The moment the mask was pulled off, Song Ran was startled, startled by his abruptness and recklessness.
Facing his strange yet familiar face, she was at a loss, flustered and sluggish, unable to say a word. His hands loosened in fear, and the mask fell down.
He was very focused, lowered his eyes, and raised his hand to catch the falling mask.
He had no unnecessary emotions, only frowning seriously because of the chaotic situation around him. He did not stop in front of Song Ran, and turned around to escort the group of culprits.
"Don't you remember me?" Song Ran shouted, pushing forward and grabbing his sleeve again through the wall. It turns out that the SWAT combat uniforms have this texture, rough and frosted.
He turned back again, not sure if he heard her murmur. He looked at her clenching fingers on his arm with some confusion.
The surrounding special police officers were too busy fighting off the crowds to pay attention to her. But the crowd was surging, and she could no longer hold on, and said anxiously: "You saved me! Don't you remember? In Su Rui City. You saved me!"
He didn't seem to remember, and the perpetrator in his hands was still struggling.
He was, after all, a patient and polite man, and said to her persuadingly: "Ma'am, I am on official business."
She was stunned, knowing that she was being rude. Her hands suddenly lost strength, and the momentary loss on her face looked very pitiful.
He glanced at her twice, but had no time to care, so he turned to leave. She was about to let go, but she tightened her grip again.
"What's your name?" She looked at him, afraid that he wouldn't answer. She was so anxious that she almost choked, and asked, "What's your name?!"
He hesitated for a moment, then quickly said: "Li Zan."
After saying that, he brushed away her hand on his arm.
"Back off! Don't squeeze! Back off!" The human wall formed by the special police was against the crowd. Song Ran was pushed back violently by the wave of force, and the distance between her and him was completely widened.
He escorted the group of people away and soon disappeared.
After nearly half an hour, the rioting crowd gradually dispersed. A pile of paper and plastic trash on the ground. Song Ran's white boarding suitcase was trampled into big holes and small holes, and there were footprints all over it.
She carried the suitcase out of the airport in embarrassment and waited in line for nearly an hour before getting on the bus.
The rain was pouring outside the car window, and the rainwater turned into a sea, turning into waves and hitting the glass. Liangcheng was almost flooded. Countless cars were soaked in water and on the verge of being scrapped. But the bus driver was very brave and used the bus as a ship to drive very fast.
The heavy rain will paralyze the city, and the people on the bus will sigh and complain.
Song Ran was leaning against the car door, her eyes were clear, her face was peaceful, and her mood was like a breeze blowing slowly across the thousands of miles of journey.
What a strange fate. Every time we meet, there is chaos, and one city after another falls.
When she left the airport, she found out that Li Zan and the others were affiliated with the Jiangcheng Military Region, but were stationed in Liangcheng.
After arriving home, she called Ran Yuwei and the book planner in Dicheng respectively to tell them that there was a heavy rain in Liangcheng and the flight was cancelled. The weather has been too bad recently, so it may be a day or two late.
Then she hung up the phone to the editorial department. As she expected, someone had already gone to cover the incident at the airport.
When Shen Bei learned that she was at the airport at the time, she said, "Great, you must have recorded first-hand information. Send it over quickly."
Song Ran said: "I recorded a little bit at the beginning, but then the fighting part..."
She forgot.
After seeing Li Zan, she didn't have the energy to take care of her cell phone.
Shen Bei said: "Didn't you write it down?"
"Yeah. It's too crowded."
"It's okay. I'll search online later and I should be able to buy some clues. Send me the photos you took first."
"Okay." Song Ran thought about it and then said, "Have you found all the materials?"
"Um."
"…Have the police interviewed you?"
Shen Bei got stuck: "Oops. It's over, now we still have to rush to finish the manuscript."
Song Ranmao recommended himself: "Let me help you with the interview."
Shen Bei was stunned for a moment: "That's so embarrassing. Besides, aren't you on vacation?"
"The flight is cancelled, and there's nothing to do anyway."
"Thank you very much. I'll treat you to dinner next time."
It was around four o'clock in the afternoon, and the rain did not slow down at all. Song Ran drove on the ring road. Black clouds were pressing overhead, the sky was dim and it was like entering the dark night; the rain was hitting the car like sand and gravel. There was vast chaos between heaven and earth, and the whole city sank into the water. Passing through a section of national highway, all long-distance vehicles stopped on the roadside and flashed double lights. In the distance, the turbid waves of the Yangtze River rushed against the shore, as if they would overflow the embankment and pour in in the next second.
Song Ran took a shortcut to the vicinity of Xiguang Road. When she got off the elevated road, she drove through a depression and the whole car sank in. She was shocked. The wheels rolled up water all over the sky and almost stalled the engine. Luckily she drove fast enough to avoid injury.
Today is the weekend. Due to the heavy rain, almost no one went out. The street was deserted. She drove to the security area single-handedly, successfully entered the gate, and arrived in front of an open office building similar to a teaching building.
There was no umbrella in her car, and the parking space was about fifty meters away from the office building. She gritted her teeth and ran into the wind and rain, and was soaked by the cold rain. As he rushed up the steps, before he could stand still, he bumped into a man in black combat uniform coming down the stairs quickly.
Seeing that they were about to collide, the man stopped in time and took a small step back to get out of the way; Song Ran also immediately stopped and stood firm, her heart almost rushing out of her throat.
