Campus Alliance-Never Fall North Star

The wind from the border was wrapped with snow particles, blowing on Chu Ziqian's military coat, making a rustling sound.

He had just tied the last prayer flag on the Mani pile, and the six-character mantra printed on the navy blue cloth fluttered in the wind and snow.

Jiang Yuning stood three steps away, holding a military kettle in her hand. Steam came out of the mouth of the kettle and condensed into small ice crystals on her eyelashes.

"You tie it so tightly?" She came over and brushed the snow off his shoulders. "The wind can't even blow it away. How can you take your wish with you?"

Chu Ziqian lowered his head and looked at the knot of the prayer flag - it was the cross knot that Ren Qifeng taught him, and said, "This way, no matter how strong the wind is, it won't be blown away."

"You have to believe in something." His voice was wrapped in the wind, a little floating, "Qi Feng said that the more you think about it, the more it will take root."

Jiang Yuning didn't say anything else, just handed him the kettle.

Inside was the ginger tea she had brewed. It was so spicy that it numbed his tongue, but warm enough to burn from his throat to his heart. She remembered that when the little soldier fell off the cliff yesterday, Chu Ziqian had tied the safety rope in the same way. The knot had made his knuckles turn white, but he managed to pull the man out of the crack in the snow.

"Weren't you afraid then?" she asked, touching the chilblains on the back of his hands with her fingertips - thick calluses from years of holding guns.

Chu Ziqian drank a sip of ginger tea and looked at the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

The snow on the top of the peak glowed coldly in the twilight, just like the scars on everyone’s body, pale, but hiding an unbreakable tenacity.

"There's no point in being afraid," he said. "There's a border behind us. We can't even take a step back."

Jiang Yuning suddenly smiled, took out a tube of frostbite cream from the medicine box, and squeezed some on the back of his hand: "My brother always said this before. The boundary marker he guarded was even more remote than this."

She rubbed the ointment with her fingertips very gently, as if she was treating fragile porcelain. "Before he died, he sent back a photo with a message on the back saying, 'Sister, look at this snowy mountain. Does it look like the loquat tree at home?'"

Chu Ziqian's heart skipped a beat.

He remembered what Ren Qifeng wrote in the letter, that they should plant a few loquat trees on the small garden in the backyard.

"When spring comes," he suddenly said, "let's plant a loquat tree in the camp."

Jiang Yuning looked up, met the snowy light in his eyes, and suddenly understood - some thoughts don't need to be said out loud, just plant them in the soil, and when the spring breeze blows, they will naturally sprout.

On the lawn outside the Polaris Coffee Shop, Ren Qifeng was spreading a picnic mat for Shen Jiaqi.

Lu Xuan and Xiang Haichen were skipping stones on the river bank. The sound of the stones skimming across the water startled the sparrows in the reeds.

Song Hui ran with the kite in his hand, the spool of thread spinning rapidly in his hand. Shen Jingxing followed behind him and shouted "slow down". Lu Xingmian's silver hair mixed in the wind, like a running cloud.

Ren Jiaqing was drawing something on his notebook again.

Lu Ang looked like a little adult, with his arms folded, observing and paying attention to his younger brothers and sisters.

"Are you tired?" Ren Qifeng held Shen Jiaqi in his arms, her head resting on his chest, her breathing a little heavy. She had been feeling sleepy lately, Lan Yi always told her to rest more, but she couldn't stay idle.

Shen Jiaqi shook her head. She suddenly spoke in a voice as soft as a sigh, "Is there more snow over there in Ziqian than there are catkins here?"

Ren Qifeng lowered his head and saw that the light in her eyes was a little scattered.

Yesterday she sorted through Cheng Huan and Song Chen's belongings again and looked through the photo albums.

"When he comes back," Ren Qifeng kissed the top of her head, "we'll pick loquats together and let him taste whether they are sweet or not. He's definitely never tasted anything this sweet."

Shen Jiaqi smiled and reached out to grab the loquat leaves above his head. Just as his fingertips touched the edge of the leaf, there was a sudden "hiss" sound.

Ren Qifeng quickly grabbed her hand, and the cold sweat on his palm wet his fingers - her fingertips were trembling and her face was as white as paper.

"What's wrong?" His voice was tense and he hugged her tighter.

"It's okay," Shen Jiaqi panted but managed a smile, "I just feel a little dizzy, you know, it's an old problem." She looked up and saw Lu Yan and the others walking over here, and quickly pushed Ren Qifeng, "Don't tell them, so they don't worry."

Lu Yan saw Ren Qifeng holding Shen Jiaqi from a distance and paused.

Xiang Haichen touched his arm, the worry in his eyes was like an undispersible fog.

