Before coming here, it was hard for Li Mu to imagine that the old man in the photo, who was so weak and even on the verge of death, could still have such clear thinking logic and speech.
The old man was particularly excited as he recalled the glorious years of his life. Finally, someone had come to listen to his story, and he was very happy to talk about it.
The old man was born in 1915. His ancestral home was Southern Anhui. When he was young, he came from a well-off family and settled down in Hangzhou with his family. He received a good education from a young age to a young man who was progressive.
In 1934, because the old man was particularly obsessed with flying and his family was well-off, his family used money and connections to send him to the Central Aviation Academy, which was also located in Hangzhou at the time. After the July 7 Incident in 1937, the War of Resistance broke out and the old man moved with the school to Yun Province. Within a few days, the Japanese invaders launched an attack on Shanghai and the Battle of Songhu began.
During the Battle of Songhu, the old man's parents took his three siblings and fled to Jinling. At the time, the old man's parents believed that Jinling was the capital and that there was no safer place in the world than Jinling.
The old man's parents sold all their properties in Hangzhou and fled to Jinling with his brother and sister. They settled down in Jinling for less than half a year. At the end of 1937, the Japanese army captured Nanjing and launched the most heinous massacre in human history. The old man's parents, siblings, as well as his brother's wife and children, all died tragically under the butcher's knife of the Japanese army.
The old man in Yun Province broke down when he heard the bad news. If it weren't for his comrades who kept an eye on him, the old man would have killed himself and reunited with his family in the underworld. However, his comrades in the army made him understand one thing: the rise and fall of the country was everyone's responsibility. His greatest responsibility was not to follow his deceased family, but to wait for the opportunity to avenge his deceased family and his fellow countrymen. He would beat the Japanese until they surrendered.
After that, the old man graduated from the aviation academy and officially became a pilot of the National Air Force. That was the beginning of a tragic half of his life.
In 1945, the National Air Force that the old man was in cooperated with the United States in bombing Japan. The old man piloted a fighter plane to cover the American bombers returning from Japan. At that time, Japan was in its final frenzy. The old man was shot down by the Japanese during an escort mission and broke his skull while parachuting in a mountainous area. He was later rescued by a few American pilots and only returned to Spring City after a few months. It was also during that time that the old man's skull was damaged. Due to the lack of timely and effective treatment, there were sequelae. The sequelae didn't affect his life much, but he was no longer fit to pilot a fighter plane.
It was precisely because he could no longer pilot a fighter plane that the old man switched to a civilian job. He then married a local wife and had children. His son was born in early 1948. The family of three lived a happy and harmonious life. Although this kind of life was dull and blissful, when liberation approached in 1949, the national army saw that the situation was hopeless and began to prepare to retreat to Taiwan.
At that time, the aviation academy had four transport planes ready to take off from Spring City. They carried the backbone of the National Air Force in Spring City, as well as their families and belongings. At that final moment, every kilogram of weight on the plane was worth a thousand dollars to them. The leader of the aviation brigade remembered that the old man was the recipient of the four-star medal during the War of Resistance and had shot down four Japanese fighter planes. Therefore, he specially reserved a seat for the old man on the plane. In that special era, this was the best he could do.
Back then, there were many soldiers in the national army who had to abandon their wives and children to follow the national army to Taiwan alone because they only had one air ticket or ship ticket. From their point of view, this one-way ticket was extremely hard to come by, and they had to grab hold of it no matter what. However, Sun Xiaozhong did not accept it. He felt that he had lost all his family in 1937. It was only after eight years of the War of Resistance that he found new family members and his only flesh and blood. He could not abandon them and go to Taiwan alone. Moreover, from his point of view, he did not look forward to going to Taiwan at all. He wanted to stay on this land where he had fought and be with his wife and children, even though his future was uncertain in the face of the change of government.
What happened after that was what Li Mu had heard before. The old man remained in the local area after the liberation. He was reported during the historical movement and was repeatedly criticized and reformed through labor. Fortunately, he lost the opportunity to pilot a fighter jet after the end of the War of Resistance. Otherwise, if he had participated in the liberation war, he was afraid that he would have suffered a greater disaster during the historical movement.
