I'm a senior in high school, and the Emperor Development System has arrived!

Chapter 99 No one can help me reach the summit, so I will take out a loan to reach the top!
[Bai Qianqian's inner monologue: Chen Zhou is watching me... Does he think I'm climbing too slowly? But I'm so tired... My legs are so sore... But I can't stop! I can't let him think I'm useless...]

Seeing this, Chen Zhou smiled helplessly, picked up another bottle of water, and walked to Bai Qianqian's side:
"Are you alright? Would you like some water before you go?"

Bai Qianqian took the water, her fingers accidentally touching Chen Zhou's fingertips. She flinched as if burned and whispered:
"Thank you...thank you."

Her hands trembled a little when she twisted the bottle cap, so Chen Zhou simply reached out and helped her unscrew it. The bottle made a soft "pop" sound, and her face turned even redder.

"Take it slow, no need to rush."

Chen Zhou watched her sip water slowly and remembered the pile of snacks in her backpack—

When I swung it over my shoulder just now, I almost made him stumble. I couldn't help but ask:
"What snacks did you bring? It's so heavy!"

Bai Qianqian paused in her drinking, her eyes widening like a startled little rabbit:
"No, no... I just brought some... cookies, chocolate, potato chips, jelly... and some... strawberries, jackfruit, and cantaloupe..."

Chen Zhou: "..."

He finally understood why the backpack was so heavy.

This isn't mountain climbing, it's like bringing a convenience store here.

"Are you planning to open a small shop on the mountaintop with all this?"

Bai Qianqian lowered her head, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes:

"I... I'm worried everyone will get hungry while hiking... I read in the guides that hiking is physically demanding, so we should bring plenty of food..."

The sound grew fainter and fainter until it was almost inaudible.

[Insightful Insight] is back online:
Bai Qianqian: Oh no, does he think I'm stupid? I don't even know anything... I should have asked Mom... But Mom said I should bring plenty of food when I go out so I won't go hungry...

Seeing that she was almost twisting a hole in the hem of her clothes, Chen Zhou's initial disapproval vanished instantly, replaced by amusement.

"It's okay, it's good to bring more. We can have a picnic when we get to the observation deck."

He reached out and patted her head, the gesture as natural as if he were patting his own younger sister.

"Come on, let me help you up?"

Bai Qianqian suddenly looked up, her face turning bright red. She nodded quickly, carefully reached out, and gently grasped Chen Zhou's arm.

Her fingers were cool, damp from drinking water, and she gripped him very gently, as if afraid of hurting him.

Chen Zhou led Bai Qianqian upstairs, and behind them came Lu Mi's "tsk" sound:
"Senior, you're being unfair! I'm tired too!"

Chen Zhou turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow:
"Then come here, and I'll pull you along?"

Lu Mi immediately took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest:

"Who, who needs you to pull me! I can walk by myself!"

Despite saying that, his body betrayed him as he followed, falling half a step behind the two. His eyes kept glancing at Chen Zhou and Bai Qianqian's clasped arms, and the corners of his mouth were turned up in a wide grin.

[Insightful observation] Capturing Lu Mi's inner monologue:

[Lu Mi: It seems Chen Zhou cares more about Bai Qianqian than Jiang Xia? Holy crap, is my senior a gold digger?]

The two slowly walked uphill. Bai Qianqian's physical strength was indeed poor, and she had to rest after walking a few steps, but she didn't complain anymore and just gritted her teeth and persevered.

Chen Zhou didn't rush her, accompanying her as they walked and stopped. Suddenly, he noticed some beautiful wildflowers by the roadside and asked curiously:
"What kind of flower is this? It's quite beautiful."

Bai Qianqian looked in the direction he pointed and saw a cluster of pink and white flowers climbing on the stone wall, the petals trembling gently in the wind.

She smiled faintly and said:

"This...this is a wild rose. It blooms from May to June, but the blooming season is long over. It can only still be seen on the mountain."

