"Don't worry, guys. She won't say it aloud, but Xiaohua has reflected on her mistakes. She is just too shy to apologize honestly."
"What? Xiaoyi, it's not like that!" Li Chunhua denied it vehemently. But her strong rejection looked like a confirmation instead.
Feng Nian, Chen Ruolan, and Zhou Ya exchanged glances and reached a consensus with their eye language. As usual, Zhou Ya was the one who got the job of explaining the result.
"We don't mind having you with us, Chunhua. Nian Nian is just worried that you probably feel obligated to force yourself to keep up with us."
"I'm not forcing myself. If I don't like it, then you will know."
"Says the girl who always maintains her good image by playing a sweet act," Feng Nian sneered.
But instead of getting angry, Li Chunhua flipped her hair indifferently. "You think I'm that stupid to use the same trick on people who already saw through my act. And I stopped doing that some time ago. That's why a lot of girls find me an eyesore now."
Silence fell as soon as she said that. Li Caiyi was sure now that her sister was here not only because she wanted to spend time with her but also because she had some problems with her circle of friends.
"Are you okay, Xiaohua? Did they perhaps exclude you?"
"It's not like that. I just told them they are not fun, then they got angry and left me alone."
"Well, if you said that without reason, then, of course, they will get angry at you."
"But I can't help it," Li Chunhua whined while playing with the tip of her hair. "They always have rude tongues, but their discussion today was exceptionally ear-piercing. I don't like to hear it, so I tell them that directly. Not my fault if they can't accept it."
"If I can ask, what did they talk about?" Zhou Ya asked carefully, which was only responded by a shrug from Li Chunhua.
"Who knows? And it doesn't matter anyway. With this, I don't have to hear them talking nonsense again. Less annoying people around me. I think this is a win-win solution for all of us."
Considering Li Chunhua's personality, it was hard to think she would feel anything even if some people left her. Because in Li Caiyi's memories, her sister never had a shortage of people who wanted to befriend her. Some people would probably even carry her shoes if she asked them sweetly.
Li Chunhua said she didn't care, then why did she have such a gloomy light in her eyes?
Li Caiyi wanted to ask, but since Li Chunhua clearly didn't want to talk about it—at least for now, when they were still with her friends— so she chose to pat her back gently instead.
"You can stay here with us, then. Feng Nian has made a list of things we can do while in K city, so you are in good hands. Right?" Li Caiyi smiled at Feng Nian.
"Yeah. Travelling feels more fun with more people, so you can follow us if you want."
"What Nian Nian means is that she'll be glad to have you with us, Chunhua," Zhou Ya calmly corrected Feng Nian's choice of words from the side.
"The more, the merrier!" Chen Ruolan added excitedly.
Li Chunhua nodded her head. "I guess I will go with you guys in the meantime. Because Xiaoyi is here!"
"Come to think of it, how about your brother? Is he not coming on this trip?"
"Big Brother Jie hated this type of activity, so he didn't participate again this year. Nothing surprising about it.
Zhou Ya didn't ask anymore and returned her focus to her ice cream.
***
The third day of the school trip is the day for activities in nature. Li Caiyi looked at the itinerary pamphlet distributed before their departure and prepared accordingly.
There was a temple on top of a mountain rumored to be an excellent place to pray for career and prosperity. The prosperity here not only included the life aspect but also romance luck.
Li Caiyi was sure the school prepared this schedule so the third years could pray for their future, but she bet some students had another priority in mind. After all, for most teenagers who still liked to have fun, their love life was more important than studying.
Some said that the temple sold some good luck charms, and those who gave the love charms to their significant others would have their love protected.
Li Caiyi didn't really believe things like that but admitted it was a good marketing strategy.
However, she had no idea there were a lot of students who coveted those limited love charms. This was why the third day became the most awaited day, but also the feared day of their trip.
The students wanted the charm, but they didn't like the fact they had to climb a high mountain for that.
Like they said, love is an ordeal. To attain it, you have to work hard first.
After having breakfast and listening to a short lecture in the morning assembly, the students entered the bus and went to Xuejia Mountain. One of the tallest mountains in this prefecture and the most secluded too, due to the lush forests surrounding it.
Again this wasn't the first time Li Caiyi had come to this mountain, but she still couldn't help but hang her jaw in awe, looking up at the tall mountain. She wondered how she could climb this mountain in her previous life.
Then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning back, she saw Teacher Shi's smiling face behind her.
"Here you are. I have been looking for you."
"Teacher Shi, did you need something from me?"
"Yeah. Your sister is physically weak, so we can't possibly allow her to climb the mountain. Unfortunately, she has to stay back during this activity. I thought she might feel dejected, so why don't you go cheer her up?"
Teacher Shi was really a caring and considerate teacher. Li Caiyi thanked her for her concern before going to find her sister.
It didn't take long for her to find her because Li Chunhua was sitting in one of them under the tree. She was alone with no one around her. What a rare sight.
For some reason, her lone figure overlapped with her past self, who was alone during the school trip and could only sit alone while the others chatted with their friends.
'I should stop thinking about depressing thoughts.'
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