Under the moonlight

Chapter 154 The Special Jar

The ground beneath my feet was scorched black, the marks left after the bodies were burned.

After the mercenaries sealed them off, perhaps out of fear of infection, they neglected everything in the shantytown. As a result, they did not allow the transportation of people who had died from the plague out of the area, because the mercenaries would not help them dispose of the bodies of those who died from the plague.

With no other option, they had to clear out a space at the back of the shack area. According to their country's custom, the bodies of the deceased should be buried and a cross erected for posterity to remember them. However, to prevent the spread of the plague, they had no choice but to burn the bodies directly on the ground. Their relatives were not even allowed to take their ashes with them. These ashes were collected by Wala and several other men and placed in earthenware jars they had collected. Finally, they wrote their names on the top of the jars.

One of these earthenware jars belonged to Vara's youngest daughter. She fell ill after being placed under the control of mercenaries in the shantytown. At that time, the government could no longer be relied upon, food was limited, and she already had asthma. In just two days, the doll-like child with blue eyes and blonde hair closed her eyes in Vara's arms, as if she were asleep.

Vala personally collected her ashes, not in a rough, cold earthenware jar, but in her favorite puppy-shaped ceramic jar, which was decorated with various pretty stickers she had previously put on ceramics. Vala wrote her name, Miri, in the blank space.

As Nasha approached, he immediately spotted the exquisite and adorable ceramic jar. He glanced back at Vara, staring intently at the jar that belonged to his little Miri. Finally, his lips twitched weakly, as if he were greeting his youngest daughter, but he couldn't manage a smile and turned his head away.

Nasha remained silent, quietly taking pictures of each jar with her camera. The writing on the jars was already blurry. Nasha knew that their relatives often came back to visit, and touching the small earthenware jars was like touching the faces of their loved ones.

It took more than a dozen photos to photograph all the small jars. Nasha looked at Vara, who nodded to him, and the two walked back.

The camera eventually returned to Yuri's hands. He carefully put it away and looked out of the tent. The sun was already setting, and the afterglow of the sunset painted the sky crimson. "Such a lovely sky, such a lovely city, how can people bear to let it degenerate into hell?"

Xu Ao and Jiang Ying from the embassy didn't have time to look at the color of the sky. The photos that Lao Zhang faxed back indeed attracted widespread attention in China.

From early morning, they kept receiving faxes from various sources, including inquiries from the media and questions from superiors.

"Boss, how do I reply to this? This is a media outlet that has a lot of influence in China, and they're asking us about the number of casualties. How am I supposed to know that? How do I reply?" Chen Che held a stack of faxes in his hand, looking troubled.

"Ignore it. This is outside our scope of work. Our main task is to spread the word about this country's affairs to attract widespread attention. Once this matter gains momentum, those behind the mercenaries will back down." Xu Ao said while flipping through the documents at hand.

After thinking for a while, Chen Che understood. The mercenaries were not their enemies; they were just people who risked their lives for money. The real masterminds were those who wanted to annex the country. Once the people realized that they were the ones who turned the city into a living hell, it would be much less likely that they would be able to secretly and secretly take over the country.

After figuring it out, he knew how to deal with the endless stream of faxes. He filtered out the less important ones and handed the rest over to Xu Ao and Jiang Ying, who would then discuss which faxes to reply to.

And so, they were busy with this matter for almost the entire day. Huang Meng, Zhao Meng, and Li Shuo helped by carrying documents and serving tea and water. Zhao Meng was relatively free, while Huang Meng sat quietly next to Xu Ao. Chen Che was basically running errands, except for Li Shuo.

He spent the entire day hovering around Jiang Ying, and the more he tried to help, the more he was scolded. Either he brought the wrong documents, or the water he brought was too hot. Everyone at the embassy knew that Jiang Ying was serious and ruthless when she was working. Li Shuo had truly experienced what it meant to be a woman at work—don't mess with her. However, he didn't show the slightest displeasure or impatience, and continued doing what he was doing with a cheerful smile. Chen Che muttered behind his back, "He must be a masochist!"

"What do you know? A man should be more magnanimous and not argue with a woman." This was what Li Shuo said earnestly to Chen Che on their way to the cafeteria to get food for them, after he had been scolded by Jiang Ying for who knows how many times.