Chapter 203: The Little Girl's Homesickness and Sentimentality

The next morning at seven o'clock, Ding Heng was woken up by his mobile phone alarm.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky over Zurich was just beginning to brighten.

He got out of bed, quickly washed up, and went to Lin Man's room.

Lin Man had changed into a light gray tracksuit and was sitting on the sofa looking at her phone.

Hearing the noise, she looked up and smiled at Ding Heng.

"Good morning, boss."

"morning."

Ding Heng walked to the window and poured himself a glass of water: "What time is the helicopter departure?"

"At 8:30, the hotel sent a car to take us there."

Lin Man said in a lighthearted tone, "The weather is nice today, and the visibility is high. Flying over there will be perfect for seeing the scenery."

Ding Heng nodded and took a sip of water.

After settling our luggage, at 8:20, the hotel sent a car to take everyone to the helipad.

The helipad is located on the east shore of Lake Zurich and is a private helicopter base. Several helicopters are neatly parked on the lawn, with different company logos printed on their fuselages.

Lin Man booked an Airbus H125, a white aircraft with red stripes, which can carry six passengers plus a pilot.

The pilot, a man in his forties, briefly explained the safety instructions in English and then gestured for everyone to board.

The propeller started spinning, and the noise gradually increased.

The pilot put on a headset and communicated with the control tower through the earpiece.

The helicopter slowly ascended into the air, and Lake Zurich unfolded beneath our feet.

In the distance are the continuous Alps, their peaks covered with snow that never melts.

The lake water was a deep blue, shimmering in the morning light, with a few yachts scattered across its surface.

"Wow……"

Wenjing pressed her face against the window, her eyes wide open, and let out a long gasp of surprise.

Zhao Yanxi also took out her phone and took a picture by pressing it against the window.

Only Baima remained expressionless and inexplicably uttered a remark.

"It doesn't even feel as good as my hometown..."

"Really?"

"How about you two go to Tibet together sometime, sister-in-law?"

Having seen so much natural beauty in Tibet, Pema didn't experience any emotional fluctuations for a while.

The 25-minute flight passed in the blink of an eye amidst the gasps of amazement from the crowd.

The helicopter landed at a private helipad near Lucerne.

The helipad is on a gentle slope, facing Lake Lucerne and the distant snow-capped mountains.

A black Mercedes-Benz van was already waiting by the roadside.

The driver was a Swiss woman in her thirties, wearing a dark blue uniform. She had a polite smile, introduced herself in English, and then gestured for everyone to get in the car.

The car drove down the mountain road, passing through meadows and forests, and finally stopped near the old town of Lucerne.

The guide was a Chinese man in his forties, surnamed Zhou, who had lived in Switzerland for nearly twenty years.

Welcome to Lucerne.

Director Zhou greeted him with a smile: "The weather is nice today, with high visibility, perfect for strolling around the old town."

He led the group on a leisurely stroll around attractions such as the Chapel Bridge and the Lion Monument, before finally arriving at a watch boutique.

On the ground floor of an old building, several classic watches are displayed in the shop window, gleaming under the lights with a subtle luster.

All crows are black, and tour guides in Switzerland are pretty much the same.

He would receive a commission as long as Ding Heng and others made purchases.

The difference is that they package similar behaviors in a more sophisticated way.

Moreover, the watch boutique in front of us is quite stylish, and the tourists that Guide Zhou usually leads must have considerable spending power.

The shop assistant was a Swiss woman in her thirties, dressed in a black suit, with a polite smile.

She clearly recognized Director Zhou, nodded politely, and stepped aside to let everyone in.

In her memory, the tourists from the great Eastern country led by Director Zhou were generally considered to be gods of wealth.

Zhao Yanxi wasn't interested in the watch and wandered around aimlessly.

Wenjing followed beside her, stunned by the numbers.

Hua Qing, on the other hand, was looking at it intently, standing in front of a simple women's watch and examining it closely.

Lin Man leaned closer: "Sister Qing, do you like this one?"

"good."

Hua Qing's tone was flat.

Lin Man turned to the shop assistant and asked a few questions in English. The shop assistant smiled and nodded, took the watch out of the counter, and handed it to Hua Qing.

"Want to give it a try?"

Hua Qing hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took it.

The dial is made of mother-of-pearl, the hands are slender, and the strap is made of dark blue alligator leather.

Hua Qing put the wristband on, then took it off and handed it back to the shop assistant.

"Not buying?"

"Too expensive."

Hua Qing frankly admitted it.

She still can't accept such high consumption; she can't get over it in her mind...

In the end, it was Lin Man who bought one for Ding Heng and one for herself, so that Director Zhou's trip wasn't in vain.

It was almost eleven o'clock when I left the watch shop.

The group drove to the Lucerne Lake pier.

