At eight o'clock in the evening, the food street was busy with traffic. The rain is still falling, but it cannot stop the enthusiasm of Liangcheng people to go out to restaurants.
Liangcheng gets hot and humid in the summer. It's hard to stay indoors, and the air conditioner is too stuffy, so everyone likes to go outside to cool off. The old people like to bring small stools and gather at the entrance of the alley to shake cattail fans and blow the breeze, while residents of the new community flock to the garden square. Several lakes and riversides in the city are the best places to cool off.
Young people are more restless, so they can hang out with friends and gather in open-air food stalls to eat barbecue and drink beer, which is a good time to sweat profusely. There are also many delicacies in Liangcheng, including local lake-fresh game, fish and wild vegetables, snacks and snacks... If you try them all, you won't be able to finish them all in a month or two.
The food court is located on the riverside. As night falls, the neon lights turn on. The colorful light signs of "Jiangyu Restaurant" and "Crayfish" filled the night sky. Shopkeepers took to the streets to attract customers.
Song Ran parked the car and the shower stopped.
The waiters at the lobster shop are setting up outdoor tables and chairs at the door.
After some discussion, they decided to sit outside. It had just finished raining, and the river breeze was blowing very comfortably.
Song Ran ordered three large pots of spicy crayfish, lotus root and pork ribs soup, fried lotus root strips with green pepper, fried chrysanthemum with dried fragrant seeds, stewed fish head with radish, and a bunch of barbecue...
Xiaoqiu stopped and said, "Don't order too much. You won't be able to finish it later."
Xiaodong smiled and said, "Are you going to get a bonus for a business trip? So generous."
Song Ran said: "If you can't finish eating, you can take it away."
It would be embarrassing if you treat your colleagues to dinner and the dishes are short.
Xiaoxia said: "Why bother. That's enough."
"Oh." Song Ran closed the menu, "Let's order these first. Will we add more later?"
"OK."
Everyone sat around a table. They communicated a lot during work on weekdays, but rarely had private gatherings. At this moment, they were staring at each other, giggling at each other, and the air was quiet for a few seconds.
Xiaodong brought up the topic: "Liangcheng has opened up the settlement policy, and now housing prices are going to rise again."
Shen Bei touched up her lipstick and said relaxedly: "I've never paid attention to housing prices."
Xiaochun: "Of course you don't need to pay attention. It's better for you locals. You have a house, you can spend your salary how you want, and you don't have to worry about anything."
Song Ran shook his head: "Locals can't afford houses either."
Xiaoqiu said: "Don't worry, you are the strongest among our new reporters. It will only be a matter of time before you get promoted and get a salary increase."
Before Song Ran could say anything, Shen Bei threw the lipstick into her Chanel bag, raised her head and asked, "Did you order a drink?"
Song Ran: "Yeah. Two squirts of watermelon juice."
The crayfish was soon served, and everyone put on their gloves and feasted.
Xiao Xia was soft-spoken and praised: "To be honest, "Before the War: Dongguo Ji" is really good. I really like to read it. Ran Ran, I have discovered it before, whether it is the manuscript you wrote or the records you made, read it It’s quite ordinary, but it’s always fascinating to watch.”
Xiaoqiu agreed: "Yes, you can always see angles that others can't."
Song Ran smiled slightly as a reply.
Shen Bei asked: "Song Ran, are you studying journalism?"
Song Ran shook his head: "No. I study history."
"Huh?" Everyone was surprised. Most of them are media-related majors, and even Shen Bei is closely related to the International News Department.
Shen Bei: "Our department is still recruiting history majors?"
Song Ran: "I liked to write short essays when I was studying, and I submitted articles to newspapers owned by Liangcheng Satellite TV."
"Oh." Everyone looked like they suddenly realized.
Xiaochun: "It seems that I have loved reading and writing since I was a child. No wonder I write well."
Xiao Xia bit into the shrimp meat and said: "Ran Ran looks like a young man at first glance. He talks little and is quiet. He just holds a book and reads when he has nothing to do."
Xiaodong said: "Song Ran is too introverted, she can be more lively."
Song Ran explained: "I'm not introverted..." I just don't have anything to say a lot of the time.
"Have you ever encountered any danger after staying in Dongguo for so long?" Shen Bei asked. At the beginning, the leader also arranged for her to go to the front line, but she was afraid of fighting and did not dare to go. She stayed at home to analyze the situation. Now I feel a little jealous when I see so many vivid stories recorded by Song Ran.
She asked: "The situation over there is turbulent and chaotic."
"Sometimes you encounter thieves. There are no other dangers..." Song Ran paused and thought of that man that day.
When I think of him, a feeling comes out.
He is not a symbol, but a picture. His camouflage uniform, his half-fingered combat gloves, his eyes.
But she didn't want to say it.
I don't want to mention it to anyone.
It's like one day you suddenly see a very good book or hear a very good song, so good that you just want to keep it to yourself and don't want to share it with anyone.
The crayfish was a bit spicy, and the tip of her nose sweated from eating it.
The street was still wet, and a few dozen meters away, the river was rushing.
The wind stopped for a while, and the air was hot and humid.
Song Ran looked into the distance, and there were dots of lights flashing on the black river surface, which were the lights of passing ships.
Xiaoxia asked Shen Bei: "What did you do all day yesterday?"
Shen Bei hesitated and said, "Go to Jiangcheng to interview some soldiers."
