This early summer wind witnessed countless meetings and partings of mortals.

After a while, people began to emerge from the end of the tunnel.

First in twos and threes, then more and more.

Fan Mingsu and Sensen swayed left and right.

Three to five minutes seemed unbearable as they tried hard to identify Grandpa Guan’s figure in the crowd.

Chen Xi gently exhaled, gathered her spirits, and walked to Fan Mingsu’s side.

Unfamiliar faces passed by one after another.

After waiting for who knows how long, Grandpa Guan’s figure finally appeared in the crowd.

He was carrying an old handbag.

Grandpa Guan was still wearing the same neither-Chinese-nor-Western suit jacket he had on when he left Dunhuang, and those black pants washed to gray.

Still the same clean old clothes, but the flesh inside seemed to have shrunk, so thin as to be unrecognizable.

The sleeves and trouser legs swayed loosely with his shuffling steps.

Chen Xi’s mind suddenly flashed to how Teacher Wang looked when hospitalized, and her nose stung again.

Grandpa Guan saw the three of them from afar, raised his hand toward them, and smiled so widely his face creased into wrinkles.

Chen Xi forced her lips into a smile and walked to the far end of the railing.

When Grandpa Guan approached, she reached out to take the handbag he was carrying.

“Grandpa Guan, you’re finally back.”

She said with a smile.

Grandpa Guan pointed at Sensen, “Has this little rascal been mischievous?”

Chen Xi shook her head, “I’ve been craving the flatbread you make.”

Grandpa Guan laughed heartily, “You’ll have some tomorrow.”

Walking out of the tunnel, Sensen threw himself into Grandpa Guan’s arms and looked up to ask him.

“Grandpa, why did you get so thin?”

Grandpa Guan touched Sensen’s little head and said with a smile, “For missing you.”

Sensen said, “I missed you, too. I can finally go home to live.”

After saying this, he turned back to give Fan Mingsu a resentful look.

Fan Mingsu lightly tapped the back of Sensen’s head.

“You little brat, don’t think that just because your grandpa’s back, you won’t have to come to my house to do homework. If you don’t do it well, you can’t go out to play.”

Sensen almost wanted to cry.

They held hands with this little bitter melon, Sensen, talking and laughing as they walked out of the platform.

No one mentioned why he had become so thin.

No one asked why Sensen’s father felt comfortable letting him return alone.

They only talked about happy things, not about human suffering.

At night, Chen Xi suddenly suffered from insomnia without warning.

She had cried in the desert that evening.

When Chen Xi walked down the sand dune step by step, she thought that tomorrow the sun would rise as usual.

But tonight she couldn’t endure the torment of insomnia.

She lay quietly in the darkness until three in the morning, disturbed by memories that came one after another with no escape, so she simply gave up on sleep.

She got up and changed clothes, walked to the dark courtyard, and quietly pushed her motorcycle out the gate.

The streets at three in the morning were empty.

Street lamps stood quietly, casting lonely light all over the ground.

Chen Xi stepped on the accelerator, wind whistling in her ears, and the small city seemed like her own world.

She wandered around the streets for a long while and unknowingly drove to her repair shop.

The huge building was completely dark.

Behind it was the vast Gobi Desert, surrounded by desolation.

But Chen Xi didn’t feel afraid at all; she just wanted to find something to do.

She walked into the building and turned on all the lights.

In an instant, bright light flooded the spacious building.

Chen Xi wandered around the building and finally stopped in front of the partition wall painted with cinnabar-colored coating.

She was utterly bored, bent down to pick up a brush at her feet, dipped it in white paint from a bucket, and drew a line on the wall.

…

At eight in the morning, Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang came to Chen Xi’s repair shop to help with the renovation.

They had just parked their car at the entrance when they saw Chen Xi’s motorcycle.

The two walked into the building and saw Chen Xi standing on a ladder.

She was holding a brush, painting on the cinnabar-red partition wall.

On the huge wall, there was already a beautifully shaped bodhisattva.

Qin Zhan shouted “Wow!” and ran to the bottom of the ladder, looking up with a string of compliments.

“Sister Xi, you’re amazing! When we finished work yesterday evening, there was nothing on this wall.”

“At this rate, you’ll finish painting the entire wall before opening.”

