From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of life

I opened the trunk and began to meticulously prepare lunch according to the current extreme survival standards.

Each person receives a small portion of compressed dry rations, a thin slice of vacuum-packed beef, and half a bottle of measured drinking water.

This is already the most rationed food, barely enough to maintain the body's basic metabolism.

Forget about being full, it's not even half full.

Even at normal temperatures, it's not enough to sustain physical exertion, let alone in the uninhabited high-altitude areas where temperatures drop to minus ten degrees Celsius.

Su Wan silently accepted her share of food without complaint, quietly unpacked it, and ate it in small bites, maintaining extreme composure throughout.

Luo Peng stood alone to the side, his hands in his pockets, looking at the food in my hand and shaking his head repeatedly.

"Brother Lin, I don't want to eat."

I paused, looked up at him, and frowned slightly: "It's almost lunchtime, why aren't you eating?"

Luo Peng deliberately put on a relaxed smile and said in an unusually casual tone:

"I'm really not hungry. Look how busy I was this morning, I'm all warm now, I can handle this little bit of exertion."

He spoke lightly and casually, but I saw right through him.

It wasn't that he wasn't hungry; it was clearly the guilt in his heart that made it difficult for him to swallow.

He wanted to save food supplies by going on a hunger strike, using this self-punishment to atone for his mistake and alleviate the survival pressure on me and Su Wan.

I didn't sleep well last night because it was so cold, and today I'm working hard driving.

In such an extremely cold and oxygen-deficient environment at high altitudes, even a little bit of energy intake is like overdrawing one's life force.

Once the body breaks down, the consequences are unimaginable.

My face instantly darkened. I stopped arguing with him, grabbed his portion of food, strode up to him, and forcefully shoved it into his hand.

"Take it and eat it right away."

"Brother Lin, I really don't need it, I can handle it..." Luo Peng still wanted to refuse.

I looked him straight in the eye and said without any room for negotiation, "Luo Peng, have you forgotten what I just told you? We are a team, no one needs to atone for their sins, and no one needs to punish themselves by overworking their bodies."

"The food shortage is the reality, not just your fault. If you fall behind due to exhaustion, who will drive us? Who will keep watch through the night? Who will check for hidden road hazards?"

"If you don't eat now, you're not helping us, you're dragging down the entire convoy."

Su Wan, standing to the side, also spoke up at the opportune moment, her cool voice carrying absolute rationality:

"In dire situations, conserving energy is the only prerequisite for survival. Self-indulgent sacrifices are meaningless and only increase the risk to the team."

The two men took turns trying to persuade him. Luo Peng held the cold dry rations in his hand, his cheeks clenched tightly, and his Adam's apple bobbing repeatedly.

He hung his head and remained silent for a long time, the guilt in his eyes lingering. Finally, he lowered his head and carefully ate the dry food in his hand, bite by bite.

I could tell that he still hadn't gotten over that hurdle in his heart, but he was no longer stubbornly dragging the team down.

The brief half-hour rest ended quickly, and we continued on our way to the research station.

For the rest of the afternoon, Luo Peng remained unchanged, still eager to do all the heavy and tiring work.

I advised him several times to take turns resting and not to overexert himself.

But even though he agreed verbally, he continued doing the same thing.

Seeing this, I didn't try to persuade them any further.

I knew in my heart that this was the only way he could alleviate his guilt.

Forcibly stopping him will only make him feel more guilty.

The days on the plateau are exceptionally short, and darkness comes suddenly.

Before long, the originally gray sky completely darkened, and the entire desolate wilderness was instantly shrouded in pitch-black twilight.

As night fell, the temperature plummeted again, and a biting wind swept across the wasteland, its chill penetrating every crevice.

I repeatedly calculated the distance to the abandoned research station by referring to the map and hand-drawn drawings.

The remaining journey is fraught with difficulties, and rushing ahead could easily lead to accidents.

I immediately gave instructions via walkie-talkie to set up camp and rest in a safe, sheltered spot.

Setting up tents, collecting stones to build a stove, tidying up the night campsite, and setting up a perimeter for vehicles—Luo Peng did almost all the heavy work by himself.

Once the campsite was set up and the campfire was successfully lit, the night had completely turned dark, and the entire wilderness was plunged into boundless silence.

Su Wan stood guard by the tent, carefully organizing the emergency supplies for the night.

Taking advantage of the bright, warm light of the campfire, I walked over to Luo Peng, who was sitting alone on the snow, and quietly sat down next to him.

The campfire crackled, its warm, flickering light barely dispelling the chill that was close at hand.

But behind them was still an endless, dark wasteland, with the biting wind howling incessantly.

I took out two cigarettes, handed one to him, and lit one for myself.

The smoke slowly escaped, slightly easing the gloom in my heart.

I spoke softly, getting straight to the point: "Are you still blaming yourself for what happened during the day?"

Luo Peng lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and let out a low sigh, still full of regret.

"Brother Lin, I was really too stupid."

"I took every precaution before I left, but in the end, I was caught out by my own carelessness."

"If I had been just one second more careful last night, we wouldn't be in this predicament now, and we wouldn't have had to risk deviating from our course to gamble on an unknown, abandoned research station."

He turned to look at me, his voice filled with helplessness: "What if the research station is empty, without any supplies? This time-long preparation for the crossing will be a complete failure. It would be a waste of your time and effort, and I'll never get over that."

I smoked in silence, letting my thoughts drift.

Looking at the dark and desolate night before him, he slowly spoke after a long while: "Luo Peng, let me tell you the truth."

"From the moment the three of us set off from Lhasa, there was no right or wrong on this journey, only advancing and retreating together."

"The dangers of the no-man's-land are never just the obvious snow and road conditions. Someone is following us to steal, which is a sneaky trick that none of us anticipated."

"Forgetting to lock your car door is negligence, but it's definitely not a capital offense, and it's not worth punishing yourself by blaming yourself and starving yourself."

I paused, looked up at the dark, starless night sky above, and continued in a deep voice:

"What is a team? It's about sharing the good times together and weathering the storms together. When things go wrong, no one shifts blame, no one backs down, and no one gives up. That's what we should be like."

"If we run out of food, we can find a way. If the road is difficult, we can drive slowly. If there are bad people, we can be extra vigilant."

"The one thing you can't do is deny yourself or give up on yourself. If your mentality collapses and your body collapses, then our team will truly be hopeless."

"I'm not a burden." I patted him on the shoulder. "My choice not to give up on you today means I trust you completely."

"Once we successfully find supplies and cross the no-man's-land, today's accident will only be an obstacle on our journey, and will definitely not be our end."