Chapter 369 - 300: Leaving Chuan

Departure is silent.

The troops from Mianzhu Hanwang left in batches, with no farewell ceremonies. They arrived amidst tears and clamor, yet left quietly, without a sound.

But it’s not true that no one saw them off—at least in Mianyang, the local people gave them a heartfelt send-off.

"Board the bus!"

At the command, everyone grabbed their backpacks and got on the bus as if they were just returning to the squadron after answering a call.

It just felt a bit like another lifetime.

They were to return to the squad by the early hours of the 26th.

They had departed in the early hours of the 13th, making it exactly 13 days.

Everyone could still remember the unease and rush they felt on the day they arrived.

The urgency in their hearts gradually cooled in the face of the helplessness brought by the natural disaster.

One by one, the signals of life disappeared.

Hope turned to grief, and then to numbness.

Everyone who experienced this disaster, whether they were victims or part of the rescue teams, had their definition of life profoundly changed.

Gone was the sunlight, water, food, roads.

Gone were loved ones, laughter, and joy.

In the isolated city, that life wasn’t really a life at all.

Life is not just survival; life is living with hope and warmth.

The people in the disaster area need warmth.

On leaving, they had witnessed and heard many stories:

Mao County, where 15 soldiers made a leap that shocked the world.

In Hanwang, Teacher Tan Qianqiu, who spread her wings and the cola-drinking boy who made all of China smile.

In Yingxiu, Teacher Zhang Miya, who sheltered children with her arms and was crushed to death.

In Shifang, Master Suquan sheltered 108 little arhats and pregnant mothers.

In Jiangyou, Jiang Xiaojun, the police mother of nine children.

In Beichuan, mothers shielding their children...

There were far too many moving events like these, dozens or even hundreds, which most people experienced daily.

And many people shared words that deeply touched others.

"I wanted to donate more this morning, but my money was in small denominations... The people in the disaster area have it harder than I do, their lives are at risk, it’s not easy!"

——These were the words spoken by an elderly beggar as she donated 105 yuan to the earthquake disaster area.

"I want to give the people of Sichuan the best quality blood."

——A citizen of Changsha said on the first day he donated blood, having carefully eaten only light food and gone to bed early the night before.

"When I sing, I don’t feel the pain."

——In Beichuan Kindergarten, a little girl named Ren Siyu sang the nursery rhyme "Two Tigers" while waiting for rescue beneath the rubble.

These stories and words harvested countless tears from people across the nation.

But these weren’t the gains of their mission.

What they gained was an acquaintance with life and death.

Farewell, earthquake area.

——Let’s hope we never have to be this meaningful again in our lifetime.

...

"Little Yang, you weren’t afraid when we went to Hanwang, were you?"

On the bus, Cao Yi turned around, looked at Yang Shaoqing leaning against Fang Huai, and smiled.

With the full-scale relocation in Hanwang underway, Yang Shaoqing also followed Fang Huai, taking Car 1 of the Second Squadron back.

They had to take the highway in Chengdu, where she would get off.

Yang Shaoqing clung tightly to Fang Huai’s arm, like a child, looking up at Fang Huai, she shook her head:

"I was quite scared at first, but when he was here, I wasn’t scared anymore."

In the past few days, Yang Shaoqing heard about many things Fang Huai did in the earthquake area and her respect for his professional experience had risen to admiration.

Having been fiercely protected by her family since she was young and guided by the positive thoughts of socialism, she felt that Fang Huai was like a hero out of a textbook upon hearing of his deeds.

Fang Huai didn’t speak, at first quietly feeling the pressure from his arm, swallowing his saliva, but when he looked down and saw the starry sparkle in Yang Shaoqing’s eyes, he coughed awkwardly in embarrassment, relaxed his arm, and scooted a bit further in his seat, trying to cover it up.

Hao Chengbin in front chuckled and turned around to say, "Not afraid this time, then you won’t be afraid of anything that comes your way in the future."

Fang Huai raised his hand, wrapped his arm around Yang Shaoqing’s shoulder, and smiled, "My Brother Yang is pretty brave. She and I grew up together and have been in the same class since childhood. If her brother ever got picked on, it was always her who stood up for him. Back in school, she was the goddess of justice."

"Yo?" Hao Chengbin exclaimed in surprise, "With you around, how could her brother still be bullied?"

Fang Huai smiled and waved his hand, "If Yang Shaoqing hadn’t been there, I would have felt okay bragging a bit. I was such a coward when I was studying, I didn’t dare to rush into fights because I was afraid of getting hit."

