Flowers all the way

Chapter 23 That's Not My View

After nearly two hours of flight time, the plane landed in Kunming.Xin Chen took the luggage out, and Xin Kaiyu was already waiting outside, and drove home quickly after receiving her.

Since Xinchen was in college, he often came to play during the holidays.Xin Kaiyu first lived in a rented house, and co-owned a trading company with his friends, and worked as a supermarket agent for some fast-moving consumer goods. He laughed at himself and said that he was almost a shopkeeper. The shopkeepers who used to walk around the villages and alleys were all famous romantic people, so it really suits you."

Xin Kaiyu was amused, but after all, he was much more serious than when he was in his hometown.After his business gradually got on the right track, he bought a high-rise apartment in the urban area, but his life was still casual, and the house only had the simplest decoration.

Xin Chen walked in with her father and saw that the apartment in front of her had been carefully furnished. The furniture, knick-knacks, curtains, and electrical appliances were well-coordinated. The room was orderly and tidy. Life looks a lot more presentable.

"Go and see your room. Aunt Bai said that if there is anything you don't like, just tell her."

Xinchen's room faces south, with plenty of light. There is a humidifier in the corner of the room, which sprays water mist finely. It is pasted with light pastoral-style wallpaper. The pure platinum-edged furniture is matched with pink curtains and bedspreads. It's a plush toy, which looks like a sweet girl. She looked amused and said, "Very good, thank you, Aunt Bai."

"I'll go to work first. At night, when Auntie Bai gets off work, I'll come back to pick you up for dinner. At noon..."

Xin Chen cut him off, "Dad, I have been here many times, and you are so polite today, I can only conclude that you deliberately want me to stay here."

Xin Kaiyu laughed and rubbed his daughter's hair, "Look at your face, you are so pale. Take a good rest these few days, and don't run around as soon as you put down your luggage."

Xin Chen was lying on the bed with her mobile phone in her hand. After she got off the plane, she turned on her mobile phone and received a text message from Lu Fei, but she didn't open it right away to read it.

The room is quiet, and the sunlight gradually moves to the south-facing window, shining through the pink curtains to warm the room.She clicked on the inbox, only to see the display on the phone screen: "Xiaochen, I know it's an annoying practice for you to leave your address, but I will always wait for you here." Below is the villa room number.She put down her phone dejectedly, remembering that the woman who claimed to be her mother suddenly came and went in the summer when she was 14 years old and left an address for Lu Fei to pass on, but she refused to pick it up at all; in the summer seven years ago, before Lu Fei left, he deliberately found her, Handed her a slip of paper with an email address on it, and she tore it up without even looking at it.But now, even if she deletes the text message immediately, the room number has been stubbornly printed into her mind.

She has never had anything to do with her memory, especially the part related to Lu Fei.She had hoped that the passage of time would take everything away, but this person reappeared when she thought she was indifferent, intervening in her life, leaving new traces little by little.

No matter how she left without looking back, she couldn't sever the connection with that city at once.The wait that the man calmly told her had begun to bind her.

Xin Kaiyu's marriage is very simple, in fact, it is not a ceremony.The next day, he drove his girlfriend Bai Hong and daughter Xin Chen to the District Civil Affairs Bureau to get a marriage certificate.The staff member was a middle-aged woman. It was the first time to see the groom’s daughter holding her father’s arm to attend such an occasion. She was quite happy. After stamping, she formally handed over the marriage certificate to them, "I wish you a happy wedding and a hundred years Good fit."

Then the three of them went to dinner together, which was a celebration.The bride, Bai Hong, is a local with good family conditions. Her parents are both retired university teachers. As a certified public accountant, she is not in favor of finding a foreigner who is 33 years older than her and has an adult daughter after she turns 11. A man, but he couldn't resist Bai Hong's firmness, so he could only acquiesce.

In the restaurant, Bai Hong mentioned that she had time the next day and could go out with Xin Chen.

Xin Kaiyu found it funny that his wife spoke in such a tone of receiving tourists, "That's not necessary, Chen Zi has been here often since he was studying, and he is very familiar with Kunming."

Xin Chen also shook his head and said with a smile, "Thank you, Aunt Bai, I plan to go to Lijiang for a few days by high-speed train in the afternoon."

