[The Wandering Earth] Short Story Collection: The Age of Roses

Whistle to AU, the same world as "Wasteland"

It was originally a literary challenge, but it was strung together

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【My usual style of writing】

When he buttoned the last button on the collar of his white shirt, Liu Qi heard the sound of wings flapping outside the window.From the perspective of the dark cuckoo falcon, the unique coldness and sharpness of a soldier retreated like ice and snow melting at the moment the young man looked at it. A smile appeared on his thin face, and he walked quickly to the window, Pulling open the simple window frame of the dormitory of the temporary headquarters, he stretched out his hand to let the bird, known for its agility and lightness, rush out of the night and land firmly on his forearm.

"Is he already waiting for me?"

He spoke lightly and walked lightly, and held his arms flat to his chest so that the birds could look him in the eye without raising their heads.The black-crested cuckoo falcon uttered a short cry, and it stared at the tall and thin young man with obsidian-like gentle eyes.A crude mirror hung on the wall, reflecting their stacked reflections.Suddenly, as if he had heard some order, the black-feathered bird fluttered its wings and flew up. It rushed to the military uniform coat that Liu Qi had laid aside, picked it up and threw it on Liu Qi's body.

The air outside the outpost was cold and fresh, Liu Qi stomped his feet to drive away the cold air, but his eyes were as bright as morning stars.The voices of orderlies and junior officers saluted in a low voice, and the stability and firmness in their eyes was exactly the same as that of their chief.Black Wing's spiritual guide folded its wings and stood on Liu Qi's right shoulder. Its back was straight and its eyes were solemn, like a sword.Suddenly, the black-crested cuckoo falcon spread its wings and flew to the sky, then swooped down hastily, and disappeared on the other side of the outpost's courtyard wall.

The person he was looking for was indeed there.Like his sentinel, Lieutenant General Wang Lei was also wearing a pine needle green military uniform, and the cuckoo falcon sat on his shoulder, looking at Liu Qi's face with the same gaze as his.The latter took a deep breath and stood in front of him, the ease in his eyes gradually replaced with solemnity and respect.

"Liu Qi, Commander of the 171th Brigade of the 11st Group Army, Hello, Commander!"

Wang Lei looked at him quietly, his eyes were calm and relieved.He straightened his body slowly, and raised his hand to give Liu Qi a standard military salute.

"Wang Lei, Commander of the 171st Group Army, Comrade Liu Qi, hello!"

The dawn is about to break, the shadows of the trees are shaking, the lovers who have been separated for many years are relatively silent, and they stare at each other's faces for a long time.The young boy who used to design blueprints in the library of the military academy has reached his thirties, the military badge on his shoulders has been replaced by two bars and four stars, and the guide who called his sentinel back to reality from the long night of the frozen wasteland also He is no longer young, time has left traces on his temples and browbones, but it has not changed his persistent eyes and tenacious heart.

They are soldiers.They love each other deeply, and they love the country they guard together even more.There was the sound of uniform footsteps in the distance, and Wang Lei slightly turned his head in that direction:

"The soldiers from the 11th Brigade have already dispatched?"

"Yes." His sentinel replied, lips pursed tightly.The morning in the war zone has never been so quiet, there is no lurking crisis, and there is no baptism of war.

"Everything is coming to an end." Wang Lei said, looking into the distance, he said softly.

Liu Qi knew what he was thinking.He looked in the same direction as him, his fingers found his hand, and held it tightly again.

Before the war began, no one thought how it would end.It is real and cruel, and it has ruined the future and life of many people.The oppression and tension are unimaginable. Some people have predicted that they will fail, some collapse and give up, and some people embark on the road of exile alone.

However, in the harshest and most dangerous places, there are still countless people who continue to forge their new Great Wall with their blood.

They held out until victory, until the day when they signed an armistice with the enemy.

In the distant sky, the sun's rays broke through the clouds, and a group of birds started up from the forest, flapping their wings and flying straight into the sky.The light spread rapidly along the horizon, and everywhere it passed, everything was covered with a layer of gold.

It was the breath of new life.

Wang Lei said, "Let's go."

Liu Qi looked back at the outpost.It stands quietly in the morning mist, silent and firm like a guardian.

"Let's go," he replied.

It was the day the war finally ended, a fine day, bright and clear.

【Dark style】

Persevere or die, they grew up listening to such teachings.