Yang Shaoqing pinched him and said, "That’s not true. You were also very brave back then. When my brother was robbed by two guys at the internet cafe, you helped him look for people everywhere!"

Men always have their pride, and Yang Shaoqing knew this. So she couldn’t wait to share the few glorious deeds of Fang Huai’s schooldays.

But Fang Huai didn’t need these stories to prove himself anymore; in everyone’s eyes, he was the synonym for awesome.

"You remember even that trivial matter?"

Fang Huai laughed, "Back then, I was so mad about it for days... I searched through all the nearby internet cafes with several good friends but couldn’t find those two guys. The stuff from our school days, I can remember, but I can’t relate to that emotional state anymore. Looking back now, they all seem like minor issues."

Huang Yong couldn’t help but sigh after hearing this,

"Compared to this, what isn’t a minor issue?"

Fang Huai turned around to see Huang Yong tilting his head back as if pondering the meaning of life. Even Liu Jianfeng, who used to be lively near the rear right window, looked world-weary.

Out of the seven people in the car, probably only Yang Shaoqing, who arrived in Hanwang relatively late and stayed with the kids the whole time, and Little White, who was lying on the floor sleeping, seemed to be less affected. The rest were lost in their thoughts.

With her keen intuition, Yang Shaoqing also noticed everyone’s silence. She had always thought that firefighters were toughened by rigorous trials, but now she was discovering their vulnerability from within.

She looked at Fang Huai with concern and said softly,

"Are you okay?"

Fang Huai looked around at everyone, raised his hand, and stroked Yang Shaoqing’s hair, saying,

"Life-and-death trials don’t come often, but when they do, we have to be able to withstand them."

Hearing this, the others sat up a little straighter, and any audible sighs from before abruptly stopped.

After a while, Cao Yi laughed, "This kid, he wants to take over my squad leader position."

Everyone laughed.

...

Yang Shaoqing got off in Chengdu.

Before getting off, she finally mustered up the courage to peck quickly on Fang Huai’s cheek in front of everyone.

The flush that spread over the beauty’s face brought Liu Jianfeng back to the real world, and he began clamoring to go play "Audition."

But Fang Huai was a bit dissatisfied; that kiss was too dry for his liking—he wanted a wet one.

When the two separated, they hugged, and Yang Shaoqing whispered in his ear to take a good bath when he got back to change his mood.

Fang Huai obediently nodded, took another deep breath of the beauty’s fragrance, satisfied, got back into the vehicle, and waved goodbye.

All the tenderness that this sharp-edged troop lacked, he found with Yang Shaoqing, he had received it all.

He felt he owed Yang Shaoqing a lot, but he would have to wait until he had stars on his shoulders and a vacation before he could make it up to her.

Next, it was a sad journey for a rabbit.

On the way passing through rabbit heads in Chengdu, hand-torn rabbit in Zigong, double-pepper rabbit in Chongqing, not a single rabbit made it out of Chuan Yu alive. Next up were Luzhou Laojiao, Renhuai Maotai liquor, Zunyi lamb rice noodle, crossing Wu River to reach Guiyang noodles with tripe.

Liquor, dishes, staples, all were accounted for along the journey.

Throughout the journey, the landscape was picturesque, every specialty they discussed, every dish, represented a city.

Their return route spanned two provinces and one city, roughly eight or nine hundred kilometers, nearly twelve hours long, passing by more than a dozen well-known places and countless lesser ones.

So many enchanting places.

Yet a single Longmen Mountain Fracture Zone, five hundred and fifty kilometers long and some forty kilometers wide, stretching from Linqiang County, Sha’anxi to Ya’an, Sichuan, had destroyed countless historical structures and cultural legacies on its path—a suffocating thought.

At four in the morning, as Squad Leader Fang stretched his arms and yawned long, everyone gradually woke up from their sleep.

Seeing the "Guiyang North" sign at the next stop, they all couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

They had finally arrived.

This was the longest mission they had been on since enlisting.

Fire trucks are exempt from tolls on the highway.

But as they passed through the tollbooth, the toll collector, noticing their entry information, asked,

"Are you coming back from the earthquake area?"

Squad Leader Fang nodded, "Mianzhu Hanwang."

"Is Sichuan okay?" The toll collector’s eyes started to mist.

Squad Leader Fang hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Yeah, it’s okay. Lass, are you from Sichuan?"

The toll collector stood up, covering her mouth, and nodded vigorously.

Squad Leader Fang couldn’t help but comfort her,

"The whole nation is with Sichuan; Sichuan is fine, don’t worry."

The toll collector’s tears came flooding down, and she choked out,

"To the 80 million Sichuanese, thank you and welcome back safely."