The sun had already set.
The sunset glow slanted in through the shadows of the trees outside the window, covering the walls and floor like a painting.
On the small single bed, Song Ran lay sideways in Li Zan's arms, her temples wet with sweat and her cheeks pink. After snuggling together for a while, she suddenly called him: "A Zan..."
"Hmm?" Li Zan slowly opened his eyes, heard her hoarse voice, stood up slightly, reached out to take a bottle of water from the table, unscrewed it and handed it to her.
She took a few sips from the water bottle, and he drank half of it, put the bottle back, and glanced at the medicine bottle on the table.
When he turned around, he inadvertently hugged her tighter.
She enjoyed the intimate embrace the most. She grasped his arm tightly with her sweaty palms and looked up at him from a close distance with a burning gaze, which showed the attachment, joy and love in her eyes.
Li Zan suddenly forgot what he was about to say.
"A-Zan, I'm actually fine." She said nonsensically, "Really. I was a little weird before because I was sick. But I'm actually fine."
"I know." He remembered what he wanted to say, "Don't be nervous. Being sick is nothing. I don't care."
He put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his arms. She bumped into his chest, her palm pressed against his heart, touching his hot, firm skin, and feeling his heart beating.
She wanted to get closer to him, put her ear close to him, and listen to his strong heartbeat, which made her feel inexplicably at peace.
He said: "I also have my own difficulties, just like you."
Song Ran said nothing and waited quietly for a long time, but Li Zan did not continue speaking.
She said, "Then tell me when you want to. There's still a lot of time."
He chuckled, "Okay."
"A-Zan, I want to tell you a story about a little bird and a big tree."
"You talk." He adjusted his posture slightly, lowered his head, buried his face next to hers, and closed his eyes.
"Once upon a time, there was a little bird that was injured and fell from the sky. A big tree caught it, took it in, and sheltered it from the wind and rain. After the little bird's wings healed, it made its home on the big tree, singing for the big tree every day and telling it stories about the outside world. Until winter, the little bird had to go south for the winter. Before leaving, it said to the big tree, I will come back to find you next spring.
But when the birds come back in the spring, the trees have been cut down and only the stumps are left.”
Li Zan murmured in a low voice: "And then?"
"The little bird asked the grass next door, where is my big tree? The grass said, the big tree was cut down by the sawmill, you can go to the sawmill to look for it. The little bird flew to the sawmill and saw many round tree trunks piled up like a mountain. None of them was her big tree. So it asked the tree trunks, have you seen my big tree? The tree trunks said, your tree was sent to the match factory. The little bird flew to the match factory again, and the production line was full of boxes of matches. It asked the matches, have you seen my big tree? The matches said, the matches made from your big tree were sold to the store. It flew to the store again."
Li Zan opened his eyes and asked, "Was he bought by someone?"
"Yes. The last box was also sold a few days ago. The bird was too tired to fly, and one stormy night, its wings were all wet. When it was about to fall into the mud, it saw a fire in the forest hut. It flew in and landed on the table. There was a lit candle and an empty box of matches on the table. The light of the candle warmed the bird, and it finally woke up and asked the candle, "Have you seen my big tree?" The candle said, "Yes, the last match that I lit to warm you is your big tree."
Li Zan closed his eyes and smiled faintly: "This is a great story."
"What's good about it?" Song Ran said, "I felt very sad when I saw it as a child. But then I thought, maybe it's not about love? If the big tree represents a certain belief and faith, and the little bird is persistent in chasing it, even if things and people change along the way, there will be a warm ending in the end."
He buried his head in her neck and said amusedly, "Are you trying to comfort me?"
She touched his head and said, "A-Zan, just go your own way, and you will be able to overcome any obstacle."
"I see." He closed his eyes, and finally, with his lips slightly raised, he said, "But I still think this is a love story."
After sleeping for a while, the alarm on his cell phone rang, and it was time to return to the team.
Song Ran got up with him and asked, "Are you going north soon?"
"Well. The exact time is not clear yet. I'll let you know when there's news." Li Zan said, and then he hugged her and kissed her for a long time before leaving.
…
As the news of the victory in the defense of Ale spread, people who had taken refuge in the countryside or the desert rushed back. Within two days, the city's population increased by half. More people continued to come.
The city and its surroundings are filled with post-disaster reconstruction.
Outside the city, farmers plowed their fields and sowed seeds again. Inside the city, schools quickly reopened. At Song Ran's university, the teaching building accommodated the wounded and sick, and teachers and students held classes outdoors. The children running around on the streets were also taken into the primary school, and the sound of reading was loud and clear.