A white yacht was quietly moored at the dock, with the captain and several crew members standing by the gangway, all smiles.

The yacht sailed away from the dock, and Lake Lucerne shimmered in the sunlight.

After boarding the boat, the other girls were fine, but Baima started to feel sleepy, leaning back in her chair with her eyes half open and half closed.

Ding Heng walked over and sat down.

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm...it's from the sun..."

Bai Ma mumbled something indistinctly and leaned her head on Ding Heng's shoulder.

"Didn't you get enough sleep last night?"

"No, not really..."

The yacht sailed through the heart of Lake Lucerne, with the distant snow-capped mountains reflected on the azure water.

Pema's eyes were half-open, gazing at the continuous snow-capped peaks.

"Brother."

"Um?"

"Doesn't that snow-capped mountain look a bit like my hometown?"

"Brother."

"Um?"

"Doesn't that snow-capped mountain look a bit like my hometown?"

Ding Heng followed Bai Ma's gaze.

In the distance are the foothills of the Alps, their peaks covered with snow that never melts.

Below the mountainside lies a dark green forest, and further down are vast expanses of lush green meadows, dotted with wildflowers.

"Does it look like it?"

"Actually, it doesn't seem like it."

Pema answered decisively, "Not at all!"

Her short legs dangled under the chair, her gaze fixed on the distant snow-capped mountains.

"The snow-capped mountains in our area are much higher and colder than this. When you stand at the foot of the mountain and look up, the mountain peaks are piercing the clouds, and you can't see the top at all."

The wind howls like knives, whistling and cutting into your bones. In winter, when it's minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius, just one walk outside and your eyebrows and eyelashes are covered in ice.

Baima was lost in memories.

"Summer isn't much better. The sun beats down so hard your scalp hurts, and when you go to the shade, you shiver from the cold. Plus, the altitude is high, you're out of breath after just a few steps, and people from other places simply can't stand it. It's nothing like here..."

She raised her chin, gesturing towards the meadow in the distance.

"Look at the foot of that mountain, it's all green, wildflowers are blooming everywhere, and the wind feels warm. People call living under the snow-capped mountains enjoying life, but for us, it's... suffering."

After saying this, the little girl's clear eyes were filled with melancholy.

Ding Heng sighed, "Then you..."

"Maybe I'm just being dramatic."

Baima interrupted Ding Heng, laughing self-deprecatingly, "Seeing the snow-capped mountains suddenly makes me homesick. I didn't even go home for the New Year, and now I'm acting all sentimental."

Ding Heng reached out and gently rubbed her head: "Don't keep it to yourself, tell me what's on your mind."

Baima remained silent for a few seconds, then braced himself against the edge of the chair with both hands and looked up at the sky.

"Brother, I have something to tell you, but please don't laugh at me."

"Don't laugh."

"When I was little, my teacher told us that Tibet is the highest place in the world, and Mount Everest is the roof of the world. I was so proud back then, thinking that we Tibetans lived in the highest place in the world, which was amazing. I went home and bragged to my mom, and guess what she said?"

"What did you say?"

She said... "What's so good about it? It's a place cursed by heaven."

Baima imitated her mother's Tibetan-accented Mandarin with remarkable skill.

"I didn't understand at the time, and I thought my mom was such a spoilsport. Now, looking at this and thinking about my hometown, I understand."

She then pointed to the distant snow-capped mountains: "Look at the foot of these snow-capped mountains, the grass is green, the sky is blue, and the wind feels soft when it blows. The houses are built halfway up the mountain, and when you open the window, you see a beautiful view, just like a painting."

What about where we are?

At the foot of the snow-capped mountain was a rocky wasteland, where the wind would blow sand everywhere. Grass grew poorly, sparse and weak, and even the cattle were hungry. Building a house was incredibly difficult; bricks had to be carried up the mountain.

Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke.

"They say that bad people come from poor and remote areas... If the environment were better and more comfortable, maybe my parents would..."

Finally, Baima came to a complete stop.

Ding Heng didn't respond, waiting for her to continue.

Baima lowered her head: "Brother, am I being too dramatic?"

"Pema".

Ding Heng called her name, his tone calm: "Are you homesick?"

Baima's shoulders trembled slightly, and finally he squeezed out a single word from his throat.

"Um."

"Then why not go back and take a look?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"Why wouldn't you dare?"

Bai Ma didn't answer, but suddenly lunged forward and buried her head in Ding Heng's arms.

"Brother."

Baima said in a muffled voice, "Next time I go back... can you come with me?"

Ding Heng replied frankly, "What's the big deal? I can do it anytime."

Baima didn't speak, burying her face even deeper.

After a long while, she added a sentence in a muffled voice.

"Brother, you're so kind."

The yacht continued forward.

A gentle lake breeze stirred, ruffling the stray hairs at the girl's temples.