A wind rises in the small town
The staircase connecting the upper and lower floors of the inn is made of wood, and it creaks and groans when you walk on it, which is a bit creepy.
Stepping on it, Sang Qi felt as if the wooden stairs beneath her feet might break at any moment, so she treaded very lightly.
Upon arriving on the first floor, Sang Qi saw Lu Min and Zaxi talking in the common area. She walked over and asked Lu Min, "When are we eating?"
She was hungry.
"Now." Lu Min stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and strode outside.
Dukezong Ancient Town has many guesthouses and hotels, as well as restaurants and taverns. The food in the ancient town is quite different from that in Baisha Ancient Town.
Baisha Ancient Town mainly serves Naxi cuisine, while Dukezong is predominantly Tibetan. Almost every tourist visiting Shangri-La will inevitably have a taste of authentic Tibetan cuisine.
The streets of this ancient city are a maze of intersecting lanes, making it easy for someone with a poor sense of direction to get lost. Sang Qi is one of those people with a mediocre sense of direction.
However, at this moment, she was following Lu Min, who seemed to know every street in the area intimately, walking without even looking at street signs. Therefore, Sang Qi felt safe following Lu Min.
After turning several corners, Lu Min finally stopped in front of a Tibetan restaurant.
"Is this the place?" Sang Qi glanced at the sign, which was written in Tibetan script followed by Chinese characters.
"Okay, let's go in."
Upon entering the restaurant, it was quite crowded, but there were still seats available for dine-in.
The waiter led them to their seats, and Lu Min began to order.
"Do you want to see it?" Lu Min asked, holding up the menu.
Sang Qi shook her head: "I don't know, you order."
Lu Min stopped talking and silently looked at the menu.
Soon, the dishes were served.
Lu Min ordered a Tibetan hot pot, followed by tsampa with butter tea, and then fresh yak meat and mutton were served in turn.
"Try it and see if you can get used to it." Lu Min put some food on Sang Qi's plate.
"Thanks."
"Be careful, it's hot."
"Know."
After that, the two fell silent, each eating their own food.
Halfway through the meal, Sang Qi took a sip of butter tea and mumbled, "Sometimes you're actually a pretty good person."
Lu Min, with his sharp ears, overheard: "Only now do you realize I'm not bad?"
"..."
"Not saying anything again?"
Sang Qi pursed her lips and added, "His character is just a bit lacking."
Lu Min chuckled, leaning back lazily in his chair, arms crossed, his gaze casually fixed on Sang Qi opposite him. He said with interest, "Tell me, what's wrong with my character?"
Seeing that he was serious, Sang Qi also became serious. She pondered for a moment and said, "Do you remember when we first met, you were on the phone in your car with the speakerphone on?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Min suddenly realized: "So you think I'm a scumbag?"
Sang Qi nodded honestly.
He was both amused and exasperated: "That woman is a slut who doesn't know how she got pregnant and is now blaming me."
Sang Qi frowned and remained silent.
"Don't believe me?"
Sang Qi clicked his tongue, but still didn't say anything.
Lu Min chuckled and shook his head: "Believe it or not."
He couldn't be bothered to explain.
"How can you be sure that child isn't yours?" Sang Qi asked him.
Lu Min picked up the butter tea and drank it all in one gulp. His Adam's apple slid up and down in his throat, looking sexy and alluring.
Sang Qi looked away from him.
After finishing the butter tea, he wiped his mouth haphazardly with his arm and said, "I've never slept with her at all. She thought she could fool me by getting me drunk, taking off her clothes, and sleeping next to me. What a fucking naive girl."
"Isn't she your girlfriend?"
"At first, she was alright looking, and I was planning to date her. But after a few days, I found out that she had slept with more men than I had slept with women. That was no good, so we broke up." Lu Min said nonchalantly.
"Ew." Sang Qi grinned in disgust.
"What's with that expression?" Lu Min's face turned a little fierce.
"You also play around with women? So, you and that woman are pretty much the same, aren't you?" Sang Qi disliked this kind of womanizer and one-night stand guy, so he spoke in a sarcastic tone.
Lu Min frowned, his expression darkening. "What? You think I'm dirty?"
Sang Qi didn't speak, but her expression said it all.
"Damn it, I'm not as dirty as you think," Lu Min said angrily. "When I said I played around with women, I meant the girlfriends I've had."
Sang Qi's eyes darted around, and he moved his neck as if pretending not to hear, which was rather irritating.
