If it weren't for the rainy season, the road from Yunnan to Tibet would be very easy to travel. Chu Di drove all the way, while Lin Xiangwan sat in the passenger seat and stared at the map to give him directions.
The two of them didn't have any clear plans. They would stop wherever they saw a nice view, take a walk, take pictures and bask in the sun. They wasted their time wantonly. When they couldn't find a hotel at night, they slept in sleeping bags in the car.
Although this kind of wandering-like travel is free and unrestrained, it also has its inconveniences.
As soon as he encountered a rest stop or a hotel, even a small hotel run by Tibetans, Lin Xiangwan immediately rushed over, opened the room and went straight to the bathroom, while Chu Di went to replenish supplies and buy as much fresh and shelf-stable food as possible.
Fruits and vegetables.
When Lin Xiangwan came out of the shower, he handed her a fresh cucumber, and then the two of them sat on the ground and ate the cucumber in a very inconspicuous manner.
On the plateau, the summer sun was extremely scorching. Within a few days, Chu Di was tanned, but she still looked energetic and capable, and her teeth were particularly conspicuous when she smiled.
Compared with him, Lin Xiangwan not only did not get tanned, but also gained weight, which was largely due to dairy products and meat.
Ye Nan would occasionally call and tell them about his affairs in the youth training camp. Lin Xiangwan took Chu Di to take some selfies and sent them to him. The child and the old god replied in a letter saying that they looked like two gangs of beggars.
disciple.
Time seems to have lost its meaning. The road that is sometimes twists and turns and sometimes straight seems to have no end. The sky is so blue that it is almost dazzling, and there are countless towering snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Lin Xiangwan took a nap against the car window. When he woke up, he saw ragged Tibetans on the roadside. They set out from their hometown, worshiping and kowtowing, all the way to Lhasa.
Lin Xiangwan looked at those people in trance.
"They are Tibetan pilgrims who have great wishes in their hearts." Chu Di handed her a bottle of water, fearing that the weather would be too hot and her body wouldn't be able to bear it.
Lin Xiangwan took the water bottle and asked, "What is a big wish? Winning five million?"
Of course Chu Di knew she was joking, so he smiled and replied, "Vulgar, how can money be a big wish? Haven't you heard anyone say that only problems that money can't solve are problems."
"Tch, this must be said by a rich person. For people who have no money, money is a big wish." Lin Xiangwan couldn't help but lift the stick. The two of them were still a little lonely while traveling, so she didn't want to argue with him.
My days are like cooking without seasoning, boring.
Chu Di held the steering wheel with one hand and pointed out the window, "Do you think they are rich people? Many of them don't actually have any specific wishes to come true. For them, pilgrimage is just a longing in their hearts. This is probably
It’s the power of faith.”
Faith? When she was in the United States, a neighbor downstairs from Lin Xiangwan would come up every weekend to persuade her to attend church gatherings and to convert her to God. Unfortunately, Lin Xiangwan really didn’t have the time, and she moved several times later.
Home, this neighbor was finally disappointed.
Both she and Chu Di have no faith, perhaps because they are born rebellious, or perhaps they feel that faith is too heavy. They believe in themselves more than they believe in vague gods.
"What about your big wish? Do you have any wishes that you definitely want to realize?" Lin Xiangwan finished drinking the water in the bottle and casually wiped the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand.
Chu Di turned around and smiled at her, her white teeth shining brightly, and said, "You are my great wish."
Twenty days later, they arrived in Lhasa. As soon as they exited the toll station, someone immediately took the dusty Jeep and replaced it with a brand new Cherokee inside and outside that was fully fueled.
Chu Di got in the car and said to Lin Xiangwan, "They were quite on time. I thought we had to wait for a while. Let's go to the hotel first? Take a shower and change clothes. I'll take you out for a walk." Lin Xiangwan didn't.
Knowing when Chu Di arranged all this, she didn't want to worry about it. He said he would come out to play and he would be responsible for everything. She just had to enjoy it like a rice worm.
After checking in and putting down his luggage, Chu Di took Lin Xiangwan and started walking around the city. Lin Xiangwan found that he seemed to be carrying an invisible GPS with him, so he would not get lost no matter where he went.
He shuttled through the dirty and messy small market and the tea shops where people came and went like a fish in water, allowing Lin Xiangwan to truly feel the local customs and customs.
In the afternoon, the butter tea shop was crowded with locals. Chu Di and Lin Xiangwan took a seat by the window, sipping the rich tea in their cups peacefully. With the opening up of tourism in Tibet in recent years, the locals are used to seeing the mainland.
The tourists, therefore, did not have any special reaction to their arrival. They were still talking loudly in the local dialect, and curls of green smoke came out from the cigarette bags in their hands from time to time.
Lin Xiangwan poked his head out. There was a cafe at the end of the alley. A small blackboard was erected outside the restaurant. On it, the coffee served that day was written in colored chalk. Soft music was playing in the shop, and many young people were sitting in it.
.
"I thought you would take me there." She pointed to the coffee shop.
