Life is made up of the pain of unsatisfied desires and boredom after satisfaction. It is the theme of life, but it is always covered up; life has no ultimate meaning, but it is always emphasized.
It was pitch black all around. I looked up inadvertently and found that the dark clouds had cracked into several gaps. The gaps were also dark, but the black was deeper and more thorough, and dotted with twinkling stars, indicating that the rain would not come again and that I would feel relaxed and happy. They were stars.
Walking through the dark forest with difficulty, even Hu Yi was exhausted. The sound of water gradually came from the front. As the footsteps continued, the sound became clearer, louder, and more noisy, gurgling--
What was originally a shallow mountain stream has now become a roaring river. Although it is difficult to see how far it is, one can feel its tremendous power just by the roaring sound.
In the darkness, Zhou Wanping sat down by the water, panting tiredly for a while amid the surging sound, and asked Hu Yi who had been standing by the water: "Can we get through?"
Groping in the dark, he waded a few steps into the water. The water was already nearly waist-deep. The huge force of the current made Hu Yi lose his balance and he fell into the water on the spot. He felt a splash of coolness all over his body and immediately felt how fast it was drifting. He steadied himself and returned to the shore, which was already more than ten meters downstream.
Although it was dark and dangerous, and I would be washed away if I went into the water, I still had a chance to swim across. There was absolutely no chance of taking Dr. Zhou with me. He was dripping with water, and most of the dirt had been washed away. He wiped his face and felt much more energetic.
"You scared me to death. I thought..." Zhou Wanping's slightly trembling voice came from the dark shore.
"I can't see the width, I can't see the stones, it's too deep and too steep, I can't get through." Hu Yi didn't mention that he had a chance to get through.
"Then... what should we do? Why don't we go up, maybe we can... get around it."
"This is water, not a mountain. It's useless. But it's okay. They can't get through. They can only wait until daybreak."
Hu Yi said this not to comfort her, he really thought it was a good thing, he originally thought that the speed with Zhou Wanping was too slow, and they might have fallen behind the enemy, but now it seems that this mountain stream that has become a beast because of the rain has put everyone on the same starting line again. What Hu Yi didn't know was that Chief Xu used his life to exchange the last contact method of the Japanese advancing team, causing them to stop halfway through the sky and become headless flies again.
"You mean... we can take a break?"
"Um."
This answer suddenly made Zhou Wanping feel relieved. She had already given up. She hadn't felt it while walking, but now that she had stopped, she finally began to feel the cold. Her teeth were chattering a little, and she couldn't help asking again, "Can you light a fire?"
"No. They are probably moving parallel to us. We don't know how far away they are. We can't light a fire because the smoke will drift far away."
"oh."
"Stay here and don't move."
"Where are you going?"
"I'll be back in a minute." Hu Yi turned around and walked into the dark woods where they came from.
Feeling colder and colder, Zhou Wanping could not help but pull up her grain bag in the dark, only to find that it was full of sticky mud...
Not far away, I vaguely saw the outline of a thick tree. When I got closer and looked up, I could see the night sky between a few leafless branches. I passed by this dead tree on the way here. I pulled out my bayonet and knocked on it with the handle to confirm that it was hollow, so I immediately began digging with the bayonet and my hands alternately.
The thick main body had long been hollowed out by insects and ants, leaving it crisp and brittle. Soon after, there was a crackling sound, and a black hole appeared. I crawled in and cleaned the inner space with a bayonet, and bursts of dry and choking rotten wood dust floated in the air.
Although this season is the turn of spring and summer, the night after the rain is very cold. The most important problem is that she is wrapped in wet and muddy clothes. If she continues like this, she will definitely get seriously ill, not to mention that she has been physically exhausted. Moreover, she is a woman, and you can tell that she is trembling when you hear her speak.
Soon after, we returned to the river.
"What did you go for?"
"Take off your coat."
"What?" Zhou Wanping was surprised.
"We have to stay here until tomorrow morning. Getting wet will kill you, and getting covered in mud will make it even worse. Give me your coat."
Doctor Zhou understood this principle better than anyone else, and understood what Hu Yi meant. Although he didn't understand what he was going to do, he was no longer vague. He busied himself with work and handed the wet coat to him, leaving him with only the muddy shirt on.
He took her coat to the river and rinsed it several times to remove the mud, then took out the water and wrung it out vigorously until it stopped dripping, then led her to the dead tree hole he had dug out and spread her coat on the bottom of the tree hole, which was covered with dry, rotten dust and sawdust.
"How... did you come up with this idea?" Just by looking at it, she seemed to feel warm in her heart and couldn't wait to crawl into the tree hole.
"It's not something I thought of, it was something I was forced to do on the battlefield. I have to say you're lucky to be able to find such a good place at night." Hu Yi spread out his clothes and stood up: "Okay, now take off the rest and put them on the ground, then go in."
I didn't feel comfortable saying "take off your pants too", so I used the word "other" instead. After saying that, Hu Yi turned around, turned his back to Zhou Wanping and walked a few steps away. In fact, in this dark forest, you can hardly see anything without turning around.
The rustling sound began, and it took a little longer than Hu Yi expected before her voice, which had suddenly become a little soft, came out: "Okay."
