Chapter 20: Summit Reward
After getting off the cable car, a platform came into view. Walking a short distance forward led to the center, where a monument engraved with the number "4506" stood. From this platform, a wooden staircase trail wound upward, leading all the way to the summit of the mountain.
The people who rode up with him scattered in different directions.
The cheerful young woman who had been chatting with the auntie also gave a quick goodbye before dragging her boyfriend off to take photos.
Chen Xing turned to look back at the mountain below.
He couldn't see anything. The sea of clouds below blocked out the entire view like a thick curtain.
No wonder the cable car station was placed here. This segment, from the platform to the summit, was the only section of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain not covered in clouds. Everything below was completely shrouded.
Many people on the platform were taking photos, but more had already started ascending the staircase.
Chen Xing looked around and noticed the auntie wasn't resting either, she was already happily chatting with her livestream viewers as she hiked up the stairs to the 4680-meter altitude. She was moving fast. Chen Xing had been hoping to talk to her more about travel tips.
Oh well. He hadn't figured out how to start the conversation anyway. Better that she went ahead.
He adjusted his backpack, pulled out his oxygen bottle, and put on the hood of his down jacket.
He tucked his camera inside the coat, he was already bundled up, so a bit more bulk didn't matter.
His camera lens wasn't high-end and wasn't cold-resistant. If it froze and broke, it would be a real loss, he didn't have a backup.
Time to go!
The elevation above 4,000 meters hadn't triggered altitude sickness in Chen Xing yet, but he could definitely feel the effects of the thin air. In the surrounding hundred meters, apart from a few vendors selling snacks year-round, no one else seemed to be hiking with a heavy backpack like him.
Before even reaching the halfway point, Chen Xing already found himself short of breath. It wasn't exhaustion, it was a strange, breathless sensation. He took two puffs of oxygen.
If he felt this way with his level of fitness, then it must be even worse for tourists in poor health or visiting high altitudes for the first time. Some didn't care how cold the steps were, they just sat right down, too weak to go on.
Nine out of ten people were panting. The clouds surrounding the area almost seemed like they were made of all the tourists' exhaled breaths.
As Chen Xing passed someone who was bent over catching their breath, the man glanced up, saw Chen Xing's massive backpack, and blurted out in shock, "Damn, bro, you're hiking the snow mountain with that load?"
"I regret it already," Chen Xing said with a bitter smile.
Clearly, being healthy didn't make him invincible. Still far from being Rambo lugging a Gatling gun.
He'd definitely need to keep training in the future.
As he continued upward, about halfway to the top, he spotted the livestreaming auntie again.
Chen Xing approached. "Auntie, we meet again."
"Phew, huff… Give me a sec." She took a few puffs of oxygen before catching her breath and responding, "Youth really makes a difference, my lungs feel like they're on fire."
Hearing that, Chen Xing instinctively looked up at the summit, it was still far away.
"You should head down soon, Auntie. Altitude sickness can be dangerous."
"No need. I just need to rest a bit."
She sat down on the edge of the stairs like many others. Chen Xing, also needing a break, stood on a step below her and struck up a conversation.
"How long have you been doing self-media, Auntie? I want to try becoming a travel blogger, but I don't know where to start."
"I've been at it for about a year now." She unscrewed her thermos, sipped some hot water, and continued, "No need to be so formal. My last name is Su. You can call me Aunt Su, or Sister Su,whichever you prefer, haha."
She joked cheerfully, then took another puff of oxygen.
"You're amazing, Sister Su. Driving solo all over the place."
If she'd been traveling non-stop for a year, the mileage must be staggering.
Definitely fits the saying "read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles."
Thinking about how she'd accomplished it all on her own, Chen Xing couldn't help but admire her.
"Oh, it's not a big deal."
"Wouldn't your family object to that?"
"They did. But there are some things, if you know they make you happy and don't hurt anyone, why care what others think? And your name is…?"
"I'm Chen Xing. You can just call me Xiao Chen, Sister Su."
Su's expression turned a bit more serious as she looked at him and said, "Xiao Chen, you and I are different. For you, traveling away from home is a choice. But for me, it's the only path I have."
She stood up, and Chen Xing helped steady her.
"Okay, that's enough rest. Let's keep moving."
On the way, she explained what she meant earlier.
"I started driving on my own because my husband and I had a falling out. He constantly criticized me, said I spoke the wrong way, did things wrong, this wasn't right, that wasn't good… It felt like I couldn't do anything right. So… how should I put it? It was suffocating."
Chen Xing said, "That just makes me admire you even more. Making that kind of decision must've been hard."
"Haha, definitely. Back then, I had only about ten thousand yuan in savings. I spent most of it buying an SUV, and just hit the road."
Chen Xing could tell Su was in deep emotional pain.
He was smart, not academically, but emotionally. If he were in the kind of household Su described, he probably would've become depressed long ago. No wonder she said driving away was her only path.
He didn't press further and simply accompanied her as they slowly climbed to the summit of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
A massive monument stood at the peak, engraved with "4680." The base bore the characters for "Jade Dragon Snow Mountain."
Su went off to chat with her livestream viewers. Chen Xing took out his camera, still warm from being kept against his chest, planning to take a few shots in the misty surroundings—but eventually gave up. There was too much fog and too many people. Nothing good to photograph.
Technically, this wasn't even the highest point. Higher peaks could still be seen in the distance, towering even above Jade Dragon Snow Mountain—but those sheer cliffs were clearly not meant for average tourists. Only professional climbers would dare scale those off-trail summits.
Su returned and said, "Handsome Chen, help me take a few photos?"
"No problem."
Chen Xing nodded and reached for his camera, but Su interrupted him, handing over her phone instead.
"Just use my phone to snap one or two. I'll take a photo for you after—though I'm sure I'm not nearly as good a photographer as you."
They'd been chatting the whole way up, so she already knew he was into photography.
Soon they switched places. Chen Xing stood in front of the monument. He pulled down the hood of his down jacket, and his short black hair fluttered to the right in the cold wind. With his hands in his pockets, he smiled into the phone's lens.
He'd taken countless photos of others since mastering photography—but this was the first proper portrait of himself.
Even if he wasn't the one pressing the shutter.
[You have reached the summit of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Altitude: 4680 meters. Difficulty: Easy. You've earned a cash reward of ¥20,000, which will be transferred to your traveler's bank account shortly. Please check your balance.]
(End of Chapter)