Why is the system taking my request to photograph a cosplayer seriously?

Chapter 234 Little Horse Returns Home (As usual, please vote and subscribe!)

Let's turn back time a few hours.

Tibet, on the edge of the Qiangtang Plateau.

The night was deep and dark, with no moon, but countless stars covering the sky, and endless wilderness stretching out on both sides of the national highway.

Bai Ma curled up in Ding Heng's arms, a tiny little bundle.

His breathing was even, but his brows were slightly furrowed, and he was not sleeping soundly.

Suddenly, it was as if something surged up from underground, heavy and dull, causing violent tremors.

Ding Heng suddenly opened his eyes.

Almost at the same instant, the entire vehicle began to shake violently!

"Clang, bang, clang————"

A muffled rumble came from afar, like a giant beast turning over underground.

Baima was jolted awake.

She leaned forward abruptly, letting out a short gasp.

"What's wrong?!"

"Don't move."

Ding Heng spoke in a calm voice, raising his hand to place it on Baima's shoulder.

The shaking continued. The car swayed from side to side, and the sound of gravel rolling down the hillside could be heard outside, a loud "crash."

Bai Ma instinctively hugged Ding Heng tightly.

"It's an earthquake—"

More than fear, Baima's judgment was an instinctive one.

Children who grow up in Tibet are used to such things.

Ding Heng didn't speak. Zi Guang looked out through the windshield and could vaguely see a thin crack in the road surface. It was winding but not deep and had not collapsed.

The tremor lasted for about ten seconds before gradually weakening and finally subsiding completely.

Silence returned to the surroundings, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

Baima Songkai Dingheng was covered in sweat.

"It's alright now."

Ding Heng patted the little girl, then got out of the car shirtless.

A cold wind blew in through the gaps in the car door, making Baima shiver.

There are clothes in the trunk.

"oh----"

After getting dressed, Baima got out of the car and stood on tiptoe to look into the distance.

Beyond the halo of the car headlights lay unfathomable darkness, and the sound of gravel rolling down in the distance continued intermittently.

Baima clicked her tongue in amazement: "It startled me. I haven't experienced such a strong tremor in many years."

Ding Heng asked curiously, "Does your hometown often experience earthquakes?"

"Um."

Baima rubbed her arms, which were chilled by the cold wind, and walked over to Ding Heng.

"The Qiangtang seismic belt has long been a key monitoring area. Small earthquakes are very frequent, occurring every few days, but most are in uninhabited areas and are not strong enough to be felt. Moderate to strong earthquakes are also common, occurring several times a year. As for large earthquakes—I experienced one when I was a child, a magnitude 6.something earthquake. The epicenter of that earthquake was not too far from the county town, and several herders died."

Ding Heng didn't speak, but looked up into the distance.

The Eye of True Sight quietly activated, dispelling the darkness and revealing distant scenes layer by layer in the field of vision.

Wilderness, mountains, winding national highway, sparse lights in the distance — then, his pupils dilated.

To the southeast, about thirty kilometers away, in a narrow valley, you can see clusters of buildings.

Gaitan County, Baima's hometown.

Several houses on the outskirts of the county town have collapsed, with entire walls falling down, and figures can be vaguely seen moving among the ruins.

Ding Heng withdrew his gaze, his expression unchanged.

"What's wrong?"

Bai Ma noticed Ding Heng's unusual behavior and looked up at him.

"It's nothing."

Ding Heng turned around and walked back to the car, put on his coat, and casually took out his phone to turn on the screen.

The signal bar was empty, so he could only pretend and say, "The epicenter is in the county town; it was on the news a few minutes ago."

He didn't say how he knew the news, and Baima didn't ask.

The little girl's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

"Brother."

"Um?"

How far are we from Gaitan?

"More than 30 kilometers."

"That----"

Baima asked anxiously, "Can we get there in time? I mean—is there anything we can do to help?"

Ding Heng glanced at the hood and could basically confirm last night that the car was totaled.

Are you going to carry the white horse on your back and walk there yourself?

