Surviving in various complex environments is an instinctual pursuit of all animals.

  For humans, living in this complex society, how to live a good life is even more a profound study - everyone has their own unique way of survival.

  Some people are versatile and skilled, able to adapt seamlessly to any environment, while others may be more reserved and unassuming, but can still accomplish things steadily and live a good life.

  The former relies on intelligence, the latter relies on dedication.

  But Zhou Fen is not, she lives on intuition.

  In fact, a person who is so obsessed that they are almost paranoid, so pure that they are almost transparent, and yet so stubborn that they disregard everything, even if they have exceptionally excellent talent in some aspect, when walking among people, will always be the one who is not welcome. In this society, people prefer to get along with those who are less angular and more gentle in character.

  So, if you're not a very welcome person, either change yourself to cater to others and society, or have a well-developed intuition that can capture the kind and approachable atmosphere among people at once.

  So, Zhou Fen stayed in Dunhuang for over a dozen days, never speaking to anyone and never responding to anyone's advances. But at first glance, she could intuitively sense that someone was the same type of person as her.

  Then, without knowing what Li Qian's name was, who he was or where he came from, she directly went to ask for his room number and found him to drink together, and it was a completely unguarded big gulp of wine.

  A bottle of 52-degree local white wine, Li Qian drank about two or three liang, and the rest all went into Zhou Fen's belly. From start to finish, she didn't even pick up a peanut, just purely drinking.

  One cup after another.

  She didn't even urge Li Qian, it seemed that for her, having someone trustworthy sitting across from her and watching her drink was enough - as she said herself, she wasn't trying to get anyone drunk, but just wanted to find someone to keep her company while drinking.

  But she seems to be able to hold her liquor well.

  After drinking seven or eight cups of white wine, he only slightly flushed and walked steadily.

  Li Qian swept away a large plate of stir-fried mutton, and the two of them happily settled the bill and strolled back.

  The night is already very deep. There are still many foreign tourists wandering around the streets, eating, laughing and taking pictures.

  It's very hot here during the day, but the night breeze is quite cool.

  Out of the small restaurant, Zhou Mei walked with a bounce in her step, like a high school girl, occasionally skipping and jumping. A pure and unadorned smile hung on her face.

  "Hey, what do you want to go to Qinghai Lake for?" she asked.

  Li Qian was still holding her sunglasses and thought for a moment before saying, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

  Zhou Wenjing thought for a moment and smiled: "It's fake, fakes are usually more reasonable."

  Li Qian nodded and said, "Qinghai Lake is really beautiful, many people say it's beautiful, so I'll just go take a look, and then when I get back, I can brag to my friends that I've been to Qinghai Lake. Sigh, you guys haven't been there, so you don't know, but it's really beautiful!"

  Zhou Yan burst out laughing.

  Passersby looked over in shock, but the evening wind blew her hair into disarray, strand by strand covering that delicate and exquisite face, and for a moment no one recognized her.

  She smiled and said to Li Qian: "This saying is good, I'll go back and tell others the same."

  At this time, she seemed to be much happier. All the way, she jumped and hopped like a spring sparrow.

  She walked all the way back to the entrance of Donglai Inn, where she lived on the second floor. The two parted at the staircase on the second floor. Li Qian handed her sunglasses over, and Zhou Fen waved him off, stumbling towards her own room.

  Maybe she wasn't drunk, but she was still a little tipsy.

  Li Qian saw her off to the door, and as she took out the key to open it, he was about to turn around and go upstairs. But then she suddenly leaned against the door and stopped, calling out to Li Qian, "Hey..." Li Qian stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at her. Her eyebrows still held a hint of a smile, her eyes slightly narrowed, and there seemed to be a faintly drunken glint in them as she asked, "If I had wanted to know the truth just now, what would you have said?"

  Li Qian shrugged, "Qinghai Lake is really beautiful, I want to go take a look, and when I get back, I can brag to my friends that I've been to Qinghai Lake, and say how beautiful it is. Then, uh... you know!"

  Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Good night!"

  Li Qian nodded and said: "Good night!"

  Then one of them went in the door and the other went upstairs.

  The next morning, Li Qian got up and was about to go downstairs for breakfast when she opened the door and found that she was actually standing alone in the corridor outside her own door, smoking and waiting. After being surprised, she smiled and said, "You're up so early?"

  Zhou Fen turned around and saw him, with a hint of relief in her expression. She smiled and asked: "Are you leaving today? Or..."

  Li Qian smiled and said: "No, I'd like to go back to the Mogao Caves for another visit today. How about we leave tomorrow?"

