He Lezhi liked sports. In the past, their little group was roughly divided into two factions. One half loved to have fun and be boisterous but didn't like to exercise; if they weren't going out during vacation, they'd stay home and play games. The other half liked sports and would often get together to play ball, swim, or hike during breaks.

Han Fangchi and He Lezhi were both in the latter half. Zhou Muyao dabbled in both; he'd go to any activity. He was good at playing games and karaoke, and he could also tag along for a mountain hike. He just liked joining in on the fun, no matter what it was.

In recent years, everyone got busy and rarely made plans for these things anymore. In the past, He Lezhi and Han Fangchi had exercised together a lot, especially during their school days.

So, the next morning, when He Lezhi opened his car door at the entrance of his residential complex and saw Han Fangchi dressed in quick-dry clothes with a narrow sweatband temporarily wrapped twice around his wrist, he was momentarily dazed.

Han Fangchi took a paper bag from the back seat and handed it to him. Inside were a sandwich and a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." He Lezhi took it, said his thanks, and then added, "You look a bit young today."

Han Fangchi was silent for a moment. Then he said, "He Lezhi, I'm not even a full year older than you."

He Lezhi started to laugh: "I didn't mean to say you're not young normally."

Han Fangchi didn't say anything. He Lezhi continued to explain, "It's just that you usually look serious. Today, you're like how you used to be."

"How am I serious?" Han Fangchi raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I just pull a tooth for you?"

He Lezhi burst out laughing.

There were seven people in total who came to hike. The two of them drove there separately, while the remaining five came in a van, arriving twenty minutes after them. Two of them were Han Fangchi's friends, whom he knew quite well, and they were the hiking leaders.

After Han Fangchi made the introductions, they greeted each other and were considered acquainted.

"Should we start a group chat? I'll send the trail route," one of the friends said.

The trail route and some pointers were sent to the group chat. There were two leaders, one at the front of the group and one at the back. They looked quite professional and probably led groups often.

He Lezhi had been here a few times. It was a small mountain within the province that was quite suitable for trail running. Trail running competitions had been held here before, so there were official routes. He was not unfamiliar with the place.

Everyone except Han Fangchi was fully equipped; some even had hiking poles.

He Lezhi changed his shoes, put on knee guards and ankle braces, and slung a light trail running pack, which was already filled with a hydration bladder, over his back.

Han Fangchi was much simpler, just wearing his usual quick-dry workout clothes and carrying a backpack with two bottles of electrolyte water inside.

"Fangchi hasn't been here before, you stay with me," said the friend who was the leader at the back.

Han Fangchi said, "Don't worry about me."

"Don't go by yourself, what if you get lost? I'll lead you," the friend said enthusiastically.

"I don't need you to lead me," Han Fangchi said again. "You talk too much."

The friend clicked his tongue and said speechlessly, "Do you not know what's good for you!"

He Lezhi said with a smile, "It's fine, he'll be with me."

"Then I won't bother." The friend threw up his hands and said, "And he even complained that I talk too much!"

The friend knew He Lezhi had participated in trail running competitions and had even run a full marathon, so he stopped bothering them and left Han Fangchi in his care.

The friend went on ahead. Han Fangchi said to He Lezhi, "Go on and run."

The others saw that Han Fangchi had no hiking gear and assumed he was inexperienced. Only He Lezhi knew better, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He said, "I'll run for a while and then wait for you."

"I'll follow you. Go on," Han Fangchi said.

He Lezhi loved outdoor sports. He was used to these activities, but it had been a long time since he'd been out.

For people who love sports, being able to exercise until they're drenched in sweat and have squeezed out their very last bit of strength is a gratifying experience. As their physical energy is gradually depleted, their mind also empties. There are no other thoughts besides continuing forward.

Han Fangchi deliberately kept a certain distance from him, so that the only person within He Lezhi's perceived space was himself.

