If you take stock of the world's most dangerous professions, "mercenaries" must be on the list, which is a real, life-for-money business.
And those who are engaged in this "profession", except for a few people who are accustomed to licking blood on the tip of the knife, most of them are for one word - money.
Photo of Bai Xiaobao as a mercenary
This seems to be a profession that is extremely far away from our daily lives, but in fact, there are really ordinary people who become mercenaries for money.
Bai Xiaobao is one of them.
This young man from the countryside of Shaanxi Province, in order to improve his life, spent three years in war-torn Iraq.
"Living is a luxury, and I dare not ask for anything else." This is an interview, Bai Xiaobao said to the reporter, a heartfelt sigh.
In the three years of being a "mercenary", Bai Xiaobao was accustomed to parting from life and death, and he was always ready to bury his bones.
Bai Xiaobao
So, how did this rural boy get on the road of mercenaries? How is he doing now? It all started when he was a kid.
A troublesome boy
When he was a teenager, Bai Xiaobao was not a good child who was obedient in the eyes of adults, but a mischievous and mischievous boy.
Born in 1987, he lived in his hometown of Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, for several years.
At that time, he had not yet reached the age of memory, and there were only slightly vague impressions of his experience during that time.
Later, when he reached the age of primary school, Bai Xiaobao went to Xi'an with his parents to study and live.
Bai Xiaobao and his younger brother
Bai Xiaobao is not an only child, he also has a younger brother, his father earns to support the family by repairing bicycles, and his mother sells some socks, underwear and other subsidies to supplement the family.
A family of four is crammed into a cramped rental house, and life is very poor.
It is said that "the children of poor families have long been in charge", but Bai Xiaobao does not have such "enlightenment".
He does not like to study, nor does he want to live in the future, and he is accustomed to hard days, thinking more about how to find some "fun" for himself.
With his own people tall and tall, and developing better than his classmates, Bai Xiaobao did not cause less trouble.
At school, if a classmate does not go along with his wishes, Bai Xiaobao will hit the other party hard.
Therefore, he is a standard poor student in the eyes of the teacher, and the kind of child who is least liked by the teacher.
At that time, the family's livelihood was already a heavy burden, and in order to pick up this burden, parents really did not have any energy to discipline the rebellious Bai Xiaobao.
Bai Xiaobao, with no one to discipline him, was even more unscrupulous in the school.
At that time, Bai Xiaobao was already a second-year student, and it was in the rebellious period of youth, and Bai Xiaobao's "picking quarrels and provoking troubles" in school was even worse than before.
At this time, he was no longer satisfied with "standing up" among his classmates, so he began to want to challenge the majesty of the teacher.
In Bai Xiaobao's body, the traditional virtue of respecting the teacher and the Tao, once, the teacher was criticizing and educating him, and Bai Xiaobao, who was not obedient to discipline, directly turned his face and punched the teacher.
This incident was extraordinary, and the injured teacher completely gave up the education of Bai Xiaobao. After much consideration, the school finally decided to dissuade Bai Xiaobao.
At this time, Bai Xiaobao did not know that he had lost the opportunity to change his fate by relying on knowledge, and when he was a teenager, he stepped into society.
Truly separated from the campus, Bai Xiaobao knew that it was such a difficult thing to survive in this society.
In order to make a living, Bai Xiaobao can only do some network management, construction workers and other jobs.
It is said that such a job is also enough to ensure Bai Xiaobao's basic life, but he is an uneasy student, and every job cannot be done for a long time.
Bai Xiaobao does not like this kind of livelihood that looks at the future at a glance, and he is more willing to hang out with the fox friends in society.
During that time, Bai Xiaobao boasted that he was a "social person" and did not do less fighting, but soon after, he began to feel remorse.
It turned out that under the influence of his brother Bai Xiaobao, his younger brother had also become a troublesome child, like Bai Xiaobao when he was a child, and often caused trouble.
During a group fight, Bai Xiaobao's brother cut the three people into serious injuries and sentenced them to 6 years in prison.
Web pictures
As a result, the father begged his relatives and friends and borrowed money to lose money from the families of the three victims.
It is conceivable that in the difficult situation of life at that time, few people liked poor relatives.
Gradually, everyone began to hide from Bai Xiaobao's family, afraid that they would once again open their mouths to borrow money from themselves.
Bai Xiaobao went to the prison to see his brother, once "brother, brother" called his own stupid boy, in prison is very difficult, in the cold winter waxing moon to wash others' clothes, swollen fingers like frozen water radish.
