In Dunhuang’s May weather, at noon, wearing short sleeves under the sun would still make you sweat.

In previous years at this time, the place would have already entered the peak tourist season.

This year’s night market had never gotten lively, with few tourists around.

In the narrow, elongated alleys of the specialty street, many permanent stalls hadn’t opened for business, looking somewhat desolate.

At Old Ma’s Poplar Braised Pancake Shop, no customers had arrived yet.

The shop owner, Ma Lao Liu, a man in his fifties, held a rolled cigarette between his fingers.

He strolled over to Grandma Fan’s dried fruit stall and reached out to pinch a few raisins, tossing them into his mouth.

A small head poked out from the stall, shouting at him, “Catch the thief!”

Ma Lao Liu ate a raisin and said with a chuckle, “Come here, I’ll compensate you with a big radish.”

Guan Sensen was struggling with a math problem: “The number of boys is three-quarters of the number of girls. What fraction of the number of boys is the number of girls?”

Guan Sensen’s father was working in Lanzhou, and his grandfather had gone to Lanzhou this week to see a doctor, so he was staying at his neighbor Grandma Fan’s house.

He had originally thought he could avoid doing homework, but unexpectedly, Grandma Fan was even stricter than his grandfather—no playing until homework was finished.

Guan Sensen had long since lost patience. He threw down his pen and ran out, “Really? What radish?”

Ma Lao Liu stuck the cigarette in his mouth, reached out to cup Guan Sensen’s little face with both hands, and with a slight effort, lifted him.

“Pulling radishes.”

Guan Sensen angrily kicked and hit in protest.

He struggled free from Ma Lao Liu’s hands and said to Fan Mingsu with a pitiful expression, “Grandma, he’s lying to me.”

Fan Mingsu was sitting on a small stool, head down, cracking walnuts.

Despite the May weather, she wore a faded cotton vest, her short hair mixed with gray and white.

Hearing this, Fan Mingsu stood up from inside the stall and beckoned to Sensen, “Come here, let me take a look.”

Guan Sensen ran to Fan Mingsu’s side, raising his angry, puffed-up little face for her to see.

Fan Mingsu looked at Ma Lao Liu with a darkened expression, “His neck is all red from pinching. Old Liu, you owe a pack of cigarettes.”

Ma Lao Liu frantically waved his hands, “Auntie, you’re 76 this year, right? We’ve been old neighbors, too—you can’t pit me like this.”

Fan Mingsu asked, “How am I pitting you?”

Ma Lao Liu replied, “Asking you to smoke a cigarette is like asking for the life of your granddaughter Chen Xi—”

“Last time, a tourist from Qingdao offered you a cigarette, and Chen Xi caught you red-handed. That person later…”

Ma Lao Liu shook his head, looking utterly miserable. “Tell me, who in this market has the guts to give you cigarettes to smoke or sell you cigarettes?”

Just as they were talking, some tourists wandered over, and Ma Lao Liu couldn’t spare time to chat with Grandma Fan anymore, hurrying to greet them.

At this moment, in what had been a clear, bright day, fierce winds suddenly started blowing.

Cultural shirts and silk scarves hanging from a row of stalls began swaying in the wind.

Fan Mingsu sniffed and looked up at the sky, “Pack up, let’s go home.”

Guan Sensen, delighted that he didn’t have to do homework anymore, happily grabbed his exercise book and stuffed it into his backpack. “Is a sandstorm coming?”

Grandma Fan nodded, “A big sandstorm, hurry up.”

Guan Sensen quickly packed his schoolbag and began collecting the raisins from the display rack.

Fan Mingsu took down the cultural shirts from the rack, rolling them up and stuffing them into burlap sacks, then went to collect the silk scarves.

While they were busy packing up the stall, three tourists strolled over from one end of the long street and stopped in front of the stall.

“How much are the raisins?”

Fan Mingsu, busy packing up, didn’t even lift her head and said, “Not selling anymore, leave quickly, a sandstorm is coming.”

Zhou Ning pursed her lips—where would a sandstorm come from on such a clear day?

She took her boyfriend Wang Danyang’s hand and walked toward the next stall.

After walking a few steps, the two turned back to see their companion still standing in front of the stall.

“Qin Lie, let’s go!”

The man waved at them, signaling to wait a moment.

Qin Lie looked down and asked, “Where did you buy this canvas bag?”

Hearing Qin Lie’s voice, Fan Mingsu finally noticed there was still someone standing in front of the stall.

This person was tall and slender with a robust build; his facial features were sharp and defined, most striking were his dark, deep-set eyes beneath thick eyebrows.

