Chapter 22 Part 1

These past two days, Song Ran hadn't slept well. The ceaseless sounds of artillery fire at night were about to give her a nervous breakdown. Yet, she couldn't afford to slack off during work in the daytime. Walking on the streets, she had to concentrate at all times, unable to relax even for a moment. If she accidentally ran into a bomb, she wouldn't even need to buy a plane ticket home.

The situation in Hapo City was deteriorating at a visible rate. Yesterday, a shell had landed in the next block. When Song Ran woke up, she found a crack in the wall. The building manager came up to check it and said it was fine, still habitable, and wouldn't collapse.

Their area was considered relatively safe; other districts weren't as lucky.

The Government Army and the Anti-government forces expanded the battlefield, and terrorist organizations also got involved. The number of civilian casualties soared day by day. The few refugee camps at the border were overflowing, and it was said that the fee for leaving the country had now increased by another 5,000 US dollars on top of the original cost.

That morning, after transmitting her work materials back to her country, Song Ran really couldn't hold on any longer and slept for an entire day.

She slept from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon. When she woke up, the sound of gunfire outside had finally died down. Taking advantage of the decent signal, Song Ran made a video call to her mother to let her know she was safe. It was already midnight back home, and Ran Yuwei was still reading. She didn't support Song Ran coming to Dongguo, so her reaction during every video call was lukewarm, and she never asked about Song Ran's work. She didn't even ask about the CARRY incident that had caused a global sensation.

Sometimes, Song Ran really couldn't stand her mother's temper, which was harder than a rock.

As for her father, Song Zhicheng, he would praise her every few days. Just for that CARRY photograph alone, he had sent several long paragraphs of profound thoughts, discussing everything from the games of great powers and the war situation to the spirit of humanism, rambling on for what was probably a thousand words.

After Ran Yuwei hung up, Song Ran made another video call to her dad. Song Zhicheng wasn't asleep either and eagerly chatted with her about the situation in Dongguo and the Extremist Organization. After a few sentences, the sound of Yang Huilun and Song Yang arguing came from the other end of the video call.

Song Ran asked, "Why are they arguing again?"

Song Zhicheng took off his glasses and sighed, "Yangyang wants to get married, so she's asking her mom for the household registration booklet."

Song Yang and her boyfriend, Lu Tao, had been dating since junior high, so Song Ran wasn't surprised. However, she said, "Getting married right after graduation? She could wait a little longer."

"This child, she just won't listen."

On the other end, Song Yang shrieked, "I've been with him for eight years, and we're going to be together in the future anyway, so what's wrong with getting married?!"

"If you want to get married, wait until you've bought a house! None of you can even support yourselves, what's this about getting married!"

The mother and daughter were arguing heatedly. Song Zhicheng was no longer in the mood to chat, so he just reminded her to be safe and hung up.

Song Ran put down her phone and walked to the window to look outside. Hapo City was a picture of gray decay; the originally colorful residences and temples were all covered in soot.

Just having disengaged from the world on the other side of her phone, looking at what was before her now, she felt a little disoriented.

Here, the sun had not yet set.

At ten at night, the sky finally darkened, with only a faint glow on the horizon.

Song Ran took her documents and went downstairs. Sasin was already waiting. The two had arranged to go to the Dreaming Bar to experience life.

The bar wasn't far, but on the way, they still encountered two checkpoints where their passes were inspected. Fortunately, they were prepared and passed through smoothly.

The bar was on a commercial street north of Hapo University. At night, all the shops were tightly shut, and there were no streetlights. Under the faint moonlight, Sasin led her into a quiet little alley. The path grew narrower and narrower until they arrived in front of a fortress-like building with local characteristics.

From the outside, it looked no different from any other building.

Sasin knocked a few times, said something in the Dongguo language, and the door was quickly pulled open by a gatekeeper holding a firearm. Sasin said a few words in the local language, and the gatekeeper let them in.

