Chapter 262 Our house has no electricity either.
The truck swayed and rattled across the vast, desolate wilderness. All around, clumps of camel thorn, reeds, and clusters of red willows receded and disappeared from sight.
It was already six o'clock in the afternoon.
After waking up, Song Lubai lay on the edge of the truck, looking at the scenery along the road.
Wei Yang was fast asleep, his head resting against the car wall.
There were hitchhikers on the road, and Uyghur men with big beards selling things by the roadside.
The driver stopped the car, and Wei Yang opened his eyes.
By the roadside, a donkey was tethered under a tree to rest in the shade, while a bearded man's cart was placed at an angle, with some naan bread and fruit on it.
Everyone got off the car and gathered around the Uyghur old man's stall.
The golden figs, exuding a sweet aroma, are arranged in a circle, layer upon layer.
The old man gestured that eight pieces cost one cent. Everyone tasted them and found them delicious, so they all bought some.
The truck set off again, and this time it stopped at eleven o'clock.
The car was parked in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere.
The couple's military water bottle was long empty, and the tea bottle was half empty as well.
Despite the scorching sun and lingering warmth of the earth during the day, the temperature drops significantly after 1 a.m.
The passengers, who were huddled together and trying to sleep in the truck, all huddled up.
Last time, Wei Yang took Song Lubai's thick clothes and thin coat with him. Song Lubai leaned her upper body against Wei Yang, wearing the cloth her mother had cut out for her to make pants.
Wei Yang's back was pressed against the car wall.
The car walls had long been warmed by his body heat.
He would wake up if the person in his arms moved, and they would go back to sleep after she adjusted her position.
Half asleep, half awake, the howling of wolves came from deep within the Gobi Desert, sending chills down one's spine.
She tried to get up, but accidentally pressed down on him.
Wei Yang took a breath and sat up straight.
He said in a low voice, "Don't go easy on it."
In the moonlight, Song Lubai's face was already flushed red to the roots of her neck. She stammered softly, "You're just too useless."
It was just a light press, why is it hurting so much that you're gasping for breath?
Wei Yang was speechless. Knowing that she was shy and the two of them hadn't officially started living together yet, he swallowed back his frivolous words and reached out to pinch her cheek.
When the two of them were feeling awkward, someone suddenly asked from the side, "How long have you two been married?"
The sudden sound startled both of them.
Song Lubai remained silent, and Wei Yangru asked, "Still not asleep?"
The person who spoke sat up cross-legged, as if he wanted to have a long talk with Wei Yang.
"It's so cold, the car is so hard, I can't sleep at all."
Seeing Song Lubai sitting stiffly to the side, Wei Yang reached out and pulled her back to him. After shaking out the cloth to cover her, he patted her and whispered, "Go to sleep."
Song Lubai subtly shifted her body, but Wei Yang noticed and ignored it.
Anyway, she'll automatically snuggle up to me when she feels cold.
The man sat up and saw that the young couple had fallen asleep again, and lit a cigarette with a sigh.
The smoke drifted and drifted, disappearing without a trace into the Gobi Desert.
Song Lubai slept very uncomfortably; her front body and legs were cold, but her back was warmed by Wei Yang's body heat.
She hadn't expected the nights in the Gobi Desert to be so cold, with such a large temperature difference between day and night that by the time dawn finally broke, her legs and feet were still icy and stiff.
The truck had been parked overnight, and the driver set off again as dawn broke.
The car stopped near the Uyghur bazaar at noon.
The driver frequently travels between Shicheng and Quli, and is very familiar with the route.
Although the market is nearly two kilometers off the main road, the bazaar has pilaf, noodles, and roasted meat, making it worth the detour.
"Get off the bus, get off the bus! The Uyghurs are celebrating the New Year soon. There are food vendors at the bazaar selling pilaf, roasted mutton, baked buns, and hand-pulled noodles. Get off if you want anything."
Upon hearing the word "barbecue," Song Lubai's stomach began to rumble.
The bazaar was crowded with people, almost all of whom were Uyghurs, and the air was filled with the aroma of roasted mutton.
Having lived in Xinjiang for a year, Song Lubai had only ever heard about the deliciousness of roasted mutton from Liu Fengshou. When she ate the golden-brown mutton skewers, which were fragrant with cumin and chili, she felt that they were even more delicious than the braised pork in restaurants.
Everything at the bazaar was free, so those who didn't want to eat meat ordered pilaf and ramen.
The pilaf is golden in color and glistening with oil. Diced carrots and onions are mixed into the rice, making it fragrant and delicious without being greasy.
Han Chinese people eat Uyghur pilaf with a spoon or chopsticks, but Uyghurs really eat it with their hands.
Not far away, there was a large pot of pilaf, only half full. The golden pilaf was topped with a layer of lamb chops covered in mutton fat. The translucent mutton fat adorned the red meat, making it look incredibly tempting.
Song Lubai couldn't get used to the muttony smell mixed with rice, so she ate the whole plate of pilaf.
The ramen also contained mutton, but she couldn't taste any gamey flavor.
After finishing a plate of ramen, a few skewers of lamb, and some slightly bitter tea, all the fatigue from the journey vanished, and she felt alive again.
There were also dried fruits for sale at the bazaar. Song Lubai wanted to buy some, but Wei Yang reminded her, "There's a big bazaar in Baishui City, which is even bigger than this one and sells a wider variety of goods. It should arrive around four or five o'clock today, so don't buy anything here."
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the truck set off again.
We drove over rolling, barren, yellow hills, over rugged sandy terrain covered in camel thorns, and over desolate wastelands dotted with a few small poplar trees…
The broken and withered poplar trunks and the tall and short red willows along the roadside seemed to recede into the distance. Finally, around six o'clock, the car arrived at its final stop, Quli.
It's already this late, there's no way any more cars will continue south.
The couple took their belongings to the military post.
The full name of the military station is the Corps Transportation Station, which is also known as a guesthouse.
"Besides single rooms, you also sleep in a large dormitory-style room with four people. Are you two a couple?"
Wei Yang took their marriage certificate and letter of introduction out of his jacket pocket and handed them to the staff at the guesthouse.
The staff's attitude improved considerably after seeing the room, "Then we'll give you two a private room."
Wei Yang said, "It's too hot, and the bed in the single room is too small. Please prepare another quilt for us."
Knowing he was an official, the staff member smiled and said, "Okay, I'll get you a clean one, but you still have to pay the mattress usage fee."
Wei Yang smiled in response: "That's natural."
The bed in the single room was 1.5 meters wide, which should be enough for the couple, but in Wei Yang's mind, they were not yet a formal couple, and they still had to be mindful of boundaries.
As Wei Yang entered the room and prepared to pull down the glass curtain on the door, the staff member's face appeared outside the glass.
"Comrade, you are not allowed to lower the curtain during the day, but there is no such restriction after dark."
Wei Yang felt a little embarrassed. He hadn't intended to do anything; he was just uncomfortable with having a glass panel on the door that allowed others to see his privacy.
The staff member added, "There is water in the water room, but it's not easy to get water, so we have to use it sparingly and not waste it."
After Wei Yang responded, the staff left.
Song Lubai didn't see a light bulb in the room, and collapsed on the bed, saying, "There's no electricity here, do we have electricity at home?"
When Wei Yang mentioned "our family," his throat bobbed.
Yes, yes, he and his partner will be living under the same roof from now on.
"We don't have electricity at home yet, but we definitely will in the future."
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