Chapter 2 First Love in the Air Raid Shelter

They died together, and the posture in which they died was quite touching. The female soldier hugged the male soldier's waist tightly, and the male soldier supported the female soldier's head, as if admiring the beauty of the female soldier.Their expressions are smiling, smiling like lovers, they don't seem to have the slightest awareness of death, and they express their love wholeheartedly. On this day in early autumn, when Zhang Weiping was full of ambition and returned to the military compound to visit relatives, 18-year-old Qiao Nianchao and Fang Wei, who was also 18, were walking in the tunnel of the air-raid shelter.

The air-raid shelter in the compound of the military area has been repaired for many years. Since the Soviet experts and military advisers withdrew, the situation suddenly became tense. Chairman Mao called on the whole people and the whole army to dig deep holes and accumulate food widely.During World War II, the shadow of the atomic bomb dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima, Japan was too deep.The old man called on the people of the whole country to always be on guard against the atomic bombs of the United States and the Soviet Union.As a result, the military compound, like the whole country, carried out a campaign of digging deep holes and accumulating grain widely.When the air-raid shelter is dug to a certain extent, it is really a bit like the tunnels used when the Japanese were attacked back then. In the end, it is family-to-family and household-to-house.At the beginning, every household had a vegetable cellar underground.Later, they were integrated into one, and now the vegetable cellars of every household are connected with tunnels.A certain piece of floor in the living room or bedroom, as long as it is raised, it will be a tunnel entrance.

The air-raid shelter in the compound of the military region is usually managed by someone. Water and electricity have already been connected to it, and a command post has been built inside.The military region used to conduct several exercises every year. The headquarters in the military region building was moved to an underground air-raid shelter, and the combatants lived in it for a few days, remotely commanding the combat troops on the ground. An uphill battle. Qiao Nianchao and Fang Wei have been attracted by this kind of tension and mystery since they can remember. Everything in the air-raid shelter is full of imagination and temptation for them.At the beginning, they only had the opportunity to come to the cave under the guidance of their parents during one or two drills a year. In those few days, the air-raid shelter became a paradise for children.Because in those few days, they can justifiably don't have to go to school. Although their actions are restricted to a certain extent, they are still happy, the lights are always on, they live a collective life, and eat the same food. Meals, waking up, and sleeping are all listening to the bell, but they can play wildly, regardless of the nervousness of the soldiers.In those days, the children were happier than the New Year.Their high spirits continued for days after the exercise, and their central topic remained the interesting life in the bomb shelter.For adults, life in a bomb shelter is dull and lifeless, but it is very human and interesting for children.After they walked out of the air-raid shelter, they began to look forward to the next exercise.Sometimes they hope that the atomic bombs of the US and the Soviet Union will really be dropped, so that they can live in the air-raid shelters and never return to the ground to live a normal life. That is the best ending.

Later, the connection point of the air-raid shelter was dug to every household, and they could sneak into the ground at any time to understand the situation.At that time, the management of the air-raid shelter was still very strict. Soldiers from the guard company often went deep into the air-raid shelter to patrol, and they also found some children breaking into the air-raid shelter without authorization, and they caught the children again and again.The children liked this kind of adventure even more. They fought a guerrilla with these guard fighters, and they regarded it as a game.Later, the troops figured out a way to seal up some openings leading to combat-ready facilities with iron gates, and the parents took strict care of their children, so they calmed down a bit.But the tube is out of control, and children still come and go in and out of the tunnel from time to time.The tunnel is usually not powered, and the exhaust equipment is not turned on. If you get lost in it, it will be dangerous after a long time.

A few years ago, two children sneaked into the tunnel from the entrance of their own vegetable cellar. They went down with a flashlight on. Later, the flashlight ran out of power, and they lost their way and could not come up. .In the middle of the night, the parents couldn't find their children, so they remembered the authenticity.In the middle of the night that day, the air-raid shelter was brightly lit, and more than two hundred soldiers searched for more than two hours in the tunnels in the ditches before they found the two dying children.After rescue, the two children came back to life.These two children are Qiao Nianchao and Fang Wei.At that time they were in the fourth grade of elementary school.

