Wen Huilan was teased to her face, but she did not get angry. Smiling, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"I think a tour guide shouldn't just introduce the natural scenery. They should tell the human stories too; they should talk about the present situation, and they should talk about the history of the past."
Fris leaned back against the sofa, looking relaxed and at ease. If not for that Combat Uniform, at first glance he might have looked like some big boss enjoying life.
From his angle, all he had to do was lift his head to easily see the scene on the high ground along the right bank. He raised a hand and mimed taking a photograph, framing those scattered buildings in his "lens."
Only then did he grin at Wen Huilan again. "Don't mind me, Madam Wen. I'm just nitpicking. Mainly because back in '81—or was it '82?—when I was stationed in Lake City, I came here all the time. Fifteen years have flown by, yet some of the buildings from back then are still here. It really makes a man sentimental... Ah, the things remain while the people are gone; tears come before words."
Fris turned back to Zhao Xi. "I used that idiom right, didn't I?"
Zhao Xi nodded with a dry laugh, though he had more or less figured out why his boss had suddenly started lacing his words with barbs.
This was probably the site of a vagrant settlement from back then.
In the early '80s, there had already been a settlement of this scale deep in the mountains. By extension, the outer regions must have been thriving everywhere. Only then could bold types like Fris travel in groups of three or five and cross the Great Golden Triangle.
But now, that kind