Bai Xiaobao knew that his brother was damaged by himself, and he began to regret it, regretting how he had been so asshole in the past.
Bai Xiaobao and his family
However, life will not suddenly become smooth because of his sudden awakening, and bai Xiaobao's family's ups and downs are far more than that.
Bai Xiaobao, who exchanged his life for money
During the time when his brother was injured and imprisoned, the Bai family had a very difficult life, and the family was already poor, because of this incident, they were saddled with huge debts for them.
Bai Xiaobao felt that everything was his own fault, if he was not so muddy and set a good example, his brother would not have become like this, and the family would not have been like this.
The relatives' cold words were not good, and they counted Bai Xiaobao's parents and asked them how they had come to borrow money from their children like this.
Bai Xiaobao listened from the sidelines, wanting to refute it, but he couldn't say it, because the other party's words were not good, and they were telling the truth.
Bai Xiaobao's grandmother also died of illness shortly after his brother went to prison, and the old man did not enjoy any blessings in his life, and before leaving, he was still worried about the future of his children and grandchildren.
Bai Xiaobao's father gritted his teeth and bought an urn of several hundred pieces, which was the limit of what he could bear.
And it is such a very ordinary urn, but also attracted relatives to talk about it, they said that this urn is too expensive to buy, buy a dozen pieces can also be used.
Bai Xiaobao was stung by such words, and for a moment he did not hold back and quarreled with his relatives.
His father's slap hit Bai Xiaobao's face, and that slap used all his strength, but Bai Xiaobao's heart hurt more than his face.
Looking at his father, who was holding back tears and finally couldn't hold back his sobbing in a low voice, Bai Xiaobao knew that his father had already been bent by such a life, and he had a lot of pain in his heart.
From that moment on, Bai Xiaobao decided that his eldest son must get ahead and never let his parents live such a life when they were poked in the spine and did not dare to resist.
However, Bai Xiaobao did not have any ability to survive and live, and after thinking about it, Bai Xiaobao decided to go out and break in.
In 2008, 21-year-old Bai Xiaobao bid farewell to his parents and went to Beijing alone to break through the world.
Before leaving, Bai Xiaobao promised his parents that he would definitely get ahead and take them to a good life.
However, when he arrived in Beijing, Bai Xiaobao found that even in the capital with many opportunities, there was no place for him to stand.
He worked as a security guard, earned money a month, and was already very reluctant to support himself, not to mention taking his family to live a good life.
Just when Bai Xiaobao felt that the future was hopeless, the news heard at the intermediary aroused his interest.
There is a Chinese company in Iraq that needs to recruit security personnel, and the salary is several times higher than that of domestic security personnel.
Even if Bai Xiaobao knew on the news that Iraq was in the midst of war and was not a safe place, he still did not hesitate.
Bai Xiaobao immediately contacted the intermediary company to register, and the strong physique that was used to cause trouble in the past also came in handy, and Bai Xiaobao successfully passed the interview.
After a series of rigorous training, in 2012, the 25-year-old Bai Xiaobao finally officially went to Iraq and became a "mercenary".
Unlike the "killing machine" in the movie, mercenaries such as Bai Xiaobao are legal war service personnel with internationally recognized security qualifications.
When signing the contract, Bai Xiaobao looked at the insurance policy with an insured amount of 4 million yuan and felt a lot of emotions in his heart.
While he was surprised that his life was so "valuable", he clearly sensed the danger factor of the job.
However, Bai Xiaobao still did not hesitate, and he wrote his mother's name in the beneficiary column.
He thought that if he came back alive, he would take his family to live a good life together, and if he could not come back, 4 million would be enough for his parents and brother to live in the second half of their lives.
That's right, it's all about exchanging lives for money.
But for Bai Xiaobao, he had done too much wrong before, so no matter what the cost, he had to make up for his mistakes.
After all the hardships, the future can be expected
The work that Bai Xiaobao has to do is to protect the interests of local Chinese enterprises in Iraq and the safety of Chinese compatriots.
This is not a simple thing, after all, in a foreign country where wars are raging, if you are not careful, there will be no tomorrow.
Bai Xiaobao looked at the "mercenaries" with sunglasses and M4 assault rifles in their hands, and the excitement in his heart overshadowed the fear.
It is the age of Fang Gang, such a configuration and dress makes Bai Xiaobao feel very cool.
However, bai Xiaobao soon knew that he was different from them.
Bai Xiaobao did not receive a gun, and he was assigned to be a security guard to watch the gate.
After several inquiries, Bai Xiaobao learned that the security personnel who watched the gate himself were the lowest level of all overseas security guards, and the treatment was also the lowest.
