There is no Spring Festival in the East. On the first day of the "New Year's Day", Song Ran was awakened by the sound of gunfire. She kicked her feet twice in the thin quilt. Li Zan also woke up with squinted eyes and looked at his watch. It was 10 o'clock in the morning local time.
Song Ran is going to interview the residential area today, and Li Zan is going back to the team.
The two of them had a simple brunch and went out. Li Zan said that there was still some time before the afternoon, so he would walk with her first.
Song Ran knew that he was worried. The situation in Cangdi had become increasingly unstable recently, with multiple forces fighting each other, and terrorist attacks every two days. Not to mention the street fighting.
Although dangerous, Cangdi is very valuable for storytelling.
It is the largest city in the northern part of the East Country and the economic and cultural center of the north. More importantly, it is the base of the anti-government army. It was captured and quickly occupied by the anti-government army at the beginning of the war. For one year and eight months after the war, Cangdi was under the rule of the anti-government army for most of the time. Although it once became the base camp of the terrorist organization, the anti-government army continued to fight with it and effectively contained the power of the terrorist organization.
Because of this reason, the civilians in Cangdi City did not have a strong sense of resistance and fighting, and were somewhat indifferent to the arrival of government forces.
During this period, there were frequent battles between government forces and rebel forces in the south city. Neighborhoods were destroyed, municipal administration was paralyzed, and many people moved from the south city to the north.
The motorcycle was heading north and encountered a large-scale battle on the way. Shells were flying and bullets were firing.
Li Zan had no choice but to take a detour to the east.
Song Ran said: "Don't get too close to the east, that's the terrorists' territory."
Li Zan said, "I know what's going on."
He knew the distribution of forces in the city very well, and he meandered northward along the alleys within the control of the rebels. Song Ran hugged his waist, looked around cautiously, and accidentally saw a white dome in the distance.
The houses in the city are generally low-rise, and the sky is high and the clouds are clear, so the view is wide, and the Cangdi Temple, which is one kilometer away, can be seen clearly. The huge and magnificent white square building is hidden under the blue sky.
"Is that Cangdi Temple?" Song Ran sighed, "How beautiful!"
Li Zan glanced at it and said, "Yes."
"I wanted to see it before the war broke out. It seems to be five hundred years old. The queen of the ancient Cangdi King is buried underground. This marble temple was built for the queen."
Li Zan said: "It is very beautifully built and very ingeniously designed. Such a large mausoleum is built entirely of marble without any gaps."
"Do you understand?" she asked him, leaning her head out.
"I just saw its architectural diagram the day before yesterday."
"Why?"
"That place is now a large terrorist base. We are trying to find a way to take it down. But it will take a week or two to study, and at least seven or eight teams will need to work together."
"Is it difficult?"
"It's similar to the Ale Castle. It can't be blown up. And there's a 500-meter-long approach to the front door."
"Oh." Song Ran said, "Then wait until you have a thorough plan before taking action."
Li Zan smiled faintly: "Don't worry."
As we were talking, the sound of gunfire was already behind us. When we were about to enter the living area, we encountered a checkpoint set up by the rebels.
One of them is an international war correspondent and the other is a Cook soldier.
The rebels checked their IDs but didn't make things difficult for them. However, when they saw Song Ran's name, the soldier raised his eyebrows and asked, "Candy?"
"..." Song Ran smiled awkwardly. Because of that photo, many countries sent troops to aid the Dongguo government... to fight the rebels.
The soldier was quite generous. He returned her ID and said, "You were photographing terrorists, but we got beaten. It's really unfair. We don't see those countries directly going to war against terrorist organizations."
Li Zan said: "International politics."
The soldier shrugged and asked Li Zan, "I heard that you have cleared out all the small strongholds of terrorist organizations in the east of the city?"
"Almost." said Li Zan.
"However, there are still a lot of them. The war lasted too long, and the victims were displaced. In order to earn commissions, they joined terrorist organizations."
“That’s the case.”
"I am from Cangdi. I joined the rebels to fight against terrorist organizations." The soldier sighed and said, "At that time, only the rebels in Cangdi had the power to fight against terrorist organizations. I don't know where the government troops went."
Li Zan smiled slightly, without commenting, and turned to look at Song Ran. She nodded slightly, indicating that she would remember this soldier.
The world of little people is always more tortuous and three-dimensional than we imagine.
After passing the checkpoint, walk a few more streets and you will arrive at the North City residential area.
