Chapter 34 "Something's happened! Over at Old Wind Gap..."
The next morning, in the classroom.
The door to the tool shed was pushed open, letting in a cool morning breeze. Adil was the first to arrive again; he was squatting in the corner with a wicker basket, carefully picking up scraps of paper and broken pieces of lime that the children had used for practicing calligraphy the day before.
His movements were somewhat mechanical, his brows were furrowed, and his eyes were fixed on the ground; his mind was clearly elsewhere.
Shu Ran walked in, her gaze falling on Adil. This boy was always quiet when working, but yesterday, when he was wiping the table, although clumsy, he had a serious attitude towards completing the task. Today was different; his tightly furrowed brows, his stiff lips, and his shifty eyes revealed a heavy heart and unease.
Old wind gap... towards the pastoral area...
Xu Junjun's low-pitched "What kind of fuse is this?", the "explosion sound" discussed by the employees, Chen Yuanjiang's figure that never returned... these fragments intertwined in Shu Ran's mind.
Adil's home is in the northern pastoral area, not far from the old wind gap. His unusual behavior is definitely not just because of the shame he felt after admitting his mistake yesterday.
Shu Ran tiptoed over to Adil and crouched down to help him pick up the trash.
“Adili,” Shu Ran tried to keep her voice calm, using the simplest words and gestures, “You did a good job. At home…” She pointed north, then drew a circle on her chest to indicate “peace,” “The sheep… are they alright? Is everything alright at home?” She deliberately used a few of the local dialect terms she had just learned.
Adil paused in his action of picking up the crumpled paper.
He seemed to have been stung by something; his shoulders tensed, and he abruptly looked up at Shu Ran. His face was drained of color, and his usually stubborn eyes were now filled with terror.
He seemed to want to say something, but couldn't get the words out. The next second, he threw the willow basket in his hand to the ground, scattering crumpled paper everywhere. Without even glancing at Shu Ran, or caring about his younger sister Ayiman who had just entered, he ran out of the tool shed like a startled sheep, head down, bumping past several children who had just come in.
He stumbled, nearly tripping over the threshold, and disappeared out the door without looking back.
The child who had been hit rubbed his arm in a daze. Ayman watched her brother's hurried disappearance, her little mouth trembled, and her big eyes quickly filled with tears. She called out in the local language, "Brother!"
Stone and the older children were also stunned, looking at each other in bewilderment.
Shu Ran squatted on the spot, still clutching the crumpled piece of paper she had picked up.
Something terrible must have happened in the pastoral area, or rather, near the old wind gap! And the Turdi family was very likely directly affected. Adil's terrified eyes were an instinctive reaction to something he had witnessed or experienced firsthand.
Xu Junjun's speculations about "what kind of fuse" and "what kind of explosion" were no longer vague rumors, but were reflected through Adil, indicating that Chen Yuanjiang's mission could not be described by the word "dangerous".
Shu Ran stood up and looked out the door. The direction Adil disappeared in was the dirt road leading to the company headquarters and also to the northern pastoral areas.
The sunlight was blinding, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in her heart. She clenched the crumpled piece of paper in her hand, squeezing it until it was deformed.
Shi Tou was the first to react. He rushed to the door, peeked out, then pulled back in, his little face tense: "Teacher! Adil ran towards his house! He ran really fast!"
She suppressed her turbulent thoughts and knelt down beside Ayman. The little girl's face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were as red as a rabbit's.
“Ayman,” Shu Ran said softly, “Don’t be afraid, your brother has to go home for a bit, he’ll be back soon.” She wiped away Ayman’s tears with a handkerchief, her gesture conveying a sense of reassurance.
Ayman raised her big eyes to look at Shuran, her lips moved but no sound came out, she just moved closer to Shuran's legs.
"Come on, let's sit down." Shu Ran took her little hand and led her to her seat. The other children also silently returned to their seats. The atmosphere in the shed was heavy. Even Hu Zi was unusually quiet, nervously rubbing his fingers.
Shu Ran walked to the lectern. She picked up a small piece of lime; the new word she was supposed to teach today was stuck in her throat.
She took a deep breath, turned around, and wrote the word "home" in large letters on the blackboard. Dust and powder fell softly.
"Classmates, repeat after me—'home'."
"Home—" the children's voices rang out in unison.
“Home is the baby, the mother, the older brother and sister, the yurt, the sheep…” Shu Ran explained in the slowest language and with the simplest words, her gaze sweeping over Ayman, “Home… must be safe.”
Ayman looked at the words on the blackboard, her little mouth repeating them, and tears rolled down her cheeks again.
The lesson was exceptionally difficult. The children's attention kept drifting towards the door. Shu Ran's heart was also in her throat, her ears catching every rustle of wind outside the shed. She could only repeat simple words over and over, trying to pull their thoughts back with the most basic arithmetic problems. On the teacher's desk, the few precious pencil stubs were sweaty from being gripped by the children, and the words they wrote were more crooked than usual.
Just before class ended, a different commotion finally came from outside. It was a cacophony of footsteps and shouts in heavily accented Mandarin, approaching from afar and heading straight for the company headquarters!
"...Company Commander Ma! Is Company Commander Ma here?!"
"Something's happened! The old wind gap... it's exploded! Sheep are dead!"
"Turdi's pasture! No wolves... it's blown up..."
