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墨書 Inktalez
The motorcycle sped along Mountain Road, flanked by towering mountains and streams with strange rocks. The mountains were adorned with Alpine Rhododendrons, but Zhou Yao had no interest in the scenery. She pressed against Luo Yi's back, feeling warmth radiate through her body.
As the cold wind blew, she shrank behind him, using him as a shield. His shoulders were broad and his back strong. Unconsciously, Zhou Yao wrapped her arms around his waist.
Luo Yi stiffened for a moment.
He asked, "What are you doing?"
Zhou Yao replied, "The ride is too fast; I'm scared."
"…"
That answer was perfect.
After a few seconds of consideration, the speed began to decrease until they came to a stop. She didn't let go, and he bit his lip, licking his back molars before turning his head to look at her. "Aren't you going to let go?"
Zhou Yao silently released her grip, maintaining a calm expression.
"Move again and I'll throw you off," he warned as he restarted the motorcycle.
Zhou Yao squinted against the fierce wind. The winding mountain road was fast-paced, and she found herself swaying slightly, struggling to maintain her balance. After a moment's thought, she tightly grasped the hem of his shirt again. This time, Luo Yi didn't scold her; he likely understood her situation.
Zhou Yao made a point to remind him, shouting into the wind, "Holding onto your shirt is nothing serious!"
Luo Yi pretended not to hear. Yet at that moment, the sensation of holding on seemed to carry an unexplainable meaning.
The lush green mountains and waters rushed past them as they descended the long road. Zhou Yao chatted with him, calling out, "How often do you go to town?"
He didn't respond, so Zhou Yao leaned out to look at him and asked, "?"
He turned his head slightly towards her and quickly said in a cold voice, "Don't speak."
"Why?"
"The wind is strong. It’s troublesome to catch a cold."
"Oh." Zhou Yao obediently closed her mouth, pouting slightly behind him with a smile, her eyes squinting into a curved line from the fierce wind.
She looked like a little fox.
About forty minutes later, they arrived at the base of Shangri-La Town. Calling it a town is quite an understatement; it was really just a very small place with only one main street, which was neither wide nor bustling.
Road repairs made the streets quite congested.
It was the morning market, and the narrow street was filled with people and vehicles. Farmers carrying vegetables walked by, while those selling goat milk led their goats and pushed small carts.
Loading carts, tractors, rental cars from tourists, and local vans picking up passengers crowded the bumpy street to the point of being impassable.
Luo Yi's motorcycle slowed down as he looked down to see Zhou Yao gripping him tightly; her small fingers and the back of her hand were frozen red.
His voice remained flat as he asked, "Are you cold?"
"I'm not cold; it's just that the wind is a bit strong." Zhou Yao rubbed her hands together, took off her helmet, feeling dazed from the wind.
He turned back to look at her; her face was also flushed from the cold wind.
"Feeling dizzy?" Luo Yi asked.
"No, I'm fine. I take Rhodiola Rosea Capsules every day," Zhou Yao replied.
"Mm."
The motorcycle moved through the crowd, stopping and starting.
Zhou Yao sat in the back, vaguely recalling her childhood when her father pushed a bicycle to the market to buy vegetables. She would sit on the back seat, swinging her legs, idly watching all the people coming and going around her.
At this moment, her mood felt as leisurely as it did in her childhood.
Beside her, a young Tibetan woman and a child weaved through the crowd with small items like Raincoat Shoe Covers, observing and trying their best to sell them to what looked like tourists. However, even when they held out their products, very few people made a purchase.
"Buy one, fifteen each. Mountain sells them for more. — It rains in Mountain," the children said in fluent Mandarin, their eyes hopeful, but tourists merely walked past without noticing.
Zhou Yao remarked, "In Cambodia's Angkor Wat, there are many children selling small toys and souvenirs, speaking Chinese fluently: Buy one, just one dollar."
Luo Yi turned his gaze toward the children by the roadside.
Zhou Yao continued, "However, Angkor Wat has related tourist notices."
"Hm?" He seemed somewhat indifferent.
"They advise tourists not to buy things from the children, saying it makes them think money is easy to earn and that they won't choose to go to school at the age when they should be studying."
"Overflowing sympathy isn't a good thing," he said.
Zhou Yao spotted a vegetable stall and asked again, "How do you source ingredients for your inn? Do you have someone specifically sent down to purchase?"
"The nearby farmers deliver directly to the inn."
Zhou Yao was surprised. "I thought Mountain was isolated from the world."
"There is no truly isolated place," Luo Yi said. "There are over a dozen towns and villages in these deep mountains, but tourists just don't know about them. If you're interested in the local villages, you can take a look; the people are quite simple."
"Will you take me?" Zhou Yao asked, taking the opportunity to climb on.
Luo Yi didn't respond, probably thinking about how he had dug himself into a hole.
The crowd and traffic ahead began to disperse, and the motorcycle was able to move again. Traffic gradually became smoother, and speed picked up when suddenly a child dashed across the road.
Luo Yi slammed on the brakes, and Zhou Yao lunged forward, colliding with his back as if she had hit a wall. Her chest nearly crashed into him, and her face bumped against the back of his head.
Zhou Yao covered her nose, wincing in pain as she complained, "Why is your head so hard?!"
Luo Yi retorted, "Is your head a balloon?"
Zhou Yao paused for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Is it that funny?" Luo Yi asked.
