Chapter 72 Ex-wife White Moonlight 5 Can't get close, don't want to be far away
On the third day in Jiangyuan, the five-member group was finally together.
It was early morning, smoke was rising from the herdsmen's homes, and in the distance were cattle and sheep grazing. Ali, with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, sat around the fire with his leader and the others.
After spending a day alone together yesterday, Song Yuqing and Chen Pei seemed to have reconciled and were together again.
Ali smiled and clenched the cup in her hand. The aroma of butter tea wafted towards her, but her mind was not here.
Not long after, the sound of a car was heard at the end of the road.
Several people stood up, and the team leader was the first to go forward.
The car stopped not far away. Sheng Yu was the first to get out. His right hand was still bandaged. He walked around to the right and opened the car door.
This is the first time Ali meets the heroine of this book, Yan Xia.
She was petite, with long hair tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, and was wearing a bright yellow windbreaker. When she got off the car, she smiled and said something to Sheng Yu.
Song Yuqing beside her couldn't help but say: "Another beautiful sister!"
"What a pity that she fell in love with Mr. Sheng, such a moody man." She whispered in her boyfriend's ear.
Ever since Sheng Yu risked his own safety to save Ali, Song Yuqing's evaluation of him changed from handsome but bad-tempered to handsome but moody.
Ali took the blanket off his shoulders, slowly folded it and put it back in its place.
Yesterday, she searched the local news in Qingzhou for the first time in a long time. Several months had passed since the wedding announcement, but the news of the marriage between the Sheng and Yan families still occupied the front page headlines.
Ali's finger stayed on the photo of the two of them for a long time. The man in the photo had a stern face and the woman was pretty and charming. They were holding hands and looking at the camera. Beside them were the elders from the Sheng and Yan families who were having a great time.
Ali looked at the photo over and over again before scrolling down the screen to see that it said their wedding date would be next January.
That is, next month.
When I looked up again, the team leader had already picked up the two people.
Originally, Sheng Yu's hand was injured and it was inconvenient for him to drive, so the team leader should have gone to pick up Yan Xia, but Sheng Yu still went by himself.
The team leader whose job was taken away was in high spirits. He had just joked with Ali and the others, saying that it seemed that Mr. Sheng loved his fiancée very much and couldn't wait any longer.
The three of them exchanged a few pleasantries and then headed towards the camp.
The team leader walked in front, and Yan Xia and Sheng Yu, who was carrying luggage, followed behind.
"It's so beautiful here!" Yan Xia exclaimed, "It feels like the sky here is even wider."
"After all, this is the place chosen by grandpa." Sheng Yu said calmly.
Yan Xia's excited mood suddenly dropped, and she looked at him nervously.
This trip was initiated by Mr. Sheng.
The old man had been in the business world when he was young, and he had long seen that Sheng Yu and Yan Xia were trying to fool them.
There was no affection between the two of them at all. They were about to get married, but they still behaved like strangers.
But the old man was really satisfied with Yan Xia as his granddaughter-in-law, and he started to choose a honeymoon location for the two before the wedding even started.
After Sheng Yu found out, he turned down the honeymoon on the grounds that the beginning of the year was a critical time to formulate the Sheng Group's new year plan and strategy, and several key projects had reached a critical period and he could not leave.
The old man was well versed in negotiation. Seeing that Sheng Yu refused a honeymoon, he waved his hand and asked the two to go on a trip before the wedding. The location was chosen to be Jiangyuan, which had a relatively tiring itinerary. The more difficult the journey, the better, as it would be easier to cultivate feelings under difficulties.
Now, Sheng Yu had no reason to refuse.
Yan Xia knew that he was extremely dissatisfied with the old man's self-proclaimed arrangement, but in order not to make his grandfather who raised him angry, he finally agreed.
Yan Xia was originally going to come with him and had already booked the plane tickets, but something unexpected happened in the Yan family and she was delayed and arrived a few days late.
Yan Xia now respects and fears Sheng Yu. Although the news of their marriage has been announced, the marriage is not finalized after all. Any changes may make all her previous efforts in vain.