In that white fortress where force is everything, all the pursuit of tenderness is futile. Sometimes he can rely on his clever mind to seize the opportunity in the two-month training, but that is only a small number of cases.Most of the time, he was the one who was pushed to the ground and beaten to death by the older children because he was not strong enough-the person in charge would not care about this, "Wars only send flowers to the victors" they plausibly said .

Blood choked out from his throat, and his lungs convulsed. He curled up on the ground and writhed and rolled violently, with half of his face sticking to the blood on the ground.Sweat and blood smeared his eyelashes, and he couldn't see anything.Darkness swept in from all directions, and locked him in a square box. The pressure and pain squeezed his limbs and thoughts, and his breathing became more and more rapid.

Choking a mouthful of blood into his lungs, he grabbed the white floor tiles in vain.Darkness, pain, resentment, hatred—negativity drowned him like the sea.All that persistence can bring, now there is nothing left but death.The knuckles of his right hand clasped the hard slate tightly until it couldn't bear the unwillingness and hatred of the newborn Sentinel, and cracks broke under his palm.

He'd been thinking death was where he was going, until he heard the voice—the voice of a man as he was lifted from the tiles and held in a warm embrace.A handkerchief dabs the blood from his face, and he feeds him a mouthful of lukewarm water.

The man pressed his forehead tightly against his, and said, "Son, don't be afraid, leave it to me."

Soft spiritual touch wrapped him, and he fell asleep in gentle kindness.

"What's wrong?" Wang Lei asked.

Liu Qi was slightly shocked, he pulled away from the memory, still holding the glass of water at the right temperature in his hand.

"Nothing," he replied, "I was thinking of you."

"Oh? What did you think of?"

A smile crept across his face.

"Remember when I first met you."

【KUSO】

"Everyone present at the meeting is an excellent soldier of the coalition government."

"During the war, it was they who shed their lives and blood on the front line. Even in the most difficult war years, the coalition government never retreated and never gave up winning."

"In times of peace, they are also excellent builders of this world. War has transformed people, but the most tenacious mind will not be obliterated, the most persistent pursuit will not fade, and the most ardent faith will remain young forever!"

"So, on behalf of all the soldiers of the 171th Brigade of the CN11 Army, I hope that you, as a logistics officer, can make the most appropriate arrangements for our soldiers."

The little girl who was in charge of arranging the hotel had tears in her eyes from Liu Qiyi's words. She stood at attention and raised her hand to salute a standard military salute: "Yes, sir, don't worry, we promise to complete the task!"

"Hukou, let me ask you a question."

"Say it, Li Changtiao."

Li Yiyi glanced at the direction of the little logistics.

"Is that the explanation for your disobedience and forcibly placing yourself in the same room as the lieutenant general Wang?"

【Girl or Little Fresh】

I can't figure out what my brother is thinking.Although I am the guide who can easily probe into other people's hearts, he is the sentinel whose behavior should be described as invisible in front of the guide.

We were all kids growing up in the 'White Fortress', where guides were not guides and sentinels were not sentries.Years after I left there, I met again the survivor who had confronted me, and she described it as 'the hell on earth'.I laughed at the time because I thought that statement was so apt.

At that time, everyone was not normal, including my brother, including me.In a place where blood is everywhere, it is very difficult for people to learn to do things other than survival, and my brother’s burden is even heavier than others, because he still has to carry me on his back.

Later, after a long, long time, when we were all grown up, I recalled those years with my brother one time, and I asked him: "Brother, at that time, even children older than us couldn't bear that kind of life. How did you survive? Especially you, how did you survive?"

I will never forget the look in my brother's eyes.He sat on the steps in front of the single building in the compound of the military area, watching a ray of sunlight shine through the shade of the trees into their garden in front of the small building.Lieutenant General Wang Lei squatted on the edge of the flowerbed and played with his peonies, while the black-crested cuckoo stood docilely on the flower stand beside him.

Brother said: "Han Duoduo, have you ever seen light? To me, he is like light."

I was a little puzzled, but he refused to say anything more.Wang Lei's spiritual guide glided over silently, it landed on Liu Qi's lap, and the feathers were kissed tenderly.

I saw Lieutenant General Wang raised his head, and they smiled at each other.

—— "The Extraordinary Years - Memoirs of the 20 Years of War" by Han Duoduo, People's Literature Publishing House

【Interpreter accent】

It wasn't until all the footsteps outside the bushes had disappeared that the Dark Sentinel climbed up the other side of the sand hill.The moonlight was thin, and a few stars that were so faint that they were almost invisible hung here and there on the light blue sky.He stumbled over a rock outcropping, hidden among dead vines and gnarled branches, blinding the Sentinel's senses.Half of his face was buried in the sand, and he tasted the salty feeling of the soil and the faint smell of rust.He tentatively licked it with his tongue, and the texture he touched was like a piece of paper with rough edges that had been cut by a knife.It's probably broken there, but what the hell, he can't feel any pain anyway.fuck it.