Bai Xiaobao was not satisfied with such an arrangement, he wanted to make more money, after all, his parents in his hometown were still waiting for him to return to his hometown, and his brother was still waiting for him to take him to a new life.
Bai Xiaobao (left)
Therefore, after only working as a janitor security guard in Iraq and adapting for three months, Bai Xiaobao applied for a transfer of duties and carried out a mission with a gun.
Since then, Bai Xiaobao's income has tripled, with an annual salary of up to one million, and his danger coefficient has more than tripled.
The whole territory of Iraq is in turmoil, and the forces of all sides are entangled and will open fire at any time, which is very chaotic and dangerous.
Bai Xiaobao watched the local teenage children raise their AK rifles and strafe, and their small bodies barely suppressed the recoil of the gun god, but the movements were so skillful.
You can't let your guard down, because if you don't pay attention, you will die yourself.
Bai Xiaobao (right)
In order to survive, he and his comrades-in-arms worked 24 hours a day, except when they were in the shower, and the body armor was like the skin on the body, and they never took it off for a moment.
They wear body armor to carry out tasks, walk, eat, sleep, it is not pleasant, but it is not difficult to get used to it.
They escort supplies or personnel to designated places again and again, often encountering dangerous things during the process.
To make the atmosphere less tense, they call these supplies or personnel "parcels" and themselves "couriers."
However, this "courier" work, a little attention will pay the price of life.
Bai Xiaobao (2nd from right)
On a perfectly ordinary night, a group of militants sneaked up on their camp, fighting back until they reached an alley and didn't know they had been ambushed.
If it weren't for the comrade-in-arms next to him pushing Bai Xiaobao, he would never see the sun the next day.
However, the comrade-in-arms who saved Bai Xiao's life was hit through the neck by the bullet, and blood gushed out along the bullet hole, and it could not be stopped.
The last thing the comrade-in-arms said to Bai Xiaobao was: "Give me a cigarette!" ”
However, this cigarette comrade-in-arms did not smoke in the end, Bai Xiaobao just lit the cigarette, the comrade-in-arms swallowed.
Bai Xiaobao and his comrades-in-arms
Whenever Bai Xiaobao recalled the encounter that night, thought of the comrade-in-arms who saved his life, and the cigarette that was not smoked in his mouth by the comrade-in-arms, the scar on his heart would be opened rawly, and the pain would be unable to suppress himself.
And this method of death is already considered "happiness".
Bai Xiaobao said that he had seen an African comrade-in-arms who had been blown up by the lower half of his body and walked very restlessly.
He said that he could not call the other person's name, only that he had a wife and two children, he had seen the photos of each other's wives and children, and the smile was so happy and warm.
But the comrade-in-arms could never go back, and his children lost their father forever.
The fragility of life is vividly reflected on the battlefield, and the people who fight the war see more, and their hearts are no longer so emotional, and the thing they think about the most is: "Perhaps, tomorrow it is myself who dies." ”
Bai Xiaobao and a large number of people, regardless of iraq's rules of not allowing cremation, whenever a comrade dies, they will set up wood, pour gasoline, and send these comrades on the last journey.
The summer in Iraq was forty or fifty degrees, and they knelt there around the fire until their comrades turned into a bunch of ashes.
Such a day Bai Xiaobao was three years old, and he had seen too many lives and deaths.
After escaping from the hands of the God of Death so many times, Bai Xiaobao finally grew into a man who was responsible for the future.
He no longer thinks about those who have not, but has long understood that living is an extremely luxurious thing in itself.
In 2015, Bai Xiaobao's contract expired, and he chose to return to the motherland and return to normal life.
When he was about to set foot on the land of the motherland, Bai Xiaobao said that he seemed to have re-stepped into human civilization from primitive society.
When he returned, he took a big bite of Lanzhou ramen, and his tears seemed to break the embankment, so he poured out along his eye sockets.
He finally survived, and finally had the capital to live a good life with his family, and the days that had been desperate for his life had meaning.
Today, Bai Xiaobao has set up his own security company, he bought a big house for his parents, and also planned the future for his brother.
Bai Xiaobao, who has become a young entrepreneur, no longer has to suffer from the white eyes of his relatives, they say things like "Bai Xiaobao has a career, and his thinking and insight are very unusual."
And Bai Xiaobao knew that all this was because he had seen purgatory on earth with his own eyes, so he knew how lucky he was to be born in a peaceful and stable China.
And now, all Bai Xiaobao has to do is to keep this luck and stop acting arbitrarily.