After the bespectacled man closed the door and left, Zhou Yihong waved at Lu Tao and signaled for him to come over. He then patted him on the shoulder and said kindly, "Little Lu, I saw you standing under the shade of a willow tree at the fork in the road just now. Originally, I wanted to ask you to get in the car, but after thinking about it, I felt that it was inappropriate, so I only asked Little Li to go down and ask about your situation. Come, sit down, let's have a good chat. "
Lu Tao had guessed that Zhou Yihong was a high-ranking official when he first met him, but he didn't expect him to be the secretary of the Songshan Municipal Committee. Although he was naturally handsome, this was the first time he had met such a high-ranking official, so he was still a little uneasy. He carefully sat on a stool opposite Zhou Yihong, not knowing what to say.
Zhou Yihong smiled gently and asked, "Little Lu, you don't sound like a local. Where is your hometown?"
"My hometown is Huaisha City's Qingxi County."
"Qingxi County?"
Zhou Yihong raised his thick eyebrows as if he had recalled something. He looked up and thought for a moment before asking, "Are you from Qingxi County or the countryside? If you're from the countryside, which town are you from? "
Lu Tao looked up at Zhou Yihong in surprise and answered, "My hometown is Qingxi County's Lin Village in Menggong Town. Secretary Zhou, you're very familiar with Qingxi County, aren't you? "
Zhou Yihong didn't answer him directly, but asked in a more urgent tone, "Are you really from Lin Village in Menggong Town? Then do you know someone called Lu Hanqing? He's about the same age as me, in his fifties. So he used to be a soldier — "
Lu Tao exclaimed, his eyes widening again. He stared at Zhou Yihong without blinking and cried out involuntarily, "That's my father. How do you know him?"
Zhou Yihong also exclaimed, his eyes showing surprise and joy. He asked a little excitedly, "Are you really Lu Hanqing's son? What about your father? Where does he live now? How's his body? Is the injury on his leg better? "
Lu Tao's face darkened as he lowered his head and answered, "My father passed away when I was three, in 1993. It's been more than twenty years since then!"
"What? He's already passed away? How did he die? He's only injured on his leg. It shouldn't be fatal! "
"My father passed away from liver cancer. It was only three months since his death."
Zhou Yihong stared blankly for a moment, his eyes gradually turning red. He patted Lu Tao's shoulder and said in a sad and guilty tone, "Little Lu, I've let your father down. He was a hero, but due to some special reasons, he did not receive the honor he deserved until his death. He was also my benefactor, but due to the limitations of my circumstances, I never had the opportunity to repay him. Do you want to hear your father's story? "
Because his father had passed away early, Lu Tao had no memory of him at all. He only heard people talk about him when he was young, saying that his father had participated in the war at the southwest border in the late 1970s. Later, he was sent back to his hometown because he made a mistake on the battlefield. Two years after his father passed away, his mother remarried and moved to another county. Since then, no one had ever mentioned his father. Even his mother had never told him and his sister about his father.
He didn't expect that Secretary Zhou Yihong would say that his father was a hero and his benefactor, which made his heart beat wildly. He hurriedly replied, "Secretary Zhou, what mistake did my father make? Was it because he was injured on the battlefield and was captured by the enemy? "
Zhou Yihong shook his head and said, "No! Strictly speaking, what he did was not considered a mistake. On the contrary, in our eyes, your father was a great hero who saved more than a dozen of our comrades. Have you seen the movie or novel Garland at the Foot of the Mountain? In the movie, a deputy company commander, Jin Kailai, went to the enemy's civilian lands to harvest a few bundles of sugarcane for his comrades in the Razor Sharp Company. In the end, he was ambushed by the enemy and died. In the end, he wasn't even considered a martyr. Your father's experience was exactly the same as Jin Kailai's. "
Following that, Zhou Yihong told Lu Tao his father's story.
During the border war, Lu Hanqing was the platoon commander of a certain Razor Sharp Company's Second Platoon, and Zhou Yihong was the platoon's deputy platoon commander. Their platoon followed the Razor Sharp Company and penetrated the enemy's rear for 30 kilometers. When they arrived at a designated location, the battle began. The Razor Sharp Company captured several small highlands and defended them for at least 48 hours according to their superiors' orders.
The Second Platoon led by Lu Hanqing was ordered to defend a small hill in the west. After a day and night of hard fighting, they repelled the enemy's counterattacks several times. However, they were faced with a very serious problem. They had already run out of water, and the commanders at the defensive position were so thirsty that their throats were smoking. A few of the weaker soldiers were showing signs of dehydration, and two of them even fainted at one point.
Left with no choice, Zhou Yihong suggested that he and two of his soldiers take the risk to cut a few bundles of sugarcane from the sugarcane fields at the foot of the hill to quench their thirst. However, Lu Hanqing was very hesitant. This was because his superiors had sternly ordered him before the war that after entering enemy territory, they were to firmly adhere to the Three Main Disciplines and Eight Points of Caution, just like how they did in China. They were not allowed to touch anything belonging to their fellow countrymen. Those who violated the rules would be dealt with even more severely.
But in the current situation, if they did not find some sugarcane to quench their thirst, not only would it affect the platoon's combat effectiveness, some of their comrades might even die of thirst. Therefore, he had no choice but to approve Zhou Yihong and two of his soldiers to go down the hill to harvest sugarcane.
Unexpectedly, when Zhou Yihong and the others returned to the hill with a few bundles of sugarcane, they were ambushed by a squad of enemies. One of the soldiers died on the spot. At the critical moment, Lu Hanqing led a squad of soldiers to rush down the hill and beat back the ambushing enemies.
However, when they were retreating back to the hill, a hidden enemy threw a bomb at Zhou Yihong. Lu Hanqing happened to see it, and he suddenly pushed Zhou Yihong to the ground from behind. In the end, Zhou Yihong was safe and sound, but Lu Hanqing's leg was seriously injured.
Later, the regiment investigated the violation of discipline and secretly cutting down the local people's sugarcane. Zhou Yihong originally wanted to take responsibility, but he was stopped by Lu Hanqing. He had two reasons. First, as the platoon leader, he was the one who approved to cut down the sugarcane, so he should take the main responsibility. Second, he was now disabled and could no longer stay in the army. Zhou Yihong could continue to stay in the army to kill the enemy and gain merit. Rather than both of them being expelled from the army, it was better for him to take all the responsibility alone!
Zhou Yihong argued with him for a long time, but his attitude was very firm. He took the initiative to tell the investigators that it was his decision to cut down the sugarcane and that it had nothing to do with Zhou Yihong. Therefore, the regiment dismissed Lu Hanqing from his post and allowed him to return home as a soldier.
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.