Turning around to the tree hole, he picked up the clothes on the ground one by one. Surprisingly, they were all there. He thought she would leave behind some underwear, but now, besides pants, leggings, socks and shoes, there were two more pieces, a shirt and shorts... Hu Yi couldn't help but raise his hand and hit his forehead, thinking: It's my fault for speaking too politely. I forgot what kind of virtue and sin she was.
"It's too prickly in here." The complaining voice came from the tree hole.
"Hold on for a while. Let me finish washing and wringing it out first." In the darkness, Hu Yi, with a frown on his face, gathered the clothes in his arms and walked towards the river.
I even washed my clothes by the river, wrung them out until no water came out, and then put them on again. Although they were still wet, I felt a lot more comfortable.
Unexpectedly, Yu Zao's small tree hole would feel so warm. Zhou Wanping hung her pants against the inner wall of the tree hole to dry. Although the shirt she put on again was still a little damp, the mud on her skin had begun to turn into gray, and she felt indescribably comfortable.
"Then, water entered, but there was no mud, so I'll just drink it as porridge."
He reached out and touched an aluminum Japanese lunch box that was handed to him. He took it and started drinking without saying anything. The porridge didn't taste like porridge, the cake didn't taste like cake, and the steamed bun didn't taste like bread. He ate and drank very sweetly. It was not until the lunch box was almost empty that he suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten yet. He licked his lips and handed the lunch box back.
"Okay, you are very loyal and remember to save some for me. It's not in vain that I serve you, a great doctor." Hu Yi, who was leaning against the tree hole, picked up the lunch box and drank it in a few gulps.
"Didn't you say you weren't a human? I thought you didn't need to eat."
After a while, the person in the tree hole asked again: "Are you cold?"
“It’s not cold.”
"Why aren't you cold?"
"I am not a human being."
After a low laugh, he said, "There seems to be enough space for both of us to sit here. Come in too."
"Did you hear that?"
"Men and women should not touch each other"
"Now you remember that?"
"Come in, there is no antipyretic medicine in the hospital. Your luck won't always be so good. I'm serious."
"Come on, where is all the energy you put on me during the day?"
Most of the dark clouds had dispersed, releasing the crescent moon that had been obscured. A faint light appeared on the ground outside the tree hole.
The cramped cylindrical space could indeed accommodate two people, but although the bottom was spacious, the upper part gradually narrowed, causing the shoulders of the two people sitting side by side with their legs bent to be squeezed tightly together.
It was indeed warm, so warm that Hu Yi broke out in a sweat. One third of the reason was because of Yu Zao's closed tree hole, one third was because he tilted his body to try not to squeeze her, and the other third was because his shoulders were pressed against her thin shirt, and his legs were pressed against hers. But her legs were exposed in the darkness, without any cover, which was too tiring, but she was willing to endure it.
The two of them just breathed, neither of them spoke, and their postures were the same, both of them curled up side by side with their legs bent and knees hugged, looking out of the cave in front of their feet in the darkness.
After a long moment, she broke the silence: "This is... a bit too crowded, and there seems to be a thorn on my shoulder."
"Yes, I'd better go out."
Hu Yi tried to move his body, but the space was too small and he was afraid of bumping into her, so he was a little flustered for a moment.
"No need to ugh, that's enough, don't move." For the first time, there was a hint of unnaturalness in Zhou Wanping's voice.
This time it was indeed not crowded, because the two people's hustle and bustle just now caused their positions to change. Hu Yi sat with his legs apart against the wall of the cave, and Zhou Wanping sat between his legs with her back against his chest.
I dared not move again. I could see nothing except the faint moonlight outside the cave entrance. The only sound I could hear was the breathing of the two people. This time, I could even hear their heartbeats because their positions overlapped. Time continued to pass quietly, even slower than before.
At first, she tried to keep her back straight, but before long, she no longer had the strength to sit up straight, and her back became more and more bent, little by little, until her back finally rested on the chest behind her.
Although I was wearing my military uniform and her shirt, I could still clearly feel her back was so soft, as soft as water. So I had to try to move my waist and abdomen back a little to hide the embarrassment, but unfortunately my waist was already pressed against the wall, leaving no space at all.
She must have felt it, because her breathing became more unnatural than before, but she still did not move, letting the embarrassment press against her waist.
After a long while, a fierce battle between the left and the right in my mind finally ended with one side winning miserably. I was ready to announce the answer in a low voice: "I..."
"Don't talk." She suddenly interrupted, her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, almost inaudible, but it was particularly clear in my ears, even deafening: "Please... don't talk..."
Confused, there is only confusion in my mind. There is no winner in war, and there is no answer.
Then, he felt her deft hands reaching down behind his back, extremely slowly, inch by inch, minute by minute, as cautiously as a sharp scalpel, slowly approaching, slowly arriving, and slowly untying the restraints.
Then, her back, which was pressed against the broad chest, slid up little by little, and the thin shirt rubbed against the damp military uniform, making a slight sound. Her eyes were blocked by her gradually rising shoulders, and she could not see the moonlight outside the cave. She froze in her tracks, shuddered deeply, and finally came down little by little at a more cautious and slow pace.
So... the moonlight outside the cave entrance came into view again, faint and quiet...