A writer has arrived in the Chinese entertainment industry.

"No problem." Su Liu adopted a smug look, as if everything was under control. "Just have the lighting edit it."

"Teacher Su seems to always be able to argue unreasonably." Reba looked at Su Liu with a scrutinizing expression.

"That's a talent too," Mao Xiaotong said.

"Hey, it's all your fault for changing the subject." Su Liu looked at Li Xian, "Xian, keep going, what happened to the girl you took hiking with?"

Li Xian glanced at the rearview mirror, his voice a little muffled, "I haven't heard from her since." He quickly added, "I don't think it's a problem with the hike. She's in great shape; she didn't complain of being tired at all. Besides, didn't Dilraba and Sister Xiaotong come hiking today?"

"Please!" Su Liu slapped her thigh, her voice rising an octave, "Those two, one gets up at five in the morning for a run, the other gets up at dawn to practice ballet. Neither of them are normal!"

Mao Xiaotong reached over and patted Su Liu's head like she was slapping a watermelon. "What do you mean by not being a normal person?"

Dilraba nodded in agreement, "Teacher Su has no idea about the hardships of us female artists; he only makes sarcastic remarks."

About an hour and a half later, the noise outside the car window was completely replaced by the mountains and forests. Li Xian slowed down and parked the car at an open parking spot by the roadside.

"We've arrived, get off the bus," he said.

Su Liu pushed open the car door, and a gust of biting cold wind blew in his face, making him shiver involuntarily. All around were stretches of mountain shadows, and the roadside was densely wooded with overgrown weeds, making it impossible to see the road leading up the mountain.

"Ah Xian, which way do we start climbing the mountain?"

"Come with me."

All four of them were carrying a large backpack, wearing high-top hiking boots, and similar knitted wool hats and black non-slip gloves.

Su Liu thought that Li Xian's so-called mountain climbing meant finding a scenic spot and walking up the mountain path.

But now, standing at the edge of the G108 national highway, looking at the dense bushes and withered yellow weeds covering the ground, he couldn't help but ask a soul-searching question, "You mean, we have to go in from here?"

"Yes. This route is very simple, and many parents usually bring their children here to play."

Su Liu glanced at the "Caution: Fire Prevention" sign on the roadside, then at Dilraba and Mao Xiaotong who were doing warm-up exercises.

"You mean climbing a mountain?" he asked, pointing to the dense shadows of the trees, "is it really just climbing with your hands?"

"It's not that exaggerated, Teacher Su!" Li Xian started jogging on the spot, "Let's get moving!"

Looking at his three energetic teammates, Su Liu felt a pang of regret, but all he could do was sigh and follow them into the thicket of weeds.

At first, the four of them walked together, chatting and laughing. But gradually they started to drift apart.

Li Xian was clearly a frequent hiker, as he was very agile. Even when faced with a small slope made of piled rocks, he quickly climbed over it.

"Hurry up!" He stood on the distant hillside, turned around, and waved to the three people behind him. "I'll wait for you up ahead!"

There are only rocky slopes everywhere here, and there are no proper paths at all. Many times you have to use your hands and feet to climb up.

After climbing over a series of steep, protruding rock walls, Reba stood on the slope and looked down. In the distance, Su Liu's body was swaying, and he looked like he was already panting heavily. Mao Xiaotong was beside him, holding his arm and half-pulling, half-dragging him uphill.

When celebrities participate in talk shows, they are always inevitably asked questions such as their ideal type.

Yesterday on "Entertainment Live," the host jokingly pressed Dilraba whether she preferred the type of Su Liu or the type of Li Xian.

At the time, Su Liu and Li Xian were joking around, Mao Xiaotong was covering her mouth and chuckling, and the host kept encouraging her. Dilraba, however, thought seriously for a while before answering, "I like the kind of warm man who can firmly walk towards me."

But it's so strange. Teacher Su is clearly neither steadfast nor warm. He does things entirely based on his mood and is always careless.

She watched the two figures slowly moving forward in the distance, then turned and started walking back.

"How can a grown man like you have such poor stamina?" Mao Xiaotong's tone was full of disbelief.

Su Liu felt like her throat was stuffed with hot cotton, and she was panting as she spoke, "I'm just not good at mountain climbing."

While firmly holding onto him, Mao Xiaotong squeezed out a sentence, "When you do that, you're like a bull."

The sudden exposure of such a large scale made Su Liu doubt his own ears.

"Sister Xiaotong, what did you say?!"

Mao Xiaotong tugged at him forcefully, abruptly changing the subject: "Hey, don't stop. Look ahead, they've all disappeared."

"That's not scientific! You have such thin arms and legs, how come you have such good stamina?"

"I've filmed several martial arts movies before, and when you join a production, you have to practice the basics first. You're suspended by wires all day, sometimes for hours at a time, and you have to do sword flourishes in the air. If you're not physically fit, how can you endure it?"

"Oh, I remember." Su Liu tilted her head and thought for a moment, "Zhong Ling from 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils,' right?"

"yes."

"What's with the costumes in this show?" Su Liu only remembered that Mu Wanqing wore a spider web-shaped erotic headpiece, which looked like a few thongs on her head if you didn't know better.

"Ah... this..."

"Didn't you realize something was off while you were acting?"

"What else can we do? We actors don't have the final say on things like styling."

The two stopped at a steep slope.

"I need to rest for a while!"

Su Liu felt as if his spine had been removed, and he plopped down on a large rock next to him.

He took out a water bottle from his backpack and gulped down half of it in one go.

"Hey," Mao Xiaotong reached out and patted him, "Don't drink so much water all at once after strenuous exercise."

The hillside was covered with withered, deciduous shrubs, their branches thin and intertwined, devoid of leaves, presenting a grayish-brown hue. The entire environment lacked any man-made steps, consisting only of undulating stone ridges and natural slopes trodden by climbers.

Su Liu only rested for a short while before Mao Xiaotong pulled him up.

"Get up quickly."

She pushed Su Liu against the rock wall, her whole body almost parallel to the slope, and slowly climbed up some protruding stone steps.

Mao Xiaotong followed behind, constantly urging him on.

Suddenly, Reba's voice came from above.

"Teacher Su, hold my hand."

Su Liu looked up and saw Reba lying on the bend of the rock, her right hand hanging down.

"Wow, Dilraba! You do have a conscience."

He strained upwards and grabbed Reba's hand.

"Sister Xiaotong!" After pulling Su Liu up, she pulled Mao Xiaotong up as well.

"Teacher Su, you can't keep going like this," Reba said with a smile. "You're already panting like this after climbing such a short distance."

"I can't compare to you, you weirdo who gets up at 5 a.m. to run!"

"Hmph, I'm going to give you a good beating when we get back this time."

"You don't need to worry about that!"

"Let's go." Reba pulled him along. "Ah Xian must be getting impatient waiting up ahead."

Mao Xiaotong watched the two playfully bickering and silently followed them.