Half an hour later.
In the driver’s cabin, the little lamb lying at Wen Shiqing’s feet gazed gratefully at the two people. A small wooden board was fixed to its hind leg, tied securely with hemp rope.
Xie Yucheng’s mouth twitched as he let out a light scoff. “You’d better pray it doesn’t drop sheep dung in my car, or I’ll throw both of you out.”
“It won’t, brother. I promise.”
“What guarantee do you have? Can you plug its rear to keep it from defecating?”
Wen Shiqing lowered her gaze and blinked at the lamb, seemingly comforting it not to be afraid.
Xie Yucheng brushed off some wool from his clothes—likely transferred while handling the lamb earlier—his expression clearly displeased. The entire cabin was filled with the unpleasant odor of sheep.
Wen Shiqing gently stroked the lamb’s pure white, fluffy fur along its back. “Brother, this lamb is really beautiful.”
“Hmm, the meat must be tender.”
“It feels so soft to touch, and its eyes are so bright and lively. So pretty.”
“Best skinned and roasted. Stewing works too.”
“Xie Yucheng!”
“What?” He smiled faintly, his gaze profound. “Lambs are born to be eaten—whether steamed, boiled, roasted, or fried, it’s just different ways of cooking.”
Wen Shiqing glanced at the lamb nestled by her feet, her mood complicated, and fell silent.
“Can’t the little princess handle hearing this?” Xie Yucheng curled his lip and continued, “Just like A Li, wasn’t she eventually served on the dining table? This world operates on survival of the fittest; no one cares about them. It’s like eating chicken, duck, or fish—when you eat braised chicken, do you refuse it because you think of A Li?”
“These animals are weak and ordinary. From the moment they’re born, their fate is sealed. It’s only because A Li was your chicken, cherished and valued by you, that she seemed precious. In truth, she was just an ordinary chicken who became special because she met someone who cared for her.”
“This little lamb has its own destiny. You encountered it and saved it—that’s a connection between you two. As for what happens later, you can’t control everything.”
Wen Shiqing rubbed the lamb’s soft rear with her instep, lowering her head in thought.
Her long hair fluttered gently in the wind as the girl said softly, “Brother, let’s try to find a good home for it. It’s still so small…”
His eyes swept over her feet, and after a long pause, he replied, “Okay.”
By the time they reached Qiang Zhou, the scenery outside the window had shifted from green to yellow, with vast stretches of Gobi desert extending beyond sight.
Xie Yucheng refueled along the way, and as dusk approached, they stopped in a nearby small town to rest.
Wen Shiqing held the little lamb, waiting at the entrance of a restaurant while Xie Yucheng went to park nearby.
A foreign man with yellow hair and a Fujifilm camera hanging around his neck passed by. Spotting Wen Shiqing standing by the street, his eyes immediately lit up.
He approached her politely to strike up a conversation, his Chinese awkward and stumbling, explaining that he wanted to take a photo of her.
Wen Shiqing communicated with him in English and learned that he was a professional photographer on a rural photoshoot, so she agreed.
At first, Shi Qing’s English was somewhat halting as she searched her memory for vocabulary, but after exchanging a few sentences, she relaxed and spoke more fluently.
The two stood by the roadside chatting and laughing, drawing a crowd of onlookers.
The arrival of a foreigner in this remote town was quite a novelty, drawing a crowd of onlookers. Hearing Wen Shiqing fluently chattering away in a foreign language with the visitor, they couldn’t help but feel both admiration and envy.
Wearing a floral wreath and holding a lamb in her arms, she stood bathed in the evening glow, smiling sweetly at the camera. Her eyes were pure and untarnished, clear and lively. The lens captured this beautiful moment, freezing the 18-year-old Wen Shiqing in time.
When Xie Yucheng arrived, the foreign man was taking out a notebook to ask Wen Shiqing for her address, saying he would later develop the photos and mail them to her.
Wen Shiqing quickly introduced him in English, “This is my brother.”A bystander nearby gave a thumbs up, ‘Your foreign language skills are impressive, young lady.’ You could become an interpreter in the future.”
Xie Yucheng, with a cigarette dangling casually from his lips, smiled with a hint of hidden pride in his eyes. “This is my little sister.”
