Jiang Chengzhou was not the only one who came. There were others as well, all of them sent to cover the medical personnel’s evacuation.
When Shen Man began walking more and more slowly, Jiang Chengzhou asked quietly, “Does your leg hurt?”
Shen Man turned her head to look at him. “How did you know?”
Of course Jiang Chengzhou knew.
After graduating from elementary school, Shen Man’s leg had recovered quite well. Under normal circumstances, there was nothing unusual about the way she walked, and many people had forgotten that she had once had problems with her leg.
But Jiang Chengzhou knew not only that her leg would hurt after walking for a long time, but also that she hated running.
When she walked, there was little difference between her and anyone else. But if she ran for too long or too fast, a careful observer would notice that one of her legs was still somewhat stiff.
It wasn’t particularly obvious.
But Shen Man was the one experiencing it. Having endured those strange looks as a child, she was more sensitive to the way others looked at her.
She only wanted to appear just like everyone else.
Without saying anything, Jiang Chengzhou supported her other arm to help take some of the weight off her.
With the sounds of gunfire and artillery on one side and their footsteps on the other, Shen Man suddenly felt as if she were in a daze.
Given the extraordinary circumstances, Jiang Chengzhou had no time to worry about the boundaries between men and women.
Whenever they encountered a difficult stretch of road or a deep ditch, he would simply and roughly wrap an arm around her waist, half-embracing and half-carrying her through the muddy mountain paths.
The artillery and gunfire were deadly and terrifying, and they were nearly at the point where life and death could not be predicted. Yet the arm encircling her was hot and strong, becoming Shen Man’s only anchor.
Though danger surrounded them and they were almost facing a life-or-death situation, Shen Man couldn’t stop herself from becoming a little addicted to the sense of security that came from being protected.
Shen Man forced herself onward, almost able to hear her own heartbeat.
Every now and then, she would look up at Jiang Chengzhou, trying to convince herself that this was merely an emotional illusion created by the crisis.
But the stirring in her heart and the way it raced still could not deceive her.
At last, they reached a safe area, where a vehicle was waiting to pick them up.
Shen Man was the last to leave. Nervously, she said to Jiang Chengzhou, “Aren’t you coming with us?”
“How could I leave?” Jiang Chengzhou said with a smile. “After completing the mission of getting you evacuated, I still have to go back and continue fighting. You can wait safely in the rear for us to return victorious.”
At his words, the others couldn’t help laughing. At last, the atmosphere was no longer as tense as before.
Only Shen Man couldn’t laugh. “Jiang Chengzhou, I’ll wait for you at the field hospital. If you don’t come back, I won’t return to the capital.”
Jiang Chengzhou’s expression turned stern. “Don’t be ridiculous!”
Shen Man gave him a long, deep look. She wasn’t afraid of him, and turned around to climb into the truck.
Jiang Chengzhou had no time to say anything more. As soon as the vehicle started moving, he quickly turned around with the others and headed back.
Shen Man returned to the field hospital.
Conditions here were much better than in the mountains.
She even called home, saying that she had recently gone on a trip with her adviser and had been very busy.
Shen Changshan and Kong Baozhu had no suspicions. They reminded her to eat properly and take good care of herself while she was away.
Shen Man also asked about Auntie Lin’s family.
Kong Baozhu said that everything was fine.
Shen Man understood then that Jiang Chengzhou still hadn’t told his family that he was taking part in the Annam campaign.
She didn’t say anything more and simply said she understood.
Lin Zhilan had made some guesses that Jiang Chengzhou was currently in the Annam region, but she had never imagined that he would be so close to the front lines. Nor had she imagined that the two children would meet under such dangerous circumstances.
The field hospital was even busier than it had been in the mountains.
There were countless wounded soldiers here, and they were desperately short of medical staff.
Shen Man barely had a moment to rest. Only when she went to bed at night could she wonder how Jiang Chengzhou was doing.
It was half a month before she heard news of him again.
Shen Man was cleaning and bandaging a wounded soldier when a nurse hurried in.
“Dr. Shen, Platoon Leader Jiang has been wounded and has been brought to the hospital!”
Shen Man froze, nearly dropping the forceps in her hand.
Her lips pressed together beneath her mask. She mechanically disinfected and bandaged the wound. Only after straightening up did she realize that her legs had gone weak.
“Where is he?”
“What?” The nurse hadn’t quite understood. From Shen Man’s expression just now, she had assumed the doctor didn’t care.
Shen Man steadied herself against the medical cart. “Jiang Chengzhou. Where is he now?”
“Oh, right—I heard he was taken to the operating room.”
Shen Man nodded blankly, then rushed out like the wind.
She ran all the way to the operating room.
The door was tightly shut, cutting off every sound from inside.
Several wounded soldiers, all covered in mud, sat on the bench nearby.
Shen Man recognized two of them as Jiang Chengzhou’s comrades.
Her legs suddenly gave way. Bracing herself against the wall, she slowly crouched down until she had curled into a ball.
“Shen Man?”
The voice came from behind her, carrying a hint of confusion.
Shen Man jerked her head up and turned around, her face streaked with tears.
Jiang Chengzhou stood at the other end of the corridor. His left arm was secured against his chest in a sling, thickly wrapped in gauze.
His whole body was gray with dust, and there was still mud on his face that hadn’t been wiped away.
“You’re all right?”
Shen Man scrambled to her feet, stumbled, and crashed straight into his arms.
The impact made Jiang Chengzhou hiss.
“What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
Jiang Chengzhou lifted his left arm with an exasperated look. “My dear Doctor Shen, haven’t you noticed that my arm is in a sling?”
Tears welled up in Shen Man’s eyes again. “I’m sorry. What happened to your arm? Is it serious?”
Jiang Chengzhou looked down at her.
Shen Man’s hair was a tangled mess, her face wet with tears, and her expression was one of panic and helplessness unlike anything he had ever seen before.
His heart softened at once.
After a few seconds of silence, he raised his right hand and gently patted her back twice. “It’s fine. Just a hairline fracture. It’ll heal after a month in a cast.”
Only then did Shen Man finally relax. Leaning against the corridor wall, she slid down and sat on the floor.
Jiang Chengzhou looked down at her and crouched beside her. “Did I scare you?”
Shen Man had always been strong-willed. She never allowed herself to show weakness in front of others.
But this time, she lifted her head and met Jiang Chengzhou’s eyes. Tears rolled down one after another as she choked out, “Yes. You nearly scared me to death.”
Jiang Chengzhou suddenly didn’t know what to do. All he could manage was to pat her shoulder. “All right, all right. I’m really fine. Besides, we won the battle.”
Shen Man covered her face with both hands and sobbed uncontrollably.
Thankfully, thankfully Jiang Chengzhou was all right.
The comrades gathered around them were moved and envious, while also finding the scene rather amusing.
They had no idea what their platoon leader was thinking.
Doctor Shen was a physician, and they had heard that she was even a graduate student. They didn’t know exactly what a graduate student was, but it sounded like she was highly educated.
Besides, she was a doctor, she was beautiful, and she cared so much about their platoon leader.
The two of them might as well just get together already. Why did they insist on calling each other “friends” and keeping such a distance? They were being far too formal!
Because Jiang Chengzhou had been wounded, he was temporarily excused from returning to his unit. He would remain in the hospital to recuperate and rejoin them only after he had fully recovered.
Shen Man became the doctor in charge of his care.