Chen Xi stood on the ladder, looking up at her night’s work.

“Really…”

As soon as she spoke, her voice was hoarse.

Liu Boyang keenly sensed something, walked to the bottom of the ladder, and looked up at Chen Xi.

“Sister, did you paint all night?”

Chen Xi shook her head, “No.”

Liu Boyang could see that she looked haggard, clearly showing a lack of sleep.

“Stop painting, go back and get some sleep.”

He said.

Chen Xi shook her head, “It’s fine, I’m not tired.”

She had always done things her way, and Liu Boyang knew persuading her was useless.

He sighed softly and looked up to ask Chen Xi, “What do you want to eat? I’ll go buy it for you.”

Chen Xi painted a stroke of the folds on the bodhisattva’s robes and said casually, “I’m not hungry, don’t bother.”

Liu Boyang didn’t listen to her and went out to buy breakfast.

After Liu Boyang left, Qin Zhan circled the ladder twice.

He wanted to ask what was going on between Chen Xi and Bai Yuning.

But he remembered Liu Boyang’s warning on the road, not to mention Bai Yuning in front of Chen Xi during this period.

He belatedly realized that Chen Xi was in a bad mood and had probably spent the entire night alone in this building.

He continued trying to persuade Chen Xi, “Sister Xi, go back and sleep for a while. You can paint after you’ve rested.”

Chen Xi hummed in response but didn’t stop what she was doing.

Qin Zhan circled the ladder several times with eager eyes, but aside from worrying, he had no solution.

Liu Boyang came back with steamed buns and porridge.

Chen Xi came down from the ladder.

She ate a few bites of breakfast and then started getting busy with renovation matters.

She ran in and out all day, negotiating with contractors, bringing water and food to workers, showing no signs that anything was emotionally wrong.

Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Three days later, the basic renovation of the building was finally completed.

The repair area and customer lounge were separated by a large glass wall.

Chen Xi ordered a set of sofas and a tea station online that would arrive in a few days.

Qin Zhan and Liu Boyang no longer needed to come help with work every day.

Chen Xi had them go purchase some secondhand equipment while she continued to arrive early and leave late, spending every day in the building.

Her insomnia troubles came and went; occasionally, when she was extremely exhausted, she could get a full night’s sleep.

Most of the time, she still lay with her eyes open until three in the morning, unable to sleep.

She simply got up and stayed up all night painting.

In the quiet of the deep night, she’d turn on a desk lamp, wear headphones listening to rock music, and consecutively complete three characters for Qin Lie.

With the last one remaining, she seemed to suddenly lose inspiration.

Suddenly, one night, the south wind brought scorching summer.

The small city baked under the blazing sun.

In the afternoon at Mingsha Mountain, the golden sand could cook the soles of people’s feet.

After Qin Lie agreed to participate in the Xi’an exhibition, he had been busy with the new character’s promotional video.

His favorite was “Blind Eye,” the only male character among the ten.

He chose this character to participate in the Xi’an comic convention.

Daily remote meetings, working late nights, running continuously for a while, the promotional video finally took shape.

Unknowingly, there were noisy cicada sounds outside the window.

Qin Lie released his mouse, rotated his stiff neck, felt for the cigarette pack on his desk, and discovered there wasn’t a single cigarette left.

He went downstairs to buy cigarettes.

Just as he stepped out of the building entrance, a cool night breeze hit his face, and the air was full of summer’s restless scent.

It was already past ten o’clock.

On the small lawn downstairs, several children were still playing soccer.

The elderly enjoying the cool air were in no hurry to go home, waving palm-leaf fans and chatting casually.

Music from square dancing drifted from the distance—unpleasant, but full of everyday life.

Qin Lie suddenly realized he hadn’t been out for a long time.

He didn’t know how Chen Xi’s renovation was going.

He turned his steps and walked toward the SUV parked downstairs.

Arriving at the VR center.

Qin Lie was surprised that so late at night, the lights were still on in Chen Xi’s building.

He got out of the car and walked to the repair shop entrance, only to find the glass door was locked.

The building was brightly lit, and Chen Xi stood alone on a ladder painting murals.

She wore simple-lined jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt.

Whether it was because of visual distortion through the glass or not, after not seeing her for several days, she seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

If you didn’t know her personally, just looking at her slender, thin silhouette, you might mistake her for a fragile woman.