Bai Hong was taken aback, her face turned red slowly, she and Xin Kaiyu have been busy recently, and have no plans to go out for honeymoon, knowing that this girl who is only 8 years younger than her is planning to make room, so as not to hinder their wedding day At night, she wanted to speak, but she couldn't speak, so she could only look at Xin Kaiyu.

Xin Kaiyu talked with his daughter the night before, knowing that her mind was determined and no one else could change it, so he clapped her hand reassuringly, "It's better to stay for a few days before the peak tourist season."

Xin Chen has been to Kunming quite a few times. He has been to famous scenic spots in Yunnan Province such as Dali and Xishuangbanna.She had been to Lijiang and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain when she was a freshman, and she had limited interest in folk music, bars, sitting in a daze and basking in the sun, and was not as obsessed with these places as those petty bourgeoisie.As the reputation of this place grew and the number of tourists increased, she became even less interested.

She just decided to get acquainted and avoid being in the same room with Dad and his new wife.

She first stayed in the ancient city of Lijiang for one night, then transferred to Shuhe the next day, found an inn with a reasonable price and booked a room.When the weather is fine, she will go on foot to the surrounding Lashihai and Wenhai. When she is tired, she will walk around the town, watch the craftsmen processing fabrics or silverware, and listen to the music of the resident singer in the bar. Read a book under the porch.

It's just that such a life of doing nothing is not a kind of relaxation for her, but brings a little inexplicable anxiety.

Xin Kaiyu called and asked her if she had played enough, she smiled, "I'm tired of it, but I don't want to come back and be a light bulb."

"You child, what's this called? Don't you use colorful clothes to entertain your relatives now, but it's more popular to leave space for entertaining your relatives?"

"Dad, I'm really not used to living with you guys." Xin Chen said honestly, "Don't you think it's against harmony for you to flirt with such a big daughter by your side?"

Xin Kaiyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Your father isn't so vulgar, is he?!"

"But without low-level tastes, life is so boring." Xin Chen maintained his enthusiasm for talking to his father without any taboos.

"Okay, you've been playing for ten days. Seeing that the public holiday is approaching, there must be a lot of tourists there. Even if I like low-level fun," Xin Kaiyu coughed and said with a smile, "I've enjoyed enough, come back .”

Bai Hong was grateful to Xin Chen for her thoughtfulness, but also worried, afraid that she still had something in her heart.She really didn't know how to get along with this girl who was so close to her father that she was unusually close to her father, who politely called her auntie, and who was polite but clearly alienated.Her nervousness turned into an overly thoughtful and enthusiastic performance, which made Xin Chen really unable to feel at home.

Xinchen was the only one left at home during the day, and she hardly went anywhere except for hiking around the area every few days.I kept in touch with the advertising company I had previously worked with on the Internet, and tried to accept a simple graphic design job. It was not as busy as before, and the salary was limited, but it was enough to pass the time.

Except for the occasional business dinner, Xin Kaiyu would go home on time. After dinner, he would go for a walk with Bai Hong, and then they would sit on the sofa and watch TV together.

Xin Chen could tell that Bai Hong was very attached to Xin Kaiyu, her eyes lit up when she saw him, with the air of a little girl in love.But because her stepdaughter was at home, she could only restrain herself and act dignified.She secretly laughed, and tried to stay in her bedroom at night, but Bai Hong would knock on the door from time to time, give some fruit, or invite her to go out for a walk or watch TV.

It's not that she doesn't like group entertainment at home, and she admits that this lifestyle can be considered healthy and peaceful, but she just feels that it's a bit sinful for her to intervene in it.She couldn't adapt to the enthusiasm of her stepmother, let alone the father who used to have a rich program and a wonderful life suddenly became a family man, sitting on the sofa and watching soap operas.

She felt a bit in a dilemma: going out to rent a house, of course, could make her live a little more comfortable, but it would make her stepmother feel uncomfortable; as for buying a house, she couldn't make up her mind to settle here and tie herself down.

Xin Kaiyu was also uncomfortable. He couldn't understand why his lively daughter suddenly entered such a quiet life.

Xin Chen only smiled at his question, "As long as I don't travel far these years, I've always lived like this."