On the streets, shops were open, but goods were still scarce. People were busy repairing buildings, clearing rubble, and erecting scaffolding everywhere.
Song Ran posted some current photos of Ale on Twitter. The population in the city has increased, and it is still post-war, and there is an urgent need for medical supplies and food. Soon after the message was sent, it received responses from many international charity organizations, and a large number of international volunteers rushed to Ale to help with repairs and reconstruction.
At this time, the government troops assembled for the defense war also had to disperse to new battlefields.
On the day the army withdrew, residents of the entire city took to the streets to see them off.
Young soldiers marched past in a line, some with serious faces and some with big smiles and waving. People around gave them bread and bread, some soldiers took it, but most refused.
There were no flowers in the city. Girls used colorful fabrics to make silk flowers. Some cut fabrics directly from clothes, with buttons in the middle of the flowers. If they couldn't make them all the same color, they made them into colorful flowers.
The young men who received the silk flowers could not help but be laughed at and teased by their comrades around them, their faces turning red.
There were also elderly people who stretched out their hands to see the soldiers off, with tears in their eyes.
Song Ran was squeezed in the crowd to take pictures. Suddenly, a familiar Dongguo face flashed in the camera, standing at the very outside of the queue.
She raised her head sharply, and saw rows of soldiers passing in front of her. She was dazzled and followed them forward, tiptoeing and jumping as she walked, looking into the ranks.
finally!
"Sahin!" She jumped up, waved to him, and shouted, "Sahin!"
There was a lot of noise, but Sasin, who was at the head of the line, heard the shouting and turned around. Song Ran jumped up again, waving his hands high.
Sasin's eyes lit up: "Song!"
He immediately moved over, disrupting the marching team slightly, and his comrades made way for him as they walked forward. It was not easy for him to walk from the front of the line to the back.
The two were so excited to see each other again, with big smiles on their faces, and they came forward to hug each other tightly.
Sahin couldn't control his emotions, he gave her two deep kisses on the cheek, then hugged her and spun her around.
Song Ran put his arm around his shoulders and laughed loudly.
The crowd of onlookers were smiling and taking pictures with their cellphone cameras. Outsiders didn't know their relationship, but at that moment, the picture of this young man and woman of different races hugging each other was too beautiful.
"I'm so glad to see you." Sahin put her down and straightened his crooked military cap. "When did you come?"
"I left you a message, but you didn't reply. I thought something happened to you. It's great to see you now. It's great that you're still alive!"
"I'm sorry to have worried you. I just don't have time to go online."
"It's okay. I'm glad you're safe." Song Ran looked at him carefully. He had finally shaved off the beard that didn't match his age. The boy in front of him was youthful, sunny, and handsome.
“Very handsome!”
Sahin touched his chin sheepishly: "Soldiers cannot have beards."
"You shouldn't have stayed. You were so young..." She felt a pang of pain in her heart and said, "Why didn't you become a reporter and join the army?"
Sahin smiled softly, "Song, our country is running out of men. All the young men have died in the war. If I don't go to the battlefield, then 18- and 17-year-olds will have to go. This won't work. They are the hope of our country."
"But you are not yet 21 years old, you should go to school."
“If I don’t pick up a gun, how are they going to pick up a pen?”
Song Ran's eyes were moist and he could no longer maintain his expression, so he reached out to him.
The two hugged again, and he choked up and whispered, "Dear Song, I'm leaving."
Song Ran nodded and let him go.
His eyes were slightly red, but he had a happy smile on his face: "When the war is over, I will go back to the Polytechnic University to study and treat you to a drink! The bar in our school is great."
Song Ran nodded vigorously: "Okay!"
Sahin looked back at the marching troops, straightened his hat, and said, "I'm off."
"Be careful." Song Ran said, "Be sure to stay safe!"
"I will!" He waved his hand, ran quickly to his row, quickly joined the team, returned to his position, jumped up and waved at her from a distance.
The young and handsome smiling face flashed in the sunlight and then fell.
The evacuation of the troops was almost complete. Song Ran looked at the time. It was a little after ten in the morning.
Li Zan and his team will leave at 11 o'clock today.
Song Ran hurried back to school and drove to the Cook Soldier Base, the former football field three blocks north of the university.
When she arrived, the Cook soldiers were moving equipment and luggage into their respective team's vehicles.
Unlike government troops, the Kuk soldiers are special forces combat teams. A team usually has only seven or eight members. Depending on the size and number of terrorist organizations' bases, there are usually more than ten teams in a region, sharing intelligence with each other, sometimes fighting independently, and sometimes fighting in coordination.
This time, the troops from several regions were assembled. Now that this stronghold had been destroyed, they were dispersed to carry out new tasks.
