After they were done, the two of them took a hot shower together.

Chen Xi wrapped herself in a blanket and lay prone on the bed, eating imported strawberries that Bai Yuning had bought for her at the supermarket.

Bai Yuning wore a lapel silk pajama set and sat on the edge of the bed, blow-drying her hair.

The overall color scheme of Bai Yuning’s home was warm ivory, white, and natural wood tones.

Hanging on the wall opposite the master bedroom’s large bed was a long scroll reproduction of Dunhuang murals, which Bai Yuning had asked for from Chen Xi’s mother.

On the bay window sat a large potted plant blooming with lush purple flowers that looked somewhat like lavender at first glance.

It was actually a flower called astragalus that grew in the wilderness of the great Northwest, possessing tenacious vitality and capable of growing wildly with just a bit of sunlight.

Chen Xi had transplanted the flowers from the Gobi Desert to her grandmother’s courtyard, then divided some of them to grow on Bai Yuning’s balcony.

The hair dryer buzzed loudly. When it was only half dry, Chen Xi grew impatient and wanted to get up, but Bai Yuning held her down.

“No, it’s not dry yet.”

Seeing Chen Xi about to resist, Bai Yuning directly straddled her thighs, coaxing, “Almost done, almost done.”

Chen Xi struggled, and Bai Yuning leaned down to threaten, “Do you want to be dealt with again?”

Chen Xi propped herself up with one hand, turned her face with an aloof look, and provocatively said, “Come on then.”

Bai Yuning replied, “What time is it? Still want to go at it? Don’t you have work tomorrow?”

She turned the hair dryer back on as she spoke.

Chen Xi silently ate strawberries while waiting for her hair to dry.

Bai Yuning turned off the hair dryer, and the buzzing noise in their ears finally stopped.

Chen Xi said, “I quit my job.”

The room suddenly became deathly quiet.

Chen Xi continued, “I quit today. I told Uncle Ma, and he said I should go home and rest for a few days before deciding.”

“I told him no need, I’ll go to the office tomorrow to handle the procedures.”

She fell silent after speaking, waiting for Bai Yuning’s response.

The bed creaked as Bai Yuning got off it.

He coiled up the hair dryer cord and shuffled into the bathroom to put it away.

When Bai Yuning returned, he was holding a bottle of face cream, which he handed to Chen Xi. “Why do you always forget to moisturize?”

Chen Xi took the face cream and looked up at Bai Yuning.

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

Bai Yuning watched her apply the face cream and let out an almost imperceptible sigh, “You’ve mentioned this several times before. I always thought you were just talking casually. Since you’ve already made up your mind, quit. I won’t interfere with your decision.”

Chen Xi was a bit surprised. After being stunned for a moment, her eyes suddenly lit up.

She smiled and pounced on Bai Yuning, giving him a kiss on the face, “How can you be so wonderful?”

Bai Yuning pulled her into his arms, laughing as he said, “You can do whatever you want.”

“Our life together doesn’t depend on you making money, and if you don’t work, you can stay home and focus on taking care of the children.”

The body in his arms stiffened slightly.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t work, I just want to change jobs.”

Chen Xi pulled away from him, her brow furrowing slightly.

Bai Yuning nodded like he was coaxing a child, “Okay, okay, whatever you say.”

After all, he was the family’s economic pillar. How much trouble could a woman cause anyway?

Chen Xi suddenly felt a bit deflated and didn’t want to continue this topic.

Bai Yuning sensed her mood change and asked carefully, “So what do you want to do?”

Chen Xi replied, “Open a repair shop, I told you about it before.”

Bai Yuning made an “oh” sound, then after a while asked, “Do you have enough money? If not, take some from me.”

Chen Xi raised her eyebrows and asked him, “How much can I take?”

Bai Yuning hesitated for a moment, then said to her as if making a major decision, “We don’t need to buy a house or car for our wedding, so we don’t have much financial burden. Take however much there is.”

