Volume 7: Frost Chapter 37 Travel Notes
After dinner they returned to the hotel.
Jiang You and his son Jiang Mo were lying on their beds, one reading a novel and the other watching a short video. They were very harmonious.
Nothing happened overnight.
After waking up the next morning, Jiang You hesitated for a while between eating breakfast and sleeping a little longer, but hunger finally defeated his sleepiness. He threw back the quilt, got out of bed, washed up, and went downstairs with the room card and mobile phone.
He met Guan Qingtong as she walked out of the restaurant door.
Jiang You asked: "Have you finished eating?"
Guan Qingtong walked out quickly for three to five meters before she stopped as if she realized something. She turned around, smiled apologetically, and said, "Sorry, I was a little distracted. I'll go up first. Let's meet at the hotel entrance later."
Jiang You said: "Okay."
After watching Guan Qingtong walk away, Jiang You handed the breakfast coupon to the waiter standing at the door. He glanced around and saw Tang Butian concentrating on drinking porridge alone. He walked over and said, "Good morning, can I sit here?"
Tang Butian said, "Okay."
A few minutes later, Jiang You came back with a cup of soy milk and a plate full of food and sat down. "I ran into Guan Qingtong when I came here. She seemed a little strange."
"Zhu Wen is here." Tang Butian put down the spoon.
"No wonder, I saw something wrong with her last night," Jiang You said, taking a bite of beef patty and taking a sip of mutton soup. He commented, "This breakfast is not bad. When we get into the desert, I guess we can only eat bread."
"What do you think about Xie Dong coming to Luo Town?" Tang Butian asked.
Jiang You finished eating the beef patties and took a big sip of soy milk. "I don't know Xie Dong, so it's hard to judge, but..."
"But what?"
"When we get to the desert, you have to protect me and Shengshao. My legs are weak and Shengshao is a child." Jiang You shook his head. "If something really happens, I'm not optimistic."
"Are you not going to take action?" Tang Butian asked.
Jiang You did not deny it. He said, "I have my own purpose."
"good."
"I'll go get that plate of fruit," Jiang You said as he stood up, "We haven't had fruit for several days."
After breakfast, Jiang You returned to the room and changed his and Jiang Mo's equipment. He stood in front of the dressing mirror and looked at himself. He was wearing desert boots, an orange jacket, a sun hat, and sunglasses. His skin was a little dark, but he looked like a professional outdoor runner, except that he was a little fat.
He nodded with satisfaction and took out the full backpack and hiking poles. After confirming that nothing was left out, he took Jiang Mo downstairs.
Tang Butian was already waiting at the hotel entrance.
She changed into lighter clothes, tied her hair up, put on a hat, and wore a sun-protective jacket.
"Where is your bag?" Jiang You asked after looking at her.
Tang Butian replied: "Zhu Wen took it and he is driving the car over here."
As they were talking, an off-road vehicle stopped in front of them.
Jiang You stuffed his bag and staff into the trunk, then got in the car with Jiang Mo. Tang Butian was holding the wooden sword, and she glanced at Jiang You. After Jiang You sat down, he took out the candy box from his pocket, poured two candies into his mouth, and then handed the candy box to Tang Butian.
Tang Butian took it.
Guan Qingtong looked at the three people behind her in the rearview mirror and said, "Let's go."
The car started.
Jiang You took out his cell phone and read a few pages of a novel. Then he felt sleepy. He reached out and rubbed Jiang Mo's hair, then closed his eyes and began to catch up on his sleep.
The scenery outside the car window gradually became desolate.
Tang Butian heard the snoring, not loud but very noisy. She raised her hand and was about to hit Jiang You's shoulder with the wooden sword.
Jiang Mo suddenly turned his head to look at her.
The wooden sword stopped one centimeter away from Jiang You's shoulder.
Tang Butian pursed her lips and struck down with the wooden sword.
Then Jiang Mo and Tang Butian glared at each other across Jiang You.
The snoring stopped.
Jiang You opened his eyes. He looked at Jiang Mo and Tang Butian and asked, "What's wrong? Why did you hit me?"
"Snoring." Tang Butian said.
Jiang Mo turned his head away.
"Am I snoring? Maybe I'm too fat. I'll find you my headphones when we get off the bus. They have noise reduction. You can listen to some music." Jiang You looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky. He ate two more mints and asked, "Where are we now?"
"After crossing this gravel road, you will reach the desert." Guan Qingtong answered him.
Jiang You looked at the vegetation on the ground that was becoming sparse and said, "I have planted several trees in the desert."
"Ant Forest?" Guan Qingtong asked.
"Yes, Haloxylon ammodendron, Seabuckthorn, I've always wanted to plant Pinus sylvestris... I guess I can walk a lot every day these days, right?"
The off-road vehicle drove into the desert and shuttled through the sand dunes.
At noon, they stopped the car to rest for a while and had lunch. Jiang You got out of the car holding Jiang Mo, walked on the sand with Tang Butian for a while, took some photos of the scenery, and then got back in the car. He found the earphones and gave them to Tang Butian, and then took a serious nap.
After entering the heart of the desert, Guan Qingtong calculated and gave directions at the same time.
The car body started to shake.
This time, Jiang You was shaken awake. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the car swooping down. What he saw was sand, and then sand again. Then the next moment, the entire blue sky was reflected on the front window again.
"It's really a mess of flying sand and rocks." Jiang You commented while trying to sit still.
Tang Butian took off her headphones and asked, "How long will it take?"
"I don't know. Maybe we'll get there soon, or maybe it'll take many days." Guan Qingtong turned her head and looked at Tang Butian and said, "I can only figure out that the clue is in this desert, and we are getting closer and closer to it."
"Haven't you found out yet what Mr. Xie is doing in Luo Town?" Jiang You asked.
Guan Qingtong turned back and sat up straight. "There is a legend in Luo Town that if you hear someone calling your name in the desert, you will be taken away by the desert. After that year, fewer people were 'taken away by the desert'. I guess Teacher Xie is here to investigate this case."
"This legend sounds familiar," Jiang You thought for a moment, "Is it mentioned in Marco Polo's travel notes?"
Guan Qingtong said noncommittally: "Maybe all the legends in the desert are similar."
After seeing similar scenery for a long time, I feel bored.
There is no cell phone signal either.
After thinking for a moment, he found a novel with the full text downloaded and began to read it from the beginning. Just when he was feeling dizzy, the car stopped.
"Are we there yet?" Jiang You asked.
"We'll camp here today and leave tomorrow." Zhu Wen's voice sounded in the car for the first time, "The desert is too dangerous at night."
After saying that, he opened the door and got out of the car.
Jiang You got out of the car and saw Zhu Wen take out a tent from the trunk. He walked over and took out another tent.
Guan Qingtong looked at them.
Zhu Wen is very experienced.
Jiang You seemed unexpectedly very experienced.
Soon they set up the tent.
Jiang You wiped the sweat from his face and turned around. The red sun in the sky seemed to have finally broken free from the constraints of the sky and wantonly dyed the sky and the earth red.
Jiang Mo stood on a sand dune not far away.
He turned around, and there was also a red sun in the depths of his pupils.
