IJLHTW - 31

On the other end of the phone, the man’s breathing was right by her ear. Huo Ci’s cheeks burned all the way to her earlobes. This man, she bit her red lip, thought resentfully, had her completely figured out.

But her heart was pounding, and the intensity of that beat, in this lifetime, was only for this one person.

“Huo Ci, have I ever told you?” The person on the other end spoke with a calm and composed voice. Huo Ci even imagined how he looked when he spoke: a few buttons of his shirt probably undone, revealing his muscular chest, and his Adam’s apple moving up and down as he spoke, alluring and sexy.

He said in a low voice, “You’re very good.”

Even when she lay in bed, Huo Ci’s ears were still ringing with his deep voice. She tossed and turned in bed, feeling an uncontrollable excitement, so she pulled out her contact list.

“Hello,” a voice thick with sleep answered the phone.

Huo Ci: “Mo Xingchen, stop sleeping, wake up quickly.”

When Mo Xingchen heard her voice, her sleepy daze was laced with anger: “I just lay down at eleven today. Disturbing my sweet dreams, what do you want?”

“Mo Xingchen,” Huo Ci called her name. At this, Mo Xingchen sat up. It was three in the afternoon, and she had slept less than four hours, her hair disheveled on her shoulders, looking like she was about to devour someone.

She said, “Huo Ci, you’d better have something important to say.”

Huo Ci lazily rolled over in bed and said nonchalantly, “It’s nothing much, just wanted to tell you that from now on, I’m different from you.”

“Different how?” Mo Xingchen scratched her head. Why did Huo Ci’s voice sound so unusually different?

Unlike her usual indifferent tone, it sounded a bit smug, and a bit sweet?

She held the phone in front of her. The caller ID indeed showed Huo Ci, and the voice was hers, but the tone truly was different. She and Huo Ci had known each other for so long, and she had never heard her speak in that tone.

“Well, tell me!” Mo Xingchen urged when there was no sound from the other end.

Waking someone up and then not speaking, this friendship really couldn’t continue.

Until the clear voice on the other side sounded again: “Just not a single dog like you anymore.”

Mo Xingchen: “…” So she called her all the way across the ocean just to mock her, a single dog?

No, wait, this wasn’t just to mock her; this was to flaunt her relationship!

Mo Xingchen, who had a mouthful of blood choked back, finally found her voice after a long pause. She gritted her teeth and said, “Huo Ci, you goddamn called me specifically to flaunt your relationship?”

Damn it, what kind of bad karma did she accumulate in her previous life to be woken up in the middle of her sleep just to listen to someone flaunt their love?

Mo Xingchen silently shed tears in her heart.

Coming back to her senses, she immediately asked, “Tell me, who’s the adulterer?”

Beep, beep, beep, beep, she brought the phone to her face again. The call had ended…

Mo Xingchen instantly went crazy. How could such a person exist in this world, how could such a person exist?

________________________________________

Today, Yi Zecheng had a meeting with the Malian Minister of Economy, so today’s trip to the UN camp set up on the outskirts of Bamako was for Huo Ci and the documentary team, still led by Pan Chen.

In the dining room, Huo Ci was holding a glass of cold water when she looked up and saw the person slowly walking in.

Yi Zecheng was wearing a dark blue suit today, perfectly tailored. When he raised his sleeve, the jeweled cufflinks looked luxurious and exquisite. Having been used to seeing him in casual attire these days, suddenly seeing him in such a high-end suit again, he exuded nobility.

She almost forgot, he was still a domineering CEO.

Huo Ci chuckled softly, and Yi Zecheng had already walked over.

The people from the Time Window team were surprised to see him. They were used to being casual, and seeing him in a suit and tie suddenly made them realize that this handsome man in front of them was an undeniable VIP.

“Brother Pan will be accompanying you today. MSF will fully cooperate with your filming work, but of course, you must also respect them,” Yi Zecheng looked at them and reminded.

Wei Lai immediately said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Yi, we certainly will.”

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) always welcomed such documentary filming. After all, it could promote their organization and allow more people to understand this non-governmental organization.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and clasped Huo Ci’s hand that was resting at her side.

Then, the man beside her nodded and said in a clear, cold voice, “Very good, you must also pay attention to safety.”

He held her hand and scratched her palm twice before letting go. Huo Ci’s face was calm, but she smiled inwardly, this repressed man.

The camp was located an hour away from Bamako. In fact, the most attention-grabbing UN camp in Mali was in Gao. It was the only road connecting the capital Bamako to the northern regions. Since the civil unrest, the UN had established a camp in the中间地带 between the two sides, and many peacekeepers had lost their lives there in the past two years.

They also wanted to go to Gao.

After getting out of the car, they walked to the camp, where many refugees were settled, all people who had lost their homes due to the war.

“Wait,” Tang Xu suddenly stopped, and everyone else stopped with him.

He said, “Did you hear that?”

It was music. Then, everyone almost simultaneously ran forward. After turning a corner, they saw the melodious and stirring music coming from the courtyard opposite.

“It’s the national anthem, our national anthem,” the person speaking said with a choked voice.

Opposite, the bright five-star red flag was slowly rising on the flagpole.

The morning sun shone on every face, full of vigor and passion. Each of them had a sincere heart. Everyone stood quietly at the street corner, watching that bright national flag, accompanied by the national anthem, slowly rise. Something seemed to be surging out from the bottom of their hearts, so hot, so turbulent.

