Finally, it was time for the ticket check, Wen Qian swiped her brand-new ID card to enter the station.
Her old ID card still had some time before expiration, so she could use both ID cards for now.
Even so, she didn't feel at ease, occasionally reaching into her backpack pocket to feel for her ID card, checking if it was still there.
She would have very few chances to use it in the future, but Wen Qian still regarded it as important, a proof of her existence in modern society.
Wen Qian found her seat and sat down. As the train started moving, she took out her thermos and brewed some tea leaves, adding some hot water.
She would have dinner on the train as well, planning to cook herself a bowl of instant noodles, as it had been a while since she last ate them.
Initially, only half of the seats on the train were occupied, so it wasn't too crowded or noisy.
Wen Qian leaned against the window, lost in thought. The scenery here was quite different, with lush greenery as well as desolate grays.
In general, the farther west they went, the more desolate it became. The train stopped at each station, so the journey took longer.
The people around her changed in waves, and Wen Qian grew drowsy.
At dinnertime, the train stopped again, and a group of middle-aged women boarded, seemingly together.
They were all discussing one thing: harvesting Chinese wolfberries.
In Xia Province, many areas were dedicated to large-scale Chinese wolfberry cultivation, so during the harvesting season, many workers would head there.
Wen Qian even considered trying it herself, if she didn't have other things to do.
If she had built a house at a safe location, the harvesting season would probably have passed already.
One of the women asked Wen Qian what she was doing there, and another woman quickly answered, "She must be a tourist, what else could she be doing? At her young age, she couldn't possibly be harvesting Chinese wolfberries like us."
Someone else offered a different opinion: "Well, I rarely see young people too, but there are some who harvest Chinese wolfberries. Nowadays, young people can earn just as much as we do."
"Whether it's working in a factory, delivering food, or picking Chinese wolfberries, they have a stronger drive to earn money than we did when we were young," someone chimed in to defend the younger generation. "But they also spend more freely, not as frugal as us."
So Wen Qian inquired, "Are you all part of an organized group? Did you go through an agency, or did you make arrangements with people there in advance?"
"Well, some are with agencies, but you have to watch out for scams. Others have relatives there who helped recruit them, since we don't grow that stuff in our area."
"Of course, some people just go there directly and ask around. Basically, the bosses just need people to pick the berries, and they'll pay you by the pound."
Wen Qian decided to consider it later, as she might need to take a job there. She made a mental note of what they had told her.
After the conversation, Wen Qian rested with her eyes closed, and the women ate and chatted for a while before also taking a nap.
At around 10 PM, they finally arrived at their destination, the terminal station.
Wen Qian had originally planned to spend the night at the train station, but the Mangge City station was too small, without even a long bench to lie down on in the vicinity.
Moreover, the temperature difference between day and night was significant, and she couldn't find a suitable spot to pitch her tent.
At that moment, the women asked Wen Qian where she would be staying.
They had a contact for an inexpensive hotel, costing only 50 yuan per night.
So Wen Qian followed them, feeling safer in a group.
The hotel was near the train station, closer than Wen Qian had expected. But then again, although called Mangge City, this city was very small.
On the map, it was just a little larger than the town in her hometown of An Province, with a similar population.
For 50 yuan, the "hotel" was actually an old couple who had added a few floors to their self-built house, dividing it into small rooms.
Each room had a bed and a small bathroom, with an additional fee for air conditioning if needed.
Having a place to stay was already decent, so Wen Qian took a room, while the other women shared rooms in pairs.
The next morning, Wen Qian left the motel around 7 AM, and from then on, she would have to travel alone.
Wen Qian filled up her gas tank at a gas station and bought two extra cans of fuel.
Leaving the city, she rode her motorcycle southward along a highway, with the Gobi Desert stretching desolately on both sides.
The road from Mangge City was well-paved for about half of her route, coinciding with her planned path.
There were cars on this road, including large trucks passing through. Self-driving tour vehicles were rare, and even fewer motorcycles and bicycles, but not non-existent.
Wen Qian had researched beforehand that some people had traversed three or four provinces on this highway by bicycle.
For Wen Qian, a motorcycle was better for covering distance, although she would need fuel for many purposes, like operating a gas-powered chainsaw when cutting wood.
The terrain was flat, with the endless Gobi Desert stretching as far as the eye could see, truly desolate without a single bird or person in sight.
Wen Qian, with her compass and various maps, rode for a while, then rested, drank some water, checked her maps, confirmed her direction, and continued southward.
Traveling alone was incredibly boring, and the scenery on both sides of the road looked like photocopies of each other, just desolation upon desolation.
After a long time, it would cause visual fatigue.
So Wen Qian stopped her motorcycle away from the roadside, temporarily pitched her tent, laid out a mat, set an alarm, and took an afternoon nap.
This road seemed to stretch endlessly, and she felt she was about to fall asleep. To prevent fatigue-related accidents, she felt it necessary to lie down for a bit.
She had set out to find a safe location, and it would be ridiculous if she lost her life on the way.
In the afternoon, Wen Qian encountered an abandoned temporary shed by the roadside.
At first glance, she knew she would be staying there for the night.
However, many abandoned buildings encountered on the road were often treated as haunted adventure houses, which put her off a bit.
But then she thought that a shed would provide shelter from the wind and rain, and as long as it wasn't too dirty inside, she could pitch her tent there.
This shed seemed to have been left behind by people who used to work here, with a cement courtyard in front and tiled floors inside.
The floor tiles had already come loose, and Wen Qian picked up two intact tiles without cement on the back and put them in her bag.
She could use them as trivets for cooking later.
Fortunately, there was only some dry trash inside, like abandoned furniture or paper and plastic bags, nothing too disgusting.
She chose a room with doors and windows that could be closed and pitched her tent to rest.