Those eyes, like his contours, seemed carved by the northwestern wind and sand, possessing a wildness characteristic of northwestern men.

But his overall aura was different from the local Dunhuang people.

Fan Mingsu looked somewhat bewildered. “Are you asking me?”

Qin Lie nodded, flicking ash into a nearby trash can, bringing the cigarette to his mouth for a drag.

Fan Mingsu asked, “Why are you asking about this?”

Qin Lie exhaled smoke and pointed to the old canvas bag on the display rack, “The design on this bag is quite interesting.”

Fan Mingsu looked at the canvas bag, which had a cartoon fairy painted on it, barefoot, riding on the back of a chubby lion.

She couldn’t see what was interesting about it, thinking to herself that it was just the deities commonly seen on Mogao Caves murals.

They were always dressed in bright, colorful clothes, showing their belly buttons as they flew through the sky, not afraid of catching cold and getting diarrhea.

She looked up with a smile, her eyes full of shrewdness, “Give me a cigarette to smoke, and I’ll tell you.”

Qin Lie was stunned for a moment, then smiled nonchalantly.

He pulled out cigarettes from his pants pocket, lit one, and handed it to the old lady.

Fan Mingsu took it and inhaled deeply. Her internal organs were cleansed by the nicotine, and she instantly felt comfortable all over.

Guan Sensen reached out to snatch the cigarette from the old lady’s hand, anxiously shouting, “Grandma, you’re not allowed to smoke!”

Fan Mingsu held one hand high up while pressing down on Sensen’s little head with the other.

“Don’t tell Chen Xi, I’ll buy you ice cream later.”

Guan Sensen stopped trying to grab the cigarette, falling into a moral struggle.

Zhou Ning and Wang Danyang walked back, asking Qin Lie what was wrong.

Qin Lie told them, “Wait for me to say a few words to the old lady.”

He waited until she had smoked half the cigarette in blissful oblivion before speaking again, “Can you tell me now?”

Fan Mingsu took a deep drag, exhaled in euphoric bliss, and looked at Qin Lie with much more warmth.

“How about this—you help me buy a pack of cigarettes, and I’ll tell you.”

Qin Lie was speechless, never having seen an old lady with such a heavy smoking addiction.

Fan Mingsu pulled out a T-shirt from her bag and handed it to Qin Lie, “I won’t make you run for nothing. I’ll pay, and when you bring them back, I’ll give you this shirt too.”

Qin Lie’s gaze fell on the T-shirt’s design, finding this pattern quite interesting too, drawn by the same person as the canvas bag design.

He asked Fan Mingsu, “Where should I buy them?”

Fan Mingsu beamed with joy, quickly giving him directions, “Go straight down this street to the end, turn right, and there’s a small supermarket. Ying Ruyi cigarettes, 13 yuan per pack.”

Qin Lie raised his eyebrows and asked her, “Do you know where this bag was bought?”

Fan Mingsu nodded, “I not only know where the bag was bought, I also know who drew the pictures on it. Go quickly.”

“Then wait for me.”

Qin Lie threw away his cigarette butt, stretched his long legs, and walked in the direction Grandma Fan had indicated.

Zhou Ning followed him, asking in bewilderment, “Old Qin, what are you playing at with that old lady?”

Wang Danyang, carrying local specialties and souvenirs bought at the night market, trotted along.

He said puzzledly, “Yeah, how did you end up running errands for her? I’ve never enjoyed such treatment.”

Qin Lie carried a bag slung over one shoulder containing Wang Danyang’s drone, and also held a large bag of specialties in his hand.

These past few days, he had been accompanying Wang Danyang and Zhou Ning everywhere, having to endure their constant chatter, and was already thoroughly impatient.

Qin Lie answered irrelevantly, “When are you two leaving?”

Wang Danyang, with the manner of an old hand, smiled and said, “Depends on you. If you agree to return to Beijing, we’ll book tonight’s flight immediately.”

Zhou Ning looked innocent, “Don’t take it out on me—I just came here purely for tourism. I’ve wanted to visit Dunhuang for ages.”

Qin Lie walked forward two steps and said with detached indifference, “Don’t wait. I’m not considering going back.”

Hearing this, Wang Danyang and Zhou Ning fell silent.

The three reached the end of the street, and another gust of wind rose, carrying a faint scent of sand and earth.

No matter how strong Beijing’s winds were, they lacked the fierce quality of this wind.

Zhou Ning wrapped the gauze scarf she had just bought at the night market around her face to block the sand hitting her face.

