"Uncle, let me be frank. If Honghui doesn't come back, the marriage will be canceled for now, and we can discuss the rest later." Xie Yuyao did not change her mind because of Zhao Laoda's sincerity.
She was never one to hesitate. Once she had made up her mind, she would not change it unless Zhao Honghui returned.
*
The waiting period is the hardest, especially the last few days.
Xie Yuyao's wedding day finally arrived, but the groom had gone far away.
That day, she didn't go anywhere but stayed in the educated youth compound. After the other educated youth went to work, she entered the space and wandered around.
The fields and branches were laden with fruit, but the joy of the harvest had lost its infectious happiness. Xie Yuyao took a stroll around, then returned to the rocking chair in the bamboo house, lay down, listened to soft music, closed her eyes, and let her mind go blank.
Her thoughts, like the wind, unconsciously took her back to the night of their parting.
That night, the two pulled off another heist, earning 30,000 yuan. By the time they returned to the educated youth compound, it was already past 2 a.m. Xie Yuyao took out some grilled skewers, fried chicken, and beer, and they ate and chatted, not sleeping a wink all night.
At dawn, Zhao Laoda and Yang Chunhua arrived at the educated youth compound, and soon after, Huizi also arrived in his van.
The group loaded their luggage into the van. Xie Yuyao got in first, while Zhao Honghui bid a reluctant farewell to his parents.
Zhao Honghui was going to the city to catch the train for this trip, and Xie Yuyao and Huizi went to see him off. Because the journey was long, Zhao Honghui did not let his parents come with him.
A few hours later, the van arrived at the city's train station. The three of them first went to a nearby state-run restaurant for breakfast. Seeing that it was almost time, they bought platform tickets and entered the station together.
On the platform, Zhao Honghui carried luggage in one hand and held Xie Yuyao's hand in the other. His lingering gaze fell on Xie Yuyao, and neither of them spoke.
Until the train conductor shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hurry up and get on the train! The doors are about to close!"
Zhao Honghui then put down his luggage, put his arm around Xie Yuyao and hugged her tightly, his eyes red as he whispered in her ear, "Wait for me to come back."
Thinking of this, two lines of tears slid down her cheeks. She didn't know how much longer she would have to wait before her beloved would return.
He has his mission to complete, and she has her own path to walk.
Now, following Master Sun to learn traditional Chinese medicine, she has already grasped the basics and stepped into the field. Faced with the vastness and complexity of traditional Chinese medicine, she absorbs knowledge like a sponge, leaving little time for melancholy.
The space was also filled with crops and medicinal herbs, and the warehouse was stocked with enough supplies and treasures to last several lifetimes. Thinking about the good days after the reform and opening up, her lost spirit returned.
Zhao Honghui, we both need to take good care of ourselves.
On the western border of China, the Miya Glacier stretches far and wide, like a long, dormant dragon.
Under the azure sky, a group of about ten people were climbing up the mountain ridge from the valley.
In the distance, a large cloud covered the layers of mountains, so thick it looked like it was about to crash to the ground, and it was surging toward them.
Zhao Honghui, who was the first to climb to the top, stood on the ridge and adjusted his breathing. When he saw the approaching clouds in the distance, he felt a chill: "A blizzard is coming soon. Everyone, move to the leeward side!"
The speed of going downhill was much faster than going uphill. Zhao Honghui maintained his inclination to the slope and used inertia to quickly slide down sideways. His movements were steady and decisive.
Upon reaching the leeward slope, Zhao Honghui organized his teammates to build a temporary shelter – a snow cave.
He used a water bottle as a snow shovel and the two of them dug a snow hole together.
Just as the blizzard clouds were about to strike, the igloo was finally completed. At Zhao Honghui's command, everyone went into the snow cave to take shelter.
Outside, a blizzard swept in, and the temperature plummeted to minus thirty degrees Celsius.
The temperature inside the cave was below minus ten degrees Celsius. Zhao Honghui sat on the excavated section inside the cave, rubbed his fingers together, and relaxed his tense nerves.
"Captain, this weather changes so fast! Luckily you noticed in time, otherwise we would have been in danger." Fang Xiaoshan, a soldier in the same group as Zhao Honghui, took out his water bottle, took a sip of ice-cold water, and grimaced from the cold.
"Is today March 28th?" Zhao Honghui asked.
Fang Xiaoshan said, "Yes, we've been in the glacier for ten days now."
In the past few days, they have experienced all kinds of harsh glacial conditions, including crevasses, snow pits, and blizzards. If it weren't for the team leader Zhao Honghui's rich experience, they would have lost many people long ago.
Zhao Honghui took a photo out of his pocket and carefully stroked it in the dim light.
"Captain, is this your wife? She's so beautiful!" Fang Xiaoshan leaned closer and his eyes were instantly drawn to the person in the photo.
Zhao Honghui swallowed the bitterness of longing: "That was true."
Fang Xiaoshan was puzzled: "What do you mean?"
Zhao Honghui stared at the person in the photo without saying anything more.
Longing took flight and soared back to Qingshan Village, thousands of miles away.
I wonder how Yao Yao is doing now, whether she has encountered any difficulties during this time, and whether she is having a good time. He didn't go back today, will Yao Yao feel uneasy or resentful?
If it weren't for this mission, he would have already married the girl he loved and become the happiest groom today, a day he had long awaited.
After a long and arduous journey of half a month, I finally arrived at the 233rd National Defense Corps in the west.
Upon arrival, he learned that his mission was to train the soldiers in glacier survival skills and tracking techniques, as they were about to undertake a difficult task on the glacier.
Zhao Honghui had carried out many missions in glacial terrain, and his previous leg injury was caused by chasing a group of desperate criminals on the Miya Glacier.
Now, the troops have received reliable intelligence that foreign forces are colluding with enemy agents to establish a secret experimental base in the Miya Glacier area to research viral biological weapons.
After investigation and confirmation, the military issued an order to the special forces: locate and destroy the secret experimental base to completely eliminate the threat.
Upon arrival at the base, the regimental commander immediately arranged for a military doctor to examine Zhao Honghui's old injuries, and Zhao Honghui's physical condition could no longer be concealed.
Upon learning that his leg injury had almost fully healed, the regimental commander had the idea of making Zhao Honghui the captain of the reconnaissance team to lead the way. Zhao Honghui accepted the mission despite his reluctance, as the glacial area was fraught with danger and having him along would provide extra strength.
Zhao Honghui first underwent a period of high-intensity training at the base to restore his body to its peak condition before the regimental commander allowed him to lead the team to explore the glacier.
Zhao Honghui knew he couldn't make it back to Qingshantun. Due to his special status and top-secret mission, he couldn't communicate with his family. He could only suppress his longing and guilt and walk into the glacial area that had once brought him pain and nightmares.
What should have been a sweet and blissful wedding night turned into a cold and cramped snow cave for Zhao Honghui.
The next morning, the storm that had been raging for so long finally passed, and the soldiers crawled out of the snow cave one by one, ate their dry rations until they were half full, and set off on their journey again.
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