Mistaken Canary Chapter 64
Chapter 64
It all started yesterday evening in the K.W. office break room—
With the Chinese New Year holiday approaching, the employees were already scrambling to book tickets and make plans. The break room was filled with people asking each other about their travel ideas.
A young woman, freshly in love, turned to Mi Shu and asked, “Mi jie, I want to go on a trip with my boyfriend—do you have any recommendations? I heard you met your boyfriend during a trip?”
“That’s right,” Mi Shu chuckled, instantly piquing everyone’s curiosity. They crowded around, eager to hear more details.
Mi Shu cleared her throat and began, “It was during last year’s holiday. I joined a tour group to go hiking, but I got separated from the group. It was then, my now boyfriend showed up—rescued me like a hero, stayed by my side the whole way, so gentle and caring, knew just what to say. What was originally a boring trip suddenly became really fun.”
“Wow, I’m so jealous. Maybe I’ll book a hiking trip too, use it as a test to see if my boyfriend’s brave and considerate!” the woman said.
Mi Shu nodded. “That’s a great idea. Travel really reveals someone’s temperament. If he puts you first every step of the way—then he’s a keeper.”
The group of people burst into laughter, when suddenly one caught sight of a looming shadow and jumped in fright: “Ch–Chairman Zhuo.”
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Zhuo Shu walked in calmly to grab a coffee. “Everyone’s here, huh? Sounds like a fun conversation.”
People chuckled awkwardly and quickly dispersed.
As soon as Mi Shu got back to her desk, her boss swept past her like a gust of wind, leaving behind a chilling message—“Come to my office.”
Mi Shu carefully tiptoed into the office. “Chairman Zhuo, do you have any instructions?”
“Come here,” Zhuo Shu ordered expressionlessly.
Mi Shu edged closer. “I’m here.”
Zhuo Shu looked up from his screen and pointed at it. “Help me decide which mountain is a good trip for two.”
Mi Shu: “……”
…
Zhuo Shu pulled two overstuffed backpacks out of the trunk, his face full of pride. “This place nearby hasn’t been developed at all, no commercial vibe, the scenery is totally untouched, and the air is so fresh. Watching the sunrise here is going to be amazing.”
Ying Tongchen sat quietly on the nearby stone steps, saying nothing, just watching him.
Zhuo Shu patted his chest confidently. “I’ll carry all this stuff, you just have to follow me.”
Time to show some real boyfriend power!
Always protective, gentle, and smooth with words—he’s got this.
Zhuo Shu slung the two bags on his back, one stacked one over the other, then stretched out his hand. “Let’s go.”
Ying Tongchen stared at that hand for a moment, then looked up at Zhuo Shu’s eager face and reluctantly grasped it.
Zhuo Shu raised a smile with a corner of his mouth. “It’s still early, we’ll take it slow and should catch the sunset.”
“Let me carry some of that,” Ying Tongchen said, eyeing the bags on his back.
“No worries, this little bit of stuff is nothing. I’m a real man,” Zhuo Shu said energetically as he held Ying Tongchen’s hand and stepped on the first step of the stone stairs. “You just relax and enjoy.”
“...” Ying Tongchen chuckled dryly. “You f*cking want me to ‘enjoy’ this?”
“Hey, young people shouldn’t swear so much. Be good,” Zhuo Shu smiled.
Ying Tongchen immediately launched into a rapid-fire English rap full of ‘colorful’ language.
Zhuo Shu: “...”
…
After climbing up the stone steps for a while, Zhuo Shu noticed Ying Tongchen’s mood was drooping and encouraged him, “Come on, hang in there. Once you see the beauty of nature, you’ll think it’s all worth it.” With that, he pulled a bottle of water from his bag and handed it over.
Ying Tongchen took the bottle—and slipped his hand free.
Zhuo Shu’s palm went empty and felt instantly off. After Ying Tongchen finished the water, he said, “Hold my hand.”
“Holding hands makes it harder to walk,” Ying Tongchen continued to refuse.
“How could it be hard to walk? You lean on me, I lean on you—that’s the true meaning of life,” Zhuo Shu insisted, gripping Ying Tongchen’s hand as he rattled off a bunch of bad jokes, nearly prompting Ying Tongchen to kick him down the cliff.
After more than half an hour, the stone stairs suddenly ended. The two stood there, stunned.
All around were trees and wild land—no path in sight. Clearly, hardly anyone passed through here.
Ying Tongchen asked, “So, where do we go from here?”
“Well...” Zhuo Shu pulled out his phone to check the map, but there was no signal at all. He glanced sneakily at Ying Tongchen, then turned away to look around. “Strange, we’re supposed to go this way. Who cut off this path?”
Ying Tongchen asked coldly, “Didn’t you check before you came?”
“I checked.” Zhuo Shu lowered his head, like a kid admitting a mistake, quietly explaining, “I even specifically picked a 5A-rated scenic spot*…”
(TLN: AAAAA (国家5A级旅游景区) is awarded to the most important and best-maintained tourist attractions in the People's Republic of China, given the highest level in the rating categories used by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. As of 2025, there are 359 tourist attractions listed as 5A.)