“Sang Qi!” he said emphatically.
"What?" Sang Qi turned to look at him, her brows furrowed and her face cold.
Lu Min stared intently at Sang Qi, wanting to curse but holding back his anger.
This anger had the flavor of an unnamed rage. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't be angry, or rather, he wouldn't bother to be angry. But facing Sang Qi, he had an inexplicable impulse: to want Sang Qi to change her negative impression of him.
In the end, Lu Min didn't utter a single word and silently drank two cups of barley wine.
"You think I'm dirty? Fuck you, I'll fuck you to death sooner or later, you little bitch." Lu Min cursed inwardly.
Seeing that Lu Min seemed genuinely angry, Sang Qi felt a pang of guilt and wanted to speak to ease the tension, but seeing Lu Min's dark and fierce face, she hesitated to speak.
After finishing her meal and paying the bill, Sang Qi suddenly felt a chill in the air. She hadn't noticed it while eating in the restaurant, but now that she was outside, she felt the cold.
"Go back or wander around?" Lu Min suddenly asked her, lighting a cigarette as he spoke.
Lu Min's anger had subsided considerably.
Sang Qi crossed his arms, rubbing his arms with his palms, and said, "I want to take a walk."
Lu Min squinted, exhaled a puff of smoke, then held the smoke between his lips and took off his dark gray jacket.
"Put these on." Lu Min tossed the clothes to Sang Qi, who quickly reached out to grab them.
The clothes still retained Lu Min's body heat, and the fabric faintly exuded a unique masculine scent and the aroma of tobacco.
Seeing Sang Qi's hesitant attitude, Lu Min frowned again: "What's wrong? Do you think it's dirty or smelly?"
"No, no." Sang Qi quickly put on the clothes, appearing very obedient.
She dared not provoke Lu Min again.
She felt that Lu Min was now like a wild wolf, and whoever messed with him would be doomed.
Sang Qi quickly put on the clothes, and Lu Min's clothes looked very big, wide and long on her.
When Lu Min saw that Sang Qi had put it on, his eyebrows relaxed, and he stepped forward to pull Sang Qi's hand over.
Sang Qi hurriedly dodged, asking, "What are you doing?"
"Are you afraid I'll eat you up?" Lu Min said irritably.
"..."
He pursed the unlit cigarette between his lips, then used both hands to roll up Sang Qi's overly long sleeves. After rolling up the sleeves, Lu Min took the cigarette and exhaled a heavy puff of smoke.
Sang Qi coughed a few times, choked by the fumes.
Lu Min said with a half-smile, "Is that all you've got?"
“…” Sang Qi glared at him.
"What are you looking at? Let's go." Lu Min walked past Sang Qi and went ahead.
Where to?
"Let's stroll around Moonlight Square."
"Oh." Sang Qi quickly followed.
The two arrived at Moonlight Square under the moonlight.
During this time, many women came out and started square dancing to music. They gathered around, swaying their bodies and waving their arms to the rhythm of the music. The dances had ethnic characteristics and could be described as Tibetan square dancing.
Seeing the large group singing and dancing, many travelers and tourists joined in the revelry. Under the moonlight, the group sang and danced, enjoying themselves immensely.
Sang Qi watched the square dancing quietly for a while, then got a little bored and wanted to go back, but Lu Min wasn't there.
Her eyes searched for Lu Min's figure, and in a moment she saw Lu Min standing far away looking at his phone.
That area is a bit further away from the square dancing, so it's not as noisy.
Sang Qi walked over and said, "Shall we go back?"
"Aren't you going to jump?" he asked, putting his phone back in his pocket.
"What are you jumping around for?" Sang Qi said speechlessly.
Lu Min chuckled: "If you don't jump now, you'll still be jumping in twenty or thirty years."
"..."
"But if you marry me, I promise you won't go to square dancing anymore?"
"Why?"
"Because I spend every night at home doing 'exercise' with you, which is much more fun than square dancing."
“…I still choose to do square dancing.” Sang Qi rolled her eyes in disdain.
Seeing that Sang Qi gave a lukewarm reply, Lu Min realized it was pointless and stopped joking with her.
After the joke, the two walked back towards the inn, gradually moving away from the square, and the music gradually faded until it was completely inaudible.
"When are you leaving?" Sang Qi suddenly asked.
"Tomorrow night." Lu Min glanced at the moonlight, feeling that it was bright and flawless, yet chillingly cold.