Talking about the past, the old man was not too sad. He said that he had experienced too much family sorrow in his life. After so many years and so many things, even if he did not want to be numb, he had already become numb. His only two regrets were that he did not have the chance to return to Jinling to find the bodies of his relatives and bury them. The other was that his only son's fate was unknown.
The old man sighed and said, "The first regret can not be made up for in this life. Only in the next life can I make up for it by working hard for them. As for the second regret, there may be a glimmer of hope in this life, but I do not dare to ask for it."
The host said, "Please tell us the names, ages, and relevant situations of your wife and son. We will mobilize the netizens all over the country to help you find their whereabouts!"
The old man immediately nodded gratefully. "Thank you! Thank you so much! "
Then, the old man told the camera about his wife's name, birthplace, birthplace, and date of birth. Then, he introduced his son. His son was born on March 23, 48. The old man named him Sun Lianli, and his nickname was Xi 'er. The word' Xi 'was taken from the name of the old man's ancestral home. When the old man separated from his wife and son, his son was not even five years old, so he could not remember more details about his son.
The old man did not have much hope of finding his son or his descendants, but Li Mu felt that the chances of success were not small. If the old man's son and the old man were four or five years old, then he must have a certain impression of his father and his childhood. He must remember his father's relevant characteristics, the location of his hometown, and the time he left his father. If his mother could tell him more about his father when he was growing up, then he should know his father far better than his father knew about him.
The old man had lived in seclusion in the mountains for so many years. He did not know if the old man's son had tried to find him all these years. However, even if the son did not, as long as he was still alive, as long as he could receive this video, he should be able to recognize his father's identity. Therefore, the chances of finding him were still very high.
It was probably as difficult as ascending to heaven for an ordinary person to find one out of 1.3 billion people. However, for Li Mu, he had a huge user group like YY and a large number of media resources. It was not difficult to find such a person.
Therefore, Li Mu promised the old man, "Senior, don't worry. We will do our best to let the people of the country see your interview, know about your deeds, and know about your past. We will also broadcast the relevant information about your wife and son. With the help of the people of the country, the chances of finding them are still very high!"
The old man nodded in relief. "That's good, that's good. If they are still alive and can see me, I will die without regrets. I'm just afraid that I won't be able to wait until that day."
Li Mu hurriedly said, "Your body and spirit seem to be very good. If you go down the mountain with us to the hospital for a systematic examination and a good rest, your physical condition will definitely be better." The old man waved his hand. "Thank you for your kindness.
The old man waved his hand and said, "Thank you for your kindness. I've been living here for decades, and I'm used to it. I don't have any relatives, and I don't have any homeland. I can't remember my home in Southern Anhui, and I can't even find my ancestral grave. My parents and siblings are all buried in Jinling, but I don't know where they lived when they were alive. In the early years, I saved money and went to Jinling three times, but when I got there, I didn't know where to pay my respects to them. I could only ask the locals everywhere. I heard that there was a mass grave, so I bought a bottle of wine and some paper to pay my respects there. But I couldn't find their remains in my entire life, so I've long lost my roots …" The old man waved his hand and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but I've been living here for decades and I'm used to it. I don't have any relatives, and I don't have any homeland.
At this point, the old man seemed to have aged a lot all of a sudden. His eyelids drooped weakly, and his back, which he had tried so hard to straighten just now, became stooped again. Two big tears fell from his eyes, and he sighed and said, "As the saying goes, fallen leaves return to their roots. When I was young, I didn't believe it. I thought it was an old-fashioned idea. But the longer I live, the more I want to find a root for myself. But I can't find the roots of my ancestors, nor can I find the roots of my parents. I've lived here for so many years, so this is my root."
Liu Xinying hurriedly said, "Old senior, the medical and recuperation conditions outside the mountain are good. It can help your body recover a little, so you can live longer. Moreover, if you find your son in the future, he can go see you while you are outside the mountain."
