It was noon at twelve o'clock, and Wen Qian began to eat her lunch.
After eating, she had been climbing for quite a while and was a bit tired, having woken up early. The sun was still shining, and she felt a bit drowsy.
She couldn't sleep but also couldn't continue on her way immediately, so she stood up and looked around.
There were still traces of logging activities and signs of human presence, which was better than a completely untouched area.
Of course, the range of human activities could be said to be extremely wide, and it was rare to find a place completely devoid of human presence.
The more Wen Qian wandered around, the more she liked it.
An eagle circled overhead, and Wen Qian took out a solar panel and placed it under the sun. She also took out a telescope and stood at a high point to observe the surrounding mountains.
This mountain had relatively sparse forests, but there was no need to worry about a lack of firewood. The timber needed for building a house could also be found locally.
The surrounding mountains had many dense forests covering entire slopes, and the trees here grew tall, thick, and straight.
The more she looked, the more it resembled a filming location from a movie. She really liked it.
She even envisioned her future life as she surveyed each location, standing atop this mountaintop which had a signal. She vaguely saw traces of a signal tower.
After circling the area, Wen Qian decided to descend the mountain. She needed to reach her intended camping spot before nightfall.
Descending was a significant burden on her knees. During the climb, Wen Qian had kept all her belongings in her spatial storage, worried that the excessive weight would prevent her from descending and force her to spend the night on the mountain.
Having a definite destination boosted Wen Qian's confidence. She no longer wanted to continue hiking along Jade Lake but instead immediately began clearing the dilapidated house, exposing the foundation to build a new house on it.
Upon arriving, Wen Qian was still a bit concerned about earthquakes.
She considered whether to build a stone house or a wooden one.
A purely wooden house seemed quite heavy, and it was clear that this place wasn't well-suited for building stone walls.
She wondered if she should use stones to raise the foundation a bit higher, which could work.
Just thinking about it made Wen Qian very happy.
She had already imagined what it would be like to be isolated from the world here after the snow fell in winter.
When passing larger lakes, Wen Qian went to the shore to collect water.
In her spatial storage, she had already filled many large and small containers with water from her hometown, including snow and ice. Recently, she had been drinking a combination of water from her hometown and the Xia Province.
Of course, she needed to collect some water from the lakes here too, even if not for drinking. She filled up whatever containers she could.
Thinking about it, she realized that this kind of place might not lack people in the future.
Wen Qian arrived at the foot of the mountain around dinnertime. As she approached her destination, she took out her bicycle and luggage again.
The residents were already cooking dinner. Exhausted, Wen Qian quickly pitched her tent and immediately lay down inside.
The night hadn't fallen yet, and she needed to rest first.
Indeed, walking on flat ground and climbing a mountain were on completely different levels.
By the time she had rested, it had already gotten dark.
She took out a small night light, scattered some thorns around the tent, then washed herself with a towel inside the tent before eating a little and lying down again.
Wen Qian felt she couldn't get too tired, as she was afraid of her body giving her trouble in this high-altitude area, which would be very troublesome.
That night, she slept soundly, having been too exhausted, and thankfully, nothing untoward happened.
The next day, Wen Qian didn't plan to go too far. She continued cycling around Jade Lake, reaching a broad, flat highway with quite a few vehicles passing by.
Perhaps having resolved a lingering concern, she now felt very relaxed, though only in terms of her mood.
Her body was still somewhat tired, but the next camping spot wasn't too far, so she could cycle there slowly.
After reaching the nearby camping spot, Wen Qian didn't continue further. She spent the entire afternoon inside her tent.
She wasn't idle, though, editing her photos and videos. She had filmed specific locations but avoided capturing any scenes that could reveal her intended safe haven.
The rest of the time, she either lay in the tent sleeping or sat up to eat something.
Clearly, having achieved her important goal, she wasn't very interested in continuing the hike around Jade Lake, as it was no longer important.
However, she still needed to go to a place convenient for transportation, after which she would head to her first safe haven.
She planned to spend these few days quite leisurely. On the second day, as she was cycling, she noticed a river.
Wen Qian wanted to follow the river upstream out of simple curiosity.
The rivers here generally came from the snow-capped mountains, flowing through valleys with steep banks on both sides.
Wen Qian walked upstream for a distance and discovered some people fishing.
She had researched the fish species found in high-altitude areas but had never seen them in real life.
The fishermen were surprised to see Wen Qian, as female anglers were a rare sight.
Wen Qian noticed they had already caught some fish, so she wanted to take a look at what the fish looked like. The fishermen allowed her to observe them freely.
Some anglers had only caught one or two fish, while others had a bit more in their buckets.
Jade Lake also had fish, but only two species, and fishing was prohibited there since overfishing had severely depleted the populations in the past. Now, all fishing and angling were banned in the entire Jade Lake.
In fact, fish populations grew very slowly in high-altitude regions, while human consumption was too rapid, leading to sharp declines in numbers.
Seeing the fishermen so focused on angling, Wen Qian also wanted to try.
She actually wanted to use a fishing net, as this narrow river would make it easier to catch more fish with a net.
But since there were people here, Wen Qian took a very ordinary fishing rod instead.
Unlike the fishermen's professional-looking gear, Wen Qian's angling was quite casual. At times, she wasn't even paying much attention, leaving the rod stuck in the ground while wandering around.
The gorges here were very deep, and it was only possible to follow the river; climbing the slopes was impossible and unsafe.
Even so, Wen Qian caught fish after fish, comparing them to the species she was familiar with and determining they weren't protected varieties.
But then again, in such a small river gorge, it probably wouldn't be easy to encounter rare species.
One of the fishermen who had only caught two or three small fish whispered to his friend, "She's quite skilled, catching more than me."
His friend consoled him, "Maybe she's in a beginner's grace period? Look at her, she's not even fishing seriously. Maybe being too serious is the problem."
The fisherman: "..."
The fisherman looked at his own rod and his friends' gear, thinking it made sense. If he caught a bountiful haul every time after so many years of angling, the grudge of the fish would probably weigh heavily.
But then again, he too had enjoyed a beginner's grace period, or he wouldn't have become so enamored with fishing in the first place.
A beginner, of course, should not be discouraged from continuing to fish enthusiastically.
Wen Qian, who was thought to be in a beginner's grace period, had actually been fishing since the third grade of elementary school.
However, her abundant catch this time might indeed be due to a regional beginner's grace period.
