Chapter 24.1| Spring camping

In the final semester of high school, Meng Yin applied to live on campus and shared a dormitory with Lin Xipei. 

Xu Zhiyi also moved back to the dormitory. 

Half a month after the school started, A City held a city-wide mock exam for the senior class. The "foodie group" as a whole maintained a stable performance, with Xu Zhiyi consistently leading. Meng Yin fell out of the top 100 in the grade level, but she was satisfied with her mock exam results. 

Every day in senior year was quite challenging, but also joyful. Everyone worked hard and Meng Yin did her best. 

During these days at the First High School, there was a significant change in her attitude towards studying and grades. She no longer felt disappointed in herself due to fluctuations in rankings, avoiding getting stuck in trivial matters, and shifted the proportion of practice and consolidation from 60-40 to 40-60. 

This transformation was not limited to Yin, as others in the group also experienced changes. Zhiyi remained calm and composed as always, but the smile on the youthful face became more frequent. Xiuze still enjoyed teasing with flair, but his seriousness in helping Hai review Chinese revealed some hidden feelings. Hai became more steady in his actions, and the rough nerves of a typical guy seemed to be improving. Xipei stopped paying much attention to malicious comments online and spent more time honing her skills. She mastered all the functions of the "versatile" app at the First High School.

Over the weekend following the completion of the standardized test, a school held a spring outing event. While students from different grades had varying destinations for the outing, the overall plan was centred around camping. Spring outing is an annual tradition at the school, but overnight camping was a first, so the school paid extra attention to student safety. On the day of departure, a few auxiliary police officers were present to provide assistance. 

The group suddenly became overly particular about the camping trip, as all five members took leave to return home the night before departure. 

Just like when Yin commuted, Xu Zhiyi arrived the next day to pick someone up for school. The car was the same familiar one, but the driver's seat was now occupied by Yuan Xiao. 

As soon as Yin closed the door, she heard a casual greeting from the driver's seat, "Hey, good morning~" 

Xing Xiuze in the passenger seat could barely contain his laughter, while Yin nervously asked Zhiyi, "Can I get off and go to school by myself?" 

Her cheeks had a hint of pink blush. 

"Don't mind him, he had a fight with my sister-in-law and was kicked out last night to sleep at my place," Meng Yin explained. 

Yuan Xiao remained silent, and Xiuze couldn't hold back anymore. 

"Don't listen to this kid's nonsense, I call the shots in my house," Yuan Xiao attempted to maintain his dignified image as a charming and experienced detective team leader, "I brought something to this kid in the middle of the night." 

Once Xiuze finished laughing, he said, "Yuan Xiao, have you ever heard a saying? 'Explanation is a disguise, and a disguise is the truth.'" 

Proceeding down Windmill Avenue, they arrived at the camping destination for the third year high school students - Mirror Lake Mountain. 

The air was warm, with the gentle touch of spring moistening the lips and earlobes of Meng Yin as Xu Zhiyi gently awakened her. This was how Zhiyi would rouse her, the remnants of his voice calling her name lingering softly and affectionately on the corners of her mouth and earlobes. 

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Yin moved away from Zhiyi's shoulder and asked, "When did you come over?" Sitting beside her in the car was Xipei. 

"Not long ago," Zhiyi continued saying, "Wake up, we'll be there soon." 

"Okay."

Lin Xipei, sitting in the back seat on Xu Zhiyi's side, looked at her with eyes that revealed her eagerness for the CP pairing. She dared not laugh out loud, unable to close her mouth, squeezing Nie Hai's arm throughout the journey. 

"Lin Xipei, can you stop pinching me, does it not hurt?" 

Hai had intended to be a gentleman but couldn't bear the harassment, picked up Xipei's hand and placed it back on her own leg. 

"It hurts when I pinch myself, but if I pinch you, it's fine," Xipei said nonchalantly, giving Hai a sly smile. 

"Besides, maybe we 'foodie group' will soon have only one single dog left."

Before Hai could figure out what was wrong with Xipei's words, she was dragged over to look at the photos, all of which were CP pictures she had secretly taken. Lin Xipei selected a few with good angles and artistic flair, added a filter, and posted them on her thread. 

In order to pass the time during the winter break, Xipei abandoned the thread she had been replying to and started a new one, titled [Guiding CP | In this young battlefield, you will always be my dearest comrade-in-arms]. From the content of this post, it was evident that Lin Xipei had ambitions to turn her "Zhiyin CP" into the sweetest CP at the school.

She meticulously detailed the sweet moments between Xu Zhiyi and Meng Yin with images and text, revealing numerous subtle interactions in the school, as well as uncovering a basket of hidden sugars that even the parties involved had not noticed, turning it into a daily hub for CP interactions. 

The post's popularity remained high on the school's forum, with the forum moderator Xing Xiuzhe engaging in "business transactions" with Lin Xipei by featuring her post. 

At this moment, Lin Xipei updated a new post with three pictures and one sentence.

- This is Xu Zhiyi's favouritism, guiding CP, the pride of the school.

Around noon, the tour bus stopped at the camping site halfway up the mountain. Mirror Lake Mountain was shrouded in mist, backed by a natural lake. 

From this mountainside spot, one could witness the sunrise and sunset, as well as a sky full of stars. As preparations were made for the overnight stay, a brief orientation was given by the coach before allowing the group to proceed for lunch.

Lunch consisted of taro pork rice prepared by the campsite, along with a tofu fish head stew in a cast-iron pot, a fruit platter, and steamed eggs for each person. There was no assigned seating based on class, and Xing Xiuze, carrying a bag, quickly found a spot between Nie Hai and Lin Xipei. After the seats warmed up, he casually took out two lunch boxes from his bag, containing a sushi platter made by his father.

Xiuze pushed one of the boxes towards Hai, "Would you like to taste my father's cooking?" The platter was meticulously arranged, displaying plump grains of rice with eel, sweet shrimp, fish roe, avocado, and tuna on top. The colour coordination of the fresh ingredients created a visually appealing presentation, clearly reflecting the work of a master.

However, Hai's gaze remained fixed on another platter, two sushi rolls with different fillings. The uneven cutting and loose fillings made the presentation less appealing.

Xiuze never expected to feel embarrassed in such a manner, especially over sushi. He couldn't help but blame Hai for scrutinizing his food. 

"What about this one?" Hai pointed at the sushi platter in Xiuze's hand.

"I made that for myself," Xiuze hesitated for a second. "Being top in liberal arts doesn't mean I excel at everything, okay?" Glancing back at his father's sushi platter, Xing Xiuze felt a pang of realization that each glance reaffirmed his own inadequacy.

Before he could shake off his inner turmoil, Hai unexpectedly complimented, "It's pretty good," taking a bite and adding, "It's quite tasty." 

Lin Xipei, noticing this exchange, found Meng Yin and waved her over, witnessing the unfolding scene of unexpected interactions.