Hunter and Hussar

Chapter 94 Snow Battle!

"Are you all right? Is sister okay?" Xiaoqi asked Luka back from her seat.Le Ben, who was sitting by the side, was crying. His friend's leaving without saying goodbye must have made him feel uncomfortable all night. Luca said sorry to him in four languages ​​before he got better.

"My sister hasn't woken up yet. I've been thinking about it all night, and I won't be able to help you if I go back. I still have my own mission here, so I can't leave everyone alone." Luca's eyes were shining, and he looked at him kindly with a little guilt. Xiao Qi.

"Luka is stupid! What is the mission? Who wants you to take care of it? If you have something to do with your family, you should take good care of it!" Le Ben complained to his companion angrily.

"I voluntarily. The air ticket was changed until the evening, and I left after the game." Luca hugged Le Ben, and the little friend struggled and hammered his thigh hard with his fist a few times.

I know there are no gods in this world.But on the trembling drive to the other school, I kept praying in my heart, hoping that this short delay of a few hours would not leave Luca with eternal regret.The air conditioner was blowing hard, and the sound of the fan blades turning was clearly audible, but cold sweat oozes from my forehead.Mi Le must have noticed it, and secretly held my left hand.I also held him firmly.

I shouldn't think so, how can I have regrets?Luca's sister will definitely wake up.

May we all have no regrets today.

Students, a teacher from another school just sent me a WeChat message.I have something to inform you in advance.The coach came to the middle of the car with a loud voice, covering the sound of the wind and tires outside the car.Today is National Memorial Day.The game on this day is very special, and there is a moment of silence for the compatriots who died before the game.The students in the second year of junior high school knew how to do it. Last year, they paid a silent tribute to the victims of the air crash.This time, the foreign school made a banner and it will be displayed on the field.At that time, we must stand behind the banner with them in silence and take a group photo.

The warmth suspended on the roof has not separated the heavy history from the cold present.Looking past the window, impenetrable clouds gather low.If I hadn't mentioned the moment of silence today, I would probably have forgotten about the air crash last year.My sister once told me that everyone's concern about public events is always 3 minutes hot - no one is an exception, and she is included.After about a week, no matter how important an event is, it will gradually fade out of life's vision.Is this forgetting?I can remember it when I mention it, and I don’t think about it if I don’t mention it. It always occupies a place in the deep memory, but I can no longer "trigger" it myself, and it is no longer a part of my life.This sounds good, especially if it is something bad that is personally related to you that is being forgotten.Does this mean the wound has healed and it's time to turn to the next page?But some things seem to be impossible to forget, people must have a conscience.In other words, you can't forget even if you want to, and there is no possibility of getting out gracefully and calmly.We have always followed the past to the present, whether alone or in a group.Every inadvertent action of the past may turn into the solid ground or soft soil under our feet now.As long as we stand on the ground for a day, we are constantly feeling the past, becoming the past, and at the same time moving forward from the present.

"Brother, it's so cold, have you worn enough clothes?" Pu Yun habitually came to us to say hello while waiting in the aisle of the stadium.We have already heard the starting list reported by the MC of the foreign school. In the lineup of the foreign school, there are only a few second-year students in the lineup, and most of them are substitutes for the first year of junior high school.For them, today is a good opportunity to boost their training with a game.

I clapped my hands with him and said don't worry, I have already prepared.

"You don't need to wear so much. I'm a free frontcourt player today, so I won't let you down, and you won't have time to take off your clothes when it gets hot." He raised his face and pointed proudly at the clothes on his arm. Captain's armband.Neither Ah Hua nor Yin Rirong started, and he is the only trump card on the outside school field.

"Don't be careless, I won't be merciful at all. I'm going to beat you to tears and cry all the way home." He spoke in a low voice, standing on tiptoe, as if he was afraid that others would hear, It didn't have much momentum, it seemed like a very intimate whisper.

"Come if you can." I poked his forehead with my glove. "Heaven and earth have righteousness, mixed with manifold".The two lines of writing are still legible.

This is probably the closest time Xianxian has been to Pu Yun in the past three years.I read a sentence on the Internet, saying that every day today, the streets of Nanjing will be very crowded, because 30 people want to go home.They should pass by Jiang Yuan.If possible, can you also pass by here?You are so smart, maybe you can get in.At least Pu Yun will believe that you can see us.

If I could see you, I think I would really cry all the way home, right now, now, right now, regardless of whether the game is won or lost, or the armband that is put on my hand again.However, not necessarily.I am no longer that crying kid.I found my past, and I also found the responsibility on my shoulders.Whether you can see it or not, I will do my best to protect everything behind me.

