Love In Fallen City

Chapter 9

Lisa’s house was empty, her heart was empty, and her family had no rice or food, so her stomach was empty too. There was no smoke without fire, so she felt the terror attack particularly strongly. She called the Lee family in Happy Valley, but the call could not be connected for a long time, because everyone in the city who had a phone was calling to ask which area was safer and to make an evacuation plan. Lisa finally got through in the afternoon, but even though the phone kept ringing, no one answered the phone. She thought that Mr. and Mrs. Lee had hurriedly left and moved to a more peaceful area. Lisa was at a loss.

 The artillery fire was getting more and more intense. The nearby anti-aircraft guns became the focus of the planes. The planes circled overhead, “Zizizi…” They circled around and came back, “Zizizi…” The pain was like a dentist’s spiral appliance, piercing deep into the soul.

 Ah Li sat on the threshold of the living room holding her crying child. She seemed to be in a coma, swaying from side to side, mumbling a song like a delirium, coaxing and patting the child. The window collapsed with another “squeak, er, er, er…” sound, and “bang!” a corner of the eaves was cut off, and sand and stones fell down. Ah Li screamed, jumped up, and ran out with the child in her arms.

Lisa caught up with her at the gate, grabbed her and asked, “Where are you going?” Ah Li said, “We can’t hide here! I-I’ll take him to the gutter to hide.” Lisa said, “You’re crazy! You’re going to die!” Ah Li said repeatedly, “Let me go! My child-I only have one-can’t die!...Hide in the gutter…” Lisa grabbed her desperately, and Ah Li pushed her, she fell down, and Ah Li rushed out.

At this moment, there was a loud bang, and the whole world went dark, like a huge box with a snap. Countless Luo Chouqi’s hatred was locked inside.

Lisa thought she was dead, but she was still alive. When she opened her eyes, she saw broken glass and the sun’s shadow. She struggled to get up and went to look for Ah Li.

As soon as the door opened, Ah Li hugged the child tightly, lowered her head, and leaned her forehead against the cement wall in the doorway. She was stunned. Lisa pulled her in, and heard people outside shouting that a bomb had fallen next door, creating a big hole in the garden. This time, the box lid was closed, but there was still no silence. The banging continued, as if someone was hammering nails into the box lid, hammering endlessly. From dawn to dusk, and from dusk to dawn.

Lisa also thought of Jungkook, wondering if his ship had left the port or been sunk. But when she thought of him, she felt vague, as if she had been in another world. The present period had nothing to do with her past, like a song on the radio, which was halfway through when it was suddenly affected by bad weather and started to crackle. After the explosion, the song would still continue, but she was afraid that the explosion would end and the song would be over, and then there would be no more to listen to.

The next day, Lisa and A-li and her son shared the biscuits in the jar. Her spirit gradually weakened, and every whistling bullet fragment was like a slap on her face. A military truck rumbled down the street and stopped unexpectedly in front of the door. When the bell rang, Lisa went to open the door herself. Seeing that it was Jungkook, she grabbed his hand and hugged his arm tightly, like A-li hugging a child, and then she threw herself forward and knocked her head against the cement wall in the doorway.

Jungkook held her head with his other hand and said hurriedly, “Are you frightened? Don’t worry, don’t worry. Go pack some things, and we’ll go to Repulse Bay. Hurry up, hurry up!” Lisa rushed in and asked, “Is Repulse Bay okay?” Jungkook said, “They said they wouldn’t land there. And there’s no problem with food in the hotel, they have a rich collection.” Lisa said, “Your ship…” Jungkook said, “The ship didn’t leave. They sent the first-class passengers to the Repulse Bay Hotel. They were supposed to pick you up yesterday, but they couldn’t get a car, and they couldn’t get on the bus. Finally, they managed to get this Wu car today.”

Lisa couldn’t calm down to pack her luggage, so she just packed a small package. Jungkook gave Ah Li two months’ salary and asked her to look after the house. The two of them got on the car and lay side by side face down in the cargo compartment covered with a yellow-green oilcloth awning. They were bumpy all the way, and the skin on their elbows and knees was rubbed.

