Yang Xujiao [Photo by Lai Qiaoquan]

Yang Xujiao, first year as sergeant. An oval scald scar is visible on the back of her left hand.

In order to make the training more realistic, kerosene was applied on some of the obstacles used for training to simulate the combat environment. In a competition held between the male and the female soldiers, when Yang Xujiao was crawling to pass through the wiring entanglements, a piece of kerosene burned down and stuck just on the back of her hand.

"Did it hurt at that time?"

"No. I was concentrating on the competition."

"When did you realize the scald?"

"I realized it when the competition finished. At first I thought it was a piece of mud that was stuck on my hand, but it did not come off when I tried to wipe it off. The doctor said that was almost a second-degree burn."

In the corridor, there was a picture hanging on the wall, from which the smiling face of a female soldier was indistinctly visible. I took a photo of Yang Xujiao by taking that as background.

I was told later that the female soldier smiling on that picture was the younger Yang Xujiao when she first joined the Special Warfare Brigade as a private, first class.