Chen Xi picked up a strawberry and stuffed it in his mouth, her brow relaxing as she ignored that inexplicable awkwardness she’d felt earlier.

She smiled and said, “I wouldn’t use your money.”

…

Qin Lie drove Qin Zhan to the apartment building entrance and happened to run into Qin Zhan’s parents returning from their evening stroll along the Dang River.

Qin Lie got out of the car and called to the elderly couple, “Uncle, Aunt.”

Qin Zhan’s mother had just gotten a new perm, her half-gray hair dyed jet black and shiny.

She slapped her thigh with an “Oh my,” saying, “Your parents were just strolling along the river with us. I asked them to come home and take some lamb buns, but they wouldn’t come. If they had come, they would have run into you!”

Qin Lie smiled and said, “I was just at their place a couple of days ago.”

Qin Zhan’s mother shook her head, “Lie, your mother says you just stay cooped up at home all day, living with those big computers, barely saying two words from morning to night. Can computers find you a girlfriend?”

Seeing his mother about to start nagging, Qin Zhan quickly pulled her toward the building.

He walked while turning back to wave at Qin Lie, “Bro, go on home, drive carefully.”

Qin Zhan suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked Qin Lie, “Tomorrow we’re going to test my car in the sand, are you coming?”

He asked casually, not expecting to be able to move this stubborn Buddha of a brother.

Unexpectedly, Qin Lie asked, “What time?”

Qin Zhan stuttered for a moment, “Mo-morning, is 10 o’clock okay?”

Qin Lie nodded.

Watching his uncle’s family enter the building, Qin Lie sat back in his car and took out his phone to check it.

Wang Danyang had sent a message: “Old Qin, we’ve arrived in Beijing. Same as before, hope you can come back.”

He stared at the phone screen for a while, finally only replying with “Mm.”

He’d already let go of what happened two years ago; now he just felt it was all rather pointless.

He silently returned home and slept dreamlessly through the night.

In the morning he ran his usual five kilometers along the Dang River, then went home to work out with equipment.

Finally, drenched in sweat, he walked into the bathroom, and after showering, opened his computer to check emails.

Breakfast was the unchanging routine of whole wheat bread, boiled eggs, and black coffee.

He had just finished brewing coffee when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, he saw Qin Zhan.

Qin Lie leaned against the door frame and looked down at him, “You’re an hour early.”

Qin Zhan squeezed through the door, changing shoes while looking around.

Every time he came, he couldn’t help asking, “Bro, don’t you feel uncomfortable living alone in such a big place?”

He shuffled into the minimalist living room, placing the lamb buns he’d brought from home on the dining table.

An industrial-style pendant light hung overhead, its cold white light making even the steaming hot buns seem less appetizing.

He opened two bowls of spicy soup he’d bought at the community entrance, muttering, “Bro, let me tell you, when drinking spicy soup you have to add fresh scallions right then – even a second early and it’s not the same taste.”

“Hey—where are my scallions?”

“I remember bringing them.”

Qin Lie sipped his coffee, watching Qin Zhan create the chatter of a whole family by himself.

“Bro, do you have any scallions?”

He turned back to see Qin Lie’s expression and muttered, “Never mind I asked.”

Then he ran to the entryway to change shoes and rushed out like a whirlwind to find scallions.

After the two finished breakfast, they drove toward Mingsha Mountain.

Getting off National Highway 215, they headed south through the large canyon carved by the Dang River, reaching a flat stretch of the Gobi Desert. Two more kilometers ahead lay the foot of Mingsha Mountain.

The sky was clear and vast, dunes rolling endlessly under the sunlight, stretching beyond sight.

Qin Zhan shifted to neutral and revved the engine twice.

“Bro, hold on tight, let’s test this car’s acceleration.”

Qin Lie snorted through his nose, thinking what kind of acceleration could a broken car with a nearly scrapped engine produce.