"Fair Play Song" sounded, loud and clear like the horn of an expedition.The two teams that became rivals again lined up neatly and stepped under the sky filled with red clouds.From the dark passage through the narrow gate, the bright dimness of the sky is still a bit trance-like.Snowing.The fine snowflakes quietly fell on the hair, shoulders and outstretched hands, and we really confirmed that we were right in the dark. "The clouds are low and the mountains and rivers are dark, and the sparse forests are desolate and withered." The tiny snowflakes in the south are like the debris of stars and clouds, spreading down from the endless clouds.Almost every child has a natural affection for snow.Amidst the gloom, an uncontrollable excitement hit his chest, his heart was beating vigorously, and his whole body felt the urge to run on the vast expanse of land.Go down, go down, the bigger the better.I've never played a game in the snow. "Flying snow shoots white deer in the sky", let us wear felt hats and cloaks today, step on chaotic jade and broken jade, and penetrate the gate of our old opponent in the flying snow! [1]
After the singing stopped abruptly, students from other schools took out their banners from the bench.Black characters on a white background blend with the gradually dense snowfall. "Don't forget the history, Jinling will live forever".The starting players of the two teams stood behind the banner and gently held it with their small hands.Everyone's positions are interspersed with each other, regardless of opponents and teammates.Beside me are Mi Le and Pu Yun, but beside them are classmates who are not familiar with each other.There is no opponent at this moment, we are all people standing shoulder to shoulder on this land.The audience is invited to stand up and observe a 3-minute silence for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.Against the heavy snowflakes, I hurriedly glanced across the stands and saw Xuexue, Mingming and Xiaoqi in down jackets, and immediately lowered my head.The moment we closed our eyes, everyone was silent in the heavy snow, motionless, allowing them to slowly cover us and solidify into deep and serious trees and fences, standing on the vast land for a long time. [2]
What did I think of?Probably a poem, I have seen it occasionally.It says that the snow is falling on the land of China and the cold is blocking China.The wind is like an old woman who is too sad.He followed closely, stretched out his cold claws, and pulled at the skirt of the pedestrian.In words as old as the land, chattering non-stop... Out of the woods, driving a chariot, you Chinese peasant, wearing a fur hat, braving the snow, where are you going?Let me tell you, I am also a descendant of peasants—because of your wrinkled faces full of pain, I can so deeply know the hardships of the people living on the grasslands.And I am no happier than you,--lying on the river of time, the waves of misery, have engulfed and rolled me up several times--wandering and imprisonment, I have lost the most precious days of my youth , my life is as haggard as yours. [3] The invisible palm flits across the infinite rivers and mountains, the fingers are stained with blood and ash, the palm is stained with darkness, only the remote corner is still intact, warm, clear, firm and vigorous.On it I caress with my broken palm, like a lover's soft hair, the milk of a baby's hand.I put all my strength on the palm and stick it on it, and send love and all hopes, because only there is the sun and spring, which will drive away the darkness and bring revival, because only there we don't live like animals, and die like ants... …[4]
When the severe winter comes, is Yangchun still far away? [5]
After a moment of silence.Everyone prepare to fight.The words of the MC at the home court of other schools are still fresh in my memory.

"Brother, this is the last time the two of us have played against each other in junior high school. Today is still the old rule, just wait for the ball from the goal! Next year you have to play qualifying seriously."

While guessing, Pu Yun smiled and said this again.I didn't know how to respond, I just smiled lightly, but a spark popped up in my head.Does he want to kill us so much?Maybe.The scene of forcing a foreign school to the edge of a cliff half a year ago is still vivid. No one wants to let such a confidant worry out of the line.Even if more than half of the starters today are first-year junior high school students, it does not mean that the foreign school wants us to pass the test easily.Substitute players who lack opportunities will often try their best to prove that they are not weaker than the main players when they play, and they will never be merciful.At the end of last year's group stage, we made a starting lineup full of freshmen when we qualified for the first place, and the result was an exaggerated score of 7:2.This moment, that moment, we in the past would never have imagined that a year later it would be so life-or-death.

Must be distracted!Now that he has returned to the arena, except for winning the game by himself, forget about other things.I went to my teammates.Today's slogan is only one: one must win.We have no other choice but to win.From the third round of the group stage, this is our destined path.The cold wind is blowing, rolling up the fluttering snow, densely entrenched on the eternal greenery.Facing the snowflakes flying on me, I ran all the way to the door, raised my left hand again, and habitually tiptoed to pat the beam.Looking down, I saw the verse on the glove again.

