Li Zan's dormitory was not big. Four people lived in it, with two bunk beds. The army green quilt was folded into a standard tofu block. There were two tables and two chairs. An enamel pot and toiletries were placed on the windowsill. The rest of the room was exceptionally clean and spotless. I didn't see any change of clothes, so they must have been put away in the cabinet.
When Song Ran was in college, he went to the male dormitory. It was a mess and smelled bad. Now it seems that soldiers are indeed different. Discipline permeates every aspect of life.
In addition to a faint smell of sweat, there was also a hint of soap in the room.
A ray of setting sun slanted in through the window and spread softly on the ground.
Song Ran stood on the sunny side, looking embarrassed, his hair a mess, water dripping from it.
Li Zan opened the drawer, and she took the opportunity to take a look. His spare military uniform was neatly folded without a single wrinkle. On top of it was a harmonica, a fountain pen, and a small notebook.
He took out a towel and gave it to her: "Wipe it off."
Song Ran hesitated.
Li Zan smiled: "New. Not dirty."
"No." She waved her hands quickly and said a little stiffly, "I'm afraid I'll dirty your towel. Just lend me a comb, it will dry quickly if you comb it."
He didn't force her. He put the towel on the back of the chair, walked to the window sill, took out a small white plastic comb from the enamel container containing a toothbrush and toothpaste, and handed it to her.
There were already dots of water stains dripping from where Song Ran was standing. She took a comb and walked to the door. She turned her back to him and tilted her head out the door. She combed her hair carefully and awkwardly, and the water drops fell densely to the ground.
She wrung the water out of her hair and combed it once or twice to get as much water out as possible. The weather in Garo City was hot and dry, so her hair dried in a short time.
He looked at her twice, then turned sideways, folded the towel on the back of the chair and put it back in the drawer.
She finished combing her hair, put it behind her shoulders, secretly wiped the water off the comb with her sleeve, turned around and gave it back to him: "Thank you."
"It's okay." He took it, glanced at the half-dry comb, and put it back into the enamel pot. He stepped back to the chair and turned to look at her.
The two looked at each other and paused for a second.
"when did you come?"
"when did you come?"
They were both stunned and laughed awkwardly at the same time:
"last month."
"last week."
Song Ran's face turned a little red. He pursed his lips and glanced at the vegetable garden outside the house. He also stopped and waited for her to speak first.
Both of them were speechless for a moment, separated by the warm sunset.
Finally, he picked up the topic again and said, "Why are you here? I thought your TV station only sent male reporters here."
"Discrimination against girls?" She frowned.
"That's not what I meant." He smiled gently, looking straight at her. Although he smiled gently, the soldier's eyes were still a little sharp and bright like a knife.
She turned away her eyes, tugged at the end of her wet hair, and said, "Reporters, if you don't rush forward, are you going to run backwards? ... What about you? How did you get here? I heard from Political Commissar Luo that peacekeeping missions are voluntary applications."
"As a soldier, if you don't charge forward, then what are you going to do but run backwards?" He said calmly, imitating others.
"…" Song Ran pursed his lips, "Oh. Okay."
The setting sun on the ground was stretched into a rectangle, and the puddle of water at the door of the house also completely evaporated.
She didn't want to stay any longer, so she looked at the chickens running by outside and said, "You guys should have another gathering later, I'm leaving now."
"Um."
"Thank you." She pointed to the windowsill, "Comb."
"You're so polite." He smiled again, showing his beautiful teeth.
Song Ran turned around and walked out the door. His silhouette quickly passed by the window sill, and then he started running.
Li Zan walked to the door with his hands in his pockets and looked out. She ran faster than a rabbit and disappeared at the end of the military camp in the blink of an eye.
Song Ran ran around the corner in one breath before stopping to catch his breath.
She slowed down her pace, adjusted her breathing, and as she walked, she suddenly slapped her forehead hard with her palm.
Song Ran's work backpack was still in Luo Zhan's office. When she went in to get it, she forgot to say hello and was full of worries.
Luo Zhan had just put down the phone, and seeing her like this, he knocked on the table.
She came back to her senses: "Political Commissar!"
"What's wrong? Why are your brows furrowed?"
"No." She immediately relaxed her brows and widened her eyes.
"Tell me which blind man has pissed you off, and I'll make him run 10 kilometers."
Song Ran burst out laughing: "No, I'm thinking about the topic of the material."
"Oh yeah, that's what I was going to tell you. There's a small team going to perform a mine clearance mission tomorrow, you go with them."
"OK."