"So what are you going to do during the day tomorrow?"
"I'll stay with you."
"Oh, oh," Sang Qi responded indifferently.
"You dislike me so much, and you want me to leave so badly?"
"No, I was just asking." Sang Qi was telling the truth.
Lu Min smiled, his eyes revealing a hidden meaning.
Sang Qi lowered his gaze and said nothing more.
"Let's get up early tomorrow and I'll take you to Songzanlin Monastery."
"oh oh."
...
The next morning at eight o'clock, Sang Qi was woken up by the alarm clock.
She groggily fumbled for her phone, turned off the alarm, and then pulled the covers over her head and slept for another ten minutes or so, seemingly as a buffer before getting out of bed.
After a while, Sang Qi got out of bed and went to the bathroom.
After washing up, Sang Qi began to put on makeup. She usually wears light makeup when she goes out, if time permits.
I had just finished applying my makeup and lipstick when there was a knock on the door.
Sang Qi went to open the door, and the first thing he saw was a man in a Tibetan robe standing there like an unmoving mountain.
"Lu Min?"
Sang Qi looked Lu Min up and down and saw that he was wearing Tibetan clothes. He was wearing a white shirt underneath and a black Tibetan robe on the outside. The robe was embroidered with brocade trim, with a wide waist and only one sleeve. The other sleeve was worn diagonally across his chest and cinched at the waist with a vermilion silk ribbon.
Lu Min usually wears Timberland yellow boots, which are suitable for outdoor use and are commonly known as "indestructible." However, to match his outfit today, he wore dark-colored Tibetan men's boots, a pair of cowhide Tibetan boots.
He was already tall and strong, and wearing a Tibetan robe made him look even more rugged, just like a Tibetan man born and raised in this high-altitude snowy region.
Lu Min raised his head slightly and looked down at Sang Qi, who was examining him: "Your clothes."
As he spoke, Lu Min handed the neatly folded Tibetan robe to Sang Qi.
"Um?"
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. It's more fun to travel around Dukezong wearing Tibetan clothes."
Sang Qi stared at the brightly colored Tibetan robe in Lu Min's hands, took it with both hands, turned around and closed the door.
It was a woman's Tibetan dress, the outer robe a vibrant bright red, with colorful brocade trim along the edges of the collar and sleeves. After putting it on, Sangqi looked at herself in the mirror many times and felt she was starting to get the hang of it.
When she went out, she saw Lu Min still waiting at the door as soon as she opened the door.
Lu Min looked up when he heard the door open, his gaze settling on Sang Qi.
Sang Qi felt somewhat uncomfortable under Lu Min's gaze.
"Not bad, she can even braid two little braids, cute." Lu Min's voice was deep.
As he spoke, he didn't forget to fidget with the two loose braids hanging down Sang Qi's chest with his fingers.
Wearing a Tibetan robe with her hair down was inappropriate, and since she didn't have any hair ornaments for Tibetan women to wear, she had no choice but to divide all her hair into two sections and braid them separately, finally letting them hang down on both sides in front of her chest.
When you go down to the public area on the first floor, most of the early-rising hotel guests have already gathered there, making it a bit noisy.
Lu Min walked directly to the entrance of the inn and pointed to the depths of the street to the left: "Would you like Tibetan breakfast or just regular steamed buns, soy milk, and millet porridge?"
"Tibetan style," Sangqi replied without hesitation.
“Then come with me.” Lu Min nodded.
Besides tsampa and sweet tea, Tibetan breakfast typically consists of fried dough and Tibetan noodles. Those who don't like butter tea usually opt for sweet tea.
When ordering, Sang Qi decisively chose sweet tea and Tibetan noodles, while Lu Min opted for tsampa and butter tea.
Tibetan noodles are a typical Tibetan breakfast. The soup base is made with yak meat broth, while the noodles are made with barley flour. They are a bit soft on the outside and firm on the inside, with an average texture, but the taste is quite good.
After finishing the noodles, I picked up the bowl and took a sip of soup before I was done.
She wiped her mouth, her voice muffled: "Are we going to Songzanlin Monastery?"
"Mmm." He chewed on the tsampa, his voice dry.
Sang Qi glanced at the map on his phone. Dukezong Ancient Town was about eight kilometers away from Songzanlin Scenic Area, which would take about twenty minutes by car.
It's only 9 o'clock now, and if nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to reach Songzanlin Monastery before 10 o'clock. There's still plenty of time.
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