“But if you don’t like him, don’t force yourself.”
Wang Pei’s laughter rang through the phone.
“Who knows? Maybe this trip will bring you a romantic encounter.”
Lin Mo laughed.
“Who knows?”
Then she deliberately teased back,
“If that happens, maybe I’ll kidnap a couple of handsome Khampa men and bring them home for you.”
“Hah! Now that’s what I like to hear!”
The two friends continued chatting about everything and nothing, from university memories to recent gossip, until Lin Mo’s phone battery was nearly drained.
Only then did they reluctantly end the call.
Just as she put her phone down, another message notification appeared.
Lin Mo casually opened it.
Then froze.
The sender was Qin Fengzhou.
You’re in Genie? I just saw the photo you posted.
For several seconds, she stared silently at the screen.
Then a strange thought surfaced in her mind.
Is that mountain really that recognizable?
Ever since their breakup, Qin Fengzhou had never contacted her.
Likewise, she had never reached out to him.
The only reason his contact still existed was because she had simply forgotten to delete it.
Thinking back to everything Wang Pei had just told her, Lin Mo suddenly felt there was no longer any reason to keep holding on to the past.
Without hesitation, she opened his profile.
Then pressed delete.
The conversation disappeared.
So did the contact.
Just like that.
Setting her phone aside, she turned her gaze back toward the world beyond the balcony.
The snow mountains remained unchanged.
The cattle and sheep still wandered peacefully across the grasslands.
Everything looked exactly the same.
Yet somehow…
Something inside her had quietly changed.
A tiny seed of anticipation had taken root.
Perhaps this journey really would bring something new into her life.
…
The next morning, Lin Mo woke up unusually early.
Her excitement made sleep impossible.
Now that she had finally arrived in Genie, she couldn’t wait to go out and gather inspiration for her sketches.
When she came downstairs for breakfast, she discovered Danzeng was already there.
As though he had been waiting for her.
After she sat down, he casually said,
“Get ready after breakfast.”
“I’ll take you around and help you familiarize yourself with the area first.”
Lin Mo looked up.
“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?”
Danzeng chuckled.
“Of course not.”
“It’s part of the job.”
He poured her a cup of hot tea.
“If you don’t know the area, how are you supposed to promote it later?”
His expression was helpless.
This girl really was polite about absolutely everything.
After breakfast, Lin Mo returned to her room to get ready.
She carefully applied sunscreen.
Then glanced outside.
The weather was unexpectedly warm.
After a moment of thought, she gathered her long hair into a loose braid that rested over one shoulder.
The simple hairstyle instantly softened her elegant features and made her look younger and more approachable.
After grabbing her camera and backpack, she headed downstairs.
Outside, Danzeng’s vehicle had just arrived.
The moment he saw her emerge from the guesthouse, his gaze paused.
For a brief moment, he forgot to look away.
Normally, Lin Mo gave off a calm and somewhat distant aura.
But today felt different.
The loose braid added a touch of sweetness to her cool beauty.
She looked lively.
Bright.
Almost youthful.
Sunlight brushed across her fair skin, making her seem even more radiant.
Before he realized it, he had been staring.
Meanwhile, Lin Mo immediately recognized the vehicle.
A Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
One of her uncles owned one for business purposes.
She knew exactly how expensive it was.
Her eyes drifted toward the nearly empty guesthouse behind them.
A question silently surfaced.
Is running a guesthouse really that profitable?
“Why are you standing there?”
Danzeng snapped her out of her thoughts.
He had already stepped out and opened the passenger door.
“Get in.”
As he spoke, his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.
Lin Mo quickly returned to reality.
“Oh.”
She hurried over and climbed inside.
Just as she settled into her seat, Danzeng reached into the back.
“This is for you.”
He pulled out a straw hat.
An enormous straw hat.
A comically oversized one.
Lin Mo blinked.
“…”
The hat looked capable of covering half her body.
“You’ll probably need it.”
Danzeng started the engine.
“The altitude here is high.”
“The UV rays are brutal.”
He glanced at her.
“Don’t get sunburned.”
Warmth spread through Lin Mo’s chest.
“Thank you.”
She carefully held the hat.
“Did you buy this?”
“How much was it?”
Danzeng immediately laughed.
“Why do you always talk about money?”
He shook his head.
“It’s not worth much.”
“Just consider it a gift.”
What Lin Mo didn’t know was that he hadn’t bought it at all.
Ever since seeing her absurd sun-protection mask a few days earlier, the image had remained firmly lodged in his mind.
Knowing how much she cared about protecting her skin, he had specifically asked one of the village grandmothers to weave the hat for her.
And had deliberately requested that it be made extra large.
Just in case.
“I’ll take you to the Eye of Genie first.”
“Okay.”
Lin Mo nodded obediently.
Like a student following her teacher’s instructions.
Soon, she discovered exactly why Danzeng drove a vehicle with such impressive ground clearance.
The road was terrible.
Absolutely terrible.
Crater-sized potholes covered almost the entire route.
Even though Danzeng deliberately slowed down for her sake, Lin Mo still felt as though she were riding a roller coaster.
The vehicle bounced relentlessly.
Her entire body shook with every bump.
Finally, she couldn’t help asking,
“Why doesn’t your village improve the roads?”
Danzeng looked genuinely surprised.
“Improve them?”
“Why?”
He glanced around.
“What’s wrong with them now?”
Another violent jolt nearly launched Lin Mo out of her seat.
