She didn't fall asleep until midnight, and the next day, Xincheng got up late as expected, went to work with dark circles under her eyes. While she was busy, Xiaoyun came to her cubicle on purpose, looked at her carefully, making her feel hairy. Only then did Xiaoyun smile and lean in close to her, saying: "The man who escorted you home last night is really a top-notch guy, gentle, introverted, and handsome. With such a boyfriend, it's no wonder that you're not surprised by any other men."

  Xin Chen cried and laughed at the same time, "It's not necessary to gossip about me, I'm not very familiar with him anyway."

  "Not familiar? That's good, why don't you introduce me then."

  "He seems to have a girlfriend."

  "What a pity! You will meet men similar to him, but remember to leave them for me."

  Xin Chen was entangled and could only nod, "Alright, I promise."

  Xiao Yun left, Xin Chen thought that if she went to introduce a girlfriend to Lu Fei, he might make an expression, and his face couldn't help but twitch a little.

  Christmas is over, and New Year's Day is approaching soon. However, it seems that Chinese people don't really consider New Year's Day as the start of a new year. Subconsciously, they are waiting for the arrival of the Lunar New Year, especially since more than half of the employees in the photography studio are not native Beijingers and are looking forward to a long holiday so they can return home early to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

  When Yan Xuhui appeared in the studio and announced that he would send Xiao Ma to the southeastern part of Guizhou Province to shoot a minority customs photography album, Xiao Ma was so excited that he almost jumped up.

  "This album is part of the local government's tourism promotion plan, not for profit, it's also an attempt to expand the studio's business scope, and it can be considered a public welfare undertaking." Yan Xuhui emphasized, "Xiao Ma, I know your hometown is just over there, so I'm sending you over. If everything goes smoothly, you can finish filming and return home early for the New Year."

  The little horse nodded repeatedly, "Who will I take with me?"

  The photographer had to bring an assistant to help with the work, but the studio also had several lucrative commercials that needed to be completed before the end of the year. The personnel were insufficient, and even the planners had to join in as assistants. Yan Xuhui turned to Xin Chen, "Xiao Chen, your art exhibition promotion work is already done, and now everyone is busy with filming. Post-production is the next step. Why don't you go on a trip with Xiao Ma? It's still the old rule: film while doing some preliminary editing. Actually, the local government will send someone to assist you, so you can let them do the physical labor. If you complete the filming according to schedule, you can return home and take a Spring Festival holiday. How about it?"

  Xin Chen had no objection, Guizhou was a province she had never been to, and it was okay to take advantage of work to see it for the first time at public expense.

  The next day, she and Xiao Ma packed their luggage, brought equipment, looked at the shooting plan along the way, and took a plane to land at Guiyang Airport.

  Little Horse muttered, "I'm almost as great as Da Yu, who controlled the floods. I passed by my own home without entering, what a moral character and work attitude!" His hometown was in Guiyang, the provincial capital, so he could return before the holiday, naturally with a tone of regret but actually joyful. Xincheng didn't bother to respond to his sighs.

  The local government staff Xiao Li and driver Lao Liu were very enthusiastic to pick them up. They first identified themselves as fellow villagers with Xiao Ma, and on the way, they introduced them to the scenic spots. Southeast Guizhou is a gathering place for ethnic minorities, with beautiful mountains and rivers, many famous historical sites, and rich original cultural colors of ethnic customs. However, the development of tourism lags far behind neighboring Hunan Province. Now the government has decided to vigorously promote it to change this situation.

  Xin Chen has carefully studied the shooting plan, and the landscape photos in the album are provided by the local government. The main task of Xiao Ma is to go deep into towns such as Zhenyuan, Leishan, Danzhai, and Liping to shoot humanistic scenery of ethnic minority gatherings.

  As the old year drew to a close, their itinerary was very tight. Xiao Ma insisted on not taking a break even on New Year's Day, striving to finish filming as soon as possible. They barely stayed in scenic spots, rushing from one location to another, and even Little Li and Old Liu were amazed by their work efficiency.

  Xin Chen didn't feel tired at all, she was used to the self-abusive donkey trekking road, and only felt that this trip was relatively comfortable. Their filming locations were often in remote rural areas with very harsh living conditions, but they had a bus to pick them up along the way, with a driver and a staff member accompanying them throughout, staying in either hotels or government guesthouses, with food taken care of by someone, sometimes even with a full table of local government officials coming out to accompany them, making Xiao Ma and Xin Chen feel a bit pampered and unaccustomed.