The sound drifted intermittently into the tool shed.
All the children in the shed pricked up their ears. Ayman suddenly raised her head, her little face pale, staring intently at the direction of the door.
Shu Ran's heart leaped into her throat. The Turdi family's pasture! The sheep that had been blown up! Just as she suspected!
She walked quickly to the door and gently pushed it open a crack. There, she saw a small group of people gathered at the entrance.
Several weary herders were gesturing anxiously, their faces showing fear and anger.
The tall, burly man with a crooked felt hat at the head of the group was none other than Turdi! His face was covered in dust, and a blood-soaked strip of cloth was visible inside the sleeve of one of his arms. He was speaking loudly and emotionally to Ma Zhanshan, who had come out after hearing the commotion.
“…It wasn’t a wolf! It was a lump of iron! Buried in the grass! When the sheep stepped on it, boom! It blew up a whole area! There was a human shadow, it was up to no good! Adil saw it yesterday, but he was too scared to say anything! He just ran back like crazy to report it…Hey! It’s too late!” Turdi’s voice was hoarse, filled with lingering fear and heartache.
Ma Zhanshan's face was ashen, his thick eyebrows furrowed into knots: "How long have Officer Chen and the others been gone? Have they arrived at their destination yet?"
"We've arrived! When the explosion happened, we could see Officer Chen and his team on that slope in the distance! As soon as the explosion went off, they rushed over there!"
Another herdsman chimed in, his face filled with awe, "It must have been buried a long time ago! It was Officer Chen and the others..."
"Damn it! These bastards!" Ma Zhanshan spat fiercely, realizing that the situation was more complicated and dangerous than he had thought—Chen Yuanjiang and his group were likely near the explosion site!
He turned and shouted urgently into the company headquarters, "Communicator! Go report the situation! And tell Director Zhao to immediately pick a few brave, careful, and quick-footed men, take shovels and long bamboo poles! Go and meet up with Officer Chen and the others, keep watch on the perimeter, and don't let any unrelated people get close! Also, tell the medical room to get ready! Hurry!"
"Yes, sir!" The messenger ran out.
Ma Zhanshan scratched his head in frustration and said to the still-shaken Tuerdi and the others, "Old Tu, you guys go back first! Stay far away from that area! Keep an eye on the livestock and people! Officer Chen and the others are handling it! The organization will definitely take care of the losses... Don't worry!"
After receiving confirmation, the herders calmed down a bit, realizing that staying would not help and would only cause trouble, so they hurriedly left again.
The atmosphere at the entrance to the Lianmen Gate was heavy. Ma Zhanshan looked north, his face grim.
Shu Ran gently closed the door a crack, but her heart clenched even tighter.
She walked back to the podium. The children all looked at her, their little faces filled with unease and questions. Ayman's tears had stopped, but her eyes were now empty with fear.
"Classmates, what they were saying outside was that bad guys were doing bad things! The organization, Company Commander Ma and Political Commissar Chen, have already gone to catch them! We are not afraid!"
Her gaze swept over every little face, finally settling on Ayman: "We're in the classroom, studying hard, which is... supporting the organization in catching bad guys! Stone!"
"Here!" Stone immediately straightened his back.
"Let's all say the word 'home' ten more times! Make sure it's loud and clear!"
"Home! Home! Home!..." The children's tender yet desperate voices rang out one after another, breaking through the oppressive atmosphere of the tool shed and echoing throughout the regimental headquarters. Ayman also followed along, her voice small and trembling with tears, but she finally managed to say it.
Shu Ran looked out the window. In the direction of the company headquarters, Zhao Weidong was leading several workers carrying shovels and pickaxes, hurrying north with Ma Zhanshan.
Catching bad guys and protecting our home. This lesson is more important than any new vocabulary word. She has to instill this reassurance in every child.
Before the dust kicked up by Turdi and his men had settled, another series of hurried and chaotic footsteps sounded from the direction of the company headquarters.
Zhao Weidong led seven or eight strong workers, panting, as they ran over. Each of them was holding a shovel, and two others were carrying several long, peeled, thick poplar trunks.
"Old Ma! Everyone's here!" Zhao Weidong wiped the sweat from his face, still catching his breath. "What do we do? Really dig for mines? This thing..." His face, unusually devoid of his usual performance-driven rage, was replaced by a solemnity and a hint of fear in the face of unknown danger.
"Dig my ass!" Ma Zhanshan glared, his voice urgent and forceful. "Officer Chen and the others are on the slope! The explosion was right under their noses! They don't even know if they're dead or alive! We're just a few people there to keep watch for them! Don't let the villagers or livestock wander in again! Put up a cordon around the perimeter! Use poles to probe! Stay far away from the bombed area! Do you understand?!"
Zhao Weidong was taken aback by the shout, then realized what was happening and his face turned pale: "On...on the slope? Were you there when it was bombed?"
He whirled around and yelled at the workers behind him, whose faces had also changed, "Did you all hear that? Be alert! Open your eyes wide! Follow me! Let's go!" Without asking any more questions, he took the lead, shouldered his shovel, and strode off to the north. The others quickly followed.
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Author's note: [Applause] The update for the 9th has been delivered ahead of schedule!
★My darlings, the update on the 10th will be at 10 PM tonight, and it'll still be a long, delicious chapter!
A surprise gift [Gold Ingot] will be dropped in the comments section!
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