Shаng Zhi Тао set off аlоnе.
Тhis wаs probablу thе first time in her lifе she had trаvеlеd bу hеrsеlf, and she wеnt to Dali. From making the deсisiоn to buуing the рlаnе tiсket, it tооk lеss thаn аn hour. Нer convеntiоnal lifе finally had sоmething that sеemed а littlе сооl.
Shе wаs also bоld еnough nоt tо jоin a tоur grouр, wаnting to eхрlorе on her own.
Вefore lеаving, Sun Yu kеpt rеminding her: "You reаllу nеed tо bе саrеful, уou knоw? Тourism in Yunnаn is toо chaоtic. Dоn’t fаll fоr merсhаnts’ triсks, аnd don’t buy jadе."
Shang Zhi Tao noddеd solemnly, еven starting tо cоmfоrt Sun Yu: "What аre you afraid of? I’m a grown adult."
"Then do you want to experience the Mosuo people’s walking marriage?" Sun Yu teased her.
"That’s not entirely out of the question," Shang Zhi Tao said with a serious expression.
Old Shang and Da Zhai were also worried about her: "You really need to be careful, don’t turn off your phone. Are you really going alone?" They didn’t believe Shang Zhi Tao had such courage and thought she might be in a relationship but didn’t want to tell her parents.
Shang Zhi Tao comforted them too. In short, on the day before her departure, she talked until her throat was nearly hoarse.
And so, she set off.
On the way to the airport, she thought about Dali’s scenery and romance the whole time, and the journey became something to look forward to. When she got off the plane and saw the surrounding mountains and the clouds in the sky, she suddenly felt the world was vast and open. It seemed like nothing was insurmountable.
At that time, Dali didn’t have as many inns as it does now. She stayed in the ancient town, where she could see flowers just by opening the window. The innkeepers were a young couple who ran the place themselves, handling everything personally. Seeing Shang Zhi Tao alone, they asked her, "Why didn’t you stay in a youth hostel?"
Shang Zhi Tao thought for a moment and said, "I didn’t dare."
She felt a little shy. In those years, there were often news reports about girls getting into trouble while staying alone in youth hostels. Although she also longed for the kind of casual conversations with strangers from all over, she prioritized safety first.
The young couple gave her a map and a guidebook, telling her how to explore Dali. She thanked them and said, "My plan for today is to sleep."
She needed a deep, restful sleep in a foreign land to heal from the complete ending that had happened late last night. She returned to her room and slept soundly. She wanted to sleep also because the switch called "exhaustion" in her body had been flipped on, and she desperately needed a good rest. She slept until evening, when the lights in the ancient town lit up and many girls with small flower braids walked the streets. Only then did Shang Zhi Tao go out.
She went to eat a mushroom hotpot.
Before eating, she messaged Lumi, Sun Yu, and the others in the group: "Will I see little people?"
"Damn, I’m so pissed off in this meeting. And you’re in Dali enjoying a mushroom hotpot all by yourself? Farewell, my friend!"
Shang Zhi Tao laughed out loud, resting her chin on her hand as she watched the small timer tick away. The waiter stood beside her, watching her closely, afraid she might sneak a bite. He even threatened her: "Don’t open the pot, don’t eat it. If you eat it, you’ll die."
It sounded terrifying, and Shang Zhi Tao was so scared she didn’t dare move a muscle.
She was almost falling asleep from waiting when a boy at the next table, seeing her face nearly pressed against the table, tapped her table and said, "You’ll ruin your face!"
Shang Zhi Tao looked up and smiled at the boy. "I’ve been waiting too long."
"Me too," the boy said. In front of him was also a pot of boiling mushrooms. He sighed helplessly at Shang Zhi Tao. "Are you alone?" he asked her.
Shang Zhi Tao remembered the terrifying news reports and shook her head. "I came with friends. They went to play somewhere else."
"Oh, I see."
"What about you?"
