That night, local cadres organized a simple welcoming banquet for the survey team--of course, it was also a strong banquet.

Considering the tastes of the survey team members, the dinner dishes were not too traditional. The main dishes were stone pot chicken, yak meat and hand-catched mutton, plus some glutinous rice cakes and yogurt. A simple meal was enjoyable.

At around 10 o'clock in the evening, sparse snowflakes began to float in the sky. Qinghao walked out of the house with a sad face and lit a red plum brought from his home.

Zhang Fu was still following him like a little follower. After asking for a cigarette, the two of them held the railing outside the house and fell into deep thought together.

After a long time, Qing Hao asked:

"According to your opinion, if the snow will stop tomorrow morning, will we continue to walk?"

Zhang Fu pondered for a moment and replied:

"I think I have to go, mainly two considerations."

"First, our time is limited. After completing this survey, we will immediately set off from Xuewaka to 318 to Taohuagou, which is only 15 days in total."

"Although the survey mission in Taohuagou is not heavy, if something happens in the middle of the journey, it is very likely to delay delivery time."

"Our time redundancy is actually only about 3 days, but who knows how many days it will take to snow? I can't afford to bet."

"Secondly, the altitude of this place is not too high. Judging from the weather information, there are few severe blizzards. Judging from my experience, the danger is relatively low--at most, the difficulty will increase a little."

"And, from us, there is a way to freeze. This is the easiest part of our entire itinerary. Instead of waiting for the snow to stop, we might as well take advantage of the difficult conditions and wait for the ridge to go and the road is starting to be difficult to walk, and the weather is getting better."

"It's nearly 8 kilometers from Ziyanna to Chamuna. If you're lucky and the snow is frozen firmly, we can actually walk through it in one day. At that time, we will go down the mountain from the northern slope of Chamuna and camp at an altitude below 3,000 meters."

“The slopes over there are very smooth and there is no risk of avalanches, and it is the safest camping site.”

"In this way, we can complete 50% of the route in two days. On the third day, we went up the mountain from the northern slope of Chidan and camped at the 95e and 29n punctuation."

"On the fourth day, complete all survey tasks. On the fifth day, you can start to get down to Chitan and go north from the old river valley in the northeast to Sewaka Village."

"This section of the road is easy to walk, with a total length of about 16 kilometers. We will work hard and walk it in one day, saving two days of renovation time."

"After arriving at Xuewaka, I crossed the river directly to Taohuagou for 318 hours, and took a 4-hour rest there for two days. After completing the hydrological surveying, I went to Motuo along 559 and joined the 029 survey team there."

"If we follow this plan, we can complete all survey tasks in one stage within 10 days, and we can start taking the Simori route in the next stage."

After listening to Zhang Fu's explanation, Qing Hao nodded slightly and said:

"Your plan is very scientific. It seems that you really have a specialty in your profession. I have been doing geological surveys for more than ten years, and there are still great shortcomings in this regard."

"The harm is all experience. In fact, the most important part of this large-scale and long-term outdoor activities is not to rush to travel, but to rest. In the plateau, people's physical fitness recovery is very slow. If they are in a wild activity for 10 consecutive days, they must connect to two to three days of low-altitude rest."

"My subsequent plan is basically designed according to this rule. We have to rest for two days in Taohuagou, leave Motuo, and go to Simori, and call for the first helicopter support."

"That piece is all an unmanned land. We can't get out of it on our own. The difficulty of returning is too high. Instead of wasting time, it's better to just call a helicopter."

"Well, according to your arrangement, you are an expert in this regard. But I have a problem. Starting from Semoji, our survey points will gradually become denser. It is likely that the time of travel will exceed 20 days. It is inconsistent with the 10 days you mentioned. How do you solve this problem?"

"It can't be solved. We will definitely be in an unmanned area by then. It is impossible to stay in a place where people live comfortably, but I have planned several hot spring spots along the way, which are low in altitude and high in temperature, so I can barely meet the needs of rest."

"...Most of the hot springs here are holy springs, right? I have considered these taboos but no."

Zhang Fu smiled slightly and asked:

"Brother Hao, do you believe in ghosts and gods?"

Qing Hao was stunned for a moment and replied:

"You say believe it, I am a materialist; but you say you don't believe it... You know, we field workers are more or less taboo. This boundary is difficult to judge, but I always feel that it is better to follow some rules in such a sacred place."

Zhang Fu shook his head and said firmly:

"If we want to abide by the rules, we should not do the Tongtian River project. Once this river is moved, many lakes along the way will face drying up--that is a holy lake."

"I don't feel that this thing is sacred. For me, the most sacred place in the world is the cornfield in the northeast."

"Do you know why? Because I grew up eating that thing."

"If it's urgent to be in power, I wouldn't mind keeping some faith for them without the crisis of invasion of adjacent dimensions, but now... can faith kill the robbers who want to suffocate us in another dimension?"

