TWOT Chapter 6

The moment the mask was pulled off, Song Ran was startled. She was taken aback by her own sudden recklessness.

As she confronted his foreign yet familiar face, she was at a complete loss on how to react. She felt flustered, dazed, and couldn't utter a single word out. Her hands loosened in shock, and the mask fell down.

He had a keen sense of awareness. His eyes lowered, and caught the falling mask with his raised hand.

Due to the chaotic situation around him, he constantly wore a solemn and frowning expression on his face, and did not display any other emotions. He did not pause in front of Song Ran, but turned around to escort the group of offenders away.

"Don't you remember me?" Song Ran shouted in a low voice. She squeezed forward and grabbed his sleeve again through the police blockade. The texture of his SWAT police uniform had a rough feel to it, with a frosted like surface.

He turned around again, and looked at her tightly clenched fingers on his arm with some confusion. She wasn't sure whether he had heard her murmuring shouts.

The surrounding special police officers were too busy warding off the surging crowd and had no time to pay attention to her. But the crowd was constantly surging and shifting. She knew she would not be able to maintain her grip soon and said anxiously: "You rescued me before! Don't you remember? In Su Rui City, you rescued me!”

He didn't seem to have remembered anything, and the offender he was escorting was still struggling in his hands.

However, he was still an innately patient and courteous person, and consolingly explained to her, "Miss, I am currently on official business.”

She froze for a second, and realised that she was being rude and disrespectful. Her hands suddenly lost their strength. The momentary loss on her face appeared very pitiful.

He glanced at her twice. He really had no time to care about her matters and turned around to leave. Song Ran was about to let go of his arm, but she held tightly onto it again.

"What's your name?" She stared at him, afraid that he would not answer her. She was so anxious that her voice nearly came out strangled and urgently asked again, "What's your name?!”

He hesitated for a moment, then quickly said, "Li Zan.”

Ater speaking, he brushed away her hand that was on his arm.

"Back up! Don't push! Back up!" The blockade that was formed by the special police created a rebounding wave of force against the surging crowd. Song Ran was caught in it and was pushed back forcefully. The distance between the both of them had completely widened.

He left to escort the group of people away and his figure soon disappeared.

Nearly half an hour later, the rioting crowd gradually dispersed. The ground was littered with piles of paper scraps and plastic garbage. Song Ran's white suitcase was dented and covered with footprints.

Battered and exhausted, she carried her suitcase out of the airport. It was only after waiting in line for nearly an hour that she managed to squeeze onto a bus.

It was raining heavily outside the bus window. The rain water flooded the surroundings like the ocean, its undulating waves splashing against the glass. Liangcheng was almost submerged. Countless small cars were swamped by the flood waters and were on the verge of being abandoned. However, the bus driver was very brave and drove the bus quickly as if it were a ship.

The heavy rain threw the city into chaos, bringing it to a halt. People in cars, buses and other transportation vehicles alike, all collectively sighed in frustration and complained incessantly.

Song Ran leaned against the side of the bus door. Her gaze was clear and her expression peaceful. Her mood was like a light breeze, slowly blowing across thousands of miles.

Their fate was really strange. Every time they met, the situation surrounding them would always be in chaos and turmoil. Conflict seemed to arise in one city and emerge in another.

When she left the airport, she found out that Li Zan’s team belonged to the Jiangcheng Military Region, but were often stationed in Liangcheng.

After arriving home, she called Ran Yuwei and then the book editor from Dicheng respectively. She informed them that Liangcheng had been hit by heavy rainfall and flights were cancelled. The weather had been poor recently, and she estimated that her flight would be delayed by one to two days.

Afterwards, she made another call to the editorial office. Just as she expected, someone had already gone ahead to report the airport incident.

When Shen Bei learned the news of Song Ran being present at the time, she said, "That’s great, you must have captured some first-hand recordings of the incident. Quickly send it to me as soon as possible.”

Song Ran said: "I recorded a few segments at the beginning, but as for the fights that happened subsequently after that…”

She had forgotten.

After seeing Li Zan, she no longer had the mental headspace to care about her phone.

Shen Bei said: "You didnt record it?”

"En. It was too crowded.”

"That's okay. I'll have a look online later, there's probably information floating around that I can purchase. Send me the photos you took first.”

"Alright." Song Ran contemplated for a moment and said, "Have you collected all the relevant material?”

"En.”

