Half an hour later.
Inside the cab, the little lamb curled up at Wen Shiqing’s feet looked at the two of them with grateful eyes. A small wooden splint had been fixed to its hind leg and tied on with twine.
Xie Yucheng’s mouth twitched. He gave a soft snort and said, “You’d better pray it doesn’t take a dump in my truck. Otherwise, I’ll toss the both of you out together.”
“It won’t, brother, I promise.”
“With what? Can you block its butt so it won’t poop?”
Wen Shiqing lowered her eyes and blinked at the little lamb, as if comforting it not to be afraid.
Xie Yucheng brushed at the wool stuck to his clothes—probably rubbed on him when he was handling the lamb earlier. His expression was sour. The entire cab was filled with the unpleasant smell of sheep.
Wen Shiqing gently stroked the clean, fluffy white wool along the lamb’s back. “Brother, this lamb is really pretty.”
“Yeah. The meat must be really tender.”
“It feels so soft, and its eyes are so bright and watery. It’s so cute.”
“Best skinned and roasted. Stewed’s fine too.”
“Xie Yucheng!”
“What?” He smiled faintly, his gaze deep. “Sheep are born to be eaten. Whether they’re steamed, boiled, roasted, or fried—it’s just different methods. That’s all.”
Wen Shiqing glanced at the lamb nestled by her feet. Her mood grew complicated, and she fell silent.
“Can’t stand hearing this, little princess?” Xie Yucheng curled his lip and went on. “Like Ali—didn’t she end up on the dinner table too? It’s survival of the fittest in this world. No one cares about them. When you eat braised chicken, do you stop because you think of Ali?”
“These animals are weak and ordinary. From the moment they’re born, their fate is already set. It’s only because Ali was your chicken, because you cherished and cared for her, that she seemed precious. In truth, she was just an ordinary chicken. It was meeting someone who loved her that made her different.”
“This lamb has its own fate. You happened to meet it and save it—that’s the bond between you. As for what happens later, that’s not something you can control.”
Wen Shiqing nudged the lamb’s soft, woolly backside with the top of her foot, her head lowered in thought.
Her long hair fluttered lightly in the wind as she spoke gently, “Brother, let’s try to find it a good family, okay? It’s still so little…”
His gaze lingered at her feet. After a long moment, he said a single word: “Okay.”
By the time they reached Qiangzhou, the scenery outside the window had shifted from green to yellow. Vast stretches of Gobi desert extended as far as the eye could see.
Xie Yucheng refueled once along the way. As night fell, they stopped in a nearby small town.
Wen Shiqing stood at the entrance of a small restaurant, holding the lamb while waiting for Xie Yucheng. He had gone to park the truck nearby.
A blond foreign man with a Fuji camera hanging around his neck passed by. When he saw Wen Shiqing standing by the roadside, his eyes immediately lit up.
He approached her like a gentleman and struck up a conversation. His Chinese was clumsy and awkward, but he managed to convey that he wanted to take a photo of her.
Wen Shiqing switched to English to talk with him. After learning that he was a professional photographer traveling through the countryside for inspiration, she agreed.
At first, her English was halting, constantly searching her memory for vocabulary she’d learned. After chatting for a bit, she relaxed, and her speech grew smoother and more fluent.
The two of them stood by the street, chatting and laughing, drawing a crowd of onlookers.
A foreigner in a remote town was a rare sight. Many people gathered around. Hearing Wen Shiqing speak fluent English, chattering away with him, they couldn’t help but feel impressed and envious.
Wearing a flower wreath, holding the lamb in her arms, standing in the glow of the evening clouds, she smiled sweetly at the camera. Her eyes were pure and clear, lively and untainted. The lens captured the beauty, freezing eighteen-year-old Wen Shiqing in time.
When Xie Yucheng came over, the man was taking out a notebook to ask Wen Shiqing for an address, saying he would print the photos later and mail them to her.
Wen Shiqing hurriedly introduced him in English. “This is my brother.”
A passerby nearby gave a thumbs-up. “Miss, your foreign language is really good. You could be a translator someday.”
Xie Yucheng stood there with a cigarette dangling from his lips, smiling casually, a hidden pride in his brows. “That’s my sister.”
