The old man's inexplicable excitement made Li Mu excited as well. He realized that this might be a breakthrough to persuade the old man to leave.
Thus, he said to the old man seriously, "According to the information, this Senior Han Zili is indeed still alive. He has been living in Sichuan since 55 years ago. However, according to the feedback from our volunteers, the old man is a bit forgetful and doesn't remember many things clearly. We can only confirm that he used to be a pilot, but we haven't been able to find the specific unit number he was in."
The old man immediately became disappointed and said, "I heard that he went to Taiwan 50 years ago, and he's not from Sichuan, so how could he have been living in Sichuan all this time? Could it be a mistake? "
Li Mu said, "It wouldn't be surprising if there were two Han Zili's in the entire national military system, but there weren't many pilots in the national air force at that time, so it shouldn't be possible for them to have the same name, right?"
The old man nodded and said, "What you said is very reasonable, but we still can't rule out this possibility. I heard that people who went to Taiwan back then didn't come back until the end of the 80s. It's basically impossible to go to Taiwan in 49 years and come back in 55 years."
The old man had a special personal memory of that era. In that era, a large number of national officers followed the national government to Taiwan, not because they yearned for Taiwan, but because they were defeated troops. They didn't dare to stay and had to leave, and once they left, they definitely didn't dare to come back. On one hand, Taiwan wouldn't allow it, and on the other hand, they were afraid that the new Hua Xia government would hold them accountable for the war. Therefore, if a national soldier or officer went to Taiwan in 49 years, it would be impossible for them to settle in Sichuan in 55 years.
Li Mu said, "There's no mention of Mr. Han Zili going to Taiwan. Could it be that your information is wrong?"
The old man fell silent and said after a moment, "I can't guarantee it, because I heard it from someone else. There's no conclusive evidence."
Li Mu nodded slightly and said, "In addition, there's a note here. Mr. Han Zili's son told our volunteers that the old man was from Qilu. When he was young, he studied in Yun Province's martial arts hall. Later, because he discovered that the Chinese air force was weak at that time, he decided to join the national air force. Do you think this information matches?"
The old man's dimmed eyes lit up once more as he said with pleasant surprise, "Then it matches! Zili is from Qilu, and his family is a distant relative of the then King of Qilu, Han Fuchu. In 37, he entered the Yun Province Martial Arts Lecture Hall. In 38, after Han Fuchu was shot dead by Old Jiang in Jinling, he immediately applied to enter the Central Aviation Academy. He told me privately that everyone in the Martial Arts Lecture Hall knew that he was related to Han Fuchu. After Han Fuchu was also shot dead, he began to be ostracized in the Martial Arts Lecture Hall. Seeing that there was no hope for him to be promoted in the military, he gave up the idea of becoming an officer and joined the Air Force. "
At this point, the old man hurriedly asked, "Can you contact him?"
Li Mu nodded and said, "Yes, his son's phone number is on it. If you want to talk to him, I can make an appointment."
"Good, good, good!" The old man said 'good' three times in a row and said excitedly, "You have that sign language on you, right?"
"Hand language?"
"It's the thing that can make a phone call on one's body. I saw it on your volunteer last time. He told me that it's called hand language."
Li Mu suddenly understood and said, "You must be talking about a cell phone."
As he said this, he took out his cell phone and asked the old man, "Is it this thing?"
The old man hurriedly nodded. "Yes, that's it."
Li Mu said, "I'll call Mr. Han's son now. If it's convenient, you can talk to Mr. Han, but … but the information says that the old man's amnesia is a bit serious. He can't even remember his military unit number, so he might not remember you, so you have to be mentally prepared."
The old man nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. It doesn't matter if he can't remember, as long as it's him."
Li Mu dialed the phone number on the information. It was a landline number in Sichuan. After the phone rang a few times, a middle-aged man answered the phone. When Li Mu asked if Mr. Han Zili was at home, the other party said, "You're looking for my grandfather, right? My father took him to the hospital for rehabilitation, but he'll be back soon. Call me again in half an hour. "
Li Mu didn't say anything more. He thanked him and promised to contact him in half an hour, so he hung up the phone.
After explaining the situation to the old man, the old man wasn't disappointed. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Zili is one year younger than me. He should be 87 now. His son can still take him to see a doctor. This means that his son is very filial."
"Yes." Li Mu responded and then asked the old man curiously, "Mr. Sun, is this Mr. Han your comrade?"
The old man said excitedly, "He's my other wingman pilot …"
Li Mu said in surprise, "So that's how it is. Then you're really comrades who fight side by side!"
The old man sighed and said, "Yes, I have two wingman pilots. The other one died."
