White Olive Tree

Chapter 54

Chapter 54
The sun has already set.
The sunset slanted in through the shadows of the trees outside the window, covering the walls and floors, like a painting.
On the small single bed, Song Ran was lying sideways in Li Zan's arms, her temples wet with sweat and her cheeks pink.  After clinging to each other for a while, she suddenly called him: "A-Zan..."
"Huh?" Li Zan slowly opened his eyes and listened to her hoarse voice. He stood up slightly, reached for a bottle of water from the table, unscrewed it and handed it to her.
She held the water bottle and took a few sips. He also drank half of it. He put the bottle back and glanced at the medicine bottle on the table.
When he turned around, he inadvertently hugged her tighter.
Intimate embraces benefited her the most. Her sweaty palms grasped his arms, and she looked up at him from close range. Her eyes were burning, and the attachment, joy, and love inside could be seen at a glance.
Li Zan suddenly forgot what he was going to say.
"A-Zan, I'm actually very good." She said nonsensically, "Really. I was a little weird because I was sick before. But I'm actually very good."
"I know." He thought of what he wanted to say, "Don't be nervous. It's okay to be sick, I don't care."
He grabbed her waist and took her into his arms.  She bumped into his chest, pressed her palms against his heart, touched the hot and tight skin, and felt his heart beating.