Bai Qianqian reached out to touch it, but was afraid of hurting herself, so she hesitated for a moment and withdrew her hand.

"like?"

Seeing her like that, Chen Zhou simply walked over, carefully avoiding the thorns, and broke off a small branch to hand to her:
"Here, just be careful not to get pricked by the thorns."

Bai Qianqian took the flower branch, her fingertips gently touching the petals, her blush even more vibrant than the petals themselves.
"Thank you...thank you."

At this point, Chen Zhou and his two companions had fallen behind the main group and were separated from Jiang Xia and his group by a bend in the road.

Seeing this, Lu Mi couldn't help but tease:
"Wow, senior, you're so good at this!"

She suddenly quickened her pace, walked to the two of them, her gaze sweeping over the wild rose in Bai Qianqian's hand, her tone filled with exaggerated amazement:
"Flowers and a beautiful woman, a perfect match!"

Bai Qianqian felt a little embarrassed by her gaze, and subconsciously hid the flower behind her back, whispering:
"Junior, you're joking. The flowers are beautiful, but I'm not..."

What's wrong with it?

Lu Mi interrupted her, tilting her head to look at Chen Zhou, her eyes sparkling like a cunning little fox:
"Senior Qianqian is so well-behaved, who wouldn't feel sorry for her? Unlike me, so carefree and obedient, no wonder no one cares about me~"

After she finished speaking, she deliberately sighed and slumped her shoulders slightly, looking like she was saying, "I'm pitiful, but I won't say it."

Chen Zhou: "..."

He finally understood that Lu Mi had mastered the art of being both a "green tea bitch" and having "high emotional intelligence."

On the surface, every sentence praises Bai Qianqian, but in reality, every word implies his favoritism.

She also portrayed herself as a "tough woman no one cares about," leaving him with no reason to refute her.

Bai Qianqian blushed deeply at her words, her fingers tightening around the flower branch, and she whispered:
"No...no, junior, you're prettier..."

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding."

Lu Mi immediately dropped her pitiful look, clapped her hands, and laughed heartily:
"Let's hurry up, or Senior Jiang Xia will reach the top of the mountain soon, and all the good spots will be taken!"

At that moment, Jiang Xia was also standing by the railing of the observation deck, waving to them. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on her short hair, making it look as if it were edged with gold.

"Chen Zhou! Come on up here! You can see half the city from here!"

"coming!"

Chen Zhou responded and smiled at the two of them, saying, "Keep pushing, the viewing platform is just ahead, we can rest for a while when we get there."

Upon hearing this, Lu Mi and Bai Qianqian, though exhausted, mustered their courage and started walking again.

Chen Zhou walked to the side, squinted at Lu Mi, and felt that her behavior just now was a bit strange.

Just in case, he still threw out a [Insightful Insight]:
[Lu Mi: Fine, fine, senior, you're clearly doing this on purpose! I'm standing right here, a beautiful girl, and you're giving flowers to Bai Qianqian? You clearly don't respect me at all!]

Chen Zhou shook his head slightly, feeling somewhat speechless. It turned out that he was feeling unbalanced.

No wonder he speaks a bit aggressively.

However, this is for the best. He hasn't done the "Resist Temptation" quest many times yet, so he can't let Lu Mi's affection for him get too high.

Finally, the group climbed to the viewing platform one after another.

The viewing platform is a semi-circular platform paved with non-slip tiles and surrounded by waist-high stone railings.

Standing by the railing and looking down, the outline of the entire city unfolds under the setting sun, the glass curtain walls of the high-rise buildings reflect golden light, and the river in the distance is like a silver ribbon, winding its way towards the horizon.

"Wow...this view is absolutely stunning!"

Li Bin leaned on the railing, looking on in amazement:
"If I had known it would be this good, it would have been worth the effort!"

Stephen Chow put down his backpack and asked Chen Zhou:
"Elbow, are we stopping here, or should we rest for a bit and keep climbing?"

