The First Night in No Man's Land

The six girls at the bottom of the slope looked up at the six boys at the top, shaking their heads helplessly.

"They can play with a single lighter for so long," Tang Ziyun said, scratching her head.

Pan Ning shook her head. "Let's get the gear down first."

"Okay."

Seeing Pan Ning and the girls getting to work, the boys took a few quick puffs and hurried down the dirt slope to take over the camping duties.

As they unloaded the gear, Liu Bo said, "There are twelve of us, but we shouldn't need to set up twelve tents, right?"

"No need. Just like staying in a hotel, six will do. It'll save us some work."

"Okay, let's get six tents down then. But I'm afraid tents might not hold up well here at night."

"Let's just set them up first. If worse comes to worst, the girls can sleep in the cars tonight, and us guys will just make do."

"Sounds good. Let's get to it!"

With that, they pulled six tent bags from Liu Bo's car.

They formed a circle in the clearing, took out the tents, and started setting them up.

The girls pitched in to help, and over an hour later, six differently colored tents were successfully erected.

"Phew, that was actually pretty tiring." Ji Bo sat down on the spot, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

"Of course it is. We're at an altitude of over five thousand meters. Do you need a hit of oxygen?" Chu Qiunan asked.

"No, no, I just need a minute to catch my breath."

"Let's all take a break first, and we'll get something to eat in a bit," Su Yang said, looking at the group.

"What's for dinner tonight?" Su Qingci asked with a smile.

"Let me think. The cassette stove definitely won't light up here. We had instant noodles for lunch, so how about self-heating hotpots for dinner? We can have them with some steamed buns and a little booze."

"Works for me!" Liu Bo laughed.

"Alright, let's rest for half an hour, then it's chow time."

They took out mats and placed them on the leeward side of the cars, leaning against the vehicles as they chatted.

"This is the first time in my life I'll be spending the night in a no man's land. I'm so nervous!" Ji Bo had finally caught his breath.

"Me too," Meng Qianyu said, raising her hand.

"Will there be wild wolves tonight?" Su Qingci asked.

"There's a very high probability that wolves will show up tonight," Meng Wenzhou said calmly.

"Then these little tents of ours probably won't be able to hold them off."

"If it comes to it, you six girls can sleep in the cars. We have exactly three cars, so that's two to a car."

Meng Qianyu nodded. "Let's just sleep in the cars then. Sleeping in tents out here at night is too scary!"

"Not just scary, but cold too. It'll probably drop to minus ten degrees or more by early morning. Plus, I'm guessing we might all get headaches when we sleep tonight, considering we're at an altitude of over five thousand three hundred meters."

Meng Wenzhou paused in thought, then added, "If you get a headache tonight, take two ibuprofen."

"Okay. I probably won't, though. I haven't felt anything this whole time," Meng Qianyu said with a smile, patting her chest.

"That would be best."

After chatting for a while, it was already eight o'clock in the evening. The distant sky was painted a deep crimson.

Everyone stood up and walked over to the dirt slope to look out.

"A sunset in no man's land. It's so beautiful."

"Yeah, it's just too cold. And I can't even imagine how lonely it would be if someone came out here to travel all by themselves," Chu Qiunan sighed, gazing at the horizon.

"Who in their right mind would come to a no man's land alone? That's just asking for a death wish."

"Fair point."

They chatted as they admired the sunset.

A gust of cold wind interrupted their thoughts. Su Yang checked the time. "Let's go. Time to eat."

"Let's go, let's eat. I'm starving."

They jogged down the slope to the edge of the camp. Zhang Ziming hauled a whole box of self-heating hotpots out of the car and opened it.

The self-heating hotpots he bought were quite generously portioned.

The girls definitely couldn't finish a whole box each, so the six of them only took three, sharing one between two people.

The boys, on the other hand, took one each.

They opened the containers, took out the heating packs, and tossed them into the bottom layer, then placed all the ingredients into the top layer.

The final step was to pour water over the heating pack to submerge it, followed by adding some water to the food tray.

Once the heating packs started steaming, they placed the food trays on top and let them cook.

These things were simple, convenient, and filling. When you were at an altitude of five or six thousand meters where it was hard to start a fire, bringing along self-heating hotpots meant you could still enjoy a hot meal.

Chu Qiunan brought out a case of beer, opened it, and handed a bottle to everyone.

Then, Liu Bo brought out folding chairs and small tables and set them up. Su Yang and Meng Wenzhou mounted lights on the cars and turned them on, instantly illuminating the camp as bright as day.

After the hotpots had cooked for over ten minutes, everyone gathered around the tables and dug in.

Wisps of steam rose, carrying the mouthwatering aroma of hotpot.

"Wow, that smells amazing."

"You bet. How could a bite of hotpot at over five thousand meters not be amazing?" Meng Wenzhou laughed.

"Come on, come on, open your beers. Let's have a toast to celebrate our first night in no man's land!" Zhang Ziming hollered.

Everyone opened their bottles and raised them high.

"Cheers! I'm downing mine, you guys drink at your own pace," Liu Bo laughed heartily, chugging his entire bottle of beer in one breath.

"Slow down."

"Haha, I'm just happy!"

"Eat up, eat up," Su Yang called out.

Smiling brightly, the dozen of them picked up their disposable chopsticks and started eating.

They chatted as they ate. Thirty or forty minutes later, the last pale glimmer on the distant horizon swiftly faded away.

Night officially fell.