"Before the War: Eastern Kingdom" was so popular that Shen Bei took the opportunity to suggest to the leader that some interviews with evacuated officers should be added to spread the positive energy. The leader naturally agreed.
Xiaoqiu heard this and gently touched Song Ran's leg under the table.
Song Ran was eating crayfish, with red oil all around his mouth. He raised his head and looked at Xiao Qiu with a pair of black eyes.
Xiaoqiu: "..."
She didn't know whether Song Ran didn't understand or was pretending not to understand.
Xiaoqiu simply asked Shen Bei: "Are they the soldiers who went to Dongguo to participate in the evacuation of overseas Chinese this time?"
"...Yes. Part of it was removed from the Jiangcheng Military Region."
Liangcheng and Jiangcheng are four hours' drive apart and in the same military region.
Xiaoqiu asked deliberately: "Why did you suddenly think of interviewing them?"
Shen Bei was very calm: "They happened to be responsible for the evacuation of several cities in the central part of the Eastern Kingdom. They experienced some minor adventures, which is quite valuable for interviews."
"Ah!" Song Ran squeezed the shrimp shell too hard, and the spicy soup in the shrimp shell spurted into her eyes, making her unable to open her eyes.
Xiaoqiu quickly handed her a tissue. Song Ran wiped it twice, but still couldn't open her eyes. She wanted to ask Shen Bei for details, but her eyes hurt so much that she hurried to the bathroom to rinse them.
When she returned to her seat, she happened to hear Shen Bei say: "... His name is Luo Zhan, and he is their political commissar. He is quite handsome. Hey, men are really handsome in military uniforms. I just like soldiers."
Luo Zhan.
Song Ran was stunned.
The dialects in this area are indistinguishable from flat to flat, and the local people just say zan when Luo Zhan means zhan.
Could he be Azan
"Ran Ran, why are you in a daze? Do your eyes still hurt?"
"Ah, it's okay." She came back to her senses and looked at her watch. It was half past nine in the evening.
After the meal ended at ten o'clock in the evening, it started to rain heavily again. It was almost eleven o'clock after Song Ran sent several colleagues to their homes.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. Her car was driving on the ring road. She turned right at the next interchange and got off the elevated road. After walking for a short time, she arrived at her home.
The car lights hit the green elevated road sign, and the dazzling "Jiangcheng" word pointed straight ahead.
She looked at her watch again. At eleven o'clock sharp, it was raining harder and harder.
She drove her little Alto, went straight at the intersection, and disappeared into the vast rain.
Heavy rain poured down on the windshield, and the wipers vigorously swept the rain curtain. Song Ran stared at the low-beam headlights in front of the car. The rain lines were inextricably linked. She felt that she had never been so awake as now.
After a four-hour drive, she was not tired at all. There was even some weird excitement and excitement along the way. There were few vehicles on the highway late at night, and only the rain was pouring with her.
Along the way, the rain gradually became lighter.
It was three o'clock in the morning when Song Ran arrived at the Jiangcheng Military Region garrison. The iron gate at the gate of the station was locked, and several sentries stood guard with guns in hand.
She parked the car a few hundred meters away, turned off the engine, curled up in the back seat and fell asleep.
When the morning light dimmed, she woke up. At six o'clock in the morning, she heard the sound of military bugles coming from the station. The sergeants were about to go out for morning exercises.
The sound of the bugle was loud and empty, echoing in the early morning sky.
The rain stopped and pigeons flew across the sky. There is a pink morning glow in the east.
The soldiers on guard asked her why she came.
Song Ran showed him her press card and ID card, and said, "I'm from the news department of Liangcheng TV. I'm looking for Luo Zhan, political commissar. My colleague Shen Bei came to interview two days ago, but there are some questions and details that need to be added. So. I'll come over and improve it."
The other party checked her ID and showed no suspicion, saying, "Wait a moment, I'll contact you."
Song Ran felt a little guilty and short of breath. She has been a good girl since she was a child and will not lie. It's my first time to lie to someone, so I naturally don't have enough confidence. The other party didn't say anything, but he made himself blush.
The soldier said: "You can go in. Political Commissar Luo is in Room 0203, Building 1."
"Thanks."
0203 is a conference room with simple decoration. There are a long table surrounded by more than a dozen chairs. The national flag, party flag and army flag are hung on the wall, and the words "Strictly govern the party and the army" are posted.
Outside the window, the chants of "hoo" and "hoo" came from the soldiers during training on the playground.
She looked at it for a while and then suddenly remembered to take out a mirror and straighten her hair.
She is a native of Liangcheng. She is born with dark and bright eyes and fair and rosy skin. She is less than 23 years old and looks good without makeup. But I have been working overtime recently, and I have some dark circles under my eyes, and my lips are not very bloody. If I had known earlier, I would have gone home and picked up some lipstick.
Just as he was thinking about it, there was a knock on the door behind him.
She immediately put away the mirror and looked back, and saw a tall and handsome man in military uniform walking in.
When their eyes met, Song Ran's mind buzzed and suddenly went blank. he…
She stared into his eyes.
At that moment, she was confused.
She thought she remembered it very clearly, but nearly a month had passed and she could no longer remember those black eyes.
She slowly raised her hand to cover his face, leaving only her eyebrows exposed.
Can…
She wasn't sure.
She didn't know if it was him.
The pain in her heart was very clear at this moment, but those eyes were blurred in her memory, and she couldn't remember them.