Brutal

Gao Fei had just arrived at the frontline and easily borrowed a mobile phone. This was what it was—human relations, emotional intelligence. Eat someone's food, and your tongue goes soft; take someone's gift, and your hand goes soft. Sokholov was eating Gao Fei's bread, drinking Gao Fei's water, and had an extra pack of cigarettes Gao Fei had given him in his pocket. These were all hard currency on the battlefield. Now Gao Fei just wanted to borrow the phone to make a call—how could Sokholov bring himself to say no? Sokholov took out a mobile phone, entered the password, glanced at it, and handed the phone to Gao Fei. "There's a signal. You're lucky." Gao Fei's hands were trembling as he took the phone. The signal only had two bars, but there was a mobile signal, because this place wasn't far from Bakhmut's urban area, and now that the battle had reached this point, Russia had still not actively cut off Bakhmut's communications with the outside world. The battery was indeed very low; the battery indicator was red. Then the time displayed on the phone was 6:50 AM. Accounting for the time difference, back home it was about 1 PM. The time was right. He added the international dialing code, then Gao Fei dialed his father's mobile number. He didn't know if the call would go through, so when he dialed, Gao Fei was incredibly nervous. But soon, after a beep sounded in the phone, the call was quickly connected. "Hello..." Hearing the familiar voice, Gao Fei didn't have time to be excited. He said urgently, "Dad, it's me!" "Feifei? Why are you only calling now? Are you alright? Did everything go smoothly..." "Dad, listen to me. I found Hou Yanguo, but this bastard sold me to human traffickers. They wanted to kill me and sell my organs!" Gao Fei's father exploded at this, saying urgently, "Damn it, how are you now? Did you escape?" "I escaped. I'm fine now." Gao Fei was impatient, and so was his father. Both spoke at a rapid-fire pace. "Did you call the police? Go to the embassy!" "I killed Hou Yanguo. I killed two people and escaped. The police are in cahoots with them. The police were chasing me, so I ran into Wagner's recruitment office. Now I'm already a Wagner mercenary. It can't be explained in a sentence or two. This phone is borrowed and about to die, and the signal is bad, so I can't keep talking. Anyway, I'm fine now." Gao Fei spoke very quickly. What he needed was to explain his situation clearly, not to be sentimental. And once his father knew his situation, he had no nonsense either, directly saying: "Killed someone? Can you still come back?" "My documents are in the hands of the human traffickers Hou Yanguo found. My situation is very complicated now. But Wagner has powerful connections here. The police haven't continued looking for me, and Wagner's recruiter said I won't have a criminal record. I figure the traffickers and police might be working together to hush this up, so my case might not go to the police. If that's the case, I should be able to go home when my contract here is up." "Mercenaries—that means fighting wars!" "Yes, I'm already on the frontline, in Bakhmut. Dad, don't tell Mom. Just say I found Hou Yanguo and I'm here keeping tabs on him to collect a debt." "I know, fighting! Damn it! Fighting... If anything happens to you, I'll kill Hou Yanguo's whole family!" "He divorced his wife long ago." "That's a fake divorce anyway. If you're fine, fine. But if anything happens to you, I'll definitely kill his whole family to avenge you!" Gao Fei took after his father in temperament. He had an explosive temper, and his father's was even worse. Their creed was simple: clear grievances, and revenge for every wrong. "Enough. I make a thousand euros a month fighting here. I'll transfer it back to you then, plus there are bonuses. If things go fast, I can make twenty or thirty thousand a month, no problem." "That's better than working, but nothing beats you being alive. You have to be careful, but remember: the more you fear death, the quicker you die. You need to be bold and careful, observe more. Don't try to be a hero, but also don't be a coward. Cowards die fast, you..." "Enough, enough. Listen to me. Don't tell anyone I'm a mercenary. If you do, I can't ever come back. Just say I'm working here to make money." "I know, I definitely won't say. This must be kept secret." "The signal here is bad and you can't charge. Not being able to reach me is normal. Later I'll figure out how to get a phone. Don't worry. I've studied military affairs for so many years. I won't die that easily." "I know. You won't die. If you die, I'll kill Hou Yanguo's whole family to avenge you." "Don't say that anymore. If Mom asks... forget it, make something up." "You can't keep it hidden, Feifei..." Gao Fei's father's tone dropped. He said helplessly, "Once I pay off my debts enough to afford a plane ticket, I'll go to Russia to save you." Gao Fei said angrily, "Can you let me have some peace of mind? Do you want me to never contact you again? I've killed Hou Yanguo too. Why can't you let me earn some money in peace here? What's the point of saying useless things that waste my mobile phone battery?" "Sigh..." Gao Fei's father sighed deeply over the phone, while Sokholov said softly beside him, "Just say the important stuff. Don't run the battery dead..." "Six months. I'll be back in six months at most. If I get a chance, I'll call you. Dad, take care of Mom. I can't say more. The phone's about to die. You and Mom take care." "Be careful! Be careful!" Gao Fei hung up, let out a long sigh, and returned the phone