The next second, the car shot forward with the engine’s strong, powerful roar.

Qin Lie was pressed heavily back against his seat.

Outside the car window, yellow sand suddenly rose, golden particles dancing and swirling through the air in the sunlight.

“Aooo!”

Qin Zhan howled at the top of his lungs, shifted gears, and accelerated again.

Qin Lie had just straightened up when he was heavily pressed back against the seat again.

The car raced freely across the desert like an untamed wild horse.

Qin Zhan shouted with excitement, “Damn, this car is fucking fierce!”

Qin Lie watched the wild, dancing sand outside the car window, and suddenly, the face illuminated by that flashlight beam flashed through his mind.

Focused, fierce.

He cleared his throat and suddenly asked, “How’s your repair shop coming along?”

Qin Zhan was excitedly shifting gears constantly, racing to the foot of a distant dune where he executed a beautiful drift.

His attention was entirely on the car, “Huh? What?”

Qin Lie said, “Didn’t you say you were opening a repair shop with Liu Boyang’s sister?”

Qin Zhan replied, “Oh, we found a place and are negotiating the price with the landlord.”

“Sister Xi wants them to go a bit cheaper. She’s using her savings to open the repair shop, so every bit saved counts.”

Qin Lie said, “Why open a repair shop without money?”

Qin Zhan replied, “That’s not right to say. With Sister Xi’s skills, how could she not make money?”

Qin Lie fell silent, then, after a while, asked, “Where did she set her sights on?”

Qin Zhan said, “On the national highway to Mogao Caves, there’s a VR experience center. All the self-driving cars to Mogao Caves have to pass through there – great location.”

“Sister Xi had her eye on that place initially, but when she inquired, they wouldn’t sublease at all.”

“I just don’t get it – such a prime location for a crappy experience center that makes no money and just throws away rent every day. Is that owner an idiot?”

Qin Lie remained silent.

Qin Zhan continued dramatically, “Sister Xi had to find a place in Qili Town instead.”

“Just west of the old district gas station, that factory building that’s been abandoned for half a year. The location’s not bad either – there are several repair shops clustered around there.”

On the way back, with Qin Lie steering the conversation slightly, Qin Zhan launched into another endless chat about Chen Xi.

“How do you think Sister Xi learned to paint? Did she even need to learn?”

“She’s been at Mogao Caves with her mother since she was little. When her mom copied murals, she copied along too.”

“Her dad does mural restoration, so he’s always working around murals, too. Anyway, their whole family revolves around murals. She thought copying was boring, otherwise, she definitely would have gone into that line of work, too.”

Qin Zhan talked endlessly the entire way.

When Qin Lie got out of the car, he suddenly said, “I’ve been pretty busy lately, don’t bother me unless it’s important.”

Qin Zhan was startled.

His brother had been back for two years, had nothing going on, and spent every day just idling around, waiting to die. What could he possibly be busy with?

Seeing Qin Lie getting out of the car, Qin Zhan quickly rolled down the window and asked, “What are you busy with?”

Qin Lie turned back to look at Qin Zhan, his dark eyes unfathomably deep.

“Looking for someone.”

Qin Zhan asked, “Looking for what kind of person?”

Qin Lie replied, “A designer. You wouldn’t understand.”

Qin Zhan said, “I have a wide network, let me help you look.”

Qin Lie said, “That works. You look then. The design fee isn’t low.”

Qin Zhan asked, “How much?”

Qin Lie said, “Ten characters total, twenty thousand each.”

Qin Zhan’s eyes nearly popped out. “How much?”

Qin Lie said, “Two hundred thousand.”

Qin Zhan asked, “Bro, what about me? Would I work?”

Qin Lie looked down at him, a mocking smile playing at the corner of his lips.

“You’d work.”

Qin Zhan was about to grin when he heard the next two words arrive belatedly.

“Like hell.”