Shiming! Uncle Li, I give up! Call off your magic!"
Liu Yongheng clung to the iron chains with both hands, his legs trembling uncontrollably. Watching Li Shiming shaking the bridge from the middle, his tough-guy act crumbled into begging for mercy in just over ten seconds.
Finally, a staff member came over and stopped them, and only then did Liu Yongheng make it to the bank, still holding onto the chains.
After a few minutes, Liu Yongheng recovered. His legs were no longer weak, his words were tough again, and he glared menacingly at Li Shiming. "Tang Taizong! I’m gonna send you to meet Li Yuan! Now f*cking die!"
Watching the two of them chase each other and roughhouse, everyone smiled.
An elderly tourist, leaning on a cane, watched the scene and sighed to his wife beside him, "It’s great to be young. I used to be like that, too."
Although the Luding Bridge is only at an altitude of 1,400 meters, all that running left both Liu Yongheng and Li Shiming out of breath.
Wu Yun stepped in to stop them. "Alright, that’s enough! Let’s go explore the town. We can eat after we’re done."
Panting heavily, Liu Yongheng immediately perked up. "Alright! I read online that the cold jelly noodles here are delicious. Let’s go try some later!"
"Honey~ But aren’t those noodles really spicy?! Can you even handle it~" Lai Yi said, clinging to Liu Yongheng’s arm and looking up at him as if no one else was there.
Hearing this, Liu Yongheng immediately puffed out his chest and thumped it loudly. "How can a man ever say he can’t handle it!?"
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