“…Have you interviewed the police?”

Shen Bei was startled: "Aiya. It's over. I'm still hurriedly finishing up the manuscript.”

Song Ran volunteered: "Let me help you with the interview.”

Shen Bei was stunned for a moment: "How can I trouble you with this matter? Besides, aren't you on leave?”

"The flight was cancelled and there's nothing for me to do anyway.”

"Then thank you so much. I'll treat you to a meal next time.”

It was past four in the afternoon, but the intensity of the rainfall continued to remain unabated . Song Ran drove her car onto the ring road. Oppressive dark clouds loomed overhead, and the sky was dim and gloomy, like she was driving into the waiting darkness of the night. Raindrops pounded against the car like sand and gravel. The world was a vast landscape of chaos and confusion. It seemed like the entire city of Liangcheng had been submerged in water. As she passed a section of the national highway, she saw many long-distance vehicles stopping on the side of the road and turning on their hazard lights. In the distance, the murky waves of the Yangtze River rose and fell, crashing against the shoreline. As if, in the next second, the river would start overflowing the embankment and flood out into the surroundings.

Song Ran took a shortcut near to Xiguang Road. When she got off the elevated bridge, and passed through a low lying area, her whole car lurched forward and sank into a depression. She was shocked. The tires of her car sprayed up puddles of water and the engine almost stalled. Fortunately, she drove fast and her car's momentum was enough to break free of it.

Today was the weekend. Due to the heavy rainfall, almost no one went outside. The streets were empty and deserted as she drove her car in solitude towards the garrison. After smoothly entering through the gate, she arrived in front of an open-plan office. The place looked similar to an academic building.

The parking lot was about fifty metres away from the office building, but she didn't have an umbrella in her car. She gritted her teeth and ran into the wind and rain. The icy rain water was bitingly cold and it completely soaked through her entire body. Just as she rushed up the stairs unsteadily, she ran into a man in black combat uniform, who was coming down it hurriedly.

Song Ran thought they were going to knock into each other, but the person reacted in time and stepped back slightly to avoid the collision. Song Ran halted her steps immediately as well to regain her balance. Her heart nearly jumped out of her throat.

"Sorry." She said in embarrassment. The stray strands of hair on her wet forehead were tangled together and shook slightly with her movements. When she raised her head, she was met with Li Zan's slightly surprised eyes.

His hand was holding onto a black umbrella. He had just seen her car from upstairs and was about to come down to escort her into the building. However, he did not expect her to have rushed over so directly.

For a second, the two of them simply stared at each other, not saying a word.

Outside the building, the air was saturated with water vapour and it permeated throughout the surroundings. Raindrops fell and scattered in all directions, instantly soaking his short hair. He casually wiped the rain off his forehead and smiled lightly, "Reporter Song?”

"En." She earnestly nodded.

He waved the umbrella in his hand and said, "I'm sorry I came down late. My apologies.”

He gave her another smile as he said this. The corners of his mouth were raised faintly upwards and his eyes curved.

Her heart beat rapidly and her face turned red: "It was a mistake on my part. I forgot to bring an umbrella." After speaking these words, she felt a little speechless at herself and mocked internally: It's been raining heavily today. Who wouldn't have an umbrella with them. Song Ran, you're really something.

With this line of thought, she lowered her eyes and stared at his umbrella. It was a large simple umbrella with a wooden handle, pitch black in colour and devoid of any decorations. His fingers lightly tapped the umbrella handle unconsciously. There were calluses on his knuckles, perhaps from holding a gun.

"Let's go." He turned and led her upstairs.

Sure enough, he was unmistakably someone from the military. Even while going up the stairs, his back was habitually straight.

She looked at his back figure, then hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Officer Li?”

"En?" He looked back.

"In your name, which Chinese character is zan?”

"The one with (王) wang as its radical.”

"Oh.”

(瓒) Zan.

She just so happened to really like this Chinese character, Song Ran thought to herself.

After entering the conference room, there was another special police officer waiting for them. The person stood up and greeted Song Ran. He introduced himself as Chen Feng, the instructor responsible for this interview.

"Did you get caught in the rain?”

"I forgot to bring an umbrella." Song Ran was drenched with rain water. Her clothes were completely soaked, not to mention her face and hair, which were dripping wet. Fortunately, for the sake of convenience and travel, she had worn a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. They were dark in colour, so it didn't come across as too embarrassing.

