Summer in Beicheng was dry and blistering.
The sun hung high in the sky, scorching every inch of land beneath its gaze. Even when a breeze blew through, it carried only warm, suffocating heat. Leaves withered and drooped in the sun, and even shadows seemed to freeze in place, no longer swaying.
A lazy orange cat lay sprawled in the shadow of a wall corner. As the sunlight shifted, the shadow moved along with it, and the little cat would open its eyes, lazily trailing after the shade. Even when a couple of birds fluttered down right in front of its nose, they failed to draw even the slightest reaction from it.
“That comes to seven hundred eighty-six yuan and fifty-four cents altogether. I’ll round it down for you—just give me seven hundred eighty-six. And don’t forget to take the package that arrived for you this time!”
In the town’s largest supermarket, the boss lady finished tallying up the goods and looked toward the girl loading cooking oil into her trunk. Under the scorching sunlight, the girl wore a clean white t-shirt and off-white shorts featuring a little rainbow puppy. As she moved the goods, the exposed portion of her fair elbows looked somewhat delicate and slender.
Perhaps feeling the heat, her slightly long hair was gathered up with a hairband into a high ponytail for convenience. When she turned around, her smooth, delicate neck was revealed. When she looked at someone, the corners of her lips would unconsciously curve upward into a slight smile, and her eyes looked round and bright, as if freshly washed in clear water. Her forehead was beaded with sweat, glistening in the light.
“Got it! Thanks, Sister Xu!”
Even the tone of her response ended on a cheerful, rising note. Hearing this, the boss lady shook her head with a smile, unable to help offering a few more nagging words of concern.
“Yun Fei, don’t blame me for being chatty, but why on earth did you choose to open a guesthouse in such a remote place like this? It’s been built for almost half a year and hasn’t seen a single guest. If it doesn’t work out, we can always find a busier place with more people to open one.”
Yun Fei had arrived in town a year ago. At first, she said she was coming back to look for relatives, then left for a period of time. When she returned, she brought a construction team along and built several rustic courtyard houses in a slightly remote area away from town.
Originally, nothing much ever happened in this sleepy town. Seeing a newcomer arrive, the neighbors couldn’t help gossiping a bit.
Back then, Yun Fei stayed at a local inn, running out every day to supervise the construction for a while before hurrying back to her room to tinker with something. She never mentioned what line of work she was in, and she quickly became the main topic of conversation after meals. However, there was little malice behind it; most people simply felt sorry for a young girl coming here all by herself without any family nearby to support her. Even if a few gossips ran their mouths, Yun Fei simply acted as if she hadn’t heard a word.
Later, as they grew familiar with her, the townsfolk came to know that her name was Yun Fei. They were told her name meant “morning clouds in the sky.” While they didn’t quite understand the literary nuance, they all felt it sounded like a name chosen by an educated person.
The overall level of education in this area wasn’t high, and many children dropped out before high school to go work elsewhere. Consequently, the locals showed a bit more tolerance toward educated kids. Upon hearing that Yun Fei had graduated and come to look for past relatives, only to find they had already passed away, she had asked around to purchase a parcel of land allocated to the village so she could build a few courtyards to run a guesthouse.
Only a handful of people in town actually knew what a guesthouse was. They were told it was a place to host guests just like an inn, allowing people to stay in village courtyards and experience the local customs and culture.
The locals didn’t quite grasp what “local customs and culture” meant, but they figured if she wanted to build it, then let her build it. In the end, Yun Fei constructed Cloud Retreat right on that land.
Cloud Retreat was indeed lovely—spacious courtyards, distinct standalone rooms, and not far behind it ran a mountain spring that flowed year-round. Yun Fei had even set aside a garden to grow flowers for every season so that blossoms would never fade there. Later, she planted a vegetable garden as well. Many who passed by felt it was a rather wonderful place.
“A guest is actually coming today,” Yun Fei said, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her eyes lit up bright as stars. Perhaps excited by the arrival of her first guest, she spoke a bit more than usual.
“These new daily necessities I bought today were prepared just for her.”
Driving onto the road back home, the gentle breeze brought by the moving car carried away the heavy heat, finally bringing a touch of cool relief.
Tall plane trees were planted along both sides of the return path. Driving under the green shade, Yun Fei felt cozy and peaceful.
Before she had even covered half the distance, she caught sight of a figure up ahead, carrying a pack on her back and slowly dragging a suitcase along the road.
After observing for a moment, Yun Fei was fairly certain this person was lost.
Shen Jixue felt she was having the absolute worst luck.
For some unknown reason, her friends had coaxed and tricked her into believing she had taken a job assignment thousands of miles away in Beicheng. They insisted that only someone of her caliber could handle this project, adding that since she had so much on her mind lately, she might as well take a road trip to clear her head.
Shen Jixue hadn’t intended to come out and wanted to turn down the job. But her friends claimed the money had already been accepted and the contract signed, meaning she would have to pay a hefty penalty for breach of contract if she didn’t go. Left with no choice, she packed her equipment and drove all the way to Beicheng. Aside from taking a few hours of rest at service areas and inns along the way, she had spent the entire three days rushing down the highway, finally exiting the Beicheng highway today.
Just as she was about to reach her destination and asked for the exact address, that group of “fair-weather friends” sent her the address of a guesthouse. They claimed the studio colleagues were all deeply worried about her precarious mental state, so they had booked her a room for five months. They hoped she could go on vacation to relax while fulfilling her long-standing wish to study landscape photography deep in the wilderness.
