Chapter 7

This is the northwest, and Yulin City is also known as the Camel City, meaning “Desert City.” The city itself is fine, but once you reach the mountainous areas, it’s a different story. In many mountain villages, people don’t have access to clean tap water, and some villagers have to travel along rugged mountain paths to fetch water.

Here, water is a scarce resource.

She couldn’t possibly bathe with water that the villagers had carried.

Qin Tang pressed her lips together. “I won’t wash then.”

Xiao Bai laughed and said, “It’s fine, one or two nights without a wash won’t make you smell.”

Ah Qi agreed, “Exactly.”

But her eyes subtly rolled, disdainful of Qin Tang’s fair skin.

Qin Tang didn’t say anything and turned to walk away.

Jiang Chuan called after her, “Don’t wander too far. We’ll have dinner soon. If you miss it, there won’t be any left.”

This wasn’t the city, where food would be available even after mealtime.

Qin Tang turned back to look at him. “I won’t go far.”

She pulled a bag of dried fruits from her bag and offered it to the little girl who had been staring at her. The little girl shyly looked at her, unsure whether to take it. Qin Tang smiled and said, “Take it.”

The little girl hesitantly reached out, took it, and blushed as she said, “Thank you, sister.”

Qin Tang gently patted her head, and the little girl added, “Sister, you’re so pretty!”

With that, she quickly ran off.

The little girl shared the dried fruits with the other children, and they smiled innocently at Qin Tang. When she turned to look at them, they quickly lowered their heads, too shy to meet her gaze or get closer.

Qin Tang’s mind stirred, and she pressed the shutter.

The children widened their eyes as they stared at the black lens of the camera.

Jiang Chuan and Xiao Cheng were nowhere to be seen for a while. After a bit, Qin Tang saw them coming out from a small house. Xiao Cheng waved and called out, “Qin Tang, come over and have dinner!”

Many of the villagers knew Jiang Chuan, and every time he came back, the villagers would host him.

The meal on the table wasn’t plentiful, but it was clear that the hosts had put a lot of thought into it.

Qin Tang saw the little girl again, who had jumped up and was sitting on Jiang Chuan’s lap. “Uncle Jiang, you haven’t come for a long time…”

Jiang Chuan pinched her cheek. “Uncle’s been busy.”

The little girl looked up at him. “Been busy making money?”

Jiang Chuan laughed. “Yeah.”

After a while, the little girl stood on tiptoe, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “That sister with the camera, she’s really pretty.”

When Jiang Chuan heard this, he glanced at Qin Tang. She was indeed pretty.

Though… a little delicate, and troublesome.

After dinner, Jiang Chuan disappeared.

Qin Tang took the key and entered the room. After a while, she heard the sound of a motorcycle engine outside. Turning her head, she saw Jiang Chuan putting on his helmet. As if sensing her gaze, he looked back at her. Qin Tang walked to the window and asked, “Are you going out?”

Jiang Chuan braced himself on one foot. “Yeah, I’m heading to the mountains.”

Qin Tang grabbed her camera and bag and said, “I’ll go with you.”

Before he could respond, she quickly disappeared from the room.

Jiang Chuan watched her and said, “Put on a thicker coat, it’s cold on the road.”

When Qin Tang stepped outside, she realized it was indeed chilly at night, so she returned to grab a coat.

She climbed onto the motorcycle, and Jiang Chuan handed her his helmet. “Put it on.”

Qin Tang didn’t hesitate and put it on immediately.

“Hold on tight.”

“......”

The next moment, the motorcycle shot forward like an arrow, speeding away.

Qin Tang wasn’t prepared, and her camera, hanging in front of her, slammed into his back. Her body followed, pressing against his broad, solid back, causing a sharp pain in her chest. She let out a muffled sound, like a little cat.

He didn’t seem to feel it, and the sound was blown away by the wind.

“Keep the camera safe, hold tight.”

“......Hold tight to what?”

