Wish

Chi Yan had informed the production team beforehand, and the director immediately agreed. They did not open a livestream, only sending two cameramen to follow from a distance.

Southern Jade Mountain was not particularly high, but the stone steps along the way were somewhat steep.

Li Yu walked while holding the wooden railing, eating the pastries Chi Yan had bought for him. They were soft, sweet, and fragrant between his lips and teeth, dispelling some of his hazy drowsiness.

A cool breeze drifted by. Li Yu could faintly hear the sound of spring water splashing among the cliffs, and when he looked toward it, all he saw was mist dancing in the beam of Chi Yan's flashlight.

In autumn, sunrise at Southern Jade Mountain was usually close to six o'clock. They had set out an hour and a half early, yet the road was still dim and gray. Li Yu could only follow closely behind Chi Yan.

Chi Yan's pace should have been faster, but he was clearly enjoying having Li Yu so close beside him.

By the time they were four-fifths of the way up, Li Yu was struggling to walk any farther. He leaned against the railing and rested for a while. Afraid of missing the sunrise, he did not dare linger too long. After taking a deep breath, he continued onward.

Chi Yan, whose gaze had been falling on him all along, naturally noticed Li Yu's condition. Without another word, he grabbed Li Yu's hand, clearly intending to pull him through the rest of the climb.

Li Yu obediently let himself be led. Neither of them spoke, and only their intertwined, intimate breaths filled the air.

When they reached the summit, the horizon had already begun to glow red. Then the color spread gradually outward like dye dropped into water.

Li Yu stood shoulder to shoulder with Chi Yan. After watching the sky for a while, he joked, "We're not going to miss the sunrise today, are we?"

"We won't," Chi Yan said.

His thoughts abruptly returned to a time long ago. Once, Chi Yan had visited Li Yu's home and found the young-faced Li Yu lying over his desk, writing something.

When Chi Yan leaned over to look, Li Yu immediately covered it with his little hands. "It's a secret. You're not allowed to look."

Chi Yan smiled helplessly and agreed, though he later found an opportunity to secretly read everything in the notebook.

That notebook was probably Li Yu's planning journal, filled with all the things he wanted to do in the future.

From what skills he wanted to learn someday to what he wanted to eat in the near future.

Chi Yan remembered every single one.

One line, written in neat regular script, read: Watch a sunrise.

Perhaps Li Yu himself had completely forgotten that notebook existed, but Chi Yan remembered every entry in it. That was why they were here today.

Li Yu checked the time. It was nearly six.

One second, he was still worrying about whether there would be a sunrise. The next, he spotted the hazy outline of the sun.

As if he had received a sudden surprise, Li Yu turned to Chi Yan and said, "Brother Chi! Look! There really is a sunrise!"

"Mm, I see it." A smile rested at the corner of Chi Yan's lips, while the morning light carved his handsome features into sharper relief.

Li Yu turned back to the sunrise, staring without blinking as he watched the sun slowly break through the clouds and climb up from beyond the mountaintops.

In that instant, he suddenly understood why so many people wanted to wake early to watch the sunrise—when the light arrived, the gray scenery around them became clear and beautiful, as though something brand-new had broken through the soil and bloomed in his heart.

It was a wonderfully strange feeling. By the time the sky had fully brightened, the sun had risen to a certain height.

"There's an ancient temple behind the mountain. Want to take a look? Afterward, we can take the cable car down," Chi Yan asked.

Li Yu nodded. "Since we're already here, we definitely have to see it."

The two of them crossed Qingrou Lake and arrived at the somewhat famous ancient temple.

Even the air seemed tinged with the scent of incense. Li Yu studied the stone pillars carved with intricate patterns for a while before continuing inward.

Perhaps because it was still early, there were not many people in the temple. Farther inside was a small pond, where the faint shapes of koi could be seen among the withered lotus plants. Red and orange, they swam leisurely through the water.

Chi Yan suddenly stopped and said softly, "Look, Little Koi is swimming so happily in the pond."

Li Yu did not react at first and merely nodded thoughtfully. Only when he met Chi Yan's smiling eyes did he understand.

It was a homophone for his name...

He still remembered when he had first met Chi Yan. They had both been very young, and Chi Yan had genuinely thought his name was koi—the kind you could eat.

Even after he grew older and learned Li Yu's real name, Chi Yan still liked to teasingly call him "Little Koi." Later, he began calling him "Little Fish" outright.

Everyone else called Li Yu "Little Yu," and Chi Yan did too, but only the two of them knew which yu he meant.

Chi Yan often thought that the way he addressed Li Yu was different from everyone else's, and that to Li Yu, he too was the most special one.

There was also an enormous wishing tree in the temple, its branches covered in red silk ribbons. Whenever the wind blew, it became even more spectacular.

Chi Yan put money into the donation box, then took out two wishing ribbons.

He handed one to Li Yu, and the two of them wrote on them at a nearby stone table.

"What did you wish for?" Chi Yan asked.

Li Yu clenched the ribbon in his hand. "I'm not showing you. It won't come true if I do."

Just as Chi Yan was about to say "Fine," Li Yu took the ribbon out again and held it up before him. "I'm kidding. You can look. Everyone can see the ones hanging on the tree anyway."

The ribbon unfolded, revealing the words written within its golden border: May my family and friends be safe and happy.

"My wish is pretty ordinary. What about yours, Brother Chi?"

Li Yu leaned over to see Chi Yan's, and Chi Yan did not hide it at all, showing it to him directly.

"May all the wishes of those I cherish come true?"

With a teasing intention, Li Yu asked Chi Yan, "Brother Chi, who are these people you cherish? Is there something going on...?"

Chi Yan looked directly at Li Yu and said openly, "You."

This time, Li Yu froze. His heart skipped into a faster beat as he stared up at Chi Yan blankly.

Some answer was on the verge of spilling out, but the cameraman beside them suddenly snapped Li Yu back to his senses.

His Adam's apple bobbed. Even his voice weakened, and he sounded like a little cat curling up its tail. "Brother Chi, don't joke around with me..."

"There can be many people I cherish. You're my friend, so you do count as one."

Chi Yan naturally smoothed over what he had just said. He did not press further, because he understood that it was still far too early for everything.

He couldn't scare Little Fish.

Li Yu immediately let out a breath of relief.

Why had he been a little nervous just now? His heart had been beating so fast.

He thought Chi Yan meant it that way...

Li Yu could not explain what he was thinking. He only felt as though he were floating among the clouds, everything terribly unreal.

For one fleeting moment, he had even truly believed that something else was hidden in the way Chi Yan looked at him.

Maybe he was overthinking it...