"I’m alone."Shang Zhitao nodded. Her mushrooms were finally ready. She lifted the lid and ladled some soup to taste—it was delicious. How could soup be so flavorful? Her limited culinary appreciation skills were awakened, and she quickly rearranged her itinerary in her mind, moving food to the top of her list.
I’d be willing to stay single for five years for such wonderful food!
She thought to herself as she ate.
After the meal, she went to listen to music. How could anyone come to Dali without visiting a bar? The bars in Dali were filled with great songs. She found a shabby-looking bar that seemed on the verge of closing down, where a folk singer sat on a small stage, singing.
The songs were all about love.
*"Time has changed so much, yet nothing at all,
Let me embrace you once more, Zhengzhou."*
How beautiful. Shang Zhitao sat in the audience, her eyes moist. It hadn’t been that many years, yet it felt like an eternity had passed!
The singer said to the only audience member in the bar, "Come up, sing with me."
"Me?" Shang Zhitao wiped the moisture from the corner of her eye with her fingertip and pointed at herself. "Me?"
"Yes, you."
She had forgotten so many things, but on this day, she remembered—I used to sing back in school! So she went up on stage and sat beside him. The singer looked at her, strummed his guitar, and asked, "What do you want to sing?"
"Three Inches of Sunlight, is that okay?"
"Sure."
Shang Zhitao sang softly along with the guitar. The bar door opened, and a boy walked in. When he saw Shang Zhitao sitting there, his expression brightened.
The woman’s voice was gentle and clear, singing about small wishes—the scene was deeply moving.
After singing, Shang Zhitao thanked the singer and took out 50 yuan to put in the small box. "I heard this is the custom."
The singer smiled and handed the money back to her. "Buy me a bottle of water instead. I’ve eaten enough today, I don’t need money."
"What about breakfast tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow, my wife will make me rice noodles," the singer joked.
"Then I’ll buy drinks here."
Shang Zhitao took two cans of beer, opened one for the singer, and handed the other to the boy. "For you." In any case, she wanted to spend the money.
People came and went in the bar until finally, late at night, it was time to leave. Shang Zhitao stood up and said to the singer, "I’ll come again tomorrow."
"Then come earlier. We’re making dumplings tomorrow."
"Wow."
Shang Zhitao left the bar, feeling that the day had actually been quite good. She suddenly understood a truth: love is not everything in life. Although love might make life fuller, even without it, one should still live well.
The next day, she went up Cangshan Mountain, where her hands seemed to touch the clouds and all living things felt small. The wind was strong on the mountain that day, blowing her off balance, but it didn’t stop her from feeling free between heaven and earth. She paid for a quick photo, her face distorted by the wind, but she smiled happily.
"Be careful not to let the wind get into your stomach."
The voice was so gentle, just like Sun Yuanzhu’s. Shang Zhitao turned around in pleasant surprise, but Sun Yuanzhu was nowhere to be seen—it was the boy from yesterday. What was his name? She thought for a moment—Wan Jun, like the phrase "thunderous force."
"Hello," Shang Zhitao greeted him.
"So you’re alone?"
"No."
Wan Jun smiled. He could see through Shang Zhitao’s attempt to cover up—this girl was protecting herself.
"Going to eat dumplings tonight?" Wan Jun asked her.
"Yes."
"Alone?""..." Shang Zhi Tao realized she had fallen into Wan Jun's trap and fell silent. The girl was bright and lovely, making Wan Jun feel this trip was truly worthwhile.
They walked down the mountain together, and Wan Jun formally introduced himself. It turned out he was a year older than Shang Zhi Tao and worked as a hockey coach.
"Very cool!" Shang Zhi Tao gave him a thumbs-up.
"What about you?" Wan Jun asked her.
"I work as an ordinary employee at a company."
"That's good too—self-sufficient."
