Sweet Nostalgia of the 80s

Chapter 1465: Chapter 1465: Dig Three Feet into the Ground to Find It

”Uncle, I didn’t lie to you, really... really, he fell into a crevice, I saw it with my own eyes,” he sobbed as he spoke.

”Doctor Lu, you come... come and help everyone with their wounds, I’ll go take a look,” Yan Ye said, dropping the surgical forceps and sutures in his hand, and ran towards the site of the accident.

Ji Chuan followed closely behind.

After the two arrived at the scene, they saw that everyone was standing there, crying softly.

”Commander Zhang, what happened...” Yan Ye already knew the outcome, but he still couldn’t bring himself to believe it, ”Did Qin Jian really... really fall in?”

Zhang Jianguo lifted his head, his eyes brimming with sorrow and tears, ”... and Tian Niu...”

Yan Ye fell silent. After a brief silence, he suddenly erupted, ”Commander Zhang! Dig! Order the warriors to dig! Even if he’s gone, the body must be brought back, right? Otherwise, how are we going to explain this to the Commander and An Hao?”

Commander Zhang jerked out of his grief, and with a wave of his hand bellowed, ”Dig! Dig forcefully! Dig three feet into the ground if we must to find the two of them.”

”Yes!” All the warriors wiped away their tears and shouted loudly.

........................

Three days had passed.

The snow in the sky hadn’t stopped at all, falling incessantly.

The snow on the ground had gotten thicker than knee-high.

All the warriors stood there, day and night, continuing to dig at the trench, switching teams when one got tired, in a continuous cycle.

They dug for five whole days.

But they still couldn’t find the bodies of the Qin Family and Tian Niu.

Commander Zhang had been standing there for five days and nights without closing his eyes, until finally someone from military headquarters came to fetch him.

As a division commander, he couldn’t just stay there and not leave; he had many other matters to handle.

Before leaving, Yan Ye asked him, ”Commander, how are you going to break the news to the Commander?”

Zhang Jianguo fiercely drew on his cigarette for a long time, opened his mouth, and then swallowed the words back.

He couldn’t get them out.

”The Commander has a heart condition! If he finds out, the consequences are unimaginable,” Yan Ye said with a furrowed brow.

”We can’t keep such a big incident from the Commander forever,” Zhang Jianguo felt very worried in his heart.

Yan Ye fell silent for a while before slowly speaking, ”We need to break it to him gently. Perhaps, we should tell An Hao first.”

”An Hao...” The image of An Hao’s grief-stricken face already filled Zhang Jianguo’s mind.

”Tell her,” Ji Chuan, whose arrival went unnoticed, stood behind Yan Ye and spoke, ”Tell An Hao. She is stronger than you think.”

”Okay,” Zhang Jianguo nodded, finally agreeing.

................................

Zhang Jianguo returned to the division headquarters and sat through a day of meetings.

Finally returning home, Zhang Lanxiang had already prepared dinner. Seeing her husband return, she hurriedly greeted him, ”You’re finally back. These past few days felt like centuries of torture. I heard there was another earthquake over there; I’ve spent countless sleepless nights.”

Zhang Jianguo walked to the dining table in silence, not picking up his chopsticks to eat, but instead lit a cigarette and quietly began smoking.

Seeing her husband in this state, Zhang Lanxiang knew he must be troubled.

They were an old married couple; she understood too well what his every change meant, ”Old Zhang, what happened? Tell me...”