Just as the car was about to head towards Suzhou, the man behind them suddenly spoke up: "To the airport."
Tang Mian's face immediately lit up with joy, and he quickly said, "Old Xu, to the airport, hurry to the airport."
Huo Shenyan stood in the VIP lounge of the airport, looking out the window.
Just then, an airplane flashed across the sky, the azure sky shrouded in white clouds, leaving only a very faint trail of white mist behind.
Huo Shenyan suddenly closed his eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, both the airplane and the white fog had completely disappeared.
His star is about to travel to a distant place.
That day she asked herself how she would live without Huo Shenyan.
But she never asked him.
How will Huo Shenyan survive without Ni Jingxi?
But it's alright.
Because he will wait for the day when his stars return and shine brightly again.
Chapter 53
Jerusalem in the early morning has a holy tranquility.
The clear blue sky was not only vast and boundless, but also shone brightly. The highway outside the city stretched straight and long, extending to the horizon.
Old Bai held the camera in his hand, feeling a little anxious.
Just after 3 a.m. last night, an Israeli army entered the Gaza Strip to launch a military operation, which resulted in Palestinian armed groups fighting back fiercely, killing two Israeli soldiers and seriously wounding an Israeli officer.
Israeli military aircraft dropped bombs on the ground while covering the safe withdrawal of its ground troops.
While Palestinian casualties are still unclear, the conflict between the two sides has escalated significantly.
Upon receiving the news early in the morning, Lao Bai immediately notified his colleagues, who were Xinhua News Agency reporters stationed in Israel. Given the magnitude of the event, they should have been dispatched last night.
Just then, a black SUV drove up from a distance.
The SUV looks quite worn out; even though it's a used car, it's probably been through several hands. But having such a beat-up little vehicle is incredibly convenient for going out to do interviews.
Old Bai finally saw the person and happily stood on tiptoe to wave.
But when the SUV got close, it didn't slow down; instead, it drove straight towards him. Although Lao Bai knew the other vehicle wouldn't hit him, he still jumped back in fright.
With a piercing yet prolonged screech of brakes.
The car suddenly stopped in front of him.
Looking further back, two long, black tire tracks were clearly visible on the light gray road.
The car window was open.
Old Bai looked up and saw the girl sitting in the driver's seat.
She was wearing a khaki plaid shirt, her long black hair was casually tied back, and upon closer inspection, a black fountain pen was clipped to her hair. Her exposed neck was long and graceful, and her skin was excessively white.
When she turned her head slightly, the huge sunglasses she was wearing almost covered most of her small, palm-sized face.
She tossed her head slightly, indicating, "Get in the car."
Old Bai quickly ran to the driver's seat, hurriedly opened the car door and got in. He turned to look at the person in the driver's seat and said, "Xiao Song won't be back until tomorrow, so it's just the two of us today."
Ni Jingxi turned to look at him, a slight smile playing on her lips: "Scared?"
Old Bai isn't actually that old, just over thirty, but he's too timid and cowardly, completely lacking the drive of a young person. However, Ni Jingxi can understand him quite well; Old Bai is already married, and although he doesn't have children yet, it's said that if he can go back this time, he'll want to have one.
He's different from me; he has things to consider, so being cautious is the right thing to do.
Seeing that he had fastened his seatbelt, Ni Jingxi smiled, stepped on the gas, and the car shot off straight like an arrow.
"Jingxi, we don't need to rush." Old Bai couldn't take it anymore and grabbed the handle on the ceiling, but he was still trembling all over.
Before Ni Jingxi arrived, all the reporters stationed in Israel were men. When they heard that a woman was coming, they felt a little uncomfortable. But Lao Bai was quite happy, after all, women are timid and cautious and wouldn't rush in recklessly.
When she arrived, everyone saw that she was not only a girl, but also a strikingly beautiful one.
Not only were the young men at their newspaper excited, but even reporters from other organizations stationed in Israel soon found out that Xinhua News Agency had a newcomer who was not only young but also exceptionally beautiful.
We all came to this unfamiliar country far from our homeland and loved ones. When there were no reports of war, life was inevitably not very fun, so we would get together to make dumplings and have a meal.
As a result, after Ni Jingxi arrived, everyone was very eager to have a meal together.
However, to her surprise, a colleague recognized her.
A colleague whispered to Lao Bai, "Where did their boss get such a big Buddha statue for them?"
Old Bai had been stationed in Israel for over a year and wasn't very familiar with domestic news, so he asked curiously, "What's going on?"
It wasn't until that colleague found Hengya Group's statement that Lao Bai realized Ni Jingxi had actually gotten married, and that her husband was such a famous person.
Hengya Group is extremely well-known throughout the Middle East because its employees are known for their dedication and hard work; they are responsible for maintaining communication base stations in many places.
Even in a foreign country like Israel, you can sometimes see Hengya Group's advertisements on the street.
The Crown Princess of such a world-class business tycoon actually came to be a war correspondent, not only eating sand and running around every day like them, but also going to the front line and often facing gunfire.
At that time, no one in the group said anything, and everyone thought she was just there to gain experience. After all, the title of war correspondent sounds impressive, but only they themselves truly know the hardships and bitterness inside.
When they first found out, no one dared to actually take Ni Jingxi to the front lines, fearing that something might really happen and no one could be responsible for that.
So she was assigned tasks such as reporting on refugee camps or reporting on activities and programs in UN peacekeeping camps during holidays.
