Da Qingshan, the treacherous Eighteen Bends mountain road, saw a lone SUV winding its way through the winter landscape.

“Doctor Qi, why not stay the night in town and head up the mountain first thing in the morning?” The driver, a young man—dark and lean, a local kid talkative despite the mountain upbringing—asked. He maneuvered the vehicle with practiced ease while glancing over at the passenger seat. She wore a white down jacket, her permed hair gathered in a voluminous ponytail at the nape of her neck, a touch of light makeup adorning her face. Yet, she wore no clips or earrings. In the young driver's eyes, even the most fashionable theater troupes in the city couldn't match the… style she possessed. Truly someone from the big city; it showed in their very bearing.

“I have a patient waiting for surgery. If I organize everything today, I can start right away tomorrow morning. Otherwise, he has to wait another full day,” Qi Yue withdrew her gaze from the window and smiled at the young driver. Her oval face was framed by large, dark, bright eyes that revealed two dimples when she smiled.

“Doctor Qi, how old are you?” The driver blurted out before he could stop himself, immediately flushing with embarrassment at the sudden intrusion.

“Me? I’m old,” Qi Yue replied with a laugh, sizing up the driver, her eyes crinkling. “When I was your age, I was only in my third year of university.”

The driver quickly calculated in his head. Although he came from a military background, attending university meant starting around eighteen for the first year. Four years meant he’d be twenty-two, so she could be, at most…

“Barely twenty-two or three! How can you say you’re old!” he grinned widely.

Qi Yue pursed her lips, having caught his quick mental arithmetic. “Do I look that young?” she chuckled, reaching up to touch her cheek. “The university I attended was an eight-year program.”

The driver gasped and turned to look at her properly.

“I’m already twenty-seven,” Qi Yue said with a smile.

The driver let out a sheepish chuckle. “That’s not old at all, definitely not old,” he affirmed. “Doctor Qi, you’re married, right? No novels online, lots of words.”

The moment the words left his mouth, the young driver wanted to slap himself. Today was the day he decided to ask all the wrong questions, especially since he wasn’t well-acquainted with Doctor Qi yet…

Qi Yue had already turned back to watch the scenery outside, hearing the question, she simply smiled and shook her head.

“Not yet,” she answered, showing no offense.

“Doctor Qi, someone as wonderful as you should be very selective…” the young driver quickly flattered, trying to smooth things over.

Qi Yue smiled faintly, offering no further comment.

The young driver dared not speak again, secretly sticking out his tongue as he concentrated on driving.

Watching the cliffs flash by outside, the driver’s question about marriage stirred something deep within Qi Yue. Twenty-seven was certainly not young by the standards of this county town where the driver lived. However, given her own background and environment, marriage at this age wasn't a pressing concern—though for a man, marriage was usually due on the schedule, perhaps before thirty.

But now, she couldn't be sure. The man she loved was getting married; it was just that the bride wasn't her. That cliché advertising line had finally found a use for her.

Qi Yue sniffled, shifted in her seat, and leaned her head back against the headrest.

“Yueliang, why must you go there?”

“…Studying in Yanjing, clinical rotations also in Yanjing, staying in Yanjing immediately after graduation, you became a resident doctor for two years already. Director Guo values you; he’s even letting you lead surgeries. In less than three years, you’ll be operating independently…”

“…If you wanted to learn, I wouldn’t have stopped you from pursuing further studies; there were even spots abroad. Why insist on coming to this remote mountainous area? What can you possibly learn here?”

“…Going abroad for further study is just gilding the lily. What do you call coming to this remote mountain area? Learning? Learning to treat illnesses with herbs? You have a strong foundation and immense talent, but don’t waste it. Once you commit to this countryside posting for three years—three years!—it’s like rowing upstream; if you stop, you regress. Yueliang, just calculate it: your future will be ruined…”

“…Your father had an accident, your future is already damaged, yet you still listen to him, saying that true technical refinement happens at the grassroots level! What nonsense is that! Don't you care about your own future? Don’t think a few years of rural support will bring you political advancement. Our profession relies on skill; that empty reputation is useless…”

“…You are becoming more and more unreasonable. We are done here…”

Qi Yue closed her eyes and exhaled, turning her head toward the window. The car roared a lonely sound on the mountain road.

In truth, everything he had said boiled down to that final sentence. Just one year ago, Qi Yue’s father had made a critical error while performing surgery, resulting in the patient’s paralysis. This medical malpractice lawsuit had terminated both his career as a surgeon and his political prospects.

In the crucible of societal competition, it wasn't just about personal ability; it was also about family background, about having a powerful father…

Qi Yue managed a self-deprecating smile. Marrying him, for a man, perhaps it really was more suitable… Five years of love, what did that matter? In this day and age, everything was expensive, except perhaps feelings.

Damn it, she should have added something extra to that boy’s coffee back then…

Sigh…

“Doctor Qi? Doctor Qi?”

The driver’s query pulled Qi Yue back from her reverie. She turned her head.

“Are you feeling carsick?” The driver watched her expression with concern, not adding the word ‘or not.’

Qi Yue quickly shook her head and managed a smile. “No, no, I’m fine,” she assured him, trying to gather her spirits.

“This car has a new satellite TV installed… County Magistrate Zhang loves watching television. Why don’t you watch?” The driver said cheerfully, having remembered this amenity. Before Qi Yue could refuse, he switched it on.

The tiny screen, viewed up close, seemed almost guaranteed to induce motion sickness even if one wasn't susceptible.