Qin Lie found the small supermarket Grandma Fan had mentioned and bought a whole carton of the Ying Ruyi cigarettes she wanted.

Wang Danyang looked at the cigarettes in Qin Lie’s hand and asked again, “What are you buying cigarettes for her for?”

Qin Lie casually tossed the cigarettes up and caught them, answering, “Helping you guys find someone.”

Wang Danyang asked, “Find what person?”

Qin Lie replied, “A character designer.”

Wang Danyang said helplessly, “Why won’t you just return to Beijing? If you come back, we can be just like before.”

Zhou Ning chimed in, “Yes, what can you do here? Are you content to just waste away like this forever?”

Qin Lie said nothing; his dark, deep eyes were inscrutable.

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, walking straight outside.

Wang Danyang and Zhou Ning hurried to follow.

The three walked out of the small supermarket.

Zhou Ning looked up and screamed, her voice full of terror.

Qin Lie also looked up.

In the western sky, at some unknown moment, a towering wall of sand had risen from the ground, surging toward them like a curtain blotting out the sun and sky.

Zhou Ning froze in fright, and Qin Lie shouted, “Run!”

Zhou Ning and Wang Danyang followed Qin Lie, running back into the street.

The fierce wind swept up paper scraps and plastic bags, sending them flying everywhere.

Yellow sand roared and chased them from behind, instantly swallowing everything.

The strong wind and sand particles made visibility very low.

Qin Lie pulled up his collar to cover his mouth and nose. Both his eyes were instantly filled with sand, causing sharp pain.

Fan Mingsu didn’t have time to collect the raisins from her stall. She covered the goods with a large plastic sheet and secured it with several bricks.

Before the sandstorm hit, she had chased Sensen into Ma Lao Liu’s shop.

She held the cigarette down to its last puff between her lips, standing at the entrance of Ma Lao Liu’s shop, waiting for someone.

She felt uneasy, not knowing whether the young man had gone to buy cigarettes for her.

Sand and gravel hit her face, but she felt nothing. In her youth, during the wind-prevention and sand-control work, she had seen sandstorms much fiercer than this.

She waited in the wind and sand until she saw a tall figure rush out from the dust storm and run to her side.

“Here you go.”

Qin Lie handed Fan Mingsu a carton of Ying Ruyi cigarettes.

Fan Mingsu beamed with joy in the strong wind, getting a mouthful of sand.

She had asked for one pack of cigarettes, but the foolish boy had given her a whole carton—it was like a gift from heaven.

She said, “The canvas bag was painted by my granddaughter. All the T-shirts I sell have her artwork printed on them. Take a few more in a bit.”

Just as Qin Lie was about to speak, he heard the roar of a motorcycle engine, shredded by the fierce wind.

Following the sound, he saw a motorcycle charging out from the wind and sand.

A tall woman rode the motorcycle, wearing a lotus-colored hanfu dress with a dark green jacket over it.

She wore aviator sunglasses on her nose bridge, with red and blue ribbons and loose long hair fluttering up and down in the strong wind.

The scene was so visually striking that Qin Lie and his two friends were all stunned.

But Fan Mingsu suddenly stuffed the cigarettes into Qin Lie’s hands.

She quickly stomped the cigarette butt she had just finished under her foot, like a student caught cheating by a teacher.

The motorcycle roared toward them without slowing down, brushing past Qin Lie’s broad shoulder as it flew by.

Several pairs of eyes involuntarily followed the motorcycle.

The woman rode more than ten meters away, then suddenly made a sharp turn. The rubber tires made a screeching friction sound against the ground.

“Chen Xi!”

Fan Mingsu waved at her granddaughter with an embarrassed smile, looking guilty as a thief.

Chen Xi ignored her, revved the engine twice with a buzzing sound, then suddenly accelerated and charged toward them.

Before Qin Lie could react, the motorcycle had already roared to his side.

The woman on the bike reached out and snatched the bag from his shoulder, speeding away in the howling wind and sand.

Qin Lie was stunned for a second, then immediately gave chase.

Grandma Fan raised her voice and shouted, “Crazy girl, what are you doing? Come back here!”

But the only response to Grandma Fan was the woman’s ribbons fluttering away in the wind.

Qin Lie and Wang Danyang sprinted after her, chasing out of the night market.

Looking out, they could only see a flash of flying red color in the distant dust, which was then swallowed by the yellow sand.

Wang Danyang cursed under his breath, his mind still reeling.

He spat out a mouthful of sand, gasping for breath, his face full of disbelief, “Is that woman insane?”