Chu Di glanced at it, and while dipping the fried fruits in the butter tea with his hands like the locals, he said casually, "Do you want to go?"
Lin Xiangwan shook his head. No matter where this kind of store is located, it is a gathering place for petty bourgeoisie. They seem to have their own characteristics, but to put it bluntly, they are all the same. They are just pretending to be a "beep-" holy place.
She prefers this place to that kind of elegant and exquisite shop. Although she can't understand Tibetan, she feels a familiar feeling among Tibetans, a longing for freedom in her body, and a longing for life in a foreign land.
All the desires were aroused at this moment.
The skin of the local people is dark, and because of the scorching sun, most of them appear to be more mature than their years. The older Khampa men gathered together and played dominoes that Lin Xiangwan could not name. Their emotions and tone were affected by the tiles in their hands.
The ups and downs of good and bad.
Lin Xiangwan was not used to drinking butter tea, so he only ordered sweet tea. Seeing Chu Di sitting and feasting, he felt indescribable envy in his heart. His ability to adapt has always been much better than hers. It seemed that no matter where he was thrown, he could do it.
As if to survive.
After drinking tea, Chu Di took her to the market to eat. The small stalls on the roadside were filled with red and green jewelry. The prices were not expensive, and the quality must be average.
Chu Di entered a shop selling Tibetan knives, and was immediately attracted by the Tibetan knives inside, unable to move. For Lin Xiangwan, among all the knives, the one that interested her the most was the scalpel.
I walked around the store twice and fell in love with a bracelet made of turquoise and red coral.
Turquoise and red coral are both auspicious signs in Tibet, and the bracelet is exquisitely made, so the price is not a problem. Lin Xiangwan was determined to negotiate a price with the boss, but before she could say anything, her eyes
I was attracted by a place outside the store.
A boy in shabby clothes, who looked to be no more than ten years old, was resting on the stone steps in front of the shop. Like all pilgrims, he wore a palm protector made of Baijia cloth on his palm, and the palm of his palm had been worn almost to the ground.
Penetrated.
What attracted Lin Xiangwan was not his clothes or his status as a pilgrim, but his gaze.
She had never seen such clear and pure eyes in someone's eyes. His amber eyes looked at the Potala Palace in the distance, like a clear spring on the top of a snow mountain, without any impurities.
By some strange coincidence, Lin Xiangwan walked over. She squatted next to the boy, "Are you going there too? What is your wish?" Along the way, she saw many pilgrims, but most of them were elderly people.
The holy land and faith in my heart have traveled thousands of miles to come here. Of course, there are many young people among them, but there are very few at this young man's age.
When the young man heard her words, he turned his eyes back. He smiled and replied in very unfamiliar Chinese, "My mother is seriously ill and no doctor can cure her. She has always wanted to come to Lhasa and meet the living Buddha. She
If she can’t come, I’ll come in her place.”
The young man's family lived in the grassland at the junction of Yunnan and Tibet. He walked for four months from there to Lhasa. During these four months, he slept in the open air and the food he brought from home was long gone. He only relied on the support of the herdsmen along the road to get here.
Lin Xiangwan looked at him and thought of Ye Nan. He and Ye Nan were about the same age, but their destinies were destined to be different.
She felt so sad that she took out all the money in her pocket and gave it to the boy, "Take it, meet the Living Buddha, and take the car back. Your mother's illness will definitely be cured."
The young man was stunned, as if he did not expect Lin Xiangwan to do this. He held the money in his hand and did not put it away. Instead, he randomly took a few from it and returned the others to Lin Xiangwan.
He grinned and said to her with a bright smile, "Sister, this is enough. You are a good person, and you will definitely be rewarded."
Chu Di bought a few Tibetan knives and planned to collect them for himself and give them to Zhong Kun as gifts. When he turned around, he found that Lin Xiangwan was no longer in the store, but sitting on the steps in front of the store.
He pulled her up and patted the dirt on her pants, "Why are you sitting here? The ground here is very cold, don't get sick."
When Lin Xiangwan heard his words, she seemed to suddenly come back to her senses. The young man had already disappeared, but she could never forget his gaze.
She told him what had just happened. Before Chu Di could say anything, the owner of the store heard it and immediately said, "Miss, you may have encountered a liar, right?"
Seeing Lin Xiangwan frowning, the boss said again, "The people in this place are not as kind as before. There are some scammers who specialize in deceiving you, tourists from other places, and make your life experience very miserable. How miserable it is."
Just to make money."
"He won't." Lin Xiangwan instinctively wanted to refute the boss, "If he is really a liar, he should take all the money away. Why would he give me some back?"
"Hey, let's play the long game and catch the big fish. The more this happens, the more dangerous it is. I'll wait a few days and pretend to meet you by chance. Then I'll trick you into an unfamiliar place. It's not up to him to have the final say.
"Although the shop owner tried to persuade her with good intentions, Lin Xiangwan always felt it was so harsh. She didn't believe that the child had such a scheming mind. Otherwise, his eyes would not be so clean.
But after all, the store owner has lived here for many years, so what he said may have some truth to it.