The old man laughed bitterly and said, "I'm eighty-eight years old this year, and I've lived long enough. Sometimes, living too long is not a blessing, but a torture. I don't want to live for many more years, I just want to take my last breath here. If I die in another place, no matter how good the environment, no matter how good the conditions, it's not my root. If I can really find my son in the future, I hope he can come see me for the sake of our relationship. If I die, he can come and add soil to my grave. I won't go out of this mountain anymore."
Liu Xinying was so anxious that she burst into tears and said, "If you go out, even if you can't find your son, you can still enjoy a good life. You've worked hard here for so many years, and society owes you so much. You have to give society a chance to make up for it …"
The old man smiled and said, "Society doesn't owe me anything. Those comrades who fought side by side with me were all hot-blooded and wanted to resist the Japanese and serve the country. Serving the country is like being filial to one's parents. It's our responsibility and obligation when we were born. It's because we didn't fulfill our responsibilities that the Japanese were able to come in and run amok for so many years. If there's anything we owe, it's what we owe the country and the civilians who died in the hands of the Japanese."
Liu Xinying hurriedly said, "Don't say that …"
The old man said seriously, "I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart. After the victory of the War of Resistance, many soldiers thought so, especially when the war losses were calculated again and again and the number of casualties was constantly added up. We all felt that we owed this nation too much. If we had fought harder back then, we might have been able to reduce the number. If we had died for a righteous cause, the number might have been even lower. Cao Zhi said that we sacrificed our lives for the country and regarded death as a return home. This was the true portrayal of us at that time …"
Seeing that the old man was unmoved, Liu Xinying was so anxious that she wanted to cry. Her purpose of coming here was to persuade the old man to leave this place no matter what, but no matter what she said, she couldn't change the old man's decision. This not only made her feel deeply frustrated, but she also blamed herself in her heart.
When she didn't know what to do, Liu Xinying looked at Li Mu with a pair of pleading eyes. Her eyes were full of pleading and expectation, hoping that Li Mu could think of a way to persuade the old man to leave the mountain.
Li Mu also didn't know what to do.
He asked the old man to go to a big city to recuperate and have better living conditions, but the old man was unmoved. He asked the old man to wait for the whereabouts of his son, but the old man was still unmoved. When he wanted to compensate the old man for the whole society, the old man felt that he owed this nation. What else could he do?
An idea flashed in Li Mu's mind. Although the old man had gone to Jinling to look for the bones of his relatives in the early years, the Holocaust Memorial Hall had not been built at that time. The Holocaust Memorial Hall was only built 20 years ago, and there were the most detailed relevant files there. First, he could take the old man there to find the whereabouts of his relatives, and second, he could let the old man mourn his relatives in the Memorial Hall. But after thinking about it, Li Mu gave up.
The old man was too old. It was better not to let him experience that kind of bloody atrocity in another way.
However, other than this, what else could move him and persuade him?
Li Mu also fell into deep thought.
After a moment, Li Mu suddenly had an idea. He pulled Liu Xinying over and asked her, "Do you have the list of Flying Tigers that we have found so far?"
"Yes." Liu Xinying said, "I have some printed information. It's in my bag."
"Take it out."
Liu Xinying hurriedly took out a folded list from her bag. Some of these lists were very detailed, and some were very vague. The detailed ones had the name, date of birth, place of origin, current residence, and previous job information. The vague ones only had a person's name and a rough area of residence.
Li Mu handed the list to the old man and said, "Sir, this is the surviving Flying Tigers and national air force pilots that we have found so far. Look at the names on this list. Are there any that you are familiar with?"
The old man suddenly became excited. He took the list and wanted to take a closer look, but because the words on it were too small, he could not read them clearly. He could only look at Li Mu with pleading eyes and said with great excitement, "Young man, I can't read it clearly. Help me read it!"
"Okay!" Seeing that the old man was so excited, Li Mu knew that there was an eighty percent chance that this matter was true. Thus, he took the list and read the names one by one.
"Chen Zhengbo, Li Quanyin, Huang Zizhong …"
Every time he read a name, the old man would frown and think for a long time, but he would shake his head regretfully every time.
Until Li Mu read a name, the old man suddenly trembled with excitement.
"Say it again, what is his name?"
"Han Zili, the son of the son of the son, the li of the upright."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