The fierce battle in Cangdi South City lasted for more than a month, but people in the north lived their lives as usual. People and cars were coming and going on the streets, and buses were running; students were going in and out of the school; banks and restaurants were open; clothing stores, digital stores, supermarkets, and bakeries on both sides of the road were also open as usual. However, supplies were a bit scarce. Song Ran went into the supermarket to check around, and found that there was very little meat, almost no fresh fruits and vegetables, and many items on the shelves were out of stock.
However, there were quite a few customers in the bakery next door, queuing up for freshly baked rye bread.
Song Ran went to ask around and found out that many people only ate one piece of bread a day. It was impossible to make it at home because water, electricity, ovens, flour, butter, and eggs were all very expensive.
A middle-aged woman sighed during an interview with her: "Last year we were able to make ends meet, but this year we often have water and electricity outages, and prices are skyrocketing."
Song Ran judged her tone and asked, "Do you think it would be better if the government troops did not come?"
The middle-aged woman spread her hands, looking very embarrassed: "If I could go back to the time before the war overnight, I would be very happy. But this is impossible. Last year, my life was still manageable. Although there was anti-military rule, high taxes, and tyranny, I could make a living. But now Cangdi has become a mess, and we are suffering. I just lost my job yesterday, and the future is dark."
After a round of visits, Song Ran found that most people held a similar negative attitude.
She walked from the beginning to the end of the street, found an angle on the side of the road, and took a panoramic photo of the street. She took a deep breath, her profile quiet.
Li Zan stared at her for a while and said, "You can't blame them for this. Survival is the instinct of animals."
"I know." Song Ran raised his head, brushed his hair that was messed up by the wind, and said, "I just feel that it's strange at this moment that this street is actually very beautiful."
Li Zan looked up and saw that it was a very ordinary street.
The old buildings and the new houses are shining together, and all the shops on the street are open. The traffic lights are changing, and the traffic and pedestrians are stopping and walking according to the indicator lights. Students are rushing to catch the bus with their schoolbags, couples are walking hand in hand into the shops, and there are people reading and writing in the cafe.
He hadn't seen a street scene like this in the past five months. It was a very ordinary street scene.
He said, “Yeah, it’s a beautiful street.”
In the face of ordinary life and trivial living, what is the meaning of war, right and wrong, positive and negative.
Living life is more important than anything else.
Song Ran adjusted the camera on the tripod and said, "When I was in school, our world history teacher said that humans are essentially prisoners of the environment. Most of the time, people choose to be obedient. This is understandable, because often in the face of major changes, the power of an individual is insignificant." She smiled, "But because of this, I am even more moved."
"What are you touching about?" Li Zan glanced at her and found that her hair had grown longer, so he naturally picked up a strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear.
She looked at him. In the sunlight, his face was as clean and gentle as ever.
She said: "I am moved that there are always some people who can go against their biological instincts to do some very difficult things and choose a very difficult path. It makes people see a light that is greater than life."
Her eyes were clearly black and white, and his shadow was reflected in her clear and bright black pupils, only him.
He looked at her, his eyes deepening, and after a long while he smiled faintly and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
She suddenly grinned: "I'm not talking about you, don't be so sentimental. I'm talking about Benjamin and Sassin."
The sunlight shone on her fair face, which had a clean and clear beauty. He was about to smile, but suddenly he reached out and pinched her face.
She touched her cheek and whispered, "Do you know why I looked at you just now?"
"Why?"
"I suddenly realized that you seem to be a little more mature than before." She measured the tiny distance between her thumb and index finger, "Just this little bit."
Li Zan said: "Can a person go back in time as he lives longer?"
As he was speaking, the middle-aged woman who had just been interviewed passed by and they met again. She provided Song Ran with new information - in fact, there are still young people in Cangdi City who always support the government forces and fight against the rebels. Their underground organization is in the refugee area a few blocks away.
Song Ran naturally would not miss this opportunity. After asking for the route, he prepared to set off.
It was half past twelve in the afternoon, and Song Ran asked Li Zan: "Are you leaving now?"
Li Zan checked the time and said, "I'll take you there first."
"No, I can ask Jose to come with me."
"You ask him to go over first, and I'll go check out the situation there. If it's not good, don't stay too long. Cangdi is too chaotic recently."
"Okay." Song Ran climbed onto the motorcycle, hugged him and chuckled, saying softly, "You're so worried about me. Just keep me in your pocket."
Although the voice was small, Li Zan heard it. He raised the corners of his lips slightly and started the motorcycle: "I do want to."
In less than ten minutes, the two arrived at the refugee area in the suburbs.
