Along the way, Chen Lina had been secretly listening to the two women’s conversation.

She hadn’t tried to make contact with them or greet Liu Xiaohong.

At first, the women spoke in Mandarin, with little to talk about.

But midway, one of them spoke a few sentences in Kazakh.

Although the accent was harsh, Chen Lina remembered the words, even though she didn’t understand them.

She remembered the Kazakh she’d learned from her Kazakh mother and kept wondering to herself: What does that mean?

“Xiaohong, who are these two aunties? I don’t recognize them,” Chen Lina asked.

Liu Xiaohong replied, “They’re from Loulan Farm, picking me up. My brother has already arrived at Loulan Farm. My dad also brought me here to stay.”

The two women were quite kind to Liu Xiaohong.

One of them patted down the wrinkled clothes she had on from the bus, while the other tightened the disheveled hair and spoke in a more standard accent: “We’re here to bring her to her father. Do you want to come with us? Loulan Farm isn’t worse than Mulan Farm, you know?”

Chen Lina smiled and shook her head. “No need.”

She was planning to stay the night at Loulan Farm too, and she would assess the situation then.

If Liu Han couldn’t do it, she’d consider bringing Liu Xiaohong back with her.

“Mom, let’s hurry up and go to Devil’s City!” Er Dan tugged at her sleeve, and San Dan hopped excitedly.

Nie Bozhao, meanwhile, went off to hire a bouncing car.

“Comrade Chen, I feel something’s not quite right,” Nie Weimin said.

“Why?” Chen Lina asked.

Nie Weimin said, “Liu Xiaohong seems to be crying.”

“You actually noticed she was crying?” Chen Lina thought to herself, Looks like you finally noticed the girl, huh?

“Never mind.” Nie Weimin blushed and, hopping, ran off.

At this point, the bouncing car arrived.

The kids were all piled into the car, and the whole family set off for Devil’s City.

Not just the Devil, but Devil’s City was so desolate that there was not a soul in sight.

The landscape was rugged with bizarre rocks, and the wind and sand raged—truly magnificent.

In such a place, you could feel the insignificance of human power and the grandeur of nature.

This is where you truly understand what the work of Heaven and Earth looks like.

The bouncing car passed through the terrain, with towering mountain peaks devoid of vegetation.

The wind howled like ghosts, and indeed, calling it Devil City was not an exaggeration.

After a while, the three brothers, wide-eyed, set out to catch ghosts.

However, all they heard were echoes.

When they ran up the mountain to check, there was nothing.

Well, the echoes were probably just from them.

But after the bouncing car passed this section and went over a mountain ridge, they were greeted by the clear, deep blue of the river.

It was May, and on the opposite bank, the poplars had sprouted new green leaves.

The sky and earth seemed so clear and pure, it was mesmerizing—beautiful in a way that felt almost unreal.

This was the Erqisi River, a river that much of the frontier region’s songs celebrated.

It was also an important site for the development of China’s “two bombs, one satellite” project (nuclear weapons and space exploration).

In the previous moment, they had been surrounded by jagged rocks, but in the next moment, they were confronted with pristine mountains and rivers.

This kind of contrast and the overwhelming beauty of the landscape made it feel as though the scenery had fallen from the sky.

“Stop! That’s a former key development site for the two bombs and one satellite project. It’s now only open for leaders to visit and communicate. Where are you from? You are not allowed to go any further,” a guard shouted before they even reached the riverbank.

The old man driving the bouncing car waved his hand as well: “Restricted area, no entry.”

Ne Weimin’s head drooped immediately: “Dad, I wanted to catch a fish.”

Living in the vast desert, children were extremely curious about water and fish swimming in it.

Of course, this was also why Ne Bozhao wanted to take them to the hot springs.

However, the two bombs and one satellite research site remained off-limits, even decades later. It was a restricted zone for everyone.

Even Chen Lina had never entered it in her past life.

She had always wanted to get closer to the Erqisi River, to reconnect with nature.

It felt like returning to her homeland—Qi Si Township.

The security officer quickly saw through Chen Lina’s thoughts: “Comrade, based on your attire, you must be an official as well. Please support our work. You should know that anyone who crosses the security line will be shot. You must understand the significance of the two bombs and one satellite to our Republic. Our military secrets cannot fall into the hands of the Soviet Union.”

Well, the children didn’t catch any ghosts, couldn’t even get to the lakeside, so it seemed like it was time to head home.

“If it were your apricot tree, what would it do right now?” Ne Bozhao asked, teasing Chen Lina, seeing the regret on her face.

“It would buy the entire river and let me swim in it alone,” Chen Lina joked.

“Eat it, you’d be better off eating your own vinegar to death.”

“I may not have the ability to buy you a river, but I can still get you closer to nature,” Ne Bozhao said, unwilling to let himself be defeated by an apricot tree branch.

