The wind produced by the giant helicopter made her ponytail whirl in all directions, and her eyes wince. Tiny rocks and sand were blown into her face and made it ache painfully.
The moment she heard that man say that Tikrit never hosted the survivors of that flight, she felt drained of all energy and let go of his shirt. She blankly watched him get on the helicopter.
Afterward, she got on the bus headed towards the port with Qin Zhe. In the battle before, a few armed forces got away in the chaos. That made the government concerned they would return in rage and bomb them all using their vehicles. As such, everyone was prompted to leave as soon as possible.
…
Lu Xiangsi was sent to the hospital. Unfortunately, she wasn't rescued in time.
Jiang Ming'an saw that Lu Xiangsi wasn't amongst the second group of people that arrived at the safe spot. He then returned to fetch her but encountered the armed forces fighting with the government army on his way. If it weren't for the soldiers appointed by Xie Jingqiu to save Jiang Ming'an and his wife arriving promptly, Jiang Ming'an would have lost his life there as well.
By the time Jiang Ming'an arrived at the factory, wounded and delayed due to the journey, he heard that Lu Xiangsi had been shot and sent to the hospital. When he finally arrived there from the factory, Lu Xiangsi was barely alive.
Fu Huai'an stood at the door of the ward.
In the ward, Lu Xiangsi kissed Jiang Ming'an in tears and made vows for the afterlife. She made him promise to look after the child well.
In the late night of the 24th, Lu Xiangsi's body began to grow weak in the arms of Jiang Ming'an.
He hugged Lu Xiangsi and cried in pain like a madman. He felt like a shell that lost its soul—his earlier arrogance had crumbled and disappeared together with Lu Xiangsi.
Fu Huai'an also felt pain at her death, but not as deep as Jiang Ming'an.
At that moment, he realized the love Jiang Ming'an had for her. It was so deep that he carved her very name on his soul, and with her death, he felt his soul ripping out of his flesh, leaving together with Lu Xiangsi.
Jiang Ming'an hugged Lu Xiangsi and cried for a whole night.
In the morning of the 25th, as Iraq's sky began to light up slowly, as usual, Jiang Ming'an came out of the ward alone with a cold expression.
He came to a new deal with the soldiers who were originally supposed to protect him and his wife and bring them back home.
Jiang Ming'an's eyes looked dead inside. He said he would do all it took to take the life of the man that killed his wife.
He said to Fu Huai'an, "Brother, my wife and I will leave our child in your hands! Please take good care of him of us! You mustn't hand the child over to my mother since she sent Xiangsi over here to Iraq. She made this happen, so I'll let her lose her son and grandchild forever!"
That was the first time Jiang Ming'an called Fu Huai'an brother.
Jiang Ming'an's determination was completely different from his previous nonchalance. Fu Huai'an grabbed him by his arm tightly, and for the first time, he did so not for the purpose of beating him up.
As he looked in his eyes, he couldn't come to say anything to prevent Jiang Ming'an and eventually let him go.
Jiang Ming'an didn't even look at Tuan Tuan throughout and left with determination. Even the weak cries of the child couldn't make him turn back.
The way Jiang Ming'an called him brother made Fu Huai'an feel even heavier inside.
The army already backed out and decided to return home. Fu Huai'an had no choice but to contact the soldier appointment unit and risk exposing his identity as a previous undercover spy. Even if he put in all his wealth as a lawyer for the cause, it wasn't enough to make the soldiers risk their lives to go to Iraq and battle the ISIL forces.