Chapter 281 Arrival at the Camp

Xia Juanjuan nodded quickly and said, "I know. Thank you, comrade. I haven't spent the New Year with my man for two years. I came here because I missed him. If I really can't see him, there's nothing I can do. Sorry to trouble you..."

It was not until the afternoon that a jeep was sent over from the garrison. A man in military uniform got out of the car and let Xia Juanjuan get in.

On the way, Xia Juanjuan asked and found out that Lizhan was not at the station. He had been away for half a month. A village under the jurisdiction of E City had been trapped by a blizzard for more than ten days. They had just finished rescuing the last wave and had not had a rest or a good sleep before they rushed to the next disaster area.

"Sister-in-law, I'm sorry. The weather this year is too bad. There are disasters everywhere. Otherwise, we can't ask our allies to borrow people to help. Although it is the New Year these days, I'm afraid our camp is almost empty. I'm afraid I can't take care of you. If there is anything inconsiderate, please forgive me."

Xia Juanjuan was touched and a little guilty at the same time. They were already so busy, and yet they still had to send someone to pick her up.

"I'm sorry, I was impulsive and caused you trouble..."

The visitor smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, don't mind it. If you come to visit us during normal times, we will at least prepare a roasted whole lamb and have a bonfire party. It's us who are sorry..."

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Well... I'll wait a day. If Li Zhan hasn't come back, I'll feel bad to bother you guys and cause trouble for the country and the army. It just so happens that I have an aunt from far away who married here and I haven't seen her for several years. I'll go visit her if I see if it works. I'll spend the New Year with them this year, so that we can maintain our relationship as relatives."

After hearing this, the visitor smiled and said, "That's fine. If you haven't seen each other for a few years, you should meet each other."

Xia Juanjuan asked tentatively: "By the way, comrade, I don't know whether I should ask or not, but I have heard that there may be thieves here who specialize in doing bad things to harass the people. Is it true?"

The man smiled and said, "How can there be none? They are all poor, vicious and extremely evil criminals who have committed crimes. This area is vast and sparsely populated, and many ordinary people have migrated with their families and yurts. Even if we have troops stationed there, sometimes we really can't take care of them.

In previous years, these people didn't dare to be too arrogant. They just robbed the herdsmen's cattle, sheep, horses, etc., and they were satisfied with the winter. This year, the weather has been abnormal since August, and it started snowing heavily in the fall. The herdsmen didn't have time to make arrangements for winter. Many cattle and sheep were frozen to death or starved to death. How could there be surplus for those horse thieves to rob? So, they became even more cruel. Since the beginning of winter, there have been several robberies that wiped out the whole family. Otherwise, we wouldn't have asked the group led by Captain Li to come and help..."

After hearing this, Xia Juanjuan became more and more worried.

Most of the missions that Li Zhan carried out were always kept secret. But after hearing what this person said, it turned out that the missions that Li Zhan carried out were indeed some missions that required him to fight against extremely vicious and desperate criminals.

Thinking of the dream in which Li Zhan was lying in a simple tent with a pale face, the doctor said with difficulty: "It's no use. We have delayed too long. The wound is too infected. Amputation is necessary, otherwise his life will be in danger..."

Xia Juanjuan shuddered involuntarily.

The person who picked her up also noticed this and comforted her, "Don't worry too much. Most of them are just routine rescue missions, and those horse thieves have been much quieter recently."

Xia Juanjuan smiled with a pale face and said, "Yes, I know."

We chatted some more along the way, and the jeep drove for several hours before arriving at the camp located in a very remote place.

Just as the person who picked her up said, there were not that many people in the camp. There were only some logistics and permanent staff, and some injured people who were temporarily waiting to be transferred to a large hospital in Hohhot for treatment.

Xia Juanjuan was arranged to live in a yurt.

The yurt is not very big and is surrounded by felt on all sides to keep out the wind and keep in warmth. There are beds inside made of animal skins and homemade wool blankets.

After a while, the soldier who came to pick her up came back. After asking, he found out his surname was Ma. Everyone called him Xiao Ma. He was also brought a small stove that burned dried cow dung.

She also brought a copper pot for making milk tea, as well as brick tea, fresh milk, beef jerky, milk tofu, milk skin, ghee and fried rice to help cook.

Xiao Ma smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, it's not time for dinner yet. I'll make you some milk tea first, you can take a nap."

As he spoke, he started to get ready.

First pour clean water into the pot, bring it to a boil, then add the crushed tea leaves, and then simmer it slowly. Next, add milk and salt and continue to simmer until it boils. Then put the beef jerky, milk tofu and other ingredients into the pot and cook, and it's done.

There is not much food here, only beef, mutton or dairy products. This kind of milk tea can be regarded as the daily diet of local herdsmen.

Xia Juanjuan felt more and more embarrassed.

The snowstorm this winter was so severe. Lizhan and his team came here to provide support. She, a family member, came from far away and had to trouble others to take care of her, and she also had to consume the limited supplies here. On the surface, it was really confusing.

But thinking about what happened in the dream, Xia Juanjuan knew that she had to make this trip.