He Lezhi would run for a few kilometers and then stop to wait for Han Fangchi. He wouldn't have to wait long before Han Fangchi caught up, who would then raise his arm, signaling for him to continue.

This was the most gratifying day He Lezhi had had in a long time. As his strength gradually disappeared, it felt as if a new kind of energy was being injected into him. His old and gloomy mind felt like it was being slowly refreshed and awakened.

Everything before his eyes flew past on both sides like phantom images. He passed through the gaps in the forest, traversing the not-so-wide mountain path. Time and space both became long and meaningless.

When running with such abandon, it felt as if everything could be left in the past. Ahead, there were only the trees and the wind, and a distant place whose end was not yet in sight.

Halfway through the journey, He Lezhi stopped running.

When Han Fangchi caught up, He Lezhi took out a protein bar and some beef jerky from his backpack and shared them with him.

Both of them were soaked in sweat, as if they had just taken a shower. He Lezhi lay on a huge rock. Han Fangchi sat beside him, propping himself up with his arms behind him, one leg bent.

"Are you going to run more later?" Han Fangchi had rested for a while, but his voice was still a little breathless when he spoke.

He Lezhi shook his head. "Not running anymore."

"Don't worry about me, I can wait for the others," Han Fangchi said, turning his head to look at him. "As long as you're familiar with the route, just don't get lost."

He Lezhi lay there looking at him. Although his heart rate had already come down, his chest was still rising and falling, and there was a thorough sense of exhilaration in his breathing.

"Nah," He Lezhi raised his arm and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his wrist guard, smiling. "That was great."

Han Fangchi didn't have anything to wipe his sweat with, so he flipped up the hem of his shirt and wiped his face, letting out a long breath. "As long as you feel great."

For the second half of the journey, He Lezhi walked down with Han Fangchi. They intentionally waited for the other friends, so they didn't walk fast. They didn't meet up with them even by the time they reached the foot of the mountain. The two of them sat on chairs outside a small shop, eating and drinking, each munching on an ear of corn.

By the time the group came down, the two of them had already finished stretching and were leaning against their chair backs, chatting idly. He Lezhi had taken off all his gear and placed it to one side.

"Awesome," the leader friend gave them a thumbs-up from a distance. Then he asked, "Did you guys take a shortcut?"

"We followed the route you gave us," Han Fangchi said. "For him, it's a piece of cake."

"What about you?" the friend asked.

"Me?" Han Fangchi spread his arms and said honestly, "Barely hanging on."

The friend burst out laughing, and He Lezhi laughed too. For the first half of the run, Han Fangchi had forced himself to keep up purely on stamina and had almost reached his limit. After all, he had no long-distance running experience, let alone on a mountain trail. You could say he was risking his life to accompany him.

"Let's go eat," Han Fangchi said, standing up.

The meals and accommodation were at a mountain villa at the foot of the mountain, not far away, less than a kilometer. The two of them didn't drive; covered in sweat like this, they didn't want to sit in the car. They just went to the car to get their things and carried them over.

When they arrived, they first went back to their respective rooms to shower and change. When they came out again, they were refreshed and invigorated.

When He Lezhi and Han Fangchi came down, their friends were already in the private room waiting for them, and most of the dishes had been served.

"What mains do you two want?" a friend asked.

Han Fangchi said, "Rice for both of us."

He Lezhi sat down next to him and confirmed, "Yes."

They were eating local rustic dishes, which tasted very good. Everyone was hungry after the long day, so they didn't talk much, just focused on eating.

The table was too big. The seven of them had ordered over ten dishes, and it took a while for the lazy susan to make a full turn. Han Fangchi wasn't polite about it. He unwrapped three extra sets of tableware and, whenever a dish was good, he would serve a portion of it for the two of them to eat separately, saving them the trouble of reaching for food.

Only after they were about seventy percent full did they have time to chat.

The leader friend, Xiao Luo, added He Lezhi on WeChat, saying they should hang out together when they had time.

These two friends were people Han Fangchi had met playing badminton in college. They had known each other for many years and were both reliable people.