It's possible, but—

Ding Heng was hesitating when he suddenly noticed a horse grazing leisurely on a meadow not far from the roadside.

It had dark brown fur, thick limbs, and its mane swayed slightly in the night breeze.

There was a Tibetan-style saddle on the horse's back; the craftsmanship was rough, but the stitching was solid.

Ding Heng raised his chin: "Bai Ma, where did this horse come from?"

Bai Ma followed Ding Heng's gaze and wasn't too surprised.

She explained, "It's probably because the wall of the stable collapsed during the earthquake, and the animals ran out of one of the herders' sheds. It's common for livestock to get lost during earthquakes in pastoral areas, so it's nothing unusual."

Ding Heng gazed at the horses quietly, lost in thought.

The horse was also looking at him.

Their eyes met, the horse lowered its head, snorted, and pawed at the grass with its hooves, as if hesitating whether to run away.

Ding Heng suddenly asked, "Can you ride a horse?"

"what?"

Baima was stunned: "Yes—yes, I can. I rode one when I was little. But I haven't ridden one for many years, so I don't know—"

"Let's check the luggage first."

Before she could finish speaking, Ding Heng turned around, walked to the back of the car, and opened the trunk.

He pulled out a hiking backpack, stuffed in a few bottles of water and some dry food, then took two thick coats, packed them up, and slung them over his shoulder.

Only then did Baima realize what was happening and blurted it out.

"Brother, you wouldn't be thinking of riding a horse to Gaitan County, would you?"

"right."

"But I haven't touched a horse in so long, I'm afraid—"

If it were just Baima by herself, riding a horse would be fine, but with Ding Heng along, she was really unsure of herself.

"It's okay, I'll ride it."

Ding Heng closed the trunk.

Bai Ma asked in surprise, "Brother, you can ride a horse?"

"Give it a try."

Ding Heng handed the backpack to Bai Ma, gesturing for her to stand further away. Then, he raised his hands, placed his thumbs and forefingers to his lips, and whistled.

The sound was clear and resonant, echoing across the vast wilderness.

The horse, which had been circling in place, pawing the ground restlessly, suddenly pricked up its ears and galloped over at full speed.

The horse's hooves clattered on the frozen turf, finally stopping two steps away from Ding Heng.

It lowered its head and nuzzled its head into Ding Heng's palm.

Ding Heng touched its nose and patted its neck naturally, as if greeting his old friend whom he had raised himself.

Baima's eyes widened, but she couldn't utter a single word.

"Let's go."

Ding Heng hung his backpack on the saddle, climbed up and sat down first, then reached out his hand to Baima.

Baima reached out her hand.

"Brother."

"Um?"

"What else can you do? Tell me all at once, so I can be mentally prepared and stop being so easily startled."

"I know a lot about your brother, and I'll let you experience it sooner or later."

Ding Heng grasped Bai Ma's wrist and gently lifted it.

"Sit still and hold onto the saddle."

He gently squeezed the horse's flanks with his legs, and the horse immediately took off galloping across the wasteland.

The night wind rushed towards me, as cold as a knife.

Bai Ma squinted and subconsciously shrank back into Ding Heng's arms.

The wind whistled in my ears, and the distant horizon was pitch black.

She recalled the feeling of riding horses as a child, and her heart raced faster and faster.

Before dawn, the outline of Gaitan County gradually became clear in the morning light.

Ding Heng pulled on the reins, and his brown horse snorted and came to a stop.

Pema lifted her head from his embrace, looked at the county town in front of her, and felt a lump in her throat.

The scene before her was vastly different from the Gaitan she remembered.

When she left when she was a child, the county town only had one main street. The cobblestone road was full of potholes, and on both sides were gray mud-brick houses. Occasionally there were a few brick and tile houses, which were the most impressive buildings.

In the morning light, the county town was much larger than she remembered. One- or two-story cement buildings could be seen along the road, and the government building was four stories high with white exterior walls and a flagpole on top.

But right after the earthquake, everything was reduced to ruins again.

Formal rescue teams have not yet arrived; only a small number of staff are organizing spontaneous rescue efforts by the public.

