Gu Wenxi almost lay on the ground, staring at the underside of the car for a long time, but couldn’t find a place to support the jack. Two high school students passed by and glanced at him with curiosity.

He reluctantly stood up. If it weren’t for the flat tire on the front wheel and his inability to reach the rescue service, he wouldn’t want to appear in front of others in such an embarrassing state.

After driving for almost a day, he arrived at Pingliang Village for the first time.

He learned about this rural village from a stranger’s Weibo post, claiming it to be a place with charming scenery in all four seasons. However, most tourists preferred to visit during spring and summer, overlooking its unique beauty in autumn and winter.

Being passionate about travel, Gu Wenxi had long wanted to explore it. However, disturbed by various troubles this time, he decided to leave home without consulting his father and set off alone.

After a smooth journey, he finally reached the outskirts of the village just before sunset: terraced fields in yellow and green, village houses with black tiles and white walls, and the distant silhouette of mountains like ink strokes… Everywhere he looked, it was tranquil and peaceful. The only miscalculation was that he rarely used the SUV he was driving, and it hadn’t been maintained for a long time. After entering the village and turning a corner, the car suddenly tilted to the left.

For an experienced driver, changing a spare tire might not be difficult, but Gu Wenxi, accustomed to a life of luxury, could easily find someone else to do such tasks for him. He had never done this kind of work himself and couldn’t figure it out even after searching on his phone.

It was the off-peak tourist season, and there were no other cars on the road, making it difficult to even spot a person. After the high school students left, Gu Wenxi gave up trying to help himself and leaned against the car, leisurely making a phone call. He refused to believe that the rescue service would abandon him.

But no one answered his call.

Ten minutes later, an elderly man in his sixties or seventies walked along the village road. As he passed by, he stared at Gu Wenxi and his car, mumbling to himself.

Gu Wenxi didn’t understand, but what if the man wanted to help him? He politely asked, “Uncle, what did you say?”

The old man began gesturing frantically, sometimes pointing at the tire, sometimes gesturing towards the direction of the village, muttering incomprehensibly.

Gu Wenxi realized that the man might not be able to speak, but was he indicating that there was someone in the village who could help? He ignited some hope and speculated, “Are you saying there’s a place to repair cars here?”

The old man nodded first, then immediately shook his head, his gestures becoming even more chaotic. Gu Wenxi was completely puzzled. “Uncle, thank you for your concern, but I really don’t understand what you mean. I’ll figure it out on my own, so don’t worry.”

The old man’s movements stopped, hesitated for a moment, then continued walking forward, taking a few steps before turning back to glance at Gu Wenxi.

---

Gu Wenxi successfully reached the rescue service, but the customer service representative on the other end of the phone informed him that it might take another one or two hours to arrive at his location.

Looking up at the sky, Gu Wenxi let out a sigh.

It was probably already dark, he said indifferently, “Why don’t you come back tomorrow morning to assess the situation?” Then he quickly hung up.

This time, he probably had to rely on himself… he thought, just as he was about to turn around, he saw the old man’s figure again, not far from the intersection, accompanied by a young man.

After the two approached, the old man greeted Gu Wenxi again through gestures and then gestured to the young man for a while. The man seemed to understand, nodding continuously and finally said, “I got it, Uncle Sheng, you go back first, I’ll take care of it.”

With that, the mute old man waved his hand and turned away. The stranger turned his gaze to Gu Wenxi. “Is it a flat tire?”

He appeared to be in his early twenties, with a pair of peach blossom eyes and slightly raised eyebrows, a charming appearance, but with a cold expression. Gu Wenxi stared at his face blankly for a few seconds before replying, “Yes.”

“Give me the tools,” he reached out his hand, “I’ll help you.” The words of kindness came out of his thin lips, devoid of much warmth.

Gu Wenxi handed over the jack and wrench one by one. “Thank you.”

The man rolled up his sweater sleeves wordlessly, revealing his slender and fair wrists, then squatted down, the cuffs of his jeans brushing against the rocky road.

