Chapter 18: The Scenic Confession

Afternoon.

Sunlight pierced through a gap in the curtains, spilling onto the rumpled bedsheets in Gu Meilan’s dorm room.

Song Qinghuan was the first to stir. She blinked her still-hazy eyes, then turned her head to look beside her.

Lin Shishi was still asleep, looking as innocent as a child.

She lay on her side, her cheek nestled into the pillow, lips slightly parted, and breathing shallow. Her eyes, usually so full of timidity, were now tightly closed, long, curled lashes casting a delicate shadow beneath them.

She was deeply asleep.

However, Song Qinghuan knew the precise reason for her exhaustion.

She had been a little too much.

Song Qinghuan leaned in, softly calling into Lin Shishi’s ear, “Shishi, it’s time to wake up.”

Lin Shishi frowned, groggily opening her eyes.

Seeing Song Qinghuan’s face so close, she first looked bewildered, then her cheeks flushed rapidly. Instinctively, she reached for the blanket to cover herself.

“Awake now?”

Song Qinghuan chuckled, gently pinching her waist. “We should head back now. But before that, let’s take a shower.”

Only then did Lin Shishi fully awaken. Recalling everything that had transpired, her earlobes burned a crimson red.

She propped herself up to sit, and the blanket slipped away.

The girl let out a soft whimper, covering herself.

Song Qinghuan couldn’t resist reaching out, wrapping an arm around her waist, and pulling her into an embrace.

Lin Shishi hummed softly, leaning against Song Qinghuan’s shoulder. As she pressed against Song Qinghuan’s arm, the soft, yielding sensation sent a shiver through both of them.

“Can you still walk?” Song Qinghuan whispered close to her ear, her breath caressing Lin Shishi’s earlobe.

Lin Shishi shook her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. “My… legs are soft.”

Song Qinghuan chuckled softly, then scooped her up into a bridal carry.

Lin Shishi gasped, instinctively wrapping her arms around Song Qinghuan’s neck.

****

The bathroom was filled with steam.

They stood beneath the showerhead, warm water cascading over their bodies.

****

After their shower, they dried themselves.

When it came time to dress, Lin Shishi’s legs were still weak, so Song Qinghuan supported her, personally fastening her buttons.

Next came styling her hair and applying makeup.

This time, Lin Shishi once again opted for her cute twin pigtails.

Before leaving the dorm, Lin Shishi pointed at Gu Meilan. “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to her?”

Song Qinghuan glanced over. A steady snore emanated from the girl.

“No, let her keep sleeping. I’ll just leave her a message later.”

In truth, only Gu Meilan herself knew that this time, she was genuinely asleep.

Just moments before…

****

The two girls exited the dorm.

“Where to next?”

Lin Shishi asked softly, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her skirt.

Song Qinghuan looked out the window. Rain Harbor City bordered the sea, and from here, the distant azure horizon and a modest mountain by the coast were visible.

“Since we’ve already skipped class, let’s go for a walk by the sea,” she suggested.

She took Lin Shishi’s hand. “That mountain has beautiful scenery. Gu Meilan and I used to climb it.”

Lin Shishi’s eyes brightened, but then she looked down at her red high heels. “But we’re wearing high heels.”

“It’s fine, the mountain isn’t tall, and it’s all steps.”

Song Qinghuan squeezed her palm. “If you can’t walk, I’ll carry you on my back.”

Lin Shishi’s face flushed again, but she still nodded.

Holding hands, they walked out of Harbor City College.

The afternoon sun was perfect, casting a warm glow upon them.

Lin Shishi’s twin pigtails swayed gently with each step, and beneath her skirt, her fair, beautiful legs seemed to gleam in the sunlight.

Her ankles were slender, and every step she took was light and graceful.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, it was indeed as Song Qinghuan had said: entirely stone steps, not particularly steep.

Yet, Lin Shishi’s stamina was poor. After only a dozen steps, she was already panting, her chest rising and falling slightly, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.

After a few more steps, her foot twisted. She let out a small cry, crouching down to clutch her ankle.

“It hurts…” Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked up at Song Qinghuan.

Song Qinghuan knelt to examine it. Lin Shishi’s ankle was indeed a little red, but not swollen.

She lifted the small foot, gently massaging it.

Lin Shishi’s foot felt exceptionally delicate in her palm, her toes slightly curled from the pain, and her sole soft and warm.

Song Qinghuan smiled. “I’ll carry you up.”

“No, you don’t have to, I can manage… Ah…” Lin Shishi hadn’t even finished speaking.

Song Qinghuan had already swept her up into a horizontal embrace.