“The bumps are trying to kill me!”
As if to prove her point, the vehicle bounced again.
Danzeng simply raised an eyebrow.
“I think they’re great.”
His tone was perfectly serious.
“They feel primitive.”
“Driving on them is fun.”
Lin Mo stared at him.
Fun?
Seeing her expression, he laughed.
“Besides, these roads are already much better than before.”
“There weren’t any roads at all in the past.”
“Everyone traveled by foot or horseback.”
“Nobody drove.”
“But times are changing.”
Lin Mo looked outside.
“Wouldn’t better roads help development?”
This time, Danzeng’s expression became serious.
“Development?”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“What kind of development?”
“More tourists?”
“More garbage?”
“Environmental damage?”
His voice remained calm.
But there was unmistakable conviction behind it.
“Genie doesn’t need that kind of development.”
Lin Mo blinked.
She found herself increasingly confused.
If he truly thought that way…
Then why open a guesthouse?
Why recruit volunteers?
Why ask her to help with marketing?
The more she listened, the more contradictory he seemed.
Still, she kept those thoughts to herself.
Danzeng continued,
“The people who truly want to come here will come regardless.”
“They won’t be scared away by a rough road.”
Then he glanced at her.
“Just like you.”
Lin Mo fell silent.
Danzeng looked toward the distant mountains.
The expression in his eyes softened.
“What I hope for…”
“…is that the people who come here genuinely love this land.”
“Not people chasing internet trends.”
“Not people following hype.”
A faint sigh escaped him.
“Sometimes popularity brings disaster.”
For a moment, his voice grew quieter.
Almost thoughtful.
“I’m only waiting for those who are meant to find this place.”
Lin Mo looked at him.
For some reason, those words felt as though they carried another meaning.
She understood them.
And yet she didn’t.
Neither of them knew it then.
But only two years later, Genie would become wildly popular online.
The rough dirt roads would be paved.
New businesses would spring up everywhere.
Tourists would pour in endlessly.
Traffic jams would appear in a place that once knew only silence.
The hidden paradise they loved would gradually transform.
And both of them would witness every step of that change.
After climbing a long, steep slope, the world suddenly opened before them.
Lin Mo’s eyes widened.
The Genie mountain range stretched across the horizon.
Like a row of ancient gods standing guard over the earth.
One snow-covered peak rose after another.
Towering.
Magnificent.
Overwhelming.
The mountains were so vast that they seemed capable of pressing down the entire world beneath them.
Just one glance through the car window stole every word from Lin Mo’s mind.
“We’re here.”
Danzeng’s voice drifted across the wind.
“This is the Eye of Genie.”
“From here, you can see all seven sacred mountains.”
Lin Mo stepped out of the vehicle.
Then stopped breathing.
The mountains stood before her like colossal guardians.
Ancient.
Sacred.
Untouchable.
Sunlight scattered across the snowfields, covering them in shimmering silver light.
Dark stone cliffs sliced through the white slopes, creating bold and powerful lines.
It felt as though all the majesty of heaven and earth had gathered in a single place.
An instinctive sense of reverence rose within her.
“Want to walk around?”
Danzeng pointed ahead.
“There’s a small lake over there.”
Without waiting for her answer, he started walking.
Lin Mo hurried after him.
A few minutes later, she saw it.
A crystal-clear pool resting quietly in the middle of the grassland.
Round.
Perfectly shaped.
Not large.
Yet unbelievably beautiful.
Its surface reflected the sky.
The clouds.
The distant snow mountains.
Like a giant eye gazing silently upon the world.
“So this is the Eye of Genie?”
Lin Mo stared in amazement.
“It’s incredible.”
Danzeng glanced at her.
“What’s so incredible about it?”
Lin Mo immediately lifted her camera.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The shutter sounded repeatedly.
“It really looks like an eye.”
She circled around it, searching for better angles.
“It feels completely natural.”
“Like nature created it through magic.”
Her eyes sparkled.
“This is truly one of nature’s masterpieces.”
A bright smile bloomed across her face.
“I really love this place.”
Danzeng watched her quietly.
For a moment, he didn’t look away.
“Then stay a little longer.”
His voice unconsciously softened.
“Take your time.”
Even he didn’t realize how much tenderness had slipped into those simple words.
Lin Mo spent nearly an hour photographing the Eye of Genie from every possible angle.
Eventually, her gaze drifted toward the distant mountains once again.
Between them stretched endless grasslands.
Tiny wildflowers dotted the emerald landscape.
As the wind swept across the plains, waves of green rolled toward the mountains like an ocean.
Something stirred inside her chest.
A longing.
An irresistible pull.
She pointed toward the snow peaks.
“Let’s go over there.”
“I want to see them up close.”
The temptation was impossible to resist.
Danzeng raised an eyebrow.
“You want to walk there?”
“Why not?”
Lin Mo looked puzzled.
“It seems pretty close.”
A laugh escaped him.
“It only looks close.”
“It’s much farther than you think.”
Then his gaze swept over her from head to toe.
“You?”
His lips curved slightly.
“With your stamina, you’ll probably end up with altitude sickness again.”
Lin Mo immediately pouted.
“That’s disappointing.”
But Danzeng didn’t answer.
Instead, he turned around.
Then began walking toward the distant mountains.
Toward the horizon.
Toward the sacred peaks.
His stride was steady.
Determined.
As though he had already made a decision.
And Lin Mo could only stare at his retreating figure in confusion.