The area outside the football field is too large and is packed with cars and people.
Song Ran couldn't find the direction, and couldn't call Li Zan because the signal was blocked. She ran half a circle around the huge football field, and all she saw were Dongguo people, white people, and black people, but no Asians.
Some teams have assembled and are driving away from the venue.
Song Ran was so anxious that she suddenly saw an Asian man sitting in the passenger seat of an SUV. She didn't care and rushed over to hold the glass: "Are you Chinese?"
"Yes." The man smiled faintly, "What's the matter?"
"Li Zan! Do you know which team Li Zan is on?"
The soldier stuck his head out to take a look and said, "It should be Area A, 101. Follow the sign at the gymnasium door to find it."
"Thank you." Song Ran was about to run when he turned back and shouted, "Have a safe journey and be careful!"
"Thank you!" The Chinese soldier waved at her.
More and more cars started to drive out. Song Ran anxiously glanced at each car while hastily looking at the door signs.
d249, d250, a100…
She stared at the A101 sign and ran towards it, but unexpectedly a car just passed by her from behind...
The car went two or three meters and suddenly stopped.
"Ranran!" Someone called her from behind.
Song Ran turned around and saw Li Zan had already opened the door and stepped out of the passenger seat of the military off-road vehicle. He was surprised but couldn't hide his smile: "You're here?"
"I'm late!" She was so frustrated that her stomach hurt from running so much that she held her waist and gasped for breath. Her hair was messy and her face was sweaty.
Li Zan smiled at her, and after a few seconds he remembered to take out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her: "Wipe the sweat."
She pressed her handkerchief against her forehead and cheeks twice and explained: "I wanted to come earlier, but the government troops were leaving the city at this time, and people were welcoming them on the streets. I had to take a picture..."
As they were talking, a car was about to go around from behind; Li Zan held her elbow and pulled her towards him: "It's very lively over there, right?"
"Yeah." She got closer to him and lowered her eyes, "There's no movement from your side."
"We usually don't let the public know when we leave. We just leave quietly." He lowered his head and stared at her. His eyes were clear and gentle, as warm as the sun.
"Where are you going next?" She wrapped her fingers around the handkerchief and lowered her voice, "... Can you tell me?"
He smiled: "Why can't you say this, Cangdi?"
80 km north of Ale city.
"Oh." She nodded and smiled, "Then I'll go too!"
He said, “Be safe.”
"You should be the one who needs to pay attention to safety." She frowned as cars passed by one after another. She knew she couldn't delay for too long, "Are you leaving?"
"Almost." He looked hesitant.
"A-Zan, you don't have to say anything." She smiled, "Just be good and do what you want to do wholeheartedly. I know you are here, and you know I am here. That's enough."
Then he pointed at the car and urged: "Hurry up and get in. Your comrades are waiting for you."
"Okay." Li Zan looked at her for two more seconds, took a deep breath, and just as he opened the door, Benjamin in the driver's seat leaned over and waved at her, "Hi, song song!"
Song Ran smiled: "Hi."
Benjamin pretended to hold out his hand to her: "Nice to meet you, please..."
"Snapped!"
Li Zan opened his hand with the back of his hand.
Song Ran: “…”
The backseat window rolled down, and a cool black man wearing headphones raised his chin to her: "Hello, my name is Morgan. You can call me M."
Benjamin: "By the way, my name is S."
Song Ran: “…”
Morgan kicked Benjamin in the back of his seat.
As they were still arguing, another car from the team passed by, and the comrade in the driver's seat said, "It's time." He smiled at Song Ran again, "My name is Kevin."
Song Ran nodded to him, took a step back, and looked up at Li Zan: "Get in the car quickly."
"Yeah." Li Zan looked at her, smiled at her very lightly, and finally looked away.
Benjamin: "At a time like this, shouldn't you kiss your girl goodbye?"
Li Zan: "Shut up."
Song Ran blushed and looked away.
Neither of them is the type to do that in public.
Li Zan said nothing, lowered his head, got into the car and closed the door.
Benjamin started the SUV, and when it started, Song Ran suddenly called out, "A-Zan!"
"Hmm?" Li Zan followed the sound and moved to the window. Song Ran rushed over, held his face, bent down and kissed him on the cheek.
There was a sudden burst of "wow" screams in the car.
He and she seemed oblivious.
Very gently, her lips touched his face.
The familiar scent of his face, the soft touch of her lips.
It was just a moment of skin contact, but it was so intimate and close that it melted each other's hearts in an instant.
She slowly let go of him, and their eyes met, intertwined, and slowly moved away.