Chapter 184: The Throne of the Pinnacle

The next morning, Song Chenyi left by car.

Yesterday, the two of them had indeed returned home.

His parents hadn't seen Song Chenyi for quite a long time.

However, they never expected that the first news he brought back upon returning was that he was heading to the mountainous region.

Although no one voiced any objections at the moment, everyone wore a heavy expression.

Zhou Yun was a sensible woman of great understanding. Her son had ideals and ambitions; what could she do?

When her eldest son went to serve as a soldier on the front lines back then, she had no way to stop him. Now that her younger son was going to save lives, how could she possibly stop him either?

A fine man has aspirations spanning the entire world.

She could only secretly pull Luo Yixia aside and talk with her for a long time.

To her surprise, Luo Yixia bizarrely stood on Song Chenyi's side.

She believed in him.

It wasn't until he got into the car and drove away that she truly felt loneliness and a sense of having her soul torn away.

With this departure, there was no set date for his return.

His life or death was uncertain.

No one could fathom how dangerous it was; without understanding the situation on the ground firsthand, only those directly involved could truly feel it.

Luo Yixia could only keep him in her thoughts and worry for him in her heart.

That night, Luo Yixia received a WeChat message.

It was sent by Yanyan.

[Pretty Sister, we're being discharged from the hospital tomorrow. Would Sister like to come visit Yanyan?]

Luo Yixia did not refuse and agreed to go.

Thinking that Yanyan's parents had stayed in the hospital for over half a month and could finally be discharged, she felt quite happy for them.

Yanyan's family were not locals. They had simply happened to catch this accident while passing by the national highway, running right into a multi-vehicle collision.

Although the scene was tragic, fortunately no one had lost their lives. Only two people were severely injured, but she heard they had already been moved out of the ICU.

Luo Yixia bought some fruit, a bouquet of flowers, and remembering their previous chats where Yanyan mentioned he loved milky candies, she bought a large jar to cheer him up.

Seeing her, Yanyan was as happy as ever.

Yanyan's parents were extremely warm and hospitable, even taking Luo Yixia out to a restaurant at noon for a meal.

Yet when they asked about Song Chenyi, Luo Yixia calmly replied that he had gone on a business trip.

Actually, she could say it so calmly and effortlessly.

But the reality was far from it.

Luo Yixia hadn't heard from him for several days.

She was walking on tenterhooks every single day.

Before heading over there, Song Chenyi had mentioned that the communication network in that area was faulty and it was very likely they wouldn't be able to receive messages or signals.

Sure enough, just as he was about to arrive, Luo Yixia received that single text: Arrived safely, don't worry.

After that, there was complete silence.

Luo Yixia was worried sick.

Nevertheless, she still stubbornly persisted in sending messages to Song Chenyi every day.

Whether it was good morning, good afternoon, or good night, not a single one was ever missed.

He would see them eventually, and as long as he could see them, it didn't matter even if he couldn't reply.

Late one night, amidst her drowsy sleep, Luo Yixia heard her phone ring.

She had a premonition.

Who could it be at this hour?

The moment her fingers brushed against the phone, all sleepiness vanished, and she became instantly wide awake.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line was still cool and detached, yet deeply familiar. Over these past few days, Luo Yixia had imagined hearing his voice countless times.

"Mm." Luo Yixia had a million things she wanted to say, but when it came down to it, she could only choke out a single syllable.

"Did I wake you? It's already the middle of the night." Although his tone carried guilt, the person on the other end showed not the slightest trace of remorse, even sounding somewhat gloating.

With enough energy to crack jokes, Luo Yixia thought to herself.

"Didn't you say there was no signal over there?" Luo Yixia asked softly.

"So I walked a long way, got out of the village, and now there's a signal." Song Chenyi chuckled softly.

"It's very dangerous out there alone, why did you run out?" Luo Yixia asked worriedly.

"It's been too long since I sent you a message, and I was afraid you'd worry."

Luo Yixia tightly pressed her lips together.

"I read every single one of your messages," the voice continued from the other end. "You've been very well-behaved lately. Even with me not by your side, you're actually studying hard. Not bad."

"How are you doing lately? Are you very tired? Is it very hard?" Tears welled up in Luo Yixia's eyes; even if he didn't say it, she already knew the true answer.

Sure enough, the reply came: "Not tired. Compared to the soldiers fighting on the front lines against the floods, what is this?"

"Liar," Luo Yixia muttered under her breath, but Song Chenyi heard it.

The corners of Song Chenyi's lips curved upward, though he had no way to refute it—how could it possibly not be hard?

"I'm doing very well here, I'll take good care of myself. Besides, I usually teach the little kids here how to read and write; they're all very cute."

"You must take good care of yourself too."

"Xiaxia." Suddenly, he called her name in a very serious tone.

"Hmm?" Luo Yixia's heart trembled along with it.

"In the future, let's also have a daughter, alright? I like daughters, as cute as you are."

"Alright, then... when you come back?" Luo Yixia didn't know why she had blurted out something so bold and shameless.

A low chuckle came from the other end: "There's no need to rush quite that much."

At that, Luo Yixia's face flushed crimson with embarrassment.

What on earth had she just said?

Wait for him to return? Why was she in such a rush when she was still in school?

Time flew by, and before they knew it, they had been chatting for half an hour.

"Go back quickly, it'll be dawn soon," Luo Yixia urged, unable to suppress her heartache.

