It's Time to Check In at the Ranch

A Xiao spent eight years in a cubicle in the city, wearing a suit every day, squeezing onto the subway, and clocking in from nine to five. Then his father called from the ranch: "There's no one left to herd the sheep." After a long silence, A Xiao quit his job and returned to the grasslands. He rode horseback, guiding the flock to new pastures, pitched tents in wind and snow, and brewed tea beneath the stars. When someone asked where he lived, he said, "Wherever the wind blows, that's home." He no longer needed an address on his ID card. His identity was written across the grasslands, in the tracks left by every migration.