Outside the cave that was about to be abandoned, Wei Ran and the three of them stood side by side, letting Habibullah hold up a Minolta X700 camera that he found out from somewhere and take a group photo of them.

When Wei Ran's small request was met, the three of them also changed into the robes prepared for them at Mahbubu's urging, and wrapped their heads with headscarves.

Immediately afterwards, Ruslan, whose thigh was injured, rode on a donkey with the help of Hakim, while Weiran and Kirill lifted Ayana who was lying on the stretcher. And her two children,

The two little girls Soraya and Qiaoya were responsible for holding them respectively.

"If you are willing to trust me, let me hold those two babies." Ruslan said proactively.

"No need"

Habibullah said, "You take care of it..."

"I am a father too"

Ruslan said, "My daughters are not as old as the two of them."

"Then how can you bear to fly a helicopter and drop a bomb?" Hakim said sarcastically.

"I am a soldier"

Ruslan said seriously, "I have to obey orders. In addition, I am a mechanic. The main mission of our armed helicopter is rescue, and the pilot and gunner have been killed by you."

"Stop making noise"

With the help of Habibullah, Mahboub struggled to mount a donkey and said, "Let him hold Ayana's two children. Comrade Ruslan, this is our war and it has nothing to do with the children."

"I have no objection on this point. This war has nothing to do with children." Ruslan said seriously.

"But many of our children have been killed by your aerial bombs and bullets..."

"Joya, Soraya, let him hold the child."

Before Hakim could say all the sarcasm, Mahbub said, "You two are riding a donkey. Multaza, you are responsible for leading the Soviet donkey."

"We can hug you"

Soraya, who didn't understand Russian, said quickly. Qiaoya next to her even subconsciously held the baby in her arms and moved away from Ruslan.

"We have a long way to go," Mahbub said slightly tiredly.

"Joya, Soraya, let that Soviet man hold my child."

Lying on the stretcher, Ayana said feebly, "I believe that even if he is a Soviet, he will protect my child."

After a slight hesitation, the little sisters Qiaoya and Soraya looked at each other and reluctantly handed the baby they were holding to Ruslan who was riding on the donkey. The latter also took the baby from Habibullah.

A blanket came and he hugged the two children to his chest very skillfully.

Even a doting smile couldn't help but appear on his bearded face, "Don't worry, I will protect these two little guys."

"let's go"

Mahbub said, "Habibullah, you drive the sheep in front. Comrades Victor and Kirill, you walk behind the donkey. Hakim, you go to the back."

Under his arrangement, everyone set off and left the cave one after another.

Compared with Murtaza who helped lead the donkey, Ruslan who was riding the donkey seemed to have forgotten his identity and was teasing the two babies in his arms all the way.

In particular, these two little ones who were just born were particularly generous. Not only did they not cry or fuss in his arms, they would even hum and smile from time to time.

This slightly contradictory warmth also somewhat diluted the tense emotions on both sides, and even made Hakim, who was walking at the end, relax a little and finally put down the gun he had been pointing at Ruslan.

"You two don't have children, right?"

Lying on the stretcher, Ayana suddenly asked in Farsi, and added a directional title - "Soviet".

"No"

Kirill, who was walking in front carrying the stretcher, replied in Farsi without looking back, "Also, my name is Kirill and his name is Victor. You don't have to call us Soviets."

"What about you? Victor?" Ayana raised her head and glanced at Wei Ran, who was also responsible for carrying the stretcher.

"Me neither," Wei Ran replied, while adjusting the straps on his shoulders that held the stretcher.

"So are you married?"

Ayana seemed to have unlimited curiosity, but Wei Ran knew that the young mother was trying to ease the relationship through small talk, just like Ruslan and her two sons were doing.

"No"

Kirill was still the first to answer, "Victor, what about you? Are you married?"

"No"

Wei Ran answered truthfully, "But I already have a girlfriend, and we may get married at any time."

"Kirill doesn't have a girlfriend?" Ayana asked.

This time, Kirill was silent for a while before replying, "There was once, before I came to Afhan."

"Are you separated?" Ayana continued to ask.

"yes"

Kirill seemed to be aware of Ayana's thoughts, so although he was reluctant, he still answered frankly, "She is my adoptive father's daughter, four years younger than me. I separated from her to join the army.

"

"You should go back"

Ayana regained her strength and said, "You all should go back, why would you abandon the woman you like for the war?"

"My father disappeared near Kandahar in 1980. He was also a military doctor."

Kirill replied, "I want to find him, I just want to find him, it has nothing to do with the war."

"but..."

"I didn't want her to wait for me like I waited for my father, and then wait for bad news." Kirill smiled, "So I separated from her."

“Go back if possible”

Ayana looked at the desolate sky above her head, "That woman must still be waiting for you. If you can't find your father, you should at least let her wait for her beloved."

"I'm just a medic"

Kirill said without looking back, "None of this can be decided by me."

"yes"

Ayana shook her head feebly, looked at Wei Ran and asked, "What about you? Mr. Victor, no, Comrade Victor, why did you join this war?"

"I..."

Wei Ran was dumbfounded. On the premise of ensuring honesty, he didn't know how to answer this question.

"Does your girlfriend, or your fiancée, support your coming to Afhan?" Ayana asked.

"She didn't know about it"

Wei Ran shook his head, "There are always many helplessness in life, such as me joining this inexplicable war."

"baffling?"

Ayana smiled and said, "Indeed, this is indeed an inexplicable war.

Look at your companion, he likes my two sons so much that he took the initiative to carry them on the journey, but he didn't even ask us if we needed his help."

"Like the Soviet Union?"

"Just like the Soviet Union," Ayana sighed.

"Madam, you may have the potential to become an excellent reporter." Wei Ran said sincerely, "Your perspective is very unique."

"You almost guessed it right"

Hakim, who was walking behind Wei Ran, couldn't help but join in the conversation, "She had the opportunity to become a radio host, but the war changed everything. A woman who had the opportunity to become a radio host became a

Partisans who had to be carried by the Soviets."

Although the other party's words contained both gun and stick, his willingness to join in the chat was a good start. Because of this, Wei Ran did not have a verbal conflict with the other party, but asked pretending to be curious, "What about you?

Mr. Hakim, what would you be without the war?"

"If there was no war..."

Hakim recited the prerequisites for Weiran's offer, and then fell into silence. Perhaps, he had never thought about this issue.

"He might..."

Halfway through, Ayana switched to Pashto, which only Wei Ran among the "Three Soviets" could secretly understand, "Hakim, you will definitely go to Montpellier to study at university, right? Together with Vida

.”

"Probably," Hakim sighed and replied in Pashto as well.

"Then what? Stay in France?" Ayana continued to ask.

"Probably so," Hakim replied again, with some unhidden regret in his vague tone.

"Let's talk about something else." Ayana replaced Kirill and Weiran, who could nominally understand Farsi.

"Can Mr. Hakim take a picture for us?"
To be continued...