In the distance, several old, dilapidated mud houses had collapsed halfway down, and the occasional, intermittent cries of children could be heard.

Some people were squatting on the ruins digging through them, while others were carrying the things they dug out to the roadside. The elderly, women, and children were left to stand blankly on the street, wrapped in thick Tibetan robes, their faces ashen.

Pema gazed at her hometown once more, and her nose began to sting with tears.

She never imagined that her long trip back would lead to such misfortune.

People on both sides of the main street began to look in their direction.

In similar remote places, riding a horse into town is not uncommon, but Baima and Dingheng's appearances were still too conspicuous, and it was easy to tell at a glance that they were not locals.

Baima dismounted, her calves trembling. She had been jostled on the horse for several hours, and the inside of her thighs were chafed and sore.

She gritted her teeth and took two steps forward. A Tibetan girl ran out of the ruins and came towards her. Her dark green Tibetan robe was covered with a layer of dust, and there were still tear stains on her cheeks.

"Pema—Pema Yangjin!?"

The Tibetan girl tried calling out.

"Who are you----"

"I am Danzhu."

Danzhu exclaimed in surprise, "I knew it was you as soon as I saw you! Don't you recognize me?"

"Danzhu?"

Baima suddenly realized.

Danzhu is two years older than her. When they were little, their tents were next to each other. They herded sheep together, squatted by the stream to wash clothes, and squatted on the hillside to eat frozen rice cakes.

Later, Qu Zhen took her to Rongcheng, and that was the end of her life.

Danzhu rushed over, grabbed Baima's shoulder, and looked him up and down several times, incredulous.

"Bai Ma, is that really you? What happened to you? I almost didn't recognize you!"

She took Baima's hand and looked at it from the inside out.

Baima's hands were fair and clean, with slender fingers, completely unlike the hands that Danzhu remembered as being quick and efficient at work.

Danzhu turned her hand over again.

His rough skin was covered with cracks, his knuckles were large, and dirt was stuck between his fingers.

She pulled her hand back, hiding it in her sleeve, a fleeting look of embarrassment crossing her face.

Then she smiled, but the awkwardness in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Pema had no time to worry about that now, and urgently asked, "Sister Danzhu, how's town?"

"————"

Danzhu sighed, "The earthquake struck in the middle of the night last night, and many people didn't even have time to react. Quite a few have been rescued and are being treated at the health center. The government said relief supplies are on their way, and we should focus on helping ourselves first."

Baima's gaze swept across the entire street, and he spotted several familiar faces, but he couldn't recall their names.

"Pema, come here!"

Hearing the shouts, Baima turned around and looked at Ding Heng.

Ding Heng was standing in front of some ruins, trying to communicate with an old man without understanding what was going on.

Baima quickly ran over to act as a translator.

The old man looked anxious and gestured as he spoke, indicating that his grandson's accident had occurred at the very back of the house. They had been digging from the outside in, but the roof beams were weighed down by large stones that several people couldn't move.

Without saying a word, Ding Heng walked to the roof beam, bent down, grabbed the edge of the stone with both hands, and moved it with force.

The boulder was moved aside, and a muffled response could be faintly heard from inside.

"It's still there! It's still there!"

The old man was so excited that he was incoherent, and he clasped his hands together and bowed to Ding Heng.

Ding Heng waved his hand, squatted down again, glanced into the cave entrance, and continued clearing away the rubble with nimble movements.

Baima squatted down beside him: "Brother, let me help you pick it up."

Ding Heng did not respond and continued.

Baima didn't say anything more. She squatted down beside the ruins and carried the rubble that Ding Heng had cleared out, piece by piece, to the roadside.

She couldn't offer much help, but she could at least help the man with some small tasks that didn't require much physical effort.

As the sun rose higher, the autumn sunlight felt surprisingly scorching on my skin.

Communication has not been restored yet, and we don't know when it will be restored or when rescue from outside will arrive.

However, the subsequent rescue work gradually moved from chaos to order.

Although the county town is remote, it is still the center of the county. The government's response was not slow. People from the streets, police stations, and health centers were all mobilized, and herdsmen on horseback came from various pastures to help.