After walking through a long, exotic corridor with dim lighting and a pervasive fragrance, the space inside suddenly opened up.

It was an elegantly decorated, Western-style bar. Floor lamps, chandeliers, and decorative table lamps cast ambiguous rays of light. The bar was lively, with young Dongguo men and women, as well as foreigners, either sitting or standing, leaning against the bar, sofas, and floor-to-ceiling windows, drinking and making merry, chatting freely.

The local young men and women, along with guests from various countries, swayed their shoulders and hips to the passionate Dongguo folk songs in the center of the bar, dancing cheerfully.

Song Ran looked around and felt an inexplicable sense of being moved. She gave her unreserved attention to the smiling faces of the young people of Dongguo and their nimble dance moves.

Sasin perhaps saw through her thoughts. He blinked his deep, large eyes and said, "Song, although we were born in this country, we don't deserve to be miserable. We also have to enjoy life occasionally. Even though beautiful dreams always come to an end."

Song Ran was hit right on the mark by his words and didn't try to argue. She said, "I'm sorry. I apologize. It was wrong of me to think that the people of this country should all look worried and miserable. To make up for it, I'll buy you three drinks, if they're cheap."

Sasin laughed out loud.

The two sat down at the bar and looked at the drink prices. A glass ranged from 4 to 8 US dollars.

"Thank goodness," Song Ran said. "The price of alcohol hasn't skyrocketed."

"Material goods can go up in price, but spirit cannot. Alcohol is spirit!" Sasin raised his glass, spouting some twisted logic.

"Yes, alcohol is spirit!" Song Ran chuckled. "Sasin, I really like you like this."

Like a carefree university student.

Song Ran was drinking a local specialty cocktail mixed with the flavors of green olives and cinnamon. It was astringent and unique.

The DJ changed to a slow, melodious song. Beautiful people held their glasses and moved to the rhythm, making one fall into a dream, forgetting the real world outside, forgetting the ancient wall across the street ten meters away, full of craters and black soot.

Song Ran swirled the drink in her glass and said, "In Chinese, we have a phrase called 'Drunken life, dreamy death'. The books say it's a bad phrase, but I find it so charming."

"Drunken life, dreamy death," Sasin said. "If it's wine as good as tonight's, and a dream as beautiful as this moment, I'm willing to never wake up. I'm willing to never be sober again."

"Then we have another saying in Chinese," Song Ran raised her glass, "Wish to be drunk forever and never wake up."

Before she finished speaking, several men and women nearby raised their glasses together. "To never waking up."

The strangers looked at each other and smiled, downing the contents of their glasses in one gulp. The bartender was smiling too, the shaker flying in his hands.

Sasin spotted a beautiful female student from his country in the crowd. After they exchanged several glances, Sasin finally hopped off his high stool and walked toward the girl who was his age.

"Good luck." Song Ran watched him leave, only to see several men in camouflage uniforms walk in. It was that group of Peacekeeping Special Forces.

She focused her gaze and found Li Zan in an instant.

He and Benjamin's group sat at a table by the window. Because of their military uniforms, they easily attracted the attention of the entire room. Benjamin was like a social butterfly, thoroughly enjoying the admiring gazes from the beautiful women around them.

Li Zan, however, was quieter. A few seconds after sitting down, he sensed something, looked accurately toward the bar, and met Song Ran's eyes.

Through the spinning lights and silhouettes of people, he smiled at her from a distance, his eyes curving into crescents.

Song Ran's heart stopped for a moment. She had no resistance to his smile. She pressed her lips together and smiled back at him in response.

Her face was very hot, and probably very red too. It must be because of the alcohol.

Just then, Benjamin saw her too. He smiled and hooked an arm around Li Zan's shoulder, looking at Song Ran while whispering something in Li Zan's ear. Li Zan pushed his head away with a single palm.

Li Zan looked at Song Ran again and slowly smiled; Song Ran was still watching him without blinking, but in the next second, the passing figures blocked their line of sight, and she couldn't see him anymore.