  It was already mid-January, and the weather had turned gloomy, with freezing rain starting to fall. Due to the poor light, they could only slow down their photography work. Little Li told them that this kind of weather wasn't unusual in the area, and it would usually pass in a few days. Xiao Ma was eager to finish their work early and return home for Chinese New Year, so he urged them to hurry to the next village. After driving for a while, Driver Liu shook his head, "This stretch of road is mountainous and treacherous, and it's too dangerous to drive on icy roads. Let's wait a bit. The weather here is usually mild, without severe cold snaps. Once the skies clear up, the road will be easy to navigate."

  They settled down in a small village about 70 kilometers away from Liping County, but unexpectedly, the freezing rain continued to fall, alternating with snow, and the weather became colder and colder. The road surface quickly froze into thick ice that reflected light, and Old Liu exclaimed, "Fortunately, we're staying in the village now, which is still convenient. If we were stranded on the road, it would be disastrous."

  However, the so-called convenience is only relative. The village first stopped water and electricity, then the mobile phone signal was interrupted, and soon after making a phone call back home, the fixed telephone was also interrupted.

  Everyone was trapped in the village committee's simple office, looking at each other in dismay.

  The little horse initially still had the mood to take out his camera and shoot the thick ice and snow-covered vegetable fields, tea gardens, power transmission lines with long icicles, collapsed houses and high-voltage towers, birds frozen in the crystal clear ice and snow, migrant workers who wrapped straw on their shoes and walked hard, and said with a swagger: "Some of these pictures are absolutely award-winning news or documentary photography."

  But day after day, these scenes gradually numbed him. More importantly, the power supply, communication and network were all cut off. The camera battery was dead, and there was only one diesel generator in the village providing backup power, but it had to be prioritized for threshing grain for the villagers, otherwise daily food would become a problem, and the diesel fuel would soon run out.

  The elderly in the village said they had never seen such weather, and the news brought back by the returning travelers made everyone anxious: the road surface was frozen with a thickness of one foot, with no signs of thawing, and there were already major traffic accidents with heavy casualties. Even cars equipped with tire chains could not drive safely, and all transportation outside was completely suspended. Even the provincial capital Guiyang had power outages, let alone the county towns of Leishan and Liping. Gas stations had run out of fuel, and prices had skyrocketed. When talking about their arduous journey back on foot, several migrant workers were still filled with lingering fear and gratitude.

  Xiao Li's mood was particularly heavy. He couldn't get in touch with his superiors, let alone the fact that his wife was about to give birth at home in a month. He suggested walking to Liping County on foot, where there would be more opportunities to contact the outside world. When transportation is restored, it will probably start from the county and slowly extend to the towns and villages below.

  Xiao Ma immediately agreed, he had a standard internet addiction disorder, and the days without electricity and internet were about to drive him crazy. Old Liu was calm and composed, only worriedly calculating the distance and walking time needed, neither approving nor disapproving.

  If it were a trip with friends, Xincheng would be willing to try hiking, but at the moment she was wearing Converse canvas shoes and thin clothes, without carrying any travel equipment, let alone that the three men had no experience, so she didn't plan to respond to this idea.

  Xin Chen thought for a moment and said: "Little Li, you work in the government, will the government just sit back and watch as the towns below lose contact and become unmanageable?"

  Xiao Li shook his head, "It won't work, now the emergency mechanism must have been activated, and the repair of various infrastructure should also be underway, it's just that the weather is too bad, the speed can't be fast."

  "Migrant workers are walking back home, all of us have stocked up in the county town. Now we're empty-handed, without any unnecessary equipment, walking along the highway, at least 80 kilometers will take more than four days to walk. Can everyone bear to only eat the most basic food and sleep outside?"

  Lao Liu shook his head first, "Eating is one thing, but with our clothes, if we go out to sleep rough, someone will definitely lose their life."

  "I suggest we stay here and don't take unnecessary risks."

  They continued to stay in this small mountain village, and the village branch secretary took care of their lives. Although all the vegetables were frozen to death in the ground, there was no problem with daily food, as every household stored grains. After the diesel fuel was exhausted, they used primitive methods to pour the grains into the long-abandoned stone mortar, pound them, remove the outer skin, and then make rice. The drinking water source on the edge of the village had frozen early, so the villagers simply knocked down the long icicles hanging from the eaves of their houses to use as water. In the only small retail store in the village, almost all the goods were bought out by them and the villagers.

