I'm in Delingha tonight

For a moment, Chi Nian couldn't tell whether it was the afterglow of the setting sun or the temperature of the palm of the man wearing sunglasses that burned his arm.

He was wearing the most common black T-shirt, and the protective sleeves covered the second joints of his fingers. He held Chi Nian with great strength and dragged him from the ground.

The white clouds on the top of the majestic mountain pressed down in patches, and the sky became overcast, only the setting sun was still shining behind.

When he was pulled upward by a force from his arm, Chi Nian's heart was full of despair and stagnant water, and then a little ripple appeared.

The moment he stood up, his legs went limp. He didn't feel it when he was squatting just now, but when he was about to stand up, he realized that his legs were numb to death at some point, as if he was paralyzed.Chi Nian bowed his waist to avoid the gaze of the person in front of him, and wanted to pinch his calf, trying to be brave so as not to make his expression too uncomfortable.

But people were unlucky enough to drink cold water and stuffed their teeth. Before he touched it, there were several violent convulsions immediately.

Chi Nian gasped and let out a "hiss", tears almost flooded with pain - he was particularly afraid of pain, otherwise he might have chosen a more straightforward way to end his life.

The standing posture with one leg not on the ground was very awkward, and he was still being held by another person's arm. At this time, his leg was cramping, and Chi Nian didn't know what to do. He wanted to jump on the spot to relieve it, but felt ashamed.

The man seemed to see that he was uncomfortable, so he didn't say a word, only letting most of his focus shift to himself.

The distance between the two of them was closer, and Chi Nian smelled a very faint smell of washing powder within a short distance, which was warmed by the sun and did not waft in the wind.

The pain of the cramp in the calf was not so unbearable once the attention was diverted elsewhere.

Seeing that Chi Nian stood on one foot for a while, his expression softened, and the corner of the other party's mouth deepened, and he asked him, "Can I still go?"

Chi Nian nodded, and was supported and tried to stand up straight.But as soon as his feet landed, a numb and painful sensation rose from the soles of the feet to the eyes of the waist after passing through the electricity.He said "ah" and instinctively squeezed his calf a few times.

"Not yet?" said the person who supported him, looked at Chi Nian's delicate look, and smiled again, "Go to my car, just sit and massage for a while."

Strangers send out this kind of invitation, and when they move to some inappropriate places, they will have some hints of one kind or another. If it weren't for the fact that there was no living thing nearby except the two of them, Chi Nian would probably not agree.

It's all here, what else do you want?

He secretly despised that he was sick, and nodded to those who were kind enough to help, finally regained the muscle memory of speaking, and thanked him in a low voice.

"……thank you."

This sentence of gratitude came suddenly, and the man paused before answering, "It's a small matter."

A jeep was parked in the desolate plateau far away from the road. It was so imposing that it almost looked like a magazine blockbuster.The camouflage paint may have been worn for a long time, and it was dusty, with a little gravel stuck to the tires.

The man wearing sunglasses opened the back seat first, then quickly closed the door: "Sorry, the back is a bit messy."

This greeting made Chi Nian's silent and numb heart a little bit alive. Maybe he has been speechless for too long, and he always seems awkward and unfamiliar when speaking: "It's okay, I can just rely on it..."

"The co-pilot." The man said, opening the door for him.

The chassis of the jeep is a bit high, and Chi Nian wears shoes with a height of about 178, so he can jump on it gracefully.But now he is considered a half-disabled person, with one leg dragging him, he can't be light even if he wants to, and instead he is always worried about the second cramp.

In the end, someone helped him to sit up.

Chi Nian turned his body sideways, his legs dangled in the door frame, and his heels occasionally lightly touched the bottom of the seat.His face was so hot that he began to feel pain. He may have been exposed to the sun for a long time, and his ears were also red.

The cramped calf finally recovered after rubbing for a while, Chi Nian wanted to thank the kind stranger, raised his head and saw him drinking water.

Leaning on the open car door with one hand, it is very casual, but it looks more like a model than a hard concave shape.Now the sky is full of yellow sand, the sky in the background is light purple, and the setting sun is about to sink into the gap in the mountain. Chi Nian looked at him and thought endlessly: If there is a camera now, the effect of the shooting is probably not inferior to that of a magazine. Blockbuster.

"Are you here alone?"

Chi Nian nodded in bewilderment, he couldn't turn his face away after enjoying the help of others, and let them "don't care about my life"-basic upbringing, he had to send the other party away first and then think about the future.

The man smiled with neat and white teeth, and thought it was incredible that he appeared here: "No car, no luggage, are you lost or want to challenge the limit?"

"...No." Chi Nian said sullenly.

If he didn't cooperate, the man didn't ask any more questions. He turned around and took out a bottle of mineral water from the back seat and handed it to Chi Nian.Facing the surprised gaze, the man slightly raised his chin: "Your lip is cracked."

Chi Nian was touching his hot ears without speaking, and snatched the bottle of water when he heard the sound.

