It wasn’t until the third day of travel that Shang Zhitao emerged from that surreal feeling and truly experienced that they were on a journey.

Luan Nian fully embodied what a self-driving tour was. His travel was like himself—full of adventure and somewhat willful. He would stop the car wherever he liked, not caring whether they would reach the day’s destination. He didn’t even constantly ask Shang Zhitao:

“Should we stop?”

“Should we exit the highway?”

“Shall we explore over there?”

Wild. At these moments, Shang Zhitao always felt that Luan Nian perfectly fit the word “wild.” He was so wild, like a beast, utterly unrestrained, dangerous yet fascinating. Over time, one would become addicted. His travel attire differed from his work clothes—various outdoor wear, motorcycle gear, and hiking boots, taking turns to appear, truly pleasing to the eye.

Shang Zhitao tugged at the ash-gray cashmere scarf around his neck and asked him: “So are you and your friends going traveling or participating in a beauty pageant?”

Luan Nian brushed her hand away: “Just aesthetic preference.” Then he added: “Though it is indeed likable.”

“Do you have romantic encounters when you travel together?”

Luan Nian stopped the car, not answering her question about romantic encounters, letting her ponder it herself.

They stopped at a parking area by the Linxia highway, a stronghold of the ancient Silk Road, with a magnificent view stretching to the horizon. Luke was truly overjoyed, clearly feeling like a traveling dog with the newly popular K9 harness leash, running snow-white and majestic. Every time they stopped and opened the door, he would rush out to investigate. Luan Nian followed him, whistling, and no matter where Luke ran, he would come back at the sound of the whistle. Although Luan Nian indulged Luke with meat, he had also trained him well. Shang Zhitao watched from the side, somewhat dazed.

She couldn’t quite understand why the dog she had raised was trained by Luan Nian.

Luan Nian’s phone rang. He answered it, with strong wind noise around. He heard Song Ying’s voice: “Luke, the creative proposal for the Northwest project has its first version. Could you help review it first before showing it to Flora Jie?”

“Flora, what?”

“Flora Jie.”

Luan Nian glanced at Shang Zhitao, suddenly remembering that after their years of entanglement, Shang Zhitao was no longer twenty-two. But she seemed unchanged, still the same as back then, standing upright and straight, sincere to others, with clear eyes.

“Yilia, in our company, we call people by their English names, not with other suffixes added. It sounds very strange.”

Song Ying was a bit surprised but still responded: “Okay, Luke, I understand.”

“Good. As for that proposal, you can send it directly to Flora. Although Flora doesn’t have a creative background, as a project manager, she has her professional judgment. You can seek her advice more.”

“Alright, Luke, I won’t disturb you then. Bye~”

“Goodbye.”

Shang Zhitao remembered Song Ying telling her she liked Luan Nian, but she didn’t say anything. Luan Nian put away his phone and teased Shang Zhitao: “So you’ve become ‘Flora Jie’ now?” He pinched her face: “Let me see which part looks like a ‘Jie’?”

Shang Zhitao let him pinch her; her mouth skewed from his pinching. She mumbled: “Don’t they say men all like young girls? What do you think of 22-year-old Song Ying?”

Luan Nian genuinely thought about it. The 22-year-old Song Ying was very vague in his impression; he couldn’t even recall her specific appearance, only feeling that this woman was talented—he admired her talent. But he remembered clearly the cleanness and anxiety in 22-year-old Shang Zhitao’s eyes, and her face that often reddened under his gaze.

“Why aren’t you answering me?” Shang Zhitao asked him.

“Answer what? Are we starting comparisons now?” Luan Nian asked her.

“No comparison!” Shang Zhitao anxiously explained, but Luan Nian took out a candy and tossed it into her mouth, saying to her: “I’m not familiar with 22-year-old Song Ying, but I’m very familiar with 22-year-old Shang Zhitao.”

He added: “Inside and out.”

Shang Zhitao’s face suddenly burned hot. She escaped from his fingertips, reproaching him: “What nonsense are you talking!”

“Why did you ask that?” Luan Nian walked to her side and asked.

“Just asking casually.”

“With thousands of years of civilization before us, lying on our ancestors’ territory isn’t good—it’s disrespectful to our Chinese ancestors.” Luan Nian was rarely this patient; he wanted to explore Shang Zhitao’s true thoughts.

Shang Zhitao pondered for a long time, then asked him: “If both 22-year-old Song Ying and 22-year-old Shang Zhitao were fond of you at the same time, would you still choose 22-year-old Shang Zhitao?”

Luan Nian genuinely thought about it and said: “I would want to ‘take’ 22-year-old Shang Zhitao, and also be ‘taken’ by her. For 22-year-old Song Ying, I have no thoughts. So I would still choose Shang Zhitao.”

After a moment’s reaction, Shang Zhitao said: “Indeed.”

“Indeed what?”

“Indeed, my surname prevails.” She glanced at Luan Nian and walked away.

Shang Zhitao believed Luan Nian when he said he had no thoughts about Song Ying. Luan Nian would never lie. If he wanted to sleep with her, he would probably say: “It’s hard to compare. I could have a deep interaction with her once and try.”

Lumi messaged her: “You took a long vacation?”

“Ah…”

“Going to Cambodia with friends takes that long?”

“Later added Thailand and Singapore…”

“? The stubborn mule gave you time off?”

Shang Zhitao glanced up at Lumi’s stubborn mule, then looked down to reply: “He might have taken the wrong medicine and agreed.”

“Damn. I want to go play too.”

“Then ask for leave.”