Jungkook sighed, “This explosion has cut off the tails of so many stories!” Lisa was also sad, and after a while she said, “If you are killed by the explosion, my story will end. If I am killed by the explosion, your story will still be long!” Jungkook laughed and said, “Are you going to keep your chastity for me?” They both had a little mental disorder, and laughed for no reason. And they couldn’t stop laughing. After laughing, they were trembling all over.

The truck arrived at Repulse Bay amidst the “squeaky, err…” web of stray bullets. The army was stationed downstairs at the Repulse Bay Hotel, and they still lived in the old rooms upstairs. After settling in, they found that although the hotel had a lot of food, it was all reserved for the soldiers. In addition to canned milk, beef and mutton, and fruits, there were also sacks of white bread. Bran bread. The guests were only given two soda crackers or two sugar cubes for each meal, and everyone was starving to death.

The first two days of Repulse Bay were relatively calm, but then the situation suddenly changed and gradually became more intense. There was no shelter upstairs, so everyone had to go downstairs and stay in the cafeteria. The glass door of the cafeteria was wide open, and sandbags were piled in front of the door. The British soldiers set up cannons there and fired out. The warships in the bay found the source of the shells and had to return fire one by one. Bullets flew back and forth between the palm trees and the fountain.

Jungkook and Lisa followed everyone else and pressed their backs against the wall of the hall. The dark background was like an ancient Persian carpet, woven with all kinds of characters, lords, princesses, talented men, and beautiful women. The carpet was hung on bamboo poles, facing the wind to beat the dust on it, slapping it, hitting it hard, hitting the people on it and leaving them with nowhere to go.

 When the cannonballs were fired this way, they ran to the other side; when they were fired that way, they ran to this side. In the end, the large hall was riddled with holes and one wall collapsed. There was no escape, so they had to sit down and leave it to fate.

At this point, Lisa regretted having Jungkook by her side. It was as if one person had two bodies, and was doubly in danger. If a bullet could not hit her, it might hit him. If he died or became disabled, her situation would be even more unbearable. If she was injured, she would have no choice but to die in order not to drag him down. Even if she died, it would not be as clean and refreshing as dying alone. She guessed that Jungkook thought the same thing. She didn’t know anything else. At this moment, she only had him, and he only had her.

The fighting has ceased. The men and women trapped in the Repulse Bay Hotel slowly walked towards the city.

 After passing the loess cliff, the red clay cliff, the red clay cliff again, and the loess cliff, they almost suspected that they had taken the wrong road and had gone back, but no, there were no such exploded pits and pits full of stones on the previous road. Jungkook and Lisa rarely talked. In the past, they would have a conversation when they took a car for a while, but now they have walked for dozens of miles and have nothing to say. Occasionally, they would say a sentence, but halfway through, the other party would always know the rest, and there was no need to continue. J

ungkook said: “Look, on the beach.” Lisa said: “Yes.” The beach was covered with barbed wire that was cut in all directions. Outside the barbed wire, the pale white sea water swallowed up the pale yellow sand. The sunny day in winter is also indifferent blue. The season of wildfires has passed. Lisa said, “That wall…” Jungkook said, “I didn’t go to see it either.” Lisa sighed and said, “Forget it."

Jungkook was getting hot from walking, so he took off his coat and put it on his arm, which was sweating. Lisa said, “You are afraid of the heat, let me hold it for you.” In the past, Jungkook would definitely not agree, but now he was not so gentlemanly, and actually handed it to her. After walking for a while, the mountain gradually became higher. I don’t know if it was the wind blowing the trees or the drifting shadows of the clouds, but the green and yellow foothills slowly darkened. When they looked closely, it was not the wind or the clouds, but the sun slowly moving over the top of the mountain, and half of the foothills were buried in a huge blue shadow.

There were a few houses burning on the mountain, with smoke coming out – the smoke on the shady side of the mountain was white, and the smoke on the sunny side of the mountain was black – but the sun just slowly moved over the top of the mountain.