  Zhou Fen nodded and said: "Mm, then I'll go back to sleep!" After a pause, she said: "I'm in room 207, don't forget to call me before you leave!"

  At this moment, Li Qian's heart was inexplicably tied into a knot, and he asked: "You didn't sleep last night?"

  Zhou Yan patted her hair, smiled childishly, and said with some embarrassment: "I sleep heavily, often oversleep, especially after drinking... You go have fun, I'll go back to catch up on my sleep!"

  As they spoke, she swayed and staggered towards the staircase.

  Li Qian watched her walk away, saw her turn around and wave at him, then smiled back at her before watching her disappear.

  …………

  Zhou Mei slept all the way until six o'clock in the afternoon.

  Then she didn't do anything else, simply tidied herself up, put on her large sunglasses, went downstairs and sat on the sofa in the lobby of the hostel, smoking and staring blankly.

  Looks desolate and lonely.

  But as soon as Li Qian stepped in, she immediately lit up and stood up with a smile to wave at Li Qian.

  Li Qian went over and sat down with her, asking: "Are you awake? Did you sleep comfortably?"

  She smiled and said, "You're still so young, don't be so concerned about others, okay?" After a pause, she smiled and said, "Let's go have some drinks?"

  Li Qian smiled and said, "I just found a millet porridge shop at the street corner. Come with me to have a bowl of porridge and a bun first, then I'll invite you to drink some Xifeng wine in my car, how about it?"

  Zhou Fen's smile paused for a moment, and she slightly turned her head away. A moment later, she turned back to look at Li Qian and said: "I don't want to eat anything, you go eat, I'll accompany you!"

  Li Qian shook his head firmly. "I didn't want to drink either, but I accompanied you last night!"

  Zhou Mei scratched her head in a rather unattractive way and looked at Li Qian with a pitiful expression.

  But Li Qian spread his hands and indicated there was nothing to discuss.

  Then she nodded and said: "Well... okay. Can I just have a few sips? And I don't like eating buns."

  But Li Qian smiled and said, "I've already investigated it clearly, the baozi is not only filled with mutton, but also has vegetarian fillings, you can eat the vegetarian ones. As for the congee, you must drink a bowl, less one mouthful, this deal I won't do!"

  Zhou Fen smiled. Her smile was so simple and yet so beautiful that it couldn't be described, a moment later, she said: "You are the first person to advise me to eat like this..." But a moment later, she nodded, "Okay, let's go!"

  …………

  Many out-of-town visitors to Dunhuang like to gather their friends and eat local dishes such as sautéed mutton or whole roasted sheep, but some people are tired of these and prefer a bowl of hot millet porridge.

  Li Qian and Zhou Fen walked into the small shop when there were about four or five tables of customers scattered inside.

  Most were single travelers, and there was also an elderly couple, but no young lovers.

  The boss seemed dull and fat, with a greasy apron on, looking like he was in charge of the kitchen. On the other hand, the boss's wife was neat and tidy, speaking Mandarin with a strong local accent, warmly inviting the two to come in and sit down.

  Li Qian ordered a bowl of millet green bean porridge, a bowl of preserved egg lean meat porridge, and also ordered a small stir-fry, a cold dish, plus two savory and two vegetarian large buns.

  At this time, the two people looked like a pair of lovers who had walked a long way and came in to rest their feet.

  The boss's wife brought the dishes up, and Li Qian pushed the bowl of egg drop soup with lean meat in front of her, "Here, you must drink it all, otherwise we won't have fun!"

  Zhou Fen pursed her lips and looked at the big bowl of porridge with great difficulty.

  She was very skeptical whether her stomach could hold such a large bowl.

  Then Li Qian ate baozi in big mouthfuls and drank congee in big gulps, as if no one was around.

  After a moment, Zhou Fen took the spoon and drank three or five small mouthfuls. The porridge was slightly hot, but she nodded and said: "The craftsmanship is not bad."

  Li Qian smiled and pushed the two steamed buns in front of him, "Eat!"

  Zhou Yan shook her head, glanced at Li Qian's bowl and saw that it seemed to have lotus seeds, so she stretched out the spoon, scooped up a spoonful and sent it to her mouth, chewing while nodding, swallowing, she said: "Let's swap!"

  Li Qian smiled and pushed his bowl over, Zhou Fen also pushed her bowl over.

  But at this time, Li Qian pushed the bun in front of her and said, "Eat!"

  Zhou Fen raised her head and looked at him, with a rare calmness in her eyes.

  She seemed to be showing her stubbornness about this and her disgust at Li Qian's behavior.

  But Li Qian didn't back down, he just looked at her.

