White Olive Tree

Chapter 45

Chapter 45
At half past five in the afternoon, the sun was still hanging in the western sky.  The trees outside the window cast shadows inside the house.
The walls of the room are very thick and the windows are small, making it cool and sheltered from the sun.
It's mid-December now, and the temperature has dropped a bit in the evening, so there's no need to turn on the fan.
Song Ran had been running around all day, but he didn't want to rest.  After returning to this country, she was not at peace and wanted to go out for a walk.
She quickly packed her luggage, put on her backpack and went out.
Just as the door was locked, someone came out from the dormitory opposite. She was an Asian woman, 28 or 9 years old, with a cigarette in her mouth.  The two looked at each other and gave each other a friendly smile.
Although she is Asian, she has thick eyebrows, big eyes, high cheekbones, and a very European and American look.  Wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, she has a plump and sexy figure.
Song Ran judged that her appearance was not Korean or Japanese, so she asked: "Chinese?"
"Hmm." She took off the cigarette from her mouth and smiled, "Are you new here?"
"Yes. I just arrived today." Song Ran's face lit up when he met his colleague, and asked, "Which TV station are you from?"
The other party's eyebrows flew up and he chuckled: "Are you a reporter? I am Doctors Without Borders. - Pei Xiaonan."
"Ah, my name is Song Ran. Yes, reporter."
The two of them walked through the cool corridor and went down the stairs together.
Out of professional habit, Song Ran observed her inadvertently.  Pei Xiaonan breathed out a puff of cigarette, her posture was charming and cheerful, walked around the corner, pressed the cigarette she had only taken two or three puffs into the sand on the top of the trash can, and said, "As a doctor, I won't let you smoke second-hand smoke.  "
Song Ran smiled: "It's okay."
Pei Xiaonan waved to herself, disrupting the smoke floating in the air, and said, "You look very young. It takes courage to be a war reporter."
Song Ran said: "You are also very powerful, come here to be a doctor."
"Doctors are still safer than reporters. Aren't there coefficient rankings circulating here?" Pei Xiaonan laughed.
   "What?"
"Volunteers, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, peacekeepers, journalists, Cook Armed Forces."
When Song Ran heard the last four words, his smile faded and he asked, "Do you know anything about Cook's armed forces?"
Pei Xiaonan said: "I know a little bit about them and have been in contact with the wounded. They are an armed army that specializes in fighting extremist organizations."
Song Ran asked: "Where did the weapons come from?"
"They are backed by patriots. Many Dongguo people who fled overseas, especially wealthy people and consortiums, gave them a lot of money and arms. The government also supported them, and a lot of military intelligence was shared with them. Moreover, the anti-government forces  We are not enemies with them either.”
Song Ran nodded to express understanding and asked, "Where is your hospital?"
"Do you want to interview me?" Pei Xiaonan smiled.
   "May I?"
"What's wrong with that? I'm bored. Do you want to go to the hospital now?"
"Not yet, the sun has not set yet, I want to look around first. You tell me the address, and I will find you later?"
"Okay. But it's hard to find the road. There are no street signs on the street."
Song Ran laughed: "I have stayed here for several months before, so I am very familiar with it."
"That's fine. Over there at the old fire station."
"Okay. Thank you." Song Ran asked, "I'm just about to drive out, do you want me to see you off?"
"No need. I'm going with my colleagues."
The two said goodbye downstairs.
Song Ran started the car, drove out of the campus, and headed east of the city.
The concrete floor was bumpy and bumpy, and she slowly walked to the area of ​​the city where she used to spend most of her time.
Now, everything is devastated.
The hotel she stayed in before leaving last year, an old building with a history of more than 300 years, was in ruins.
She still remembers the day the war started. She stood on the roof of the hotel and looked at the battlefield, but she only saw the blue sky and the bright sun.
Song Ran stopped the car on the deserted street and identified the locations of the breakfast shop, mobile phone store, clothing store, and motorcycle repair shop.  Looking far away, she seemed to see a bus stopping in front of the stop sign. Primary school students carrying schoolbags jumped off the bus and ran to school chattering.
However, the elementary school at the end of the road has been razed to the ground in reality.  The school gate, courtyard walls, and teaching buildings have long since disappeared.
Song Ran recorded the surrounding ruins, recalled the original shooting angle, and took several comparison photos.
After taking the photo, I realized that she came at the right time.  The sun is setting in the west and is about to set.  The blending of sunset and twilight adds a strong sense of sadness to this silent and decaying city.
She drove her car and stopped while walking in the city to take photos and records.  The red sunset is shrouded in the sun, which is the best time of day for shooting.
She captured scavengers, wanderers, old people who were still running shops, and clerks who were still commuting... Many people still survived in the cracks of war, like grass growing with difficulty in the cracks of stones.
There are also some soldiers sitting on the roadside to rest.
The place where Song Ran was walking was an area recovered by government troops, so the soldiers he encountered along the way were equipped with government troops.  But she also saw some soldiers whose military uniforms were somewhat similar to those of the government troops but not quite the same. They were usually in groups of seven or eight, with a few small groups leaning against the wall and smoking.
Being able to hang out here openly, Song Ran speculated that they were the Cook Armed Forces.  Otherwise, there would not be so many foreign faces mixed among the Dongguo soldiers.
Even with just a few hasty glances, Song Ran clearly noticed that their temperament was different from that of the current government troops.