  By nightfall, no matter how hard it was to sleep, I could only go to bed early. Occasionally there were just a few barks of dogs, mixed with the creaking sound of wooden roofs under the heavy snow and ice, making the surroundings even more eerily quiet.

  The village has already had houses collapse, for their safety, the village branch secretary concentrated them to his own home, saying that the conditions are limited, only one room can be set up with four temporary beds, and Xin Chen pulled a simple curtain in the corner of the house. They naturally did not object. At night without electricity, their only entertainment was drinking some self-brewed wine by the villagers, wrapped in quilts, chatting idly until they were tired and fell asleep.

  Outside the window, snow reflected light, and inside the house was not absolute darkness. At first, Xiao Ma sang about his experiences as a drifter in the north and his various romantic encounters, half-true and half-false, performed very vividly; Old Liu was initially relatively introverted, but these days he also started to recall his life when he was a soldier; Xiao Li's life was simple, after graduating from university, he entered government work, got married at the right age, and just waited to become a happy father. Xin Chen listened to their nonsense, and suddenly forgot about the troubles in his heart.

  Xin Chen was on the other side of the curtain, not participating in their gradually masculine conversation. She had seen more boastful boasts on her hiking trip and didn't take it to heart, thinking only of her own affairs.

  Her last phone call was to her uncle, telling him about her location and the next town she would be heading to. It's likely that the snowstorm caused a loss of contact with the outside world, which has already been reported on the news, so even if they're worried, it's understandable.

  Before the phone signal was cut off, Lu Fei still called her every few days to chat casually. Suddenly, she couldn't get through to her phone and wondered what he would think. Xin Chen thought about it and also ridiculed himself a bit. What could he think? As a logical person, he could even determine her route when she was hiking in the wilderness, and from her last reported location, he could naturally infer her situation roughly, knowing that she was just trapped somewhere in southeastern Guizhou, waiting for the restoration of traffic and communication.

  The village branch secretary would go to nearby villages every few days to gather news and bring back all sorts of unverified rumors.

  "I heard that a military truck carrying disaster relief supplies slid into a mountain ditch, and everyone on board was injured. They were rescued after being frozen for a day and night."

  "I heard that candles in the county town are now selling for 5 yuan each, and charcoal for heating is all sold out."

  "I heard it's snowing heavily all over the country and will continue for another month."

  "I heard that the Yangtze River has frozen over."

  Several people were so unenthusiastic that even the last sentence of "Tales of the Arabian Nights" couldn't achieve a humorous effect.

  Cut off from the outside world by an irresistible force of nature, stranded in a place like a deserted island, in this small village, days repeat monotonously, one after another, and time seems to have solidified. During the day, Xincheng leans against the fire pit and reads the book she brought with her. When the village branch secretary mentions how many days are left until the Lunar New Year, she suddenly remembers that her birthday is coming up soon.

  She recalled the words Lu Fei said that night, they had known each other for almost twelve years, nearly half her life as she approached 26. She was struck by the length of time and couldn't help but shiver.

  In such a sleepless and quiet long night, Xin Chen couldn't help but think from the past all the way to the future.

  How long did it take her to walk out of the huge void left by his departure? She faced this problem for the first time, but couldn't string together those lonely and isolated nights with nightmares into a clear and definite period of time.

  Even if she could hold hands with other boys, how long did it take her to persuade herself not to compare the temperature of their palms, the strength of their arms, and the scent on them?

  When will she finally establish her own balance, from fragility to stability, no longer self-inflicted and self-pitying, able to look into anyone's eyes with equanimity, walk roads she has never taken before with peace of mind, and quietly let nightmares come and go, just as a supplementary gift of sleep?

  To walk the next road with him, this proposal is destined to be impure, accompanied by memories she doesn't want to touch, both sweet and terrifying, indeed tempting, do I really need to let myself fall in again?

  The thick and heavy quilt provided by the village branch secretary weighed on her body, even Xiao Ma said it would cause nightmares, let alone Xin Chen who had always had sleep problems. She often woke up suddenly in the quietest hours of the night, only to calm down when she heard Old Liu's heavy snoring from the other side of the curtain. The dreams she had made her feel embarrassed, perhaps because she thought too much before sleeping, Lu Fei often appeared in her dreams, and in a daze, it seemed as if she had returned to the Linhu Guest House by Lugu Lake.

  She has always refused to recall the details of that night, however, a night of revelry left memories that were not simple pleasures that could be easily passed over.

