Chapter 2 Chapter One

summer of 1897 Rumpur Valley, Northwest Frontier of India, Chitra Administrative Region Under the bright afternoon sun, her white hair was like a barren valley because of her jet-black hair.Starting from the edge of the forehead, it extends to the right of the middle and extends over the back of the head, and is finally wrapped into a bun, forming a striking and strange hovering totem. That lock of white hair always evoked an inexplicable reaction in his heart.It's not pity, his pity for her has long since disappeared, just like he would not pity the lone Himalayan wolf.It wasn't love either, her stiff and cold body and heart had already put an end to that love.Perhaps it can be said to be an aftertaste, a memory from innocent times and old hopes.

She was wearing a white men's-like shirt and a dark blue skirt, sitting between two fishing rods more than three meters apart, with a bucket next to her, holding a twig in her hand, and wandering randomly in the blue-green rushing water Draw a pattern. On the other side of the stream, on the narrow alluvial plain, the ripe winter wheat waiting to be harvested glowed rich and brilliant gold.Rectangular huts made of wood and stones are stacked on top of each other along the steep slope, like a pile of old toy blocks.Behind the village, the terrain is steeper and steeper, and the skeleton of the ridge is exposed behind a small walnut and apricot grove. Only a few shrubs can grow on the severe cliffs, and occasionally one or two persevering Himalayan firs will appear.

Bernie, he said.His heart ached, but he had to talk to her. She stood still for a moment, and the twig fell into the water and was washed downstream, and a stone got stuck in the middle, but soon turned around and drifted freely again.Still looking at the stream, she put her hands on her knees.Mr. Mo is really a rare visitor.What wind brings you to this corner of the world? Your father is ill.Your sister sent several telegrams to Leh, but she asked me to find you because she never heard back. What happened to my father? I don't know the details.Jiali only said that the doctor said that the condition was not optimistic, and he hoped to see you.

She stood up and finally turned around. At first glance, her face gives the impression of being calm and sweet.After a closer look, you will find the desolation hidden in those green eyes, like a nun on the verge of losing her faith.However, as soon as she opened her mouth, the illusion of weakness and melancholy disappeared, because her tone was not harsh, but too arrogant and intimidating, and she was indifferent to everything except illness. But now she was silent and reminded him of the stone angels in churchyards watching over the dead with tender and unwavering compassion. Do you believe what Carrie said?She ruined the image of the angel as soon as she opened her mouth.

Shouldn't you believe it? Unless you died in the autumn of 1995. What? She declares you dead.She said that you were living in the American wilderness, your life was dying, and you were anxious to see me before you died. I get it, he said.Is she a liar? Are you engaged. No.But he should have been engaged long ago.He knew many beautiful and lovely ladies, any one of them could be a decent spouse. She said you were engaged.And you'd be more than happy to get rid of that poor girl for me if I gave the order.She didn't look at him as she said those last words, keeping her eyes on the ground.I'm sorry she designed to frame you.I am very grateful to you all the way

Do you want me to turn around right away? There was a silence.how could be?You need to rest and eat. What if I don't need to rest and eat? She didn't answer, just turned her back on him, then stooped to pick up the rod and reel in a struggling fish. He trekked for weeks through some of the most difficult terrain in the world.In order to speed up the journey, he could not drag a large group of coolies and carry the necessities that everyone recognized as indispensable for the English masters on the road, so he had to sleep on the cold and hard ground, eat what he hunted, and occasionally pick a wild Raspberries and vegetables.In the end, this was her answer.

That was the kind of person she was, and he shouldn't have expected it. Even a shepherd boy who yells "wolf is coming" can tell the truth sometimes, he said.Your father is sixty-three years old.It's not surprising that people of that age get sick, right? With a flick of her wrist, she took the fish off the hook and dropped it into the bucket.The trip back to England would take six weeks, and the chances of Carrie telling the truth were not worth it. If it is true this time, you will regret not going back in the future. I believe it should not. Her questioning attitude used to fascinate him.He thought she was thoughtful and extraordinary.But he was wrong, she was just plain callous.