Lin Shishi instinctively wrapped her arms around Song Qinghuan’s neck, her chest pressing against the other girl, her cheeks instantly blazing red.

Song Qinghuan wasn’t a girl who frequently worked out to build muscle, but she possessed remarkable strength. This was due to several years of practicing internal martial arts with a White-Browed Daoist nun in Huaxia.

Because of this, her figure remained slender and graceful, yet her strength was considerable.

Carrying Lin Shishi, who weighed less than ninety pounds, was almost effortless.

She ascended steadily. Lin Shishi nestled in her arms, able to hear the steady beat of the other’s heart and feel the warmth radiating from her body.

The mountain path was indeed short; they reached the summit in less than twenty minutes.

Song Qinghuan placed Lin Shishi on a flat, large rock, then sat down herself.

The two girls gazed out into the distance together.

****

The view from the summit was magnificent. Lush pine trees surrounded them, shielding them from the outside world’s clamor.

Looking forward, an endless expanse of azure ocean stretched out—the Pacific.

The sea surface sparkled under the sunlight, occasionally graced by soaring seabirds.

It was nearing evening, and the setting sun hung low in the sky, painting the clouds golden-red and bathing the sea in a warm glow.

Lin Shishi was captivated, forgetting the pain in her ankle.

But the next second, something suddenly came to mind, and her face flushed crimson.

It was as if she had written a similar scene in her diary.

In a fictional chapter, Song Qinghuan had brought her to the mountaintop…

However, this shy, smoldering girl had designed the plot to be extremely humiliating.

In that passage, Song Qinghuan had made her strike various poses for photos.

She made her face the sea and the sunset, enduring both physical and psychological humiliation.

Song Qinghuan had clearly read that page as well.

And she remembered it vividly.

She turned her head to look at Lin Shishi’s reddened cheeks, a mischievous grin playing on her lips. “Little pervert, are you remembering that page you wrote?”

“N-no!” Lin Shishi denied vehemently, her ears burning crimson. “I just think… the scenery is beautiful.”

“Yes, the scenery is beautiful.”

Song Qinghuan leaned closer, her finger hooking a strand of Lin Shishi’s hair. “So I want to see you and the scenery combined.”

Lin Shishi bit her lower lip, her always-moist eyes looking at Song Qinghuan with a hint of timidity and a subtle expectation.

“Qinghuan-jie…”

“You got it wrong again.”

Song Qinghuan interrupted her, her fingertip tracing Lin Shishi’s cheek before resting on her lips. “What should you call me?”

Lin Shishi’s eyelashes trembled slightly, her voice a mere whisper. “…Master.”

“Good girl.”

Song Qinghuan smiled with satisfaction. “But misnaming me still deserves a punishment. You’ll pose for a few photos just as you wrote in your diary, alright?”

Lin Shishi hesitated for a few seconds, then finally nodded.

“Alright, the first pose.” Song Qinghuan took out her phone and opened the camera.

Lin Shishi took a deep breath, standing up from the rock.

She faced the sea, her back to Song Qinghuan, then slowly turned around to face the camera.

Biting her lip, she propped her hands on the rock behind her, arching her body slightly backward.

Her legs were straight and slender, knees slightly reddened, calves elegantly contoured, and ankles delicate. Her high heels looked particularly adorable at this moment.

She tried hard to smile, but her expression was somewhat stiff due to embarrassment, her cheeks as red as ripe apples.

Song Qinghuan’s breath hitched, and she quickly pressed the shutter.

“Excellent,” her voice was a little hoarse. “Next one.”

The second pose was more challenging: Lin Shishi needed to sit on the rock, form a ‘V’ shape with her feet, and simultaneously flash a radiant smile.

She tried several times, failing each due to unstable balance.

“This is so hard…” she said, her voice tinged with a whimper.

“You still have to do it, even if it’s hard,” Song Qinghuan teased. “You designed this yourself, after all.”

Lin Shishi gritted her teeth and tried again.

But she couldn’t smile.

“Smile,” Song Qinghuan reminded her.

Lin Shishi forced a smile that looked worse than a cry.

Song Qinghuan, however, found it utterly adorable, pressing the shutter multiple times to capture her most genuine moments.

The third one… was even more…

Lin Shishi’s face was so red it could practically bleed, yet she still complied.

She lay down…

****

After finishing the photos, Song Qinghuan practically tossed her phone aside, pouncing to embrace Lin Shishi from behind.

“You truly are…”

She bit Lin Shishi…

Lin Shishi let out a soft hum…

But Song Qinghuan ultimately didn’t go all the way.

She simply held Lin Shishi, and together they lay on the rock, quietly watching the distant sea and the sunset.