“But I haven’t slept with Will yet, don’t want to waste time playing.” Lumi used to request leave every few days to go out and play, but now she doesn’t often ask for leave. One day she came to the office with a cold, fever, and runny nose. Shang Zhitao wondered if Miss Lu was possessed. While wiping her nose, she looked at Will’s office: “Yes, this lady is possessed. Possessed by that man.”

Shang Zhitao couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Seeing Luan Nian’s glance sweep over, she shut her mouth tightly.

“Keep it up, hope you sleep with Will soon.”

Shang Zhitao put away her phone and got into the car with Luan Nian.

“What do you and your mentor chat about every day?” Luan Nian asked her. He found the two of them quite amusing—the foolish duo, sticking together like they were joined at the hip. He wondered where they found so much to talk about.

Shang Zhitao couldn’t say they were discussing whether Lumi had slept with Will today, so she said: “Work and ideals.”

“Discussing whether Lumi has slept with Will?” Luan Nian put on his sunglasses, the corner of his mouth twitching with a smile. Shang Zhitao felt a bit apprehensive, looking at him.

Luan Nian hadn’t been peeking at their chat; the two had been whispering in the company’s break room, and as he passed by, he just happened to hear Lumi say: “When will I ever sleep with Will…”

“You can advise your mentor that she will never sleep with Will in this lifetime. Will’s family background isn’t worse than hers, but he comes from a scholarly family. He and his family cannot accept the nouveau riche. It’s probably the backbone of intellectuals.”

“…Does sleeping with someone depend on family background?” Shang Zhitao wasn’t very happy hearing Luan Nian say this: “My parents are ordinary workers, yet I still managed to sleep with the illustrious Luan Nian, didn’t I? As long as you’re not aiming for marriage, what’s wrong with sleeping together once?”

She was only trying to defend Lumi, but her example wasn’t good. Luan Nian, who was about to start the car, stopped when he heard this and turned his head to look at her. Shang Zhitao couldn’t see the look in his eyes behind the sunglasses, but she sensed a hint of coldness.

“Are you collecting medals?” Luan Nian’s tone was even, with no detectable abnormality. But Shang Zhitao sensed the anger surging in his chest.

“As long as you’re not aiming for marriage, you can sleep with whoever you want? No moral constraints? Then tell me, who do you want to sleep with next?”

It took Shang Zhitao a while to realize that Luan Nian had missed her point. She explained to him: “What I meant was, regarding Lumi and Will, if both parties have feelings, it’s not strange for something to happen.”

“What does ‘as long as you’re not aiming for marriage’ mean?”

“…I was just talking nonsense.”

Luan Nian took off his glasses and looked at her. Shang Zhitao knew he wanted to argue with her properly. She hurriedly leaned forward and covered his mouth: “I was just talking nonsense just now. I just hope Lumi can sleep with Will soon. Although Will is a talented young man, Lumi is also great. She likes Will; it’s not just a whim.”

Luan Nian still looked at her. That sentence, “as long as you’re not aiming for marriage, what’s wrong with sleeping together once,” really hit a nerve, making one inexplicably angry.

“Lumi was wrong; Lumi shouldn’t want to sleep with her boss. Can you not hold it against us?”

Luan Nian started the car. With such beautiful scenery, why should he argue with Shang Zhitao’s unreliable mouth?

As they drove closer to the Tibetan area, the scenery became more beautiful. Even Luke became spirited. His vision and smell were excellent; he could see any movement by the roadside, and would bark at whatever he saw, startling Shang Zhitao repeatedly. Finally, she couldn’t help but scold him: “Luke! What’s wrong with you? Can you please stop being so jumpy? You bark at everything you see! Be more composed!”

Just as she finished speaking, she pointed ahead: “Wow! Different colors! Stop the car quickly!” The person who had just mocked Luke couldn’t maintain her composure either. They had traveled during the off-peak season, and there weren’t many self-driving travelers in those years. They encountered very few cars and people along the way. People were isolated in the scenery—jade green on one side, sky blue on the other. The salt crust highway weaved between the two-colored lakes, extending to the horizon.

Shang Zhitao felt her heart would float away. They got out of the car. Luan Nian started setting up the drone, Luke began running freely, and Shang Zhitao chased after him from behind: “Come back!”

Luan Nian whistled, and Luke ran back. Shang Zhitao also returned. Luan Nian held Shang Zhitao’s wrist, and they watched the drone take off. Shang Zhitao waved her hand in greeting. Seeing her silly behavior, Luan Nian pinched her face.

“Was the decision to take a detour right, Ms. Shang?” The two had argued for a long time about whether to take a detour. Luan Nian insisted on the detour. At that time, the Two-Colored Lake hadn’t been developed, and very few people visited. Luan Nian insisted on seeing the rare scenery. Finally, after playing rock-paper-scissors, Luan Nian won, and they took the detour to come here. So you see, Luan Nian wasn’t being stubborn anymore; he had started to embrace democracy.

“Yes!” Shang Zhitao leaned on his shoulder. The wind blew her long hair up, and Luan Nian lowered his head to kiss her. Then he went back to control the drone.

Shang Zhitao stood beside him. The scenery was too intoxicating, but she still had a question she wanted answered, so she asked him again: “Luan Nian, between 26-year-old Shang Zhitao and 22-year-old Song Ying, which one would you choose?”

The drone landing also made a sound. Luan Nian didn’t hear her question clearly: “What did you say?”

“I said, between 26-year-old Shang Zhitao and 22-year-old Song Ying, which one would you choose?”