“Sure. What do you want to call her?”
“How about Hope?”
So that she could remain hopeful in the face of whatever adversity she encountered in her life.
“Sure… sure…” Her eyes misty with tears, An Xiaxia saw Wen Qing smile before closing her eyes forever.
A fist seemed to clutch tightly around her heart before tearing it to pieces.
The person she had been talking to moments ago died in front of her. Reality was just that cruel.
An Xiaxia looked away. Nero Zhou, whom she thought cared for nothing but saving his own skin, kept digging into the ruins with a tool, his face smeared with blood and sweat.
He finally couldn’t control his tears. “Why the f**k do things like this have to happen?!”
An Xiaxia’s tears fell on the baby’s cheeks, and the baby touched her face curiously. Her big, clear perplexed eyes belonged to someone who was seeing the world for the first time.
–
The rescue efforts carried on all the way until early the next morning. An Xiaxia and Zhou Shiqiao 1 were both exhausted and were led to a tent to get some rest.
An Xiaxia had probably reached some sort of limit and couldn’t sleep no matter what, so she sat outside her tent and stared blankly into the air.
Heavy footsteps came from somewhere nearby. Some men in camouflage uniforms and army boots arranged themselves in a line and said in unison, “Captain!”
They all had a special insignia consisting of swords on their uniforms which An Xiaxia vaguely recalled was the symbol of some special force.
A tall and strongly-built man nodded back at them and began to methodically give out orders. Somehow, An Xiaxia found that voice very familiar.
“… Captain, we have two reporters in that tent over there. They posted the video immediately after the earthquake…” she heard someone say. After that, the captain walked toward her.
She gradually made out his face under the dim light.
He had a swarthy face and his thin lips were pursed tightly together. He reminded one of a typical tough soldier through and through. His large strides took him to An Xiaxia’s side in no time.
He was noticeably surprised when he saw her. “Xiaxia?”
“Kang Jian…” An Xiaxia murmured his name. They had scarcely been in touch after Kang Jian left high school in Year 2 to join the army.
She had never expected to see him as a captain of a special force unit.
Both were excited to meet an acquaintance out here, but with what was going on, they calmed down right away.
“I still have the rescue effort to run…” Kang Jian frowned. “Stay put. Communications will probably be back up in a few hours. As soon as the road is clear, go back in the first car available!”
He spoke very fast and in a commanding tone. An Xiaxia nodded before she realized it.
Kang Jian rubbed her head. The baby suddenly began to cry in the tent and An Xiaxia hurried in. Kang Jian hesitated a little, then followed her in.
An Xiaxia had never held a baby before and her attempt to calm the baby down was quite clumsy. The little girl went on crying. Kang Jian cleared his throat. “Is she hungry?”
His gaze shifted toward An Xiaxia’s chest.
An Xiaxia blushed. “She’s not mine…” Don’t turn to her for milk!
Kang Jian choked on his own spit and coughed. “I’ll get someone to find something for her to eat. I’m off.”
“Alright.”
Before long, someone brought milk and bread. An Xiaxia fed the baby with some milk, then lay down, utterly exhausted.
She then recalled Kang Jian mentioning communications being restored and took out her phone. There was no news on the earthquake in Zhu County.
Everywhere she looked, the headlines read: landslide in Zhu County.
So, it wasn’t an earthquake… but a landslide?
An Xiaxia thought, drifting off. Her phone then began to ring.
Picking it up, she heard Sheng Yize’s exasperated voice on the other end. “Idiot! Where are you?”
“Sure. What do you want to call her?”
“How about Hope?”
So that she could remain hopeful in the face of whatever adversity she encountered in her life.
“Sure… sure…” Her eyes misty with tears, An Xiaxia saw Wen Qing smile before closing her eyes forever.
A fist seemed to clutch tightly around her heart before tearing it to pieces.
The person she had been talking to moments ago died in front of her. Reality was just that cruel.
An Xiaxia looked away. Nero Zhou, whom she thought cared for nothing but saving his own skin, kept digging into the ruins with a tool, his face smeared with blood and sweat.
He finally couldn’t control his tears. “Why the f**k do things like this have to happen?!”
An Xiaxia’s tears fell on the baby’s cheeks, and the baby touched her face curiously. Her big, clear perplexed eyes belonged to someone who was seeing the world for the first time.
–
The rescue efforts carried on all the way until early the next morning. An Xiaxia and Zhou Shiqiao 1 were both exhausted and were led to a tent to get some rest.
An Xiaxia had probably reached some sort of limit and couldn’t sleep no matter what, so she sat outside her tent and stared blankly into the air.
Heavy footsteps came from somewhere nearby. Some men in camouflage uniforms and army boots arranged themselves in a line and said in unison, “Captain!”
They all had a special insignia consisting of swords on their uniforms which An Xiaxia vaguely recalled was the symbol of some special force.
A tall and strongly-built man nodded back at them and began to methodically give out orders. Somehow, An Xiaxia found that voice very familiar.
“… Captain, we have two reporters in that tent over there. They posted the video immediately after the earthquake…” she heard someone say. After that, the captain walked toward her.
She gradually made out his face under the dim light.
He had a swarthy face and his thin lips were pursed tightly together. He reminded one of a typical tough soldier through and through. His large strides took him to An Xiaxia’s side in no time.
He was noticeably surprised when he saw her. “Xiaxia?”
“Kang Jian…” An Xiaxia murmured his name. They had scarcely been in touch after Kang Jian left high school in Year 2 to join the army.
She had never expected to see him as a captain of a special force unit.
Both were excited to meet an acquaintance out here, but with what was going on, they calmed down right away.
“I still have the rescue effort to run…” Kang Jian frowned. “Stay put. Communications will probably be back up in a few hours. As soon as the road is clear, go back in the first car available!”
He spoke very fast and in a commanding tone. An Xiaxia nodded before she realized it.
Kang Jian rubbed her head. The baby suddenly began to cry in the tent and An Xiaxia hurried in. Kang Jian hesitated a little, then followed her in.
An Xiaxia had never held a baby before and her attempt to calm the baby down was quite clumsy. The little girl went on crying. Kang Jian cleared his throat. “Is she hungry?”
His gaze shifted toward An Xiaxia’s chest.
An Xiaxia blushed. “She’s not mine…” Don’t turn to her for milk!
Kang Jian choked on his own spit and coughed. “I’ll get someone to find something for her to eat. I’m off.”
“Alright.”
Before long, someone brought milk and bread. An Xiaxia fed the baby with some milk, then lay down, utterly exhausted.
She then recalled Kang Jian mentioning communications being restored and took out her phone. There was no news on the earthquake in Zhu County.
Everywhere she looked, the headlines read: landslide in Zhu County.
So, it wasn’t an earthquake… but a landslide?
An Xiaxia thought, drifting off. Her phone then began to ring.
Picking it up, she heard Sheng Yize’s exasperated voice on the other end. “Idiot! Where are you?”