Xin Kaiyu was a little annoyed, "It's a sin for a young girl to live this kind of life, when did I send you to a monastery?"

"Don't tell me you want me to get drunk?" Xin Chen still smiled.

"At least get a boyfriend."

When it comes to boyfriends, Xin Chen can only spread his hands, "You let me get a boyfriend immediately when I come to a strange city, so don't I have to go to nightclubs to strike up a conversation with people?"

Xin Kaiyu had nothing to do with her.

What Xin Chen didn't say was that she would definitely not have a boyfriend here, and she had already decided not to live here for a long time.

For a person who used to live in a city with four distinct seasons and suffered from both severe cold and scorching heat, Kunming has a pleasant climate, fresh air and unbelievably cheap flowers.The city is under construction, demolished everywhere, and traffic jams everywhere are quite similar to my hometown, which is not enough to arouse disgust.

But Xinchen doesn't like the feeling of living with other people, and he really can't find the desire to settle here.

On a donkey friend forum that she often goes to, she saw someone posting a call for hiking in Northwest Yunnan, and she was immediately tempted. She checked the route carefully and was a little surprised. The mountain line, crossing the Three Parallel Rivers, hiking in Bingzhongluo Scenic Area, crossing the north section of the Dulong River, turning outside the Meili Snow Mountain to the south line, Ninong Grand Canyon, Lugu Lake to Yading and Daocheng, and stay there for at least a week.The convener draws a detailed route map, which is expected to take about [-] days, and lists a number of minority settlements along the way, covering the essence of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road and the People-Horse Post Road.

When these lines were disassembled, they were all the places she planned to go to. Seeing someone connect them together in such an ingenious way, she couldn't help but be dissatisfied.It's just that she has never done such a long hike before, so she couldn't help but hesitate. She began to collect strategies on the Internet and conduct detailed comparative research.

The phone in hand rang, and it was from Lu Fei. He would call almost every night at this time, with a few words, asking her where she was and what she was doing.She unconsciously reported her whereabouts to him: "Sitting in the Shuhe bar and listening to music." "Lying on the bed and reading a book." "Walking, there are many stars tonight." "It's raining, and suddenly it's very cold." He responded accordingly Talking about what he was doing: "I just came out of the hotel after having dinner with the client." "The decoration company showed me the design drawing, and I was satisfied." "There are no stars here." Wear a dress."  …

Every time she puts down her phone, she laughs a little at herself.She understood Lu Fei's intentions, if she left according to her determination, she should change her mobile phone number, and even cut off this contact completely.She even stood at a certain mobile business hall in Kunming, and listened to the staff's introduction of various types of call charges, but hesitated for a while, but put her ID card back.She only said to herself: Since you don't intend to live here, why bother with it.

In fact, you can't refuse such a greeting, she can only reflect on herself in this way.Living in a strange city is even more lonely than walking in the wilderness on foot, especially because she lives without direction, which aggravates her sense of loneliness.

They maintain this daily routine of greetings.

She couldn't help thinking: This seemed to be a competition of patience between two people.Of course, Lu Fei has always been a very patient person, and she has never had much patience.If it goes on like this, she really doesn't know which day she will suddenly refuse to continue.

Xin Chen sent a completed LOGO design draft to the advertising company, stretched himself, and went out to pour water.It was only when Bai Hong asked Xin Kaiyu what his plans were for the coming National Day holiday that she realized that no matter how much she loved her father, she probably couldn't stand being tied to them for a long holiday.

Xin Kaiyu said: "Why don't we drive to Xishuangbanna for a few days, and I'll arrange accommodation with Lao Wu."

Just as Bai Hong agreed, Xin Chen said with a smile: "You and Aunt Bai can go, I signed up for the hike, and I have to leave for about half a month."

Xin Kaiyu knew her hobbies, so he didn't take it seriously, and only told her to be careful and keep in touch with her family.