With a flourish, he wrote his own home address in the foreigner’s notebook, filling in his own name as the recipient. “Send it here,” he said, pointing at the address.
The lamb was tied to a utility pole outside the restaurant. While eating, Wen Shiqing noticed a seven- or eight-year-old boy cautiously approaching the lamb, bending down to whisper to it.
When the boy’s parent came to pull him away, he refused to leave, insisting on hugging the lamb.
“Do you like it?” Wen Shiqing asked.
“Yes,” the boy replied, wrapping his arms around the lamb’s neck and nuzzling it.
The parent beside him said, “This child just adores little lambs and puppies…”
“Then I’ll give it to you. I found this lamb on the road. Its hind leg is broken, so it’s somewhat disabled. If you like it, you can take it.”
“How can we accept that?” A lamb was worth quite a bit of money; no one just gave them away. The adult thought she must be joking.
“I’d rather give it to this child than send it to the slaughterhouse.”
That night, they stayed at a private inn, booking two adjacent rooms.
Xie Yucheng came knocking on her door. As soon as he entered, he tossed his clothes from the day onto Shi Qing’s head. “They reek of sheep droppings and are covered in wool. Clean them for me.Wen Shiqing pulled the clothes off and gave him a resentful look. “Fine, I’ll wash them.”She carried the basin to the public bath, soaped up his clothes, and stomped on them several times with her feet.”
During the night, a strong wind picked up, rattling the doors and windows. The howling northwestern wind mixed with eerie, mournful cries was truly frightening.
At one o’clock in the morning, “Bang, bang, bang!” Xie Yucheng’s door was knocked on.
“Who is it?” he asked in a hoarse, groggy voice.
“Brother, it’s me.”
Xie Yucheng rubbed his hair and opened the door. The girl stood there hugging herself, shoulders hunched, her eyes filled with panic and fear.
“You…”
“Brother, the wind is so strong, it sounds like ghosts wailing and wolves howling. I’m really scared.”
“So?” He blocked the doorway, showing no intention of letting her in.
“Can I sleep here?”
“No!” The man refused without hesitation.
Wen Shiqing pouted, fiercely pinching her fingers under her long sleeves. Tears welled up in her eyes as she took a step forward and whispered:
“Brother, someone knocked on my door just now. I didn’t know who it was. When I opened the door, I saw a cigarette butt outside…”
Xie Yucheng’s brow twitched violently. He grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. “You sleep on the inner side.”
“Okay.”
In the dark room, the two shared the same thin blanket.
The temperature difference between day and night in the northwest was drastic. When strong winds blew, the chill seeped through the window cracks, leaving the room bitterly cold.
Xie Yucheng had driven with intense concentration all day, and exhaustion hit him like a heavy hammer, knocking him out.
Soon, hearing the steady, deep breaths of the man beside her, Wen Shiqing slowly shifted a few inches toward the stove behind her.
At first, she had her back to Xie Yucheng, but after realizing he was asleep, she turned to face him.
Her slender, pale fingers traced the sharp lines of his cheeks in the darkness, and she whispered in admiration, “How can someone be this handsome?”
After a while, she nuzzled her head into his chest, breathed in his scent, and drifted off to sleep, feeling completely at ease.
By early morning, the wind had died down. When Xie Yucheng woke up, he found a soft, warm little thing nestled in his arms.
The girl was using his arm as a pillow, her delicate arms pressed against his chest, one slender leg tucked between his. Her soft hair and gentle breaths confirmed that this was real—exactly like the countless times he had imagined it in his dreams.
His body tensed like a drawn bowstring. After taking several deep breaths, he struggled to suppress the wild thoughts in his mind.
Xie Yucheng tried to quietly slip his arm out, but the moment he moved, the girl in his arms wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing herself even closer against him. Her soft chest pressed into him, and she murmured something softly in her sleep.
His eyelids twitched, and his Adam’s apple bobbed with difficulty. He let out a long, heavy sigh as he stared up at the ceiling.
Last night, they had slept on opposite sides, separated by an unspoken boundary. How had they ended up entangled like this by morning? Had he, in his dreams, crossed the line and pulled her into his arms?
He knew exactly how shameless he could be in his dreams—the lewd tricks and fantasies he had acted out on her in countless late-night reveries, only to wake up and slap himself hard in self-disgust.