Around 9 o'clock, the fire department and the military arrived, which completely reassured everyone.

The cadres continued to lead everyone in clearing the rubble in shifts.

Ding Heng didn't stand out much. He didn't give orders or force anyone; he just went wherever help was needed.

He moved a few stones, transported a few supplies, and occasionally lent a hand to those around him, his True Sight Eyes half-open and half-closed.

Instead of large-scale perspective analysis, we scan for details that are not easily noticed by others.

Which wall is at risk of collapsing again? Which wall might be trapping someone underneath?

His reminders were often subtle and understated, but gradually, people began to pay attention to him, their eyes filled with respect and a touch of curiosity.

Ding Heng didn't care and focused on his work.

Baima always stayed by his side, helping him hand over tools, clear away rubble, and follow Ding Heng's instructions, almost never asking why.

The busy work continued into the afternoon. Ding Heng rescued three trapped yaks from a collapsed cowshed and was squatting against the wall to catch his breath.

Baima handed him a half-full bottle of water, and Ding Heng unscrewed the cap and tilted his head back to gulp it down.

"Brother."

"My mother called and said the supplies are on their way and the first batch will arrive tomorrow morning."

"Has communication been restored?"

"The base stations in the earlier batches have been reconnected to backup generators. Although the satellite signal is intermittent, it is at least usable."

Why didn't you say so earlier!

Ding Heng quickly took out his phone and turned it on.

Countless messages flooded in simultaneously, making a continuous "ding-dong" sound.

"Um?"

Ding Heng opened the pinned group chat.

The last message was from Lin Man, five minutes ago: "Boss, reply to this message, everyone's waiting."

He didn't scroll up, but directly pressed the voice call button.

"The boss?!"

Lin Man spoke much faster than usual.

"Are you alright?! What's the situation over there? Are you hurt? Where's Baima? Is Baima alright?"

"It's alright, Baima is fine too, don't worry."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a long exhale, as if the person was expelling all the air from their lungs.

"That's good, that's good—"

Lin Man's voice softened, as if she had been relieved.

"Where are Yan hope and the others?"

"Everyone's here, everyone's here. Wait a minute, I'll put it on speakerphone."

After a rustling sound, Zhao Yanxi's voice rang out.

"Ding Heng, you scared us to death! We hadn't heard from you all morning, didn't reply to messages, and couldn't get through on the phone. We were worried you—"

95

"Yan hope".

Lin Man's voice interrupted, reminding her not to say anything unlucky.

Zhao Yanxi's voice was heavy with sobs: "Anyway—it's good that you're alright."

Then came Hua Qing's caring greeting, completely unlike her usual cold demeanor.

Finally, Wenjing's voice was hoarse, as if she had just secretly cried.

Ding Heng didn't give them time to process it and spoke directly.

"Lin Man".

"Okay, boss, you go ahead."

On the other end of the phone, Lin Man's tone returned to a serious work-related state.

"Use Hengbai Capital's name to arrange supplies and donations. You go and purchase tents, quilts, military overcoats, instant noodles, bottled water, medicine, and so on."

"Boss, I have no experience with this. How do I coordinate?"

"Contact Aunt Quzhen, she knows everything, just leave it to her! But the handover process must be followed properly, including invoices, agreements, and a list of supplies—"

Nothing can be omitted, all procedures must be filed, and everything must be done through official channels.

Although it was a 7.6 magnitude earthquake, the entire county only has 2 people, so the casualties were not significant and it didn't generate much news coverage.

But for Ding Heng, he also needs to cultivate social "favorability".

No matter how much money you have, you still need to find a place to spend it.

Without further ado, Lin Man immediately responded.

"Understood, I'll contact them right away."

"besides,"

Ding Heng emphasized, "The altitude here is nearly 5,000 meters. None of you are allowed to come over, especially you!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Lin Man's voice rang out again, and she, who had remained calm throughout, finally began to sob.

"Waaaaah—I understand—Boss—Waaaaah—You scared me to death—Waaaaah—"