"I won. Chen, let’s go."

Ningning, who rarely showed much emotion, couldn’t help but chuckle, her delicate face lit up with the joy of victory, as if touched by a spring breeze.

She turned and walked over to Chen Yuan, getting ready to hop on his back for a piggyback ride.

Having never been carried on a boy’s back before, Jiangg Ning was a little bashful, her cheeks flushing red. She was trying to figure out the most comfortable way for Chen Yuan to carry her.

Catching sight of her older sister’s radiant smile, Jiangg Yao instantly pressed her lips into a thin line. A sour feeling of jealousy churned within her, and a complicated look crossed her face.

The thought of watching her sister leave with Chen Yuan made her feel completely hollow.

A moment later.

As if she’d made a decision, Jiangg Yao shot out a hand and grabbed her sister.

"Hey, isn’t it best two out of three? I still have another round!"

Jiangg Ning froze for a second.

"Yaoyao, when did we say it was best two out of three? Don’t be a sore loser."

"Who’s being a sore loser? You never said it was one-and-done, either."

"But I already won."

"There’s one more round. *You’re* the one being a sore loser."

As they spoke, neither sister was willing to back down. Their argument immediately escalated, and they even started getting physical. Their war of words was punctuated by pushes and shoves, and it looked like they were about to come to blows.

It was no longer about who was being a sore loser.

In just a few minutes, their endless debate had devolved into personal attacks, their insults growing increasingly vicious.

"We didn’t even agree on the rules, so this doesn’t count. The Boss didn’t say it was one-and-done, either. Maybe he meant best two out of three, too."

"In your dreams. Jiangg Yao, can you stop kidding yourself? You’re a sore loser every single time. After all these years, you think I don’t know you? It’s hilarious... Go ahead and be a sore loser, I don’t care. It’s how you’re so stubborn and refuse to admit it that I find disgusting."

"I’m disgusting? That self-righteous act of yours is just as disgusting! The Boss didn’t say anything!"

"I’m done with you. Chen, we’re leaving."

With a flick of her wrist, Jiangg Ning’s brow creased in annoyance as she took Chen Yuan’s hand again.

But Jiangg Yao wasn’t about to let her leave so easily. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Jiangg Ning’s waist. With a surprising burst of stubborn strength, she physically dragged her sister back.

"Thinking of leaving? Not a chance!"

"Jiangg Yao, you fatso, let go of me!"

"I will not!"

Chen Yuan endured their racket, standing frozen in place. As he listened, his eyes began to glaze over.

’Arguing. The endless, incessant arguing.’

’This was the price of having two girlfriends. A price he might have to ’enjoy’ for the rest of his life.’

He wasn’t physically exhausted.

Just emotionally.

"That’s enough..." Chen Yuan sighed. "It’s my fault for not making the rules clear. How about we do it over? This time, Ningning can set the rules. Let’s just get this over with. If you keep arguing, we’ll be spending the night on this mountain."

"Fine. Then it’s best two out of three," Jiangg Ning agreed through gritted teeth.

When she turned to look at Jiangg Yao again, her narrowed eyes were filled with a dangerous light.

At her sister’s glare, Jiangg Yao flinched guiltily. She knew she’d been the one to bend the rules first, so she didn’t have a leg to stand on.

’But the thought of being left behind was something Jiangg Yao absolutely couldn’t accept. She knew that whenever her sister got that look in her eyes, she was definitely in for a beating when they got home.’

’I can take a beating!’

Jiangg Yao forced herself to glare back, mustering her courage. Now was not the time to lose face.

As they stared each other down...

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Two fair hands shot out, each forming a different sign. Chen Yuan leaned in to see under the lamplight.

The next moment.

Jiangg Yao pumped her fist in the air.

"I won! I finally won! I knew it."

Jiangg Ning’s expression darkened. Annoyed by her sister’s glee, she sneered,

"Don’t get too excited. One more round to go."

Soon.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

It was the final round, the crucial moment that would decide the winner. Both sisters threw their hands at the same time.

They stared with wide, anxious eyes at each other’s hands, equally tense. But when the results were revealed...

Jiangg Yao immediately burst into cheers. "I won!"

Jiangg Ning reacted in less than half a second, crying out anxiously,

"You cheated again! You threw late! That doesn’t count!"

"No way I was late! Stop making things up."

"You totally were! Chen is standing right here watching. You were late on purpose. You waited until you saw my hand, then you threw rock."

Jiangg Ning pointed at her sister, about to explode with rage. Anyone, no matter how good-tempered, would lose their patience after these repeated dirty tricks.

But in truth, she was actually wronging Jiangg Yao this time.

From Chen Yuan’s perspective as an onlooker, the interval between their moves was so short that no one could have possibly reacted in time. Jiangg Yao had indeed been a fraction of a second slower, but it wasn’t intentional cheating.

You could only say her usual antics had come back to bite her, earning Jiangg Ning’s suspicion.

’If Yaoyao were really that cunning, she wouldn’t be Yaoyao.’

’The countless schemes she’d tried in the past had usually backfired. Otherwise, the relationship between the three of them would never have become this complicated.’

Chen Yuan had seen the truth, but when both sisters looked to him for a verdict, he didn’t speak up for Jiangg Yao. Instead, he just looked up at the sky and pretended he hadn’t seen a thing.

’Jiangg Ning was already furious. If he took Yaoyao’s side now, Jiangg Yao wouldn’t be the only one to suffer the consequences.’