After these few words, Shang Zhi Tao didn’t feel like talking anymore. The two of them descended the mountain with sporadic conversation, then returned to their respective inns to rest. By evening, Shang Zhi Tao went out to that bar. In the bar’s backyard, a group of young people gathered around a wooden table, chatting and laughing—they were actually making dumplings.
It wasn’t even a holiday—why were they making dumplings? Shang Zhi Tao wondered. But making dumplings was inherently joyful! She washed her hands and joined the group of young people.
None of these people were like Luan Nian. Luan Nian spoke little, and when he did, his words were direct and sharp. These young people, however, kept talking, saying warm and kind things. Shang Zhi Tao enjoyed being with them—all in their early twenties, some even still in college, full of vitality.
This was truly wonderful.
Shang Zhi Tao said to Lumi, "This is the best part for me. Today, I understood freedom and self."
I love myself more now.
This was just a sudden trip, and it was incredibly beautiful.
In the mornings, Shang Zhi Tao would eat the rice noodles cooked by the innkeeper, then go out to explore—Cangshan Mountain, Erhai Lake, Xizhou, Shuanglang—she visited them all.
On the fourth night of her trip, Sun Yuanzhu called her and said, "I found evidence. You can submit it to your internal audit."
"What evidence?"
Sun Yuanzhu sent a screenshot of a chat log: "I hope this helps you prove your innocence."
In the chat log, Manager Wang said to Kitty, "The matter is taken care of."
Kitty replied, "This time, your company’s supplier qualification is no problem."
The only issue was that it wasn’t clear what "the matter" referred to. But this ambiguous wording could still raise suspicion.
"I’ll dig for more information. If you’re not in a hurry, wait a few more days." Sun Yuanzhu had taken Shang Zhi Tao’s matter to heart completely, and she knew it.
"Sun Yuanzhu, don’t bother. I’ve already thought of a way," Shang Zhi Tao said.
"What way?"
Shang Zhi Tao replied, "Lumi will help me, in an open and aboveboard manner." The idea had suddenly come to her while eating Xizhou baba in Xizhou Ancient Town during the day.
Only one thought kept Shang Zhi Tao going: I can’t always be bullied. I want to fight back. I want the bad people to know I’m not to be messed with.
But she would wait until she returned to deal with this matter. This was her happy vacation, and she didn’t want to ruin it.
"Sun Yuanzhu, I sent you a postcard from the foot of Cangshan Mountain!" Shang Zhi Tao told him.
"Can I know what’s written on the postcard now?"
"Yes!" Shang Zhi Tao laughed happily. "I wrote: May your eyes only see smiles. I’m not very eloquent, so I could only copy a lyric for you. But I hope you’re always happy. Truly."
On the other end of the phone, Sun Yuanzhu’s eyes reddened. He was quiet for a long time before saying to Shang Zhi Tao, "Then I also wish for you that every dream you have from now on will not be in vain."Sun Yuanzhu never asked Shang Zhi Tao what was wrong, but she no longer went out on Fridays, traveling alone instead. Clever as he was, he knew she was going through a painful phase. Painful phases were nothing unusual—most people could endure them, though some could not.
“Then I’ll wish us both a long life,” Shang Zhi Tao said, finding it amusing to exchange well-wishes and casually adding this.
“Then I can only wish us all the best,” Sun Yuanzhu replied, laughing as well.
“So I’ll bring back some delicious treats for you all.”
“Then we’ll buy some good food and wait for you to come back so we can eat together.”
“Okay.”
As she hung up the phone, Shang Zhi Tao thought, at least I still have a few trustworthy friends. I’m already luckier than most people. She seemed to have completely recovered; if that person named “Luan Nian” disappeared entirely, she probably wouldn’t be too upset anymore.
But Luan Nian didn’t disappear entirely. He called Shang Zhi Tao and said to her, “From now on, don’t answer any calls from that supplier. If you do, remember to record them.”
“Why?”
“Because your investigation results are out.”
“What results? I haven’t cleared my name yet.”
“Save it for next time.”
Luan Nian hung up the phone.
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