As a child, I loved watching Animal World and Man and Nature. Wildlife conservation has always been the subject closest to my heart. The whales of the Arctic Ocean, the Tibetan antelope of the plateau, the great animal migrations across the Tanzanian savannah — the creator of all things is the most masterful of all artists, endowing each different life with its own distinct beauty.

And yet, for all their beauty, they have suffered so much at the hands of slaughter.

And so this story was born — a story with Tibetan antelope conservation at its heart: Ming Chuan Has Known Xia.

Those graceful and pure lives taught us to be unable to bear their suffering. They taught us to protect.

Since the establishment of the Kekexili Nature Reserve, the sound of poachers’ gunfire has all but vanished — yet there are still those who remain stationed there, enduring one bitter cold night and one bitter cold morning after another.

A man who carries suffering on his back yet walks toward the light. A woman who has crossed half of China to reach him.

In their school days, the girl fell for the tall, reticent top student at first sight. The last time she saw him, it was outside a detention center.

Across a separation of two years, she finally found him again — and with love and faith as her compass, she set out once more.

I love men of iron and unyielding spirit — men who carry wounds and a past, who walk a pilgrim’s road under the weight of suffering, whose every act of courage and fearlessness is underpinned by a bedrock of compassion.

Li Zechuan is such a man.

I love girls with fierce, unyielding hearts — who love and hate with absolute clarity, who fix their eyes on one person from the very start and never waver, no matter how long the road or how many beautiful things they pass along the way. Wherever he is, that is where she will be.

Wen Xia is such a girl.

I love antagonists who walk the line between good and evil — those peach-blossom eyes, the teardrop mole at the corner, an intense gaze, a life lived with unruly, headstrong abandon.

Song Qiyuan is such a person.

Only when a person first understands great love for the world can they more deeply understand the smaller, private loves in their own life. Only when one has learned to be at peace with the world can one learn to truly cherish the person standing before them.

Some people — perhaps they were not predestined for each other, yet they are, by fate, inevitable.

Some people — they labor through hardship, seeking neither glory nor gain, only to uphold justice and fight against what is wrong.

Li Zechuan and Wen Xia are such people.

In the uninhabited zones where the wind howls, on the oxygen-thin plateau, they fought together, and found their way back to each other. They slipped woven-grass rings onto each other’s fingers, offered each other forbearance and understanding, held each other up through every difficulty, and devoted a lifetime of love to one another.

Some people scheme and maneuver for the sake of profit. Others spend an entire life charging forward for the sake of a pure and simple belief. Heroes do not appear only on battlefields — they exist in this settled, ordinary age as well.

They bear the heaviest burdens, raise high the banner, and walk into fire without hesitation.

Some of the medical rescue scenes and the tender moments between people and animals in this story involve artistic embellishment and should not be read as documentary literature. When you encounter wild animals in nature, please always abide by the principle of not disturbing and not harming them. Never approach them on your own initiative — and don’t forget: they have sharp teeth and claws.

Finally, I hope that everyone will refuse to purchase products made from wild animals, and will protect those lives that share this planet alongside us.

Su Xing’an Written deep in a night filled with brilliant starlight