Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The exploration trip ended quickly, and Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen returned along the same route. Yan Qingchi was in a great mood; he hadn’t been out like this in a long time, and for a moment he felt as if he were back in his student days, unable to contain his joy.
Jiang Mochen heard him even humming a song softly and asked, “So happy?”
“Yeah, I actually really enjoy going out, but I just don’t have the time.”
“We can go out more often in the future.”
“Forget it, with our jobs, where would we find the time?”
“Time is like water in a sponge; you can always squeeze some out.” Jiang Mochen pulled him along, “We work for the same company, and I’m the boss, and you’re the boss’s wife. Have Wu Yuan and Guan Mei adjust our work schedules; we can always find some time to go out and have fun.”
Yan Qingchi looked at him, “Really?”
“Yes.” Jiang Mochen nodded.
Yan Qingchi smiled, “Alright then, starting next year, remember that.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jiang Mochen replied.
Yan Qingchi looked at him and smiled gently.
The two quickly returned to their tent location via the same route. The director, seeing them return, breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to sleep.
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen entered the tent. Jiang Mochen took out food from his bag, handing him a piece of bread and took one for himself. “Eat something, then you should sleep.”
Yan Qingchi quickly ate his bread, opened his sleeping bag, and Jiang Mochen watched him crawl in. He then lowered his head and gently asked, “Darling, it’s so cold in the mountains, why don’t we share a sleeping bag?”
Yan Qingchi mercilessly held up an X with his hands. “Don’t even think about it. I don’t want the cameraman to see such a shocking scene when he opens the tent tomorrow. You’d better make good use of your sleeping bag, Mr. Jiang.”
Jiang Mochen sighed. “My wife is truly heartless.”
“I’m not only heartless, but also incredibly cold-blooded and cruel!” Yan Qingchi declared confidently.
Jiang Mochen had no choice but to open his own sleeping bag and lie down next to him. “If you won’t let me sleep, can I at least kiss you?” he asked.
Yan Qingchi thought for a moment, then kissed his cheek. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Jiang Mochen replied, kissing him back.
The next morning, as dawn broke and sparrows fluttered their wings and flew into the sky, Yan Qingchi and the others got up, packed their belongings, and quickly washed up before heading forward, eating as they went.
Yan Qingchi looked at the map and pointed out the directions. Mo Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ningwei, the two girls, didn’t know much about these things, so they didn’t say much and just followed him.
As the sun rose higher and the two girls became a little tired, Yan Qingchi checked his watch; it was already past 11 o’clock. He and Jiang Mochen discussed it and decided to rest where they were.
Zhang Ningwei immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then she found a rock, and sat down.
Yan Qingchi thought he heard the sound of water, so he nudged Jiang Mochen, signalling him to follow him.
Jiang Mochen asked him, “What’s wrong?”
“I think I heard the sound of water.”
Jiang Mochen listened but couldn’t quite make it out. However, he knew Yan Qingchi was always more sensitive in these matters than he was, so he didn’t press the matter and accompanied him forward.
Sure enough, there was a river ahead.
Yan Qingchi glanced at Jiang Mochen with delight and quickly ran towards it.
The river wasn’t very wide, and the water was crystal clear, revealing the riverbed. Under the midday sun, it shimmered like a lively young girl.
However, Yan Qingchi wasn’t in the mood to appreciate its beauty. He stared intently at the river, his mind preoccupied with one question: Are there any fish in this river?
He bent down and stared at the river for a while but saw nothing. Yan Qingchi was somewhat discouraged. “Looks like there aren’t any fish.”
Jiang Mochen had grown up in luxury and wasn’t very familiar with such natural scenery. He didn’t know whether it was normal for a wild river to have fish or not. So he was somewhat helpless. If this were in the city, he could buy a few fish and have someone secretly release them into the river to make Yan Qingchi happy. But they were in this deep mountain forest; where could he possibly conjure up some fish to cheer Yan Qingchi up? Jiang Mochen even considered asking Yan Qingchi, “Look at me, do you think I look like a mermaid?”
