From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of life

Today's pace was the same as yesterday's, with very few stops for rest along the way.

Midway through the journey, Su Wan's G-Class experienced its first tire blowout.

We were delayed for a while, but fortunately Luo Peng was skilled at changing tires and finished quickly, and the convoy got back on the road.

As you drive further, the road conditions visibly improve, and many potholes on the road have been repaired.

Seeing this mark, I knew in my heart that we were very close to the exit of the no-man's-land.

Just then, Luo Peng's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Brother Lin, look ahead, isn't there a car parked over there?"

I looked in the direction he indicated and indeed saw it; the car was parked quietly on the side of the road, motionless.

Although we were close to the exit, we had only heard two horns and hadn't seen any other vehicles along the way.

Suddenly, I saw an SUV parked on the side of the road, and my vigilance immediately went up.

I immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and instructed, "No matter what happens, do not stop the car. We're about to leave the no-man's-land; we can't afford to have anything go wrong at the last minute."

"Roger that!" Luo Peng replied. "I still get chills thinking about those two robbers."

Once bitten by a snake, twice shy.

I'm not much better off. When I see a car parked on the side of the road, the first thing that comes to mind is that pickup truck that pretended to get stuck.

The car was blocking our way, but I had no intention of stopping. I gently pressed the accelerator, ready to accelerate and rush past it.

As I got closer, I glanced at the license plate; it was from Lhasa.

I comforted myself, thinking that maybe it was just a temporary stop by the herders.

But I dare not gamble.

Having survived twenty days of life-or-death ordeal, all I want is to complete this journey safely and peacefully, and I don't want to worry about anything else, no matter what happens.

To our utter surprise, just as our car was about to pass by, the SUV door suddenly opened, and a person jumped out of the vehicle.

From a distance, all that could be seen was that it was a girl wearing a hat, but her face was obscured.

She kept waving her hands and shouting, trying to stop our convoy.

Without hesitation, I floored the accelerator, ready to drive straight over.

At that very moment, Su Wan's calm voice came through the walkie-talkie:

"Lin Ye, the person next to the SUV just now looks like Su Qing."

Upon hearing those words, my mind went blank.

Almost instinctively, I released the accelerator, but the car continued to glide forward due to inertia.

Immediately afterward, Luo Peng's voice followed: "I took a closer look, and she really does look like Sister Qing!"

I was completely dazed and quickly looked in the rearview mirror at the SUV parked on the side of the road behind me.

The girl was still standing there, waving vigorously at us, her mouth opening and closing as if she were shouting.

I was so focused on being on guard against danger that I only saw a woman wearing a hat and didn't really look closely.

After Su Wan and Luo Peng said that, I was completely dumbfounded.

How could it be Su Qing? How could she end up in a place like this?

To confirm, I stepped on the brakes, turned the car around, and drove back towards the SUV.

As the car slowly approached, I froze the moment I saw the person's face clearly.

You read that right, it really is Su Qing!

She stood by the roadside in the barren, yellow wilderness, wearing a crisp light yellow windbreaker, her long, flowing hair draped over her shoulders and gently swaying in the high-altitude wind.

She ran a short distance ahead to catch up with us.

When he saw me turn back, he stopped, clutching his stomach with one hand, and bent over, panting heavily.

I was stunned for several seconds before I suddenly came to my senses, pushed open the car door, jumped out, and ran quickly towards her.

Panting, Su Qing looked at me with a hint of reproach: "Why...why did you guys run? I'm exhausted! Huff, huff..."

I stared at her, incredulous, even wondering if it was a hallucination caused by altitude sickness.

The surprise came so suddenly that my mind went completely blank for a moment.

While I was still in a daze, she turned around, went back to the SUV, opened the door, and took out a large bunch of sunflowers.

The full, bright flower heads stood out dazzlingly in this gray-yellow wilderness.

My pupils contracted slightly, and my heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy blow.

I wasn't sure until she walked towards me, holding the flowers, step by step.

What I'm seeing isn't an illusion; it really is Su Qing.

At this moment, Luo Peng and Su Wan also got off the bus one after another, but they stood quietly at a distance and did not come any closer.

"I'm asking you a question, why were you running away just now?"

Su Qing looked up at me, her tone still familiar.

I stared at her blankly like a wooden statue, unable to come to my senses for a long time.

She rolled her eyes at me and teased with a laugh, "Are you stupid? You haven't been out of contact for over twenty days in the deserted area, have you gone crazy from exhaustion?"

My lips twitched stiffly, and I managed to utter a hoarse sound:

"You...how did you get here? Is it really you, Su Qing?"

She rolled her eyes again: "If it wasn't me, then it must be a ghost!"

I rubbed my eyes hard, and Su Qing burst out laughing. Then she opened her arms, waiting for me to hug her.

I took two steps forward suddenly, then abruptly stopped.

My face was covered in a layer of indelible dust, my down jacket was stained with mud and sand, and my body smelled of glacial chill, sweat, and the dust of the wilderness.

His hair was greasy and matted, his fingernails were full of black dirt, and he looked utterly disheveled.

The Su Qing before me was clean and tidy, with a faint fragrance emanating from her, holding a bouquet of flowers in her arms, bright and dazzling.

His attempt to hug her froze in mid-air.

He wanted to hug her, but dared not reach out, afraid that his dirty body would soil her clean clothes.

Seeing my hesitation, Su Qing continued to walk closer to me.

I quickly raised my hand to stop her: "Don't come any closer..."

She stopped, her eyes filled with confusion.

I laughed awkwardly and said, "I'm so dirty, I smell terrible."

Su Qing rolled her eyes at me, then stepped forward without a word and threw herself into my arms.

A warm, soft body pressed against me, and the faint fragrance of flowers washed away the dust from my body.

She didn't care at all that I was covered in mud and sand, her cheek pressed against my dirty windbreaker, her arms tightly wrapped around my back.

"I'm not afraid. I've been waiting for you here for so long, and it's not easy for you to come out safely. How could I possibly be disgusted?"

The moment she hugged me, I felt like I was melting.

A myriad of emotions surged within me, my nose tingled, and tears almost welled up.

The despair of countless near-death experiences along the way was slowly released in this embrace.

After a long while, I carefully raised my arm and gently wrapped it around her.

I dared not use force, for fear of getting her clothes dirty.

The bunch of sunflowers leaned against her arm, their golden petals brushing against our shoulders, swaying gently in the highland breeze.

After a long while, I spoke softly, "How did you end up here? When did you get here?"

"yesterday."