  After a moment, she rarely shrugged her shoulders, picked up a big bun, viciously took a bite, and then chewed very hard and swallowed very hard.

  Li Qianli ate his two buns and asked with a smile while drinking porridge, "You've become so thin, how long has it been since you last had a meal?"

  Zhou Fen looked at him and shook her head, swallowing a mouthful of baozi, saying: "Wine is made from grain, don't think I don't know!"

  Li Qian smiled wryly and shook his head.

  After a while, Zhou Fen struggled to eat half of the bun, looking already very full, staring at Li Qian for a long time. Seeing that Li Qian didn't respond to her, she asked: "Hey, you just graduated from high school, right? You must have a girlfriend, right? Then, do you usually take care of your girlfriend like this?"

  Li Qian shook his head and said, "My girlfriend is like a little pig when it comes to eating, she never needs any encouragement. Unlike you, who are like a cat, making you eat something is more difficult than taking your life!"

  Zhou Fen smiled, then lowered her head and took another bite of the bun. As she chewed with a "munch munch" sound, she said: "When you say something, you have to keep your word! I've eaten the bun and drunk the congee, so now you have to drink wine with me!"

  At this time, Li Qian had already finished his own share and sat there watching her eat.

  Then, suddenly, Li Qian stretched out his hand and said: "Your cigarette, give me one."

  Zhou Fen was slightly surprised, "You still smoke?" As she spoke, she took out her own cigarettes, seemingly eager to share with Li Qian, enthusiastically knocking one out and presenting it along with the lighter.

  Li Qian lit a cigarette, took a puff, savored it for a moment, took another puff, savored it again, and then extinguished the cigarette directly.

  From start to finish, Zhou Mei watched him and saw that he had extinguished his cigarette, so she asked: "Why did you stop smoking?"

  Li Qian smiled and said calmly: "Smoking too much is bad for your health."

  Zhou Wen looked at him with a pure face for a moment, somewhat dazed and seemingly bewildered. After a moment, she lowered her head to drink porridge again.

  …………

  Li Qian's trunk still had three or four bottles of Xifeng wine left in it.

  It's not top-grade stuff, just ordinary goods bought casually in a county town in northern Shaanxi. Li Qian drank it and felt that the wine seemed to be less strong than the local wine he had yesterday.

  But today's seven or eight cups of wine seemed to have made Zhou Yan drunk even deeper.

  As soon as she left the small restaurant, she couldn't help but smile foolishly.

  Sometimes she stared at a certain scenery by the roadside, sometimes she stared at someone, and sometimes she backed away, her eyes tightly following Li Qian's footsteps, then suddenly burst out laughing foolishly.

  She looks like she's really just seventeen or eighteen years old.

  Li Qian asked her why she was laughing, but she didn't answer either. She jumped and danced like a skylark, waving her hands and feet, then laughed foolishly to herself.

  This time, as usual, Li Qian helped her hold the sunglasses.

  At the staircase leading to the second floor, Li Qian handed her sunglasses back as usual. She took them but didn't rush back to her room. Instead, she stood there, reeking of alcohol, staring at Li Qian. After a moment, she leaned in close, their eyes locked on each other, only a few centimeters apart.

  This time, the air between her breaths was full of wine, her face was red and puffy, with a hint of indescribable strange beauty - the faint scent that Li Qian had caught a glimpse of last time was completely gone.

  Her eyes were originally not small, and when she lost weight, they looked even bigger.

  At this moment, their eyes met, and she asked slowly: "You won't deceive me, will you?"

  Li Qian looked puzzled and showed a confused expression.

  She just smiled foolishly and said: "Tomorrow, you'll definitely wake me up, right?"

  Li Qian suddenly felt a little heartache.

  Although he clearly knew that the girl in front of him should not be considered a girl, she was already around thirty years old, had been married and divorced, and should have been a mature woman. Even if she wanted to, she could become one of the brightest stars in the domestic pop music scene at any time, high above, being flattered and pursued by countless people.

  But at this moment, Li Qian was really a little heartbroken.

  He nodded and said, "Don't worry, sleep tight. I'll definitely wake you up, and we'll go to Qinghai Lake together."

  Zhou Yun nodded, as if she had suddenly felt at ease.

  Then she turned around and walked back with a swaying gait, humming a familiar tune as she went.

  Li Qian listened carefully and recognized it as "One Year One Withered Glory"

  "Spring has arrived, so I sprouted."

  At that time, I didn't know about the rise and fall of things in the world.

  Just want to work hard to bloom a fragrant and beautiful flower.

  You came, so I loved.

  Under the fence on that early summer morning

  I am a fragrant and beautiful flower.

  ……”

  She hums, sounds nice.