For ten years, Gao Yuan drove long-haul routes across the plateau: one man, one truck, one potted succulent. Even with the warning light on for four hundred kilometers, he'd keep his foot on the gas. That winter, his truck broke down by the entrance to a village called Pingchuan, along the national highway. Lu Ping, the owner of the repair shop, crouched for a look and named his price in two words: “Twenty-eight thousand.” Gao Yuan, broke, stuck out his neck and said, “I'll work for you to pay off the debt.” He thought he'd be gone after a couple of months. Instead, he went from odd-jobber to apprentice, then from apprentice to the repair shop's half-owner. He thought he'd hit the road once the debt was paid, but the tab kept growing until it turned into a family. One was a drifter longing for a place to settle; the other was rooted in place but longed for the open road. What each had was exactly what the other wanted. North of the highway, a light never goes out. When you reach the roadside shop, you're home.
Theme: Earn a living with skill and live with integrity. This is a story about travelers taking one another in: one gives a drifter somewhere to settle, and the other gives someone rooted in place a road to follow.
