Late Stars Over Southern Tibet

Xu Nanheng is a thousand kilometers from Lhasa. He’s getting more and more irritated as he drives. When he gets out to smoke, he realizes he has no lighter. Just as he’s about to kick the tire in frustration, a man strikes a flint. A flame leaps up, and he holds it to the end of Xu Nanheng’s cigarette. Beneath the evening stars, it’s the only face Xu Nanheng has found appealing in months. “Are you going to Lhasa?” Fang Shiyou asks. “Could you give me a ride? My car broke down here. Name your price.” Xu Nanheng narrows his eyes. “Five hundred.” Fang Shiyou: “What a kind-hearted person you are.” ...Damn it, I should’ve charged more. · Xu Nanheng spends a year teaching in Tibet. The young master from the capital has never seen a sky so beautiful. He especially loves the stars at dusk, when the day is fading but not yet dark, above the lakes and blue horizon of the southern Tibetan plateau. Teacher Xu is handsome and tall. Holding his textbooks, he stands gazing up at the stars, serene as the Milky Way shimmers faintly overhead. Fang Shiyou stands at a little distance, staring at him with burning eyes. Fang Shiyou thinks this must be what an incomparable gentleman looks like. Teacher Xu is actually looking up at the stars and trying to think of a line of poetry to match the moment. Unfortunately, he teaches math, and his literary knowledge is paper-thin. All he can manage is a wistful, “Ow, my neck.” Fang Shiyou: . ·The evening stars of the southern Tibetan plateau fall asleep on the wind· Teacher volunteering in a remote area, receiving partner / doctor sent to Tibet, pursuing partner #Occasional bickering, frequent kissing# Theme: Teach and nurture, heal and save lives