On April 13, 2006, Qian Dan was making coffee in the pantry.

The office pantry only has bottles of instant coffee, and the office girls in Cairo always put the instant coffee powder into the cup, add a little boiling water, and then stir it vigorously and quickly with a spoon until the house is full of fragrance, and then add enough water.

Qian Dan had just learned from Lao Han's secretary Matiha, and he was walking alone in the pantry, stirring the cup to "crackle", and smelling the aroma of coffee slowly overflowing the room with satisfaction.

Lao Han's figure flashed past outside the pantry, and immediately retreated: "It's you stirring here, I thought it was Matiha, do you have 'QQ' on your computer?" ”

Qian Dan said nervously: "No, Mr. Han, my computer is very clean now, all the software that is not the company's standard configuration, all the things that may be in violation of information security have been deleted, really, I don't even have my own photos." ”

Lao Han said anxiously: "You hurry up and pretend to be a 'QQ' and come to my office." ”

Qian Dan was stunned: "Mr. Han, what are you doing pretending to be 'QQ'?" Can you install it? Does it count as an information security breach? The punishment for my last incident hasn't come out yet. ”

"Why are you getting grinding? I'll let you pretend to be you, your last incident was criticized, fined 2,000, and the next is not an example, the punishment has been set, and an announcement will be made soon. Hurry up and install a 'QQ' and come to my office. ”

"Really? No need to take a salary cut of 500? That's great! ”

"Would you really like to take a five hundred pay cut?"

Old Han hurried back to his office.

Qian Dan didn't know why Lao Han had such a strange order? He hurriedly returned to his seat, reinstalled the "QQ", and went to Lao Han's office with the computer in his hand.

Lao Han grimaced, motioned for him to close the door, and said very seriously: "You connect the projection." ”

There is a small round table in the office, and there is always a projection on the table, which is convenient for Lao Han to discuss business with everyone on weekdays.

Qian Dan was confused while answering the projection, and Lao Han spoke: "There was a sudden war in Chad, the rebels attacked the city, I just called Lao Xie, he said that 'MSN' can't be used, 'QQ' is okay for the time being, they are hanging on 'QQ', and they can't get through just a few words on the phone." You have Lao Xie 'QQ', right? Hurry up and contact him. ”

"Lao Xie in Chad?"

"He's been there for a while, there's a project to bid on, and he's going to support it."

While speaking, Qian Dan had already projected his computer screen on the wall, and Lao Xie's avatar was indeed lit up in "QQ". Qian Dan hurriedly asked, "How is it?" I'm with Mr. Han. ”

"I was woken up early in the morning by the sound of artillery, and now the gunfire is very dense in the distance, and it may be coming soon."

Lao Han said: "You ask him, how many of us are on the scene?" You're typing too slowly, I'll do it. ”

Qian Dan was unconvinced, thinking that I am still slow? Are you playing "Five Strokes"? After asking this question, he gave the computer to Lao Han.

Lao Xie replied: "We have a total of eighteen engineers here with the subcontractor's engineers. ”

Lao Han really played "five strokes", and his ten fingers flew like flying: "The company has contacted the French Embassy in Chad and the Algerian Embassy in Chad through the channels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Algerian Embassy in Chad has agreed to provide you with shelter in case of emergency, and our colleagues in Cameroon and the Chinese Embassy in Cameroon have also set off to the border between Cameroon and Chad to prepare to meet you." ”

Qian Dan reminded: "And what about the Chinese embassy in Chad? ”

Lao Han glanced at him: "You don't pay too much attention to the business in Northwest Africa, and Chad has no diplomatic relations with China." ”

Lao Xie's words were projected on the wall: "I got down, we decided to withdraw to the Cameroonian border, and now we are leaving." ”

Lao Xie's avatar on "QQ" suddenly turned gray.

Coming out of Lao Han's office, Qian Dan returned to his seat and took a sip of the coffee that had not yet had time to drink, which was already cold, and still felt restless.

He grabbed the work card on the table, went downstairs to the "Black Heart Supermarket" to buy a box of "Marlboro", returned to the office, and took the elevator directly to the top floor.

He stood on the rooftop, lit a cigarette, looked at the plane slowly passing in the distant sky, remembered Lao Xie's honest smile, and thought: "Chad is really not this guy's blessed land!" He said he had been held at gunpoint in Chad a few years ago? Why did you run to Chad again and encounter a shortage of soldiers? ”

Turn back the clock by one day.

Chad is in central Africa, it is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Niger to the west, and Nigeria and Cameroon to the southwest. It is a former French colony that became independent in 1960.

The company's office is located in a small building in the capital city of N'Djamena, where the office and dormitory are integrated, and work and life are mixed together.

On the afternoon of April 12, everyone returned to the office from the client's side one after another, and the two newly recruited young local employees unplugged their charged mobile phones, packed up their computers and went home.

N'Djamena has frequent power outages, and Weizhong's office has its own petrol generator to generate electricity, and local employees often bring their entire family's mobile phones to charge them.