I will not lose.So what if Pu Yun is my nemesis?It's impossible for him to score goals every time he sees me, not to mention that our Yan Xi always scores goals in foreign schools.Take a good look, let alone Pu Yun, even if you are on the opposite side, I am not afraid at all!
The whistle pierced the snow-falling sky, and the orange-white war broke out again in the snow and ice.This time we still have a four-back combination, Lao Ye and Brother Chuan are in the center, Luka is on the left, and Mi Le is on the right.The coach clearly requires the two full-backs to participate in the offense without hesitation. Therefore, Ah Hui in the midfield must take on the heavy responsibility of both offense and defense, connect the whole field in offense, and actively fill up for teammates who are pressing in defense.Yan Xi's position is slightly behind, more like coming to the midfield to support, and the one on the front line is Le Ben, who is starting for the first time.Although it is patchwork, this is already the strongest lineup we can arrange.Luca's return is no longer a help in a timely manner, it can be called a rescue from a desperate situation.Before the game, the coach discussed with me and asked me if I could play with Mi Le in midfield, after all, I had played against Beichuan for a few minutes before.I said that all actions are subject to command, and I have no problem playing as a striker.In fact, this year I also secretly bought a No. 23 white jersey, and I didn't ask my sister to pay for me.I once thought that if I win the championship this time, I will give her the goalkeeper suit (as long as she doesn't dislike it, I wash it clean every time), and this white one can be kept as a souvenir.

Maybe I promised so simply yesterday that I thought about it when I bought the jersey. Maybe one day, Mi Le and I will become partners in the midfield and even the striker in a game, and go to the team when the team needs us most. Siege cities and pull out villages and make contributions.Of course, it's just a daydream.I can't remember the last time I played in midfield, and I don't know why everyone keeps saying that I pass the ball well.Although I have been working hard, I am afraid that my physical fitness is not enough to play half of the game.When the daydream was about to become a reality, it might be more bewilderment than excitement, so I agreed in a daze.If it weren't for Luka's return, I might have already played against Pu Yun in the midfield.

And Pu Yun is telling me with practical actions that what he said before the game is by no means a bluff.Time has passed, and he has changed from a substitute among the substitutes who could not be caught in 1 minute to the starting captain, and he has also played from the left back to the core of the offensive organization of the foreign school.What he is doing now is what Xianxian once did. In the past days, Xianxian was a free man in the frontcourt. He is not lacking in any offensive line. Excessive field, forward penetration, grabbing points, long shots, omnipotent.After many long journeys and continuous falls and climbs, Pu Yun seems to have really caught up with Xianxian's footsteps.

Even if you are Xianxian, I will never give you any chance!When Pu Yun evaded Brother Chuan's interception in front of our penalty area and took a long shot, my belief became stronger.Jumping up, I used my left hand to lift the ball with a little weird arc out of the crossbar. The fast ball was still sprinting in the snow after rushing out of the court.Mi Le, who was back on defense, pulled me up from the gradually snow-covered ground. The impact of the ball penetrated from my left hand to my whole body. In the countless days and nights before, I always kicked the string of shooting so that my arm A numb but excited shot.The greater the strength and the more tricky the angle, the more I have the urge to save.

But we can't play like that.After taking the corner kick, I wanted to look for an opportunity to counterattack immediately, but the "young players" from other schools advanced and retreated very methodically. Yan Xi and Mi Le had people around them to defend, in order to prevent them from attacking in the first place. catch the ball.However, Leben's running position was not wise. He hid himself behind the players from other schools, and there was no way to pass him.I had no choice but to wait for everyone to disperse before handing the ball to Lao Ye, and slowly advancing from the backcourt. At this time, the defense of the foreign school was completely in place, almost airtight, and only snow continued on top of their heads. fall.

This is probably the true portrayal of the first half. The foreign school continued to create threats on the offensive end through Pu Yun. When defending, the will was unified and the advances and retreats were measured.It wasn't until the 20th minute that we had two missed shots, all of which were Yan Xi's kicks and kicks after relying on his personal ability, and the foreign school had tested my saving ability three times.The ground ball in the midfield couldn't reach the striker's feet at all, so a very strange scene appeared on the court: when we needed to attack the most, we could only use our big feet to raise the ball to find two short strikers. Yan Xi, who is 1.6 meters tall and has no five feet, jumped to compete with the nearly 1.8 meters guards from other schools.After he took off, he was crushed under him with almost no suspense. His head was already covered with snowflakes, and after he fell, his face was "touched up" on the snow several times. The guerrillas after a fierce battle here.However, he just shook his head and patted his face, shook off the snow and continued to search for opportunities.But our attack is still so sporadic. It is of course useless to pierce the rock-solid shield with a blunt spear.But the steel knives of other schools waited for an opportunity near our flesh and blood.They even have more magical weapons on the bench, and they are enjoying the fierce battle in the snow calmly wrapped in cotton clothes, and they are ready to wear them at any time.