It had to be said that this truly was a “great” place. Out of nowhere, a nail on the main road punctured her tire, completely putting her car out of commission. There were no repair shops nearby, only an auto repair yard she found after asking around, so she had no choice but to walk over and get someone to tow her car in for repairs.
The mechanic walked around the car twice and pointed out that not only was her tire blown, but the transmission was also broken.
However, replacing the transmission required the shop owner to order a new one online and wait for it to arrive before it could be installed.
Having no other choice, Shen Jixue left her car behind, dragged her luggage, and walked several kilometers following her GPS navigation.
Summer was already scorching hot, and the equipment on her back consisted of heavy photography gear. Shen Jixue felt that if she kept walking, she would either collapse from heatstroke or die of exhaustion.
Besides, there were hardly any people around this area, and since it was already late afternoon, it would likely turn dark if she waited any longer.
Shen Jixue hesitated, wondering if she should ask someone whether there was a place nearby where she could stay the night.
Before she could reach a decision, a car slowly approached from behind. The driver rolled down the window and looked out at her.
“Friend, do you need a ride?”
Logically speaking, Shen Jixue should have maintained her vigilance. Even if the driver was a woman who looked less physically strong than herself, she shouldn’t just get into a stranger’s car carelessly.
However, upon catching sight of Yun Fei’s face, Shen Jixue froze for a moment, and then genuinely decided to step into her car.
Yun Fei hadn’t expected the other party to be so straightforward either. She had assumed she would need to offer some sensible reasoning, only to be rejected so she could simply drive away.
So when Shen Jixue actually stepped forward, Yun Fei was rare to be caught flat-footed. It wasn’t until Shen Jixue asked if she could pop the trunk that Yun Fei snapped back to her senses and stepped out to help.
Since things had come to this, and considering it was a bit dangerous for a girl to be walking alone on this road, Yun Fei ultimately softened her heart and decided to give her a lift.
Yun Fei opened the trunk. Shen Jixue glanced inside—it was packed to the brim with daily supplies, rice, flour, grain, and oil. It looked like a fresh shopping haul from town.
“Whoa, are you stocking up to open a supermarket?”
Yun Fei cast a quick glance over, stepping up to stack the items neatly and free up space for the suitcase. Hearing this, she neither confirmed nor denied it. After all, when meeting a stranger, it was best not to disclose personal information.
Not receiving a response, Shen Jixue wasn’t upset either. Having someone willing to lend a helping hand at a time like this was already wonderful enough.
The suitcase barely managed to fit inside, while Shen Jixue tossed her heavy backpack onto the back seat.
Noticing that Shen Jixue’s lips were somewhat chapped and her entire demeanor looked wilted from the sun, Yun Fei unwrapped a fresh pack of bottled mineral water, pulled out a bottle, and handed it to her.
Shen Jixue hesitated for a moment. Spotting her apprehension, Yun Fei directly unscrewed the cap herself and took a sip straight from the bottle first.
“Just opened. I’ll drink first so you can see.”
The person in front of her possessed a strong sense of vigilance, which Yun Fei completely understood. Thus, she took the initiative to drink first before handing it over.
Watching this woman so openly pass over water she had just drunk, Shen Jixue felt a subtle itch in her teeth. In the end, she opened it and took a drink anyway.
She had lost a lot of water along the way, and at this moment, the cool water with a hint of sweetness felt like an absolute lifesaver.
As Yun Fei started the engine, she subtly sized up the person sitting beside her.
She, too, had observed for a while to ensure there was no danger before approaching to help—lending a hand was always contingent on ensuring her own safety.
Shen Jixue wore a light blue shirt made of thin fabric, with the sleeves rolled up above her elbows, revealing healthy wheat-toned skin that looked slightly peeled from sun exposure. She wore a pair of blue jeans, and her slightly wavy hair was tucked behind her ears, fluttering gently in the breeze coming through the car window.
Around her neck hung a delicate necklace. Yun Fei stole a glance—it looked like the vintage locket style that could hold a photograph.
However, Yun Fei had no intention of probing any further. Right now, her priority was to safely drop this person off at her destination and hurry home to tidy up for her new guest.
“Where are you heading?”
Yun Fei pulled up the navigation on her car console. Shen Jixue unlocked her phone and searched, “Let me check… it’s a place my friends booked for me. Seems to be a newly opened guesthouse around here called… Cloud Retreat, I think?”
Yun Fei’s hand operating the navigation paused mid-air.
Thinking she didn’t know which specific characters were used, Shen Jixue began to explain, “It’s ‘Cloud’ as in clouds in the sky, ‘Retreat’ as in…”
“No need, I know where it is.”
Yun Fei withdrew her hand. She hadn’t expected her very first guest to drop right into her lap like this.
Shen Jixue was pleasantly surprised to hear her say she knew the place, not expecting such a coincidence.
“Oh, really? Then I’ll trouble you! I’ll pay you when we get there. Thanks so much for giving me a lift.”
“It’s no trouble at all. Because that guesthouse is mine—I’m the owner.”
The car started moving, leaving a stunned Shen Jixue sitting blankly in the passenger seat.
It took a good while for Shen Jixue to pull herself together, her demeanor noticeably more enthusiastic than before.
“So you’re the owner! Wow, my luck isn’t bad at all! Even though my car broke down, I happened to run right into the owner!”
Yun Fei hadn’t expected it either. No, she really should have realized. After all, who else would be coming to a place like this besides herself? It had to be the guest who had contacted her two days ago about staying for a while.
By a stroke of serendipitous chance, the owner of Cloud Retreat had picked up her very first guest.