Han Fangchi said, "Next time you two are leading a group out, ask him."

"Definitely, he's so good," Xiao Luo said with a laugh. "When I first saw how thin he was, I was afraid he wouldn't be able to make it."

"He likes these things," Han Fangchi said.

He Lezhi had good physical stamina since he was young. In high school, he even represented the school in a city-level long-distance running competition. Although he didn't win an award, he finished the entire race without much difficulty. Friends who used to run with him would say that he looked thin and unassuming, but was actually a beast with great endurance.

"Lezhi, what do you do for work?" Xiao Luo asked.

He Lezhi answered with a smile, "An electrician."

"Hey, what a coincidence," said the other leader friend, Yin Lu. "I'm a plumber. HVAC."

"You two are kind of in the same field, both engineers," Han Fangchi explained to He Lezhi. "He does plumbing and drainage."

"A pleasure, a pleasure." Yin Lu was the one at the back of the group during the day. He spoke with a bit of exaggeration, standing up and holding his phone with both hands to scan a QR code. "Let's add each other, let's add each other."

He Lezhi copied him, standing up and holding his phone with both hands. "Okay, okay. A pleasure to meet you, Engineer Yin."

Over the course of the meal, He Lezhi added a few people on WeChat and also made plans to hike a mountain in the neighboring province next time.

After dinner, the exhausted group had no energy for any other plans. They each went back to their rooms to rest early. They would have breakfast the next morning and then head back.

Han Fangchi was about to take another shower before bed when he heard a knock on his door.

The door opened, and He Lezhi was standing in the doorway.

"This is for you." He Lezhi handed over a massage gun. "Stretch again in a bit, spend more time on your calves, and then use this. Otherwise, you're going to suffer tomorrow."

Han Fangchi took it and asked, "You don't need it?"

He Lezhi said, "I'm done with it. You can keep it here."

"I'm a little scared now, too," Han Fangchi said with a self-deprecating laugh. "If I can't drive tomorrow, you'll have to."

"No problem," He Lezhi smiled. "I'll drive."

Han Fangchi usually exercised a lot, but following a half trail run like his life depended on it still made him almost unable to get up the next day. When he stood up from his bed in the morning, he nearly knelt on the spot.

He Lezhi did indeed drive on the way back. Han Fangchi's two calves had temporarily lost their function.

He Lezhi's legs were sore too, but not as severely as Han Fangchi's.

"It'll probably hurt for a few days," He Lezhi said.

Leaning back in the passenger seat, Han Fangchi grunted an "Mm" and said, "It's fine."

"Get some good rest when you get back," He Lezhi added.

Han Fangchi said, "Got it."

He Lezhi drove all the way to Han Fangchi's place and parked the car in his parking spot.

Getting out of the car was painful for Han Fangchi; he stood there for a long time to recover.

He Lezhi found his movements a little funny but couldn't bring himself to laugh. He handed over the car keys and said, "Thanks for taking me out, Doctor Han."

Han Fangchi took the car keys, stuffed them in his pocket, and said, "I just brought you along."

"Thanks for that, too," He Lezhi said.

"You're welcome," Han Fangchi said.

He Lezhi took a taxi back by himself. After he got home, he washed what needed to be washed, tidied everything up, then took a shower and lay down on the sofa.

The unbridled exhilaration from yesterday on the mountain still allowed his mind to be empty today. These two days felt separate from reality, allowing him to temporarily let go of everything at hand. And as his brain gradually returned to calm after the excitement, the people and things he had briefly forgotten were also slowly falling back into place.

He Lezhi intentionally tried to keep his mind empty, not wanting to think about anything more.

—The massage gun is at my place.

A message from Han Fangchi came through.

He Lezhi replied to him: You can use it, I have another one.

Beyond the absurd reality he was blocking out, He Lezhi remembered the outfit Han Fangchi wore while hiking. So he opened a shopping app, picked through the options, and bought a set of hiking gear.