Chapter 200 I'm Afraid of Death Too
Xia Qianqian's hand, which was placing braised pork into Lu Zheng's bowl, suddenly stopped. The pork slices fell back onto the plate with a "plop," splashing a few drops of oil.
She looked at Lu Zheng's sharply defined profile. The aroma of meat in the tent suddenly became pungent, and the warm charcoal fire just moments before now made her eyes burn.
"What did you say?" Her voice trembled, and she didn't even realize that her fingertips had dug deeply into her palm.
She thought she was well prepared, but when Lu Zheng uttered the words "Xiaoshan Island," the reef gnawed by artillery fire seemed to be right in front of her, and the icy seawater washed over her chest, choking her and making it hard to breathe.
Especially with the words "nine deaths and one life" still echoing in her ears, the thought of Lu Zheng being injured and bleeding made her heart feel like it was being squeezed tightly by a hand, causing her excruciating pain.
Lu Zheng put down his chopsticks, his eyes filled with determination: "Qianqian, I know you're worried."
He reached out and covered her cold hand with his. "But Peng Fei and I were originally part of the elite team. In the past, when we carried out missions, weren't we always heading to the most dangerous places? Only there can our guns be used effectively."
"That's right, sister-in-law!" Peng Fei mumbled, his mouth still full of dumplings. "Our brothers' guns aren't for firewood! The island is short-handed, so it's perfect for us to go!"
The other brothers nodded in agreement, and not one of them backed down.
Xia Qianqian looked at their young yet resolute faces, then at Lu Zheng—his eyes held no hesitation, only the yearning of a soldier for the battlefield and his patriotism.
She wanted to say "no," to hold him tightly by her side, but the words that came out were trembling sobs: "Okay, I promise."
Lu Zheng suddenly smiled and reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Lu Zheng squeezed her hand tightly. "Qianqian, I knew you would agree... With you as my wife, my life has been worthwhile."
Xia Qianqian withdrew her hand from Lu Zheng's palm. She lowered her eyes, remained silent for a few seconds, and then raised her head again.
"I'll go with you."
"What did you say?!" Lu Zheng exclaimed as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head. "Qianqian, are you crazy?! What kind of place is Xiaoshan Island? What are you going there for? Are you going to be a sitting duck for the enemy?!"
"What can I do?" She suddenly laughed, her laughter tinged with tears. "I can save soldiers with infected wounds, I can help brothers with blown-off legs stand up, I can give you a hot meal on the rocks at minus twenty degrees Celsius—can you do these things?"
Lu Zheng was speechless when asked the question. He could only watch as she took out a glass bottle from her canvas bag. Inside, penicillin injections were neatly arranged, gleaming coldly in the dim tent.
"Company Commander Li said that even the soldiers on Xiaoshan Island don't have any mercurochrome." She shoved the medicine bottle into Lu Zheng's hand. "Do you think I want to go? I'm terrified! Afraid that shells will blow me to pieces, afraid that the sea will sweep me away, afraid that I'll never see An'an again..."
Her voice suddenly choked, but she stubbornly tilted her head back, refusing to let the tears fall. "But what about those soldiers? Aren't they afraid? Aren't their lives lives too?"
Lu Zheng's Adam's apple bobbed. He wanted to say, "I will protect you," but the words came out as a trembling whisper—he didn't even know if he could come back alive, so what right did he have to make that promise?
"If you stay here, I can fight with peace of mind." He suddenly softened his tone, like a child begging for candy, his forehead pressed against hers, his voice pleading, "Qianqian, I'm begging you..."
"Relax?" Xia Qianqian pushed him away. "How can I be at ease watching you carry them back one by one, missing limbs, watching them die while eating candy? Lu Zheng, you want to be a hero, I won't stop you. But remember—"
Her voice was firm and resolute: "Either take me with you, or neither of us goes!"
The wind and snow outside the tent suddenly intensified, and the canvas fluttered wildly like countless battle flags shouting.
Looking into her frighteningly bright eyes, Lu Zheng suddenly understood that his wife was never a parasitic vine that needed to hide behind him. She was a kapok tree that could stand shoulder to shoulder with him in the hail of bullets, their roots deeply embedded in the same land, their branches sharing the wind and frost.
He suddenly pulled her into his arms, the tightness making her bones ache, but his voice was so soft as if he was afraid of disturbing something: "Okay... I'll take you. But you have to promise me that you'll always stay behind me and never leave my side."
Xia Qianqian smiled, and tears finally slid down her cheeks, only to freeze into frost on her reddened face: "It's a deal."
"I think you're just throwing your lives away!" Company Commander Li suddenly cursed.
After the war started, he met many passionate young people, but passion can't be used as bullets! These people are all good prospects. Staying here to train for half a year is better than going to the island to be cannon fodder!
Upon hearing this, Peng Fei reached for his waist with his right hand, and a cold light flashed through the air—everyone only saw a white shadow flash before their eyes, and before the withered leaves that had drifted in from outside the window could even touch the ground, they were pinned to the tent pole by a throwing knife.
"Company Commander Li, do you still think we're going to our deaths?"
Company Commander Li's pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the throwing knife that had sunk half an inch into the wooden pillar, then swept his gaze over the thick calluses worn down on Peng Fei's tiger's mouth—those were not the hands of a new recruit.
Lu Zheng suddenly stood at attention and saluted: "Reporting, Company Commander! Our elite team of twelve men are all skilled marksmen, capable of hitting a target from a hundred paces away and fighting a tiger bare-handed!"
"What Xiaoshan Island lacks isn't cannon fodder, but sharp blades to hold the reefs." Lu Zheng's eyes were burning, like a wolf eyeing its prey. "Our guns and our blades can only survive there; leaving them here is a waste!"
Looking into their eyes, Company Commander Li suddenly recalled how he had been when he first joined the army twenty years ago—just like that, carrying only half a cornbread and daring to charge into a hail of bullets.
He laughed, then shook his head helplessly: "You young people..."
He turned around and pulled a yellowed map from his canvas bag: "This is a map showing the distribution of the small islands and reefs that the transport team risked their lives to bring back last month."
He pointed to the red circle at the edge of the map, "At high tide, this is the only place to stand, 'Eagle Beak Rock,' where you can avoid enemy fire by staying in the crevices of the rocks."
Lu Zheng took the map and traced the dense red dots with his fingertip, which were the enemy's firing positions.
"And this too." Company Commander Li pulled out a tin can. "These are the cigarettes I saved up for Old Zhang on the island... if he's still alive."
Company Commander Li suddenly turned his face away, wiped his eyes, and continued, "Go and come back soon. No matter who you are, you will all be heroes of the country after the war!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng stood at attention and raised his hand: "Thank you, Company Commander!"
After speaking, he looked solemnly at his brothers, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go!"
Including Xia Qianqian, everyone arrived at the makeshift harbor, where a small sampan was moored.
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