"I... I really didn’t! You can’t just accuse an innocent person like that..."

Jiangg Yao stomped her foot in frustration, her face flushing red. But her sister would never believe her defense; in fact, she took the blush as a sign of guilt, proof that she’d been caught.

"Then let’s make it best three out of five! Since you cheated, it’s not fair. I get one free cheat, too."

"You!"

"’You’ what? Let’s go. Hurry up."

"Alright, fine."

Yaoyao puffed out her cheeks resentfully and let out a cold huff.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

"Rock, paper..."

"I won again! That was fair, wasn’t it?"

"No way. Best four out of seven, right? Come on!"

...

Half a minute later.

"Best five out of nine!"

...

And another half-minute later.

"Ten rounds—"

Before Jiangg Yao could finish, Chen Yuan, at the end of his rope, cut off the sisters’ never-ending game.

"Shut up, both of you! Seriously, is this never going to end? How long have you been dawdling? Are we going to get moving or not?"

"Boss..."

The two sisters exchanged a look, shocked into silence by his shouting. Neither dared to speak. They lowered their heads, only daring to peek timidly up at his thunderous expression.

They had indeed been dawdling for far too long, wearing away at Chen Yuan’s patience. And time was running out.

On this cold and miserable rainy night.

The longer they stayed out, the more they yearned for the warmth of home.

In fact, if one looked closely, Chen Yuan’s hands were already trembling from the cold. He had broken out in a light sweat earlier, and now the cool wind snaked in through his collar, sending a sharp chill through his entire body. It was the kind of cold that made it impossible not to shiver.

’He really didn’t get it.’

’What was so scary about frogs, anyway? What crime had these little creatures committed? In the grand scheme of nature, they were actually beneficial.’

"I told you to grab some branches, but you wouldn’t. I clear the path ahead, and you’re afraid a frog will jump on you from behind. I offer to carry one of you across and come back for the other, but you won’t agree to that either. Do you think I can carry both of you at the same time? Ugh... we never should have come hiking today. Seriously... I’m dying of thirst. Let me get a drink of water."

Chen Yuan lectured the two sisters.

Neither of them argued back, but it was clear they weren’t taking it to heart. It was all going in one ear and out the other.

When he finished venting, Jiangg Ning thoughtfully handed him the bottle of ’Scream’ sports drink she’d bought on their way up the mountain.

Chen Yuan unscrewed the cap, tilted his head back, and squeezed the plastic bottle hard, trying to squirt the water into his mouth. He squeezed for what felt like an eternity and only managed to get a single mouthful.

He fought the urge to curse the bottle’s idiotic design.

"Is this drink for people to drink or to play with? Why can’t I get anything out?"

"Boss, you have to squeeze it a bit harder."

"Squeeze it like this?"

Tilting his head back for so long had made his neck tired. Chen Yuan gave up, aimed the bottle at the ground, and gave it a sharp squeeze.

"SQUIRT—"

A thin jet of water shot out from the nozzle, landing squarely on a frog near his feet.

Instantly.

As if it had received a terrible fright, the frog kicked its legs and leaped away.

"See? These frogs are far more scared of you than you are of them. It just takes a little noise to scare them off. What’s so hard about—That’s it! This is how we do it!"

A gleam suddenly appeared in Chen Yuan’s eyes. He spun around, a look of delighted surprise on his face.

"Yaoyao, where’s your bottle?"

"Uh... in my pocket. What’s up?"

"Take it out. Do what I’m doing," Chen Yuan said, demonstrating by gripping his bottle, aiming it at a frog on the path, and letting out another squirt.

"I get it now. We can use the bottles to drive the frogs away."

"Right. I’ll use a branch, you guys use the drink bottles."

Jiangg Ning took the bottle Chen Yuan offered her and looked dubiously at the two of them. Beside her, Jiangg Yao was already in motion. Mustering her courage, she aimed the nozzle of her bottle at a frog on the ground.

She squeezed lightly.

"Hey, it really works! I scared it off! Sis, you try!"

"I... alright, fine."

Jiangg Ning stared pensively at the plastic bottle in her hand and tried to copy Yaoyao. The thought of looking directly at the slimy frogs on the ground was still nauseating, but right now, she had no other choice.

This was the only way.

Sure enough, the method was effective.

The two sisters followed behind Chen Yuan, squirting at the frogs as they went. It wasn’t long before they had covered a good distance, successfully clearing the path.

Jiangg Yao even started to find it fun, muttering to herself as she squirted.

"Take this."

"You trying to mess with me too? Get lost."

"Water Gun!"

On the rugged mountain path, it felt as if they were the only three people in the world. Soon, the lights of the parking lot came into clear view. By the time they reached the end of the trail, Jiangg Yao had used up her entire bottle of water, while Jiangg Ning’s was still more than half full.

"We finally made it."

Chen Yuan unlocked the car with the key fob, pulled the door open, and slid inside.

He almost frantically turned on the car’s heater, desperate for the warm air to chase away the biting cold.

The car doors shut with a pair of thuds.

After settling into their seats, the two sisters let out a long, collective sigh.

A sigh that contained all the exhaustion of the long day.

"Let’s go home, quick. I’m exhausted..."

At Yaoyao’s urging, Chen Yuan slowly started the engine.

And so, the day’s unforgettable journey finally came to a close.