  She could only think dejectedly that it was her own rash behavior that had tied the two people together even more tightly.

  It's been almost half a month since I moved into the village, and finally today the village branch secretary brought back some good news: "The neighboring village has already started power repair work, and villagers are helping to repair the power lines on the mountain. The next step is to come to our village, and I need to inform everyone quickly."

  Xiao Li's spirits lifted, "We can hitch a ride with them back."

  Two days later, the power supply bureau's car slowly drove in with anti-skid chains and together with the villagers, they re-erected the electric pole, connected the wires, but the power was not restored immediately. Just then, the emergency supplies they brought were used up, and they had to return, after Little Li showed his work permit, the driver agreed to take them back.

  A few people and the village branch secretary bid farewell, squeezed onto the car, and continued on the icy road, the engineering vehicle drove back to Liping County with difficulty. They stayed at the government reception house.

  The situation in the county seat is slightly better than that of the lower towns, units with generators maintain at least several hours of power supply and normal working hours every day, communication has been restored, a few people quickly called home, almost crying with joy.

  Xin Chen dialed the phone number of Lu Fei, and the prompt showed that he was not in the service area. She didn't mind either, and quickly borrowed a light to charge her own phone. Several people gathered together, starting to discuss what to do next. Xiao Li had already contacted the leader, and various government departments were currently busy with disaster relief, so it was clear that they couldn't take care of the photo album shooting anymore. Moreover, the meteorological department warned that the rain and snow weather would continue. He suggested contacting the car to return to Kaili tomorrow, and continuing work after the Spring Festival. Xin Chen and Xiao Ma also reported the situation to Yan Xuanhui, who breathed a sigh of relief when he received their call, naturally without objection, letting them just focus on going home safely for the New Year.

  They waited another day in the county town before boarding a car back to Kaili. Xiao Li rushed home to visit his wife, and the local government dispatched another car to take Xin Chen and Xiao Ma to Guiyang. It was only then that they learned of the extent of this snow disaster, which had affected central and southern China. The Guiyang airport was only intermittently open after de-icing, and Xiao Ma returned home while Xin Chen waited in agony at the airport for nearly a day before finally boarding a flight back to his hometown.

  When she landed in the city where she was born, she was amazed to find that it had also become a snowy northern landscape. As she took the airport bus into town, all she saw along the way were thick piles of snow shoveled onto both sides of the road, and far and near, the rooftops were all white, looking nothing like the city where she was born and lived for over twenty years.

  In the courtyard where Xindi lived, there were children having a snowball fight. As Xincheng got out of the taxi, a snowball came flying towards her and hit her on the shoulder. The kids burst into laughter, but she didn't get annoyed, just smiled and brushed it off.

  After going upstairs, she took out the key to open the door and called Da Bo and Xin Di separately. Xin Kai Ming let out a sigh of relief, "Fortunately, I made it back home for New Year's, not bad at all. Your dad should be able to come back in a few more days, take good care of yourself at home and rest well, come over with Little Di for dinner tonight."

  Xin Di's reaction was the same, "Finally back, I scolded Yan Xuhui over the phone until he was speechless, and yet he sent you on this errand."

  "Hey, watch out for my rice bowl!" Xincheng smiled knowingly, aware that Yan Xuhui had never been able to defend himself in front of Xin Di.

  "He's also scared, calling me every day to report on the situation he's learned about. It seems like you've been in Guizhou for almost a month now?"

  "Yes, being able to return so smoothly is already a stroke of good luck."

  "That's right, Somi's business personnel have been stuck in the south for a long time. You take a good rest, and tonight I'll go home with Weifan to pick you up."

  Put down the phone, Xincheng went to take a bath and change clothes, then walked onto the balcony and looked downstairs. The children who had been let out on holiday were still playing energetically in the snowy ground. She remembered when she was young, she rarely saw such heavy snowfall, occasionally it would snow enough to pile up a thin layer which was already exciting.

  At that time, they were also frolicking like this, collecting snow everywhere, rolling snowballs and having a snowball fight, playing to their heart's content. Under the two locust trees in the courtyard, she had chased after Lu Fei, trying to stuff snow into his collar, while he held her frozen red hands, just as she was smiling indulgently at these children now.

  As soon as she returned here, memories naturally emerged, but she didn't feel disturbed anymore. If even such memories were gone, her life would truly become a complete blank.

  She picked up her mobile phone and dialed Lu Fei's number again, this time hearing a prompt that the phone was turned off.

