Chapter 340: Misfortunes Never Come Singly
In this era, whether they were soldiers or police officers, as long as their education level was slightly higher, there was no one who didn't know how to use a radio.
Furthermore, many things were like this: few people knew how to manufacture them, and few knew how to repair them, but those who knew how to use them were always the most numerous.
Thus, Sun Nian pushed aside her anxiety, squatted down, and began to tinker with the radio that had been acting up.
Obviously, given the current situation, relying on Sun Nian alone was useless.
One minute passed...
Five minutes passed...
Twenty minutes passed...
Finally, Sun Nian became completely disappointed with the malfunctioning radio.
The moment the exasperated Sun Nian stood up, she kicked the radio.
Then, the steel plate of her military boot and the outer iron casing of the radio had a very intimate encounter.
It must be said that the strength in Sun Nian's thighs and feet was genuinely formidable.
With a loud "clang," the radio was kicked into the snow, and a small dent clearly appeared where Sun Nian had struck it.
After kicking the radio, Sun Nian instantly felt that she was no longer so angry.
But just then, as Sun Nian was about to turn around to check on Che Yongping, she heard a "crackling" sound coming from the radio's receiver.
This "crackling" sound, which usually sounded very unpleasant, sounded like heavenly music to Sun Nian at this moment.
Because this sound proved that the malfunctioning radio finally had a damn signal!
Filled with joy, Sun Nian immediately hauled the radio out of the snow, put the headset on her head, and began sending a signal outward.
Just as she sent the ten words "Injured, requesting aid, southwest six from origin," the radio malfunctioned again and lost the signal.
In truth, the last part of Sun Nian's sentence was meant to be "sixty-two li southwest from origin," but the radio had cut her off.
Sun Nian looked at the radio in anger and smashed a fist down upon it. Unsurprisingly, the radio went back into the snow.
Just as a helpless Sun Nian was about to take off the headset, the "crackling" sound rang out again. Hearing this, Sun Nian was somewhat stunned.
She looked at her fist, then at the radio in the snow, and suddenly realized something.
Thus, Sun Nian hauled the radio out of the snow once more.
Putting on the headset, Sun Nian began sending the distress signal again.
This time, the content she sent was: "Approximately 62 li southwest of origin, nearly 40 li south of Xing'an Commune."
Many things in life are simply coincidental. At this moment, not far from where Sun Nian and Che Yongping were—about less than 100 meters away—there were several sled tracks that had not yet been covered by snow. These tracks had been left by Wang An and his group, specifically after they had captured Ninth Brother.
It must be said that if Che Yongping had been injured a bit earlier, or if Wang An and the others had left a bit later, Sun Nian's mission would have been successfully completed without fail. More importantly, Che Yongping could have been pulled down the mountain with them.
Unfortunately, as they say, nine times out of ten, life is disappointing; it's often a matter of a tiny margin, a mere inch.
Just as Sun Nian wanted to repeat the message, the radio lost signal again.
However, this time Sun Nian wasn't angry at all; instead, she punched it down without hesitation.
And the radio, unsurprisingly, began to "crackle" once more.
In this manner, Sun Nian intermittently sent several distress signals, punching the radio every once in a while.
Finally, after sending the signal many times, Sun Nian received a reply from her teammates.
Only then did Sun Nian breathe a deep sigh of relief.
Looking at the radio—which, despite its malfunctions, had successfully allowed her to contact her teammates—Sun Nian suddenly reached out and touched the spot where she had punched it countless times.
To ensure her teammates could find her quickly, and also to keep her teammate Che Yongping warm, Sun Nian decided to gather some firewood to start a fire.
Everyone knew that the smell of blood easily attracted wild beasts, and Che Yongping's trousers were practically soaked in blood.
Therefore, Sun Nian didn't dare wander far and could only find a way to chop some firewood nearby.
Accordingly, Sun Nian pulled a delicate small axe from her backpack.
It must be said that Sun Nian's backpack was practically a "Universe Bag"; there was truly nothing one could imagine that Sun Nian couldn't pull out of it.
Between gathering and chopping, Sun Nian quickly put together a pile of firewood.
When Sun Nian subconsciously looked back at Che Yongping, she instantly felt her scalp tingle and the hair on her body stand on end.
She discovered that not far from Che Yongping, four wolves were silently watching him on the snow.
These four wolves were approximately 60 to 70 meters away from Sun Nian.
If Che Yongping were bitten by a wolf, he would be completely finished.
The firewood in Sun Nian's arms went into a freefall. Without time to take the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle from her back, her right hand reached behind her, and a Type 54 pistol was already in her hand.
Her left hand racked the slide, and without even seeing her aim, the Type 54 roared.
"Bang!" "Bang!"... "Bang!" "Bang!" After eight shots, the magazine of the Type 54 was empty, and all four wolves were dead.
It must be said that Sun Nian's marksmanship was indeed incredibly impressive.
Using a rifle and using a pistol were two completely different concepts. Someone using a Type 56 might easily hit a 10-ring on a target at 200 meters.
But with a pistol, being able to hit a 10-ring on a target beyond 20 meters already made one a qualified marksman.
The effective range of the Type 54 was 50 meters, and it had lethal power within 500 meters.
But in reality, being able to shoot accurately within 50 meters already made one a very formidable shooter.
For someone like Sun Nian to have this level of accuracy with a pistol against living targets at 70 meters, she could actually be called a sharpshooter.
Seeing the four dead wolves, Sun Nian breathed another sigh of relief, and once again felt regret for her previous behavior of splitting into groups.
She had been too impatient and too ignorant.
In these great mountains, surviving alone was barely manageable as long as one didn't get injured or sick.
But the moment one's own body had a problem, or if one had to care for a severely injured person like this, it could practically drive a person insane.
Sun Nian checked her watch and prayed silently that her teammates would arrive quickly to help her; the main priority was to get Che Yongping down the mountain for treatment as soon as possible.
Pushing aside her anxiety, Sun Nian put away the Type 54 after reloading the magazine and gathered the firewood that had scattered on the ground.
Only after the fire was burning did Sun Nian feel a hint of warmth, and by then, the sky had grown dark.
Gradually, Sun Nian began to feel irritable again.
She hadn't found her best classmate and friend, Zhang Shuya; her teammate Che Yongping was unconscious; the snow was falling harder and harder; and it was becoming damn dark.
Yet Sun Nian was held fast in place, unable to do a damn thing.
If this were described using a couplet
The first line would be "The roof leaks just as the rain falls for nights on end."
The second line would be "The boat is delayed just as the headwind strikes."
The horizontal scroll: "Misfortunes Never Come Singly."
To find something to do so she wouldn't be so irritable, Sun Nian scanned her surroundings and saw the four wolf carcasses nearby.
Thus, Sun Nian drew the dagger from the side of her thigh and walked toward the wolf corpses with a fierce, glaring expression.
It must be said that if a person is beautiful, it has nothing to do with their facial expressions.
Even though Sun Nian had a fierce, glaring look on her face, she was still very beautiful.
(End of Chapter)