Back in the bedroom, Xin Chen followed the post to sign up, and in the next few days, sorted out the outdoor equipment that was packaged and sent, and then went to buy the needed equipment.This ultra-long itinerary includes hot and dry valleys, the Dulong River with a tropical rainforest climate, and high-altitude snow fields. There are quite a lot of things to bring. Although some sections will find porters and grooms, there is a lot of time to carry the weight. , must be as compact as possible.A Shanghai girl named Taotao signed up before her, and immediately contacted her by text message on the site. The two hit it off online and decided to be a jerk. carry.

On September 9th, Xin Chen rushed to Lanping from Kunming, met five men and one woman who had agreed to travel together, and took a car to the middle row together. He hired a Lisu guide introduced by an online traveler, and then rented a car to Nuduo Village. Stay at the village committee.When Lu Fei called, Xin Chen had just spread the sleeping bag on the new straw mat that the villagers kindly brought.

"Xiaochen, are you home now?"

"I'm currently in Nuduo Village, Zhongpai Township, and I'm going to hike for a while. There are some sections of the road where there is no mobile phone signal. If you can't make a call, don't worry."

There was a moment of silence on the phone. When Xin Chen talked to Lu Fei yesterday, she didn't mention her travel plans at all. She almost deliberately waited for him to have an attack, but Lu Fei just said: "Be careful, I will still call you every day , at least when you get to a place with a signal, just send me a text message, okay?"

She has no reason to refuse this request, "Okay, goodbye."

The convener, Lao Zhang, is from Beijing. He is a typical old donkey who is used to the rivers and lakes. He is humorous in conversation and rigorous in thinking. At this time, he is talking carefully with the villagers who are recruited as porters.Several traveling friends came from all over the country and worked in different industries. There were two young men who had just started outdoor sports and had little experience in outdoor sports. They talked loudly and their excitement was beyond words.The others are old donkeys who have been to many places and behave calmly.Xin Chen casually chatted with the girl Taotao who was traveling with her, but she was relieved that this girl didn't talk much like her.

Xin Kaiyu called, "Chenzi, didn't you tell Lu Fei that you were going out?" Xin Chen was taken aback, and Xin Kaiyu continued, "I came back from a walk and met him downstairs, he was still carrying luggage, it should be Straight from the airport."

"He didn't tell me he was coming over, okay?"

Xin Kaiyu smiled, "I have a beautiful daughter. Dad just has face. It doesn't matter. He went to find a hotel to stay. You should call him and comfort him."

Xin Chen chuckled, "Is this based on your experience?"

"Yeah, men like this very much."

Just kidding, Xin Chen didn't plan to call Lu Fei.If he doesn't mention it, she decides to ignore the past.She knew that what she did was a bit mean, but it was not her style to refuse and welcome.

The next day officially started the trekking trip. From Nuduo Village to Laowo Village, you have to climb three hills. The net height is 1000 meters above sea level. It is not too difficult, as long as you can keep up with your physical strength.

Next, the scenery is beautiful, but the road section becomes difficult and dangerous. The road is muddy. There are mature walnuts, gorgeous wild flowers in bloom, bottomless canyons, steep water channels, and mountains. Weird beauty.The hiking time is close to ten hours every day. Fortunately, there is no snowstorm that everyone is worried about.It took them nearly four days to cross the Biluo Snow Mountain in Fugong and arrive at Bingzhongluo. Only then did the mobile phone get a signal again, and immediately received a text message from Lu Fei.

Xin Chen first called Xin Kaiyu to report his safety, then called Lu Fei and told him his current location.

"Tell me the specific itinerary this time. I'll at least be mentally prepared for which sections of the road I won't be able to contact you." Lu Fei's tone was stern and anxious for the first time.

Xin Chen hesitated, "I'll send you a text message to tell you the URL later, you can go up and check it yourself, but don't be surprised, the time and distance are a bit longer, this route is difficult, but not dangerous."

"Is the scenery along the way beautiful?"

Xin Chen didn't know why he suddenly asked this, "It's too simple to describe it as beautiful, but in fact some road sections are very boring, many mountainous areas have been over-developed for agriculture, the original landscape has been destroyed, and the water of the Nujiang River is more turbid than the Yangtze River. Bingzhongluo is not the legendary paradise, and there is not much humanistic color of ethnic minorities, but after passing Laowo pass, the terrain is dangerous, the vegetation is rich, and the scenery is magnificent."

