The snow was falling heavily, covering their shoulders. People were so close that they could smell each other's breath, and used their shoulders to shield each other from the bone-chilling wind.
A few snowflakes fell on Chen Xiaoxiang's upturned forehead hair. Shen Rusong lowered his eyes, covered his mouth with his hand and sneezed. When he looked up again, he saw Zhao Haiqiang reaching out to pluck the crystal snow strands from the ends of her hair.
"There's still an hour before the shift changes. Let's talk about something. Well, it's too uncomfortable to freeze." Zhao Haiqiang screwed on the lid of the wine bottle, occupied it directly, and then suggested.
Shen Rusong said "Yeah". All he could think about was the weather and whether the snow would be weaker after the sun came out. If it didn't weaken, they would have to follow the record and take a straight line to reach the Ganjingzi Military Station behind the mountain as quickly as possible. , there is a small military station with an entire infantry platoon stationed there. There are sufficient supplies, and you can stay at the military station and start again when the snow stops.
Chen Xiaoxiang reached out to grab her own wine bottle, but after searching for a long time to no avail, she flipped her forehead angrily and said helplessly: "What do you want to talk about?"
It was so cold that he could only cry. Zhao Haiqiang handed over his kettle, which was full of hot water, and said, "Why are you in a hurry? Let's change careers with you."
"Hmph." Chen Xiaoxiang accepted it, put it directly into his underwear, and said disdainfully: "You are good at business, your surname is Zhao."
"My family is really into business. My mother opened a grocery store downstairs. When school was over, a group of little kids gathered around to buy fried gluten."
Chen Xiaoxiang picked the cigarette butt from Shen Rusong's mouth and took a deep breath. The smoke floated next to her white cheeks, and then condensed and settled. She laughed and said, "Hey, no wonder he's so fat."
Ignoring Chen Xiaoxiang's sarcasm, Zhao Haiqiang said to himself, closed his collar, and recalled: "I was a popular person in the class at that time. Those who wanted to eat skewers had to register with me first, one skewer per person, first come, first served."
"When I was in the second grade of junior high school, when the exam was about to be assigned, a high school gangster jumped in the queue. I went to stop him and punched me with a backhand until my nose started to bleed. My mother got anxious and helped me to get some theory."
"What's the use of theory?" Chen Xiaoxiang replied.
"No, theory is useful. If we could read, we wouldn't be squatting here in the cold right now." Zhao Haiqiang responded, took the cigarette butt, took a puff, and said leisurely:
"But, my sister who came back from school took the pan of oil without saying a word and poured it on the gangster. It was so hot that he screamed and pissed."
Chen Xiaoxiang listened to it, and he grabbed a cigarette butt with a little cigarette. After a breath, he flew out and asked, "What about it? Didn't you take someone?"
"You must have beaten up a lot of people in middle school." Zhao Haiqiang said curiously.
"Nonsense, I've been the one who started all the gang fights since I was twelve years old." Chen Xiaoxiang raised her thumb and said proudly: "My good-for-nothing classmate was bullied and came to take revenge on me. I picked up the bench and ran to the next class. Sorry, those men are at fault because of the Young Soldiers Plan. I’m sorry to fight in a group, but if I can’t beat them in a single fight, I’ll send women here. I can knock down three of them with one slap.”
Zhao Haiqiang swallowed and trembled all over. He didn't know whether it was from the cold or something else, and said, "Awesome, Sister Chen."
Chen Xiaoxiang laughed "haha" and continued to ask Zhao Haiqiang: "What about your sister later? Should you bring your boyfriend or ask your father to help out?"
"Oh, then that gangster blocked my sister at the school gate. He didn't even think about how many people had eaten my gluten. A brother from the same street came over and almost beat him up and sent him to the hospital."
Chen Xiaoxiang laughed "haha" a few more times. It looked like she wanted to laugh loudly, but it was too cold now and the air-conditioning got stuck in her throat and choked her.
Seeing that Shen Rusong remained silent the whole time, Chen Xiaoxiang gave him an elbow and asked, "Hey, how many are in your family?"
Shen Rusong was cold and sleepy. He was suddenly poked and woke up. His head turned and the snow fell. He said "Ah", scratched his brows and replied: "Two."
"Nonsense, every family doesn't have two, how can your family have more children? Are you the younger brother or the older brother?"
Shen Rusong said to his heart, "What are you curious about?" And did I talk about this in the auditorium or the playground that day? Didn’t you hear it when you were passing by? It's so cold now that my breath turns to ice, can you save some energy?
"Brother." Shen Rusong spat out one word.
"Coo coo coo coo~" Zhao Haiqiang shrank his hands in front of his body and imitated the sound of a pigeon.
"..."
Chen Xiaoxiang suddenly felt unhappy. She was always approached by others to talk to her, asking for a few words or a few songs to listen to. Those who pretended to be noble would either walk away on their own in the end, or be beaten on their own initiative. In school or military academy, , the army, good soldiers who can fight and please their superiors can take advantage of them wherever they go. She is such a heroine.