Song Ran put on a big backpack and went out. He walked back and stuck his head out: "Luo Zheng, can you really run 10 kilometers?"
Luo Zhan knew she was joking, so he pointed at her twice in a stern manner.
She stuck out her tongue, smiled, and slipped away.
The power went out again in the early morning of the next day.
It was terribly hot in the room, and Song Ran couldn't sleep well, and the alarm clock almost woke her up.
When she put on her backpack and rushed to the base, the officers and soldiers of the demining team had already gathered on the military truck.
Song Ran ran over and said sorry for waiting.
The team leader's name was Yang, and he comforted her by saying that it was not too late and they were just getting ready.
"Get in the car." Captain Yang looked up at the soldier sitting in the back of the truck and said, "Give me a hand."
Just as Song Ran was about to climb onto the truck, a hand was handed down, revealing a pair of slender fingers wearing black half-finger combat gloves.
She looked up and saw Li Zan wearing a half mask, his exposed eyes curved at her.
Song Ran silently handed over her hand, and that hand held her tightly. With a strong pull, she stepped under the car and got in, sitting on the outside.
Li Zan bent his waist and didn't sit down yet. He pointed his chin inside and said, "You sit inside."
Song Ran didn't understand why, but he still moved forward with his backpack. At this moment, the truck suddenly started to turn, and Li Zan lost his balance and swayed, and suddenly leaned towards Song Ran.
Seeing that he was about to fall on her, he put his hands on the hood and held on. Song Ran turned her face away, and was surrounded by his arms, so scared that she couldn't breathe.
The car was running smoothly, so he sat back and worked with his comrades on the opposite side to lift up the truck's fender and tie it up.
Song Ran's face was burning hot, and she tried hard to calm down, but her heart was beating uncontrollably. She took out the mask in frustration and covered her face tightly.
She didn't look at him, but he was sitting next to her.
The road was broken and the car was bumpy. Their arms and legs were inevitably touching. Even with long clothes and long pants between them, she felt uneasy.
It's really annoying.
Several soldiers in the car dozed off with their eyes closed, probably because they didn't sleep well last night. The car was very quiet, no one was talking. Song Ran was also drowsy from the shaking, so he rested his chin on his backpack and closed his eyes heavily.
Song Ran woke up when the car stopped.
Li Zan removed the fender of the truck and jumped out. A group of soldiers filed down like dumplings. The half-meter height was no problem for them.
Song Ran walked to the side of the car. Li Zan stood below and looked at her, saying, "Give it to me."
"It's quite heavy." She reminded softly.
He took it easily and placed it at his feet, and asked, "Can you get down by yourself?"
"Yes." She squatted down to lower her center of gravity and jumped down. Seeing this, he reached out and held her elbow to support her.
"Thank you." She landed on the ground and put her backpack on.
They arrived at a village on the outskirts of the city.
Some villagers fled, but most of them had lived here for generations and were poor, so they couldn't leave.
At this time of year, the wheat in the mountains is ripe. Large tracts of golden yellow cover the hills. A few olive trees dot the landscape, like guardians of the land.
The minefield is in a depression in the mountains. A few days ago, a farmer stepped on a mine while harvesting wheat and a couple died. It was buried when the rebels were repelled. The government troops were busy fighting and had no one to clean it up.
The team's mission is not to clear all the mines in the mountains, as that would be too costly. What they have to do is to open up a safe path for nearby residents and put up danger signs in other places.
The soldiers took the detectors and quickly dispersed on the hillside, detecting and checking every inch of the land.
Captain Yang told Song Ran not to go to places they had never been to.
Song Ran nodded to indicate that he would keep it in mind: "I will be careful."
Li Zan was walking by, and when he heard this, he glanced back and said calmly, "We died a heroic death. Reporter Song's accident was due to Captain Yang's negligence."
Captain Yang laughed and said, "Did you hear that?"
Song Ran whispered: "I know."
Landmine detection is a very tedious and extremely boring task. Each soldier carefully turns over the weeds and shrubs on the surface in their assigned area and lets the detector scan every inch of land, not missing a single inch and not being careless.
With the surface temperature reaching nearly 40 degrees and repeated operations hour after hour, you can imagine how exhausting it is.
Song Ran was a little overwhelmed with setting up the camera and filming behind, but fortunately she only needed to capture some shots and could rest under a tree the rest of the time.
When filming, she tried not to disturb them, and when taking voice notes with a recorder, she tried to keep her voice down.
There was silence between heaven and earth.
At 10:20 am, a detector alarm sounded and soldier A detected a mine.
