Chapter 77 The rising moon in the desert can bring every couple in love together
Daybreak arrived. Perhaps due to the relatively stable morning airflow and the lull in the sandstorm, visibility had improved somewhat. Tong Zhongyuan and Azati hurried to clear the way, their speed significantly faster than yesterday.
Azati had been walking in the sandstorm for half an hour. Qin Tian flashed his headlights at him, signaling he could return. He gave an OK sign and started back. But after only a few steps, he suddenly turned around and broke into a run.
Qin Tian was startled and quickly honked to warn him. But he ignored him, kneeling on the sand dune, then standing up and continuing to run. Two faint circles of light, like brown bears approaching in the forest, the sound of car horns wailed in the wind. A four-wheel drive Jeep pulled up in front of Azati and stopped. The girl jumped out of the car and ran towards Azati like the wind, throwing him to the ground.
Qin Tian turned off the car lights, retracted his gaze, and looked at Tong Zhongyuan. He was also looking at her.
They were able to go out early.
When Azati returned to the car, his face was covered with sand, but he was smiling brightly.
"This is my girlfriend Aimu. We can go out just by following her. She has been coming to the Niya ruins with her grandfather every week since she was 5 years old. The desert is her friend, but I am her only boyfriend," he said proudly.
Qin Tian couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth as he listened to him proudly introduce his sweetheart.
"Is her grandfather also a staff member of Niya?" she asked curiously.
"Before the Hotan Museum was established, there was a Niya Cultural Center in the town, and her grandfather was the director of the cultural center," he replied.
Qin Tian gradually opened his eyes wide and looked at him intently with bated breath.
"Ah!" He finally realized, "How could I have forgotten that her grandfather was an expert in Kharosthi script. He was the one who deciphered the two Kharosthi wooden inscriptions in the Hotan Museum."
Aimu was indeed a friend of the desert. She led the way, guiding them back along the same ruts they had taken there. The two JEEPs, one in front of the other, wound their way across the ever-changing sand dunes, like a dance on a knife's edge.
Three hours later, they finally left the Niya ruins and returned to the desert highway. The road had been engulfed by a sandstorm, like a vast desert sea. There was no land route, and only the memorial archway with the inscription "Jingjue Ancient City" still stood.
Aimu didn't dare linger and continued driving towards Minfeng Town. Azati followed closely in his car. Cell phone signal returned. Qin Tian's phone kept vibrating, with messages pouring in about the time he lost contact. Tong Zhongyuan's phone, however, was silent. No one knew where he had gone. Even if he disappeared into the sand dunes, the only person who knew was right beside him. She was the only one who knew where he was.
Qin Tian checked her phone. Tang Zhixu had sent her numerous messages and several missed calls. He asked her where she'd been on vacation, wondering if she'd been working as a lolita again. Just as she was about to type "everything's fine," he called again. She was startled. It was three in the afternoon, which would have been three in the morning in the US.
Tong Zhongyuan leaned against the window quietly, as if the noise she was experiencing had nothing to do with him. Her phone continued to vibrate, Tang Zhixu's name and profile picture flashing stubbornly. Her finger hovered above the screen, pressing the bright red "Reject" button. She added "Contact later" after "Everything is fine" to the chat message with him and sent it.
She turned her phone to silent mode and put it in her pocket. She looked up and met Tong Zhongyuan's gaze. His eyes were unfathomable, as if he knew everything, yet seemed lost and bewildered.
Ayimu brought them back to town before stopping the car to say hello. She had a wild beauty, full of strength and vitality. When Azati introduced Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan to her, she said bluntly, "You pighead almost killed them."
Azati scratched his head embarrassedly: "Ali's wife is giving birth, I think forget it, I can handle it alone."
"Why didn't you look for me?" She was so excited when she saw him just now. Now that everyone was safe, her anger returned.
Azati shyly whispered something in her ear. Ayimu remained unmoved and replied in Uyghur with a cold face.