Ying Tongchen asked, “Here? 5A? Did your brain malfunction, or did I leave my eyes at home?”
“It’s my fault,” Zhuo Shu stammered. “I wasn’t paying attention on the highway and accidentally passed the exit, so we missed it…So I just picked a random spot. Hiking is just about climbing a mountain—doesn’t matter which one. As long as we find a mountain, we climb it. Am I right?”
(EDN: don't let a newbie plan a scenic hike without expert supervision. I'm getting heart palpitations overthinking what can go wrong... and this is just fiction.)
Ying Tongchen stared at him in silence.
Zhuo Shu met his venomous glare with an awkward smile. “Maybe this is fate. Who knows, we might have some adventure here. Look, the mountain’s getting steeper—means we’re close to the top. Let’s hang in there a bit longer.”
Not daring to wait for a reply, he turned away, and suddenly shouted excitedly, “There’s a path here!”
Ying Tongchen sighed and walked over to take a look. He saw a few sets of footprints, some deep, some shallow, and judging by how fresh they looked, someone must have passed through in the last couple of days.
“Let’s go,” Zhuo Shu said.
The two of them slowly climbed following the footprints. After a few minutes, Zhuo Shu leaned against a tree and said, “Let me rest for a bit.”
Ying Tongchen took off the top bag from Zhuo Shu’s back and pulled out two hiking poles.
Zhuo Shu smiled, “So you saw them earlier, huh?”
Ying Tongchen was momentarily speechless. “Why didn’t you take them out to use?”
“Why didn’t you take them out earlier when you saw them?” Zhuo Shu shot back.
With a mutual understanding, they let go of each other’s hands and gripped their hiking poles, continuing the climb.
Ying Tongchen slung one bag onto his back but Zhuo Shu stubbornly insisted, “Give it to me. I can still handle it.”
“Enough with the tough guy act,” Ying Tongchen said. “Let’s get moving before it gets dark.”
“Okay.”
Ying Tongchen pulled out his phone and opened the compass app to find their direction, making sure they wouldn’t get lost and end up going in circles. Every now and then, he chatted with Zhuo Shu.
Zhuo Shu followed behind, climbing steadily. Whenever he looked up, he could see Ying Tongchen’s lean but upright silhouette, which gave him a strange sense of comfort.
So reassuring! Such boyfriend energy!
He had fallen in love all over again.
No wonder he was his, Zhuo Shu’s, man—one guy worth two!
Just as Zhuo Shu was about to praise him out loud, a sudden terrified scream pierced the quiet forest, echoing around them. The rustling leaves whispered with a chilling swish-swish sound—it was truly frightening.
“Wh-Who’s there?” Zhuo Shu jumped, quickening his pace and pulling Ying Tongchen into a protective hug. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”
Ying Tongchen looked up, about to speak, when Zhuo Shu suddenly clapped a palm firmly against his chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
Zhuo Shu stroked Ying Tongchen’s hair anxiously, glancing around the dark forest. “Don’t be scared, I’m here with you.”
Ying Tongchen: “......”
After a moment, eerie laughter echoed from somewhere in the woods, shifting between loud and faint. Ying Tongchen felt Zhuo Shu’s arms tighten around him even more.
“Don’t panic, don’t panic,” Zhuo Shu kept reassuring, not daring to move an inch.
A long while passed, and only when the forest fell silent again, with no strange sounds, did Ying Tongchen finally chuckle.
Zhuo Shu loosened his grip a little, looking down at him. “Look at you, scared out of your mind.”
Ying Tongchen nodded, biting back a smile. Without saying more, he plucked a random blade of grass nearby and slipped it into Zhuo Shu’s palm.
“Hold onto this—it’s supposed to ward off evil.”
“Really?” Zhuo Shu asked, half in doubt.
“Really. Don’t you trust a teacher’s—don’t you trust me?” Ying Tongchen replied.
“I do.” Zhuo Shu nodded solemnly, holding the grass in one hand and the trekking pole in the other, continuing to climb.
They walked and rested intermittently, and after more than an hour, the scenery at the mountaintop started to come into view.
“Let’s rest here for a bit,” Ying Tongchen said, stopping by a large rock and checking the time. “We’ll make it for sunset.”
“Nice. This grass really works,” Zhuo Shu said, panting as he sat down, took off his big backpack, and pulled out a fresh bottle of water.
Because the rock was slanted, when he tilted his head back to drink, a small package from the top of his bag slipped out, rolling downhill along the slope.
Zhuo Shu: “……”
Ying Tongchen: “......”
After a moment of silence, Ying Tongchen asked, “What rolled out?”
Zhuo Shu checked his backpack: “Dammit, it’s our food.”
Ying Tongchen: “......”
“I’ll go pick it up,” Zhuo Shu said, setting down the water and about to run after it, but Ying Tongchen grabbed him.