Even if it was just an ordinary nightmare and not a predictive dream, she still wanted to come and seek peace of mind.

"Comrade Xiao Ma, I am really sorry to trouble you. I brought some dry food here, so you don't have to take care of me."

Xiao Ma smiled and said, "It's not a problem. This is what we should do. Sister-in-law, you can take a rest first. I will call you when dinner is ready."

Xia Juanjuan agreed, and when Xiao Ma left the yurt, she picked up the milk tea and took a sip. It was salty and fragrant, with a strong milky aroma. It was indeed delicious and she finished it in a short while.

The milk tea contains beef jerky, milk tofu, fried rice, etc., so the quantity is sufficient and it is quite filling.

She took food from the space along the way, such as chocolate, biscuits, meat buns, etc., and ate them behind people's backs, so she didn't feel hungry.

But after arriving in Hohhot, we had to go through a lot of trouble to get to the county seat, and someone came to pick us up. I didn't have much chance to eat along the way, so I was still quite hungry.

After eating, Xia Juanjuan forced herself to sleep for a while.

Today is the 27th day of the 11th lunar month, and there are only three days left until New Year's Eve.

The ideal situation would be if Li Zhan could come back tomorrow, so that she could tell Li Zhan about Shen Wanxue's trap and her approximate location. Li Zhan would have his men under him who could go and rescue her immediately.

If Li Zhan asked her how she knew, she could only tell the truth that she had a nightmare. For things like this, it is better to believe it than not to believe it.

However, if Li Zhan doesn't come back tomorrow, she can't just wait...

Or... tell the people stationed here that there might be people trapped in that area.

However, how could she, a relative from another place, describe so accurately what happened around the farm where Shen Wanxue was, including its location?

Maybe, instead of rescuing her immediately, they thought she had a problem, or was sabotaged by a spy or a special agent, and detained her.

If she is simply detained and someone is sent to rescue her as she said, then that's fine. After the person is rescued, at least her innocence can be proved.

I'm afraid that if we detain her and then fail to rescue her due to lack of manpower, it will cause delays!

Xia Juanjuan didn't dare to take risks.

After much thought, she could only wait until tomorrow. If Li Zhan didn't come back, she would go according to her original plan and go alone to visit distant relatives whom she hadn't seen for many years.

She has space, so the blizzard should not be able to do anything to her. If she can't hold on any longer, she can go into the space to keep warm. There is also spiritual spring water to drink, so she is not afraid.

As long as they could get to where Shen Wanxue and Rong Zhenbang were trapped, even if they couldn't bring them into the space, at least... they could give them some cold things and food. Moreover, they could also be persuaded to abandon the sheep and escape first.

It would be best if we could avoid those horse thieves.

At worst, if we still meet them, at least... we can buy some time to deal with them, until they come to fight...

Moreover, she still had a wooden warehouse in her hand, so she had no choice but to take a gamble.

In the evening, Xiao Ma came to call Xia Juanjuan to have dinner, and the local battalion commander also came to greet her.

Xia Juanjuan thought for a moment and said tentatively, "Captain, when I came here by bus from Hohhot, I heard a fellow villager on the bus say that there is a farm called Fengshou Farm. This year, the disaster nearby was quite serious. It seems that someone was trapped in the snowstorm while driving a flock of sheep. Have they sent people over to rescue them?"

The battalion commander looked at her strangely at first, then said, "The situation on that farm over there is quite complicated. It has been hit by a disaster, so we have to rescue it. However, there are also many poor herdsmen who have been hit hard by the disaster, so we can only let them wait... However, you, a country girl, are not sensible, so don't ask such questions again in the future..."

After hearing this, Xia Juanjuan pretended to be at a loss and took over the conversation.

However, she also figured out the attitude of the top leader here and told the camp that she had completely abandoned the plan of asking the camp to rescue people.

It snowed heavily again that night and continued to snow all night. By the early morning of the next day, the snow outside the yurt was up to the knees.

Breakfast was still milk tea, and for lunch we had some mutton, mutton soup and fried rice.

By the afternoon, snow had started to fall again. Xia Juanjuan mentioned a place near the camp called Yanghe Valley, where she was going to visit relatives, and if Li Zhan came back, she asked them to tell him that she had gone to see Aunt Shen.

The camp seemed not far away and there was no disaster there, so he didn't say anything and just let Xiao Ma drive the people over.

Xia Juanjuan declined at first, but finally agreed to let him send it.

Anyway, the place she mentioned is right between the camp and the farm, so it would save us some time.

After arriving at Yanghe Valley and sending the pony away, Xia Juanjuan walked towards the farm without stopping.

When she reached a deserted place, she dragged the jeep out of the space and drove towards the farm where Shen Wanxue and the others were.

When she was stocking up on supplies, she specially prepared tires for use in the snow, and there was space in the warehouse so that she could change the tires at a moment's notice.

Unfortunately, we had just started walking for a short while when the snowstorm became so severe that the jeep could hardly move forward. In the end, we had no choice but to park the car and continue on foot.

Fortunately, she met a family who were moving in the snow and wind. They carried her for a while on a bullock cart and finally arrived at the farm.