I put you in charge of those rebellious female soldiers, how come they all became top special forces

The female doctor spoke, her voice growing softer and softer.

But he still forced himself to finish saying his last words.

"Your mother disappeared the night before she was to return to her home country..."

After saying this, she loosened her grip and lowered her head.

In the machine repair shop, only the sound of rain could be heard for a moment.

An Ran remained kneeling on the spot, holding her body and clutching the cloth bag tightly in her hand.

Chen Zheng then walked over, squatted down, and reached out to close the female doctor's eyes.

"Walk."

An Ran gritted her teeth.

"But she..."

"She's beyond saving." Chen Zheng frowned, stood up, and said, "What you can do now is take away what she sent out."

An Ran held back her tears and then nodded.

The two moved to the back room, and then took advantage of the rainy night to move back to their new temporary lodging.

It was the back room of an abandoned dye house.

The roof leaked, and rotten wooden crates were piled up in the corner.

But the door can be locked and the window can be blocked, so it's enough for now.

The first thing Anran did upon entering the room was to place the cloth bag on the table.

But after placing it on, I didn't let go for a long time.

Two seconds later, she finally untied the knot.

Upon opening it, one would find half a yellowed group photo inside the cloth bag, next to an old identification tag, and underneath it a handwritten record soaked in blood.

An Ran picked up the identification tag first.

The buckle is badly worn. But the old serial number on the edge is still there.

Chen Zheng took it, glanced at it, and then spoke.

"Old file code for the snow line".

Anran went to look at the other half of the group photo again.

There were several people in the photo, and she could tell at a glance that her mother was among them.

They are so alike that it's hard to imagine how many times An Jianjun has secretly missed that woman as he watched An Ran grow up over the years.

The younger mother stood to one side, dressed in an old military uniform, her eyes and brows displaying a sharpness that Anran had never seen before.

There were two other figures nearby. One of them was blurry from behind; only half of its shoulder and its posture were visible in the photo.

An Ran was very familiar with that habit of standing very straight.

When An Jianjun was young, he always looked like this when he stood in the courtyard.

Anran's hands were starting to tremble slightly.

She didn't say anything, and unfolded the last page of handwritten notes.

The paper was already mostly soaked in blood.

The preceding content is incomplete, and many words are illegible. Only the last line is barely complete.

An Ran stared at it for a long time before reading it out word by word.

"If something happens to me, don't believe what they say."

The room fell silent immediately.

She clutched the page, her hands turning white, and her eyes were terribly red.

But she didn't cry at all.

After a long while, An Ran finally looked up at Chen Zheng and asked in a low voice.

"Tell me, who is An Jianjun really protecting?"

Chen Zheng did not answer.

He didn't know the answer to that question either.

He didn't even want to guess the answer to that question.

How many people must be involved in the reason why a man who rose to the rank of brigade commander would avoid talking about his lover's death?

……

Abandoned dye houses cannot be left for long.

In the latter half of the night, the group changed locations again.

The new place they settled in was an abandoned sawmill outside the town.

The shed was small, with blackened sawdust piled up at the entrance.

The rain outside was falling harder and harder, pounding against the tin roof with a crackling sound, making it so loud that people had to raise their voices to speak.

An old lamp was lit in the back room, and half of the group photo was spread out on the table, next to which was the handwritten record and the old identification tag.

Anran stood by the table, having been there for a long time.

She didn't speak, her hand remained pressed on that page of paper.

The last line of text on the paper lay clearly before my eyes.

If something happens to me, don't believe what's above.

Chen Zheng sat by the door, a thermos cup beside him, without saying a word.

Ah Kun wanted to say something to lighten the mood, but he swallowed the words back.

Zhou Cheng held his younger sister, even his breathing became soft.

The sound of rain, which usually brings peace of mind, is now irritating.

An Ran finally raised her hand and took out the encrypted satellite phone.

Chen Zheng glanced at An Ran.

They didn't stop them.

He also wanted to know the answer to the question.

An Ran took the phone, turned around, and walked to the eaves outside the shed.

Rain was blown in by the wind and soaked half of her shoulder.

The first time I dialed, I couldn't get through.

She dialed a second time, but the call was disconnected immediately.

It wasn't until the third attempt that the line was finally connected.

There was static on the other end first, then a deep male voice came through.

"explain."

An Ran was initially tense and had a lot in mind to say.

But when he actually heard that voice, he blurted out all the words he had been holding back.

"How exactly did my mother die?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for several seconds.

The first thing An Jianjun said was another question.

Where are you now?

An Ran's eyes immediately reddened.

"You knew there was a problem!"

"You've lied to me for twenty years, and now you still have the nerve to avoid talking about it!"

The other person's breathing became heavier.

Answer me.

Where are you now?

An Ran clenched her teeth tightly.

"What, are you afraid I'll find out something I shouldn't?"

"Are you afraid I'll expose your fabricated story that you've been making up for twenty years?"

"I'm asking you, how exactly did my mother die?"

There was another pause on the other end of the phone.

This time it took a long time.

An Ran's fingers even started to tremble.

Then, Anran heard a very low sigh from the other end.

When he spoke again, the usually rigid person unusually refrained from calling An Ran by her full name.

"Ranran."

Upon hearing those two words, An Ran almost lost her composure.

An Jianjun used to call her that often, but later, when An Ran went through her rebellious phase, she didn't like this cute nickname anymore, so An Jianjun said it less often.

As I grew older, I never heard of it again.

An Ran took a breath, but her voice became even more forceful.

"Don't call me that."

"You have no right to call me that now."

An Jianjun's tone also changed, his voice became angry, and his pace quickened.

"Stop the investigation immediately."

Stop now.

"Cut the wire and get back! That's an order!"

An Ran laughed immediately.

"Order?"

"My mother was portrayed as a trivial sacrifice; tell me to stop."

"I saw the photo, I saw the identification tag, I saw the message she left, and you still told me to stop."

"Are you protecting me, or are you protecting yourself?"

A loud slamming sound came from An Jianjun's side, as he slammed his hand on the table.

"safely."

"Can't you understand human language?"

"That line is not for you to touch."

"If you investigate any further, you won't find answers, you'll only find dead people!"

Upon hearing this, An Ran's chest heaved violently.

"Isn't my mother a dead person?"

"You've covered her up with a single, unified statement to the outside world."

"What exactly is her identity?"

"What is the snow line?"

This time, the person on the other end of the phone finally didn't avoid it.

An Jianjun finally spoke in a deep voice.

"She is not an ordinary family member of a soldier stationed on the border."

"She lives at the snow line."