"I've always wanted to figure out what drove you on the road, Xiaochen, have you been to so many places, have you found where the unknown road leads to? Or are you just looking forward to seeing all the scenery you haven't seen before?"

Xin Chen was silent, and answered after a while: "Lu Fei, where I am sitting now, according to the introduction of the guide, if it comes to the day of the winter solstice, you can see two sunsets. The sun first falls behind the Gongdang Mountain in the southwest corner. Half an hour later, the sun will appear from behind Gongdang Mountain again, and the sunset glow will appear in the sky, and then it will set behind Gaoligong Mountain after another half hour, it is really amazing to imagine.”

"Do you think this miracle is the reward for the arduous journey?"

"No, in fact, there are not many places that humans have not been to. Everything is introduced in detail on the Internet, where the road will lead, when and where the beautiful scenery will appear, and where you can eat delicious food. If I am lucky enough to come here on the day of the winter solstice, I will just watch the time and wait for the sun to appear again in a few minutes, and then it will set again, it will be beautiful, and there will be no suspense in everything." Her voice was soft, with a little carelessness Lazy, said slowly, "I don't regret not being able to see that scene. It's just like walking on the road. Sometimes you may miss what you're looking forward to for various reasons, but it's not worth it to miss it; sometimes the more you look forward to The disappointment will be greater, but there are always other scenery waiting ahead. So if I want to say what I like, I really can’t say, I just know that I enjoy the feeling on the road, and I don’t have to think about where I will stop. Anywhere, that's enough."

Lu Fei has always been keen, so of course he couldn't help noticing the hidden meaning in her words, "I haven't participated in hiking, Xiaochen, but I think, if I have a goal, then all my trips must be towards that goal. The person I am looking forward to is not the scenery, and I will not stay in the same place until I realize that I have missed it before turning back, but after knowing what I expect, other people can no longer be my scenery.”

Xin Chen holds the mobile phone and stares at the distant mountains. She is surrounded by the darkness of dusk. After sunset, the sunset gradually disappears. Not far away, fellow travelers are smoking and chatting. A few cigarette butts are flashing dark red with the movement of their hands. In the dim light, her goddam girl, Tao Tao, was immersed in sending and receiving text messages, and the dim light of the screen made the expression on her face both happy and sad. It goes without saying that those text messages discussed with her more than just the scenery.

"You criticized my composition before for being poorly written, my thinking was scattered, and I always lacked ideas and questions." She chuckled softly, "It seems that I am still like this now, and it is not convincing to make analogies and satirize people. Well, we all live our own lives."

Lu Fei opened the website that Xin Chen sent later, found the calling post, and stared at the route strung together with strange place names with ethnic minority colors, fascinated for a long time.

On September 9, he asked his secretary to book a plane ticket and rushed to Kunming after work, not because he wanted to surprise Xin Chen.In fact, he thought that Xin Chen would not welcome his visit, no matter whether he had greeted him in advance or not.He was just trying his best to strengthen the fragile connection between them, but Xin Chen obviously didn't intend to give him any chance.The next day, Kunming, a tourist city, was flooded with tourists, and he could only return against the current.

Afterwards, Xin Chen's phone contact with him was also intermittent.When he called her mobile phone every day, most of what he heard was "Sorry, the number you dialed is not in the service area, please try again later".

Checking the itinerary posted on the Internet, he speculated that she should have walked to the Dulong River, known as the "last virgin land", and when she called, sometimes she used a mobile phone, sometimes she used the hotel's landline, and reported an unfamiliar place name, mostly in a tired voice. , yawned, said a few words, and hung up after finishing speaking.That night, she was slightly drunk, talking and laughing loudly, and a man sang Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" at the top of his voice.

"You can't imagine that there are all kinds of wine for sale along the way, beer, liquor, wine, whiskey, peach wine, corn wine, millet wine, uh," Xin Chen made a strange sound that was similar to vomiting, "and bees Chrysalis wine, it's so disgusting, no matter how it is said to be a great tonic, I don't want to drink it."

He laughed and said, "No matter what kind of wine, don't drink too much."

She suddenly became suspicious, "Did I behave too much when I was drunk that day?"