"I'm sorry." She raised her head in embarrassment, and the strands of hair on her forehead were tangled and shaking on her wet forehead. Looking up, she met Li Zan's slightly surprised eyes.
He is holding a black umbrella. He just saw her car upstairs and was going to come downstairs to pick it up. Unexpectedly, she rushed over directly.
The two stared at each other and didn't speak for a second.
Outside the edge of the building, water vapor filled the air, and raindrops fell in random directions, instantly getting his short hair wet. He casually wiped the rain from his forehead and said with a smile: "Reporter Song?"
"Yeah." She nodded earnestly.
He raised the umbrella in his hand and said, "I'm sorry for being late."
When he said this, he smiled at her again, with the corners of his mouth raised slightly and his eyes curled.
Her heart was beating fast and her face was very red: "I forgot to bring an umbrella." After saying this, she was speechless: Song Ran, you are really good at such a heavy rain.
So he lowered his eyes and stared at his umbrella. It was a simple big black umbrella with a wooden handle, dark and without any decoration. His fingers tapped on the umbrella handle unconsciously, and there were calluses on his knuckles from holding the gun.
"Let's go." He turned around and took her upstairs.
As expected, he was a soldier, and his back was straight even when he went up the stairs.
She looked at his back, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Officer Li?"
"Huh?" He turned around.
"What is the word zan?"
"Next to the word Wang."
"oh."
Zan.
She happens to like this word very much, Song Ran thought to herself.
Entering the conference room, there is also a special police officer. He stood up and greeted Song Ran, introducing himself as Chen Feng, the instructor responsible for the interview.
"Did it rain?"
"I forgot to bring my umbrella." Song Ran's hair and face were covered with water, and her clothes were soaked. Fortunately, she wore a dark T-shirt and jeans for the convenience of traveling. Not too embarrassing.
Just as he was talking, a sound came from the room.
Li Zan squatted by the cabinet, opened the drawer, and took out a box of paper. He stood up, walked to the table, and pushed it gently. The paper slid along the smooth tabletop to Song Ran. The force was just right and the angle was right, and it hit Song Ran's palm.
"Thank you." Song Ran took out a tissue and wiped her hair, then briefly wiped her bag and phone.
Looking at the man across the table, he didn't sit over. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and his legs crossed. He wore a short-sleeved combat uniform of navy blue and almost black, and the belt was tied high and tight, making his height and legs look longer. He is quiet and peaceful and doesn't seem to get too involved.
Chen Feng is sitting here, at right angles to Song Ran.
Song Ran turned on the recorder, opened the notebook, and wiped his hands again with a tissue. In this rainy weather, the paper in the notebook is all soft.
"Hello, Director Chen, our Information Department would like to interview you about the small-scale violence that occurred at the airport this morning. Thank you for your cooperation and help."
"You're welcome. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
During the interview, we learned that airport security is not under their control. However, too many people were stranded in the past two days, which has caused huge safety risks. The airport was short of manpower, so we requested police support and they came to help.
Chen Feng said with a smile: "You should go to the public security detachment to interview the police. There are many people there. We only transferred a small group of people."
Song Ran felt guilty and smiled apologetically: "I'm not experienced enough, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it's okay." Chen Feng said generously, "Go on and ask."
Song Ran's questions were all prepared by Shen Bei, and everything went according to plan. Because video interviews were not accepted here, Song Ran only used a voice recorder, which was relatively simple to operate. Chen Feng is the instructor in charge of publicity in their team. He is very knowledgeable and cooperative. The two sides have a tacit understanding of every question and answer. The two people's low voices were caught in the storm, making the room seem even quieter.
Midway, Song Ran accidentally glanced in the direction of the window again.
The sky outside the window was dim, and the fluorescent lamps were on indoors, making the light dim.
Li Zan leaned against the wall and looked at them, listening to their conversation carefully. Because she was talking at the time, he looked directly into her eyes.
On a rainy afternoon, there is a damp, old-time atmosphere. It's like the smell of wet paper when you walk into an ancient library.
She caught his eyes and her mind went blank. Fortunately, the next second Chen Feng spoke, his eyes naturally moved to the latter. Light as a feather passing by.
After about half an hour, the interview was completed.
"Any other questions?"
"I've asked all the questions. Thank you very much." Song Ran said, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Li Zan standing up from the wall and walking towards the door.
"That's right. We may need your help in the future. Keep in touch."
"OK."
Song Ran stood up, and Li Zan stood in the corridor outside the door, his hands in his pockets, looking at the two people in the room.
Chen Feng walked up the corridor, looked at the heavy rain outside, and said, "Take this umbrella."
Song Ran took the heavy black umbrella and said, "Thank you. Return it another day."
Chen Feng didn't expect her to return the umbrella, so he waved his hand and said, "You're welcome. There are plenty of umbrellas."
The rain was getting deeper and deeper downstairs. Li Zan suddenly turned around and asked her, "Where do you live?"
Song Ran was stunned and said: "Beimen Street. What's wrong?"
Li Zan said: "I'm afraid your car won't be able to go back. The chassis is too low."
The flooding in the city is probably getting worse now. The Beimen Street area is low-lying and close to the river, so there are more places where water accumulates. When Song Ran's car was driving back now, it was either filled with water or stalling.
Song Ran hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice: "What should we do?"
Instructor Chen Feng patted Li Zan heartily on the shoulder and said to her: "It's okay, let him drive you back in a military vehicle."