Qin Lie’s gaze moved from Chen Xi’s back to the partition wall between the two buildings, and he couldn’t help but be slightly stunned.

Looking at the wall filled with bodhisattvas with fine eyebrows and long eyes in various poses, Qin Lie momentarily wondered if he had been holed up at home for three months without coming out—otherwise, how had this giant wall been painted full?

He stood at the door with his hands in his pockets for a while, then turned and left, walking into the night.

Returning to his car, just as he was about to start the engine.

Qin Lie’s gaze inadvertently caught the surveillance camera at the VR center entrance, and he withdrew his hand from the start button.

This camera was installed last year.

The reason was that employee Xiao Min had lingered in the center until dark, and on her way home was harassed by an exhibitionist at the building entrance.

In the wilderness, the young woman was in great danger as she stumbled and ran to the highway.

Fortunately, she was lucky and encountered a self-driving couple.

The two were kind-hearted, helped her call the police, and nothing serious happened.

From then on, Qin Lie no longer let Xiao Min stay and play in the center after work.

She had to go home before dark, and he installed surveillance equipment around the VR center.

Qin Lie rolled down his car window and sat smoking two cigarettes, but didn’t see Chen Xi come out of the building.

He sighed softly, got out of the car, and entered his own VR center.

The corner door between the two buildings was open, and light from Chen Xi’s side spilled in, illuminating a small corner.

Qin Lie reclined on the sofa and used the remote to turn on a spotlight overhead.

He took out his phone to play games, and from the corner of his eye could glimpse that small corner door.

He’d go home when the lights went out over there.

Game after game.

Playing until two in the morning, the lights next door still hadn’t gone out.

In the quiet hall, there was occasionally the sound of moving a ladder.

Qin Lie muttered “crazy” under his breath, switched to a different game, and continued playing.

Suddenly, a piercing phone ringtone rang out in the quiet hall.

Qin Lie lost focus and was killed by his opponent.

Qin Lie looked toward the light across with annoyance.

The ringtone kept ringing, singing to desperation, but Chen Xi still wouldn’t answer.

Qin Lie thought something had happened next door, sat up from the sofa, and strode toward the adjacent building.

Chen Xi stood on the ladder, looking down at her phone that was still ringing by itself.

Her entire being seemed frozen, motionless.

The caller ID showed Bai Yuning.

After being separated for so long, this was the first time he had called her.

At two in the morning.

Chen Xi knew what this meant.

Because there were many times when she couldn’t sleep and almost couldn’t control herself from calling him.

She didn’t know how she had endured that period.

Chen Xi’s finger rubbed the screen, almost touching the answer button, but then she slowly lifted her finger away.

She was afraid that if she heard that voice, she would no longer be able to control herself and would jump back into that confusing whirlpool.

She knew that the two of them had no way out.

“Not answering?”

Outside the piercing ringtone, a calm voice suddenly sounded.

Chen Xi was startled and almost fell off the ladder.

She didn’t hold her phone steady, and it fell on the cold tile floor.

The ringtone stopped abruptly at that moment.

Chen Xi crouched down, staring blankly at the phone lying on the ground, as if she had lost her soul.

Qin Lie walked over, bent down to pick up the phone from the ground, and looked at it—fortunately, the screen wasn’t broken.

He raised his arm to hand the phone up, and also saw Chen Xi’s face.

When he had looked at her through the glass earlier, it hadn’t been a visual distortion. Up close, he could see she had indeed lost a lot of weight.

There were two big dark circles under her eyes, and her complexion was very haggard.

Qin Lie looked at her, and after a moment said, “No one’s rushing you. Is it necessary to hurry with the murals like this?”

Chen Xi took the phone and silently looked at the darkened screen, not speaking.

After a while, seeing Qin Lie was still there, she felt somewhat bewildered.

“In the middle of the night, what are you doing here? Aren’t you sleeping?”

Qin Lie looked at Chen Xi speechlessly, waved his hand at her, turned around and went back to his side.

In an instant, the spacious building became quiet again, so quiet you could hear your lonely breathing.

Two streams of tears suddenly fell without warning.

She almost couldn’t help but press the answer button just now.

When the ringtone stopped abruptly, her momentary dream came to an abrupt end.