  After a few days, Xin Kai Ming brought Bai Hong back and stayed at his brother's house, where they received a warm welcome. The snow stopped for a while and then started again, until it finally slowly came to an end before the Spring Festival. They spent their holiday eating, drinking and having fun, and then each bought return air tickets.

  When Xin Chen arrived at the airport, he received a call from Lu Fei. His voice sounded very distant. "Xiao Chen, where are you now?"

  Xin Chen had called his phone twice during this period, both of which were turned off. Xin Di casually mentioned him, "Not in the local area, should have gone to his parents' place for New Year's." Do you need to turn off your phone when returning home for the New Year? She had a faint doubt, but also didn't have the standing to investigate further.

  I am at the airport, about to return to Beijing.

  Lu Fei nodded and paused for a while before saying: "Alright, we'll be in touch later."

  It wasn't until several days later that they contacted each other again, but it was just a simple conversation. Lu Fei didn't mention her life in Guizhou for a month, nor did she mention where she was going, and Xin Chen naturally didn't ask either.

  The studio's work is packed after the holiday, and overtime is often required. The busy time always passes in a hurry. When Xin Di comes to Beijing to attend the annual clothing exhibition held at the end of March every year, Xin Chen suddenly realizes that spring has finally arrived in the north, and this long and cold winter has finally come to an end.

  Four years ago, she came to Beijing at this time to find a job and left in a hurry amidst the wind and sand.

  Four years have passed, the seasons have changed, and youth has lost its last bit of innocence. The city's weather is still dry, the sky is still gray, but it's said that sandstorms like those are now relatively rare.

  She finally settled down in this city, going to work, getting off work, entertaining with colleagues, making new donkey friends for short hikes, living a peaceful life.

  Xin Chen and Xin Di went to a local restaurant for dinner. Xin Di mentioned Lu Fei: "His work seems very busy, I haven't seen him in a long time, and when we talk on the phone, he often says he's on a business trip."

  Xin Chen didn't contact her by phone very often, and she didn't take this topic seriously.

  "The place where you used to live has started construction on a shopping mall, and I'm planning to invest in a storefront. Later, I'll set up a studio there and do some high-end custom clothing design."

  "Does this conflict with your work?"

  "I've discussed this idea with Lao Zeng and he initially agreed. After completing the design for this season, I'll resign as the Design Director and take on the design of each season's clothing in the name of my studio. This way, I can get rid of administrative tasks and have a much higher degree of control and freedom over the design."

  Xin Chen knew that Xin Di wanted to be an independent designer for more than one or two days, but her parents had always opposed it. "How are you going to explain this to your uncle and aunt?"

  "I won't tell them for now." Xindi obviously had this planned out for a long time, saying lightly, "Anyway, I'll sign the contract with Su Mei and provide the design they want, which isn't much different from before. It's just that setting up a studio and investing in a storefront requires money, all of my money is with my mom, it's a bit troublesome. Weifan actually supports my decision, he said he's willing to invest together with me, I haven't decided if I want to drag him into this or not."

  "I have some demolition compensation money that I haven't used yet. If you need it, just let me know. It's not good to have financial dealings with men before getting married."

  Xin De smiled and patted her hand, "Mm, Chenzi, I know. Let me think about it some more. When the time comes for me to ask you something, I won't be polite. Actually," she hesitated for a moment, lowering her voice, "he proposed to me."

  Xin Chen was slightly surprised and looked at his cousin with interest as her face turned slightly red. "You agreed?"

  "Of course not. Honestly, he's great and I have a lot of fun with him. I'm afraid that if we really get married, it won't be as harmonious as it is now."

  "You don't think marriage is a graveyard for love, do you?"

  "I'm not sure if love will be buried in marriage, at least marriage represents commitment and responsibility. I just feel that getting married is like being a design director, it sounds good on paper, so I won't be called an old leftover woman anymore, and I can give my parents and curious people an explanation. But correspondingly, there will be many more things to deal with, making the relationship between two people no longer simple, and inevitably delaying my time and energy for design."

  Xin Chen was speechless and lost her smile. She thought, David Fan probably never expected that bringing up marriage to a woman would not be taken seriously. It seems he still has a lot of effort to make. And her cousin is enjoying love, which is enough. "I have no concept of what marriage is, I won't comment, anyway if you need money just remember to come find me."

