(1)
An Jing’s soft, pink tongue lightly licked her strawberry ice cream, making her lips appear even more vibrant.
She chewed on the diced strawberries inside the ice cream and asked muddily, “Chao, ‘ish is sho gud, isn’ ‘it?”
“Swallow what’s in your mouth before you speak, will you?” Zhou Chao bit into the outer chocolate layer of his own ice cream with a loud crunch. “Your spit is flying everywhere.”
“Gulp — so cold — I mean, this is delicious. Is this the deluxe version? The regular ones Xiao Ying and I bought before didn’t have these fruit pieces.”
“Yeah, it’s the most expensive one.”
“Holy crap, does that mean they cost ten dollars each?”
“Yes.”
“Did you strike it rich?”
“It’s a rare good day, so of course we have to eat something good.”
“A good day?”
“A day where I see someone for who they really are and save my own life — shouldn’t that count as a good day?” Zhou Chao chuckled softly. “Wangwang, why are you sighing?”
“Um… it’s nothing. I just thought about how good things used to be between you guys.”
“People change.”
“But some people don’t,” An Jing retorted. “You should believe in the truth, goodness, and beauty of the world once in a while.”
“I can believe in that, but I won’t believe that women possess such qualities.”
“Hey now, isn’t Wangwang a woman?” An Jing lowered her voice slightly. “And I’m a girl now, too. You just attacked me along with the rest.”
“That’s different. You and I are basically brothers. As for Wangwang, she’s one of those rare, special types.”
“So they do exist, then?”
“But don’t you think it’s too much trouble to try and identify them? It’s much more convenient to just paint them all with the same brush.”
“You jerk…” An Jing looked toward Wang Xinru, who was using a napkin to gently wipe a bit of ice cream from the corner of her mouth. “Wangwang, don’t listen to him. He’s just being cynical. In reality, he’s probably dying for some kindhearted beauty to swoop in and save him.”
“Holy crap.” Zhou Chao looked shocked. “I knew you usually played dumb, but I didn’t think you could read that much into it — so you do know everything?”
“…It’s just that my intuition is very sharp when it comes to my brothers. After all, we’ve known each other for so many years.” An Jing snatched a small piece of chocolate that Zhou Chao hadn’t touched. “Wangwang, how about I trade this chocolate for one of your blueberries?”
“Using my gift to play the benefactor, are you?”
“What’s the big deal? What’s yours is mine, right?”
“Is my girlfriend yours, too?”
“I don’t need one of those…”
Wang Xinru puffed out her cheeks, suddenly looking a bit huffy. “An Jing knows I don’t like chocolate.”
“Cough, heh heh… I was just testing to see if you were still the same as before…” An Jing scratched her head with a dry laugh. “Zhou Chao, see? Some people never change.”
“You bastard… damn, do you really know everything?”
“Know what?”
“And now you’re playing dumb again?”
“I’m really not.” An Jing looked like she was being wrongly accused.
“As if. You think I’d believe that?”
“Crap, seriously, what are you even talking about?”
“Wangwang, how about I help you beat her up today?”
“Okay!”
“Hey! Hey, hey, hey!”
(2)
The three of them chatted, ate, and walked along the path.
They crossed a stone-slab arched bridge and passed a pond filled with lotus leaves.
They walked onto a gravel road and passed through the shade of weeping willows.
They followed a country lane and passed through stretches of farmland.
Finally, they stopped in front of a low mountain.
It looked like a barren hill, but it was actually a contracted Tea Mountain. However, it seemed to have been neglected in recent years, leaving the tea leaves to grow wild without anyone to harvest them.
“Are we going up the mountain?” Wang Xinru tilted her head up slightly.
“Yes. We need to cross this mountain to get to the middle of the one behind it. There’s a Fox Immortal Temple there.” Zhou Chao was the first to step onto the stone stairs. “The path here is easy to walk, but it’ll be all dirt roads after this. There might be a lot of weeds, so be careful not to let those serrated grasses cut your hands.”
“Right, don’t just grab onto anything.”
“Okay…” Wang Xinru hesitated for a moment but nodded gently, following An Jing and Zhou Chao as they climbed.
Spring had dyed everything on the mountain green, and within that endless greenery, vivid colors were hidden — various kinds of wildflowers.
Zhou Chao seemed to know a lot about plants and introduced them as they walked.
“See that one? The petals are purple with white centers. This kind of flower usually grows by the roadside, especially in places with plenty of sunlight. Since this stretch is mostly pine trees that don’t block much light, they grow very well.”
“What’s it called?”
“Persian Speedwell. Oh, and look over there, there are quite a few dandelions. We can pick some to take back for tea. The roots can be steeped, too.”
“Dandelions — !” Wang Xinru’s eyes lit up. “Clumps of them, all white and fluffy. So cute.”
“Wangwang still has no resistance against these fluffy, spherical flowers.” Zhou Chao turned his head and smiled. “By the way, Wangwang, dandelion root tea is good for your cough.”