to Sokholov. The call lasted less than three minutes. It wasn't very long, but Gao Fei had explained everything he needed to. Gao Fei didn't want his family to worry, but worry was definitely better than not knowing anything and just guessing wildly. The families of missing persons suffered more than the families of killed soldiers. Absolutely. Knowing Gao Fei had died on the Russo-Ukrainian battlefield, his parents would certainly grieve, but not knowing where Gao Fei was or what his situation was, searching for his whereabouts in fear every day—this really wasn't as good as letting them know Gao Fei was dead. But this had a problem. Given Gao Fei's understanding of his father, if he really died, his father would really avenge him. But as long as Gao Fei didn't die, his father wouldn't need to avenge him, and definitely wouldn't go cause trouble at Hou Yanguo's place, or even admit being duped by Hou Yanguo. Because once things blew up, it would be bad for Gao Fei. So after making this call, even if Gao Fei died, he could die understanding. If he hadn't made this call, hadn't said these things to his father, then Gao Fei and his parents wouldn't have a single day of peace in the days to come. Now it was fine. Everything that needed to be said had been said. Even if he died, he wouldn't die with a lifetime of secrets. "Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey. I won't die. I absolutely won't die." He couldn't entertain such unlucky thoughts. Gao Fei spat three times, to dispel the bad thoughts and the misfortune they brought. Now that the call was over and his thoughts were clear, Gao Fei looked at Sokholov and said sincerely, "Thank you." "You're welcome." Sokholov looked at the phone, thought for a moment, turned it off, and only then put it back in his pocket. Then, looking embarrassed, he said, "I could have let you talk longer, but this phone uses a Ukrainian SIM card. Once the credit's used up, there's no way to pay for more. Uh, sorry..." Sokholov was a decent man. He still felt bad about rushing Gao Fei. "It's enough, it's enough. Thank you." "It's dangerous outside. Get into the dugout." Gao Fei immediately moved back into his dugout. He was feeling refreshed now, and since there was nothing to do while hiding anyway, he could finally properly study the gun in his hands. There wasn't much to say about a common AK-74, but Gao Fei was touching a gun for the first time. So he removed the magazine to look at it, then put the magazine back, raised the gun, and aimed. This was Gao Fei's first time properly shouldering a gun and aiming. Before, to maintain the illusion that he was a veteran, he had to act like he wasn't that interested in guns. Now he could properly handle it. The trench was just too narrow to aim. His eyes simply couldn't focus. Gao Fei hesitated. He wanted to leave the dugout, stand up, and aim properly outside the trench. Even firing a couple of shots should be fine. But he felt this kind of behavior was too risky. Smart people shouldn't do such things. But as a military enthusiast who had never touched a gun, getting a gun but only being able to touch it—what was the difference from a beautiful woman sitting on your lap but you could only look? It was just agonizing. Agonizing. Fortunately, reason finally overcame impure thoughts. Gao Fei decided to just poke out a little, raise the gun, aim at the sky, and call it a day. And then Gao Fei really did just that. The dugout had no view of the sky. To see the sky, he had to stick half his body out. When Gao Fei really did stick half his body out, raised his gun, and aimed blindly at the sky, Sokholov suddenly said, "What are you doing?" Gao Fei was stunned, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer. "Are you a veteran?" Sokholov frowned, looking suspicious. "You're not a veteran, are you? How did you get mixed in with the veterans?" "Ah, no... I am a veteran." Sokholov shook his head. He pointed to his own eyes. "Don't lie to me. You're too excited. I've seen too many people firing a gun for the first time. I know what state someone is in when they touch a gun for the first time. You've never fired a gun before, right?" Gao Fei was stunned. "No, I was just... observing the sky to see if there are any drones." "You don't need to raise a gun and aim just to observe. Do you know what I used to do? I was a safety officer at a shooting range. I've received many Chinese people. I know exactly what a veteran who often uses guns is like." Sokholov's eyes were truly sharp. "I'm just curious because I've never used an AK rifle. I was familiarizing myself with a new weapon while observing the sky. It's an unfamiliar new weapon to me." Sokholov said disdainfully, "Enough. I'm not the recruiter. Even if you're not a veteran, I wouldn't send you back. Having one more person is always a good thing here. What are you afraid of! I just want you to tell the truth!" Gao Fei was a bit embarrassed. He was still looking for an excuse, but just then, he really saw a drone. "Uh, Squad Leader, there really is a drone above us..." Gao Fei lowered his gun, shrank back a little, and pointed upward inside the dugout. "There really is a drone." "That's not possible. Our position is a low-value target. They wouldn't use a drone to attack us. It would be meaningless, unless it's an artillery reconnaissance drone." As Sokholov spoke, he poked his head out to look. He looked carefully for a while, until he visually spotted the drone. Then, looking stunned, he said: "Suka blyat, artillery reconnaissance drone! Fuck! Prepare for artillery!"