But before he could say that, he saw a figure flash underwater. Startled, Jiang Mochen pointed to the bottom and said to Yan Qingchi, “Qingchi, I think I just saw one.”
Yan Qingchi had been staring at the water and naturally saw it too.
“The fish came from upstream. I’ll go check upstream,” he said.
“I’ll go with you,” Jiang Mochen immediately followed.
The cameraman, helplessly carrying his camera, also chased after them.
Yan Qingchi followed the river upstream and discovered that there were actually four or five fish there.
Yan Qingchi was overjoyed. He broke off a few sturdier branches from a nearby tree, took out a small knife provided by the production team from Jiang Mochen’s backpack, and whittled the branches into a makeshift harpoon.
Yan Qingchi held up his harpoon, looked at it with satisfaction, and turned to Jiang Mochen, saying, “We can have grilled fish for lunch today!”
“Great!” Jiang Mochen smiled as well, seeing his happiness.
Yan Qingchi took off his shoes and socks by the river, rolled up his trousers, and waded into the water. The water wasn’t very deep, but the mountain river was a bit icy. Fortunately, it was already May, and only midday, so the cool water was actually quite pleasant.
He stood in the water for a while, enjoying the comfort of the cold water, before aiming at the fish in the river, ready to strike.
With a “splash,” water splashed everywhere. Yan Qingchi took the harpoon out of the water, looked at it, and sure enough, he hadn’t hit a fish. He wasn’t discouraged, after all, it had been quite a while since he’d done this sport. The last time, it was when he went out with his adoptive parents and his younger brother, just their family of four. His brother was too young to experience the joy of fishing, so he insisted on dragging him along to spear fish. Eventually, spearing turned into a water fight between the two of them. They frolicked in the river while their parents watched from the bank, only calling them over for dinner when the fish were almost cooked.
Yan Qingchi raised his harpoon and speared again, reminiscing as he thought of those truly wonderful times.
Yan Qingchi hadn’t fished in a long time, so he failed to spear any fish three times in a row. Jiang Mochen, watching from the bank, was somewhat surprised. He had assumed Yan Qingchi wanted to fish in the river because he was a skilled fisherman, but it turned out not to be.
“Do you need my help?” he asked.
Yan Qingchi waved his hand. “Wait for me a moment,” he said.
He looked at the fish in the river, raised the harpoon again, and plunged it in hard. This time, Yan Qingchi felt a different sensation than before. He pulled the harpoon out of the water, and sure enough, a fish was stuck in it.
Yan Qingchi immediately smiled, turned to look at Jiang Mochen, and waved the harpoon in his hand. He then walked to the bank and handed the harpoon to Jiang Mochen, “Here you go.”
Jiang Mochen took the water and asked, “Want to continue?”
Yan Qingchi glanced back at the river and saw that all the other fish had long since disappeared after his antics. “Forget it,” he said, “there aren’t any fish left. Let’s just have a taste.”
“Okay,” Yan Qingchi said, preparing to get ashore, but suddenly remembered something and said to Jiang Mochen, “Come down here for a moment.”
“Why?” Jiang Mochen asked, puzzled.
“Come down, would I hurt you?”
Jiang Mochen reluctantly put down his backpack, took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers, and went into the water. As soon as he entered the water, he saw Yan Qingchi bend down and scoop up a handful of water, splashing it at him.
Instantly, his clothes were a little wet.
Yan Qingchi stood in the water, his back to the sun, smiling beautifully with his eyes crinkled.
Jiang Mochen felt that he had a childlike nature, yet he also felt that he rarely showed such childlike innocence, which was precious. So he also bent down, scooped up a handful of water, and splashed it at Yan Qingchi.
Yan Qingchi quickly bent down and splashed water at him. The two of them splashed around in the river, creating a lively scene in the quiet mountains.