"How old is your brother or sister?" Chen Xiaoxiang nodded his chin.
"sixteen."
"Oh, next year's unified examination?"
"..."
"Haizi, give him a sip. He feels frozen and his tongue is tied."
Shen Rusong took a sip and felt that his body was a little warmer and his thinking became clearer. His almond eyes met Chen Xiaoxiang's phoenix eyes and he blinked, and then he said slowly: "Yeah, yes, her grades are very good. She has to take the Long Test." big."
"What the fuck? Long Da?" Chen Xiaoxiang said in surprise.
"That's awesome, Songzi. Why didn't you say anything before?" Zhao Haiqiang took back the wine bottle and handed it back to Chen Xiaoxiang.
Shen Rusong was a little annoyed. He immediately went back coldly. He was so cold that he didn't want to say, where did you two get the energy to talk to each other? Xinjie didn’t want to talk to you at all during the whole process! Moreover, except for Gao Keming who was on the other side of the snow trench and Shao Gang who was also freezing somewhere in Qianshan Mountain, Shen Rusong was not happy for others to call him "Songzi". name.
"Are you willing to listen when I say it?" Shen Rusong asked. What he was thinking about was that during the past few days of training, he had put forward a lot of opinions about complying with the regulations. The two of them listened at first, but then left directly.
Since Shen Rusong blocked most of the wind, Chen Xiaoxiang became more energetic and said unhappily: "Am I not listening now? Which middle school is your sister in? What are her usual scores and grade ranking?"
"The High School Affiliated to Longda University is generally among the top three in grade. The competition is sometimes too fierce, but she has never fallen out of the top ten in grade since she was a child." Speaking of this, Shen Rusong said in a solid tone. Of course, having a younger sister like this who is a very arrogant older brother would be hundreds and thousands of times more promising than an older brother who was a soldier and retired from the Army after being admitted to Longshan University.
Chen Xiaoxiang leaned over, punched Shen Rusong hard, and said sincerely: "The top ten in the high school affiliated to Longda can really get into Longda! When you are admitted, you should take leave and go back to hold a banquet."
"It depends on what she wants. She can do whatever makes her happy. Anyway, I saved money and coupons for her." Shen Rusong sighed, thinking that Meihu was sleeping soundly now, would she dream of her brother, between the two of them? My brother who was almost frozen to death on a mountain more than a thousand meters high.
"I don't care where she goes in the future, as long as she doesn't marry someone from the surface. I've paid for her a good dowry in the past few years, five hundred yuan a year, a one-level promotion every two years, and plenty of field subsidies. I'm her only sister, and she She wants to marry high, so she can't be looked down upon by her husband's family." Shen Rusong thought further, he knew that his sister was very smart when he was in middle school, and maybe she was the one who took the spotlight.
Sure enough, Chen Xiaoxiang praised: "You think far ahead and are a good brother."
Shen Rusong didn't answer. It didn't matter what he said. What mattered was what he did next.
Chen Xiaoxiang has a lively temperament. She raised her head and asked Xin Jie, who had been silent, and shouted: "Squad leader 3! Let's chat. How many people are in your family?"
Zhao Haiqiang quickly covered Chen Xiaoxiang's mouth and whispered: "Stop asking."
"Her brother died in Fenglin last year."
"She took her brother's class."
Chen Xiaoxiang's eyes became complicated, and after a long time, Xin Jie's torn to pieces words floated in the wind.
"One, I don't want to chat."
It was getting colder and colder, and the three of them didn't want to talk any more, so they leaned closer together. During the roar of the wind and snow, Chen Xiaoxiang could occasionally be heard humming quietly. Listen carefully and you can hear her singing "Prairie, grassland, I have seen countless sorrows, soaked in blood, the blood of the past..."
Feixue seemed to understand her low and somewhat sad singing voice, and even more so, snow fell all over her shoulders.
Shen Rusong thought of the carvings left in the cave of the Jaegers, the record left by the platoon leader named Li Minbo. There was no description of the battle, only the sentence "The mission is continuing, and I cannot take the three of them home. Qingshan Burial Loyalty" Bones, buried here.”
Chen Xiaoxiang's singing swayed high and low in the wind and snow, and Shen Rusong suddenly felt sad. He thought of a group of tired hunters fighting in the knee-deep torrent more than ten years ago, defeating the beast in the heavy snow. group. Then he picked up his dead comrades from the red-stained water and watched them turn into ashes, perhaps silently or sadly. In the end, the hunter squad leader looked at the harsh winter outside the cave and buried the bones of his fallen comrades with his own hands.
Was it in that cave, in front of the hastily erected grave, that there were comrades singing the same song in a low voice?
Shen Rusong raised his head, looked at the sky, followed the tune, and sang in his heart.
"The wind will blow away,
on green grassland
Their bold singing
songs of the past
And left to them
Just the honor of battle
And the dusty journey. "
Prairie, prairie, prairie, prairie.
