The students of Class 20 also separated into several groups as they made their way up.
Meanwhile, at the top, Yao Tang and her little posse were busy grilling some meat skewers.
When the land shook, Yao Tang frowned and looked into the distance. Nothing appeared to be amiss.
Even so, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was not right.
“What’s the matter, Sister Tang?”
Qin Jing asked, noticing that the other girl seemed to be in a daze.
Her question prompted the others to look in Yao Tang’s direction.
“Did you guys feel that mild tremor just now?” she asked tentatively.
Her friends what at a loss.
Meng Yang looked beside him and found that everybody was shaking their head.
So it wasn’t just him.
Nobody else knew what Yao Tangwas talking about.
“What’s wrong?” Qin Jingasked, her eyes narrowed slightly. “Do you have altitude sickness?”
Yan Yu glanced at her. “But we aren’t that high up, are we?”
Qin Jing grinned before taking a bite of her skewer. “Heh, I was just guessing.”
“What was that? What are you people talking about?”
Lin Xin came over and looked at them curiously.
She had been too focused on grilling meat that she wasn’t able to keep track of the conversation.
Her bewilderment was so comedic that it sent the rest of them laughing.
Qin Jing reached out and pattedLin Xin’s head. “Didn’t you say that you wanted to grill the lamb skewers for all of us? Have you forgotten already?”
Lin Xin froze, stunned at what she heard.
“What? I said no such thing! You’ve probably heard wrong…”
She didn’t even say anything; they were the ones who had been chattering this entire time!
Besides, the roast meat was too fragrant and delicious that she didn’t pay attention to anything else. She’d even forgotten how many she’d already eaten.
“But we’ve all heard it,” Qin Jingcontinued to tease. “Or are you just saying that because you don’t want to share the meat you’ve grilled?”
Lin Xin stared at her friends in utter confusion.
They nodded emphatically, playing along with Qin Jing’s joke.
Lin Xin was a little scared at this point.
She turned to Yao Tangfor help, but the latter was still staring into the distance and ignored her.
In the end, Lin Xinbegan to doubt herself.
What were the chances that she had lost a small chunk of her memory? Was she doing other things subconsciously?
However, these thoughts flew out the window the moment her gaze landed on the grill. “Sister Tang! The meat is burning! Hurry and turn them over!”
Lin Xin’s frantic shouting jolted Yao Tangback to her senses, and she looked at the skewers she was holding.
Sure enough, most of the meat was already charred, and wisps of black smoke were coming out of the grill.
She had totally forgotten about them!
“Oh no, those were supposed to be mine! They’re burnt!”
“Oh gosh, mine, too!”
“Maybe we didn’t put enough seasoning? Is it too late to add them now?”
“The seasoning should be fine, the problem is that we forgot to brush them with oil. There’s no hope for them anymore.”
“Ah, what a pity.”
“Those aren’t edible. Even the skewers are burnt!”
The students looked back and forth between Yao Tangand the burning meat as they bemoaned the fate of their scrumptious meal.
After a while, they finally came to terms with the fact that there was nothing they could do to save the skewers.
Left without much choice, Yao Tanggot rid of them and took another batch of skewers to roast on the grill.
After that unfortunate interlude, no one brought up their prank on Lin Xinagain.
As for Yao Tang, she dismissed her previous worry as nothing more than an illusion and focused on grilling the meat in front of her.
Just then, they heard a hearty laugh coming from the slope.
Everyone looked over, and they saw Principal Kongtrudging toward them with a group of teachers.
The man was in a great mood.
He had assumed that he and his colleagues would be the first to arrive at the peak, as usual. He was pleasantly surprised when he was greeted by the aromatic smell of roasted meat as they approached the summit.
He took another sniff as they drew closer, and sighed in satisfaction. That was definitely some good meat, grilled to perfection.
Principal Kong was thinking that tourists had come to the area to have a picnic at the top of the mountain. It was a working day, though, which should have meant that people should be at their respective jobs instead of gallivanting outdoors.
In any case, these tourists must be really good at managing their time.
But the sight that welcomed them left him dumbfounded.