“Comrade, I’m a scientific researcher from the Umai Mine District. My name is Ne Bozhao…” he said, extending his hand to shake the security officer’s hand.

“Oh, Comrade Ne Bozhao? Yesterday, the radio broadcasted the Prime Minister praising you.

He said not only do we have the two bombs and one satellite, but we also have the hardworking petroleum workers on the frontlines.

So, we don’t need to compete with great powers. As long as we work hard, we’ll leave the great powers far behind,”

The security officer said, pointing to the loud singing coming from the patrol house. “I specifically listened to the names of all the advanced workers in the frontier, and yours was one of them. I’m a soldier, let me salute you and express my highest respect.”

One benefit of the current era was the respect shown to those who made real contributions to society.

So, even though Ne Bozhao had to mop the floors, chop wood, and unload timber to build warehouses at home, he was often in the newspapers and was recognized by the Prime Minister as a national hero.

“I’m here with my family to study the geology and soil in this area. I need to write a paper, is that alright?”

“No problem, no problem. Let me arrange for a local professor to accompany you, how does that sound?”

“See how things go. If there are people around, it’s fine to send one along,” Ne Bozhao replied.

The car sped toward the riverbank, and though Chen Lina tried to hurry, she only caught up just in time to see the three brothers unbuckling their pants.

These mischievous kids, in front of the clear lake, were the first to think of urinating in the water.

Of course, they immediately received a loud, scorching slap on their bottoms.

“Old Nie, I didn’t realize you were so adaptable. Let me ask you, have you figured out which fish tastes better?”

“As long as it’s not a fish that your apricot tree branch has eaten, I think it’s all good. Ah, he must not have shown you such magnificent scenery in his previous life, right? Don’t worry, I’ll take you and we’ll travel across the entire frontier.”

“You’re jealous, but it’s pointless because that person is you yourself.”

“Don’t flatter me. This lifetime, I’ll never leave the frontier, and I won’t leave the oil industry. Didn’t you say that in the future, the south will need to import oil?

Well, let me tell you, in my Nie Bozhao’s world, that won’t exist. I’ll make sure we can be self-sufficient in oil across the entire country, and we’ll even be able to export it.”

“Dream on, roads are made by people. Let’s talk when the time comes.”

By the E’erqisi River, several workers from the nuclear physics base were fishing.

In this season of uncertain harvest, they had eaten enough fish.

Now, they were hoping for some grains, even if it was just 85 flour—it was better than fish.

But since the children had never had fish, they were determined to show off their skills in grilling them.

The three children joined the soldiers in catching fish in the river, which was strictly off-limits but teeming with large, fat fish.

They could be grilled or eaten raw, though there was one regret: all the experts had gone out for fieldwork, so there was no one around to host Nie Bozhao properly.

The young workers, building a fire in the field, showed the three children how to grill the fish.

The smell of grilled fish wafted over, and Chen Lina and her husband sat side by side on a large stone.

The sun was high, and their feet were dipped in the warm river water—so comforting.

One of the workers, holding a fish, started singing “Ural’s Flower Picking Tree.”

These researchers, who had worked with the Soviet Union, held a deep affection for it.

So, when they sang, they often favored original Soviet songs.

In the song, there’s a line that says: “Flower-picking tree, come help me see, who is truly the smarter and braver one?”

Chen Lina chewed on that line, and suddenly a realization hit her: “Old Nie, is Kizilgar on the border?”

“Yes, if you cross the border, you’ll reach the Soviet Communist Party. Why do you ask?”

She had misunderstood.

The two women had actually been speaking Russian.

If translated correctly, they were saying: “Tonight, we’ll cross the border from Kizilgar.”

“Old Nie, let me ask you, how big was the impact of the big escape incident in the 60s on our republic?”

“Why are you asking this now?”

“Today, I saw Liu Xiaohong with those two women from Loulan Farm. They spoke Russian, and from what they were saying, it seems like they’re planning to cross the border through Kizilgar and escape to the Soviet Union.”

“Comrade Chen, why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

“I thought they were speaking Kazakh. It wasn’t until now that I realized it was very stiff Russian,” Chen Lina said. “Russian and Kazakh sound similar, but their meanings are completely different.”

“Do you know what would happen if even one person escapes?”

“What?”

“If someone escapes, it means everything. China and Europe and the US are about to break the ice in relations, and now, if anyone escapes to the Soviet Union—even just one person—they could distort the facts and claim persecution, spreading negative news internationally.

Our republic could be isolated again.

The escape in the 60s led to our isolation.

The Premier has been on international visits to establish communication with more countries.

The thaw with the US is extremely important, and we can’t let this be destroyed,” Nie Bozhao said.

Chen Lina finally realized the severity of the situation: “What should we do? Should we stop playing around and inform the military right away?”