Yan Xia bit her lip. She didn't want to face her father's blame and her mother's tears anymore. She had already given her all and would not let this matter go wrong no matter what.
She carefully looked at Sheng Yu's face and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so late."
"If you don't like it here, I'll call Grandpa tomorrow and tell him I can't stay here any longer. We'll end our journey and return to Qingzhou."
"And your hand needs more professional treatment. You can't stay here any longer."
Sheng Yu didn't look at her: "No need."
"No need to call Grandpa, and no need to end this trip."
Yan Xia was stunned for a moment, and a slight joy rose in her heart, and she herself didn't even know the reason.
As the two talked, they gradually distanced themselves from the leader in front.
The team leader turned around and saw the two men still walking slowly.
When the two of them reunited with the others, he couldn't help but sigh, "Haha, you two have such a great relationship. I'm really envious!"
Sheng Yu put down his luggage without saying anything. Yan Xia blushed and said, "Thank you."
After another round of self-introductions, Yan Xia was surprised to hear that Ali and the others were all from Qingzhou. "What a coincidence!"
"It's quite a coincidence." Ali smiled, tucked his hair that was blown by the wind behind his ears, and said nothing more.
Sheng Yu needs no introduction, only Yan Xia is left.
Her gaze paused on Ali for a moment, and she spoke, "My name is Yan Xia, Yan for strict, Xia for summer, and I'm twenty-four years old..."
She held Sheng Yu affectionately and said, "This is my fiancé. We are getting married next month."
"Congratulations to both of you in advance!" The team leader applauded enthusiastically.
"Congratulations!"
Seeing Song Yuqing and the others clapping, Ali also clapped his hands, with no special expression on his face.
"Okay! Now our group is finally here. Mr. Sheng and Ms. Yan can go to the tent to rest first. We will gather here on time in an hour to start today's itinerary." The team leader arranged.
"Yeah!"
The most excited people present were Song Yuqing and Chen Pei, who immediately cheered when they heard this.
Seeing Yan Xia and the others were about to go to the tent, Song Yuqing, who couldn't sit still, started to criticize the team leader again: "Team leader, Mr. Sheng's hand is so injured, and you didn't even offer to help with the luggage. Your service is terrible. I have to give you a bad review."
Hearing the word "bad review", the team leader almost jumped up. He poured Song Yuqing a full cup of butter tea and gnashed his teeth: "Little aunt, how did I offend you?"
He put the teapot down heavily. "Mr. Sheng wants to help his fiancée with her luggage. Why should I interfere?"
Yan Xia heard every word of their conversation. She looked at Sheng Yu nervously, but he didn't refute or show any displeasure.
The two have been boyfriend and girlfriend for almost three months, but Sheng Yu doesn't treat her like a girlfriend at all. The relationship between them is worse than that of ordinary friends.
Although Yan Xia knew that this was fake, she had never been in a relationship before and still had some expectations for Sheng Yu.
If there is no love at first sight, what about love that grows over time?
Maybe I need to slowly walk into his heart.
And now, he is willing to complete this journey with her, just the two of them, and is willing to take care of her in every aspect of life...
Does this mean that he likes me a little bit?
Yan Xia's heart skipped a beat, and she blurted out, "Thank you, husband."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Sheng Yu's face pause, and the surroundings became inexplicably quiet.
Yan Xia's heart suddenly tightened.
But Sheng Yu didn't say much, and walked forward with her luggage. Yan Xia hurriedly followed, and their backs gradually disappeared from sight.
Song Yuqing had a look of shock on her face and pulled Chen Pei to sit down: "Ahhhhhh, look how sweet they are! I don't care, the first thing I want to do after graduation is wear a wedding dress and be your bride!"
Ali stood quietly aside, hugging his thin arms, and suddenly felt that the wind was particularly cold today.
They received two certificates at once that day.
A graduation certificate and a marriage certificate.
Because his family was against it, Sheng Yu planned to steal the household registration booklet early on. Like a thief, he met Ali, who was also extremely nervous, at the back door of the school. Then he caught the fastest bus on time and went straight to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
When Sheng Yu saw the two people's photos and names printed on this red certificate, the heart that had been hanging in the balance for half a year finally settled down.