“To me.”

“......”

The motorcycle raced forward, the wind was strong, and the mountain road was bumpy. It felt like if they weren’t careful, they could be thrown off. Qin Tang clung tightly to his clothes, and their bodies got even closer.

Qin Tang shouted, the wind filling her mouth: “Slow down!”

Her voice was still blown away by the wind.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”

Qin Tang didn’t reply, only holding on to him tighter.

A dull pain lingered below her chest.

The night sky was clear, the stars brilliant. The motorcycle winding along the mountain road seemed like a tiny ant in the vast loess plateau.

The moon hung on the mountain top, casting golden, soft light over the yellow earth.

They passed a jujube orchard, the fragrance of the plants filling the air.

Qin Tang released one hand to reach for her camera, and Jiang Chuan suddenly slowed the motorcycle.

Qin Tang said, “Wait, I want to take a few pictures.”

Jiang Chuan braced his feet on the ground and said, “Get off.”

Qin Tang obediently got off the bike and positioned her camera, looking for the right angle.

Jiang Chuan took out a cigarette, lit it, and stood behind her, slowly smoking while waiting for her to put down the camera. When she did, he pointed downward at a rugged path. “There’s a well down there. If you want to wash, you can go now.”

Qin Tang blinked, thinking she must have misheard. Was he suggesting she bathe in the wilderness? She wasn’t that free-spirited.

Besides, there was a wild man around.

Jiang Chuan’s tone was casual. “Aren’t you going?”

Qin Tang replied, “I’m not going. I’ll skip the bath tonight.”

Jiang Chuan understood her hesitation. He threw away the cigarette butt and crushed it, then turned to look at her. “Then you wait here.”

His tall figure passed by her as he walked toward the path.

Qin Tang called out, “What are you doing?”

Without turning around, he replied, “Taking a bath.”

Qin Tang: “......”

At that moment, she regretted coming with him.

The mountains were eerily quiet, only the faint sound of water trickling from the well below. The moon hid behind a cloud, and everything around them grew dark, except for the lights of the motorcycle.

Qin Tang licked her lips and reached into her bag, searching for her cigarette case, but couldn’t find it.

At that moment, the quiet, rugged mountain road suddenly echoed with the sound of a motorcycle approaching from a distance.

Qin Tang looked in the direction of the sound.

As the corner ahead slowly revealed a few faint lights, her heart tightened. She called out to Jiang Chuan, heading toward the well.

“Jiang Chuan!”

She quickly twisted the key and removed it from the ignition, causing the motorcycle headlights to instantly go dark.

A steady, hurried sound of footsteps followed.

Jiang Chuan soon appeared, looking toward the increasingly bright corner, his voice deep: “Come over here.”

Taking advantage of the moonlight, Qin Tang swiftly walked to him. Jiang Chuan hadn’t put on his shirt yet, and his bronzed body was tall and strong. Muscles glistened with clear well water, pooling in the hollows and shimmering like honey in the moonlight.

Jiang Chuan pulled her behind him, pressing her against the rocky wall. Qin Tang pressed her lips together, and the two of them fell into an unspoken understanding, remaining silent.

Her mind drifted back to Zhao Qian’s words earlier, “Wait for it,” and the incident this morning with the truck tire being punctured. Her expression turned serious.

She adjusted her camera, but was immediately stopped by him. His large hand pressed onto her wrist, warm and rough, rubbing against her delicate skin.

Jiang Chuan shifted slightly, his thumb pressing against the back of her hand before rubbing it to the right.

In that moment, Qin Tang felt something was wrong, and quickly jerked her hand away.

Jiang Chuan focused on the light at the corner, trapping her soft fingers against his waist. His grip was strong, and despite a few attempts, she stopped moving, resigned to it.

The motorcycle rounded the bend, headlights growing brighter.

It stopped above them.

A man spoke in a local dialect, “There’s a motorcycle here.”

