Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Fu Xun was able to guess so quickly that this “friend” was her; Qu Yixian felt no surprise at all.

She hadn’t expected the “a friend” excuse to fool him for long, but it was inevitably a bit disappointing. She toyed with the lighter that Diao Chan had somehow pulled out and left in the center console storage, listlessly: “If there’s no receipt, it’s fake, right?”

“A receipt is proof. Without that proof, whether the item is genuine or fake, the other party can simply deny it. How can you prove that the jade piece you bought came from their hands?”

The antiques business could be as deep as the ocean, as opaque as the deepest trench—things that saw the light rarely moved in the open. When shallow, a certificate or appraisal report could be trusted.

Just from her description, Fu Xun could tell that the jade piece in her hand either couldn’t be shown publicly or was not of display-worthy quality. Clearly, she herself hadn’t figured it out.

——

Qu Yixian had bought the jade piece on a whim at Mo Family Street.

The first stop on the Northwest Loop was mostly in Xining. At this stop, the tour leader only handled picking up and dropping off guests at the hotel. Accommodation, travel, and entertainment had nothing to do with them.

After Jiang Yun contacted her, besides the deposit, she gave Qu Yixian some extra money for lodging and asked her to help reserve a hotel in Xining. Her requirement was that it be near a busy, touristy area.

Across Xining, there was probably no place with more tourist atmosphere than Mo Family Street.

Qu Yixian took her to the hotel. Since Jiang Yun was staying alone and was a girl, she made sure she completed the check-in, personally escorted her to the room, and confirmed with the hotel before leaving.

That night at Mo Family Street…

Fatefully, she felt like spending money.

When she stepped into that specialty antique shop, she hadn’t planned to buy anything—just curiosity, having a top-tier artifact appraiser nearby was rare in a lifetime.

In the end, the shop owner tricked her into buying a jade piece.

At first, it wasn’t even the jade piece—it was a seal. Over time, perhaps because her curiosity was so engaged, the shop owner smelled money and became very persuasive. Gradually, Qu Yixian picked a jade piece from among the treasures.

Those who do rescue work are somewhat superstitious about safety.

She didn’t like the jade’s appearance or price. The only thing she liked was the owner’s line: “People wear jade, it nurtures the jade, and over time becomes a charm for safety.”

After exchanging money for the item, Qu Yixian had questioned why there was no receipt.

The owner had said something like, “This was given to me by a fellow villager. If you weren’t sharp-eyed, how could I bear to sell it to you?”

Hearing him compliment her sharp eyes, her heart immediately settled back into place, perfectly calm.

Now, hearing Fu Xun point it out, she felt she had drunk that old crook’s fool’s potion. No appraisal needed—definitely fake.

Thinking about the three thousand yuan wasted, Qu Yixian’s chest tightened in frustration. Seeing Yuan Ye and Jiang Yun walking back, she waved: “We’ll talk about it later.”

——

After Yuan Ye got in the car, Qu Yixian turned around along the Dunge Highway, taking Jiang Yun to see the Kunlun Mountains’ non-freezing spring.

In the early morning rush, afraid that Jiang Yun would miss seeing wildlife on the Kekexili grasslands, Qu Yixian didn’t stop much at all.

On the return trip, with plenty of time, she drove slowly. After passing the only muddy junction where a truck could cross, she glanced in the rearview mirror and asked: “You haven’t said anything since the tour—why so silent now?”

“Nothing much, just some wildlife specimens, a display of photos showing Kekexili Protection Station’s twenty-year history of wildlife protection, and some materials showing support from society for the station’s work,” Yuan Ye said flatly. “After seeing it, I feel it’s not really something to joke about. Nothing much to say.”

Yuan Ye, a local from the Northwest, wouldn’t have traveled all these tourist spots if he hadn’t been a tour leader. Even now, comparing his explanations with Qu Yixian’s, he was nowhere near as detailed.

Kekexili was a sacred paradise in the minds of many young artists, but not for him.

He knew that besides protecting Tibetan antelopes and wildlife, Sonandajie Protection Station was an important rest stop on the Qinghai-Tibet traverse. What he knew well were the distances between the station and Lhasa, how long driving took, and fuel consumption.

This was his first time understanding the protection work of the station.

“I used to joke around with the patrol team, but only because it felt impressive to have friends with real guns. I never understood their work,” Yuan Ye sighed, with some youthful guilt. “Tonight I’ll follow up and see if I can get in contact.”

Qu Yixian disliked such sentimental, interrupting behavior—after the moment passed, feelings vanished, and so did the favor. But in front of the guest, she decided to let Yuan Ye keep face.

When Jiang Yun descended from Kekexili, she had altitude sickness and started drifting in and out of sleep on the way.