“It’s all rolled out of sight. Where do you expect to find it? What if you get lost?” Ying Tongchen reasoned, standing up and slinging the bag on his shoulders. “Let’s go. This place isn’t safe to linger. The longer you stay, the more risk to our items.”
Zhuo Shu: QAQ
…
Together, they pushed on and finally reached the mountaintop just as the sun was setting.
The view cleared in an instant. Endless mountain ranges unfolded before them, the twilight glow flooding the sky as the sun dipped behind the distant peaks.
Both men were captivated by the breathtaking scene, staring blankly at the fading horizon, feeling that all the exhaustion of the afternoon had been worth it.
Suddenly, a hand reached out and held his. Ying Tongchen glanced sideways at the man beside him—bathed in the sunset’s red light, his profile rivaled the beauty of the mountains themselves.
They shared a smile, hearts fluttering closer together, and closed their eyes simultaneously.
Just as their lips met, a coy boyish voice sounded nearby, “Darling, say, as the sun sets—what do you think waits for it beyond the mountain, beyond the sea?”
Another man replied, “A bunch of Smurfs?”
(TLN: This is a reference to the Chinese version of the opening song to ‘The Smurfs’. The lyrics reads ‘Beyond the sea and mountains live a bunch of Smurfs (在那山的那边海的那边有一群蓝精灵)’. Link to song and lyrics here - https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/chinese-nursery-rhyme-lan-jingling-the-smurfs)
A few seconds later, the first man burst into giggles: “Darling, you’re so funny! I love it!”
Ying Tongchen: "......"
Zhuo Shu: "......"
They turned around and saw on the other side two men—one muscular, one slim—sitting with their backs to them.
The thinner man rested his head on the strong man’s shoulder. The next moment, their eyes met in a deep, affectionate gaze, just about to share a romantic sunset kiss.
Ying Tongchen cleared his throat. “Meng Gong, Zhen Mingxin.”
The two were startled, spinning around in shock.
Zhen Mingxin looked as if he’d seen a ghost and muttered, “Ying ge, did you put a GPS tracker on us? To interrupt our kisses, you even managed to find us out here in the middle of nowhere?”
Meng Gong looked at Ying Tongchen as if he was a murderous demon, then glanced at the man beside him, suddenly convinced his suspicions were right!
Ever since learning about the tangled mess between Ying Tongchen, the business tycoon, and Zhen Mingxin, he’d been worried that fragile, helpless Zhen Mingxin might become the target of an assassination, so he’d been protectively sticking by his side.
Who would’ve thought—Ying Tongchen’s ruthless heart even managed to track them down in this godforsaken place!
Ying Tongchen walked over, he and Meng Gong simultaneously asking, “What are you guys doing here?”
Ying Tongchen answered first, “We came to hike.”
Noticing that they were seated near a cliff, Meng Gong immediately picked Zhen Mingxin up and moved to the middle of the mountaintop before putting him down. “We're surviving in the wild,” he then answered.
Zhen Mingxin added, “I’ve been on a survival reality show recently. Ying ge, didn’t you see me on TV?”
“No,” Ying Tongchen said, he rarely watched variety shows. “Then why is it just the two of you here? Where’s the crew?”
“They already left,” Zhen Mingxin said. “Filming wrapped up, so they drove back.”
“So you two just stayed behind for a date?” Ying Tongchen asked.
“No, we got left behind,” Zhen Mingxin said, embarrassed.
Ying Tongchen: “......”
Zhuo Shu stepped beside him, eyeing the two carefully. They looked familiar—he seemed to have run into them at the gym before.
The bigger guy was a friend of Ying Tongchen’s, who was also an instructor.
As for the slimmer man, they'd crossed paths a few times at the gym. Back then, the little guy was quite close with Ying Tongchen—close enough that he’d wondered if he was being cheated on.
Now seeing him without the green-tinted glasses, this man wasn’t so bad-looking after all—he even had some charm, with a light touch of makeup on his face. From the earlier conversation, it seemed this guy was some kind of celebrity, albeit one not too well-known.
And judging by the way the two acted, they were definitely a couple.
Alarm dismissed.
Zhuo Shu took the initiative. “Nice to meet you, I’m Zhuo Shu.”
For a second, Meng Gong couldn’t figure out what kind of expression to wear. At first, he had swooned over this business tycoon’s looks, then genuinely wished him well because of his relationship with Tongchen, but who would’ve thought he had considered sugar-daddying his boyfriend?!
Seeing Meng Gong’s wary expression, Zhuo Shu turned his gaze to the other man.
“Zhuo Shu?” Zhen Mingxin repeated the name, “Sounds kinda familiar.”
Ying Tongchen gave Zhuo Shu a dark look. “You don’t know who he is?”
Zhuo Shu: “I don’t know him.”
Ying Tongchen said, “Let me introduce you—this is Zhen Mingxin, the very celebrity you initially wanted to keep as your canary.”
Zhuo Shu: “!!!”
Truly, he was out of the loop!
Zhen Mingxin: “!!!”