“Don’t worry about it, don’t even know whose it is.”

“Should we check it out? What if something’s wrong?”

Jiang Chuan recognized them after a moment and pulled Qin Tang out, calling to the two motorcycles, “It’s me, Jiang Chuan.”

“Hey! It’s Jiang Chuan!” The man exclaimed, surprised.

“...Huh?”

Only then did they realize there was a girl behind him, her face glowing pale under the moonlight, her eyes dark and shiny, very beautiful.

Most notably, Jiang Chuan was shirtless, his pants low on his hips, slightly damp.

The well at the foot of the path was well-known to the villagers.

What could Jiang Chuan be doing with such a beautiful girl down there...?

Qin Tang glanced at the two men on the motorcycles, their clothes simple and plain.

She pulled her hand out of his grasp and stepped aside, her expression calm.

Jiang Chuan recalled how she had called his name earlier. He rubbed his fingers, trying to shake off the soft, delicate feeling.

He looked at the two villagers in front of him. “Since we’ve run into you, I won’t go down.”

The villagers grinned, clearly happy. “Did you bring something for the kids again?”

Jiang Chuan pointed to Qin Tang. “This is Qin Tang, the stuff she donated.”

“Oh, oh, thank you, Miss Qin…” The villagers said several polite things.

Jiang Chuan pulled a T-shirt from the bottom of the motorcycle rack. “Alright, we’ll head back now.”

One of the villagers asked, “Are you coming by tomorrow? My kid’s been talking about you.”

Qin Tang looked over, seeing Jiang Chuan mount the motorcycle, pulling on his T-shirt. The bright headlights of the two motorcycles illuminated him, and she clearly saw several irregular scars crisscrossing his back, one winding down to his waistband, looking quite shocking.

He answered, “I’ll see how it goes.”

A moment later, he turned to her. “Get on.”

Qin Tang withdrew her gaze and walked over.

On the way back, the wind grew stronger.

Jiang Chuan didn’t slow down, and his body still carried the fresh, clean scent of well water, very pleasant.

Qin Tang regretted not having bathed earlier.

She leaned against his back and, neither too light nor too heavy, asked, “What kind of person were you before?”

Normal people don’t have that many scars.

What she could imagine, aside from a life of bloodshed, was nothing else.

She wasn’t sure if he heard her, as she didn’t hear a response.

She didn’t ask again.

After a while, Jiang Chuan let out a low “Hmph,” and said, “Not a good person.”

Qin Tang focused on the back of his head. His hair appeared short and stiff, and even when wet, it stuck up in spikes. In fact, he seemed tough all over, his temper just as hard.

Such a man doing volunteer work seemed unbelievable.

But he was indeed doing it.

She had asked Xiao Cheng, and Xiao Cheng said Jiang Chuan had been doing this for five or six years.

Qin Tang couldn’t figure out if he was a good person or not. Probably not entirely good, but not evil to the core either.

...

The next morning, after breakfast, representatives from the surrounding villages came with the villagers. Most were middle-aged, and some were in their fifties or sixties, but even the elderly worked the fields, their hands rough and cracked, with dirt under their nails, clearly having lived tough lives.

There weren’t many young, strong men left in the village—most had gone to work elsewhere and only came back a few times a year.

Among this group of people, their faces were full of joy, as if it were New Year’s.

Jiang Chuan swiftly climbed onto the top of the truck, pulling back the tarpaulin. Xiao Cheng followed him up, and everyone worked together to unload and distribute the goods.

Qin Tang wore a red dress, in an ethnic style, with a shawl, which she had bought in Yunnan.

Her slender, fair ankles were exposed to the morning light, looking as smooth and white as milk.

Some people stole glances at her, and one of them accidentally hit his foot on the table, yelling in pain.

Jiang Chuan stood tall on the truck, straightening up with a sense of grandeur. He looked down at Qin Tang. “Qin Tang, pass me a bottle of water.”