After several attempts, Ni Jingxi herself became unwilling and demanded to be on the front lines.
Since its founding, Israel has never ceased to be embroiled in wars around its borders. The five Middle East wars and the repeated bloodshed have sown the seeds of hatred in the hearts of generations of people in the Middle East.
Peace is too difficult to achieve, and war is everywhere.
Today, Israel is not only in constant conflict with Palestine, but also with Syria over the Golan Heights. Countless wars and conflicts have drawn generations of journalists to this country mired in war.
The team couldn't dissuade Ni Jingxi, so they let her go on a trip to cover a conflict that occurred on the banks of the Jordan River. Little did they know that she would be deep in the battlefield and capture firsthand footage of the Israeli army fighting against the Palestinian people.
From then on, whenever a conflict arose, Ni Jingxi was always the one who rushed to the front.
Their dedication put even these grown men to shame.
Moreover, she was not afraid of hardship or fatigue. Once, when they went to film a Palestinian demonstration on the Israeli border, their food and water were stolen in the chaos. However, Ni Jingxi endured eight hours without eating or drinking, filmed all the footage, and immediately wrote a news report to send back to China.
Old Bai is now quite afraid to be with her. He originally thought that having a girl around would make him more cautious, but it turns out that this girl is more fearless than all of them.
At this moment, Ni Jingxi did not turn her head when she heard Lao Bai's words; her eyes behind the black lenses were fixed straight ahead.
"I'm very anxious."
The conflict has lasted for several hours. If both sides cease fire now, the conflict may be temporarily suspended. However, if neither side backs down, the conflict will escalate.
Regardless, they should get to the vicinity of Gaza as soon as possible.
"Sigh, you know, the people have only had a few days of peace," Old Bai sighed, but there was nothing he could do. The Middle East issue was too complicated, so complicated that it gave one the feeling that this place would not be peaceful unless the earth exploded.
Ni Jingxi smiled; this wasn't the first time she'd seen Lao Bai so compassionate.
Although Ni Jingxi had visited Israel before, her impression of Israel was that it was romantic and passionate. Standing in the luxurious hotel in Haifa where Huo Shenyan had once stayed, she saw a vast and beautiful blue sea. As she walked on the stone-paved streets of Jerusalem, she turned around and saw bougainvillea blooming in full glory at the entrance of an alley.
Even though she had experienced bombings, she met the person she loved and decided to spend her life with him amidst the war.
She thought this was Israel.
It wasn't until this return to Israel that she realized everything she had seen before was just the surface: the standoff on the banks of the Jordan River, the frequent gunfire in the Gaza Strip, and the struggle for the Golan Heights.
Every conflict inevitably involves bloodshed.
In their lens, it was just a person who died after the conflict, but that person was someone else's son, husband, or even father in another place.
Ni Jingxi smiled calmly: "It is precisely because of these wars that we need to convey all of this to people all over the world."
She once thought she was the most miserable person in the world. At only twenty-five, she had already experienced the early death of her mother and the disappearance of her father, and had no one left to accompany her. Even the person she loved most was abandoned by her own hands. Her love and family ties crumbled overnight.
So she came to Israel without any reservations, whether to continue searching for her father or to become a qualified journalist.
But when she arrived here, she had visited the Zatari refugee camp in Jordan and seen how the people there struggled to survive. The enormous trauma that war had inflicted on them had made their lives unstable, their homes gone, and all they could see when they looked up was yellow sand and dust, and the scorching sun overhead.
Compared to the suffering we see in textbooks and on television, this is truly hell on earth.
Ni Jingxi's confusion and pain seemed so insignificant compared to such immense suffering. At least she hadn't experienced that kind of hunger and torment.
“That’s why we’ve come to appreciate our lives more after we get here,” Ni Jingxi said casually, thinking that Lao Bai was worried about danger again.
But as soon as she finished speaking, Old Bai suddenly turned to look at her, "Cherish...cherish your own life?"
He was so frightened that his tongue was tied when he spoke, and the girl actually said that she understood how to cherish her life more after getting to this point.
Old Bai thought about it countless times: even though she didn't need to go forward, she still rushed up first with her camera. He always felt that Ni Jingxi was just joking with him.
That's dark humor, isn't it?
Ni Jingxi slowed down slightly and turned to look at Lao Bai: "What, am I wrong?"
Yes, yes, that's absolutely right.
Old Bai nodded.
But the next second, clutching his camera, he looked like he was about to cry and said, "Then can we take real action to cherish our lives?"
He knew that getting the news firsthand was indeed crucial, and the photos of the war on the front lines were extremely valuable.
But they really should consider valuing their own lives.
Ni Jingxi nodded, then raised her chin slightly to indicate, "That's why I brought the bulletproof vest and helmet. Remember to take them when you get off the bus."
Old Bai suddenly turned his head back and sure enough, there were two bulletproof vests and a helmet on the back seat.
He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
Ni Jingxi always drove fast and steadily. When they arrived at a kibbutz less than a kilometer from Gaza, an extremely small rural area, they found that many military vehicles and reporters had already gathered there.
Ni Jingxi saw reporters from several news agencies she was familiar with. They were all based in Jerusalem and she would often run into them while reporting.
As soon as she got out of the car, a tall, handsome man next to her waved and said, "Hi, Ni."
This is Kevin, a Reuters reporter, greeting him. Although Kevin works for Reuters, he is an American. He had met Ni Jingxi at a UN-organized open day for peacekeeping troops in the Golan Heights and had always harbored feelings for her.