When the national flag reached the top of the flagpole with the last note.

Someone, unknowingly, suddenly shouted loudly at the opposite side, “I love you, my motherland.”

“I love you too, China.”

Huo Ci looked at the five-star red flag fluttering on the flagpole opposite, her eyes slightly moist. She had traveled to so many places, but she had never felt such surging emotions in her chest as she did today.

When they heard the familiar music, all of them almost spontaneously ran here.

In this foreign land, far from their homeland, hearing the familiar national anthem brought an excitement that others could not imagine.

She had never, until this moment, felt such a sense of responsibility. Huo Ci was not a person with strong emotions; she had always been indifferent, treating this world with indifference. Her only emotional outlet was for Yi Zecheng. At this moment, looking at the flag in front of her, she seemed to suddenly understand why so many people would be willing to rush forward one after another for it.

Pan Chen, usually so composed, was also moved by this scene. He pointed to the opposite side and said, “That’s the hospital where our country’s medical aid team to Mali is located. They raise the flag here every week. We happened to catch it.”

“Brother Pan, can we go film them later?” Tang Xu couldn’t help but ask.

Pan Chen was stunned, then nodded and said, “I’ll go communicate with them. If it doesn’t interfere with their work, they probably won’t refuse.”

Although Pan Chen was a member of Doctors Without Borders, MSF had always had a good relationship with the Chinese medical aid teams in Africa.

Because they got permission from the Chinese medical team, their filming time was delayed for a long time. By the time they returned to the hotel, the sunset glow filled the entire sky, and the dry heat in the air soaked them all. Although they were very tired, everyone was in good spirits. No one complained, and they were all discussing the day’s situation.

“What are they doing over there?” Tang Xu suddenly pointed outside the car and asked.

Everyone looked out from the car. The local guide, who was driving, glanced out and said, as if it was commonplace, “They’re performing an exorcism ritual again.”

Everyone was stunned. The local guide sighed, “The people here are very ignorant. They insist that good children are demon children. If they don’t perform an exorcism, the family will suffer disaster. This kind of exorcism ritual is very common.”

Everyone immediately felt a knot in their stomach.

No one spoke anymore.

“Why don’t we go down and take a look? This is also a subject,” someone suggested.

The local guide advised them not to, but no one was willing to leave just yet. This was a foreign country, and the people here had no relation to them, but facing such a situation, no one could stand by and do nothing.

Especially when the one being treated this way was a child.

Just as they were still discussing whether to go and see, the car door was already opened.

“Hey, Huo Ci!” Pan Chen shouted anxiously, but the person who got out of the car had already walked away without looking back.

Seeing his goddess get out, Tang Xu, fearing she might be in danger, quickly followed her. The Time Window team members got out of the car one after another, some even carrying cameras. The local guide was truly anxious. He said to Pan Chen, “Brother Pan, this is a local matter; it’s not good for us to interfere.”

“Don’t say anything for now, let’s follow them and see,” Pan Chen quickly said.

When Huo Ci saw the black child on the ground, covered in cuts and bruises, her whole body trembled. The child was no longer moving, just lying there motionless, surrounded by many people, none of whom stepped forward.

They watched the child on the ground with indifferent expressions.

“Stop!” Huo Ci shouted coldly in English at the pastor who was performing the ritual.

She stepped forward but was blocked by a thin black man. He waved his hands, trying to stop her. Tang Xu rushed over, thinking the man was going to attack her, and immediately charged forward. With the language barrier, a conflict was about to erupt.

It was the local guide who arrived and said a few words to the man. After the man stopped, the guide then said to Huo Ci, “Miss Huo, this is the child’s father. He says the child is possessed by an evil spirit and has brought disaster to their home. He is asking the pastor to perform an exorcism for him.”

“That’s a load of fucking nonsense!” Huo Ci said coldly to the other side.

She looked at the black father’s indifferent expression, and not far away, there was a black woman softly weeping. She angrily pointed at them and said, “If you can’t treat this child well, why did you give birth to him in the first place? It’s all just fucking excuses; they don’t deserve to be parents at all.”

The local guide looked at her with difficulty; obviously, the other party also sensed the foreign woman’s anger, but they all looked confused.

“Translate it! Translate it directly to them!” Huo Ci looked angrily at the ignorant crowd.

The local guide looked embarrassed and sought help from Pan Chen.

Until a few more cars stopped behind them. The door of the middle car opened after it stopped, and a man in a dark blue suit slowly stepped out of the car.

He pushed through the crowd and walked to Huo Ci, who was in a fit of rage.

When Huo Ci turned and saw Yi Zecheng, she opened her mouth, but his eyes were looking forward.

Pan Chen saw him arrive and quickly said, “Zecheng, you should persuade Huo Ci. We’d better not…”

But before he could finish, Yi Zecheng had already taken a step forward. None of the ragged black people dared to step forward and block this Chinese man.

He walked to the child lying on the ground. He took off his suit jacket, a high-end suit worth tens of thousands of dollars, and wrapped it around the child.

He slowly picked up the child from the ground. Although from beginning to end, there wasn’t much emotion on his face.

Everyone present, however, felt his resolve and tenderness.

Huo Ci watched Yi Zecheng walk step by step, all the way to her.

He said, “Let’s go, we’ll take him to the hospital.”

Just as he had sworn on the first day he joined Doctors Without Borders: “I come here to provide aid to people in distress, setting aside race, religion, belief, and political stance.”

He never for a moment forgot his vow.