After unscrewing the lid and taking a few sips, he wiped the corners of his mouth indiscriminately, so as not to make his gaffe too obvious—the sentence just now was instinctively understood as flirting according to Chi Nian's brain circuit when getting along with her boyfriend in the past, but the man in front of him said He was extremely honest, and really only reminded him, "Cracked lips will bleed."

Chi Nian sighed, and the guilt in his heart was infinitely magnified after the throat that had been smoked and blown by the wind was temporarily rescued.

The kindness of the stranger made him realize that those negative thoughts just now were simply too irresponsible.

Not responsible for myself, and... for my family.

Maybe he won't have the chance to go home to face it again, but if he didn't encounter this car today, the last conversation he had with his parents would be the last conversation he had with his parents before he made a fuss and was kicked out of the house.

Chi Nian felt himself being pulled out of the suffocating quagmire for no reason.

"By the way, there's a car over there that looks like it's about to be scrapped. Could it be yours?" The man asked suddenly.

Chi Nian bit the mouth of the mineral water bottle, and said "hmm" blankly.

The man showed a look of sudden realization: "That's no wonder."

He talked a lot, and he was a little familiar, no matter whether Chi Nian answered or not, he continued to talk about the reasoning process: "When I passed by, I wondered, that kind of car can't go to the Gobi Desert, so how could it stop at this place? ...It was said that it was abandoned, but there was another backpack over there, and there were still a lot of things in it. I couldn't find the driver, so I checked and found that the tire was blown..."

When Chi Nian heard this, he said cooperatively, "Yes, the tire is blown."

"That's right." The man nodded seriously, "I was wondering if the driver was going around to ask for help. After all, it was getting dark... I drove around a few times and saw you."

Chi Nian wanted to laugh for no reason. For some reason, he was more moved by expressions like "I saw a fool squatting and crying in frustration when passing by", "I drove to find you because I was afraid of being in danger".

It's been a long time since no one mentioned "caring" about him - at least among the people he cared about, they seemed to have forgotten him tacitly.

He took another sip of water: "I can't find the way."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know," Chi Nian pursed his lips, "Anyway, I don't want the car anymore, so whatever."

"Whatever..." He repeated Chi Nian's words, rubbing the back of his head with a headache, "How about I take you to the nearest service area? It's dangerous to stay here alone."

Chi Nian said, "Why should I ask you to give it?"

"It's okay if you don't give it away." The man said indifferently, "There will really be wolves in this area at night."

Chi Nian: "..."

Chi Nian: "Well, that's still... trouble you."

After hearing this, the man put his arms on the car door frame together, and the aggressive posture he made didn't look domineering.He pushed up the sunglasses he had been wearing all the time, and the whole face was revealed without reservation——

He smiled at Chi Nian:

"Don't worry, I'm not a bad person."

Chi Nian saw his appearance clearly, was stunned, then nodded hastily.

Bad guys don't grow up like this.

The eyebrows and eyes seemed to have been heavily colored with a few strokes of color. When he smiled, his crescent-like eyes were slightly raised, and his sharp lips because they were too thin were not so alienating.

Only then did he realize that the man had slightly curly, mid-length hair tied up at the back of his head, and the broken hair on his forehead modified the too cold outline, and the setting sun made the furry around his shoulders warm.The time the other party stayed on the plateau may not be too short, his skin is tanned, and there are some small freckles on both sides of his tall nose that are not easy to notice, adding a bit of cuteness...

But I can't guess the age for a while.

From Chi Nian's point of view, when wearing sunglasses and a mask, he can only be considered to be in good shape, and the lower half of his face is at most eighth level. Now that he puts it in Sanlitun without modification, those people who take street photos will probably be generous Slam the shutter on him.

Realizing that staring was too offensive, he hastily averted his gaze.

"...Where are you going?" Chi Nian asked him, and also asked himself.

The man went around to the driver's seat, opened the door and touched the steering wheel: "If you have no destination, how about I take you away?"

Take you away, the three words are neither painful nor itchy, but it pokes at the depths of his soft heart.

Chi Nian: "Huh?"

"There is an undeveloped salt lake nearby, and this time is just right." The man motioned him to close the passenger's door, "Let's go, I'll take you to see the most beautiful sunset in the world."

But the scenery with the word "most" on it makes his heart move, not to mention the bargaining chip of "undeveloped salt lake" in front of him.

Chi Nian agreed to him without objecting, and asked, "I don't even know your name."

"Xi Shan." He pointed at the steering wheel, "My name is Xi Shan."

Without telling which two words it was, Chi Nian tilted his head to look at his profile, and made a joke: "Which xi, it doesn't sound like his real name."

Xi Shan said: "The brook of the brook, get rid of the water."

Chi Nian: "Oh, my name is Chi Nian, Chi Nian of Chi Tang."

After he finished speaking, Xi Shan nodded, and talked with him politely: "My mountain is the most common mountain, Qingcheng Mountain, Wutai Mountain, Qilian Mountain, Himalayas..."

He reported all the famous mountains in the country like a treasure, and Chi Nian listened to his brisk voice and looked out the window.

sunsets, windmills...

The sound of the jeep engine humming in the ears.

Chi Nian suddenly remembered that he seemed to have met Xi Shan once before.