  The photos Xiao Ma took in the countryside of Liping were submitted and, as expected, won a prestigious social documentary photography award. Elated, Yan Xuhui hastily added the award to their studio's promotional materials. After completing the advertising shoot, Yan Xuhui sent Xiao Ma to continue shooting in southeastern Guizhou, this time with a full-time photography assistant, as Xin Chen had a lot of work on his hands.

  More than half a month later, Xiao Ma returned from filming and handed over the photo materials to Xin Chen for processing. "This snow disaster has had a great impact, it is said that some remote mountainous areas will not fully recover their power supply until this month."

  "Yes, there is only one road connecting that side with the outside world, and it's indeed difficult to repair. I don't know how the village we stayed in is doing now."

  "I brought the money to the village branch secretary," Before Xiao Ma set off, Xin Chen handed over 2,000 yuan to him and asked him to bring it over to donate to the small village where they had stayed for half a month. Xiao Ma immediately said that he would also donate the same amount, "He told me that he plans to consult with everyone and subsidize several villagers whose houses collapsed. He also asked me to thank you. Oh, right, on the second day after we left, someone came to the village to ask about you."

  Xin Chen was taken aback, "Who is it?"

  "It was a soldier transporting disaster relief supplies, who said he was entrusted by someone to find you along the way. Old Secretary is quite curious and asked in detail before knowing that it was because of an accident involving a truck on the mountain road ahead of us about a week ago. The truck had brought in one of your friends, who were injured and sent to the county hospital for emergency treatment. Your friend was still worried and entrusted someone from the next batch of people coming in to find you and take you out."

  After Xiao Ma left, Xin Chen stared blankly at the computer, for the first time during work hours she was completely in a non-work state, her mind wandering, her heart in disarray, but she had no idea what she was thinking about. There was only one voice echoing in her mind: He had gone to find her, they had been close enough to be within arm's reach - in the mountain village, separated by a single hill; in the county town, separated by just a few streets.

  After a while, she picked up her phone and walked to the stairwell, dialing Lu Fei's number. Lu Fei's phone went straight to global voicemail, so she could only go back, collect her thoughts, and continue working. It wasn't until almost quitting time that Lu Fei returned her call: "Sorry, Xiao Chen, I just got out of a meeting."

  She didn't know what to say anymore, holding her phone silently. Lu Fei asked in confusion: "Xiao Chen, what's wrong?"

  "Where are you hurt? How is it now?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

  Lu Fei was also stunned and stopped for a while before saying: "It's nothing now."

  "Why didn't you tell me?"

  The road was apparently stunned by the question and stopped for a while, "It's already over."

  This answer enraged Xin Chen, she took a deep breath and said in a calm tone: "It's all in the past, I hope you fully recover, goodbye."

  After work, Xiaoyun asked Xincheng with great interest: "Where are you going to play on May 1st?"

  Her mind was elsewhere, "Three days off, where can I go? Maybe go to the Jinshanling Great Wall in Gubeikou."

  She met Lao Zhang, the leader of last year's trip to northwest Yunnan, on a weekend hike and mentioned that she hadn't been to the Great Wall yet. Lao Zhang laughed and said that if she took the route he suggested for hiking, she could see a relatively complete section of the Great Wall with fewer tourists and nice scenery, and she could stay overnight at a farmhouse, which would be enough for two days.

  Xiao Yun shook her head, "I really can't understand the joy of being a donkey, I'd rather be a pig."

  She was amused, "Goodbye, happy pig."

  On the day of the holiday, Xin Chen got up early, carried a light backpack to Dongzhimen, met with Old Zhang and others there, prepared to take a long-distance bus to Miyun, and then transfer to Gubeikou.

  Old Zhang was telling them about the trip from Luogu Lake to Yading on foot last year: "At Dakou Valley, we caught up with a big hail storm, and then there was a night of violent snowstorm. I almost lost my life there, it's the most dangerous time in my hiking career."

  A lovely girl with a look of yearning said, "What a rare experience."

  Old Zhang smiled wryly, "Little sister, if you were there, you wouldn't say that. Frostbite is no joke! We're lucky to have found the campsite, even though it's drafty on all sides. It's better than setting up a tent in the snowy wilderness outside. I heard that last year, some donkeys froze so badly on that road that they had to be amputated."

  Xin Chen's water bottle fell to the ground, and someone nearby picked it up and handed it back to her. She mechanically said, "Thank you."

  Old Zhang counted the number of people and said, "Almost everyone is here, let's get on the bus."

  Everyone got on the bus, and Xincheng suddenly said: "Sorry, Old Zhang, I'm not going. Something came up and I have to leave first. Goodbye."