215. Climbing the Mountain
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The starry nights of the countryside have long since faded away.
Accompanied by the barking of dogs and the meowing of cats, Lin Nan stumbled out onto the balcony, yawning and stretching, only to be greeted by a chill in the air that sent shivers down her spine. But she recovered quickly—thank goodness for magic!
The temperature seemed to have plummeted again, so she pulled out her phone to check, discovering the low had dipped to a brisk ten degrees. She was only in a thin pajamas, yet somehow, she didn’t feel all that cold. At least magic made her less prone to catching a chill.
Cola, her furry little friend, attempted to join her on the balcony, but Lin Nan worried he’d take a flying leap off the edge like he was auditioning for a feline superhero movie. So, she quickly shut the door, sighing heavily in despair.
Why was she awake at five in the morning? Oh right, because Grandpa was hammering on her door like a construction worker trying to build a patio!
She had hoped to freeze herself awake on the balcony, but that magic was working overtime, keeping the cold at bay.
What irked Lin Nan most about staying at her grandpa’s house was how he always insisted on imposing his whims on the younger generation. Today, he had decided she desperately needed exercise, so he charged ahead, deaf to all her protests.
Breakfast was another joyful event. While seniors typically rose by six or seven, Lin Nan and her cousins were just trying to enjoy their vacation vibe. Instead, they were pried from their dreams at dawn to munch on food.
Dressed in a black turtleneck, coat, and wrapped in a scarf like a burrito, she pretended to be cold to appease Grandpa and her mother who’d never let her live it down if she didn’t dress warmly. This outfit would probably look chic on an average guy, but on Lin Nan? It was more “feminine chic.”
Despite being bundled up, she still radiated that unmistakable “girl next door” vibe. Lin Nan had accepted that no matter what she wore, it turned into girl mode. After a quick wash-up, she steeled herself and headed downstairs.
Grandpa and her cousin, Xiao Jiu, were already at the round table, breakfasting heartily. Upon seeing her sluggish descent, Grandpa scowled, “Took you half an hour to get out of bed! Hurry up and eat; I’ve got your favorite oyster cakes!”
With the soul of a tired fish, Lin Nan sat at the table, yawning like it was the latest trend.
Looks like Grandpa has fully accepted me now.
His tone might have left something to be desired, but even when talking to Grandma, he had the same vibe.
Taking a bite of the oyster cake, Lin Nan was astonished to discover it was practically stuffed with oysters! She looked up at Grandpa, bewildered.
He explained with a stern face, “I bought a pound of oysters and asked the chef to add them in.”
Lin Nan blinked, surprised. Grandpa had never been this nice to her before.
Beside her, Wu Jiaming rolled his eyes dramatically, “We’re just riding on your coattails. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even get this good oyster cake!”
He was clearly the grandson, so why did Lin Nan, the granddaughter, get all the preferential treatment?
Wu Guodong silently facepalmed. Could his son speak for once?
Being guys, neither of them cared much about the favoritism shown by Grandpa; after a simple breakfast, they followed Grandpa out the door.
Behind Grandpa’s house was a local mountain known for being a popular hangout for the elderly, with various sports courts and exercise facilities—basically a senior playground.
While the proper ascent should have been via stairs built on the other side, Grandpa led them up the old mountain path behind the villa.
It was a small trail, barely maintained with crumbling steps, yet Lin Nan and Wu Jiaming had often traipsed this route with Wu Guodong as kids to explore the back mountain.
As dawn broke, the air was fresher after a light rain the night before, but Lin Nan still preferred the city.
At least living in the city spared her from climbing mountains at the crack of dawn.
Dragging her feet, Lin Nan lagged behind the group, nervously scanning her surroundings.
Although it had been over a decade since she last trekked this path, it seemed unchanged except for a few new graves dotting the landscape.
This mountain looked suspiciously like a graveyard. Lin Nan couldn’t fathom why they had chosen this as a senior activity center—weren’t they trying to acclimate to the afterlife or something?
Having seen her fair share of graves, Lin Nan was now unsettled, feeling like something dreadful lurked in the nearby dense woods.
A shiver ran down her spine as she hastened to catch up with Xiao Jiu. Ever since she got into magic, she sometimes felt there might actually be ghosts in the world.
She had only been mildly afraid of the dark, but now she was chasing away ghostly thoughts too.
“Slow down; don’t slip!” Wu Guodong chuckled, glancing back at Lin Nan, who looked unusually tense. He teased, “You’re not scared of the graves, are you?”
Lin Nan instinctively ducked behind him.
“When we used to party on grave mounds, you never seemed scared!” he pointed out towards an imposing tomb nearby. “Remember when we tried to sneak in and you got stuck crying inside?”
Lin Nan promptly shook her head, “I don’t remember that; I was just a kid back then!”
Suddenly, Grandpa halted in front of a newly made grave.
Lin Nan froze, following his gaze.
“That’s your great-great-grandfather. He passed away last month, just shy of a hundred,” Wu Guodong added, “You were just starting to learn about health issues, and we thought it best not to trouble you with this.”
“Hmm.”
Lin Nan didn’t have particularly vivid memories of her great-great-grandfather; he was an old man who stubbornly refused to move in with Grandpa, despite needing full-time care. He had often forgotten who she was.
With him gone, that left her great-great-grandmother all alone.
Grandpa carefully walked down the trail to clear away some leaves and debris from the grave.
“Don’t come down; it’s slippery,” Grandpa warned as the rest of them contemplated joining him.
Lin Nan and the others had to stand on the path and wait while Grandpa reminisced.
Feeling a tad bored, she yawned as she gazed up at the increasingly bright sky. Turning her head, she bumped into Wu Jiaming staring at her intensely.
“What’s up?” she asked, taken aback.
“I was just thinking about how the cousin I used to bathe with turned into a cousin who looks like this,” he joked. “What would the others think?”
“I’m not considering that,” Lin Nan replied.
Past the joking, Wu Guodong imagined the hilarity and quipped, “Isn’t Li Xinyi a bit of a yuri fan? She’s probably gonna want to share a room with you or something!”
“Oh, she mentioned she has a girlfriend last year; besides, I’m fine with a sleeping bag!”