Qi Yue appreciated the young man’s kindness, thanked him with a smile, and said no more. The sound from the television filled the cabin, and the added noise seemed to fill the emptiness in her heart.

“…Viewers, this archaeological excavation has been a stroke of luck. No one expected such an unassuming mound to conceal an ancient tomb. Based on the site conditions, the tumulus appears intact. Experts suggest this should be the burial site of nobility…”

“They dug up treasure!” the driver exclaimed excitedly. “I love watching shows about grave robbing and tomb raiding…”

Qi Yue’s expression tightened. Her gaze involuntarily drifted to the small screen. The ecstatic female host was squeezed beside several experts who seemed utterly energized. They were standing in a tomb passage, with a large bluestone gate visible at the far end.

“…In a moment, we will witness the instant the burial chamber opens… Professor Liu, perhaps you could tell us…”

The car stopped abruptly, and Qi Yue nearly jolted forward.

“We’re here,” the driver grinned.

They had reached the end of the drivable mountain road. From this vantage point halfway up the slope, one could see scattered houses dotted in the distance below, with a newly constructed building standing out clearly on a flat patch of land.

That was the township health center, the place Qi Yue was assigned to serve. Since her arrival, people from neighboring towns and even the county seat had braved the mountains just to have a doctor from the big city examine them. The once quiet hospital had become bustling. The few rooms designated for inpatients were insufficient, so the old director had generously offered up his own office. The local villagers no longer lamented the misuse of poverty alleviation funds spent on building such a fine structure.

Qi Yue hopped out. The young driver helped her retrieve her medical box from the back seat.

“Doctor Qi, can you manage that? There’s still a stretch to walk…” the driver asked worriedly, looking at the heavy first-aid kit in her hand and then at the steep path ahead.

“It’s fine, I’ll take a shortcut, straight down from here and I’ll be there,” Qi Yue replied. She glanced at the sky; it was gloomier than usual, and faint specks of snow were beginning to fall. “It’s starting to snow. You should hurry back before the roads get bad after dark.”

Not wanting to worry the driver, Qi Yue started walking immediately after speaking.

The driver watched her descend the slope before getting back into his vehicle. Starting the engine, the sound from the small television once again filled the cabin. The driver hummed a tune and sped down the mountain track.

“…It’s open…”

The driver quickly stole a glance at the television, waiting for the moment the miracle would unfold.

“…No gifts this holiday season…”

“Damn it,” the driver cursed, annoyed, but resigned himself to waiting through one commercial break after another. Today’s ad spots seemed exceptionally long…

Meanwhile, on the other end of the broadcast, the female host looked grim as she faced a group of clearly dejected experts.

“Nothing at all?”

A white-haired man paced frantically inside the tomb chamber.

“Judging by the structure of the chamber, it is undoubtedly the tomb of a major noble family…” Several others looked equally confused. “No burial objects?”

After all that effort, nothing was found. The female host was furious; this was making a fool of the audience, and her career was on the line.

“Perhaps you were mistaken, and it’s not the tomb of a duke or marquis, or maybe grave robbers got here first…” she interjected.

“We know how to judge; don’t speak nonsense if you don’t understand!” The challenge against their authority immediately enraged the senior experts. They glared at the beautiful host without restraint.

“Then why would a royal or noble tomb lack burial offerings!” The female host, unused to such treatment, retorted sharply.

Yes, why would there be none? The experts instantly deflated with relief.

“Teacher, open the main coffin!” A student diligently working on the principal sarcophagus shouted loudly.

This command made everyone surge forward, the camera lights frantically following.

Inside the coffin lay a skeleton, resting on its side. The grave clothes had long since disintegrated. The female host covered her nose and mouth as she peered in, noting the absence of jade, gold, silver, or any other typical grave goods scattered about, only bones.

It was over; this whole expedition was a waste of time.

“The live broadcast is running; we can’t drag this out any longer…” someone urged from off-camera.

“Broadcast, there’s nothing here,” the host said irritably.

The moment she finished speaking, an expert let out a cry. She whirled around and saw an expert carefully pinching an object from underneath the interlaced arm bones of the skeleton.

“What is this?” he murmured, raising the item to eye level.

The snow particles had finally turned into proper flakes. After the last hairpin turn, the car smoothly entered the plain, and the driver finally relaxed enough to give his attention back to the small television.

On screen, several experts were busy cleaning the object, while the female host babbled on with commentary.

“…Alright everyone, look, this is what was retrieved from beneath the remains…”

The driver’s eyes widened as he watched the camera zoom in on a tray, upon which lay an artifact.

“Huh?” The driver rubbed his eyes. “Is that… isn’t that a scalpel?” The driver hadn't seen one before, but when he’d been meeting Doctor Qi in the county seat, he’d seen her organizing her emergency kit, which contained things like this.

The female host’s voice on the screen echoed his confusion.

“So, Professor, what exactly do you believe this is?”

The expert’s expression was troubled as he picked up the item with gloved hands. After cleaning, the instrument regained its original form, gleaming under the camera lights as the expert turned it.

“This is… a surgical knife…” the expert muttered, “And it appears to be German-made…”

“German?” Both the female host and the driver exclaimed simultaneously.

“Holy crap…” the driver swore. “They even turn archaeology shows into ‘Approaching Science’ now… It’s unwatchable.” He slapped the TV off, silencing the host’s sickening giggle and her unfinished sentence.

“…Professor Zhang is joking… Regardless, we can certainly deduce this must have been this owner’s most cherished possession… there was nothing else, only this single item buried with them… and it looks like it was held close to the body, meaning they held onto it for a thousand years…”

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