Chen Zhou took out his phone, glanced at the time, and said:

"The sun is about to set, let's stop here for today. Next time, let's all climb to the top together!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xinglun took out a picnic mat from his backpack and tossed a bottle of Gatorade to Chen Zhou:
"Here comes the pork knuckle."

Chen Zhou took the water and gulped it down with great relish.

Li Bin plopped down on one corner of the picnic mat, looking at Chen Zhou with a puzzled expression:
"No, not elbow. Were you always this fit before? You were out of breath just climbing the library last time."

Chen Zhou didn't know how to explain for a moment, but then a thought struck him. He pulled Li Bin aside and showed him the 100-day foundation-building plan on the note:
"Bin, do you understand?"

Li Bin looked at the words "100 Days of Foundation Building: 35/100" on the sticky note and instantly understood its meaning. He asked in a low voice:
"Is this effect really that strong?"

Chen Zhou chuckled and said:

"Didn't you just see the effect?"

Thinking back to his own weak and feeble appearance just now, Li Bin steeled his resolve:
"Alright! In recent years, I've been harmed by games and beautiful women. From this day forward—"

"Abstain from pornography!!"

Seeing the two whispering to each other, Stephen Chow took out the snacks he had brought from his backpack and asked:
"What are you two whispering about? Come on over and show off!"

"I'm coming!"

Chen Zhou took Bai Qianqian's backpack off and put it on the ground with a dull thud.

He unzipped his jacket and looked—

Goodness, besides what she just mentioned, there was also a large bag of chicken drumsticks, two boxes of sushi, and several boxes of Zhou Hei Ya braised food.

Zhou Xinglun looked at the cheap snacks he had brought, then at the snacks and fruits Bai Qianqian had brought, including Zhou Hei Ya (a type of braised duck neck), and was stunned.
Wow, that's incredibly wealthy! When will I ever be this rich?

Chen Zhou patted him on the shoulder:

"For the sake of our friendship, if you're short of money, I'll lend you 200,000."

Upon hearing this, Stephen Chow was excited:
"Godfather, is this really true?"

Chen Zhou chuckled and said:

"Of course it's true. I've put this 200,000 yuan in Douyin's 'Trusted Loan' service. You can take it out and use it directly if you need money."

Stephen Chow immediately scoffed and said:

"Then I still have to pay it back, right?"

Chen Zhou shook his head slightly:

"Why should I repay money I borrowed through my own abilities? As the saying goes, 'If no one can help me reach the clouds, I will take out loans to climb to the summit myself!'"

Stephen Chow naturally knew he was joking, and couldn't help but clap his hands and say:

"Only you, Elbow, could string these jokes together so smoothly. If abstraction were a profession, I think you could go and get a PhD."

Just then, Jiang Xia suddenly ran to the railing, pointed to the horizon, and shouted:
"Look! The sun is starting to set!"

The crowd immediately gathered around.

The setting sun, like a giant salted egg yolk, was slowly sinking into the distant horizon, turning the sky orange-red.

The clouds seemed to be on fire, changing from golden yellow to crimson, and then to deep purple, layer upon layer, so beautiful that it was impossible to look away.

Bai Qianqian stood beside Chen Zhou, still clutching the wild rose in her hand, her eyes fixed on the sunset, and she sighed softly:
"It's...it's so beautiful..."

Chen Zhou turned his head to look at her. The light of the setting sun fell on her face, making even the fine hairs on her face clearly visible. The corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, with a satisfied smile on her face.

Chen Zhou couldn't help but throw out the "Insightful Insight" comment:
Bai Qianqian: If only things could always be like this... with Chen Zhou and everyone... watching the sunset so many, many times...

Chen Zhou felt as if something had gently bumped into his heart. He turned his head to look at the sunset on the horizon, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

Perhaps, such moments are indeed worth cherishing forever.

Lu Mi stood behind the crowd, in the shade of a pine tree.

She gazed at the sky, dyed golden-red by the setting sun, then looked at the backs of the people standing side by side, and couldn't help but smile, murmuring to herself:
"That's great, that's how it is."

(End of this chapter)