Shen Wangjing eased himself out of the back seat on his crutches. The cast on his left leg knocked against the gravel road, and Jiang Xun caught his arm.
"Slow down." Jiang Xun frowned. "What kind of surprise needs us to climb this high? Do you want to lose that leg?"
"I'm fine."
Shen Wangjing raised a hand toward the summit. Jiang Xun followed his gesture and saw a flat meadow suspended in the evening glow, with a few exposed rocks worn round by the wind.
The mountain path was paved with blue-gray stone slabs, climbing step by step between dense pine woods.
The mountain wind rustled through the pine needles, mingling with distant birdsong. Sunset filtered through the trees, laying squares of gold across the steps. As they walked over them, their shadows stretched long behind them.
Shen Wangjing moved at a fairly slow pace on his crutches. Jiang Xun walked beside him, reaching out to support his elbow whenever the slope grew steep.
Duan Qizhao brought up the rear with a little pull cart, grumbling that this lousy mountain path was even harder to climb than the hill behind Shiban Village.
By the time they reached the platform at the summit, the sun had just sunk out of sight.
A dark red ember still lingered along the western horizon. Scattered lights came on in the town below, like a casually tossed handful of gold flecks.
Duan Qizhao instantly sprang back to life.
He unfolded the chairs, pitched the tent, spread the picnic blanket on the ground, and dumped out the contents of the insulated bag-self-heating hot pots, braised snacks, chips, chocolate, and two bottles of red wine swiped from his dad's wine cabinet.
"Come on, come on, let's eat first!" He waved at the two by the cliff.