Chapter 5
Despite being in the mountains, there were no roosters to wake Zhuo Zhi up the next day.
The curtains in the room were thick and heavy, blocking out all light. Zhuo Zhi jumped up and ran over to pull them open, only to find that the sky was already bright.
She was startled. Oversleeping on her first day of official work was really terrible.
After quickly washing up in the bathroom and getting dressed, Zhuo Zhi went downstairs with light footsteps. She first walked around the first floor hall, but didn’t find Li Qinyue.
She then ran out of the house and circled the front and back gardens, still no one.
The location of the villa was good, with an excellent view, and she could see the sun hanging over the distant mountain ridge.
The entire Nanhai City was shrouded in the misty morning light, bustling and crowded.
Zhuo Zhi subconsciously wanted to go outside to look for her, but suddenly remembered that Li Qinyue had said that she could call her if anything happened.
She turned around and ran back, taking large strides up to the second floor and back to her room, where she picked up the phone on the table.
Thus, on the second day of Miss Li’s return to Nanhai City, she was woken up by the ringing of her phone at 6:50 am.
This phone number, which she hadn’t turned off, was her important contacts number, and she rarely hung up on incoming calls.
After answering the phone reflexively, she found out that it was just her newly hired little bodyguard who couldn’t find her.
Li Qinyue’s temper wasn’t usually that bad, if it was within her normal waking hours.
Or if there was really something urgent happening, she could also handle it rationally and calmly.
But neither of these conditions applied now. Li Qinyue’s head was groggy and heavy, and she yelled into the phone, “You little idiot, where the fuck else could I be?! At this hour, where the fuck else could I be?! In bed!!! Do you fucking know what a bed is for?! It’s for sleeping!!! Sleeping!!! It’s not for me to fucking do jumping exercises in the early winter morning!!! You know?!”
Her voice was loud and fierce, causing a hissing noise from the speaker of Zhuo Zhi’s phone.
Zhuo Zhi moved the phone away to protect her ears and spoke softly to calm her anger, “Oh, oh, I see. It’s good that you’re okay. Um, get up, there are eggs in the fridge, I’ll make you steamed eggs.”
“I’ll eat your eggs!” Li Qinyue was almost hysterical, “I have things to do!!! I have fucking things to do!!!”
“What things?” Zhuo Zhi asked.
“Fuck…” Li Qinyue yelled until her head spun even more. She leaned against the headboard and took a moment to gather her thoughts from her groggy mind, “What did I tell you last night?”
“You said a lot of things,” Zhuo Zhi touched her nose, also realizing that she had done something wrong, “Which one are you referring to?”
“Heh,” Li Qinyue was so angry that she didn’t want to speak.
“I’m sorry,” Zhuo Zhi suddenly apologized, “I miscalculated the time you would sleep in.”
“Sleep! In! In! In! In!” Li Qinyue tapped the headboard with her fingers, “Does this fucking need to be calculated?! What time did you calculate?!”
“I usually get up at cockcrow, around 4:30 or 5:00,” Zhuo Zhi walked out of the room, “I overslept today, and it was already so bright when I woke up, so I thought you were up too.”
“Fuck…” Li Qinyue grabbed the cigarettes from the nightstand, “Are you a little monk?”
“There’s a nunnery next to my place. If I were to become a nun, I’d be a little nun. The head nun comes every year to persuade my master to let me go to her nunnery to listen to Buddhist scriptures…”
“Damn…” Li Qinyue held the cigarette in her mouth and searched for a lighter.
“Don’t smoke,” Zhuo Zhi said, “Have a glass of water in the morning.”
“Is your surname Tang?” Li Qinyue couldn’t find the lighter within reach, so she simply lifted the quilt and got out of bed.
(T/N: Tang Sanzang: This is the name of a famous Buddhist monk from the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West”. He’s known for being incredibly pious, righteous, and somewhat long-winded with his moral lectures)
“My surname is Zhuo, the Zhuo in Zhuoyue (excellence).”
“You’re quite good at forming words,” Li Qinyue scanned the table, then opened two drawers, still unable to find the lighter.
“Since you’re already up, don’t go back to sleep. Wash your face and come down. The steamed eggs I made are delicious, smooth and tender, melt in your mouth. I added a little soy sauce and chopped green onions…”
“Tang Sanzang!” Li Qinyue took the cigarette out of her mouth and threw it on the table, “Are you here to be my bodyguard or my nanny?”