Now, they are finally a legal couple.
The two pretended nothing had happened and returned to school. They walked hand in hand along the long tree-lined avenue, neither of them speaking, and walked aimlessly for a long time.
It was not until they were both hungry that they remembered that they had prepared a lot of things but had forgotten to book a restaurant for tonight.
At that time, because the relationship with his family became increasingly tense, the Sheng family had cut off Sheng Yu's financial resources, and both of them had little money.
It was graduation season, and all the better restaurants near the school were booked in advance.
The two of them searched everywhere and found only one noodle shop with seats left.
Ali rushed in without a second thought, but Sheng Yu held her back: "Isn't this place... too shabby? Today is our first day of marriage, I think..."
But Ali slapped his hand away and dragged him inside without saying anything: "Think about it after you finish eating! I'm starving!"
The noodle shop served the food very quickly. Ali almost wolfed down the whole bowl of noodles and finally came back to life.
Seeing Sheng Yu's depressed face, she kicked him under the table: "What are you doing? Are you so unhappy about marrying me?"
Sheng Yu cried out in pain, put his arms around her neck, and kissed her rosy lips: "How can I not be happy? I'm so happy that I'm almost dying!"
Ali blushed and pushed him away: "Um...what are you doing! This is a public place!"
Sheng Yu kissed her more and more passionately, until the store owner came over, and then they both jumped away in a panic.
The boss, looking like an experienced person, smiled and said, "My dear classmates, our store is having a graduation season promotion. Couples, as long as both of you complete a challenge, we will give you a 20% discount membership card and a pair of plush toys."
Ali's hands and feet became weak from the kiss, and he glared at Sheng Yu, asking him to speak.
Sheng Yu drank half a cup of herbal tea and cleared his throat: "What challenge?"
The boss said, "After eating a bowl of our super spicy ramen."
Sheng Yu glanced at Ali, she seemed to like the two dolls very much.
"Okay, let's challenge."
Ali was startled: "What did you say?"
You know, Ali can eat spicy food and loves it, but Sheng Yu can't stand spicy food at all.
But on this day, Sheng Yu forced himself to finish the whole bowl of super spicy noodles, and finally managed to eat himself into the emergency room.
It was at this time that he developed stomach problems.
Ali ran around the hospital to handle the procedures for Sheng Yu. He was frightened all night and was so tired that he lay beside his bed for a long time without saying a word.
In the empty ward was their wedding night, and that night he saw Ali's tears for the first time.
Sheng Yu felt indescribably guilty and could only comfort her over and over again, saying that he was fine.
Ali, who was standing beside the bed, held Sheng Yu's hand tightly and refused to let go no matter what, until something cold was put on the ring finger of his right hand.
It was a plain circle without any patterns, and it was all Sheng Yu could give her at that time.
He wiped away her tears and called out the name he had been thinking about for a long time: "Wife."
Ali's tears flowed even more fiercely, and she buried herself in Sheng Yu's warm embrace: "Husband."
*
When the five people gathered again, the sun just appeared a little from behind the dense clouds, and the originally dim sky suddenly became bright.
The team leader carefully explained the precautions, and the group quickly set off with their backpacks on their backs.
Snow leopards usually live near the snow line in the mountains at an altitude of 3,000 to 5,000 meters. If people want to observe their tracks, they often have to cross many mountains and go deep into the mountains.
On the way, worried that Ali might have another accident, the team leader walked side by side with her in front, with Song Yuqing and Chen Pei in the middle, and Sheng Yu and Yan Xia behind.
Although it was Yan Xia's first day on the mountain, he was able to keep up with the team's pace because he had the habit of exercising regularly. The team leader would stop from time to time to ask about everyone's situation.
Two hours later, everyone sat down at a rest stop to rest. After the intense exercise, Ali and Yan Xia both suffered from varying degrees of hypoxia.
Sheng Yu found the team leader who was surveying the terrain in front, and came back with two portable oxygen cylinders in his hands.
