Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

Then he stood up, lifted the curtain and went out.

The snowstorm continued to rage. Ling Fengxi couldn't help but glance toward the camp. With such a strong blizzard, he wondered if Wu Lao Hu and his team were having any problems with their work. And were all the machinery properly protected? The road from the tunnel back to the construction site was getting longer and longer. With such a strong blizzard, even the construction vehicles couldn't make it up the mountain. Would the workers have to walk back to camp?

It’s so difficult to even eat a meal... Ling Fengxi frowned even more tightly.

He didn't know why he came out. He only saw a dark sky without stars or moon. However, the sky and the earth in his sight were not dark. It might be because of the reflection of the snow. In short, he could see everything around him very clearly.

The Western Tianshan Mountains are so vast, and the Hasabao are so small. It seems that there is nothing else in the world except these Hasabao and the cattle and sheep in the back mountain...

He walked forward aimlessly for a few steps, wondering if he should go to the back hill to see the sheep. How did they survive the winter? In such weather, could they really survive with just a row of windshields?

At this moment, he suddenly heard a scream.

It was Ayala's voice that came from the hasa bag at the end.

He wrapped his clothes tighter and arrived in front of the Hasa bag. The door curtain was not completely closed and there was a gap through which light could be seen. Ling Fengxi looked inside through the gap and saw that Ayala's cotton coat had been stripped off, revealing the thin clothes underneath. Hanati whipped her with the whip in his hand, and a dark red color was immediately reflected. Ayala screamed again.

Ling Fengxi was about to rush in when he heard Ayala suddenly speak. Her voice was weak, but not angry, and even kind.

"Hanati, my Ayal, listen to me. I drank for that leader today, not because I thought he was handsome or manly and wanted to please him. On the contrary, I did it for us."

Hanati lashed out with the whip again. "Don't quibble. I can see it. I know you too well. Your eyes were glued to him! When my brothers came, you didn't even glance at them. Isn't that obvious? I didn't expect you, a woman, to be so capable... You want to leave Xitian Mountain with him and run away to a faraway place, right?"

"Hanati, do you remember how you married me? We swore to be together before Tengri (the god), and we've been together for many years, never apart, remember? A few days ago, you told me to just stay at the foot of the mountain and take care of the children, but I still went up the mountain. Why?"

"Yes, why? Did you fall in love with him at that time?"

"Fool, we didn't even know this leader at that time..."

Hanati thought about the time carefully. It was indeed the time. The sheep had not been lost at that time. He actually wanted Ayala to enjoy life at the foot of the mountain, so that she wouldn't have to endure this difficult winter in the mountains. But Ayala refused, saying that she was used to life in the mountains...

Hanati finally put down the whip in his hand and sat beside him, still angrily, "It's wrong for you to drink for other men. You didn't even drink for your own man."

"That's because I know my Ayal can hold his liquor well. He's a true man of the Western Tianshan Mountains. City people can't handle it, especially that leader, who's ill. What if he gets drunk and something happens to us? How are we going to explain it? Wouldn't that ruin your future? Don't you still want to be the village chief?"

Hanati's anger finally subsided. Ayala was very weak from the beating, and sweat was on her forehead. Hanati wiped her sweat with his sleeve, picked her up and threw her on the tatami...

"Then I have to try it. I'll know if you still have me in your heart after trying it..." As he said that, he went to kiss Ayala...

Ling Fengxi quickly turned his head away...

Ayala instinctively dodged, prompting Hanati to say, "Look, you're avoiding me. You've changed your mind..."

Ayala turned his head and kissed him, "Silly boy... I haven't changed my mind. I am hurt. You touched my wound. You hit me like this. Doesn't it hurt? I'm not made of iron..."

……

Ling Fengxi didn't know how he left the door. It felt like all his bones were broken in an instant, and every step he took was painful.

He even hunched over, as if he was seriously injured and was about to be buried by the wind and snow.

His footprints were also buried by the wind and snow.

……

Ling Fengxi almost didn't sleep the whole night. When it was almost dawn, Ayala came to add coal to the stove and saw Ling Fengxi sitting on the tatami with black eyes.

She poured a bowl of hot milk tea and handed it to him.

Ling Fengxi took it silently.

Ayala was now neatly dressed, and her movements were swift and natural. There was no sign of the beating she had received last night. Even her facial expression was normal, neither happy nor sad.

Ling Fengxi took a sip of milk tea, Ayala smiled, and walked out.

Ling Fengxi followed him out and saw Ayala cleaning the big earthen stove in the yard again. The milk tea in the big pot was already boiled because she had gotten up a long time ago.

The sky was azure, not yet completely bright, but as clear as day, and everything was visible. Ling Fengxi walked over to the stove, looked at the milk tea in the pot, and asked, "Does he beat you often?"

Ayala paused and looked up at him, an embarrassed look appearing on her face. However, Ling Fengxi didn't look at her. He just stared at the milk tea in the pot. "If you really can't live together, you can get a divorce."

Ayala was stunned for a few seconds, then added fuel to the stove as if nothing had happened. "I won't divorce him. He's the most powerful man in Xitian Mountain. Besides, where would I go if I divorced him? No place suits me. I've gotten used to everything in Xitian Mountain, including the sheep, cattle, and people here.

Being beaten is actually nothing. We Kazakh women are basically beaten into dough by our husbands. They tell us to go east but we cannot go west. But we Kazakh men will never abandon our women. You may think that our life is painful, but it is not true.

When I married him, I knew what kind of life I was going to live. Everything was supposed to be like this. We were beaten by them, and we were also protected by them. Do you know how bad this place in Western Tianshan is?

Men are our gods."

Ayala used these words to firmly express her position. Ling Fengxi felt that his behavior was not upright enough. He turned his gaze to Ayala and could not look away for a long time.

Ayala was just a little older than I remembered, but she was still the same, unchanged.

She is like a Haloxylon ammodendron tree in the mountains. She may not have a good life, or everything about her may be poor, but she still holds her back straight and lives in this world like a tree. She has her own strength, can see her own way clearly, and respects the reality she faces.

Ling Fengxi knew that whatever he did at this time would be redundant because Ayala didn't need it.