From the side, with his fringe falling over his forehead, partially covering the corner of his right eyebrow, his facial features appeared somewhat delicate and difficult to describe as refined.

As Gu Wenxi’s gaze shifted from the distant mountains back to the man in front of him, he felt that the man resembled the elusive indigo hue on the horizon, not quite in harmony with the task at hand. He nervously wondered whether such a person could help him change the tire.

After some unfounded speculation, he realized it wasn’t good to randomly judge others. He wanted to step forward to help, but didn’t know where to start. The man had already steadied the car and was removing the wheel.

“Where’s the spare tire?” the man asked, looking up.

“Oh, it’s in the back.”

Gu Wenxi quickly retrieved the spare tire from the trunk and handed it to the stranger. At that moment, the sound of a bicycle bell rang incessantly from behind.

“Uncle Yunyan!”

The sharp sound of the bicycle bell interrupted the scraping sound of the bicycle tires rubbing against the rural road. A girl with a schoolbag on her back stopped her bike, her feet firmly planted on the ground. She was about twelve or thirteen years old, probably younger than the high school students who had passed by earlier.

“Yan Yan, didn’t you stay at school today?”

Gu Wenxi saw the man, who had been wearing a stern expression, smile at her.

“My mom got sick these past two days, so I’m going back to see her.”

“Is everything okay?” he asked again.

“It’s nothing,” the girl swung her backpack behind her and stepped on the pedal. “Uncle Yunyan, I’m leaving!”

“Okay, say hi to your mom for me.” The man lowered his head again and resumed working with his tools.

The rural road was uneven, and the sound of the bicycle bell continued as the bike moved away.

From the girl’s childish rural accent, Gu Wenxi caught the man’s name. He had learned from online information that Pingliang Village originally only had two surnames, “Du” and “Yun,” and unless someone was from out of town, they would likely have one of these surnames.

Lost in thought, Gu Wenxi was called twice before he snapped out of it.

“Sir, it’s done.”

“Thank you,” he said, surprised and relieved. Thinking back to his earlier suspicions, he felt even more guilty. “Can I pay you?”

The man returned the tools and said, “No need,” then turned to leave.

“Wait, what about—” Gu Wenxi stopped him. “Do you know how to get to this shop?”

The inn Gu Wenxi was planning to stay at that night was called “Yaning,” a guesthouse located in the village, which he had learned about from Weibo.

There were many rural intersections, and he followed the navigation, slightly confused. He happened to meet a local and thought he might find his way faster by asking around.

Little did he know, after the man looked at the destination symbol on his phone, he looked slightly surprised and asked, “Are you… Mr. Gu?”

Three days ago, Gu Wenxi had called ahead to inquire about the inn fearing it might be closed during the off-season. After receiving confirmation that it was open for business as usual, he went ahead and booked a room. He hadn’t expected the man who just helped him fix his car to be the owner of the inn. After asking for his name, he found out it was Du, not Yun.

Turns out “Yun” wasn’t his surname.

Gu Wenxi quietly pondered the man’s name. Du Yunyan brushed off the dirt on his trousers and then said to him, “Getting in the car? I’ll take you.”

“Oh, okay.” So the two of them got into the SUV that had just had its tire changed.

The inn wasn’t far away, they arrived in a few minutes. It was a three-story building built into the hillside, with a dark gray roof and white stone walls. The second floor extended outward with a flat platform, slightly taller and with larger windows, but the architectural style was no different from the surrounding houses. There was a vacant lot in front of the building, but it lacked a prominent storefront. Only a low fence and a small wooden sign separated it from the village road, making it a bit hard to find. Du Yunyan instructed him to park the car in that vacant lot.

As Gu Wenxi got out of the car, two dogs, one yellow and one black, rushed towards him barking. Although he wasn’t easily scared, seeing the large dogs gathering around his feet made him feel uneasy. He decided to stay still until they finished sniffing around.