“Yes, I know.”
“To be honest, even though I grew up in the countryside and spent my childhood crawling and rolling around the wild, I don’t think I know as much about these wild plants as you do.” An Jing leaned her arm on Zhou Chao’s shoulder.
“I’m just more interested in this stuff.”
“Maybe you can be a botanist in the future.”
“Haha, most of the time, hobbies don’t turn into careers! Zhou Chao stopped laughing and quickly shouted, “Wangwang, be careful! Don’t pick those red berries over there. They’re poisonous.”
“Oh…” Wang Xinru pulled her hand back sheepishly. She only picked a single dandelion, then gave it a puff, blowing the seeds away into the wind.
“Aren’t those just wild strawberries?” An Jing asked, confused.
“Those are snake berries. They’re toxic.”
“Really? Uh… I feel like I ate them all the time when I was a kid.”
“The toxicity is low, but you’ll have problems if you eat too many. You probably only picked one or two to taste when you were little.”
“I guess… I can’t believe they’re poisonous. How do you tell the difference?”
“Don’t look at the fruit; look at the leaves.”
(3)
After crossing the first mountain, they reached the second low hill. They walked past a turn that was nearly 100 degrees and finally reached their destination.
It was a small Fox Immortal Temple.
Unlike the grand temples many would imagine, this Fox Immortal Temple was so small that it would be difficult for even one person to squeeze inside. It was only about three feet tall, looking more like a miniature model.
This was a form of folk belief. Occasionally, people would come to give offerings, but as most young people no longer believed in such things, the incense offerings in front of the temple had gradually dwindled.
Unlike the “Great Immortals” of the Northeast, the Fox Immortal worshipped in the mountains of this small city was a purely benevolent deity. It sought nothing and didn’t require people to take it home for worship. It simply bestowed blessings upon travelers after they paid their respects.
As for the content of the blessings… according to folklore, it was simply to ensure you didn’t get lost in the mountains at night, didn’t get gored by wild boars, and didn’t get eaten by wolves.
An Jing had once tried to explain its existence from a scientific perspective — perhaps it was actually more of a signpost. Back when there were more worshippers, candles would be lit at night. In the dark mountains, that tiny flickering light might have pointed the way home and helped people find the exit.
So, the so-called Fox Immortal Temple was actually just a more mysterious and romantic version of a street lamp.
“Little Fox Immortal, it’s been a long time.” Wang Xinru gently touched the stone fox inside the temple, looking somewhat nostalgic. “There’s still a temple for it in the mountains.”
“They’re still around, though many were torn down to build roads.” An Jing leaned against a nearby wild apple tree, cradling the back of her head with her hands in a lazy posture.
Meanwhile, Zhou Chao walked forward a few steps, cleared away some weeds, and found the tombstone he had erected for himself back in seventh grade. The small wooden marker had almost entirely rotted away, and the dirt mound that buried many precious memories between him and his childhood friend had flattened considerably.
“I bet this thing will be gone if I come back next year.”
“It’s normal for it to disappear. That’s just the law of nature.” Zhou Chao smiled faintly, though his eyes held no warmth.
Zhou Chao’s name was carved into the wooden “tombstone,” and on the back, a line of text was written: “Goodbye, my past self. Please go die.”
Actually, that line of text was no longer legible; An Jing only remembered the content from years ago.
Zhou Chao lit a candle and placed it in front of his “grave.” “I’m here again. Every time I come here, I feel like that kind of separation back then was a good thing.”
An Jing glanced at Wang Xinru, who also happened to look up, their eyes meeting.
The former shrugged helplessly, while the latter pulled an average-looking apple from her backpack and placed it on the tiny offering table.
“What are you doing?”
“Do you want the Fox Immortal to grant you a wish? Oh, right, Zhou Chao — “
“Is the Fox Immortal’s name Taiyin? I remember that’s another name for the moon.”
“Yeah, the Nine-Tailed Fox. My dad said that in the old days, they used to say it had six tails, and only changed it to nine later. Look, this temple is an old one. The pattern carved on it is still a Six-Tailed Fox.”
“One, two, three, four… five, six. It really is.”
“It looks a bit dilapidated. Can we fix it up?” Wang Xinru asked suddenly.
“Fix it? We don’t have tools…”
“Just some simple cleaning, some repairs… things like that.”
“Let Zhou Chao do it. After all, this Fox Immortal Temple has been protecting his crappy grave for several years.”
“Heh, I already thought of that.” Zhou Chao set down his heavy backpack and took out a saw, a hammer, and a box of nails. “Look at this.”
“Holy crap, I was wondering why your bag looked so heavy today. You actually stuffed these things inside?”
“Your brother is amazing, isn’t he? Come on, let me see. Let’s find some wood, preferably fresh pieces so they won’t rot easily… Hmm… let’s reinforce the base first, it’s already a bit wobbly, and then we’ll nail the roof back on…”