The bartender handed over an orange sunrise cocktail. Song Ran took it, silently sipping from the straw, then secretly looked back again. The spot where he had been sitting was now empty.

Her expression went blank too. She craned her neck to search, and as the figures moved aside, she saw him walking toward her.

So embarrassing!

She wondered if he had seen her eagerly searching look.

She quickly put on a smile. "What a coincidence. What are you doing here?"

Li Zan didn't answer right away. It wasn't a coincidence at all; they just came here to drink and relax every night.

"I thought you'd already cased the joint," he said, sitting on the high stool next to her. He tilted his head and greeted Sasin and the female student past her.

"I was too busy and tired the last couple of days, so I didn't have time to come over. I'm well-rested today." She asked, "What are you drinking? My treat."

Li Zan found it amusing. "No need..."

"No. You gave me an apple last time, so it's my turn to treat you today."

He scratched the bridge of his nose with his finger and said, "Alright then."

"What do you want?"

"Vodka."

The bartender poured a glass and brought it over.

Song Ran asked, "Do you usually drink?"

"No. But there's a Russian on the team," Li Zan said, pointing his chin toward his teammates. "He carries vodka with him. A few sips when he's tired to wake him up."

While he raised his glass to drink, she quickly and carefully sized him up. He looked to be in pretty good spirits today, not as exhausted as he was that other day.

"Have you been sleeping well these past few days?"

"It's been okay. I've gotten seven hours of sleep."

"I slept from ten this morning to five this afternoon. Even the mortars outside didn't wake me up."

Li Zan had just brought the glass to his lips. Hearing this, he couldn't help but let out a chuckle, lowering his head slightly as he turned to look at her. "Just how sleepy were you?"

The yellowish light from the pendant lamp over the bar shone on his face. The smile in his eyes was like water, glistening and rippling.

Song Ran's mind went blank for a moment, and she forgot what she was going to say.

But he was still looking at her with a smile, waiting for her answer.

She said, "It was too noisy just now, I didn't hear you clearly."

So he leaned in a little closer and said in her ear, "I asked, how could you sleep so soundly?"

His breath brushed against her ear, the scalding sensation spreading to her cheek. Her face flushed as she said, "I don't know either. Anyway, by the time I woke up, the fighting was over. Oh, right. Where I'm staying, a shell blast cracked a fissure in the wall."

Before she finished speaking, Li Zan couldn't hold back another chuckle. He laughed so hard he rested his forehead on the back of his hand, the glass he was holding trembling slightly.

The ice crystals in the glass refracted the light, sparkling.

She giggled along foolishly and asked, "Is your drink good?"

Li Zan put the glass down, pushed it in front of her, and asked, "Want a taste?"

"...Mmm, okay." She must have had two drinks, which was why she was so bold. She picked up his glass and took a careful sip. A fiery sensation scorched her throat, and her brows knitted together. "Why does it taste smoky? It's like drinking a bullet."

He propped his temple on his hand and looked at her sideways, amused by her once again. He laughed until his shoulders shook lightly, the curve of his lips impossible to suppress.

What was so funny? It seemed like nothing, really.

Perhaps it was just that the music was too relaxing that night, the aroma of wine too indulgent. The misty, dreamlike lighting carried people far away from the battlefield.

The night was deep, and the wine was heady. Young people danced with abandon.

Song Ran looked back at them, tilting her head with a look of longing.

Li Zan saw this and, perhaps prompted by the alcohol, asked her, "Want to dance?"

Song Ran immediately shook her head. "I'm not a good dancer. Unlike foreigners, who seem to be born dancers. It would be really awkward if I went out there to dance."

The alcohol went to her head, flushing her cheeks. Li Zan glanced at the time and said, "Time to head back?"

She nodded her head, which was starting to feel heavy. "Yeah, time to go."

Sasin was chatting happily with the girl. And Li Zan's companions had long been surrounded by young women.

Song Ran and Li Zan exchanged a look.