"So you still have to let go of your psychological burden---you are the captain, you have to find ways to let others put down your burden. I don't want to see someone's hands and feet frozen during the trip in the future, and I'm still reluctant to go to the hot springs."

"clear."

Qing Hao took a deep breath and silently wrote the last stroke in the notebook in his hand.

Then, he put away his notebook and his expression began to relax.

"Zhang, let me ask you, why do people like you think of going to a place like this to do surveys? Are you pursuing challenges or wanting to gain fame?"

Hearing Qinghao's question, Zhang Fu seemed to have fallen into deep thought for a moment. He looked at the snowflakes falling under the light and answered:

"Actually, I can't understand why. When I first came into contact with this project, I was full of passion, for China and humanity. Later, I gradually became cold, but although it was cold, I didn't want to quit."

"How to say, to me, this thing is like a mission----do you feel that way? You just feel like you are alive to accomplish something."

"You know my family's background. When I was in high school, my family had already made a fortune. At that time, our family was even richer than we are now. According to the general route, second generations like me should study business administration, finance, etc."

"If you are even more dandy, just stop going to school and eat, drink and have fun at home."

"But I don't think so. I had a big fuss with the old man, and finally chose a major in geology. What I like is that this major can go outdoors."

"Actually, I just like the outdoors. I have no interest in geology at all. I graduated from university for a guaranteed basis and did not do related work after that. I almost forgot all the things I learned--if I didn't forget, I should be the captain now, hahaha."

"----It's a bit far. To be honest, if you have to say the reason, I can stand here now mainly because of one person."

"Who?"

Qing Hao looked at Zhang Fu beside him curiously. Some stories of love, hate and affection between wealthy families had appeared in his mind. He couldn't help but guess that maybe Zhang Fu was interested in which lady, and he had to prove himself through this matter.

However, Zhang Fu's answer was far beyond his expectations.

"My elementary school teacher."

"You elementary school teacher?? Have you fallen in love with your elementary school teacher??"

"......You have watched too many movies. Let's talk to me about the horse and pulling a big cart? I'm a male teacher!"

"Oh...male teacher..."

Zhang Fu glared at Qing Hao speechlessly, and then continued:

"I remember one time in elementary school, when I was in class, the teacher talked about the word "changing world", saying that Lop Nur is a typical representative of the change world. In the past, there was a sea, but now there is no drop of water inside."

"I had a wide range of knowledge at that time. I told him that Lop Nur had water, but it was a saline-alkali lake, so he didn't listen."

"Not only did he not listen, he also punished me to stand at the door for three classes until my dad came to take me away in person. He insisted that I argued, contradict the teacher, and disrupt the teaching order."

"I have always remembered this thing, like the shadow of childhood. I saw the Tongtianhe project some time ago, and suddenly I felt, hey, the opportunity is here."

"Now Lop Nur will not only have water, but also will have sea in the future. When the project is completed, I will run to him to show off."

"After 40 years of slap in the face, isn't it exciting to think about it?"

After hearing Zhang Fu talk about his reasons, Qing Hao's face looked like he saw a fool. After hesitating for a few seconds, he tried hard to control the urge to complain and said:

"Your reason is so stingy..."

"That's right, more than 10,000 people from the survey team, and even millions of people who participate in this project in the future, everyone will have different reasons. It's not normal that there is a slut in the occasional situation?"

"Even if it's normal..."

Qing Hao answered helplessly, but before he could finish his words, Zhang Fu continued to say them.

"But one month ago, my teacher died."

"Three idiot children went to the waterside to play in the winter. They were met by him and saved two. After they came up, they had a heart attack and fell down by the water."

"The forensic doctor said it was overworked, and people under 40 years old had already collapsed."

"At that time, my mother kept advising me that the survey team was too dangerous and that they would die if they were accidentally killed. I also thought it made sense. In addition, the teacher died and the slap in the face was gone, so I might as well give up."

"I thought then, something was wrong."

"I just thought, do you know that Lop Nur had water at that time? Is he treating me so much because he really doesn't understand, or for other reasons?"

"I always thought he was a bad teacher--I was unwilling to accept the opinions of students! But I was a little suspicious of his death."

"Later, I checked his resume and found that the students he taught were generally pretty good, and he even funded a lot of students himself--I was not very good at home at that time, and the elementary school I went to was a migrant worker school, with many poor students."

"Then I knew, oh, some things are not as simple as you see on the surface."

"He probably knew that there was water in Lop Nur, but we were only in the second grade at that time, so we didn't need to know, and of course there was no need to argue."

"Then I thought, this is probably because of some causal connection. At this moment, he used his death to break my heart's knot--I am not idealism, I am purely scientific, probability theory or something."

"Think further, I understand."

"You said he has proved that he is right and good in my case. Do I have to prove it too? I am not wrong?"

"So, I still have to do this, and I still have to build the sea of ​​Lop Nur."
Chapter completed!