The mischievous child said something in Tibetan, probably an apology. Luo Yi waved him off, seemingly reminding him to be careful crossing the street or something similar.
Rubbing her chest, Zhou Yao leaned forward and asked, "You understand Tibetan too?"
Luo Yi didn't look at her and quietly said, "Sit back a little."
During the sudden stop, Zhou Yao had slid over a bump on the seat and ended up behind Luo Yi. Her legs were pressed tightly against his hips, leaving no space between them. The position was undeniably ambiguous.
Zhou Yao felt uncomfortable; her face flushed as she quickly shifted back to her original spot.
The motorcycle turned and entered a narrow alley.
She sent a postcard and bought some rubber bands.
Luo Yi stood in the alley and asked, "Where are you waiting for me, or should we—"
"Let's go together; waiting is boring. Where are you headed?"
"To meet someone I know."
"Oh. I thought you were shopping. I won't disturb you if you're meeting someone." Zhou Yao tugged at the rubber band in her hand and looked around, "Is there anywhere nearby where we can hang out for a few hours?"
There wasn't. Looking around, there were only noodle shops, rice stores, seed shops, and fertilizer stores.
Zhou Yao asked, "Is there an arcade nearby? I could play there for a few hours."
Luo Yi glanced at his watch. "It's too early; they're not open yet."
"..." Zhou Yao wasn't discouraged; she shrugged and said, "Then I'll head back first."
"Okay." He looked down at her and asked, "Do you know where to catch a ride?"
Zhou Yao smiled. "There's only one road here; I'm not lost."
"Mm." Luo Yi put on his helmet and rode off on his motorcycle.
Zhou Yao walked to the ticket office of the scenic area and realized with dismay that she had forgotten her money.
In the waiting hall, groups of tourists checked their tickets and walked toward the bus station.
Zhou Yao suddenly felt an emptiness in her heart for reasons she couldn't understand. She sat alone in the hall for a while, feeling a bit lost, not knowing what she was waiting for.
A small, thin boy approached her and asked if she wanted to buy rain boot covers. She shook her head.
The boy persisted, saying, "Sister, it's very cheap. I'm selling them for fifteen, but Mountain is selling them for twenty-five."
Zhou Yao apologetically spread her hands and said, "I don't have any money."
"Oh—" The boy scratched his head but didn't leave immediately. He sat down next to her and reached out to compare his hand with Zhou Yao's, saying, "Wow, your hand is really white."
His little hand was dark, like a small stick. Zhou Yao smiled and patted his head, saying, "Where I live, we don't have your big sun."
He tilted his head and thought for a moment but didn't understand. He asked, "Did you come here to play by yourself?"
"With friends."
"Where are your friends?"
"He had something to do and left early."
"Then you should wait a little longer; he will come back to find you soon." The boy patted her hand seriously.
Zhou Yao smiled again, touched by his sincere comfort, and felt a bit better.
Not far away, someone called a name. The boy turned around and responded with "Tibetan." A group of children of various ages stood at the door waiting for him to join them outside to sell. The boy ran off to his companions.
Zhou Yao sat for a while longer as more and more tourists arrived. She thought about calling Tang Shangri-La Duo to pick her up but decided against it.
She exited the station and walked alone towards Mountain.
There are places on the mountain road where they stop private cars from outside. I wonder if they will check individual tourists. If she tells them that she bought a ticket yesterday, will they believe her?
We'll talk about it when we get there.
Buses filled with tourists passed by one after another, and Zhou Yao walked by the roadside like a snail.
At the end of August and beginning of September, the temperature in the mountains isn't high, but the sun is strong; after a while in the sun, sweat starts to bead at the back of her neck. The strong wind that was blowing down the mountain earlier has now died down. Only the azaleas cover the mountains, burning brightly like fire.
Zhou Yao tied her hair up, unzipped her jacket, and heat escaped from her body, yet she felt very calm inside.
Until a motorcycle stopped beside her. Zhou Yao turned her head, and her expression became blank.
"What are you doing here?"
"Did you forget your money?" Luo Yi asked, slightly impatient, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"I forgot," Zhou Yao said blankly.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"I forgot," Zhou Yao repeated, "I forgot earlier too."
"Get in." Luo Yi tossed her the helmet. She caught it but was still processing what was happening and asked, "Are you taking me back? That's too much trouble—"
"I'm not going up." Luo Yi paused for a second and asked, "Do you have something to do this morning?"
"No."
"Then get on." He pointed to the back with his chin.
Zhou Yao climbed onto the back seat and fastened her helmet, then asked, "How did you know I didn't bring any money?"
No one responded to her.
The motorcycle made a turn and headed down the mountain again.
The wind returned, cool and refreshing.
Back in the small town at the foot of the mountain, the roads were still crowded. The motorcycle once again got caught in the flow of traffic, stopping and going. At that moment, someone tugged at Zhou Yao's sleeve.
Zhou Yao looked down; it was the little boy selling rain boots. He looked up at her and grinned, "Did your friend come back to find you?"
"Yes."
"I was right, wasn't I?" The little boy proudly lifted his chin.
"Yes. Thank you," Zhou Yao said loudly to him amidst the noisy traffic.
He happily waved goodbye and ran off.
"What's wrong?" Luo Yi asked.
"Nothing," Zhou Yao replied with a smile.
She had no idea about not bringing money; she was just worried about what might happen.
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