Just before going back to their rooms for the night, Gu Junxing asked Nian Suian, "Would you like to watch the sunrise tomorrow morning?"
"Where would we watch it?" she inquired.
"Up on the mountain, where we had the barbecue last time."
"Is this... a date invitation?" Nian Suian was genuinely unsure why Gu Junxing had suddenly thought of watching the sunrise.
"Mm-hmm. Would you like to go?"
After a moment's consideration, Nian Suian agreed.
"Alright, then you're responsible for waking me up tomorrow. If knocking on the door doesn't work, you can come right in," Nian Suian said, well aware of her own habits. In both her lifetimes combined, this would be her first time participating in such an early-rising activity as watching the sunrise.
"Okay, get some rest early tonight, and I'll wake you up tomorrow," Gu Junxing replied.
Nian Suian nodded. Just as she was about to enter her room, Gu Junxing added, "It'll be just the two of us, we're not bringing Gu Zhijing."
"Oh ho, I wonder if our Zhijing will be heartbroken?" she teased.
"He won't be. We'll probably be back from the mountain before he even wakes up."
After exchanging goodnights once more, they each returned to their rooms to sleep.
That night, Nian Suian had the best intentions of going to bed early so she could wake up easily the next day. But as often happens, the more one tries to fall asleep, the more elusive sleep becomes.
Unsurprisingly, Gu Junxing knocked on her door for five minutes the next morning with no response from inside.
Remembering what Nian Suian had said the day before, Gu Junxing carefully opened the door and went in. Even though Nian Suian wore ordinary long-sleeved pajamas and pants to sleep in winter, Gu Junxing still felt an inexplicable nervousness.
As he looked towards the bed, he couldn't see where Nian Suian's head was at first glance...
Only when he got closer did he realize she was lying on her side with her head buried in the blanket, just a bit of her scalp visible.
"Suian, Suian, time to wake up," Gu Junxing called softly as he stood by the bed, but this volume was clearly insufficient to rouse Nian Suian from her deep slumber.
Nian Suian: ZZZ
After a moment's thought, Gu Junxing slowly sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to pull down the blanket covering Nian Suian's face.
"Time to get up, Suian," Gu Junxing called while brushing the hair away from her face.
Nian Suian furrowed her brow but still didn't open her eyes.
"Wake up, Suian."
...
It wasn't until the tenth call that Nian Suian finally opened her bleary eyes.
"So sleepy..." Nian Suian mumbled with her eyes half-closed, somewhat regretting her decision to agree to watch the sunrise. Wasn't the sunset just as nice?
But since she had agreed, Nian Suian felt too embarrassed to go back on her word. She could only struggle against her drowsiness with her eyes half-closed.
After three minutes of this battle, Nian Suian sat up in bed, but she was as limp as if she had no bones. She leaned against Gu Junxing, and in her half-asleep state, naturally cuddled up to him.
"Next time, next time let's not watch the sunrise. Let's watch the sunset instead."
While Gu Junxing was delighted by Nian Suian's current closeness, he was also fretting over how to get her out of bed.
He could only coax her, whispering in her ear, "Alright, we won't watch the sunrise next time. Just this once. Now, can I carry you to wash up?"
Fortunately, Gu Junxing had anticipated that Nian Suian would have difficulty getting up, so he had come to wake her half an hour early. Otherwise, with all this dawdling, they wouldn't need to go up the mountain – they could just watch the sunrise from the balcony.
Nian Suian made a small sound of agreement with her eyes closed.
Gu Junxing, maintaining their current position, supported her bottom and picked her up like a child.
He carried her into the bathroom and sat her directly on the countertop. One hand kept her from toppling over while the other squeezed toothpaste onto a brush.
"Open your mouth."
"Ah—"
Gu Junxing put the electric toothbrush in Nian Suian's mouth.
"I can do it myself," Nian Suian mumbled around the toothbrush.
The noise of the electric toothbrush was quite loud, and as soon as it was in her mouth, it shook away some of Nian Suian's drowsiness. However, she didn't get down from the counter, choosing to brush her teeth in that position.
Meanwhile, Gu Junxing was wringing out a washcloth. As soon as Nian Suian finished rinsing her mouth, he placed the cloth over her face.
After washing her face, Nian Suian's eyes finally opened properly.
"Your service is quite professional," Nian Suian commented, referring to how Gu Junxing was wiping her face.
"Do you need to apply face cream too?"
Nian Suian nodded while expressing her surprise, "You even know about that?"
"Because I use it too."
Now fully awake, Nian Suian felt up to teasing Gu Junxing, "Mr. Gu is quite meticulous, even using face cream."
Hearing this, Gu Junxing nodded and said seriously, "I have to. My wife is too young and beautiful."
This statement made Nian Suian laugh out loud. "You're getting better and better at sweet talk."
Sitting on the counter, Nian Suian was slightly taller than the standing Gu Junxing.
Gu Junxing leaned in, carefully applying the face cream with one hand while using the other to hold her hair back to keep it from getting in the way.
"Do you want your hair tied up?"
"Can you do that?"
Gu Junxing answered honestly, "No."
"No need to tie it up, just brush it out," Nian Suian said. Since Gu Junxing was offering to help, she decided to enjoy the pampering and sat still, letting him brush her hair.
Because they were facing each other, when Gu Junxing needed to brush the back of her hair, he simply pulled Nian Suian's head against his chest.
Nian Suian actually had a secret fondness for physical closeness.
Back in school, when walking with friends, she would often end up linking arms with someone without realizing it. Her classmates used to tease her about having "skin hunger."
But after she started working and moved to a strange city alone, there was no one to link arms with or walk shoulder to shoulder with anymore. Nian Suian had thought she had gotten over this "little habit."
She hadn't expected that recently, with Gu Junxing, her "skin hunger" seemed to be resurfacing.
"All done."
Nian Suian looked at Gu Junxing in front of her and lowered her head to bump his nose.
"Mr. Gu's service is excellent. This is your reward."
Gu Junxing looked at her calmly and said, "This reward seems a bit too casual, doesn't it?"
"How about this then?" Nian Suian leaned down and pecked him on the lips.
"That'll do, I suppose."
"Now get out quickly, I need to change my clothes," Nian Suian said, hopping down from the counter.
Gu Junxing raised an eyebrow, "Do you need my help?"
"No!" Nian Suian pushed him out of the room and closed the door.
Their morning routine had taken quite a bit of time, so Nian Suian changed into her clothes as quickly as possible. Thankfully, they had started early enough that they still had time.
Nian Suian had agreed to watch the sunrise partly because they could drive up the mountain. If she had to climb the mountain herself... well, even if it killed her... actually, even if it killed her, she would still go.
As soon as they got out of the car, the red glow of the sun was just peeking over the horizon.
Gu Junxing was well-prepared. He took two chairs out of the trunk, the same ones they had used for their barbecue last time.
He also brought out two thermoses.
"What's in them?" Nian Suian wondered where Gu Junxing had found the time to prepare all these things so early in the morning.
"Yours is chrysanthemum tea, mine is coffee," he explained, then added, "Your throat still isn't completely better. Chrysanthemum tea is good for your throat."
Nian Suian reached out to take it. She didn't really like coffee anyway.
They sat quietly for a while. The area illuminated by the sun's rays grew larger and larger, painting both the clouds and the mountain peaks with vibrant colors.