The wind has subsided and the snow has cleared, and the Mu Us Desert at this moment is like a baby who has finally fallen asleep peacefully after most of the night. It seems so tranquil and peaceful. I walked alone in the endless white snow, enjoying the tranquility and loneliness of fun. This was the first time we had visited the construction site in early spring this year. The drilling team along the way had sealed up equipment for a winter, but it was still covered in snow. For the oil people who have been fighting in the Sulige gas field all year round, the winter that has just passed is the season to reunite with their families. Without the roar of drilling machinery and the busy figures of oil people, the whole of Mu Us was still sleeping soundly.

Tired of eating the hay in the sheeppen, the flock of sheep foraged in the snow in twos and threes. They used their front legs to dig through the snow layer to find the few fresh leaves. After decades of governance, the Mu Us Desert has become increasingly "unworthy of its name". At my feet is a grassy beach full of lush water and grass, but at this time, she hides her graceful demeanor under the thick snow layer.

It was the first time I came here with my master on a Qingming Rain. A misty spring rain just awakened the desert that had been sleeping for a whole winter. Ding, dong, the sound of the oasis melting and the sound of the land thawing seemed to be the tune she sang happily after waking up, drawing tender grass gushing out of the ground and spreading boundless greenery.

The master who has been fighting in Mu Us for fifteen years is about to retire. He reluctantly points to the scenery in front of him and explains it to me one by one:"You see, the group of wild geese in the oasis should be the group we saw when we built the gas gathering station last autumn; there are also wild flowers by the lake. I didn't know their names when I first arrived, but later I checked it online many times before I found out that it was Gesang flowers; and..." In the master's opinion, spring in Mu Us can give people a feeling of vitality and rejuvenation of everything, which can be seen all year round. Sichuan cannot be experienced.

As the first oilman to develop the Sulige gas field, Shifu has become accustomed to living like a migratory bird. When the weather was cold, I returned to Sichuan for a winter break, and when the weather was warm, I came here to start a year-long journey. In fifteen years, Mu Us should have been sublimated into his second hometown.

"Come to the table silently, and share the world in one color." Compared with the colorful spring, at this time, I am more like walking in a picture rendered by a knocked over white paint plate, with a vast expanse between heaven and earth. In his field of view, only the rolling lines of large snow-covered sand dunes were left.

I tightened the cotton-padded clothes on my body, climbed to the highest point with high spirits, and looked around. Outside the distant treatment plant, the willow that had long been blown bare by the north wind is now full of bunches of "silver flowers", like poems filled with the prosperity and decline of vegetation and the rotation of cold and heat, pressing the branches. It's heavy.

In the past ten years of large-scale development of the Sulige Gas Field, what have they witnessed? The drilling team that moved in and out, the treatment plant that rose from the ground, the oilmen who made beds on the ground, the spiritual inheritance of "hard work, three elders and four strictness"... At this moment, the sand willows are "gloomy". The figure makes me feel like I am in that hot July again.

The scorching sun of flowing gold and stone scorched every grain of sand on the ground hot. The shade under the sand willows is the only place where the scorching sun cannot rage. Engineering construction in the treatment plant has been in full swing for a week.

After lunch, people were densely covered under the willow trees, like an isolated island of refuge in a flood. I barely squeezed myself into the edge of the shade. As soon as I sat down, the construction workers around me were already snoring. After only resting for 5 hours for two consecutive days, I couldn't resist the bursts of sleepiness and fell asleep with my knees in my arms. After a while, he woke up again sweating profusely.

I was curious why they could sleep so soundly, but welder Lao Zhang said that he had spent seven summers in the Mu Us Desert and was used to it. A broken canvas, a dry sandy land, and a few luxuriant trees can rest for a noon, which is much better than the sultry and mosquito-rich noon in Sichuan.

When Lao Zhang said this, his serious expression seemed to appear in front of me again. Under the sand willows, their footprints seemed to still remain, and they had never been buried by the wind and snow...

Walking down the sand dunes, behind the treatment plant is the home of Mongolian Uncle Buhe. At this time, Uncle Bu He was cleaning up the snow in the courtyard. He also saw me, waved at me, and motioned for me to go to his house. I took off my gloves, stomped the snow on my boots, and walked into the well-heated house.

I am used to watching the snow in my dormitory wearing short sleeves in the winter. When I return to Sichuan, I am often too cold to get out of bed. While sighing, Aunt Qimuge handed over a cup of boiling mutton milk tea. I blew on the hot air at the mouth of the cup and took a shallow sip. The aroma of goat's milk flowed from my heart to my limbs and bones with warmth. The fishy smell that once kept me at a distance seemed to have long passed away.

The first time I drank goat's milk tea was at an autumn Nadam Conference. Mu Us in early September is the most beautiful time of the year. The lush water grass, scattered cattle and sheep, and the newly golden grassland blend into the sunset sky.

On the school ground, there are vigorous knights, dressed women, and cheering audiences, all the talents and young people gathered together. The hospitable Mongolians introduced us to the yurate and presented us with a cup of goat's milk tea in a respectful manner. I took a small sip cautiously. The expected fishy smell made me frown. The owner laughed generously and changed it with fruit for me.

During the banquet, hand-grilled mutton, beef bones, horse-milk wine... I was drunk and leaned in this yurt with the sunset shining. In my half dream and half awake, I seemed to see wild geese flying south in the sky, and my parents, wife and children at home. I vaguely heard the conversation between my host and my colleagues again:"This is the home of your oil people." And the laughter of colleagues also seemed so pleasant and peaceful.

Uncle Bu He's soft cry brought back my thoughts from wandering in the sky. In the kitchen, the aroma of mutton stew by Aunt Muge is coming to my nostrils; outside the window, the entire Mu Us Desert is sleepy under the thick snow layer. Everything seems so familiar and natural. Bu He said softly:"It should warm up after this snow." I took a sip of goat milk tea and replied without hesitation:"Yes! The rig that has been sleeping all winter will soon roar excitedly again..."

text:Yang Xiaoliang

picture:qiangda

edit:Yao Jiena

editor:he Li

audit:Ma Yingying

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