Chapter 19: The Third Color Between Black and White
The sand had run out from the top half of the hourglass, and right on cue, the server brought over the chopsticks.
But Chen Xing still planned to wait a bit before eating the mushrooms. He first ladled half a bowl of soup, gently blew on it… Yes, he hadn't taken a single sip for the past twenty minutes, too afraid of accidentally being poisoned by the mushrooms. That wouldn't be a fun way to go.
Once it had cooled to the right temperature, Chen Xing finally took his first sip.
So fresh!
It wasn't the artificial freshness from MSG or bouillon, it was the mushrooms' natural umami flavor fully unleashed. The broth wasn't thick, but it had the rich depth of a fish soup simmered for three hours. The flavors of chicken and the wild mountain mushrooms were deeply intertwined, and just one mouthful left a lingering taste on his lips and teeth.
The flavor was truly unique.
No wonder people from Yunnan loved mushrooms, so this was why.
Before, he'd only eaten the most common varieties, king oyster, shiitake, that kind of thing. The kinds of mushrooms he'd even heard of didn't come close to what he was tasting today.
He'd originally decided to eat sparingly, but who could resist such delicious food right in front of them?
He finished the whole medium pot by himself.
The couple at the next table only shared one medium pot between the two of them, but like Chen Xing, they scraped the bottom clean by the end.
He was thoroughly satisfied.
As he walked out after paying, he glanced back on a whim, and saw the girl who had just added him on WeChat waving goodbye from inside. Chen Xing returned the wave before following the signs toward the cable car to Glacier Park.
A WeChat message popped up.
It was from the girl, her name came through. It was quite pretty: Song Shulan.
He opened her Moments.
Turns out she looked quite nice without a mask too, young, fresh-faced. Probably not even eighteen yet.
After browsing her feed for a while, Chen Xing realized he was almost at the cable car station. He snapped out of it and sent her his own name.
Now they could be considered acquainted.
But he also knew that most local people you meet on a trip are unlikely to be seen again. Maybe Muzi was the exception, she traveled a lot too, so who knew? They might run into each other someday.
When he arrived, his time slot hadn't started yet. Chen Xing sat down to rest in a little building near the station. A guy carrying a bamboo basket wove through the line of waiting tourists, calling out, "Oxygen? Need oxygen, handsome guy? Anyone need oxygen?"
Some who had forgotten to buy oxygen at the base bought a bottle or two now. Others who were worried about running out stocked up a bit more.
Chen Xing looked at the small bottle in his hand and chose to trust Zhou Peng.
He still had his camera to carry, and his backpack was already full. Buying more would just weigh him down and make photography harder.
The cable cars were blue and quite large, each could seat eight people, four on each side.
On this ride, there were three couples: one elderly pair and two younger ones. That left only Chen Xing and a woman in her forties. After getting on, the woman greeted everyone cheerfully, then looked at Chen Xing.
"You came alone, young man?"
"…"
"No girlfriend?"
"No."
"Aiya, what a shame. You're so handsome, should've brought a girl with you, haha."
She spoke in a warm, breezy accent, holding her phone in hand.
Chen Xing smiled, "Well, I guess it depends on fate."
A young woman asked, "Auntie, are you livestreaming?"
Only then did Chen Xing notice the phone mounted on a gimbal. The lens had been pointing at him the whole time, it was almost certainly a livestream.
"Yes, I'm a road trip streamer."
"Wow, you're traveling alone?"
"Yup."
The cable car started to move.
It jolted a bit, then smoothly glided forward. Just out of the station, it rose over 20 meters above the ground. Chen Xing's side faced a steep cliff, making his stomach clench a bit. Some people inside even gasped.
But after a few seconds, once they realized the cable car was moving steadily, everyone calmed down.
That peace didn't last long.
Soon, the screaming started again, mostly from two young women who were practically bouncing against the glass in panic. Their boyfriends quickly held them tight, trying to keep them still.
Are men naturally less afraid of heights than women?
Chen Xing looked out the window.
Lush green mountains stretched beneath them. Not far ahead, the snow-capped peaks from earlier came into clearer view. Without cloud cover, the snowy summits were sharp and dazzling, like whipped cream on top of a frozen dessert.
Chen Xing snapped a few photos before the cable car ascended into the clouds. Visibility vanished in an instant.
He looked down to check the photos he'd just taken.
Opposite him, the auntie said to her phone: "We can't see anything now, we're completely surrounded by fog. This must be the cloud layer we saw from below… What? You want to see the handsome guy? They're all handsome here, which one do you want?"
Then she turned to Chen Xing and said quietly, "My viewers want to see you, sorry if I caught you on camera earlier."
Chen Xing nodded, not bothered.
He wasn't camera-shy.
He was planning to become a content creator himself, how could he be afraid of being on camera? His only concern was not getting enough views or making enough money.
He wondered how yesterday's video was doing.
The auntie asked the man sitting next to Chen Xing if they could switch seats. Before the man could respond, his girlfriend nudged him and said, "Hurry up, can't you see the auntie wants to sit there?"
He didn't say a word and silently stood up like a doormat.
After switching, the auntie pointed her phone at the girl she'd been chatting with. The girl waved excitedly and said, "Hi!! Wow, auntie, you have so many fans, and so many comments too! Hello, everyone!"
She looked about 22 or 23, short-haired and full of youthful energy.
Then the auntie turned the camera toward Chen Xing.
"You all want to see this handsome guy? Handsome, say hi to the viewers."
Chen Xing was sitting by the window, a bit cramped, so he just raised his hand to his ear and gave a little wave.
"He really is handsome!!"
"This guy's got great looks! Came to Lijiang all by himself?"
The comment stream was flying. Chen Xing managed to catch a few.
It was obvious that her audience spanned a wide age range, some older uncles and aunties, as well as young, attractive fans. She had over 300,000 followers. With that kind of base, just picking up a few sponsorships could easily bring in five figures a month.
Chen Xing had been researching content creation recently. He didn't know the exact numbers, but he could ballpark it.
He was envious.
Technically, he and the auntie were in the same line of work. Maybe he'd find a chance to chat with her and learn a thing or two.
Suddenly, the light outside brightened.
The cable car had broken through the clouds, and looking out was like leaping through time, from summer straight into winter.
The surrounding mountains were blanketed in white. Only now did Chen Xing realize that even the black, rugged peaks he thought were just barren rocks actually had trees on them, dark, charred-looking things, like scorched Christmas trees. Occasionally, bright red flowers peeked out from the roadside brush. Aside from the black and white of the mountain, these were the only colors to be seen.
Excited, Chen Xing started taking photos.
The older man from the elderly couple said to his wife, "That's a wolf's bane flower. Every part of it, from leaf to root, is poisonous. It can be used as a pesticide and is extremely cold-resistant. Usually, wherever these flowers grow, no other plants survive."
"No wonder it's the only one blooming."
"Yeah, everything else is poisoned."
Chen Xing reviewed the pictures of the flower on his camera.
Proud, resilient, vibrant.
He really liked this flower.
In this bitterly cold, snowy mountain, hardly any flowers could bloom. Yet the wolf's bane flower thrived, blossoming so beautifully, so uniquely, how could anyone not admire it?
(End of Chapter)