Song Ran was very close to him and stepped forward immediately. Soldier A shouted to the side: "A Zan."
Li Zan was nearby and came over quickly.
Song Ran adjusted the camera and saw a small piece of metal wire tied to the root of a wild wheat plant, a few centimeters above the ground.
"It's a trip mine." Soldier A said to Li Zan who was walking over.
Li Zan squatted down and gently brushed away the dirt around it. After a while, the metal shell of the mine was revealed. It was round and about 20 to 30 centimeters in diameter.
Song Ran was curious and asked, "What is a trip mine?"
Li Zan replied: "It's a mine that explodes when you trip over it."
Song Ran: “…Oh.”
Song Ran wanted to ask something else, but when he saw him start to cut the wire, he shut up. Li Zan took out the trip wire with his saber, and for safety reasons, he removed the fuse.
Soldier A helped to dig up the soil and pried out the mine with a saber.
"Be careful!" Li Zan suddenly held his hand and said in a deep voice, "There is a hand grenade underneath."
"Oh my god!" Soldier A was so frightened that his arms became stiff and he dared not move.
Song Ran was also very nervous, but for some reason he did not feel the danger. Instead, he stared at it intently.
Li Zan slowly stabilized the chassis of the mine and said, "Let go."
The comrades slowly loosened their hands and left everything to Li Zan.
Song Ran remained highly alert, squatted down gently, and aimed the camera under the landmine. He saw a round black object hidden in the soil.
Going closer, the camera didn't get the distance right and touched Li Zan's hand.
Song Ran: “…”
Li Zan raised his eyes. Her lips were pursed like a clam shell, with a silent expression as if she had realized she had done something wrong.
He said, “Are you still here?”
"if not?"
"Thought you were scared away."
“…” She muttered, “Look down on me.”
"I dare not," he said.
After hearing what he said, Song Ran stole a glance at him. He was already concentrating on the work at hand, with a slightly frowned brow, examining the round thing underneath.
She zoomed out a little and asked, "Is that a hand grenade?"
"Yeah." Li Zan responded nonchalantly, lowering his head to peer inside and assess the situation. Perhaps remembering that Song Ran was filming, he reached in and pointed at the handle of the grenade, explaining, "There was originally a safety pin here, but it was pulled out. Now the grenade handle is being pressed by the mine. Once the mine is removed, it will explode."
"That was close." Song Ran sighed and asked nervously, "What should we do now?"
Before she finished speaking, Li Zan reached under the mine, grasped the handle of the mine, took it out, and handed it to her: "Here."
Song Ran: “…”
that's all
She looked embarrassed and asked, "Won't it explode?"
"Unless I let go." Li Zan said, loosening his index finger that was gripping the handle.
"Ah!" Song Ran was so shocked that he jumped back.
But the hand grenade was as quiet as a well-behaved baby in his hand - he loosened his index finger, but his middle finger and ring finger were still tightly holding the handle.
Li Zan stared at her series of reactions just now, and a hint of suppressed smile appeared in his bright eyes; but he coughed lightly in time to restrain the smile.
"..." Song Ran thought, she would go back and complain and ask him to run 10 kilometers.
She held the camera and continued to ask questions: "What then? You can't just hold it all the time."
"Just wrap it with tape. But..." Li Zan remembered something, his expression became more serious, and he stood up and reported to Captain Yang who was not far away, "An anti-personnel mine and a hand grenade. Should we throw the grenade away or take it back?"
Captain Yang shouted, "Throw it away!"
Li Zan looked back at Song Ran with a serious expression and asked, "Do you want to take a photo of this?"
Song Ran nodded quickly: "Yes."
Li Zan pursed his lips, raised his hand and threw it hard. The hand grenade flew out and drew a parabola in the blue sky. He turned around and took the camera from Song Ran, pushed her behind him, and said, "Cover your ears."
Song Ran obediently put his index fingers into his ears and huddled behind him. Then he heard a loud explosion not far away, and mud and sand splashed like hail, hitting his combat uniform with a crackling sound.
A few stones hit Song Ran's calves, causing some pain, but most of them were blocked by his body.
When the explosion subsided, he lowered his head, brushed off the sand and dirt on his hair, and returned the camera to her.
She whispered, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He dusted off his clothes and walked away to continue his work.
Song Ran felt something was not right. A small gravel had fallen into her collar during the explosion, making her feel dizzy. She carefully pulled the gravel out and threw it away.
She thought about how he had just pushed her back...
An inexplicable sense of security.
Song Ran took a deep breath and rubbed her heart. The place where the small stone had scratched her heart was stinging and painful.