Wen Qian walked upstream and encountered a valley. When she felt afraid, she seemed to see signs of people nearby.
So she started walking forward. After passing through the valley and reaching the end, she realized that there was a path here, but it was not the same route she had taken. Instead, it extended from a different direction, merely passing through the valley entrance.
It was then that she realized she should not have come this way. If the valley was safe, there should have been a path, especially since there were people living here.
But it was too late to worry about that now.
Wen Qian followed the path to the right, which ran along the foot of the mountain, with a steep slope on one side and water below.
Using her binoculars, Wen Qian scanned the valley in the distance and noticed a relatively flat area between the mountains with two small houses. The rest was obscured from view.
However, she could see that the river flowed from there to here, with a slightly wider river passing through this area. So the place where they lived must have been formed by previous erosion, creating a level area.
There were also crops being cultivated here, though Wen Qian could not make out what was being grown from such a distance. She knew that merely observing through binoculars, she would not be able to reach that area today.
But she noticed that there were even power lines running to the place. Standing at the valley entrance, Wen Qian realized there was hardly any cellular network coverage here.
Seeing signs of people living there, Wen Qian became even more eager to settle down in this area.
On her way back, Wen Qian had originally intended to pass through the valley, but after considering it, she decided to take the path to the left for a distance to see where it would lead.
After walking for a while, Wen Qian realized it was too far and she would not be able to make her way back through a shortcut, so she abandoned that idea.
She quickly passed through the valley and returned. Upon her return, Wen Qian began planning to build a cabin on the slope near the river.
She chose a slope with mountains far in the distance behind it, so even if there was an earthquake, it would not affect her.
In front of her was a flat, open area with a clear view.
Wen Qian settled in a spot flanked by trees on both sides.
This time, she took out all the materials for her mobile cabin, planning to set it up first so she would no longer have to stay in a tent.
Wen Qian's construction pace was not very fast, so she could only erect the frame first, then attach the panels to form a circular structure.
With only the iron frame and thin walls on four sides, but no roof, Wen Qian could look up and see the clear starry sky.
It was then that Wen Qian realized she had not really seen the night sky since leaving Mangge City. But it didn't matter; there would be plenty of time for that later.
Wen Qian hung a layer of inverted wire mesh above the panels, enclosing herself inside, and then set up a tent.
That night, Wen Qian brought out the fire pit, added some firewood, and quickly fell asleep.
After the excitement of the day, she fell asleep quickly that night.
For a traveler who had finally reached her destination, she must have been exhausted. She slept early but also slept soundly, yet her sleep quality was poor.
She kept dreaming about scenes from her childhood when she went fishing with her grandfather.
Back then, she only had a small bamboo rod and would just tug on the line to fish, with no real technique. But one small crucian carp after another kept coming up.
Even her grandfather was puzzled and tried fishing from her spot, but caught nothing.
Instead, whenever she moved to a different spot, fish would start biting again within a short time.
Wen Qian was delighted. She really enjoyed fishing during that period - this must have been the real "beginner's luck."
Then the scene shifted, and at some point during her school days, her classmates started calling her an unwanted "stray blossom."
The difference of not having parents became apparent at that time. Everyone tended to look down on those who were different, so some people simply released their malice innocently.
Wen Qian only felt briefly upset. The matter seemed to have been resolved by the teacher, though she couldn't remember exactly what the teacher had said. But children are easy to educate, and she never felt saddened by the incident again.
She also dreamed about the time when her grandparents passed away. The first funeral was for her grandfather, and she was deeply saddened, feeling like she had lost a source of support. Her grandmother was also very sad.
But people generally did not seem so fearful of death, no matter where they were. Everyone only talked about the funeral feast.
The young Wen Qian felt indignant, but as she grew older, she realized that it is a blessing if someone's life ends without suffering.
People say a "white celebration" is for the same reason - not that they are not saddened or reflective, but simply that death is inevitable for everyone, so why dwell unnecessarily on sadness?
When it was time for her grandmother's funeral, Wen Qian was also deeply grieved, because from then on, she would face death directly, with no more barriers between her and death.
At night, the firewood crackled as it burned, occasionally making a "pop" sound. Wen Qian tossed and turned in her troubled sleep.
Fortunately, the night would eventually end. Wen Qian woke up feeling like she might have cried during the night, as her face felt somewhat uncomfortable.
But she couldn't dwell on that now. Wen Qian's priority was to complete her mobile cabin.
After that, it would take a long time to build a proper house. In the meantime, she could not keep staying in a tent, as the weather would only get colder. She needed to ensure she had a roof over her head first.
During the day, Wen Qian worked on scaffolding to build the mobile cabin. Although she was a novice, the video instructions and diagrams made the steps quite clear.
But when she actually started the work, her progress was still slow. It didn't matter though; Wen Qian was very patient at this point.
She had already come this far. A little more time wouldn't make a difference. And during the construction process, Wen Qian thought about whether she could expand her search area once the cabin was completed.
Using this lodging as the center point, she could start exploring the surrounding area. As nice as this place was, it was also too obvious. And if winter winds started blowing in, Wen Qian felt it might not be ideal.
So she had new plans, but the prerequisite was to finish building the cabin first.
That day, she laid down the roof and floor, mostly completing the overall structure, and then started assembling the panels and installing the doors and windows.
Wen Qian took out her space heater, extended the pipe, and ran it through the roof. There was no windbreak in front or behind the house, and she was worried that smoke might get blown back inside at some point.
If that happened while she was sleeping at night, she might never wake up. So she pointed the smoke pipe straight up and installed a deflector plate at the top to block wind and rain.
She worked on this until around 10 PM as the sun was setting. Wen Qian felt that she could finally relax.
From now on, no matter what she did, the cabin would provide a fallback option. If needed, she could just retreat inside.
As soon as she installed the space heater, she added some firewood and lit it. The mobile cabin floor was made of 20cm thick boards from her previous second-floor room, providing insulation from the ground. So Wen Qian simply placed her bed in the innermost area.
The space heater was positioned near the window, allowing her to sit by the window to stay warm while also observing the surroundings outside.
Wen Qian made herself a cup of milk tea. The light outside was gradually fading.
It was already getting too dark to see clearly inside, but Wen Qian didn't feel the need to turn on any lights.
Logically, she had always felt uneasy, moving from the city to the countryside, and then from Xia Province to here, all to avoid some unknown disaster. But what if the disaster were to start from this very place? What then?
It didn't matter anymore. Wen Qian had already arrived here. From now on, whatever happened, she didn't care. She felt that she was already exhausted and should take some time to rest and relax.
Two-thirds of August had already passed, with her constantly on the move. Now she should finally get some proper rest. Yet she couldn't sleep.
Upon reaching her destination, Wen Qian felt a sense of relief, but at the same time, a sense of emptiness, as if she didn't know what to do next.
At this season and time, she seemed unable to begin either planting or raising livestock.
