Waiting for You in the City (一座城，在等你) by Jiu Yue Xi 玖月晞 ~ Chapter 36

Before this matter is getting out of hand, Song Yan starts to talk in time. “This is Xu Yi Sheng (Doctor Xu).”

Lu Jie immediately stops, he starts to calm down and realizes that he is rude.

Lu Jie is considering how should he save himself. This time someone calls: “Xu Yi Sheng?”

Xu Qin says: “I’ll leave first.” Then she glances at Song Yan: “Have a good rest. Don’t talk too much.”

Song Yan: “…….”

Lu Jie: “…….”

Xu Qin leaves. Lu Jie strokes his nose: “I’m too emotional.”

Song Yan just leaves behind the past and says: “You guy, it’s been a long time.”

Lu Jie pauses, his eyes turn wet. He says: “I thought that you are dead. How could I think that we would meet here. That year…….” He says and stops. That disgraceful and hard to understand past. He doesn’t know whether he should mention about it or not.

“You——“

He examines Song Yan and shifts the topic of the conversation. “What happened? You are here to help disaster victims? Are you seriously injured?”

Song Yan is much calmer and cool-headed than him. he smiles and answers: “Earthquake aftershock, I was smashed by the roof of the house.”

“Is it serious?

“No I’ll not be dead soon.”

Lu Jie nods and asks: “Which unit are you from?”

“Firefighters.” Song Yan says.

Lu Jie is surprised and hesitates for two seconds. He asks: “That year——“ He watches Song Yan’s expression.

Song Yan smiles and be so relax. He shakes his head: “It’s all in the past.”

He is unwilling to mention it, Lu Jie also doesn’t ask about it anymore. Men loves their ‘face’. They would be unwilling to open their own wound even to those they are close with it.

Lu Jie look at the door. He wants to ask : “That woman, is she also in the past?” But he doesn’t ask it to Song Yan.

Perhaps he realizes that this question could act like a knife.

That year two of them were close with each other so this time being able to meet each other makes Lu Jie feel sos happy.

Lu Jie sighs and suddenly feels sad. They both turn out to have different kind of fate.

He looks at Song Yan again.

Song Yan is looking at Lu Jie’s army uniform and notices something. He asks: “you are the plate armor group?”

Lu Jie: “Ay.”

Song Yan laughs: “You guy, wearing this makes you look so handsome.”

Lu Jie laughs, he laughs with a bitter heart.

They don’t have much time to talk as Lu Jie is called out.

Lu Jie needs to leave, he says: “Leave me your contact information for me.”

Song Yan gives him his phone number. Lu Jie says: “In the future we should contact each other, okay? we need to.”

Song Yan: “Okay.”

Lu Jie leaves hurriedly, the sick room turns quiet.

Song Yan lies down on the bed. He is holding the bottle. He looks at the ceiling, his eyes are empty. Lu Jie’s appearance opens up his painful memory.

His body feels in pain, he is in daze. Once again he sleeps.

For this earthquake disaster, it seems a lot of different units of the military coming over to help……

During those rescue time, he also unconsciously looks out at those groups of army.

After all those days, though he doesn’t really want to think about it, yet he never forgets about it.

That year he studied a year at the military school, he took initiative to register to the armed forces to get experience. The teacher said that he is ambitious and has his own principle. But the time he knew that Song Yan wants to go to special force, he persuaded him to not do it as it’s so hard. That time his wild ambition was too great. He wanted to be a great person, the time he looked at her photo, he felt that he would turn crazy.

He didn’t want a gold-plating one, he wanted the real one.

The time he went there, he just realized indeed it’s not a place that human could endure.

Basically he was practicing 18 hours a day, he should carry a heavy load on his back with zip fastener for 30 kilometer. Those were very easy for him. 13 hours of marching with heavy logs on his shoulder, going through water and mud for 10 hours. He didn’t complain and continued though he had scars all around his body.

The fight sports (including boxing, wrestling), he was beaten worst than black world. He should master going down from a high tower, parachute jumping. Being bound and thrown to the water. During the rest, he should play ‘game of beating a drum and passing a spray of blossom”.

Cold, fever, scrape, swelling, sprain are not injury.

A full of vigor and vitality man was tortured and kept on shouting nonstop. Crying for father, yelling for mother. Getting angry to the ancestor, father. The curse words come out so easily.

Song Yan doesn’t know how could he endure those suffering. That time days were indefinite suffering. He felt like he was in hell.

Once when the training turned into inquisition by torture, the instructor extorted a confession from him. He whipped him with leather-thonged whip, he injected poison to his arm. He was having hard time to breath. He couldn’t endure it. He wanted to cry, he wanted to howl. He felt the blood was coming out of his eyes.

At last he just endured it and be the most excellent student there.

If he isn’t thinking of her…….

if it’s not because he wants to return to meet her, to meet her in open and aboveboard…..

The sunlight passes the window and sprays on Song Yan’s sleeping face.

That year, he was so young.

He was so brilliant. He was ambitious. But later on, it comes clearly into view; that in this world, he is a fine sand that could disappear in time without anyone knows and without anyone remembers.

…………..

Few days later, rescuing duty in Wang Xiang is still heavy. Song Yan and Xu Qin don’t talk with each other anymore. She would come when he is sleeping soundly; or the time he is awake, she is so busy.

Once she comes over, he is fully awake. Yet the doctor is checking on him. She waits at the door for a while, but before the doctor leaves, she is called.

Both of them are looking at each other form far away.

But the bottle on his hand always be changed so it keeps on being warm.

After he could get off the bed, the doctor lets Song Yan to move around. Once he passes the hall and looks that Xu Qin is sitting on the ground. She is leaning on the wall and sleeping.

Before he approaches her. A patient is taken inside, she is woken by that, she immediately stands up and picks up the patient.