Qu Yixian watched her for a while, instructed Yuan Ye to keep an eye, and planned to give oxygen and glucose once they reached the Kunlun Mountains if she still couldn’t recover.

On the way down, upon reaching the non-freezing spring, Qu Yixian had Yuan Ye wake Jiang Yun.

Jiang Yun was asleep so deeply it was as if her soul had separated; no matter how they called her, she wouldn’t wake.

Qu Yixian, seeing that she wasn’t pretending, held the steering wheel and thought for a few seconds, then asked Fu Xun: “That night in Heimahe Township, when she asked you for glucose, did she look like she had altitude sickness?”

Fu Xun, about to get out and walk the ferret, glanced at the back seat and asked Qu Yixian: “Want the truth?”

She was confused. Was there even a difference between truth and lies here?

Fu Xun said, “It’s late at night, so it’s not really good to do much. The glucose I gave her hit the door panel—it took less than three seconds. You expect me to remember anything?”

Qu Yixian: “……”

She suddenly wanted to know what Jiang Yun’s expression had been at that time, and whether she had managed to finish her carefully prepared lines.

Joking aside, Qu Yixian was worried Jiang Yun might be in danger, so she got out to wake her personally.

By now she was awake; her face was pale, her lips colorless, and her eyes blank as she stared at Qu Yixian. After a long moment, she recovered a bit but, still sleepy, closed her eyes again: “I don’t want to get out, I just want to sleep.”

The altitude sickness in Heimahe that night had only caused shortness of breath and difficulty sleeping. The altitude sickness descending from Kekexili made her fearful, exhausted to the point where it felt like she might never wake, yet she couldn’t resist.

Qu Yixian, worried that too much sleep might be harmful, reached into the door slot for glucose, twisted it open, and handed it to her: “Take some glucose, then slowly get out. The altitude here has already come down; once you adjust, you’ll be fine.”

Jiang Yun mumbled an acknowledgment, sipped the glucose in small sips, rested in the car for a while, and finally got out. She was still fatigued and uninterested in the scenery. After taking a few photos of the snow-capped mountains, she asked Fu Xun: “Brother Xun, when you were a volunteer at the protection station, did you ever encounter tourists with altitude sickness?”

Qu Yixian squinted and glanced at Jiang Yun.

Strange—wasn’t this question supposed to be directed at her? And now she had the nerve to ask Fu Xun?

Fu Xun looked toward the truck clumsily climbing the slope and answered absentmindedly: “Rarely.”

Yuan Ye chimed in: “Jiang Yun, you should ask Qu Ye. She leads tours in Kekexili every May and June; she has the most experience.”

Jiang Yun turned to look at her: “Sister Qu.”

“Yes, aren’t you a live example?” Qu Yixian wiped the mud off the rearview mirror. “Just this year, I led a full busload to Lhasa. All men. They didn’t make it to Lhasa, so I sent them back the same way.”

Jiang Yun’s ears twitched, and she leaned in curiously: “What do you mean by didn’t make it?”

Qu Yixian gave her a sidelong glance and smiled: “The usual altitude sickness symptoms. Just past Kekexili, not even a hundred kilometers yet. Lhasa’s altitude is over three thousand meters; by the time you get there, it’s fine. But a busload of strong young men couldn’t handle it, so I sent them back the same way.”

She finished cleaning the rearview mirror, in a good mood: “For someone like you who perks up after a short nap, it’s nothing.”

Jiang Yun smiled and didn’t press further.

She went alone to the non-freezing spring, stayed a short while, then wanted to get back in the car to return to Dachaidan.

There was still time, so Qu Yixian, along the way, took Jiang Yun to the Chaka Salt Lake.

Chaka Salt Lake is the largest salt lake in Golmud. Its scale was evident even to the road-building army back then. It isn’t a tourist attraction; it’s the country’s largest potassium fertilizer production base.

A natural fertilizer factory, with multiple security checkpoints.

When Qu Yixian had led a geological team here before, she thought the salt formations were beautiful and had made good relations with the guards. From time to time, she would hand over cigarettes, and soon they were familiar.

The outer gate guards, seeing that other leaders might not be allowed through, would let her in without even checking the license plate as soon as she showed her face. Unimpeded.

Yuan Ye watched enviously, unable to resist talking to Fu Xun: “Brother Xun, did you see? Qu Ye is definitely the star of our team. Look at how skilled she is at dealing with this place—I've hit walls here several times, even when claiming to be related to the second boss at the factory, and they wouldn’t let me in.”

He added, sourly: “Not just Chaka Salt Lake. Back in April, when the tea-card salt lake wasn’t open, Qu Ye could still get clients photos of the lake. One of my previous clients somehow found out and complained, and I lost my bonus for the month.”

Qu Yixian, not modest at all, said: “Oh, stop it, who told you I’m beautiful?”