“It’s my duty to take good care of you,” Zhuo Zhi said cheerfully.
“Silly girl,” Li Qinyue muttered, her anger almost gone. She simply went into the bathroom, “Make it delicious, or I’ll break your legs.”
“You can’t beat me.”
“I’ll seal your mouth with tape.”
“Oh,” Zhuo Zhi quickly said, “I’ll hang up first.”
When Li Qinyue finished getting ready and went downstairs, Zhuo Zhi was wearing a brand new apron and had just brought out a bowl of steamed eggs.
It was steaming hot, a pale yellow color, with a bit of seasoning and chopped green onions, it looked good.
Li Qinyue sat down, and Zhuo Zhi handed her a spoon, “Eat slowly, it’s a little hot.”
Li Qinyue glanced at her. Zhuo Zhi’s makeup-free face had a youthful glow, her eyes wide and blinking, her eyelashes quite long.
“Where did you get this thing?” Li Qinyue pointed at Zhuo Zhi’s apron with her little finger while holding the spoon.
“The second drawer of the left cabinet in the kitchen,” Zhuo Zhi answered truthfully.
“Hmm,” Li Qinyue took a spoonful of the eggs, her eyes narrowed comfortably, “Like a little wife.”
Seeing her eating happily, Zhuo Zhi boldly sat down, “You just said I was a little monk.”
“Nagging,” Li Qinyue didn’t want to pay attention to her, “You only made one bowl?”
“The pot is too small. If it’s not enough, I’ll make more right away, it’ll be quick.”
“Do I look like someone who eats that much?” Li Qinyue said, “Where’s yours?”
“I have dry rations,” Zhuo Zhi replied.
“Master Ke Braised Beef Noodles?”
“Hehe, yes, and also dry mixed noodles, turkey noodles, hot and sour noodles, snail noodles…”
Li Qinyue put down the spoon and looked at her, wanting to roll her eyes, “You actually came down the mountain to eat snacks?”
“Ah…” Zhuo Zhi pursed her lips.
“Immediately, right now, you eat what I eat,” Li Qinyue pointed at the kitchen, “I’m on a healthy diet, eight glasses of water, you won’t miss a single one!”
In the past, when she returned to Nanhai City, after Li Qinyue had her first meal, she would lie on the sofa, listen to the TV, and plan her nightlife.
But today, Zhuo Zhi had finished washing the dishes, and she still hadn’t figured out what to do so early in the morning.
Zhuo Zhi took off her apron, folded it neatly, put it back in the second drawer of the left cabinet, came out, looked at Li Qinyue standing in the middle of the living room, and said, “Are you sleepy?”
Li Qinyue glared at her.
Zhuo Zhi smiled, “Don’t sleep now, you can take a nap at noon.”
Li Qinyue: “Nag.”
“You’ve given me so many nicknames,” Zhuo Zhi walked up to her and hopped twice, “If you have nothing to do, let’s go for a run!”
Zhuo Zhi jumped quite high, really high.
Just from these two jumps, you could tell that this little girl had good jumping ability. Li Qinyue said, “Jump again.”
Zhuo Zhi obediently jumped again, deliberately jumping higher, showing off.
Li Qinyue said, “Can you pause in the air?”
“Hang time?” Zhuo Zhi smiled brightly, “Of course I can.”
This time, without waiting for Li Qinyue’s further instructions, Zhuo Zhi took a step back, bent her knees, and jumped. Not only did she demonstrate hang time, but she also switched hands under her crotch and did a slam dunk.
The movements were very beautiful. Regardless of her height and whether she could actually dunk, her movements were like those of a professional athlete who had done it countless times.
“You have a basketball court on the mountain?” Li Qinyue asked with a smile.
“There’s a university on the other side of the mountain. I often sneak into the gym to play basketball.”
“Heh, you have quite a few story chapters,” Li Qinyue stretched and moved her wrists and ankles, “Running is so boring, I’ll take you to play something fun.”
“Okay!” Zhuo Zhi’s eyes sparkled.
Li Qinyue changed into sportswear and tied her hair up into a high ponytail.
When she went out, Zhuo Zhi was waiting for her in the courtyard. When she saw her, her eyes lit up significantly.
But she didn’t say anything, just smiled happily.
The car from the villa complex was already waiting at the intersection. The two of them walked over, Li Qinyue got into the back seat, and Zhuo Zhi sat in the passenger seat.
