I'll wait for you amidst the romance of nature.

I lit a cigarette and looked away, but Yang Sisi kept staring at the woman. Then she said to me, "She drives such a nice car and is so pretty. What do you think she does?"

I smiled and countered, "Are you hostile towards someone prettier than you?"

"Yes, to a certain extent, but do you really think she's prettier than me?"

"I have face blindness, so I don't know how to compare them."

Yang Sisi looked at me with a half-smile and replied, "It's okay. You can take the opportunity to look at her a few more times. After all, you might only encounter such a wonderful thing as having such a beautiful view and such a captivating beauty all in front of you a few times in your life."

"Yes, why don't you go and get me a phone number?"

Yang Sisi looked disgusted: "Ugh...you've really gone too far with your lust!"

I had no interest in arguing with Yang Sisi, which was pointless. The woman didn't give me another chance to look at her either. She got into her car and then followed the traffic, heading towards some unknown exit.

At the same time, as I faced this exquisite little county town, a faint sense of reluctance welled up in my heart. It seemed to be the first peaceful place I encountered on my way to Dali. It gave me a pleasant evening. If every sadness needs a way to be mourned, I hope to bury all the pessimism I brought from Shanghai in the landscape before me, and then return to my confident and optimistic self.

I finally remembered to use my phone to capture the scene before me. At the same time, Yang Sisi leaned over, waved her phone in front of me, and then, with a knowing smile, remarked, "I've been in Shanghai for so long, and I've seen all kinds of women, but I've never seen one with such a refined air!"

I glanced at it and saw that she had secretly taken a picture of that woman, and it was after she had taken off her sunglasses. Although it was only a side profile, the beauty blended into the beautiful scenery under the backlight was so stunning.

Before I could even speak, Yang Sisi insisted that I take a picture of her in the same spot. I reluctantly took one for her, and the effect was just as stunning as that woman's, but it lacked a bit of her capable air. Besides, when a woman is intentionally comparing herself to another woman, she has already lost.

Yang Sisi, however, thought differently. She looked at the photo taken against the light again and again, then held up her phone with an incredibly confident smile and said, "Sound the charge! Let's go!"

……

Before nightfall, we were about to exit the highway when we encountered an unimaginable traffic jam at the toll station. Even the ETC lane was blocked by cars in the toll lane. I then realized that it was the peak tourist season and that a nationally renowned ancient town like Fenghuang must be operating beyond its capacity.

I rolled down the car window and peered out, looking for an opportunity to turn around and leave. But Yang Sisi didn't seem to care about the traffic jam at all. She kept taking pictures of the pigs on the truck next to her with her phone, and then somehow she started laughing at herself, laughing nonstop at the pigs.

I said to her, "The traffic is already this bad even before we've left the tollbooth; the cars probably won't be able to get into the old city at all."

"Drive slowly, I'm not in a hurry."

"This isn't a matter of rushing or not. I reckon we won't even be able to book an inn inside, and then we'll be stuck in traffic when we come out. Don't you think that's going to be a hassle?"

Before I could finish speaking, the cars behind me started honking their horns incessantly, the piercing sound spreading like a virus, completely ruining my mood. Yang Sisi finally exclaimed in disbelief, "Is it really necessary to go this far?"

"Let's go, we'll come to Fenghuang again next time we have the chance."

"Let's go, let's go, let's go quickly. These people are out here to risk their lives, not for tourism."

Urged on by Yang Sisi, I finally found a gap to turn around, then switched to another lane and drove back onto the highway. Luckily, the toll booth here didn't completely separate the two lanes, otherwise I would have had to pay the toll while stuck in these cars before I could get back on the highway. This tiny bit of luck actually brought me a sense of relief and happiness. I guess I'm really not a complicated person.

……

Once back on the highway, it was completely dark. I checked the navigation; the next city along the way was about 300 kilometers away, which meant I would have to drive all night. But Yang Sisi had no intention of staying up all night. She wanted me to drive back to Luxi, the small county town before Fenghuang. Her reason was simple: it was beautiful there.

Of course, I didn't want to go back, so I lied to her that all the small towns in Hunan were beautiful, especially the one we were going to pass through next.

After driving for about 100 kilometers, I could faintly hear thunder in the distance. Soon after, a torrential downpour began. I didn't dare to drive fast, so I turned on my hazard lights and kept my speed at around 50 km/h. There were already cars ahead that had rear-ended each other because they couldn't brake in time.

Yang Sisi complained to me, saying I should have listened to her and gone back to Luxi. I was even more anxious than she was. If this downpour continued for another hour, at our current speed, we probably wouldn't reach the next city where we could rest until midnight.