Most of time, he watches at how busy she is.

Song Yan also comes to visit Xiao Ge and friends. Those boys are getting skinnier, even the police dog is skinnier than before. That time it’s the end of the rescuing process, everyone could hav a short rest.

Li Cheng browses around and looks at how the media reports this earthquake rescue. He is so touched that his tear falls.

Xiao Ge says: “The baby that we saved, now he is so famous. Xu Yi Sheng is also famous because of rescuing the baby.”

Song Yan asks: “What about the baby’s father?”

“He is alive. He is a solider. This time he also saves the victims of the disaster. He still executes order in his hard time, he has no way to save his wife. Look.” Li Cheng shows the video to them. it shows a soldier is holding the baby. That soldier is crying so heartbrokenly.

The firefighters are so touched.

Song Yan is silent and takes a cigarette out of his cigarette box. Tong Mi takes it from him before he has time to light it: “You are not in good health, you shouldn’t smoke.”

Song Yan looks at him. His gaze somehow makes Tong Ming feels scared. Song Yan just lets go: “Okay.”

People around them are looking at each other.

Song Yan: “What is it?’

Li Cheng: “Dui Zhang (Captain), after the surgery, your temper just is getting better.”

“…….” Song Yan asks: “Where do you get the phon? You asked it from fellow villager? Look out how I would punish you.”

Li Cheng raises his hand: “That nurse, Xiao Nan, lends it to Tong Ming.”

Those men are jeering together: “Oh ——“

Tong Ming blushes.

Song Yan understands and laughs.

Yang Chi leans closer to him: “Ge, that day the time you were buried, that Xu Yi Sheng is there too.”

Song Yan doesn’t expect it. “What did she do there?”

“She’s looking for you. I saw she was crying.”

Xiao Ge chimes in: “I met her in front of the emergency center, she was so worried.”

Song Yan says nothing.

Yang Chi: “Ge, she seems to like you oh.”

Tong Ming says with a lo voice: “Firefighter and doctor are very suitable for each other.”

Song Yan lifts up his sharp eyes and looks around. Those men just shut up.

After saying goodbye, Xiao Ge and friends return to the emergency center.

Song Yan takes a glass of water from the dispenser machine, he stands there and drinks for a while.

He then turns his head and sees Xu Qin coming over while massaging her forehead.

He is thinking of her and she just appears in front of him, Song Yan is startled.

She stands there and rubs her eyes, she looks like she is so tired. She doesn’t notice him. She stands there for a while with her head hangs low. Her body suddenly faces forward like she would fall down soon.

Song Yan is startled and acts based on his conditioned reflex. He walks toward him and blocks his front.

Her head falls down on his shoulder and sleeps.

He spreads out his arms lightly, he stands there for a while. He doesn’t move, only his Adam’s Apple just moves.

He looks at her head and his free hand moves. He wants to pats her, but before he does it, she suddenly wakes up. She stands up straight and looks around, she thinks someone is calling her to work.

She looks around and notices Song Yan’s face. She is surprised to see that his face is so close to her. She is a bit startled so she takes a step back. It’s too sudden that the water in his glass splashes out. She immediately takes tissue to wipe his sleeve.

Song Yan looks down and watches her movement. He asks her: “You are very tired?”

“I’m okay.” Xu Qin says, she covers her mouth and turns her body to yawn. Then she looks at him again.

Her eyes are black and a bit watery. She looks so innocent and confused.

Song Yan: “…….”

“Let’s go out and stroll around.”

She nods and wipes her face: “If I have wind blows on me, I would be much sober.”

Beside the emergency center, there would be school’s sport field. There are tents for the victims to stay. It’s night so everyone has slept.

Beside the school’s sport field, there is a large empty space. Hundreds soldiers are sleeping. Because there are not enough tents, the soldiers just lay and sleep on the ground.

Xu Qin watches them.

A group of special force team passes by from a side.

Song Yan also looks at those special force armies. Xu Qin feels there’s something complex in his expression.

She asks: “When did you be solider?”

“Eighteen, nineteen years old?” Song Yan answers.

“Oh.” She doesn’t notice any difference, she says: “I hear from someone that the thing that has a universal and lethal appeal to men, except the car, is the military uniform.”

Song Yan laughs: “You could say it.” Then he stops, “Actually there’s one more.”

“What?” Xu Qin looks at him.

“Woman.”

Xu Qin: “……”

The night is cold. It’s rare thing that today they could see the moon on the sky.

Both of them are silent for a while.

Xu Qin looks at the moon and thinks for a long time. Finally she decides what she wants to say.

“Wang Xiang was so pretty before.”

“Em.”

“Do you remember our spring outing?”

“I remember.”

Every moments of their togetherness, he remembers all of it clearly.

That spring outing.

The deepest impression he has for that moment is when they were passing a long suspension bridge. He purposely scared her by swaying that bridge like a swing. She clutched the iron chain and yelled. Her skirt was floating like a flower.

Xu Qin looks around the ruins: “Now it’s turning this way.”

Song Yan says: “It would be reconstructed.”

She is startled and looks at him. He also watches her. At night, his eyes are even dark and deep.

She suddenly thinks of her words but she doesn’t say anything. She sees Xiao Xi runs out of the hospital toward her.

“I should go.”

“Go.”

It’s a rush goodbye.

Xu Qin walks toward the main gate and looks back. She watches his figure under the moon. Her heart beats so fast, she couldn’t constrain her feeling. She takes a deep breath and yells: “Song Yan!”

He looks at her.

She runs back toward him.

She runs toward his side, her face is red, she is out of breath. Her eyes are very bright: “SOng Yan.”

He looks at her: “Em?”

“Later on if we are back at Di Cheng, let’s meet again.”

“Okay.” He answers.