This side is a different scene. There are no main roads, only crisscrossing alleys, where people who migrated from the south city gather. The alleys are crowded and dirty, with garbage everywhere. The narrow roads are crowded with small shops on both sides, and clotheslines cut the sky in a mess. Although there are many small shops, the most popular one is the employment agency, with long lines at the door. People who lost their jobs in the war are waiting to find a temporary job to make a living.
There are many educated and cultured people in the team, but most of the jobs they offer are physical labor such as moving and digging trenches, and the supply is in short supply.
It is not convenient for Song Ran to look for clues about the underground organization alone, so he has to wait for Jose to come.
She said to Li Zan, "I'll take a look around first. Jose has already left. You can go back to the team and don't worry about me."
Li Zan had no intention of leaving: "There are many alleys here. If you run around alone, you might get lost."
Song Ran pushed him forward: "Don't worry, just go, I have a good sense of direction!"
Li Zan was pushed forward by her and took a few steps. He turned back and stopped again, saying, "I'd better wait until Jose comes before I leave."
Song Ran couldn't drive him away, so he smiled and said, "Well, as long as I don't delay your business, that's fine."
She was filming at the intersection of two alleys. Li Zan crossed his arms and looked at her. After a while, he saw that she had only half of the water in her bottle left, so he said, "I'll go buy you a bottle of water."
"oh."
Li Zan strode to the small shop diagonally across the alley.
A group of local people looking for houses to rent came out of the real estate agency and blocked the front of the store to bargain with the agent.
He walked around the crowd towards the small shop. Two or three passers-by came from the opposite side and passed through the crowd. When they passed by, Li Zan felt from the corner of his eye that a young man accidentally glanced at his military uniform, and then immediately avoided his gaze the next second.
My intuition sensed something was wrong at that moment.
Li Zan turned around and saw the young man walking by with his head down in the crowd, wearing a thick coat.
Thick coat
He also noticed that Li Zan had turned around, and he accelerated towards the crossroads of the alley, where several tricycles were blocking the way.
Li Zan was startled and shouted, "Ran Ran!"
Song Ran was standing at the intersection taking pictures. When he turned around and saw this, he reflexively rushed into the corridor of a residential building on the side of the road.
"Bang!" With a loud bang, the human attacker exploded in the middle of the street. The tricycles and passers-by were blown to pieces on the spot, and blood and flesh splattered. People nearby had their limbs blown off, or their chests and abdomens were injured, and they fell to the ground, twitching and screaming in pain. Pedestrians, shop owners, and residents screamed and fled.
Li Zan had just crawled on the ground to avoid the shock wave of the explosion. Just as he was about to stand up and rush across the street, he once again saw something strange in the crowd. He stopped, hugged his head and rolled to the roadside steps, then fell to the ground. With two loud bangs, the roofs of small shops, agency houses, and the explosions were blown away and turned into ruins. Bricks, blood and flesh were sprayed in the middle of the street.
The crowd screamed and shouted, trampling over the bodies of the victims and fleeing towards the alley.
Li Zan quickly rolled into the ruins that had just been blown up, hid behind the broken wall with flames flying, drew his gun, and quickly looked for suspicious elements in the crowd. But suddenly, a burst of machine gun fire came from the street.
At the entrance of the alley, a group of black-clad masked terrorists raised their guns and fired at the fleeing crowd. The unarmed people just rushed to the entrance of the alley, but ran into the attackers head-on, screaming.
In the narrow alley, gunshots, crying, and shouting were heard everywhere.
Veins popped out on Li Zan's forehead and he pinched the gun with his fingers tightly, as if he could break it.
Across the street, Song Ran, covered in cannon fodder, huddled in the corridor, shaking his head at him with tears in his eyes.
Li Zan stared at her closely, feeling hatred and forbearance. Suddenly, he lowered his head and slammed it hard against the wall.
The other side had so many people that he couldn't handle it alone.
But at this moment, he saw a little boy sitting silently on the ground under a broken billboard in the center of the street, with several bleeding bodies lying beside him.
The gunshots were getting closer, and people were running past crying. Li Zan gritted his teeth and took a look, then suddenly bent over and rushed out of the ruins, crawling along the ground to the center of the road, holding the child and crawling towards Song Ran.
Song Ran immediately knelt up, lay down at the edge of the corridor, and stretched out his hand to him from a distance.
But at that moment, Li Zan's whole face suddenly twisted, his brows furrowed tightly, and he lay stiffly in the middle of the street, motionless.
The child in his arms turned over, holding a bloody knife in his hand, and ran towards his fellow terrorists, shouting.
Li Zan covered his side with his hands, blood dripping from his fingers. He raised his head, staring at Song Ran with red eyes, and one word came out from between his teeth: "Go!"