Chapter 8

Su Hongwen had long been planning to go to a rather impoverished area to support the border region, but he never expected that the location for this support would be Vulture Valley in Shashi. Su Hongwen didn't know exactly where Vulture Valley was in Shashi, but he knew that Shashi was a city right next to the desert, a very remote place. Moreover, the city's economy was quite underdeveloped, and it could be described as poor and backward. If he were to stay in Shashi city, it would be better, but the place he was going was the obscure Vulture Valley. In that place, there was probably a lack of water!

But now that things had developed to this point, and the only location for the support was Vulture Valley, Su Hongwen could only go with a stiff upper lip. However, he still looked up Vulture Valley online!

Vulture Valley is located to the southeast of Shashi. There is a road in this valley that leads directly to the desert. Beyond this road is a relatively famous tourist attraction in China—Dragon Eye Spring. There is also a Dragon Eye Temple there. According to legend, the Dragon Eye Spring was formed from the eye of a dragon. Many years ago, a dragon could not bear to see the people in Vulture Valley suffer from drought and lack of water, so it defied the Jade Emperor's orders and brought rain to the valley, saving the people. However, it was beheaded by the Jade Emperor for violating the heavenly laws. After the dragon died, its eyes fell to the end of Vulture Valley and turned into the Dragon Eye Spring. Later, people built the Dragon Eye Temple to commemorate the dragon!

This legend is definitely false; there are no dragons in the world. However, seeing the Dragon Eye Spring made Su Hongwen feel a bit more at ease. He thought that since Vulture Valley was close to the Dragon Eye Spring, it was also a tourist destination, and many people came to visit every year. Therefore, no matter how poor and underdeveloped Vulture Valley was, it wouldn't be that bad!

Seeing this, Su Hongwen also wanted to look up the health center where he would be staying, but it wasn't on the map. Not wanting to waste money at the internet cafe, he quickly filled out the forms and returned to the dormitory. Originally, he had planned to borrow some money from Zhang Aobo yesterday, but he had never borrowed money from anyone in his life and couldn't bring himself to ask. He also didn't want to ask his family, so he decided to think about it after he arrived in Vulture Valley. After all, food and accommodation were provided, and he would earn 400 yuan a month. In that place, there probably wouldn't be many places to spend money, so he could save enough money by enduring for a few months. With the money, he could travel to Shashi and buy the energy needed for his spacecraft!

Back in the dormitory, Su Hongwen packed his things. He had to buy a ticket at the station the next day and head to Shashi, where someone would pick him up. He wanted to pack his things in advance. In fact, Su Hongwen didn't have much: just a few cheap clothes, a set of bedding, and the textbooks issued by the university. He put the clothes directly into the travel bag he had used for four years and planned to put the bedding in a large nylon bag under the bed the next day!

It didn't take long to pack his clothes. Su Hongwen sat on the bed for a while. He had nothing to do; his phone was an old, cheap model that could only make calls and didn't have the many functions of An Zinan and Zhou Siyuan's iPhones. He lay there until the afternoon. He didn't eat lunch; he had two packets of instant noodles, which he planned to eat one tonight and one tomorrow night. Money was tight, so Su Hongwen wanted to save as much as possible!

Around four in the afternoon, Zhang Aobo returned. Seeing that Su Hongwen had packed his clothes, he knew the guy was determined to go support the border region. Persuading him would be useless. Su Hongwen usually didn't talk much and was very quiet, but once he made a decision, no one could change his mind!

Zhang Aobo sat on the bed, took off his clothes, and put on a pair of shorts. It was too hot outside. He used a book as a fan and said, "Fourth, have you finished all the arrangements for your support mission?"

Su Hongwen nodded and said, "I called the counselor, and I've taken care of all the forms. I'm leaving the day after tomorrow!"

Zhang Aobo sighed, put down the book, and said, "Where are you going to support?"

"Vulture Valley in Shashi!" Su Hongwen didn't know what the environment was like there; he only hoped the conditions wouldn't be too bad, or he would have a hard time!

"Shashi? Damn, that place is right next to the desert. You probably won't even have enough water to drink. I think you shouldn't go!" Zhang Aobo, upon hearing it was Shashi, tried to persuade Su Hongwen not to go. That place was too harsh!

"Big Brother, don't try to persuade me. Let me go and try. It's only two years, and I can endure hardship. Maybe I can really become a doctor in the future!" Su Hongwen's voice was full of confidence. He believed that with the medical rescue ship, he could definitely realize his dream of becoming a doctor!

"You're so stubborn. Fine, if you want to go, go. By the way, I have something for you!" Zhang Aobo then picked up his somewhat worn-out bag, took out a small stack of money, and handed it to Su Hongwen, saying, "I knew you wouldn't listen to me, so I called the Second and Third today. We all chipped in 2,000 yuan for you. Life there will be tough, so take some money to buy food and necessities. Don't suffer yourself. Don't say you don't want it; consider it a loan. You can pay us back when you have the money. We wanted to give you more, but we just finished our internships and haven't found jobs yet, so we're tight on cash!"

Hearing Zhang Aobo's words, Su Hongwen's eyes felt a bit moist. The four of them had a great relationship during their four years at university. Although they weren't together during the internship, they still kept in touch. Now that he was going to support the border region, his brothers were still thinking of giving him money to help him get by. This kindness was so heavy that Su Hongwen didn't know what to say. He wanted to say thank you, but he knew Zhang Aobo's personality; if he said it, Zhang Aobo would get angry!

In the end, Su Hongwen accepted the money and said lightly, "I'll take it. I'll pay you back when I have the money!" He said it lightly, but his heart was full of gratitude!

Zhang Aobo chuckled and said, "Since you've chosen your path, work hard and make something of yourself. Don't come to us for help if you fail. By then, we'll all have money and won't care about you!" Saying this, Zhang Aobo got up and took a guitar from his bedhead. "Fourth, I'll give this to you. There won't be much to do there, and you've always wanted to learn the guitar. You can learn it when you have free time. I have some guitar books; I'll give them to you too!"

"Big Brother, I can't take this. It's a birthday gift from your wife!" Su Hongwen quickly declined!

"I only learned the guitar to win your wife's heart. Now that I've won her, I'm busy looking for a job and will be busy with work in the future. I don't have time to play. Take it, listen to me!" Zhang Aobo pushed the guitar into Su Hongwen's hands with force!