Li Mu felt that it was really a coincidence that the old man could find his wingman pilot in a list. However, after thinking about it carefully, there weren't many pilots in the National Air Force and the Flying Tigers. There probably weren't as many people in an ordinary university. With his experience in university, he definitely knew everyone in his class. As for those who weren't in the same class, he would see them all the time. He would know at least half of them. Therefore, if he randomly pulled out a list of ten people, it would be a little unreasonable if he didn't know at least three or five of them.
There weren't many people in the National Air Force, so the total number of Flying Tigers pilots back then wouldn't be too many either. Perhaps there would be people who Mr. Sun Xiaozhong knew among the surviving Flying Tigers.
Li Mu suddenly thought of an old man named Paul Crawford among the American Flying Tigers invited by Spielberg at the press conference for Hollywood's Flying Tigers. There was a piece of history in his memory. He was a member of the Flying Tigers at that time, and his plane was shot down by the Japanese army. Then, he was saved by the local villagers. In Mr. Sun Xiaozhong's memory, there was a very similar experience …
Therefore, Li Mu asked Mr. Sun Xiaozhong, "Mr. Sun, do you know an American Flying Tigers pilot named Paul Crawford?"
"Paul Crawford?" The old man immediately asked in surprise, "How do you know this person?"
Li Mu said, "I met him when I was in the United States. He was invited to the press conference for our movie 'Flying Tigers' in the United States."
The old man slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "I didn't expect him to still be alive! Back then, although I was in the National Air Force, I was actually under the command of Chennault, just like the American pilots of the Flying Tigers. So, Paul Crawford was also my comrade at that time. I mentioned that he was shot down by the Japanese when he was protecting a bomber. During that escort mission, his plane was also shot down by the Japanese. Aiya, the Japanese were really ruthless that time. They knew that those American bombers had just bombed their hometown, so they fought us with all their might. It was as if they wanted to crash their planes with us … "
After a sigh, the old man returned to the main topic. "That time, we had a total of eight fighter planes shot down. Paul Crawford and I both parachuted and landed in different places. We were rescued by different villagers first, and then we were sent to hide in the same town at that time. At that time, we happened to meet him, and we hid together for a period of time with the help of the local villagers. In the end, we managed to escape successfully. Looking back, the two of us lived together in the cellar for more than a month …"
Li Mu immediately said, "After a period of time, we will invite other surviving American Flying Tigers, including Paul Crawford, to come to Hua Xia. Other than him, there may be other old acquaintances of yours."
There was a flash of excitement and anticipation in the old man's eyes.
Li Mu did not say anything else. Instead of persuading the old man to agree to go down the mountain, it was better to induce the old man to want to go down the mountain himself. Paul Crawford was only one factor that might succeed. The more important factor was that Han Zili.
Immediately, Li Mu whispered a few words in Liu Xinying's ear. Liu Xinying immediately found an excuse to go to the toilet and came out of the thatched hut. Then, he used his phone to call Mr. Han Zili's son and explained the special situation here to him …
When the agreed time of half an hour was up, Li Mu called Mr. Han Zili's son again. The call was quickly connected, and Mr. Han's grandson said, "Mr. Lee, right? My dad and grandpa are back. I'll let my grandpa answer the phone? "
Li Mu quickly said, "Okay, then please let Mr. Han answer the phone."
The other person said, "My grandpa's memory has some problems. Please let Mr. Sun know. If my grandpa can't remember anything, please forgive him."
"Okay." Li Mu said, "Then I'll give the phone to Mr. Sun."
After handing the phone to the old man and telling him how to use it, Li Mu said to the old man, "Mr. Han's memory isn't very good. He might not remember you. Please forgive him."
The old man nodded repeatedly and took the phone. With a trembling voice, he asked, "Brother Zili?"
At this moment, in the old brick building in the suburbs of Sichuan, three generations of the Han family were gathered around the landline. The phone was on speaker mode. Mr. Han's son, daughter-in-law, and grandson were all listening nervously in front of the phone. In recent years, the old man's memory had become worse and worse. He could not remember many things. His relatives hoped that he could use this comrade to reconnect and find some precious memories from back then.
Mr. Han sat in front of the phone in a daze. He did not know who was talking to him. When he heard the person on the other end call him Brother Zili, he was a little dazed.
The old man was 87 years old. In all these years, very few people called him that. For a moment, he felt that it was extremely unfamiliar, but subconsciously, he felt that it was especially familiar.
The old man frowned and thought for a long time, but he still could not find that memory. Out of politeness, he said loudly, "I'm Han Zili. Who are you?"
"I'm Xiaozhong. Sun Xiaozhong, do you still remember me?"
"Sun Xiaozhong?" The old man frowned even more. This name seemed to have touched a chord in the depths of his memory, but he could not sort it out in a short period of time.
At this moment, the old man hurriedly said, "National Air Force Sixth Brigade, 12th Squadron. You don't remember?"
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