With a bold stroke, he wrote down their home address in the foreigner’s notebook, filling in his own name as the recipient. “Send it here,” he said, pointing.
The lamb was tied to a utility pole outside the restaurant. While eating, Wen Shiqing noticed a little boy of seven or eight approach cautiously, gently petting the lamb and bending down to whisper to it.
An adult came to pull him away, but he refused to go, insisting on hugging the lamb.
“Do you like it?” Wen Shiqing asked.
“I do.” The boy wrapped his arms around the lamb’s neck and rubbed his cheek against it.
The adult beside him said, “This kid just loves little lambs and puppies…”
“Then give it to you,” Wen Shiqing said. “I found this lamb by the road. Its hind leg is broken—it’s a bit disabled. If you like it, take it with you.”
“How could that be?” A lamb was worth quite a bit of money. Who just gave one away? The adult thought she was joking.
“I’d rather give it to this child than send it to a slaughterhouse.”
That night, they stayed at a private guesthouse and booked two adjacent rooms.
Xie Yucheng knocked on her door. As soon as he went in, he tossed the clothes he’d changed out of that day onto Wen Shiqing’s head. “They stink like sheep shit, and they’re covered in wool. Wash them clean for me.”
Wen Shiqing pulled the clothes off, giving him a dark look. “Fine. I’ll wash them.”
She carried a basin to the public bathroom, soaped his clothes, and stomped on them several times with her feet.
A strong wind rose in the night. Doors and windows rattled loudly, and the howling northwestern wind mixed with shrill, wailing sounds that were downright terrifying.
At one in the morning, bang bang bang—someone knocked on Xie Yucheng’s door.
“Who is it?” His voice was hoarse and heavy with sleep.
“Brother, it’s me.”
Xie Yucheng rubbed his hair and opened the door. The girl stood there hugging her arms, shoulders hunched, eyes full of fear.
“You—”
“Brother, the wind is too strong. It sounds like ghosts crying and wolves howling. I’m really scared.”
“So?” He blocked the doorway, showing no intention of letting her in.
“Can I sleep here with you?”
“No!” The man refused without mercy.
Wen Shiqing pouted. Hidden beneath her long sleeves, she pinched her fingers hard. Tears welled up in her eyes as she took a step forward and said softly,
“Brother… someone knocked on my door just now. I didn’t know who it was. When I opened it, there was only a cigarette butt outside…”
Xie Yucheng’s brow jumped violently. He grabbed her and pulled her inside. “You sleep in the inner bed.”
“Okay.”
In the dark room, the two of them lay under the same thin quilt.
The day–night temperature difference in the northwest was huge. When the wind blew, cold air seeped in through the window cracks, leaving the room chilly.
Xie Yucheng had driven all day, utterly focused. Sleepiness hit him like a heavy hammer.
Before long, Wen Shiqing heard the man beside her breathing steadily and deeply. She slowly shifted a few inches toward the stove behind her.
At first, she lay with her back to him. After realizing he was asleep, she turned to face him.
In the darkness, her slender white fingers traced the firm lines of his face in the air. She whispered, “Why are you so handsome?”
After playing around for a bit, she burrowed her head into his chest, breathing in his scent, and fell asleep peacefully.
By dawn, the wind had stopped. When Xie Yucheng woke up, he found himself holding something soft in his arms.
The girl was resting on his arm, her lotus-root-like arms pressed against his chest, one slender leg hooked between his. Her soft hair and light breathing told him this was real—exactly like the countless scenes he’d imagined in his dreams.
His body went taut like a drawn bow. He took several deep breaths, forcing himself to suppress the wild thoughts in his heart.
Xie Yucheng tried to quietly slip his arm out. The moment he moved, the girl wrapped her arms around his waist instead, snuggling even closer, her soft chest pressing against him as she murmured something in her sleep.
His eyelids trembled. His Adam’s apple bobbed with difficulty as he stared at the ceiling and let out a long, heavy breath.
They’d clearly slept on separate sides last night, with a clear boundary between them. How had they ended up tangled together this morning? Had he crossed the line in his sleep, pulling her into his arms?
He knew exactly how awful he was in his dreams—how many filthy, indecent fantasies he’d acted out with her in countless late nights. Every time he woke up, he’d curse himself and slap his own face hard.