"I want to hear your voice for a little longer."

Luo Yixia fell silent. How could she not want the same? She longed to hear his voice too.

"Alright, you must take good care of yourself as well. I'll call you whenever I have time. I'm heading back."

In a daze, the call ended.

Song Chenyi stood beneath the veil of night.

Everything around him was pitch black.

The beam of his flashlight was extremely dim; judging by its flickering, the battery was about to run out completely.

The signal this time was simply too poor.

He had walked for a very long time just to find a spot with a sliver of signal here.

This small mountain village was originally quite backward and didn't even have a signal tower. This mountain flood had also been severe, cutting off the electricity entirely.

These past few days, he had been so busy he didn't even have time to eat.

Having finally managed to find a break, he had hiked for over three hours just to get here, driven solely by the desire to hear her voice.

The road back was long and rugged.

Yet the corners of Song Chenyi's lips remained lifted throughout.

He stepped heavily, now deep, now shallow, through the muddy mountain path.

The edge of the sky was beginning to turn pale, and by the time he returned to the base, daylight would have broken.

He had spent his entire break time to trade for less than half an hour on the phone—was it worth it?

Judging by Song Chenyi's expression, one didn't even need to ask to know the answer.

Meanwhile, after receiving his call, Luo Yixia was so excited she stayed awake until dawn.

All sleepiness had vanished.

Yet a single phone call offered no comforting relief; instead, it only made Luo Yixia miss him even more.

This longing was burning and imminent.

She wished she could fly over to him right this instant.

Ultimately, however, she held back, telling herself she couldn't go and cause him extra trouble.

Recently, having nothing better to do, Luo Yixia signed up for a drama club.

Dropping by to watch some plays when she had free time turned out to be quite interesting.

Because of her striking appearance and the dazzling impression she made at the New Year's gala, people were gradually beginning to notice her.

However, with Song Chenyi already established as her boyfriend, it warded off quite a few suitors.

Knowing the kind of exceptional figure Song Chenyi was, anyone who fancied her would think twice before making a fool of themselves by pursuing her.

The head of the drama club was a junior student. He talked a lot, was very easy to get along with, and stood tall and slender.

Crucially, he was extremely attentive toward Luo Yixia.

Luo Yixia only ever reacted to Song Chenyi and was slow-witted about everything else, so she hadn't given it any particular thought.

"Junior student, the drama club has a performance coming up in a bit. We want you to take part in a program—would you like to try it out?"

"What program?" Luo Yixia had originally thought she was just joining to coast along and watch plays every day, never expecting she would actually have to perform.

"Romeo and Juliet."

Huh? What a cliché plot.

"Who am I playing?" Luo Yixia asked.

"Do you think Juliet would work?"

"Um, actually, I feel like I'm more suited for children's plays, like Snow White, Cinderella, or something similar. I can't handle this..." How could she possibly pull off such an important role all of a sudden?

"It's fine, Junior. You've been in the drama club for a month now; just sitting around watching every day isn't going anywhere. Give it a try yourself. As for the character, you slowly get into it as you go. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask around. There are plenty of seniors here, and if you ask, everyone will be more than happy to help."
Unable to find a way to refuse, she ended up muddle-headedly accepting the role of the female lead.

It was already the year 2020; why on earth were they still performing such a tragic story? Weren't sweet romances better?

Wasn't Snow White romantic? Wasn't Cinderella inspiring?

Why choose Romeo and Juliet?

She might as well do Butterfly Lovers.

Chinese culture was profound and vast—were Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai not tragic enough?

These thoughts could only be kept strictly to herself; she didn't dare utter a single peep.

Luo Yixia slumped listlessly over the desk, resting her chin on a stack of papers.

Her eyes cast downward.

"What are you looking at with such a world-weary expression?" Gan Yanyan glanced at her friend, who had been completely dispirited ever since Song Chenyi left.

"A script from the drama club. They want me to act in it, but I don't know how to act at all." Luo Yixia felt like crying.

"Let me see." Gan Yanyan snatched the stack of scripts away.

"Oho, Romeo and Juliet, not bad. What are you playing? A carriage?" Her tone was half-mocking.

"I'm playing Juliet." Luo Yixia shot her a side-long glance.

"What? Did all the female leads in your drama club die off? They're making you go up?" Gan Yanyan found it hard to believe.

Her voice boomed loudly, causing the previously rowdy classroom during break to instantly fall silent.

Luo Yixia snatched the script back and said with a helpless sigh, "I didn't want to either, but the senior insisted I give it a try, saying I'd been loafing around there for over a month and asking how I could possibly have the nerve to refuse."

"Could that senior have the hots for you?" Gan Yanyan asked suspiciously.

"I'm telling you, can you not be so hopelessly romantic all the time? Why do you have to twist everything in that direction?" Luo Yixia wanted to roll her eyes.

"I'm serious, you probably haven't checked the school forum yet, have you? There's a newly posted thread about a campus belle competition recently. Since Xiang Xingluo went off for her internship, that's why this started up. Do you know who made the top three?" Gan Yanyan said excitedly.

"Hehe... I'm not interested, I don't want to know." Luo Yixia forced an ugly smile.

"Don't be like that. You skipped right past the department belle and went straight to claiming the pinnacle of first place in this campus belle selection."

"What?" Luo Yixia didn't catch her drift. Was it what she thought it meant?