The story uses the elegant and interesting activity of "shooting birds" as the entry point, but cleverly avoids simple description of the scenery, and instead focuses the camera on the two people's completely different life concepts and methods of doing things. Shu Jin may be pursuing the ultimate artistic beauty and spiritual resonance, while Cao Siqing has more secular fireworks and realistic considerations. During the long journey for more than half a year, from planning the route to being patient while waiting, from responding to emergencies to handling complex interpersonal relationships among classmates and friends, the differences between the two surged like undercurrents. Those unclear relationships between classmates and friends are like the background that is difficult to focus on in front of the camera, adding a bit of realistic helplessness and absurdity to this journey.
However, it is these seemingly irreconcilable contradictions that constitute the most moving tension in the novel. The author does not deliberately create dramatic conflicts, but uses delicate and nuanced brushstrokes to integrate the friction, compromise and mutual support between husband and wife into every press and release of the shutter. This is not only a journey to pursue the beauty of nature, but also a profound practice about marriage, self, and how to find balance in the complicated world.