Finally, Jiang Mochen reached out and pulled him back. “Alright, stop playing. If you keep playing, our clothes will get soaked.”
Yan Qingchi smiled and nodded, instinctively reaching out to hug him, but then realized at the last second that they were still filming a show. So he abruptly changed his posture to clapping. “You’re right, you’re right.”
Jiang Mochen was amused by his sudden change of heart and chuckled. He slowly released him. “Let’s go back to shore.” Then, as if remembering something, he said to Yan Qingchi, “Stand in the water for now, don’t come up. Wait for me.”
Yan Qingchi exclaimed, “Huh?” somewhat confused, but obediently stood in the water, basking in the sun.
Jiang Mochen went ashore, rummaged through his bag for tissues provided by the production team, grabbed Yan Qingchi’s sneakers, and walked to the shore.
“Come here,” he said.
Yan Qingchi walked up to him. “What are you doing?”
Jiang Mochen, holding a tissue, bent down to lift one of Yan Qingchi’s feet to wipe it, startling Yan Qingchi, who quickly stopped him. “Brother Chen, I’m not hurt, you don’t need to worry, I can do it myself.”
He was joking; if his fans saw Jiang Mochen wiping his foot, they probably wouldn’t want it anymore. As he spoke, he snatched the tissue from Jiang Mochen’s hand.
Jiang Mochen looked up at him helplessly.
Yan Qingchi nodded firmly at him, “Thank you for the tissue, Brother Chen.”
Jiang Mochen knew he was worried that if this part was kept and his fans saw it, they would get furious, so he reluctantly let go of his hand. “Then be careful. Let me know if you need anything, and I’ll help you.”
Yan Qingchi nodded, “Don’t worry. What about you? Do you need my help?”
Jiang Mochen smiled, his eyes narrowing. He really wanted to say yes, but he was considering Yan Qingchi’s fans. It wasn’t that he was afraid of them attacking him— after all, someone of his stature couldn’t be challenged by Yan Qingchi’s fans— he was just afraid they would overthink things and feel like he was bullying Yan Qingchi.
That’s the downside of a publicly funded trip; if it were just the two of them, they could do whatever they wanted.
Jiang Mochen thought for a moment, then replied, “Okay.” He then walked back into the water, rinsed his feet, dried them with a tissue, and prepared to put on his shoes. At that moment, Yan Qingchi helped him up, saying gently, “Be careful.”
Seeing that he had already put on his shoes and was standing on the shore, Jiang Mochen used Yan Qingchi’s help to climb ashore. He then quickly dried his other foot and put on his other shoe. Only then did Yan Qingchi let go, picking up the fish from the ground. “Let’s go back. It is time for lunch.” He waved the fish in his hand.
Jiang Mochen asked him, “Is this all we have for lunch? Is it enough?”
“Of course not, there’s also food provided by the production team. As for this,” Yan Qingchi looked at the fish in his hand, “it’s just for tasting, don’t take it too seriously.”
Jiang Mochen picked up his backpack from the ground and smiled, “Let’s go then.”
Yan Qingchi suddenly remembered something and said to him with some surprise, “Have you noticed that our microphones are still in pretty good condition? We forgot to remove the microphones when we were playing the water fight, but now, it seems like it hasn’t affected us at all.”
“That shows our production team put their heart into it, and the staff are all very responsible.”
Yan Qingchi nodded, then turned to the cameraman, “Thank you for your hard work.”
The cameraman, who was suddenly called out, was a little confused. After a while, he said, “It’s no trouble at all, it’s all our duty.”
Yan Qingchi smiled at him, then turned and continued walking back side by side with Jiang Mochen. He looked at the fish in his hand and asked Jiang Mochen, “Do you like grilled fish? Shall we make some? Otherwise, there’s no pot here for me to make fish soup.”
Jiang Mochen covered the microphone, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “I like anything you make.”
Yan Qingchi smiled and said shamelessly, “I guessed so.”
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