"Roots must be rooted in the soil of peace. So should you."
Field doctor Shen tide went to the Pamir Plateau with an unknown answer - her brother Shen Ze has been missing for five years. She naively believed that as long as she was in the flames of war, she would one day step on the same land.
She met a silent patrolman. His name is Lu Chen and he has no roots. Growing up in a border compound, her adoptive father died from a stray bullet. The only possessions she had were a torn-out "Illustrated Book of Border Plants" and a bullet button with her initials engraved on it. He taught her to listen to the wind, draw Elaeagnus trees in the starry sky, and said, "I'll make you fried noodles after the ceasefire."
Later she returned to China. He is "dead".
Three years later, she received a tin box containing all his belongings - photos that were torn and glued together, diaries, and a polished silver ring. It took her three years before she dared to open it, and another three months before she discovered he was still alive. Worked as a security guard at her hospital, made anonymous lunches, and retreated outside to sit against the wall all night when she had a PTSD attack.
On the day of their reunion, he told her: "I'm afraid that if I show up, you will die again."
The closer he got to her, the more it hurt. His very existence is her wound. So he chose the third way - standing in front of her for the last time: "This time I will take the lead."
He fell against the same old scar that had shielded her from shrapnel three years ago. The person who sewed that scar sewed his last stitch with his own hands.
She returned to the border with his ashes and planted an anguine tree next to the north-facing grave. The following spring, the tree came alive.
Heroes are remembered. The survivors were forgotten.
But she remembered what he said: Elaeagnus trees will never die. The leaves have fallen off, but they will grow again next year.
The wind blows from below the snow line of the Pamir Plateau and passes through the leaves of the Elaeagnus trees - making a gentle sigh-like sound.
She heard it.
That's him.
Purpose: The trauma left by war, the two-way redemption of broken people, and a tribute to the border guardians