I drove carefully for a while, but the rain showed no sign of stopping. I wanted to find a service area to rest and fill up the tank, but the mountainous areas in Hunan are so remote that sometimes you can't see a service area for 100 kilometers. There are only some temporary parking spots set up by the roadside.

I don't know how many tunnels we've passed through, but I'm getting more and more tired. I'm worried about handing the steering wheel to the somewhat impulsive Yang Sisi in such bad weather, so I drank a Red Bull and forced myself to keep driving forward.

Yang Sisi suddenly shouted, "Slow down, slow down... Look, isn't that the G-Class we saw in Luxi parked up ahead?"

I instinctively slammed on the brakes, and since I wasn't going very fast to begin with, I quickly pulled over and stopped behind the Shanghai-plated Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Then I noticed that the G-Class's right rear tire was completely flat; I guessed it had been punctured by something.

Yang Sisi looked at me and said, "If you know how to change a tire, this seems like a chance for you to be a hero and save the damsel in distress!"

I ignored her, and after observing the traffic behind me, I chose a relatively safe moment to get out of the car. Then I stood next to the G-Class and knocked on the window. The woman inside opened the window, and I saw her again in the raging storm.

I said to her, "I'll help you change the tire. Open the toolbox in the back."

My straightforward approach surprised her for a moment, before she said to me in perfect Mandarin, "Thank you, I've already called roadside assistance, it'll be ready in a bit."

"There have been several traffic accidents behind us, they definitely won't be able to get here anytime soon... This is just a small thing like changing a tire, don't waste public resources. Besides, it's not safe for you to stop in the emergency lane in this heavy rain!"

She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Won't this be troublesome?"

I smiled and replied, "No trouble at all. We also came from Shanghai and just happened to run into each other. We couldn't just pretend we didn't see you."

"Thank you."

"Don't be shy. Get out of the car now and stand outside the guardrail to prevent a secondary accident."

After I finished speaking, I hurriedly ran over to Yang Sisi's Land Cruiser, called Yang Sisi out of the car, and then placed a tripod 200 meters behind the car.

……

Two women stood outside the railing with umbrellas, while I quickly removed the spare tire that was fixed to the back of the G-Class. This was definitely not something a woman could do, because the spare tire of the G-Class was much heavier than that of a regular car.

After removing the spare tire, I used the jack to lift the car, but because of the poor lighting, I couldn't put the spare tire back on after several attempts. Just then, a passing truck made matters worse; the water splashed up by the truck instantly soaked me to the bone, accompanied by Yang Sisi's exclamation.

She tried to come over and hold an umbrella for me, but I sent her back because the tire-changing area was right next to the road, and with such poor visibility, it was far too dangerous.

After several attempts, I finally got the spare tire onto the rim, then quickly tightened the lug nuts with tools. Once I was done, I didn't waste a second and shouted to the woman standing by the guardrail, "Get in the car and drive away! It's too dangerous here!"

She gave me a grateful look, knowing this wasn't the place to express her gratitude, and then got into her car and disappeared from my sight once again as if brushing past me.

I took the towel Yang Sisi handed me and wiped the rain off my face. Without even catching my breath, I put away the tripod and continued driving towards the next city along the way...

……

"Uncle, you just helped that woman so much, why aren't you giving her a chance to repay you? Now that she's gone, you might never see her again!"

"It's just a small favor, don't make it sound like you've done me a favor."

"Wow, this is nothing?... You have no idea how scared I was when those big trucks were driving right past you."

"That's why there have to be men in this world. There are some jobs that you women just can't do. For example, when you encounter a problem, all you do is close your eyes and scream."

Yang Sisi glared at me and retorted, "I was worried about you, and you're still mocking me. Aren't you heartless?"

I smiled and didn't respond to Yang Sisi's words. Then I made up for the time I had lost due to the heavy rain by driving at 120 km/h on the highway.

……

At 11:30 p.m., we finally arrived in a small county town in Guizhou. Unlike Wuhan, where we stayed the night before, this place was much smaller and quieter, and the hotel management was lax. I easily booked two rooms with one ID card, without even needing to make up a reason.

Once inside the room, the first thing I did was change out of my rain-soaked clothes and take a hot shower. I thought I was in good health, but the moment I stepped out of the bathroom, a wave of dizziness washed over me, followed by a chill that made me feel cold...

I knew I had a fever, and when I took my temperature, it was close to 40 degrees Celsius. In order not to delay my plans for the next day, I wrapped myself in a blanket and started drinking water like crazy, but my physical condition was really not as good as before. By the next morning, my temperature had exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, and I felt weak all over.