Chen Fei and Hong Xingguo looked into the yard a few times and shouted a few times, but there was no response, so Chen Fei pulled the door and closed it.
Two people, one on the left and one on the right, stood at the door waiting like two door gods.
After a while, several villagers passed by and were very surprised to see the two of them. They boldly stepped forward and asked: "Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, what are you doing here?"
Hong Xingguo smiled and replied: "Fellow fellow, I heard that the old man living here is a veteran of the Anti-Japanese War. Did you come here to find out more?"
"Veteran of the Anti-Japanese War? Old Man Huang?" The muscular man in his forties was stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter: "Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, you must have misunderstood. Old Man Huang is not a veteran of the Anti-Japanese War at all. We in Yangcun, a soldier
There are no military relatives, if you don’t believe me, ask the village chief?”
"But didn't he say that he had fought in a war before?" Hong Xingguo was surprised and confused.
After hearing this, the man laughed even more happily: "Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, any of these elderly men don't say that they have fought in the war and killed people? But there is no basis for this. You said that you are a veteran of the Anti-Japanese War and have military medals.
Where are the certificates? Right, comrades from the People's Liberation Army! So you must have misunderstood. Among the seventy or eighty-year-olds who are still alive in our village, any one of them brags to everyone about how many little devils he has killed and how many little devils he has killed.
All the great achievements are actually just bragging!"
After hearing this, Hong Xingguo turned his head and glanced at Chen Fei. Both of them felt a little guilty. However, after the villagers left, after thinking about it carefully, they felt that their previous guesses were not wrong.
After waiting patiently for about half an hour, the old man from yesterday appeared in view.
"Old man——" Chen Fei hurriedly greeted him.
"Little comrade, why are you here? Have you been waiting for a long time? Please come in quickly! Come in quickly, I went to the market, I bought meat, and I just roasted meat for you to eat!" When the old man heard this, he was very happy.
At this time, Hong Xingguo walked up and called out kindly: "Old man——"
"Old man, this is our instructor!"
The old man was stunned for a moment, then quickly wiped his hands on his body again and again, and then shook hands with Hong Xingguo. Hong Xingguo was a little suspicious at first, but as soon as he shook hands with the old man, he immediately knew that Chen Fei's guess was definitely correct.
, he winked at Chen Fei, and then said with a smile: "Old man, we just received a notice from above to verify your identity."
"Verify identity?" The old man was startled.
Hong Xingguo quickly said without blushing: "Yes, old man, recently, the country has carried out the collection of veterans' information. We have just received a notice from our superiors to register and verify your relevant information.
.”
"Didn't you just register last year?" The old man was a little strange.
"Last year it was the civil affairs department, now it's the army."
"Oh - no wonder!" the old man suddenly realized.
"Old man, in what year did you become a soldier?" Hong Xingguo took out a small book from his body and asked seriously, looking extremely serious.
After hearing this, the old man looked at Hong Xingguo, and then at Chen Fei: "Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, I have never been a soldier..."
But before the old man could finish speaking, Hong Xingguo said seriously: "Old man, the nature of our verification this time is different from that of the Civil Affairs Bureau. The Civil Affairs Bureau investigates whether you have served in the military and wants to give corresponding preferential treatment, but we are the army.
The only purpose of registering veterans in our army is to collect relevant data and prepare for the future. Old man, if there is a war, they will be recalled. You should always keep this sentence in mind, right? Although you are older
When you are older, even if there is a war, you will not be allowed to go to the battlefield, but you cannot miss it when registering, so, old man, please answer truthfully!"
After hearing this, the old man was startled at first, and then a little confused: "I haven't heard that the situation is more tense recently?"
Soon he said loudly and resolutely: "If the motherland needs it, don't say that I am only eighty years old, even if I am ninety years old, I can still go to the battlefield! Even if I can't go out to kill the enemy, I can still do some work of pressing bullets.
!”
After hearing this, Hong Xingguo's eyes lit up and he quickly asked: "Old man, in what year did you become a soldier? I have to write it down carefully!"
But the old man said: "Let's talk at home."
"Okay!" Hong Xingguo did not refuse and signaled Chen Fei to help the old man carry the basket.
After the three people entered the courtyard, the old man made tea for Chen Fei and Hong Xingguo. They worked for a while and then sat down.
"I joined the army when I was twelve years old. I am seventy-eight years old. When I was twelve years old, that is, in 1939..."
The old man's brain is still very agile and he can calculate math problems quickly and accurately.
"I originally didn't want to be a soldier, but I was caught as a young man and had to get a gun. So in the first two years, all I thought about was when I could escape. But when I got to the army, I fought with the little Japanese a few times.
After the battle, I never thought of escaping. The little Japs are so inhuman. I will never put down the gun until I drive them out..."
The old man started talking.
During the years when he fought in Chiang Kai-shek's army, he made countless meritorious deeds. Later, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he saw that the situation was not right and did not want to fight anymore. In addition, he was very marginalized at the time and his future was not bright.
, so in a rare opportunity, he left everything behind and ran back to his hometown. Unfortunately, he was stopped by the People's Liberation Army on the way. After doing some ideological work, he joined the People's Liberation Army, but he concealed the past, so
Just start from a small soldier.
In the 1950s, when the resistance to U.S. aggression and aid to Korea came to an end, relevant departments made major strategic judgments. There will be no large-scale wars in the next ten to twenty years. After all, a punch can open the door.
, to avoid the Hundred Punch attack, so there was no need for so many active-duty soldiers. Therefore, the higher authorities made a major decision. In the years from 1954 to 1958, nearly three million soldiers were withdrawn from active service.
At that time, the country was in difficulty, and the resettlement problem for many veterans was difficult to solve. Therefore, some ambitious veterans concealed their names, quietly returned to their local areas, and became ordinary farmers.
The old man is one of those veterans back then.
After returning to the local area, the old man married a wife and had children, and lived a normal life. Since the country was in difficulties during that period, the old man did not say anything to the local government or ask for anything.
Later, the old man's children grew up, and his life became better and better, and he no longer needed the state to take care of him. Therefore, he kept those things hidden and never told anyone.
Of course, sometimes, he still couldn't help but miss those glorious years, so sometimes he would tell some children or others in the village heroic stories about those years, but many people only regarded him as a story.
Come to listen, no one really thought that he had been a soldier. The old man was a little disappointed at first, but then he gradually thought about it and felt that this was good.
"Old man, do you have any documents in your hand that can prove that you are a veteran?"
"Identification?" The old man was stunned, thought for a while and said, "It seems that the officer's ID card has been lost. I wonder if military medals and meritorious service certificates count? Wait a minute, I'll go look for it!"
After three minutes, the old man carried out a wooden box, which was thirty centimeters long, twenty centimeters wide, and ten centimeters high. When he opened it, he found that it was full of military medals and certificates of meritorious service. If you hang those military medals on your body, your chest will
It must have been full before now.
hiss--
Seeing this, Chen Fei and Hong Xingguo both took a breath of air-conditioning, and they instantly stood in awe of the old man.