The car drove out of the villa complex and up the winding mountain road. Li Qinyue looked at Zhuo Zhi’s profile and found that she had been very serious since getting in the car.
She didn’t speak or smile, her brows were always slightly furrowed, and her expression was cold.
Even though Li Qinyue knew how she smiled, how silly she could be, and how she looked when cooking, she couldn’t say that she was pretending to be an adult now.
Zhuo Zhi was working seriously, her displayed combat effectiveness made her seem very reliable.
Li Qinyue had only hired bodyguards on a few occasions, and Zhuo Zhi was the most special one, and also the most ordinary one.
After the car stopped, Zhuo Zhi got out first.
She quickly scanned the surroundings and then opened the car door for Li Qinyue.
Li Qinyue got out of the car and took a deep breath. The morning mountain forest was cold and fresh.
She gestured for the driver to go back, then patted Zhuo Zhi’s shoulder and said, “Relax, we’re here to have fun.”
Zhuo Zhi looked around and, after making sure there was no one else, she reverted to her usual self in the villa, smiling and asking, “Sister Qinyue, what are we playing?”
She only called her that at the very beginning.
Li Qinyue smiled, “Don’t rush, you’ll find out soon.”
Twenty minutes later, they stepped through the damp, cold fallen leaves and weeds, and came to a cliff by a rift valley.
A small bungee jumping facility was set up on the cliff, standing tall, with rust stains visible up close.
Li Qinyue pulled out a thick rubber rope from somewhere, untied it, and threw it in front of Zhuo Zhi, “Have you ever played this before?”
“No,” Zhuo Zhi shook her head.
“Do you know how to play?”
“I’ve seen it on TV.”
“Want to play?” Li Qinyue stared at her, her eyes smiling.
Zhuo Zhi raised her hand and said, “Wait a moment.”
Li Qinyue was not in a hurry, waiting to see what she would do.
Zhuo Zhi took out her phone and checked it carefully. There were two bars of signal. She tried making a call, and it connected.
Then she opened a web page and searched for bungee jumping precautions. After quickly browsing through them, she walked around the facility twice.
Finally, under Li Qinyue’s expectant and provocative gaze, she shook her head and answered, “No.”
Her answer was straightforward, without any hesitation or excuses, and her emotions were calm, without any shame or hesitation.
Li Qinyue waited for two seconds, but Zhuo Zhi didn’t speak, just looked at her quietly. Li Qinyue felt that if there was a mirror in front of her now, she would probably be able to see her face turn green.
“That’s all you’ve got,” Li Qinyue twitched the corner of her mouth, “You’re good with words, but your courage is only enough to hit people who can’t fight back.”
“The people I hit were all healthy adults. Whether they could fight back or not is uncertain, but they definitely had the ability to resist,” Zhuo Zhi said calmly, “This facility is left here without any maintenance, and judging from its appearance, it’s not reliable. I’ve never bungee jumped before, and I don’t know much about it, so I don’t have the ability to truly assess its safety. That’s why I won’t put myself at such a big risk for no reason.”
Li Qinyue shrugged, indicating that she didn’t want to listen to her.
She stepped onto the platform and started to put the buckle of the other end of the rubber rope around her ankle. Zhuo Zhi rushed over.
She grabbed Li Qinyue’s arm tightly, frowning and saying, “You can’t jump, it’s too dangerous.”
“I want to jump,” Li Qinyue looked at her, putting on her most arrogant expression in the past twenty years.
“I’m going to knock you out and carry you back,” Zhuo Zhi said fiercely.
Li Qinyue smiled and stretched out her neck, “Hit me then.”
Zhuo Zhi’s mouth twitched, her expression on the verge of tears, “Why are you so childish?!”
Not many people said that Li Qinyue was childish, only her father and grandfather.
Especially her father, who had been saying it from when she was truly childish to when she no longer wanted to be childish, over and over again, always mixed with endless disappointment and scolding.
So Li Qinyue sometimes really wanted to revert to being childish. Since she was already labeled as such, why not just go for it?
So she smiled at Zhuo Zhi, a rather provoking smile, “I’m just that childish.”
Zhuo Zhi stared at her for a long time, her expression turning cold, then suddenly said, “Can we do it together?”
“Huh?” Li Qinyue looked at her.
“Can we bungee jump together?” Zhuo Zhi’s ponytail was blown by the wind, scattering over her shoulders. Against the backdrop of the mountain forest and cliff, she had a heroic beauty like a splashed-ink landscape painting, “I’ll accompany you.”
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