And our reserve team has no one to replace.Perhaps, with the gradual consumption of physical energy in the heavy snow, we will eventually all fall in the snow without exception.The gap in lineup depth has become a flaw that we have been unable to solve from the beginning to the end of this semester.Compared with foreign schools, the absolute strength of the starting lineup is no longer dominant, and there is no ambushes who can surprise and win. Are we really fighting a battle that is doomed to failure when we are dragged into a stalemate by the reserve forces of foreign schools?Are we waiting for their main players to come out and kill the game completely?
It's too hanging.Pu Yun again.The foreign school caught Leben's mistake in stopping the ball in the frontcourt, and played a quick counterattack with lightning speed, tearing our defense line with three passes and two passes.Pu Yun and his companions completed the cooperation of hitting the wall, reached the right side of the penalty area, and shot low with his left foot.I finished the dive, but the glove only caught the wet snow on the ground.The ball passed me and went straight to the goal. It was going into the net, but it was about to hit the post.Luka kicked the ball out of the baseline before the opposing player made a supplementary shot, but he staggered and fell into the goal.

"Good boy!" The words came out for some reason.I lifted Luka up from the ground not so neatly, and rubbed his curly hair that was a little messy from the snow.Rather than letting the ball in the goal by himself, Luka's hard work after his return is very moving.We didn't talk much, and the corner kick attack from another school came again.There was chaos in the restricted area again, the sky was dark, the snow was strong and the wind was blowing. In the crowd, I punched the ball hard.In the midst of the scramble for the dark shadows, it seemed that Ah Hui got the ball and took advantage of the opportunity to block it to the right.Mi Le, who got the ball, turned into a white lightning again, turning the sidewalk of the other school into a corridor for himself to run, and killed the opposite half in an instant.The retreating players have formed a chasing and blocking trend in front and behind, and Miller's next action took me back to the moment when we represented No. [-] Middle School on the court for the first time against a foreign school a year ago.A long pass from the right foot, guided precisely, the ball became a feathered arrow in the north wind blowing across the ground, passing through thousands of troops from other schools, and landed steadily on the left side of the frontcourt.It was Yan Xi who appeared there accurately, and he stopped the ball perfectly with his left foot.In the previous four games against foreign schools, Yan Xi scored five goals, and two of them came off the bench, which took far less time than Pu Yun, who had four goals against us in four games.It was too late to say, but soon, the foreign school killer dunked the only defender, and faced the goalkeeper with his right foot in a one-on-one situation.It was also a low and flat ball, and it ran towards the neutral position on the left side of the goalkeeper who was halfway through the attack without stopping.

The ball didn't go in!Maybe it was because the weather was too cold, or Yan Xi had touched the ball too few times and didn't find the situation, or maybe he was too nervous, Yan Xi's single-handed ball was saved by the goalkeeper.This was the best chance of the first half, and arguably the only chance.Yan Xi fell to the ground in frustration, but got up after only a second.The saved ball reached the feet of the defenders from other schools, and they counterattacked against our counterattack non-stop, and our overall formation had not had time to retreat.Le Ben hurried forward to press, trying to delay the attack of other schools at the end of the first half through tactical fouls.However, the advance of the foreign school was like a gust of wind. In the vast snowy sea, although Le Ben encountered his opponent, he failed to bring him down. Instead, he fell to the ground and rolled painfully.The midfielder from another school staggered the ball to Pu Yun's feet. The latter swayed out of the angle in front of our penalty area and made another long shot close to the ground.This time, my wet fingertips touched the ball slightly, and it was this touch that slightly changed the direction of the ball. It turned and ran behind on the snow, and hit the post again.Our lives are hanging by a thread, the foreign school has already hit the frame twice, but if we are a little bit unlucky, we may fall behind by two goals and be completely killed by the foreign school.

But no time to think about it.Le Ben still couldn't stand up, and everyone rushed to the place where he fell under the wind and snow.There are still a few minutes before the end of the first half of the game, and the time to decide the final fate is getting closer, and the ice and snow sweeping the earth show no sign of stopping.