Anyway, his guide was dead.Oh shit.died.The Dark Sentinel spat out the sand and soil in his mouth hastily, and climbed up from the stone mountain with his arms propped up.It was getting darker again, and now the color looked more like his guide's—his guide's—eyes, the only part of the guy's body to look at.It was a grayish blue in the shadows and turned a deep blue in the sun, like the deep sea reflecting the sky at night in the Atlantic.

The sentinel's eyes suddenly became moist.He threw himself on the barren hill and wept bitterly, and there was faint rumble of artillery fire in the distance.As he cried, he hammered the ground beside him in vain with his hands.Bang.Bang.Blood was seen in a few strokes.The blood was mixed in the sand, turning red and black.He rested his head on the ground, and groped in vain along the link to the other end - where there should have been a smiling face of his guide, there was only a blank space.He still remembers the cracking feeling as if struck by lightning, the pain is still clear until now, but the person who can heal him is no longer there.

click.

The Dark Sentinel's body shook violently, and immediately froze.Even though he hadn't seen the muzzle of the gun behind him, the cold sweat involuntarily oozing from his back and the hairs on the side of his face had already made the sentinel feel fear.He subconsciously drew out his gun, rolled sideways to avoid it, and aimed the gun at the threat behind him.However, to his surprise, he did not roll to the hiding place of his target, and the gun that should have been pulled was also thrown out by him at some point.

——It's a hint!He raised his head in horror, and met a pair of pure black expressionless eyes.The M9 in the opponent's hand was facing his head. It was a guide, a guide who could hint at the sentries without eye contact, and the opponent's military uniform also told him that he was a member of the Alliance government who had just left the battlefield.Doomed.

"You shoot."

The Dark Sentinel gave up his resistance. He raised his hands and closed his eyes resignedly.A line of tears flowed down his cheeks, washing away the blood on it.

"I still can't survive... Kaleyan, it seems that we can only reunite in heaven."

Before the huge impact of the M9 bullet tore his head off his shoulders, Wang Lei saw a satisfied smile on the sentry's face.

The black-crowned cuckoo falcon appeared in the sky at some point.It hovered eagerly in the moonlight, and its bright black eyes seemed to be urging.Wang Lei put the M9 back into the holster, reached out and patted the spiritual guide's black feathers soothingly.

"He'll be fine."

Wang Lei's words were more like convincing himself than to comfort the black-crowned cuckoo.

"Even if I really step into the long night, I will definitely find him back."

【Su】

"Target universe, advance three!"

sick at first sight

When God created Liu Qi, he added 50% genius, 40% tribulation and 10% awkwardness.

When God created Wang Lei, he added 40% seriousness, 30% gentleness and 30% toughness.

God thinks this is not good, after all, even Einstein's brain is only developed at 12%, and you two sentinel guides who are born to hang out have a development efficiency of 100%, which is unfair to others.

God emptied Liu Qi.

God emptied Wang Lei.

As soon as God turned his head, he saw a light pink glass bottle exuding a warm aroma appearing on the ingredient shelf at one side at some time. The bottle was full of light pink mist, wrapped in shining stars.

God thought it was a good idea, so he pulled the plug.

Liu Qi said: "I never thought I would love someone to this extent."

Wang Lei said: "Perhaps it is the arrangement of fate."

No, classmate Wang Lei.

In fact, it's just God's arrangement.

But you really are made for each other.

【Salute to the original version】

"...we understand all people, because in a struggle that has been going on for forty generations and will continue for a hundred, it is indeed a luxury to keep one's sanity forever."

"We all know that we can't see the day when the truth will be proven, but if human beings can continue for generations, all people will shed their tears on our graves in the future."

"This planet called Earth is our eternal monument."[1]

"Wang Lei, the commander of the 171st Army, will fight to the death to protect the bridge of the earth!"

"Liu Qi, Commander of the 171st Group Army, will fight to the death to protect the bridge of the earth!"

Heroes will eventually grow old, but beauty cannot escape old age.Memories will one day become legends.The glory of the past will also become the object of criticism in the future.

And they accept the baptism of time and become immortal.

【End】