He thought of the soft lips, the dexterous tongue, the arms tightly wrapped around his neck, and the slightly trembling body in his embrace. His blood suddenly became hot, his heart beat faster, and his voice became hoarse: "Anyway, when you come back, what will you do next?" By my side, it doesn't matter how much you drink."

The hickey mark on the open neckline of his black pajamas came to her mind unexpectedly, and when she thought of the same mark on her body when she took a shower after returning home, her face flushed red.

She has been avoiding thinking about this matter, but at this moment, she feels drunk, and her tired body feels like drifting, so she can't control her mind.

The scene of that night suddenly reappeared in front of her eyes with astonishing clarity: she leaned forward actively, asking for his kiss, he pressed her down, and her low and satisfied moan came with the weight that suffocated her... She didn't know whether all this was due to her own imagination after drinking, or if the latent memory surged up at the most inappropriate time, she raised her hand to cover her eyes, and hung up the phone hastily.

Lu Fei made a mark on the route map printed out by searching online. She has already walked out of the Dulong River and arrived at Kongdang. According to the plan, the next step is to walk through Mabilo, which is a no-man’s land about 12 kilometers away. , traveling upstream, there are basically no trails to follow. It belongs to the tropical rainforest landform, with many snakes and leeches.Then the next step is to arrive at the cowshed in Tibet, and start the south line of Meili Snow Mountain. This season, there has already been snowstorm there.

His work is busier than he imagined. On the one hand, he has to bring the operation of the investment company on the right track, and on the other hand, he has to keep in touch with the clients introduced by various parties who are trying to win investment.His first step was to subdivide the functions of the marketing department and set up special personnel to conduct systematic research on investment returns and risk control for all prospective projects. The company was basically blank in this area before, and he had to spend a lot of time on it .

However, no amount of heavy work could alleviate his worries. The information he collected along the way became more and more detailed, and the long route became clearer and clearer in his mind.

When Xin Chen called back from Abing Village, he was relieved, "Late September is the peak season for going around the mountain, and there should not be many people now. There are Tibetan-style corridor houses over there, so you don't need to camp outside. And Dance hall, if you are not too tired, you can go to relax."

Xin Chen was startled, and smiled, "Ah, you have done more homework than me."

This was the first time they communicated after the drunken phone call that day.

Xin Chen called his father first, and Xin Kaiyu told her: "Your uncle has lost his temper and said that I shouldn't let you go to such a dangerous place."

"It's not dangerous, but it's been a while. I'll call uncle right away."

She called Xin Kaiming's mobile phone, and the uncle's voice was stern: "You are a girl, even if you go abroad for a while, I can understand, why do you have to go to those places?"

Xin Chen said with a smile: "Uncle, don't be angry, there is a girl who is walking with me, she is a white-collar worker of a foreign company in Shanghai, she is very safe."

"Your irresponsible father can't tell where you are going at all. If Lu Fei hadn't met Lu Fei and explained to me, I really don't know where you went crazy."

Xin Chen had no choice but to act coquettishly, "Uncle, it's really all right. You see, there is a telephone here, and a small shop where you can buy Coca-Cola. By the way, there is also a dance hall. It's not a place isolated from the world."

"In short, you should come back to Yunnan from Tibet as soon as possible, and don't stay in the snowy mountains too long. It's not fun to catch a snowstorm."

Xin Chen couldn't agree more.

"Soak your feet well, and if it's convenient, dry your shoes and tent." Lu Fei whispered, "It's best to cook by yourself."

Xin Chen laughed, "Did you also see that legend?"

Abing Village is a must pass through the mountain. It is said that in the past there was a custom of laying a voodoo here. There is a saying among devout Tibetans who turn the scriptures: starve to death without eating Abing rice.

"I'm not afraid of anything else, I'm just afraid that someone will play a trick, and you stay there and refuse to come back." Lu Fei also said with a smile, "But it doesn't matter, if you don't come back, I will go to find you."

"What if the kind of Gu in me makes me forget the past?"

Lu Fei obviously didn't appreciate the joke, and simply said, "Then let me re-introduce myself in front of you."

She only felt that her heart was hit like an eggshell, and a crack appeared. She didn't know whether the crack would expand and lead to more gaps, and whether her determination would collapse.

(End of this chapter)