The soldiers beside the young one, although not knowing why, also stood up in confusion. Observing the young soldier's demeanor, they soon understood and each one stood against the wall; then, all soldiers stood up...
Tu Hengsha felt extremely uncomfortable, but the university girl had just uncovered a plastic bag on top of a large basin, filled with boxes of food. She and the boy started offering the food to the soldiers who, however, repeatedly shook their heads and accepted none of it.
"We prepared this especially for you! You've been working hard these past few days!" the girl exclaimed anxiously.
No matter what they said, the soldiers refused to accept the food, merely saying they had already eaten.
Tu Hengsha took this opportunity to strike up a conversation with the young soldier, "Where is your hometown?"
Upon learning she was a journalist, the young soldier unconsciously became more restrained and smiled very sincerely, "I'm from Sichuan."
"How old are you?" Tu Hengsha estimated, very young, about twenty or so.
"Just turned twenty." The young soldier was too shy to look at her directly, his eyes darting left and right, shining brightly.
Tu Hengsha smiled, "Can you tell me your name?"
The young soldier became even more bashful and chuckled without responding; meanwhile, another soldier next to him said laughingly, "His name is Ah Gua, he's a melon boy."
Ah Gua's ears turned red, "No, don't talk nonsense!"
The soldier next to him then said, "He likes watermelon, so we call him Ah Gua."
"And what about you? What's your name?" Tu Hengsha asked the soldier beside him.
When it was his own turn, he felt shy to say and just smiled, scratching his head.
"He's called Liu Dawei, he can eat a lot! He's twenty-one!" Ah Gua retaliated with this exposure.
Tu Hengsha laughed, "So you are both from Sichuan?"
Both nodded.
"Why did you choose to be soldiers?" Tu Hengsha continued.
At this, the two young soldiers turned serious. After a pause, Ah Gua said, "The year a big earthquake happened in my hometown, I was very young, didn't understand anything, and was napping. When I woke up, everything was dark; my dad was lying on top of me, he wouldn't respond no matter how I called him. I was scared and hungry, crying loudly but no one listened. After a long time, I finally saw light above my head, and finally, an uncle lifted me up, wearing the same uniform I'm wearing now."
Tu Hengsha understood that it meant 'eventually, I became you.'
"And you? Is it the same reason?" she asked Liu Dawei.
Liu Dawei nodded.
Just as they were talking, a call for assembly sounded, and the squad of soldiers quickly started to assemble. Tu Hengsha raised her camera to take pictures, but Ah Gua dodged the lens and turned back to remind her, "Sister, don't report on me!"
The soldiers quickly disappeared in the rain. The university girl, feeling dejected, remarked from the side, "Really! We had just caught up with them taking a break here, rushing to prepare some food!"
"How long have they been resting?" asked Tu Hengsha.
"Less than two hours, they've been holding the dam for two nights straight," the girl, holding a lunch box, annoyed, said, "What do we do with these?"
"Let's just eat them!" the boy put the lunch boxes back and, donning a raincoat, rushed back into the rain, "I'm going to help too!"
Tu Hengsha watched the girl distribute the food to the residents, then looked at the boy disappearing into the rain. She too put on a raincoat and ran toward the riverbank.
The water level of the Nan River had risen a bit more than when she had arrived. The riverbank was still crowded with people—soldiers assisting the residents, residents who had landed on the big sandboats continuing to watch from the shore—yet she searched everywhere and did not see any trace of Xu Gui.
The commanding loudspeakers kept shouting and broadcasting, eventually getting all the residents to a safe area where everyone quietly awaited the flood release.
Still unable to find Xu Gui, Tu Hengsha was fraught with worry.