"Why don't we go back first?" Xiang Haichen said softly, "Xingmian said she wants to eat the pumpkin porridge you made."

Shen Jiaqi raised her head from Ren Qifeng's arms and waved her hands: "It's okay! I can sit for a while!" She struggled to stand up, but was held down by Ren Qifeng.

"Be obedient." His voice was soft, but it was filled with unquestionable determination. "Let's go home."

On the way back, Shen Jiaqi walked very slowly.

The setting sun stretched her shadow very long, and it was cast on Ren Qifeng's shadow, like two birds embracing each other.

Lu Xingmian held the corner of her clothes, and his silver hair rubbed against the back of her hand: "Mom, are you cold? Let me warm your hands."

Shen Jiaqi lowered his head and saw himself in the child's eyes - pale, but smiling.

She recalled September 9, when darkness and dawn came around, and the 2 members of the Polaris team crossed the finish line!

"It's not cold," she squeezed Xiaobai's hand, "Mom is just a little tired."

When she reached the alley, she suddenly stopped and looked back towards the river.

Lu Yan and Xiang Haichen were leading the children towards this side. The string of the kite that Song Hui was holding broke, and the colorful kite floated in the sky like a bird that couldn't find its home.

"Qi Feng," she suddenly said, "Do you still remember the oath you took when you joined the team?"

Ren Qifeng's heart sank suddenly.

Her voice was soft, but every word was clear, like a drum beating on his heart: "From today on, even if we hide our identities and appear in any capacity wherever the motherland needs us..."

He reached out to hug her, but found that her body was so soft that it seemed as if she had no bones.

"Qi Qi!" His voice was trembling. His fingertips touched her neck and his pulse was as weak as a candle in the wind.

Shen Jiaqi leaned in his arms, his eyes half open, looking at the North Star in the sky.

"Look," she smiled, with a little blood oozing from the corner of her mouth, "that star is the brightest... Doesn't it look like our team logo?"

Her hand was still clutching the corner of his shirt, on which the hyacinth embroidered was stained dark purple by the blood.

"I signed my body to Lan Yi," she said, her breath getting weaker and weaker, "Don't be sad... I'm just watching over you in a different way..."

Ren Qifeng knelt on the ground holding her, whimpering like a trapped beast.

He remembered the year when both she and he were shot, how she dragged herself across the finish line, and how she said, "I'll never let you go!"; he remembered how she was in the kitchen yesterday, cooking him his favorite carrot soup.

When Lu Yan and Xiang Haichen rushed over, they saw Ren Qifeng holding Shen Jiaqi as if he was holding a rare treasure.

The children were so scared that they started crying. Lu Xingmian's silver hair brushed against Shen Jiaqi's hand, and she called "Mom" softly.

Shen Jiaqi's eyes were completely closed, but the corners of his mouth were still raised.

When the last breath dissipated, the wind chimes at the entrance of the alley suddenly rang, as if someone was saying "goodbye".

A month later, Chu Ziqian received a package.

Inside was a photo album, with a photo on the last page - Shen Jiaqi standing under a loquat tree, smiling so hard that his eyes curved into crescents, with a line of small words written next to it: "Watch the snow on the border for me, and wait for the loquats to bear fruit for me."

Jiang Yuning looked at him stroking the photo and suddenly said, "The loquat trees in the camp have been planted. The instructor said they will bloom next year."

Chu Ziqian looked up and saw the prayer flags fluttering in the wind and snow.

He seemed to hear countless voices coming from the wind - Shen Jiaqi's laughter, Ren Qifeng's whispers, and the crisp sounds of children calling "Mom".

“Yes,” he said to the snowy mountains, his voice wrapped in the wind and carried far away, “it will all bear fruit.”

The loquat tree at the Polaris Bookstore was full of fruits that year.

Ren Qifeng picked the largest one and placed it in front of Shen Jiaqi's tombstone.

There is no name on the monument, only a hyacinth and a line of small words: "Life is short, but starlight is eternal - Captain of the North Star"

Every time Lu Yan and Xiang Hai brought the children to see her, Lu Xingmian would cry her heart out.

Song Hui would always put a star-shaped candy in front of the monument.

Xiang Haichen said: "Qiqi likes sweet things the most, this way she can also taste the taste of sugar over there."

Ren Qifeng sat under the tree, touching the marks on the trunk - he and Shen Jiaqi had carved them together last year. The two intertwined names had now been worn smooth by time.

He remembered what she said, "Life is everything when anything is put together," and suddenly laughed.

The wind blows through the loquat leaves, making a rustling sound, as if someone is saying "I'm here".

In the distance, children are flying kites. The colorful kites fly very high, like dancing stars, falling on the sky where the North Star is twinkling. They will never get lost again.