She wanted to get closer to him, put her ear closer to him, and listen to his strong heartbeat, which made her feel inexplicably at ease.
He said: "I also have obstacles that I can't overcome, just like you."
Song Ran remained silent and waited quietly for a while, but Li Zan did not continue.
She said: "Then tell me when you want to say something. It will still be a long time."
He chuckled: "Okay."
"A-Zan, I want to tell you a story about a little bird and a big tree."
"You tell me." He adjusted his posture slightly, lowered his head, buried his face next to her face, and closed his eyes.
"Once upon a time, a little bird was injured and fell from the sky. A big tree caught it, took it in, and sheltered it from the wind and rain. The little bird's wings recovered, and it made a home on the big tree. Every day it was a big tree.  The tree sings and tells it stories about the outside world. Until winter, the little bird goes to the south to spend the winter. Before leaving, he tells the big tree that I will come back to you next spring.
But when the birds come back in spring, the trees are cut down and only the stumps remain.  "
Li Zan murmured in a low voice: "Then what?"
"The little bird asked the grass next door, where is my big tree? The grass said that the big tree was cut down by the lumberyard. You can go to the lumberyard to find it. The little bird flew to the lumberyard and saw many round tree trunks piled up into mountains.  . None of them were her big trees. Then it asked the trunk, have you seen my big tree? The trunk said, your tree was sent to the match factory. The bird flew to the match factory again, and the production line was full of  Boxes of matches. It asked Match, have you seen my big tree? Match said, the matches made from your big tree were sold in the store. It flew to the store again. "
Li Zan opened his eyes and asked, "Has he been bought by someone?"
"Yes. The last box was sold a few days ago. The little bird was too tired to fly. On a stormy night, its wings were all wet. When it was about to fall into the mud, it saw the forest cabin.  There was firelight inside. It flew in and fell on the table. There was a candle and an empty box of matches on the table. The light of the candle warmed the little bird, and it finally woke up and asked the candle, have you seen my big tree. Candle  Say, I saw it, the last match I just lit to warm you is your big tree."
Li Zan closed his eyes and smiled lightly: "This story is really good."
"What's better?" Song Ran said, "I felt very sad when I saw it when I was a child. But then I thought, maybe it's not about love? If the big tree represents a certain belief and faith, the bird will pursue it persistently, even if the object in the way is  Even if people are different, there will be warm results in the end."
He buried his head in her neck, funny: "Are you comforting me?"
She touched his head: "A-Zan, just go your own way and you will overcome any obstacle."
"I know." He closed his eyes, and at the end, slightly raised his lips and said, "But, I still think this is a love story."
After sleeping for a while, the alarm on his cell phone rang, indicating that he was about to return to the team.
Song Ran got up with him and asked, "Are you going north soon?"
"Yeah. I don't know the exact time yet. I'll let you know when there's news." Li Zan said, hugging her and kissing her for a while before leaving.
……
News of the victory in the Battle of Aare spread, and people who had taken refuge in the countryside or in the desert rushed back.  Within two days, the city's population increased by half.  There are still people coming in a steady stream.
There is a scene of post-disaster reconstruction inside and outside the city.
Outside the city, farmers are plowing and sowing again.  In the city, schools quickly reopened.  In Song Ran's university, the teaching building houses the sick and wounded, and teachers and students hold classes in the open air.  The children running around on the street were also enrolled in the primary school, and the books were read loudly.
On the street, shops are open, but the goods are still scarce.  People are busy repairing buildings, clearing rubble, and building scaffolding everywhere.
Song Ran posted some current photos of Alara City on Twitter. The city's population has increased and it is still after the war. There is an urgent shortage of medical supplies and food supplies.  Shortly after the news was sent out, it received responses from many international charity organizations, and a large number of international volunteers came to Alare to help with repairs and reconstruction.
At this moment, the government troops gathered for the defense war were also dispersed to new battlefields.
On the day the army retreated, residents of the whole city came to the streets and lined the streets to say goodbye.
The young soldiers passed by in formation, some with serious faces and some with smiles on their faces and waving generously.  People around brought bread and cakes to each other, and occasionally soldiers caught them, but most of the others did not accept them.
There are no flowers in the city.  The girls made silk flowers from colorful fabrics.  Some cut cloth directly from clothes, with buttons in the middle of the flowers. If they don't match the same color, they make colorful flowers.
The young men who received the silk flowers were inevitably laughed at by their comrades around them, making their faces turn red.
There were also old men who stretched out their hands to send off the soldiers, with tears in their eyes.
Song Ran squeezed in the crowd to take pictures. Suddenly, a familiar Dongguo face flashed in the camera lens, standing at the outermost edge of the queue.
She raised her head suddenly, and rows of soldiers walked past her.  She was dazzled and followed them forward, tiptoeing and hopping as they walked, looking into the queue.
   finally!
"Sahin!" She jumped up, waved to him, and shouted, "Sahin!"
There was a roar of people, but Saxin, who was at the head of the queue, turned around when he heard the shouting.  Song Ran jumped up again and waved his hands high.
Saxin's eyes lit up: "Song!"
He immediately moved over, and the marching team was slightly disrupted. His comrades made way for him as they moved forward.  He managed to get from the front to the back of the row.
The two were so excited to see each other again, with big smiles on their faces, that they stepped forward and hugged each other hard.
Unable to restrain her emotions, Sasin gave her two deep kisses on the cheek, then hugged her and spun her around.
Song Ran hugged his shoulders and laughed loudly.
The crowd of onlookers laughed and took pictures with their mobile phones. Outsiders did not know their relationship, but at this moment, the picture of young men and women of different races embracing each other was too beautiful.
"I'm so happy to see you." Sasin put her down and straightened her crooked military cap, "When did you come?"
"I left a message with you, but you didn't reply. I thought something happened to you. It's great to see you now. It's great that you are still alive!"
"I'm sorry for worrying you. I really don't have time to go online."
"It's okay, it's okay. Just be safe." Song Ran looked at him carefully, and he finally shaved off the beard that didn't match his age.  The big boy in front of him is young, sunny, and handsome.
"Exceptionally handsome!"
Sahin touched his chin sheepishly: "Soldiers cannot grow beards."
"You shouldn't have stayed, you're so young..." She suddenly felt sour in her heart and said, "Why didn't you become a reporter and become a soldier?"
Sashin smiled softly: "Song, there are almost no men in our country, and the young people have died in the war. If I don't go to the battlefield, my 18-year-old and 17-year-old children will have to go. This is not possible. They are the hope of our country.  "
"But you are not 21 years old, so you should go to school."
"If I don't pick up the gun, how will they pick up the pen?"
Song Ran's eyes were moist and she couldn't maintain her expression, so she stretched out her hand towards him.
The two hugged again. His voice was choked and he whispered: "Dear Song, I have to leave."
Song Ran nodded and let go of him.
His eyes were slightly red, but with a happy smile: "When the war is over, I will go back to the Polytechnic University to study, and I will treat you to a drink! The bar in our school is very good."
Song Ran nodded vigorously: "Okay!"
Sasin looked back at the marching team, straightened his hat again, and said, "I'm leaving."
"Pay attention to safety." Song Ran said, "Be safe!"
"I will!" He waved his hand, ran quickly to his row, quickly got into the team, returned to his position, jumped up and waved at her from a distance.
The young and handsome smiling face shone in the sun for a moment, then fell.
The evacuation of the army was almost coming to an end. Song Ran looked at the time and saw it was past ten in the morning.
Li Zan and the others will leave at eleven o'clock today.
Song Ran hurried back to school and drove to the Cook Soldier Station - the original football field three blocks north of the university.
When she arrived, the Cook soldiers were loading equipment and luggage into their respective team's vehicles.
Unlike the government troops, the Cook soldiers are a special forces combat team.  A team often only has seven or eight players.  Depending on the size and number of the terrorist organization's strongholds in an area, there are usually about a dozen small teams that share intelligence with each other, sometimes fighting independently, and sometimes fighting together.
For this battle, teams from several regions were assembled.  Now that the stronghold has been destroyed, they have dispersed to carry out new tasks.
The outside area of ​​the football field is too large and crowded with cars and people.
Song Ran couldn't find the direction and couldn't call Li Zan. The signal here was blocked.  She ran half a circle around the huge football field, and her eyes were filled with white and black Easterners, but no Asians.
The team finished gathering and drove away from the venue.
Song Ran was so anxious that he suddenly saw an Asian face sitting in the passenger seat of an off-road vehicle.  She didn't care and rushed to hold the glass: "Are you Chinese?"
"Yes." The man smiled lightly, "Is something wrong?"
"Li Zan! Do you know which team Li Zan is on?"
The soldier stretched out his head to take a look and said: "It should be Area A, 101. You can follow the door sign of the gymnasium to find it."
"Thank you." Song Rang was about to run, but turned around and shouted, "Have a safe journey, please be safe!"
"Thank you!" The Chinese soldier waved to her.
More and more cars started to drive out. Song Ran anxiously scanned each car while hastily looking at the door signs.