“Yangyang, Beibei, come here!” After Du Yunyan spoke, the two dogs finally dispersed.

“What strange names for dogs,” Gu Wenxi muttered to himself, secretly relieved, and followed Du Yunyan. There were several trees in front of the building, and he could see that two of them were pomegranates, with fruits peeking out from the branches, but he didn’t recognize the others.

Du Yunyan pushed open the wooden door with glass panels, holding it with one hand, and a clear bell sound followed. Gu Wenxi followed behind, tilting his head slightly as his gaze shifted upward. The metal wind chime was still swaying slightly.

Inside the hall were several sets of wooden tables and chairs, likely serving as a dining room. By typical inn standards, this hall was quite spacious, but compared to the living room of the Gu mansion, it was much smaller.

Gu Wenxi handed his ID card to Du Yunyan and asked him to handle the check-in. He prepaid a three-day deposit. If he felt satisfied by then, he would extend his stay; if he got bored, he would find another place to continue his journey. After all, it was convenient to drive around. He had made up his mind; this time, he wouldn’t return home after just a month of wandering outside.

When they arrived in the village, it was not yet five o’clock. After all the fuss, it was already dinner time. Gu Wenxi wasn’t in a hurry to go upstairs; he simply picked a table and sat down. “Boss, do you have anything to eat?”

He hadn’t seen any other restaurants in the village, and even if there were, he couldn’t be bothered to go out and look for them. Since he was staying here, it would be convenient to solve his meals here as well.

He received a light green cardstock from Du Yunyan – a completely hand-written menu, with some hand-drawn borders around it. Gu Wenxi was instantly amazed, not only because he rarely saw handwritten menus, but also because the penmanship was extraordinary. It seemed that only someone who practiced calligraphy regularly could write like this.

However, after carefully reading the contents, he couldn’t focus on appreciating it.

“Don’t you have any… meat here?” Gu Wenxi looked at the owner.

Du Yunyan’s tone remained flat. “We only serve vegetarian dishes from Monday to Saturday.”

What kind of strange rule was this? Gu Wenxi was full of question marks, and he hadn’t seen anyone mention it on Weibo. Besides, he loved eating meat. He had wanted to have a big meal after arriving here today, with all sorts of free-range poultry in the countryside, as fresh as possible.

But now he had to “fast”?

Although he was unhappy, he knew that no one would cater to his mood on someone else’s turf. Despite having a bit of a young master’s attitude, Gu Wenxi understood the principle of when in Rome, do as the Romans do. After hesitating over the menu for a while, he ordered a tomato pizza and pumpkin congee.

Du Yunyan didn’t say anything extra, took the order and left, entering the door next to the main hall, which Gu Wenxi guessed was the kitchen.

Was he going to cook the meal himself?

Since he arrived at the inn, he hadn’t seen anyone other than the owner. Probably because it was November, there weren’t many guests coming, and hiring staff was even less cost-effective.

Gu Wenxi continued to survey the surroundings. The floor was a light chestnut-colored wood, and the furniture was slightly lighter in color. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the dusk was gradually deepening. When the food arrived, he was still staring blankly outside, and here, everything was so different from his usual daily living environment.

“Please enjoy.”

“Thank you.”

The owner always maintained a polite and distant attitude. Gu Wenxi wasn’t uncomfortable because of this, but rather felt embarrassed that the other person was specially attending to him alone.

The pizza crust was thinner than those typically found in Western restaurants, with a slightly crispy edge, and the taste was quite sour after being covered with a lot of tomatoes. It was the first time Gu Wenxi had eaten such a vegetarian pizza, but it was better than he had imagined. The pumpkin congee probably had glutinous rice added to it, making it thick and sweet; with the temperature dropping in the mountain area in the evening, drinking the hot congee immediately warmed his stomach.

Gu Wenxi finally didn’t mind the vegetarian dishes, but he felt like something was missing. He looked at the almost empty bowls and plates on the table and asked Du Yunyan, “Do you have any wine here?”