I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

When his wife is disciplining the children, Yan Jiefang will not speak, interrupt, or offer opposing opinions.

So as not to diminish her authority in front of the children.

He originally wanted his second child to learn to drive as well, but now his wife wants to postpone it for two years, so he'll postpone it for two years.

They visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall this time.

Compared to the famous Badaling Great Wall, this place is not so well-known.

Moreover, due to the short repair time, only the first 14 watchtowers have been repaired so far.

The area behind is still under repair and therefore not open to the public.

It took Yan Jiefang more than an hour to drive the more than 70 kilometers to get there.

From afar, you can see the city walls and battle towers winding along the mountaintop, and glimpses of white can be seen in these buildings and in the crevices of the mountain.

Those were remnants of snow.

Since it is now deep winter, all the trees have lost their leaves, with only a few pine trees still retaining a bit of green, and the mountains are mostly covered in yellowish-brown.

This section of the Great Wall was only officially opened to the public last April, and there are very few tourists; you can hardly see anyone in the distance.

The ticket office is a bungalow at the foot of the mountain, and a winding stone staircase leads to the city wall.

Alternatively, you can take the newly repaired cable car directly up to the vicinity of the No. 14 watchtower.

Yan Xueheng looked at the red cable car hanging from the cable, his face full of eagerness. He ran to Yan Jiefang's side and tugged at his sleeve:

"Dad, Grandma's health isn't very good, it must be tiring for her to go up the mountain. How about we take the cable car up?"

Yan Jiefang nodded:

"Um."

He then bought tickets for six people and round-trip cable car tickets.

The ticket price at this time was 1 yuan per person, which seemed to be more expensive than at Badaling.

A one-way ticket for the cable car costs two yuan, and a round-trip ticket costs 3.5 yuan per person.

The total cost for 6 people was 27 yuan, which wasn't cheap in those days.

The six of them shared a cable car and slowly climbed up the mountain.

The three children craned their necks to look down and around through the glass, their faces full of excitement, completely unaware of what fear was.

The old lady sat between the two children, holding one in each hand, looking worried, afraid that something might happen.

Liu Ruyan held Yan Jiefang's large hand tightly, looking very nervous. However, her occasional timid glances outside showed that she still had some girlish heart left.

Yan Jiefang scanned his surroundings with his divine sense, especially the cable car and the cables on it.

He didn't want any accidents to happen.

However, this cable car was only completed in April 1988, less than a year ago, so there are naturally no problems.

It didn't take long, only about four or five minutes, before the cable car arrived at enemy tower number 14.

The group stepped out of the red gondola and onto the cold stone surface.

Walk up a short stone staircase to reach the Great Wall horse trail and enter the No. 14 watchtower.

The mountain wind surged along the ridge, howling and swirling inside the gate of the enemy tower.

The three children didn't care about anything else and climbed directly up the steps towards the top of the watchtower.

The space inside the watchtower is not large, and the staircase passage is also very narrow, basically only allowing one person to pass at a time. If two people are in the same position, it will be very crowded even if they are standing sideways.

The group stood atop enemy tower number 14, and Yan Jiefang took out his camera to take photos of them as a memento.

The three children were laughing and very happy.

The old lady was also all smiles.

The group then walked forward along the steep steps and slopes of the Great Wall.

After passing seven or eight watchtowers, the old lady and Liu Ruyan gradually felt tired.

Light snow began to fall from the sky.

Yan Jiefang looked up at the distant, hazy mountain ridge.

It looks like it's going to snow heavily.

He called to the three children who were still running forward:

"Don't run anymore, your grandma is a little tired, let's go back."

Although they hadn't had enough fun yet, the three children obediently agreed loudly:

"All right."

Yan Xueqian helped the old lady up:

"Grandma, let me help you walk."

The old lady was very happy:

"well."

The group returned along the same route.

The group turned back along the inner side of the city wall. Just as they turned the corner of a watchtower, they encountered three people.

The woman at the head of the group was wearing a dark wool coat, her neat short hair was ruffled by the cold wind, and she raised her hand to tuck the stray hairs behind her ear.

Yan Jiefang immediately recognized him as Comrade Amin, whom he had met by chance on the Beijing-Guangzhou flight.

She was accompanied by a man and a woman, dressed simply, their identities unclear, but they were likely acquaintances traveling together.

Both sides stopped walking at the same time.

Amin was slightly taken aback when she saw that it was Yan Jiefang, and then nodded slightly:

"What a coincidence, I didn't expect to run into you on the Great Wall."

Yan Jiefang stood beside the thick stone wall:

"Comrade Amin is also climbing the Great Wall?"

"I finally had some free time and wanted to see the Great Wall in winter, but it started snowing."

Mao Amin looked towards the continuous rows of enemy towers.

"We originally planned to continue uphill, but the snow kept falling heavier and heavier, so we were preparing to go down the mountain."

Yan Jiefang nodded:

"The temperature is low on the mountain, and the steps are slippery after a long snowfall, so it's safer to go down the mountain early. We also turned back."

Two companions stood politely to the side of Comrade Amin, waiting quietly. They simply nodded slightly to Yan Jiefang without taking the initiative to speak.

Yan Jiefang didn't know who the two were, so he didn't dare to greet them rashly.

Yan Jiefang's family stood quietly to the side and waited. The children looked around curiously, but did not come forward to disturb them.

After a brief conversation, Mao Amin smiled:

"We won't delay your journey. We'll head down from this watchtower."

"Drive slowly on the road and watch out for slippery surfaces."

The two nodded to each other and passed by.

The distance between the two sides quickly widened.

A female companion next to Amin leaned closer to her and whispered:

"Amin, you actually know Comrade Yan Jiefang?"

Amin nodded:

"Yes, I met him once on the plane when I went to Guangzhou. He happened to be sitting next to me."

The female companion continued to press for answers:

"Have you had a proper discussion with him about music?"

Amin shook her head:

"No, he's a star athlete who's famous throughout the country and even the world. I was too embarrassed to talk to him too much, so I just asked him for an autograph."

The female companion shook her head and sighed:

"Oh dear, you may have missed a great opportunity!"

Amin was somewhat puzzled:

"What chance? You saw it yourself, his wife is so beautiful, and his three sons are all grown up. What chance do I have?"

Her female companion rolled her eyes:

"What are you thinking about? Can't you be serious for once?"

Amin looked at her:

"I'm being very serious, how am I not serious?"

Her female companion glanced at the distant mountains before turning to look at her:

"I'm talking about music! Music! Comrade Yan Jiefang was originally a well-known music composer!"

"My Motherland and I", "The Shining Red Star", "The Five-Starred Red Flag", and "The Glory of China" are all works for which he wrote the lyrics and composed the music!

Which song haven't you sung before?

Amin looked completely bewildered:

"I always thought it was created by someone else with the same name, and that he himself was an excellent athlete..."