D249, D250, A100……
She stared at the A101 sign and ran as hard as she could, but unexpectedly a car just passed her behind...
The car walked two or three meters and suddenly stopped.
"Ran Ran!" Someone called her from behind.
Song Ran turned around and saw that Li Zan had opened the door and got out of the passenger seat of the military off-road vehicle. He was surprised but couldn't hide his smile: "Are you here?"
"I'm late!" She was frustrated, her stomach hurt from running, and she held her waist and panted.  Her hair was messed up and her face was sweating.
Li Zan looked at her with a smile. After a few seconds, he remembered to take out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her: "Wipe the sweat."
She pressed the handkerchief on her forehead and cheek twice and explained: "I originally wanted to come earlier, but the government troops were leaving the city at this time, and everyone was sending them off on the streets. I had to take pictures..."
Just as she was talking, there was a car behind her that was about to go around; Li Zan held her elbow and took her to his side: "Isn't it very lively over there?"
"Yeah." She got a little closer to him and lowered her eyes, "There's no movement from your side."
"We usually don't let the citizens know when we leave, and we leave quietly." He lowered his head and stared at her, his eyes clear and gentle, as warm as the sun.
"Where are you going next?" She wrapped her fingers tightly around the handkerchief and lowered her voice, "...can you tell me?"
He smiled: "What can't you say? Cang Di."
80 kilometers north of Aare.
"Oh." She nodded and smiled suddenly, "Then I'll go too!"
He said: "Be safe."
"You have to pay attention to safety." She frowned, and the cars behind her passed by one after another.  She knew she couldn't wait too long, "Are you leaving?"
"Absolutely." His eyes hesitated to speak.
"A-Zan, you don't even need to say anything." She smiled. "Just be good and do what you want to do wholeheartedly. I know you are here, and you know I am here. That's enough."
As he spoke, he pointed at the car and urged: "Get in the car quickly. Your comrades are waiting for you."
"Okay." Li Zan looked at her for two more seconds, took a breath, and just opened the door. Benjamin in the driver's seat stretched his head over and waved to her, "Hi, song song!"
Song Ran smiled: "Hi."
Benjamin pretended to reach out to her: "Nice to meet you, please..."
   "Snapped!"
Li Zan opened his hand with the back of his hand.
Song Ran: "..."
The back seat window also rolled down, and a cool black man wearing headphones raised his chin at her: "Hello, my name is Morgan. You can call me M."
Benjamin: "By the way, my name is S."
Song Ran: "..."
Morgan kicked Benjamin's seat back.
While the fuss was still going on, another car from the team passed by, and the comrade in the driver's seat said, "It's time." He smiled at Song Ran again, "My name is Kevin."
Song Ran nodded to him in greeting, took a step back, looked up at Li Zan: "Hurry up and get in the car."
"Yeah." Li Zan looked at her, smiled very softly at her, and finally looked away.
Benjamin: "At this time, shouldn't you kiss your girl goodbye?"
Li Zan: "Shut up."
Song Ran blushed and looked away.
In public view, neither of them has that kind of personality.
Li Zan said nothing, lowered his head and got into the car, closing the door.

Benjamin started the off-road vehicle. As he started, Song Ran suddenly called out: "A-Zan!"
"Huh?" Li Zan followed the sound and came to the window. Song Ran rushed over, held his face, lowered his head and kissed him on the cheek.
There was a scream of "WOW" in the car.
It was as if he and she had never heard of each other.
Very light.  Her lips touched his face.
The familiar breath on his face, the soft touch on her lips.
It was just a moment of skin-to-skin contact, but it was so intimate and intimate that it melted each other's hearts in an instant.
She slowly let go of him, and the two of them looked at each other, intertwined, and slowly pulled away.