Azati chuckled a few times and said, "I understand. I won't dare to do it again next time."
Aimu looked at Qin Tian and said, "Are you going back to the hotel directly or come to my house? I'll ask my mom to make you something delicious."
Qin Tian didn't want to go anywhere; she wanted to see her grandfather. But she missed Tong Zhongyuan. He had come to China all by himself. She remembered the moment he'd walked out of the airport VIP passage, wheeling his luggage, and the entire passageway lit up. Now, he was covered in dust and dirt, his original appearance unrecognizable. He was like a rare breed cat that had accidentally run away from home and ended up as a stray, its fur all tangled.
"Thank you for the invitation, but I need to go back to the hotel and pack up."
"By the way," Azati interrupted, "the little sister is studying Kharosthi script. Can you take her to see Dad tomorrow?"
Qin Tian was delighted and his eyes lit up.
"Dad is not here," Aimu said, "He went to Yili and won't be back until after the 11th."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why should I tell you about my father?" Aimu counterattacked bluntly.
Qin Tian opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't ask. If she went to Yili, or waited for her father to return, Tong Zhongyuan would definitely accompany her. She shouldn't burden him any further and should return to Shanghai as soon as possible.
"Can you give us his contact information?" Tong Zhongyuan asked, "We want to go to Yili to find him."
Qin Tian turned his head blankly and looked at him.
"Of course. I'll talk to him first, and you can contact him when you get there."
Arriving at the hotel, Qin Tian washed her hair three times to get all the sand out. By the time she was done, she was exhausted. She didn't want to eat anything, just sleep.
She didn't sleep well that night. She thought she slept for a long time, but she woke up at 4 a.m. After receiving her message that she was safe, Tang Zhixu replied with a "OK", but she didn't contact him even though she said she would contact him later.
She pondered how to reply to Tang Zhixu so as not to make him angry. She planned to edit the good news and send it at 8 o'clock. She hesitated, but unknowingly clicked on another person's chat box. There were only a few conversations, no signature, no circle of friends. Even the profile picture was the gray system default portrait. In his world, WeChat was not a social app, but just a temporary, transitional tool that could be used to contact him only for work at the Shanghai Museum.
From day to night, and from night to day, his back, the image of him walking alone through the sand dunes, lingered in her mind. Even this gray figure made her miss him, an endless longing that spread freely across the wall in the shabby guest room of the Niya Town Hotel. The first rays of dawn from the east shone through the shoddy curtains. As the long night faded, she curled up in a chair, watching the sky gradually brighten, but it could not dispel her longing. What made her sad was not the unspeakable longing immersed in the darkness, but the fact that the sun had risen, but it could not shine on the wall that divided them.
The sandstorm had stopped. Aimu enthusiastically told them that clearing the desert road would take some time, but if they were anxious to get to Yili, she could take them through the Niya section. After that, they could drive 500 kilometers north to Lunnan Town, where they could stay overnight.
Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan had been worried that the sandstorm would last too long, forcing them to turn back to Hotan and then take a detour to Yili. Now that the sandstorm had stopped, they might as well set off early.
Aimu and Azati drove them out of the northern section of Niya territory, where the desert highway was not affected by sandstorms and the view was vast.
Aimu stuffed a lot of food into their car and instructed: "There is coverage along the way. If you have any problems, call me. I have already contacted Grandpa. He is waiting for you in Yili."
She placed her hand on her chest, smiled and saluted them: "I wish you peace."
Qin Tian asked: "Can I hug you?"
She laughed and walked up with her arms open. Qin Tian hugged her. She liked Aimu and didn't want this to be the last time they met.
Tong Zhongyuan shook hands with Azati and said goodbye, then drove away with Qin Tian.
Aimu was still looking at the vehicles going away. Azati asked in confusion, "Why don't you keep them for a few more days? The road hasn't been cleared yet."
"Silly boy, today is the Han Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival."
"Shouldn't we let them stay and have a meal together to liven things up?"
"Salang, you don't understand anything."
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