Chapter 1: Escape to the Plateau
Lin Wei pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the high-speed train, watching neon lights retreat into darkness as the suburbs blurred past. Her inbox was still buzzing on her phone—thirty-seven unread messages, six meeting requests, and one sharp reminder from her boss. She silenced the device, stuffed it deep inside her bag, and exhaled a shaky breath.
She wasn't running away, she told herself. Just… escaping. For a little while.
The train wound upward into the mountains. As dawn broke, the horizon unfolded into endless ridges, their peaks dipped in snow, their valleys carved by silver rivers. The air looked thinner, cleaner—like the world she used to dream about before office towers and endless deadlines swallowed her whole.
Lin Wei leaned closer to the window. Somewhere deep inside, a knot began to loosen.
By the time she arrived at the plateau town, the morning sun had turned the streets golden. White-walled houses stood against the vast sky, prayer flags fluttered in the wind, and the air carried the faint tang of juniper smoke.
Her suitcase rattled on the uneven stone road as she searched for the guesthouse she had booked online. She spotted it at the end of an alley: a wooden door painted turquoise, a sign that read Starsea Inn.
The innkeeper, an elderly woman with silver hair tied in a braid, welcomed her with a smile."You came from the city, yes? The plateau has a way of healing hearts. Rest well."
Lin Wei returned the smile, though fatigue weighed heavy on her shoulders. Maybe healing was too ambitious, but at least here—far away from ringing phones and suffocating office cubicles—she could breathe.
She collapsed onto the bed in her small room. The window opened to a view of mountains rising like guardians, clouds spilling over their shoulders. For the first time in months, she slept without setting an alarm.
When she woke, the sun was already leaning toward evening.
On impulse, she grabbed her jacket and wandered out toward the open fields. The path led her past yak pastures, the distant clang of bells echoing in the quiet air. The wind was sharper here, tugging strands of hair across her face, but it smelled of earth and grass instead of gasoline.
And then—she saw him.
At first, he was just a silhouette against the horizon, standing atop a ridge. But as she walked closer, she noticed the camera hanging around his neck, the way he tilted his head slightly as if listening to the whispers of the wind. He was aiming his lens not at the mountains, but at the sky above them—an ocean of clouds tinted pink by the falling sun.
Click. The shutter echoed.
The sound startled her. She stopped mid-step, unsure whether to turn back or keep going. But the man lowered his camera and glanced over his shoulder.
Their eyes met.
It was a brief collision—his gaze steady, hers hesitant. But something inside her chest tightened as if struck by the thin mountain air.
He smiled, faint but warm, and said, "The light's perfect right now." His voice was low, calm, carrying the unhurried rhythm of someone who had never rushed for a morning meeting in his life.
Lin Wei blinked, caught off guard. "Sorry… I didn't mean to interrupt."
"You're not." He lifted his camera slightly. "In fact, you fit right into the frame."
Her heart skipped. "Me?"
"Yes. The way the wind caught your hair just now—" He gestured toward the fading sun. "It belongs to this sky."
She froze, not sure how to respond. Compliments in the city were usually rehearsed lines, half-hearted flattery exchanged in bars. But this… it felt different, raw and unpolished, like the wind itself.
He turned back to the horizon, raising the camera again. "You'll see. The plateau changes people. You won't leave the same."
The shutter clicked once more.
And somehow, Lin Wei wondered if he was speaking about the sky—or about her.
She watched him for a while longer, the stranger who seemed more at home with clouds than with people. She wanted to ask his name, but the words tangled in her throat. Before she could gather courage, he had already started walking down the ridge, the wind carrying him away like another passing traveler.
Left alone, Lin Wei hugged her jacket tighter. The mountains stretched endlessly, the sky deepening into shades of violet. For the first time in years, she didn't feel like just another anonymous figure swallowed by the city.
Here, on the plateau, someone had noticed her.
And maybe—just maybe—this was where her escape truly began.
She doesn't know yet, but their paths will cross again—sooner than she expects.