Man-Hater's Past (1)

When Zhong Lichun was ten years old, she was born in a country in the Middle East. Both her parents were from the Shudi region. When they were young, they went to that country to make a living. After all, that country was a major oil producer at the time, one of the few extremely wealthy countries in the world.

Zhong Lichun's parents opened a Chinese restaurant in Baghdad. Because of their excellent cooking skills, the restaurant's profits were very good. Although they were in a foreign land, the family was doing quite well.

However, this happy life was completely shattered by the war that broke out over a decade ago. The allied forces of Western powers unilaterally declared war on that country, and the entire nation was plunged into the shadow of war. As Chinese people making a living abroad, they didn't care who was right or wrong in this war. What they cared about most was their own safety, and whether they could return home alive became their biggest concern.

After spending a large sum of money and using all their connections, Zhong Lichun's father finally found a way to cross the border into a neighboring country and then fly back home.

With a way out, Zhong Lichun's family packed their belongings and prepared to flee Baghdad overnight. Everything went relatively smoothly. The contact person took them to the evacuation point, and then they, along with others who had paid to escape, were put on a bus. The bus's destination was the border between the two countries.

Unfortunately, fate is cruel. Not long after the bus started, it was hijacked by a group of armed militants. These terrorists belonged to Al-Qaeda. As anti-government forces, they were inhumane.

After being hijacked by these people, the bus was driven to a semi-abandoned village. Then, everyone was held in batches in several dilapidated houses. At that time, Zhong Lichun was still young and could only hide behind her parents, fearfully watching these bad guys holding guns with ferocious expressions. She didn't know what her future would be like, nor did she know what awaited her.

For the next three days, they were kept locked up. They didn't know what was happening outside. They only received one supply of water and food each day, and the quantity was extremely small. Zhong Lichun's parents gave most of the food and water to their daughter. Under the dual torment of fear and hunger, Zhong Lichun's father's asthma relapsed, and his condition worsened day by day.

On the fourth day after being captured, Zhong Lichun and her parents were taken out of the house where they were held and brought to a room with a camera. A person wearing a hood made Zhong Lichun's family speak into the camera, state their identities and nationalities, and beg their country to pay a ransom for them.

With guns pointed at their heads, Zhong Lichun's family had no choice but to comply. After the recording, the family of three was locked back into the dilapidated room. Obviously, the captors were waiting for a response.

The day after the video was recorded, Zhong Lichun's father's asthma attacked again, and it was very severe. Seeing her father's purplish face, ten-year-old Zhong Lichun pounded on the tightly shut door, begging the people who had captured them to save her father.

After knocking for a long time, the door was finally pushed open, and two burly men with guns walked in impatiently. Zhong Lichun and her mother desperately pleaded with the two men to return their luggage, as it contained the medicine for asthma. Unfortunately, the two men completely ignored their pleas. One of them walked up to Zhong Lichun's father, looked at him, and even kicked him a couple of times. Then, the two men exchanged a few low words and left without paying any further attention to Zhong Lichun's family, closing the door behind them.

Watching the two men leave indifferently, Zhong Lichun and her mother were filled with despair. All they could do was watch their father curl up in the corner in pain, his breathing becoming increasingly difficult.

In Zhong Lichun's memory, that night was truly difficult to endure, so difficult that she didn't want to recall it. As dawn approached, the door was opened again, and two more people entered. Then, without a word, they dragged Zhong Lichun's father out. Zhong Lichun's mother pleaded desperately, even hugging one of the men's legs, but in the end, all she got was a blow to the head with a rifle butt.

That was the last time Zhong Lichun saw her father. She was still young then and didn't realize what was happening. Her mother told her that her father was being taken for treatment and that they would see each other again soon. Zhong Lichun only remembered her mother's face being full of tears as she comforted her.

Two days later, they were taken out of the room and driven onto a truck. The number of people on the truck was already about half of what it was initially, and they were almost all women and children.

The truck traveled for a very, very long time. Zhong Lichun couldn't remember how many days it had been, but after several days and nights, the vehicle finally stopped. This time, they had arrived at another village.

As before, she and her mother were locked up again. However, unlike before, her mother was not locked up with her. Zhong Lichun was held with the other children.

A day or two later, all the girls were taken out of the room and gathered in a dimly lit house. There, Zhong Lichun experienced the most painful event of her life. At that time, she didn't know what she was going through, and it wasn't until many years later that she clearly understood that she had undergone female genital mutilation. For a girl, the mental and physical torment was indescribable.

Two months later, the children were taken out again. This time, not only the girls but also the boys were taken out. The boys were gathered together and began to receive rudimentary military training. Specialists taught them how to shoot, how to use various weapons, and how to kill.

As for the girls, they were required to do laundry, cook, oil and maintain firearms, and serve those ferocious-looking men like slaves.

It was precisely because Zhong Lichun started working that she finally saw her mother, whom she hadn't seen in over three months. However, compared to three months prior, her mother had become incredibly gaunt and sallow. Her mother's eyes were vacant. Although her eyes flickered when she saw Zhong Lichun, she dared not make contact with her, not even daring to look her directly in the eye.

Zhong Lichun ran desperately towards her mother, calling out "Mom!" but before she could reach her, she was stopped and then beaten. If her mother hadn't knelt on the ground and pleaded continuously, Zhong Lichun might have been beaten to death that time.

Covered in wounds, Zhong Lichun lay on the ground, sobbing continuously, while her mother was dragged away by her hair into a room. She didn't know what her mother had gone through, because after her mother was dragged away, she was ordered to go back to work.

After that, Zhong Lichun would see her mother from time to time. But each time, her mother would helplessly shake her head, telling her not to come closer to avoid unnecessary abuse. Young Zhong Lichun could only watch her emaciated mother from afar. For her, being able to see her mother from afar like this was already a great happiness.