It doesn't take six weeks to go back, he said.Four weeks is enough. She turned to look at him with an uncompromising expression.no thanks. He had been doing his own thing safely in Gilgit.He deliberately left his work and traveled 600 kilometers to Leh first, then repeated the same journey back to Gilgit, and then set off from Gilgit to Chitra.Most of the time he does three trips a day, sometimes even four.He had lost a full five kilograms and was so tired for the first time since the Greenland expedition. fuck you. very good.He bowed slightly.Then I take my leave, madam. Wait a minute, she hesitated again after speaking.

He half turned around. When she first fell in love with him, he had the magic of half man, half child, the beauty of black-haired Adonis and the dash of a young Dionysus.There is a song whose lyrics are about a cold-blooded duchess and a hot teapot. Although the mouth of the bare teapot is only eight centimeters, it can still fill every teacup, regardless of whether it is shallow or deep, and soak it patiently and lovingly for a lifetime.It seemed to her that only he could escape the description of that song. By the time their marriage ended, his looks had lost some of the Cupid's sweetness that would have given him the impression that he was childish.Now, his outline was lean and jagged like the ancient mountains that surrounded the Kalash Valley.

Are you leaving now?She asked, although she was contradictory, she felt that she should at least buy him a cup of tea so as not to appear too rude. No.I promise to drink tea with your friends Mr. and Mrs. Bai. Have you met them already? They told me to come here to find you, he replied, his tone matter-of-fact, but with a hint of impatience. She suddenly tensed up.How do you tell them about us. It shouldn't be possible for him to tell Mr. Bai and his wife about their unfortunate short-lived marriage, right? I did not say anything.I showed them your picture and asked if I could find you in the area.

She froze for a moment.He has a picture of her?What picture? He reached out from his coat and took out a square envelope to hand to her, with an expression that showed nothing but fatigue.She hesitated for a moment, then dried her hands with a handkerchief, walked over, and took the envelope from him. The seal was not glued, so she opened it and took out a photo.Her retinas burned instantly.That is her wedding photo.their wedding photos. Where did you get it? The day after she asked for an annulment, he moved out of his home in Belgelia, leaving the wedding photo on the bedside table.She was later burned along with hers. Charlie gave it to me when I was passing through Derry.Mochali is Leo's second brother. He used to serve as a political officer in Gilgit, an outpost on the Indian border, and is currently a personal assistant to the Governor of India.I didn't accept it at the time, but he probably didn't understand what I meant, because he mailed it to me later. When you showed the photo to Mr. Bai and his wife, what did they say? They told you that you were fishing by the waterwheel upstream. Did they recognize you in the photo? There should be, he said coldly. None of this is true.It was impossible for the man who had been her husband to stand before her, smelling of horses and dust, his voice hoarse with exhaustion.He didn't come to take her away, nor did he expose her shameful past to the kind and honest Mr. Bai and his wife. What are you going to tell them when you go to their house for tea? He smiled, a little maliciously.That's up to you to decide.Had we been on the road immediately after tea, I would have made up a touching story of our being forced apart, and reunited at the ends of the earth after years of heart-wrenching love.If not, I will honestly say we are divorced. We are not divorced. Is there a difference?It's actually a divorce, just in a different way. They won't believe you. Will they believe you?She clearly claims to be a widow, but a husband suddenly appeared fifteen minutes ago? She took a deep breath and turned her head.That can't be helped.For me, you no longer exist. Occasionally, when she was doing the most mundane things, such as tying shoelaces, or reading a paper on the symptoms of intestinal stickiness after oophorectomy, the memory of her body would suddenly burst out inexplicably, and she was run over like a galloping carriage. Pass. The night he kissed her for the first time, there was a small white orchid in the buttonhole of his coat collar, as pure and white as a snowflake. Raindrops fell on the thick woolen material, and with her hand pressed to his sleeve, he himself walked her down the street and watched her get into the carriage.The door of the carriage was not closed yet, he stood outside the carriage and said with a smile.Alas, it's actually not bad.Marrying you shouldn't be too hard a job.At that moment, her world temporarily stopped amidst infinite beauty. The sunlight hit the chain of his enamel pocket watch, reflecting a whole spectrum of light.It was her engagement present to him.He hung the watch in the air, watched the watch body swing like a pendulum, and listened to her request: ask him to cooperate and petition for annulment of the marriage. But those flashbacks are mostly just imagined pain, misrepresented neural signals after amputation. For me?You no longer exist. He moved slightly, as if dodging, as if shivering from pain.However, when he spoke, his tone was extremely calm.Let's say divorce.