As she finished speaking, a noise came from inside the room.

While kneeling beside the cabinet, Li Zan had opened the drawer, and was taking out a box of tissues. He then stood up and walked to the side of the table. With a gentle push the tissue slid across the table’s smooth surface towards Song Ran. It had just the right force and trajectory and touched the centre of her palm.

"Thank you." Song Ran took a tissue and wiped her hair, then proceeded to casually wipe her bag and cell phone.

When she looked across the table again, she noticed that he hadn't sat over. Instead, he was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and his legs crossed. He was wearing a navy blue, almost black, short-sleeved combat uniform. The high belt tied around his waist was tight, accentuating his tall figure and long legs. He looked quiet and peaceful. It appeared that he wouldn't be participating in the interview much.

Chen Feng sat on the side, perpendicular to Song Ran.

Song Ran turned on her recording pen. Then she opened her notebook, and wiped her hands again with a tissue. The rainy weather had caused the notebook pages to become soft and flimsy.

"Hello, Instructor Chen. Our news department would like to interview you about the turbulent events that occurred at the airport this morning. We very much appreciate your cooperation and assistance.”

"No worries. Feel free to ask me any questions that you may have.”

During the interview, she learned that the airport security division was not part of their jurisdiction. However, in the past two days, large swathes of stranded passengers had accumulated in the area, posing a huge safety hazard. The airport was short of staff, and requested police support. It was only then that they had gone over to provide assistance.

Chen Feng smiled and said, "You should have interviewed those in the Public Security Brigade. They sent over the most officers. We on the other hand, only mobilised a small group of people.”

Song Ran felt guilty and smiled apologetically: "My experience is lacking. My apologies.”

"It's okay, it's okay." Chen Feng said generously, "Let's continue with the questions.”

Shen Bei had prepared all the questions for the interview, and it went smoothly and according to plan. The military division here did not accept video interviews, so Song Ran had only used a voice recorder, and it was relatively simple to operate. Chen Feng was the instructor in charge of the publicity department. He was highly adept in his field of work and tacitly cooperated with Song Ran during the interview. The low voices of the two people blended in with the howling wind and rain from outside, making the stillness of the room even quieter.

Halfway through, Song Ran accidentally glanced towards the window again.

It was dark outside, while the interior of the room was lit up by the dim glow of the fluorescent lights.

The damp rainy afternoon brought a sense of nostalgia for Song Ran, as if she had stepped inside an ancient library of a bygone era and was surrounded by the musty smell of books and paper.

Li Zan leaned against the wall and watched them, listening intently to their conversation. Because she was the person speaking at the time, she noticed that he was staring directly into her eyes.

She happened to bump into his gaze, and her mind suddenly blanked in response. Fortunately, Chen Feng spoke the next second, and his eyes naturally shifted to the other party, brushing past her like a light feather.

Around half an hour later, the interview was completed.

"Do you have any other questions to ask?”

"I've asked all of them. Thank you so much for your help." Song Ran said. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Li Zan stand up from the wall and walk towards the door.

"Oh no, it's the least we could do. After all, we'll also need to rely on your help in the future. Keep in touch.”

"Alright.”

As Song Ran rose up from her chair, Li Zan stood in the corridor just outside the door. His hands were in his pockets, watching the two people in the room.

Chen Feng walked up the corridor to glance at the heavy rain outside, and said, "How about you take this umbrella with you.”

Song Ran took the heavy black umbrella and said, "Thank you. I'll return it another day.”

Chen Feng didn't expect her to return the umbrella, so he waved his hand and said, "You're welcome. There are plenty of umbrellas here.”

Downstairs the flood of rain water was gradually getting deeper on the streets. Li Zan suddenly turned around and asked her, "Where do you live?”

Song Ran paused and said, "Beimen Street. What's wrong?”

Li Zan said: "I'm afraid your car won't be able to make it back. The chassis is too low.”

The flooding in the city was probably even worse now. The area of ​​Beimen Street was low-lying and close to the river, so naturally it was more prone to waterlogging. If Song Ran drove back now, it would only flood or stall her car. Either way, her efforts would be in vain and nothing would come out of it.

Song Ran hesitated for a moment and asked in a small voice: "What should we do then?”

Instructor Chen Feng patted Li Zan on the shoulder cheerfully and said to her, "It's okay, let him drive you back in one of our military vehicles.”