From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of life

The cool night breeze blew through the courtyard, ruffling my clothes. I leaned back in my chair, but my heart felt warm.

"Then I'll fight with all my might to get out of this no-man's land alive and settle the score with you in person."

"Pfft!"

Su Qing couldn't help but laugh out loud on the other end of the screen. She didn't dare to grin too much because of the face mask on her face, and could only shake her shoulders slightly.

"Oh, you're going to come knocking on my door to settle accounts? I'm so scared."

She deliberately adopted a timid tone, but the next second her expression became more serious.

"Jokes aside, what I want is you intact. If you come back seriously injured, missing an arm or a leg, I might really reconsider."

I shook my head, both amused and exasperated: "You're quite realistic."

"That's exactly right."

She blinked, then her tone became serious again after a moment, "Joking aside, I just hope you get out of here safely. As for whether I want to be your girlfriend, we can talk about that in person when you return safely."

I looked at the face covered by a face mask in the video and nodded emphatically: "Okay, then let's talk face to face. I'll stand in front of you unharmed, waiting for your answer."

The courtyard was quiet, with the occasional bark of a dog coming from afar, which was particularly clear in the vast plateau night.

The phone signal was intermittent, and the video would occasionally freeze and drop frames.

The tenderness that transcends thousands of miles remains undiminished.

She stared quietly at the camera, and after a few seconds, spoke softly:

"Once inside, there's no signal; you can't make calls or send messages."

"Every night, I look up at the moon and stars at the same time. We agreed on that before."

My heart warmed, and I nodded gently.

"I remember."

"As long as it's a clear day, I'll look up at the night sky. Even if we're thousands of miles apart, looking at the same starry sky is like we've met."

After a while, when the mask was almost ready, Su Qing stretched out her slender fingers and slowly peeled off the mask, revealing her clean and fair face.

She tossed the face mask aside, then looked playfully at the camera and asked, "Do you think my skin is soft and smooth?"

I stood up, nodded, and said, "Do I even need to say that?"

"No, I want to hear it from you yourself."

This girl always teases me. She knows I'm not good at saying cheesy sweet nothings, but she still forces me to say them.

I nodded somewhat helplessly, but honestly, "Tender and fair-skinned, are you satisfied now?"

"Then do you want to give me a kiss?" she asked, becoming even bolder.

I said, somewhat amused and exasperated, "I can't kiss him even through a screen."

"It's simple, I'll bring my face close to the camera, and you can just kiss the screen."

As she spoke, she actually pressed her face close to the camera.

I was a little embarrassed: "Are we really going to do this?"

"Hurry up! I'm a girl and I'm not shy, why are you, a grown man, shy?"

I felt a little ashamed after hearing that, but I still forced myself to kiss the camera.

Su Qing smiled, her eyes crinkling: "That's great. I'll let you kiss me as much as you want when you come back."

She always says such bold things without hesitation; I'm used to it.

Even though I'm used to it, I still can't help but feel a pang of emotion every time I hear her say something like that.

After wiping her face with a wet wipe, her expression turned serious again: "Have all the supplies been inventoried? Don't let us enter the no-man's-land only to find that we've left behind anything crucial."

"Don't worry, we've checked it several times, and Luo Peng and Su Wan have both overseen it. There won't be any mistakes."

She nodded and said, "With my sister around, there's really no chance of anything going wrong. She's known for being very strict."

I've noticed it these past few days too. Su Wan is the kind of woman who is precocious and strives for perfection in everything she does.

Just like when we inspect supplies, Luo Peng and I would check them at most twice, while she would check them at least three or four times before putting them down.

Living or working with this kind of person is actually quite tiring, but there is one advantage: they are less likely to make mistakes.

After chatting for a while, the phone signal became increasingly weak, the screen went black for a moment, and then barely recovered.

I know this signal won't last long, and I don't know how many more minutes this video call will last.

Looking at her on the screen, all the words in my heart became simple when they reached my lips.

"The signal is getting worse and worse; it's probably going to be cut off soon."

Su Qing nodded, a hint of reluctance flashing in her eyes, and said:

"Alright, I won't keep you from resting any longer. We're leaving tomorrow. Be careful on the road, and don't overexert yourself. If you encounter danger, prioritize your own life, understand?"

"I've got it."

She smiled sweetly at the camera.

"I'll wait for you to come back."

"Okay, wait for me."

As soon as the words were spoken, the screen suddenly went black and the video call was abruptly disconnected.

The last bar of signal in the phone's status bar has also completely disappeared without a trace.

I sat in a chair, holding my phone, and looked up at the vast night sky over the plateau, where countless stars were densely spread across the dark sky.

The journey through the wilderness, lasting more than twenty days, was filled with wind, snow, desperate situations, and unknown dangers.

But deep in my heart, a longing has grown.

It is what sustains me, that I must safely complete this journey through life and death.

I sat quietly in the chair for a moment, preparing to get up and go back to my room to sleep.

But as soon as he stood up, a glance to his side made him freeze instantly.

Su Wan actually sat on the other chair, also looking up at the starry sky.

I don't know how long she's been sitting there.

In other words, there's a high probability that all the sweet nothings and promises I made to Su Qing during our video call were overheard by her.

My heart skipped a beat, and a strange panic rushed to the top of my head.

Between Su Qing and me, nothing is even remotely happening yet. We haven't even officially announced it to the public, let alone established a formal romantic relationship.

It's still in the early stages of a private, ambiguous relationship, and I don't want anyone to know for now, to avoid any unforeseen complications.

But Su Wan happened to be sitting not far away, only a few meters away from me.

I wasn't speaking softly to Su Qing just now, so she must have heard everything clearly.

I froze on the spot, stunned for several seconds, feeling both panicked and confused.

I steeled myself and walked past her, offering a greeting that came out of the blue, though it sounded a little awkward.

"You... um, you're still awake?"

Her expression remained calm and composed; she simply shook her head slightly without uttering a word.

The atmosphere instantly became extremely awkward.

I stood there helplessly, my mind blank, completely at a loss for words to break the deadlock.

After a brief standoff, I could only awkwardly turn around and head upstairs to my room.

But I had only taken two steps when a cold, indifferent voice suddenly rang out from behind me.

"When did you and Su Qing officially begin dating?"

My heart skipped a beat; sure enough, she had heard everything.

I paused for a moment, then quickly turned to explain, "It's not confirmed yet, we're not together."

"Don't be nervous, I won't stop you."

Su Wan's tone was indifferent, revealing no trace of joy or anger.

Hearing her words, I breathed a slight sigh of relief, but I didn't know why she asked that.