[1] Quoted from the aria of Lin Chong in the Peking Opera "Wild Boar Forest".The story of the Peking opera "Wild Boar Forest" is based on the famous Chinese classic "Water Margin". Its content is that Lin Chong, the instructor of the 80 forbidden army in Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty, was framed by Taiwei Gao Qiu and sent to Cangzhou.Gao Qiu also ordered the messenger to kill Lin Chong in the wild boar forest, not wanting to be rescued by Lin Chong's sworn brother Lu Zhishen.Later, in the mountain temple, Lin Chong killed his enemy Lu Qian, and went to Liangshanbo overnight in the snow and wind.The first person to put this story on the Peking Opera stage was Yang Xiaolou, the master of martial arts.He and Puxu (Qingyi Layman) co-edited and created the Peking Opera "Mountain Temple", which was later changed to "Wild Boar Forest".Therefore, there will be a story about the Fengxue Mountain Temple of Lin Jiaotou in this play.

[2] "Eternal Life in Jinling" is a Chinese character carved on the tombstone of American Vautrin.Minnie Vautrin (Minnie Vautrin, 1886-1941), Chinese famous Huaqun, American missionary. Born September 1886, 9 in the small town of Seacole, Illinois, USA. In 27, when he first arrived in AH China, he saw that many women could not read and write, so he determined to promote Chinese women's education and founded Hefei Sanqing Girls Middle School. In 1912, Vautrin applied to Jinling Women's University in Nanjing, China, to take charge of school affairs, prepare for the construction of a new campus, and encourage students to step out of the ivory tower, dedicate themselves to society, and serve the poor neighbors.

In mid-November 1937, the Japanese army marched towards Nanjing in three ways. On the 11th, Vautrin sent a letter to the U.S. embassy, ​​suggesting that a safety zone should be established so that those refugees who could not evacuate Nanjing would have a relatively safe shelter to escape the flames of war.Soon, the International Committee of the Nanjing Safety Zone, chaired by Rabe, the manager of the Nanjing branch of Siemens AG, was established, and then requested the recognition of the Shanghai International Red Cross Society and the Chinese Red Cross Society, and established the "Nanjing Committee of the International Red Cross Society". Lin is a member of the Red Cross.Before the Japanese army occupied Nanjing, Jinling Women's College of Arts and Science also set up a refugee shelter for women and children.

The signs of American missionary schools and the announcement of the International Safety Zone have no binding force on the Japanese invaders.During the first 10 days when the Japanese army entered the city, at least 10 to 20 groups of Japanese soldiers went to the Golden Women's Court every day to arrest people, rape women, and rob money.They not only forcibly entered the school through the gate and side door, but also climbed over the fence to enter the campus, and even climbed over the low fence of the school at night.Vautrin organized the school staff to patrol the campus, and at the same time invited foreign men serving in the "international safety zone" to take turns to watch the night.She herself worked hard day and night, either guarding the gatehouse, or being called to stop the Japanese soldiers who entered the school to rape and plunder, and took back the Chinese women from them.She couldn't eat a solid meal all day long, and she couldn't sleep a solid sleep.Many Japanese soldiers got angry and threatened her with bloody bayonets; some slapped her savagely.She endured it all, and consciously assumed the heavy responsibility of protecting more than ten thousand Chinese women and children. She said, Jinling Women's Hospital is my home, and I will never leave.

As an important witness of the Nanjing Massacre, Vautrin recorded many historical events in her diary.But excessive fatigue and long-term mental stress seriously damaged her body. After rescuing many Chinese refugees and Chinese women, she suffered from severe depression.Later, he was framed by the Japanese side and the Wang puppet government. On May 1940, 5, under the persuasion of many parties, she left Nanjing and returned to the United States for medical treatment.She wrote in her diary: "I have loved Jinling Women's University deeply for many years, and tried to help her as much as possible." She said so, and she did.But she would have to leave all that she loved so much. On May 14, 1941, the first anniversary of her departure from China, she took her own life and died in an ordinary apartment in Indiana at the age of 5.Before she died, she said: "If I can be born again, I still want to serve the Chinese people. China is my home." Her tombstone is engraved in English: Minnie Vautrin, a missionary to China.But engraved in the most eye-catching place are four Chinese characters - Jinling Yongsheng.

[3] So far this paragraph is quoted from Ai Qing's "Snow Falls on the Land of China".

[4] So far, quoted from Dai Wangshu's "I Use Broken Palms".

[5] Quoted from Shelley's Ode to the West Wind, translated by Guo Moruo.

(End of this chapter)