Xiaoqiang, who joined the company after graduating from university, has been here for a year. He returned to the office excitedly: "I haven't eaten lizards for a long time, let's eat lizard hot pot!" ”

Lao Xie asked suspiciously: "You really have ideas, aren't lizards poisonous?" Can you eat it? ”

As if the stone was thrown into the water, the room suddenly became lively, and someone shouted: "Old Xie, our Chinese New Year's Eve dinner this year is lizard hot pot!" ”

"Really?"

"Who lied to you, the brothers wanted to have a good meal for the New Year, and they happened to see a big lizard on the way back, so they caught it."

Xiao Qiang said proudly: "Brothers, the lizard has been caught, and Lao Yang is already doing it." ”

Lao Xie became interested and stood up: "Damn! Look at it, if I am poisoned by you today, I will also know who I died. ”

Halfway through his words, his mobile phone rang, Lao Xie casually pressed the phone, and the person on the other end spoke quickly: "Xiao Xie, I'm Mary, do you know that there is a war?" The rebels are coming tomorrow! ”

Mary is an eldest sister from Taiwan, who has owned a restaurant in Chad for many years, and a group of people from "Wei Zhong" will go to her shop from time to time to eat. Lao Xie met her when he first came to Chad in 2002.

Lao Xie said: "It's curfew again, right?" They say that N'Djamena has been under regular curfews in recent months, and that it would be fine to toss for two days, so there is no need to be afraid. ”

Mary's tone was more serious than ever: "This time it's different, it's not a riot, it's the rebels attacking the city and fighting." You have to be ready, you have to run for your life, don't let people come in, burn, kill and loot, no one will take care of it. ”

Lao Xie hung up the phone and said to everyone suspiciously: "Mary said that the rebels are going to enter the city, let us flee for our lives." Didn't you hear from our two local employees? ”

Xiaoqiang suddenly became nervous: "Who knows?" Yesterday the government army said that it had won a great victory in suppressing bandits, but tomorrow it may become a change in strategy. The network is not good, what news can those two children who have no electricity at home know? But I didn't hear from the customer? ”

Lao Xie's mobile phone rang again, and when he looked at the number, it was the customer "CTO". The relationship between the client "CTO" and Lao Xie originated from Lao Xie's first business trip to Chacha a few years ago, and he has always trusted Lao Xie as an industry expert with strong technical skills, high professional quality, and a love for Africa and its people, and can help him succeed.

Lao Xie held up his mobile phone, his face became more and more solemn, the "CTO" said that the three-way rebels had assembled outside the city, and it was estimated that they would enter the city early the next morning, and they had made preparations for emergency evacuation, and suggested that Weizhong Company should also evacuate immediately.

Lao Xie hung up the phone and told everyone about the situation, and the room was silent for a minute.

Xiaoqiang didn't know whether he was excited or scared, his voice trembled a little: "The poor mountains and bad waters come out of the people, it will be very scary to mess up, I was pressed to the ground and robbed on the first day I arrived in Chad last year, and now I am afraid when I think about it." ”

Lao Xie walked to the whiteboard in the office, picked up a pen, and said, "I'm here to call the company for help and ask what to do." You brainstorm first, and everyone mentions them one by one, what should we do? Xiaoqiang, you can remember it. ”

Everyone is gossiping.

After Lao Xie finished the call, he took the pen in Xiaoqiang's hand, looked at the whiteboard that was full of writing, erased some of it, added two more, and finally left on the whiteboard was:

Everyone stays in the dormitory and does not go out, acting in unison;

Collect all food, water, and gasoline and manage them in a unified manner;

There are a total of 26 mobile phones, all but five of which are turned off, saving power and money;

There are two mobile phone cards from neighboring Cameroon, which are loaded into the mobile phone for backup;

The two are responsible for continuing to liaise with headquarters, regional departments and subsidiaries in neighboring countries, and seek help from Chinese embassies in neighboring countries.

Clean up the company's assets, contracts and other important documents, and lock up the bulky items that cannot be taken away, and hide the ones that should be hidden;

Close all the curtains after dark, turn off all the lights, arrange for people to take turns on duty, and everyone else goes to bed as early as possible.

Three sets of evacuation options: 1. Rush to the airport and evacuate through the air line; 2. Breaking into the French army garrison to seek refuge; 3. By land, leave Chad by the nearest route and cross the border into neighboring Cameroon.

Lao Xie asked: "Let's see if there are any additions?" ”

Xiaoqiang said: "Can you still eat the lizard hot pot?" ”

The cook Lao Yang suddenly came out: "Eat, it's good to run away when you're full." ”

No one can sleep.

The next morning, the rebels began to storm the city.

Called the airport, and finally someone answered the phone and said that the airport was closed. Leaving by air line is no longer an impossible task.

Two rebels entered the city, street fighting broke out, and street looting began.

The gunfire is getting closer and denser.

Mobile communications have finally been cut off across Chad, but the Internet has not been completely cut off.

"MSN" is no longer available, but "QQ" can still be used.

Eighteen people had already hidden what they were supposed to hide, and loaded the things they were going to take with them into the car.

