Don't Pick Up Strange Men in the Wild

I shouldn't have picked that man up from the Gobi Desert in the first place.

When the man once again lifted him with one arm and pinned him against the wall, Cong Qingzheng clung trembling to his neck and couldn't help thinking this.

Two years ago, Cong Qingzheng was a specially assigned researcher from the Geological Institute, accompanying an expedition team into the uninhabited reaches of the Qaidam Basin.

Amid the howling sandstorm, a dark shape writhed and crawled across the wasteland.

Cong Qingzheng took a closer look. It was a man on the verge of losing consciousness.

He was a sturdy-built man, in a terrible state, with bronze skin, curly hair full of grit, and a wild, untamed appearance.

Probably an outdoor adventurer who'd run into trouble.

Cong Qingzheng dragged him back to the car.

The man opened his eyes. When he saw Cong Qingzheng, his weak eyes suddenly lit up. "Darling, you're so beautiful. Would you like to be my model?"

Cong Qingzheng: "..."

Only then did he notice the heavy backpack the man had refused to abandon, even on the brink of death. It was filled with more than ten kilograms of photography equipment.

"My darling." The man slapped his camera cheerfully. "Want to take a look?"

Flippant, lecherous, and clearly out of his mind.

That was Cong Qingzheng's first impression of Dai Yanlan.

Two years later, Cong Qingzheng returned to Yanyan Lake to give a lecture and heard there was a photography exhibition nearby.

He turned the steering wheel and, for no particular reason, headed to the exhibition.

The iron-gray wasteland had been polished bright by the wind, with jagged rocks embedded in it and lakes of different colors scattered like stars.

It was a photography style he knew well.

At the corner, Cong Qingzheng caught sight of a familiar figure.

"Beautiful boy, long time no see."

Dai Yanlan still had a head of wild, unruly curls, and a cigarette he hadn't lit dangled from his mouth. "Can I invite you to be my model?"

[Cool-faced, adorable beauty bottom x roguish, feral dog top]

[Geological resources researcher x photographer of the frontier's scenery]

Reading Guide

· Differences in build and skin tone

· This story is entirely fictional

Theme: To hear the Way in the morning, and die content in the evening