Chapter 1614

The cars drove along the road, neither fast nor slow. That touch of azure in the distance gradually disappeared, and immediately afterward, the alluring blue of a lake appeared again on the left side of the road.

Zhaxi Duoji pointed to the lake: "That is Bamucuo. It looks very close, but it's actually more than thirty kilometers away from us."

The sun hung high in the sky, its scorching rays pouring down onto this beautiful plateau of western Tibet, making the already vast and boundless wilderness look even more profound. It made every living creature walking in this infinite space appear small and humble.

Not long after, an intoxicating azure color appeared in front again. Zhaxi Duoji said: "Ahead on the left is Selincuo, and on the right is Bangecuo."

Zhou Andong opened the car window. Bangecuo was like a brilliant pearl in the deepest part of the Qiangtang uninhabited area on the northern Ali line, so beautiful it was suffocating.

As far as the eye could see on the horizon, there were undulating mountain peaks. On the summits were large, layered, and disordered white clouds, and below the mountains was the lake water shimmering with blue light.

From far to near, that stretch of desolate grassland gave people an indescribable shock, as if they had arrived in a world beyond the heavens.

Zhou Andong had an illusion; in his previous life, he had driven through here twice, but neither time had brought him such a shocking feeling as this.

"I'd always heard that this was a place of bitter cold, but I never expected it to be so beautiful that it feels unreal."

Gu Bing had been watching outside the car window the whole time, his tone filled with wonder.

"It's fucking beautiful. I must bring Huilin here."

Zhaxi Duoji said with a smile: "This road is like a pearl necklace strung together by lakes. This place is already the heart of the Tibetan region, and most of the sections are uninhabited areas.

There are countless lakes of all sizes along the way, and we call lakes 'cuo'. In the past, these lakes didn't have names, but after this road was built and more people started traveling it, names were given to the lakes along the way..."

……………………

By evening, the convoy stopped by the side of the road to rest, ate a little bread and biscuits, and then continued on their way.

By the time they reached Nima County, it was already midnight. They didn't stop, but continued moving forward.

At six o'clock the next morning, they arrived in Gaize. Reaching this point meant they had entered Ali, and they were still about five hundred kilometers away from Shiquanhe.

At this time, it wasn't yet dawn. They parked the cars by the side of the road, and everyone got out to move around and rest.

"Hoo!"

Zhou Andong took a puff of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and wrapped his cotton-padded coat tighter around himself.

"The road ahead probably won't be easy to travel."

Zhaxi Duoji looked worried: "As far as I know, heavy snow has already blocked the mountains. If we can't get in, it's fine during the day, but it will be dangerous at night. We must be well-prepared before we go."

"Old Zhou!" Guan Shengjie walked over. "We aren't far from Shiquanhe now. The disaster area is blocked by heavy snow, and it's impossible for us to get in. Have you contacted the Ali Prefectural Committee?"

"Qiuchiu will definitely have contacted them."

Zhou Andong hadn't given Jian Qiu specific instructions, but he believed she couldn't have overlooked such an important issue, and she would certainly have gone to see the old man.

"Dajun, fill up all the fuel drums on the supply trucks. The cars are all equipped with heaters; as long as there's enough fuel, it won't be a problem at night."

Yao Jun looked at Zhaxi Duoji: "Where is there a gas station here?"

"There are no gas stations here," Zhaxi Duoji shook his head. "But there are people selling gasoline. I'll take you there."

In this era, there weren't many gas stations in the interior, let alone in Ali.

Except for Naqu and Shiquanhe, there were no gas stations along this entire route.

But there were private individuals selling gasoline; they used a pump to draw it from a drum into a plastic bucket, and you paid a certain price per bucket.

As for government departments, they all had their own logistics and their own fuel depots.

Zhou Andong asked Xu Baowei: "How much spare fuel do we have left?"

Xu Baowei said: "We still have eleven drums of fuel. One drum is about 160 liters, so eleven drums is a bit over a ton and a half. It's completely enough; there's no need to go buy more."

Zhou Andong looked at Zhang Shenghui and Wu Hongkang: "How much spare fuel do you have?"

Zhang Shenghui beckoned a middle-aged man over: "How much spare fuel do we have?"

The middle-aged man said: "We can run for another two thousand kilometers without a problem."

Wu Hongkang said: "I asked in Naqu, and it's about the same; we can run for fifteen or sixteen hundred kilometers."

Zhou Andong said to Yao Jun: "Buying fuel was just a precaution. Since we have enough, there's no need to buy any."

At this moment, a white line appeared in the east, and Zhou Andong saw that the door of a breakfast shop not far away had opened.

"Let's go over and ask."

The person who opened the door was a man of about fifty. When he saw the trucks parked by the roadside that stretched as far as the eye could see, he was stunned for a moment.

"Boss!" Zhaxi Duoji shouted from afar: "What do you have to eat here?"

The boss walked out quickly and said in broken Mandarin: "We have everything: tuba, tsampa, butter tea, highland barley wine, and fried dough sticks."

Zhou Andong blinked: "You have fried dough sticks here?"

"Yes!" The boss smiled, his expression very honest and simple. "There are often trucks passing by, and some of them aren't used to tuba, tsampa, or butter tea, so I learned to fry dough sticks."

Zhou Andong laughed heartily: "Do you have any soup?"

"Yes, yes." The boss nodded vigorously. "Mutton soup, and also spiced yak meat."

Zhou Andong pointed to the brothers who were gathered in groups of three or five, chatting together.

"There are so many of us; do you have enough food here?"

"It doesn't matter." The boss pointed to the end of the street. "There are other restaurants over there. I can have them cook together, and when it's ready, they can send it over."

Zhou Andong waved his hand: "How many people can you arrange to eat here?"

The boss said without hesitation: "Thirty or forty people is no problem."

Zhou Andong said to Xu Baowei: "You go and arrange it, and remind them to get receipts."

"Alright!" Xu Baowei turned and left.

Zhou Andong and the other leaders, along with more than thirty security personnel, ate at this shop.

Slowly, the sky grew brighter, and not long after, the sun jumped over the mountain peaks.

Soon, the mutton soup was brought up—a milky white soup that had been simmered for at least two hours, looking very appetizing.

Zhou Andong took a sip of the soup, and his cold body immediately warmed up.

"On such a cold day, drinking a sip of mutton soup is so comfortable."

Others nodded in agreement, and Wu Hongkang picked up some pepper and added it in.

"Boss, bring me a dish of salt; it's a bit bland."

A young girl of fifteen or sixteen came out of the back kitchen and placed a dish of salt on the table.

"When will the fried dough sticks be ready?" Zhaxi Duoji asked in Tibetan.

"My father is making them right now." The young girl could actually speak Mandarin, and quite well at that. "They'll be ready soon."

Zhang Shenghui was very surprised: "Little girl, your Mandarin is very good."

The young girl smiled: "We have Mandarin courses at school. My father's Mandarin was all taught by me."

Everyone was enlightened. At this moment, the boss came out with a basin of fried dough sticks.

"Honored guests, please eat first; I'll go fry some more."

Zhou Andong picked one up and took a bite; it was crispy and crunchy, which was beyond his expectations.

After Wu Hongkang ate one, he gave the boss a thumbs up: "Boss, these fried dough sticks you make are very authentic."

Being praised like this, the boss was very happy and turned back to the kitchen to continue frying dough sticks.