White Olive Tree

Chapter 41

Chapter 41
Late June, China-X border.
The virgin forest stretches for dozens of kilometers.  It is close to the tropics and the sun is scorching.  The sun illuminated one side of the blue sky and turned it white.
On the horizon, the shadow of a military helicopter moves from far to near.
As we got closer, the propellers made a rumbling sound, one after another.
The special forces on board are fully armed with combat uniforms, armor vests, racks, guns and ammunition, and helmets and masks.
Li Zan stood by the cabin door, pulled the mask up to his chin, looked down, and shouted: "Let's go down again."
The helicopter dropped vertically for a short distance, and the wind picked up by the propeller stirred the tree trunks and branches in the forest like a deep air vortex.  A flock of birds spread their wings and flew away.
   "Lift!"
The helicopter moved back some distance, and the rolling treetops below calmed down slightly, swaying slowly like waves.
Li Zan made an OK gesture to the pilot, pulled up the mask again, grabbed the rappel rope on the side with one hand, and jumped out of the helicopter.
His vigorous figure quickly fell into the forest and was no longer seen.
Half a minute later, the rope shook and sent a signal.
His comrades jumped out of the helicopter one after another and descended into the forest.  Untie the rope until the last teammate lands.  Several ropes were pulled up together, and the helicopter rose a certain distance and flew towards the horizon.
In the place where we just stayed, the trees were still and everything was as usual.
Only the scorching sunlight was left, as if nothing had happened.
……
Throughout June and July, Li Zan never came to the Imperial City again.  Song Ran had no way to see him.
Separated in a different place, she didn't even know where he was.
She was not unworried when there was no news for a long time.
Although she knew that Li Zan was a very powerful special operations soldier, she was on a mission after all, and she was afraid of something unexpected as bullets had no eyes.  Unfortunately, the news was also chaotic during this period. Sometimes a policeman was stabbed to death, sometimes a criminal policeman was shot with a homemade gun, and sometimes a drug police officer died in a fight.
When she saw police officers and soldiers dying in the line of duty, she couldn't help but feel frightened.
Even when I am not scaring myself, I miss him again, very much.
But maybe this is part of being with Li Zan that she has to endure and get used to.
The place where he performed his mission was at the border, and the signal was almost there.  Once entering the mission state, it is impossible to contact the outside world.
Song Ran would occasionally text him while talking to herself, but he couldn't see it in time.
In two months, he only called her twice. The phone was not his, and the numbers displayed were strange garbled numbers.
The first phone call was at the end of June, not long after the two separated. It was a time of passion and sticky, and they chatted for almost half an hour.  It wasn't until he was about to gather that he hung up in a hurry.
The second call was in mid-August.  We haven’t contacted each other in the past two months, and we are both a bit unfamiliar with each other.
When she first received the call, Song Ran's reaction was a little slow and she didn't say much.  As soon as he didn't speak, there was a blank silence on her end.  There are obviously thousands of things to say about worry, fear, and longing, but I don’t know where to start; I’m even more afraid that saying it out will only increase my worries.
The only sounds on the microphone were each other's shallow breathing and the chirping of summer insects on his side.
Li Zan waited for a while, smiled lightly, and said, "Don't you remember me?"
"Remember." She nodded.
In the quiet night, he listened to the rustle of her nodding on the phone and asked, "Who am I?"
"Boyfriend." She replied obediently, "A-Zan."
His heart softened and he didn't speak for a while. He smiled softly and said, "Hey."
She blushed, but now she gradually calmed down and asked, "Are you okay?"
"It's all good."
"What tasks are you doing?"
He did not answer the specific content, but said: "It's almost the same as usual training. It's not difficult. Don't worry."
"Oh. Are you injured?"
His tone was relaxed: "No."
She felt relieved and soon said sadly: "There are always policemen dying in the news recently..."
"The police are the police, I am me."
"You are more dangerous than the police." She whispered.
Li Zan paused for a moment and reassured: "Ran Ran, nothing happened here. Everything is fine. Not even a minor injury, really. Oh no, there were some. I got up once last month and hit my head.  The bed board is swollen."
Song Ran chuckled: "Are you stupid?"
He heard her laugh and laughed along with her.
She asked again: "Do you get enough rest every day? Is it hard?"
"It's not hard." He said in a casual tone, "It's good to rest, but..."
He stopped.
She waited for a few seconds and asked, "What is it?"
"I miss you very much." He said.
Song Ran's cheek against the phone was heating up, and the air conditioner was obviously turned on in the room.
"Do you miss me?" he asked.
"Thinking about it," she replied hummingly.
He took a breath to calm down his inner emotions, and then asked, "How are you doing?"
"It's pretty good. Oh, let me tell you, you may not know it over there. But "Our Flag" has already been aired online."
   "So fast?"
"Yes. The response has been very good. Many young people are watching it, and the new media also like it very much. A lot of people talked about it some time ago. This time I worked with the column team, and I have a deep impression. They are so serious and meticulous in their work, and they are also particular about how they handle things.  The efficiency is also high. It's not like being in Liangcheng at all." She rambled on, detailing a bunch of work things and anecdotes.
He listened quietly and carefully. When he got to the interesting part, he couldn't help but laugh twice.
"...Oh, that's right." She was talking, and the slight feeling of unfamiliarity and depression had long since disappeared. "There was a program about a former sniper who is now a colonel. His wife is a writer.  Fictional. It’s magical.”
Li Zan said warmly: "What's so magical about this? In the future, when people interview Colonel Li, my wife will still be a famous reporter who has won a Pulitzer."
The words he said unintentionally and his gentle tone came through the phone line, making her listen to her heart.  Her heart was beating fast. She turned around under the thin air-conditioned quilt and said, "They have been together for more than 20 years, and their relationship is still very good."
He listened and smiled slowly.
"What are you laughing at?" she asked.
He said: "Think about us twenty years from now."
Song Ran also thought for a moment, pursed her lips and smiled: "I hope that by then, we will be as good as we are now."
"Yes." He said with certainty, and then asked, "How are you feeling recently?"
"It's all very good."
"What have you been doing during this time? Writing a book?"
"Yeah. I've been imagining and sorting out the framework. The prototype has come out, and I'm just waiting to fill in the content. Oh, because "Our Flag" was broadcast, many column teams came to me. But I am still too busy.  "
"Take everything slowly and don't be too tired."
   "I know."
Just as he was talking, Ran Yuwei's coughing sound came from outside the house.
The two of them were silent for a second.
Li Zan asked: "Why is your mother still coughing?"
Song Ran was also a little puzzled: "It was obviously better before and I stopped coughing."
"It's been repeated over and over again. Let's find an expert and ask for clarification."
   "good."
After reluctantly finishing the phone call, Song Ran got up and went out: "Mom?"
"Huh?" Ran Yuwei had just returned home when a tired voice came from the bathroom.  She is taking off her makeup.  She has been so busy at work recently that she works overtime almost every day.
Song Ran leaned against the door and frowned: "Why are you coughing again? Aren't you all healed?"
"It was fine last time." Ran Yu said without concern, "But there were heavy rains in the summer a few days ago and I got windy. I caught a cold again. You can order takeout and bring me some medicine."
"Let's go to the hospital tomorrow. Why do you feel like you get better just by taking medicine, but get sick as soon as you stop?"
"It's not as complicated as you said. It's probably because I've been too tired in the past two years and my physical condition is not very good. It's easy to catch a cold when the weather changes."
"It's better to go to the hospital tomorrow. I wonder if you have bronchitis." Song Ran said.