He gave one to Yan Xia and handed the other to Ali.
Ali seemed not to see it. He took out an oxygen tank from his bag and breathed slowly to relieve his physical discomfort.
Sheng Yu looked at her deeply, then turned and left.
They used to be the people who knew each other best, but now they have to pretend to be strangers who met by chance.
Unable to get close, and unwilling to go far.
At dusk, the group finally found a snow leopard footprint beside a stream.
Not long ago, a "King of Snow Mountains" passed by here, or perhaps, it drank a few mouthfuls of melted snow from the snow mountains. Its large "plum blossom-shaped" claws stepped on the soft soil by the stream, leaving behind a mark of its presence.
The crowd gathered around the footprint, taking pictures and marveling at it.
Song Yuqing stretched out her hand and compared: "This snow leopard's paw is really big, several times bigger than my hand!"
Chen Pei also held out his hand with interest. "I looked it up before. Snow leopard footprints are usually about the size of an adult's hand. Our hands look a little small."
"Really?" Song Yuqing was very curious.
She looked around and said to Sheng Yu, "Mr. Sheng, you're the tallest among us, so your hands must be the biggest. Could you hold them out for comparison?"
Everyone looked at Sheng Yu who remained silent.
Ali also looked over and saw him take off his gloves expressionlessly, and his slender, dry palm slowly hovered over the footprint.
Ali's eyes suddenly froze, and his gaze was fixed on the ring finger of his left hand.
There, there is a circle of extremely fine, almost imperceptible indentations.
Ali calmly grasped his left hand, where there once was a trace of a wedding ring.
She had complained to Sheng Yu before, saying that he didn't get the size right and bought a couple's ring that was too small, and it was very tight, but neither of them had ever taken it off.
Ali took off the ring for the first time before leaving exhausted.
Just two weeks after it was removed, the deep marks that had existed for two years disappeared forever.
There was a buzzing in Ali's ears, and it was not until Song Yuqing patted her that she followed everyone into the car.
"We've discovered snow leopard footprints nearby, which means they've been active recently. Everyone, go home and get some rest tonight. We'll keep working hard!"
The team leader drove and encouraged everyone.
"good!"
Yan Xia sat next to Sheng Yu and said in a pleasantly surprised tone, "I'm so lucky! I can see snow leopard footprints on my first day here!"
The atmosphere in the car was good at this time, except for Ali, who looked like he had lost his soul.
The setting sun gradually appeared on the horizon. The team leader looked out of the car window, suddenly stopped the car, and took them to a flat hillside.
He pointed to the snow-capped mountains vaguely visible in the distance and asked, "Have you ever heard of the Golden Mountain under the Sun?"
"At sunrise or sunset, when the sun shines at a low angle on the snow-capped mountains, starting from the top of the mountain, the originally white snow-capped mountains will appear rare golden or orange-red."
The team leader turned to them and said, "The Sun Shining over the Golden Mountain is regarded as a manifestation of the mountain god in the Jiangyuan area, symbolizing good luck and protection."
"Wait a minute, we will most likely see this magnificent view."
Ali just felt confused and upset.
She got out of the car with her equipment, found a place away from the crowd, and set up the camera absent-mindedly.
Time passed minute by minute, the snow-capped mountains were still shrouded in dark blue shadows, and the setting sun was blocked by thick clouds, with no sign of appearing.
Suddenly, the clouds seemed to be torn apart, and bits of golden light leaked through the cracks. It started with a single ray, then in the blink of an eye it merged into a whole, and slowly, more and more.
When the first rays of sunset shone on the top of the snow-capped mountain, everything stopped. The towering mountain seemed to be ignited, and a dazzling golden red spread from the peak to the bottom. The clouds on the mountainside were dyed orange-pink, rolling and spreading to both sides, presenting the entire snow-capped mountain in front of people's eyes.
Sheng Yu leaned against the car door, a different look gradually emerging in his deep eyes, and he subconsciously looked at the person not far away.
And she happened to look over here.
Behind them, the light gold gradually turned into a fiery orange-red, burning the entire sky red.
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