Now, when I think about the night where the blue light flashed 20 years ago, I still feel vaguely horrified and sad... July 28 was the fourth day after we got married. We had planned to use the remaining days of our wedding leave to go to Beidaihe and Qinhuangdao to have some fun. We had already bought two train tickets and placed them on the bedside table. This suggestion was made by me, just the day before disaster struck.
I said to him: I have lived in Tangshan for 25 years and have never stepped out of Tangshan City. I want to go to Beidaihe. Is that okay? He gently stroked my head and said with a smile: Why not? As long as we can make money from now on, I will go out with you once a year and let you travel all over the country. I smiled with satisfaction and said: This year there are two of us, and from now on there will be three of us. After listening to my words, his eyes shone with hope. He gently took my arm and walked around the room a few times.
After dinner, we prepared our bags together and fell asleep sweetly. I don't know when I fell asleep, but I had a dream. In the dream, we were wearing bright swimsuits, running hand in hand towards the blue sea, rising and falling in the cool water, and going with the waves. Suddenly, a big wave came towards us, accompanied by an earth-shattering roar... When I struggled to open my eyes, the surroundings were pitch black, as if the entire sky had collapsed. At this time I heard a painful groan, it was his, right next to my ear. Fear shot through me all at once. I heard his distorted voice. I... was... pressed.... I almost cried, not knowing whether to ask him or myself: What's going on? Has the house collapsed? Could it be an earthquake? I was right, it was an earthquake, a catastrophic earthquake. I wanted to get up and figure out what was going on, but as soon as I raised my head, I hit the hard concrete floor hard and almost fainted. I had no choice but to keep my hands on him. Where the cement board met his body, I felt a sticky liquid mixed with gravel particles. Blood! The thick warm blood leached from his body. I cried, almost howled. I asked nervously: Does it hurt? He said it didn't hurt. Then he firmly grasped my trembling hand with his other non-crushed hand, and asked with concern: Is there something... pressing on you...? I moved my body and told him no. He said then don't cry. I am a man who stands upright and will fight against heaven and earth. Now is the time when heaven and earth test me. I will definitely defeat them! I pressed close to him and my nose was sore: It's been so long, and you still need to tell jokes. We lay face up on the bed and pushed the concrete slab with our three arms, trying to push it away. However, it failed. The cement board seemed to be welded there, motionless, and only a few grains of dust fell down. He encouraged me not to be afraid, as someone would come to save us after a while. I told him: As long as I am by your side, I am not afraid of anything. The watch under the pillow clicked in the small space. I touched the other side with my hand, hoping to find a glimmer of light and a glimmer of hope. Cement board, cement board; bricks... I was almost desperate, and the pillar of life collapsed like a house in an instant. I really don't want to die. We have only been married for less than 4 days. We haven't finished our honeymoon yet. I haven't given birth yet, and women haven't finished their work yet. There is still a long way to go. Yes, there are Beidaihe, Qinhuangdao, and the two tickets, which are on the bedside table. The ticket gave me new motivation and courage, so I continued to explore. Nightstand - Ticket - I actually touched a piece of cardboard, it was really a ticket! I held the ticket in my hand with great joy and shook his shoulders excitedly: I found the ticket! He was also very happy: two tickets? My heart sank, one picture, but what about the other one? The other ticket was tightly suppressed by the cement board, and only a very small corner was exposed. I tried to pull it out several times, but failed.I was speechless and cried silently. He seemed to know everything: It doesn't matter, we can... buy another one... One end of the heavy cement board was pressed against him, and the other end was pressed against the ticket on the bedside table. The two supports left a space for me to survive. At some point, the "click" sound of the watch stopped. We don't know how much time has passed, and we don't know how the outside world has changed. Except for a ticket and him, I have nothing, and even a little hope of survival is gradually diluted and melted. His stomach was growling incessantly, his lips were like cracked earth, his limbs were limp and weak, and his eyes were shining with dizzy stars.
It seemed that he had realized that my faith was crumbling little by little, and he began to tell me stories about the outside world; the seaside of Beidaihe was refreshing and pleasant, the sea was blue, and the people were happy; the beautiful Xishuangbanna was home to many ethnic minorities, and the annual Water Splashing Festival was extremely lively; orange trees grew everywhere in Orange Island, Autumn oranges are full of water and sweet as honey... Every scene he told made me have many reveries, as if the sea was right in front of me, the water from the Water Splashing Festival was splashed on my body, and the oranges were moisturizing on my lips... An invisible force surged in my body, and a halo of life spread in front of my eyes, getting bigger and brighter. He used the afterglow of his life to light a candle of hope for me. This candle has been shining for me to walk out of the gate of hell and return to the bright world. In the early morning of July 31st (I learned this later), the cement board above our heads was lifted, and a ray of sunlight instantly fell on my face. I seemed to wake up from a dream, and unexpectedly shouted: We are alive! When I hurriedly clung to his side, the scene I saw suddenly made me stupid: the right half of his body was completely smashed into flesh, and bright red blood solidified in the pile of rubble. He only glanced at me, a slight smile line appeared at the corner of his mouth, and then closed his eyes.
With the most tenacious spirit, the most tenacious perseverance and the deepest love, he accompanied and inspired me through the most difficult and darkest three days and nights, and then he passed away peacefully. Not long after my body recovered, I also left Tangshan, the city that fascinated me. The only thing I took with me was a ticket. 20 years have passed. In these 20 years, I have not been to Beidaihe, Qinhuangdao, or even left the city where I live now. I will never go anywhere again without his company. I am a materialist and know that there is no way for people to have an afterlife, but I always think about it: How great it would be if there really was an afterlife. We would become dependents again and travel hand in hand to the ends of the earth. I still need to keep that ticket intact. I believe that one day, it will take me to jump on the rumbling train and drive to him.
