Katherine smiled at Joshua, her eyes showing a mix of doubt and teasing. "Are you sure you want to climb the mountain so late?"
Her voice was clear in the quiet night, like a small stone dropping into a calm lake, causing gentle ripples.
"Aren't you working tomorrow?"
Joshua shrugged carelessly, a relaxed smile on his lips. "I can take a day off and rest."
His gaze stayed on Katherine, as if she was the only important person in his world at that moment.
"And you? If you have to work, I'll go somewhere else."
Katherine's eyes dimmed for a moment, showing a complicated emotion. But she quickly hid it, not wanting Joshua to notice. "I happen to have the day off tomorrow."
Her smile returned, trying to keep the mood light.
"Then let's see if we can make it to the top tonight," Katherine said with a faint smile.
"Wait here for me, I'll go buy some things," Joshua said as he walked away.
His figure soon blended into the dark night. Katherine watched his back and whispered to herself, "Brother, will climbing really make the worries disappear?"
She wished it were true.
Every day, many people came to Wutong Mountain in Jing City. This mountain held countless dreams, sweat, and memories.
For Katherine, though she was born and raised here, every inch of this land seemed to carry her footsteps growing up.
Yet she had never actually climbed to the top.
She did not know what the view from the summit looked like.
Soon Joshua returned, carrying a black backpack. "I bought some water and food just in case. This mountain is harder to climb than you might think."
He looked at Katherine, asking, "Have you ever made it to the top?"
Katherine shook her head. "Have you?"
"Yeah, a few years ago I climbed alone. But I haven't been back much since then."
Joshua's eyes grew distant, as if his thoughts were far away.
Years ago, he had to give up his beloved career as a doctor to take care of his family's business. It was a hard choice, like tearing away a part of his life.
That night, he climbed alone in the dark. Around him was silence, only his footsteps and heavy breaths.
At the top, he looked down on the busy, unfamiliar city and thought about dreams and duty, about loss and what he still had.
That moment was a turning point in his life, a memory kept deep inside.
Katherine felt she saw a trace of sadness in his eyes.
Joshua handed her a bottle of water. "Katherine, have you decided? Do you want to climb up and see?"
Katherine nodded. "Since we're here, there's no reason to back down. Tonight, I want to make it to the top."
Joshua patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, I will make sure you get down safely."
Katherine smiled at him. "I trust you, brother. Let's go."
With that, Katherine stepped toward the stone stairs.
Joshua watched her back and thought, Katherine, since we met again, does that mean I have a chance?
Katherine looked back and saw him still standing there. She called out, "Brother, hurry up."
Hearing her, Joshua replied, "Coming."
A handsome guy and a beautiful girl climbing the mountain caught the attention of others nearby.
Someone whispered, "Did you see those two? They look perfect together."
"That boy is so handsome, and the girl is so beautiful."
"Really? I just looked somewhere else and didn't see anything. No, I have to catch up and check it out."
...
Andrew kept sitting in the car waiting for Katherine to come back.
Time passed by second after second. It had been almost two hours, but she still hadn't returned.
Only then did Andrew realize he didn't know Katherine at all.
He didn't know if she had any friends in the city, or what her relationship with her family was like.
He hadn't cared about her for the past two years, but after that night, he found he could no longer stay calm when he saw her again.
Andrew felt some anger inside. Where had Katherine gone?
He picked up his phone and called Assistant Ryan. "Hey, is there any progress on the investigation?"
"Boss, we have some clues. Madam might have been framed."
"But we are still watching the surveillance footage. We haven't found exactly who framed her yet. I will tell you immediately once there's news."
"Okay." Andrew hung up.
Andrew remembered he had added Katherine on WeChat before.
But he didn't remember her WeChat name.
Luckily, he didn't have many friends, so he started searching through his contacts one by one.
He leaned lazily back in the car seat, his fingers scrolling on the phone screen with a focused look, not missing any WeChat name that could be Katherine.
Time slowly passed in this boring search. Finally, his eyes stopped on a WeChat name with a capital S.
His heart skipped a beat. A subtle feeling told him this was the one.
Looking at the profile picture, it was a slim figure from behind. Even though it was only a back view, the posture and hairstyle looked just like Katherine.
A flash of hope appeared in Andrew's eyes. He eagerly clicked on her Moments, but what appeared was a blank page, with only a single horizontal line visible.
He frowned slightly, feeling a bit helpless and confused. He whispered, "Katherine, you actually blocked me."
After hesitating a moment, Andrew decided to take action. His long fingers quickly typed a simple message: "Where are you?" and hit send.
But the next second, the chat box popped up with a message that froze him: "You are not friends with this user. Please add them first."
He stared at the screen. For a moment, it felt like time stopped.
Through clenched teeth, he slowly said, "Katherine, you actually deleted me."
Those words carried complex emotions — surprise, anger, maybe even a bit of hidden sadness.
He never expected Katherine to take the initiative to delete him.
He went back to his call history, found Katherine's number, and dialed it.
"Sorry, the person you are trying to reach is busy. Please call later."
Andrew's heart felt strange. She even blocked his phone number.
"Katherine, you really are something else," he whispered.
At that moment, Assistant Ryan called, "Hello, what's up?"
Ryan heard the bad tone in his boss's voice and asked, "Boss, what's wrong?"
Andrew impatiently said, "If you have something to say, say it. If not, hang up."
"Wait, boss, we found who framed Madam."
Andrew thought about how Katherine had deleted him. Why should he still care?
"Ryan, don't bother with her case anymore."