After this incident happened, the tunnel entrances of every household were strictly managed, some were locked, and some were simply closed.Since then, the chances of children going to the tunnel have decreased. Also a few years ago, a major event happened in the tunnel. A soldier from the guard company fell in love with a female soldier from the communication group. The two sneaked into the tunnel. They got lost or suffocated. Only then was someone found out.They died together, and the posture in which they died was quite touching. The female soldier hugged the male soldier's waist tightly, and the male soldier supported the female soldier's head, as if admiring the beauty of the female soldier.Their expressions are smiling, smiling like lovers, they don't seem to have the slightest awareness of death, and they express their love wholeheartedly.They died in love.During the cremation, people could not separate them no matter what. In the end, two people were cremated together. The ashes were divided into two urns, and the parents of both parties took them away with great sorrow.

This poignant love story has been circulated in the military compound for many years, becoming a poignant and somewhat tragic love myth. This love myth also deeply moved Qiao Nianchao and Fang Wei.They are also eighteen-year-old young men and women now. In July 1975, they finished high school, and they are now unemployed at home.Since they were minors, they have been deeply hit by the love myth of the two male and female soldiers, and they have invested in another kind of affection for the air-raid shelter, which is completely different from the playful psychology they had when they were children.

During these days, they all thought of the air-raid shelter. First, Qiao Nianchao got into the hole, and then he came to the bottom of Fang Wei's house with ease.Fang Wei heard it, and if it was safe, she would sneak into the hole.They are old enough to easily find the key to the air-raid shelter at home.If there is someone at home at this time and it is inconvenient, she will stamp her feet on the floor three times. That morning, Qiao Nianchao and Fang Wei walked into the air-raid shelter hand in hand.Qiao Nianchao held up the flashlight, the batteries were new, and he had two spare batteries in his pocket, so they didn't have to worry about getting lost in the dark.That morning, their emotions were very high, and the two of them were humming: Tunnel warfare, hey, tunnel warfare, there are millions of magic soldiers in ambush——

As they walked, they stopped talking. They sat down on a platform, and the flashlight shone dimly on the opposite wall. Half of them were in the light and half in the darkness. It has been more than two months since we graduated, what are your plans?Qiao Nianchao tilted her head and said to Fang Wei. Fang Wei shook her head, her bangs were dangling on her head, her eyes were dark and bright in the light of the flashlight.After she shook her head, she said softly: I don't know.After a while, he asked Qiao Nianchao: What about you? My dad said let me go to the army. Then I will join the army too.

Qiao Nianchao stood up, and Fang Wei also stood up.The light and shadow of the flashlight in his hand also changed accordingly, and shot into the distance along the long air-raid shelter. The huge darkness quickly absorbed the brightness, and the flashlight felt powerless. The two looked at each other in the dim light.They were crazy together when they were children, but when they grew up, they all had a sense of strangeness.Not long after they were rescued from the hole that time, the two went to middle school. From then on, they suddenly became biologically separated, but they still couldn't forget each other in their hearts.In class, when they were in the same class, their eyes would often bump into each other inadvertently, and they would blush and heartbeat.They then went to high school together again, and the two didn't speak until their final semester of high school.That was also an accident.That day, they walked out of the gate of the military area to go to school.Fang Wei was in front, with hesitant steps, neither slow nor fast, Qiao Nianchao was three or two steps away from her, and he didn't know what to do.

Later, it was Qiao Nianchao who called out first: Fang Wei. The voice was extremely dry, not at all angry. She turned her head, and he came over, cleared her throat and asked: You are about to graduate, what are your plans? She whispered: If you don't go to the countryside, you just serve as a soldier, how about you? From that time on, the stalemate between the two of them was broken, and in the future, they would intentionally or unintentionally walk together on the way to and from school.There are no more words when we walk together, talking about some things to study or plans after graduation. They really graduated two months ago, and in just two months, they seem to have grown up all of a sudden.They date frequently, and the first place that comes to mind is the air-raid shelter.They still remember the accident several years ago. Today, they looked at each other in the air-raid shelter, and they were so close that they could hear each other's breathing and their heartbeats like drums. Someone's body moved forward, and they hugged each other's body almost at the same time.The flashlight fell to the ground, made a "click", rolled twice, and stopped.Light shines on the soles of their feet. They began to kiss, their lips were wet and trembling, and their teeth came together with a soft sound.I don't know how long it took, but the battery of the flashlight that fell on the ground was almost exhausted, and it only emitted a faint red light. Fang Wei groaned softly: Nian Chao, I'm almost dying of excitement. Qiao Nianchao said: Then we will die together. The two hugged each other tightly again, and at the same time, they thought of the pair of soldiers who ate the forbidden fruit a few years ago, and that poignant myth.They wish they could integrate themselves with each other.