Ren He stood in a small diner by the roadside of the desert highway, where the sky outside was filled with swirling yellow sand, and the sunlight shone upon the earth, making the whole world seem like a yellow silent movie.
Ren He pulled down the scarf covering his mouth and spit out a mouthful of faint yellow sand: "Boss, do you still have fish-fragrant shredded pork?" he asked cheerfully, pointing at the faded and mottled menu on the wall.
Seeing the characters for fish-fragrant shredded pork and Kung Pao chicken in this demonized No Man's Land was somewhat comforting.
The entire journey was a full 3600 kilometers, not something that could be reached in a day; Ren He felt it was better to go a bit slower rather than travel day and night.
The boss, who had been dozing off behind the counter, looked up at Ren He, finding it rare to get a customer on this road: "Yes!"
Ren He glanced at the price tag behind the fish-fragrant shredded pork and was startled: "98? That expensive?"