Lao Xie sat in the office, barely contacting the outside world with "QQ". Xiaoqiang walked over, stretched out his hand, and handed over a black box: "The 'MP4' you gave me will return to Zhao." ”

Lao Xie took the "MP4", and then sighed: "A short-lived electronic product, my evidence of bribery, keep it as a souvenir." ”

He casually put the "MP4" in his backpack.

At half past twelve o'clock in the afternoon, four vehicles of "Weizhong" rushed onto the road, and they determined to cross the border by land and go to Cameroon.

N'Djamena wasn't big, but they were out of town in twenty minutes. The rebels were slaughtering from the Sudanese border in the east all the way to the west, and they were withdrawing to the Cameroonian border in the southwest, moving away from the battlefield and the sound of gunfire.

There was a simple mosque on the side of the road, the size of a farmhouse, the minaret was no more than two people high, and the yellow façade blended in with the desert. Outside the wall, two young men waved at them, "Wow Wow", with luggage at their feet.

The first three cars were already roaring past, and the car behind the palace fell two hundred meters away, and there were five people crowded in the car, Lao Xie was driving, and Xiao Qiang was in the passenger seat.

Lao Xie said to himself: "Hitchhiker, brother, we can't help." ”

Xiao Qiang screamed in horror.

As soon as Lao Xie glanced at it, he saw another person coming out of the mosque, carrying an "AK47" in his hand. He was excited, subconsciously kicked the accelerator, and the car jolted, rushing through the mosque.

There were two "bang, bang" sounds from behind, Lao Xie didn't dare to look at the rearview mirror, held the steering wheel tightly and continued to rush forward, only to feel that sweat seeped from the palm of his hand to the steering wheel, and the seat belt was soaked from the front chest.

Xiaoqiang reached out to his back and touched it up and down, shouting, "Where did you hit?" Where did they hit? ”

The three brothers in the back seat followed and touched their bodies: "It's okay, it's okay, I didn't hit." ”

After that, the journey went smoothly.

They were received at the border by colleagues from "Weizhong" in Cameroon and from the Chinese Embassy in Cameroon. Under the coordination of the embassy, the Cameroonian military agreed to arrange for them to rest at a nearby military camp.

At ten o'clock in the evening, eighteen people were escorted to the barracks where they had taken refuge. There were no rooms left for them in the crowded barracks, and they had to spend the night on the ground in the middle of the courtyard.

The temperature difference between day and night in Cameroon is very large, and Lao Xie went to the car to find a piece of clothing.

His backpack was tucked behind the headrest of the back seat of the car, and he took it off, stunned, the rear window glass was covered with dust, and there was a bullet hole in it, through which the cold moonlight shone straight in.

He flipped through the backpack, there was a hole in it, he opened the backpack and subconsciously pulled out the "MP4", the screen was broken, and a warhead was embedded in it.

Lao Xie took the "MP4" and withdrew from the car, and was about to shout, but saw that everyone was sleeping soundly on the cold sand. Someone woke up from the freeze and rolled over and hugged the brother next to him.

Lao Xie walked to the back of the car again, opened the trunk, and his red cotton guitar was safe and sound.

A few days later, Qian Dan received a call from Xiaoqiang saying that the rebels had been repulsed, and Lao Xie asked him to return to Chad to carry out the planned upgrade of the phone number.

Qian Dan was a little unhappy: "Is the situation stable?" As for being in such a hurry? Don't go back. ”

In less than ten minutes, Lao Xie's call came.

Qian Dan still insisted: "Are you sure the situation is stable?" What if something happens? For such a small fart customer, as for it? ”

The phone signal is not very good, and Lao Xie said word by word: "Brother, the little fart customer is also a customer, and people don't owe you money." What's more, we also have the social responsibility to maintain uninterrupted telecommunication services, right? ”

"Don't tell me big things, you're going to be a chief in Chad? Also uphold social responsibility? You say that if the rebels come back, do you have a contingency plan? ”

"Of course there is, I will go back first, and arrange Xiaoqiang and them before they go in. We have already coordinated with the French garrison, and in the event of another emergency, the French have promised to reserve seats for us on the military planes where they are evacuating. ”

Lao Xie paused, and then said: "Lao Dan, the customer's network is about to expand in the second phase, and now is the critical juncture of the bidding, if we win the expansion contract, it will be one step closer to closing the market. ”

Qian Dan felt that he was not good enough to oppose it anymore, and said: "Okay, if you want to say, 'Brothers, give it to me', I will be unhappy, and if you say, 'Brothers, follow me', I can't say anything, you take care of yourself." With so many of you in Chad now, you don't have to chase chickens to pass the time like you did back then, do you? ”

"What age? It's been a long time since we don't chase chickens, we now play lizards, and eat in hot pot after getting tired of playing. ”

Qian Dan was rigorous in his studies, hung up the phone and thought about it, and checked the Internet to find that Chad was indeed rich in lizards.

He opened two more webpages to take a look, and couldn't help but call back to Lao Xie: "Warn you, didn't you tell me about social responsibility?" Eat lizards leisurely, you may be caught by the Chadian police. This place is you, it's safer for you to continue chasing chickens, don't come out with any moths. ”