A small mountain village in Guangdong called Chiliejiao.

Lin Erhu is the second in the family, the eldest went to join the army early, and the third went to study in the middle school in the town. Because he has to take care of his parents at home and take care of his family's two acres of land, Lin Erhu has no time to go to school.

If it weren't for the fact that his parents at home couldn't get out of bed to work, and they needed someone to take care of him, Lin Erhu was now sitting in a spacious and bright teacher like his younger brother. But he didn't complain anything, as the eldest brother, Lin Dahu went to the army six years ago, and he could send back ten yuan of Chinese currency every month, which was enough for their family to live for two months at this consumption level. And once you come back from vacation, you can get back a lot of gifts from the army every time, which makes many neighbors very envious.

As for why Lin Erhu's parents are lying in bed, it has to start from eight years ago. Lin Erhu was only twelve years old, Lin Dahu was only sixteen years old, and the youngest third was only five years old. Their parents were honest farmers, and the autumn harvest of that year happened to be ravaged by a typhoon, and there was not much grain left in the field. However, the black-hearted landlord did not plan to reduce the rent, and on the day of grain collection, he blocked the entrance of the village with a group of dogs, and collected rent from house to house. Lin Erhu's father went up and said a few words, which meant that there was a typhoon today, and there was not much grain in the fields, so they would hand it in together after next year's autumn harvest. But these words not only had no effect, but the landlord even asked his dogs to beat him violently, and Lin Dahu was also present at the time, and even he was beaten together. may be for better deterrence, or it may be that there are many people under his hands, and Lin Erhu's father's legs were crushed and fractured on the spot. The grain that had just been harvested was also taken away by the landlord, because there was no money for treatment, but with the help of the villagers, it was simply disposed of, and his life was fine, but he had to spend his whole life in bed. Lin Dahu did not have the same tragic result as his father, but only suffered a flesh wound. After Lin Erhu's mother got the news, she didn't recover at once and suffered a stroke and was paralyzed. This makes the already unhappy family even worse.

Afterwards, the family of five was taken care of by Lin Dahu and Lin Erhu, and the residents of the village occasionally helped a little, so the family barely survived. But a few months later, everything turned around, and the army from Guangxi came over. When this unit appeared in front of Lin Erhu's eyes, his previous views on soldiers were completely subverted. Don't grab food, don't rob people, don't beat people, don't scold people, everyone looks very kind, and they also distribute food, clothes, and daily necessities. When he learned what happened to Lin Erhu's family, the officer who led the team didn't say a word, and directly led the troops to raid the house of the black-hearted landlord. And the things that were confiscated were distributed according to the size of the family. The black-hearted landlord was also taken to the county for trial, and Lin Erhu heard from a neighbor who went to watch that the black-hearted landlord was shot directly outside the county after the trial. After getting this exciting news, Lin Erhu's family immediately cheered.

The landlord's land was confiscated and distributed according to the population, and an average of one person could be divided into four points of land, and Lin Erhu's family of five was two acres of land. At the same time, the new government also issued good seeds, and there was a novelty called fertilizer. There is also a special person to guide how to use chemical fertilizer when sowing. At the same time, each village began to build a primary school, and the town built a middle school, and invited teachers from the city to teach, and the tuition was free of charge. All of this made Lin Erhu's family, who had fallen into severe cold, pull back from the cold winter to spring.

Lin Dahu also learned about this army in detail at that time, and two years later, when he was old enough, he resolutely signed up for the army. At that time, Lin Erhu was also fourteen years old, he had become a young man, and now he is twenty years old, he always remembers what Lin Dahu said to him when he went to send Lin Dahu to join the army: "Erhu, my father and mother and Xiaohu will be handed over to you, today's life is not easy to come by, we must use our own hands to protect all this, don't worry about me, I will send back the military salary every month, buy more delicious food for my father and mother." Once the holiday is over, I will come back to see you no matter how far away. After finishing speaking, Lin Dahu climbed into the truck that came to pick up the recruits, and followed several recruits from the village who joined the army together, and left their hometown in the truck.

Early this morning on July 16, Lin Erhu said goodbye to his younger brother who was going to school after serving his parents' breakfast.

Looking at the calendar on the wall, Lin Erhu had an indescribable feeling in his heart these days. According to the usual practice, on the 7th or 8th of each month, the eldest brother's monthly salary will be sent on time. But now the time has come to the sixteenth, and the mailman who originally delivered the letter has not appeared. He wasn't worried about money, he also knew that he was at war with Japan now, and he was worried about his eldest brother's safety. At this time, not only him, but also his parents lying on the bed were worried. Lin Erhu kept comforting himself in his heart, maybe it was delayed during the war and there was no time to send it back.

Driving away the inner uneasiness, Lin Erhu walked to the pigsty at the back of the house, picked up the pig food on the side and was about to feed the pigs. I heard the sound of a car in the distance, to say that a few years ago, Lin Erhu thought it was a monster, but now he is almost used to this sound. Because there is a factory in the village, there are often trucks to pull goods. Originally, I thought it was the same as before, and it was a truck that came to pull goods. But when the sound of the car approached, Lin Erhu could hear that it was not the sound of a truck, and it could be heard, it was not like there was only one car.

It was a convoy of six Humvees.

Lin Erhu saw the convoy from far and near, although he didn't know what it was called, but he found the sign of the army on the convoy early in the morning. Seeing the convoy heading towards his house, Lin Erhu immediately put down what he was doing and ran towards the convoy. He hadn't gone far before the convoy had stopped beside him.

A soldier got out of the first car, walked up to Lin Erhu and asked politely: "This brother, I want you to inquire, where is Lin Dahu's house?" I am a comrade-in-arms. ”

Seeing the sign of the army, Lin Erhu thought that his brother had returned. When I saw that the soldier who got out of the car was not my brother, but a slightly older soldier, I was slightly disappointed. However, when the other party asked this question, Lin Erhu's heart also rose, and he hurriedly replied: "Lin Dahu is my eldest brother, my name is Lin Erhu, is something wrong with my brother?" ”

Lin Erhu's voice was a little loud, and at this time, other soldiers also got out of the car, and a soldier with no rank on his military uniform walked up to Lin Erhu and said in a sad voice: "This little brother, my name is Qian Sihai, I will tell you this question when I see your parents, can you take us to visit your parents now?" ”

After Lin Erhu heard the words of Qian Sihai in front of him, the uneasy feeling in his heart suddenly swelled infinitely. Looking at the dozen or so soldiers in front of him, he nodded, and turned around and walked home. When the surrounding villagers saw the movement here, they also gathered around, and Qian Sihai did not stop these things, but followed behind Lin Erhu. More than a dozen fighters also took out a lot of things from the car and followed closely behind the two.

After entering Lin Erhu's house, seeing a pair of old people lying on the bed, Qian Sihai felt very uncomfortable. He didn't want to tell them the unfortunate news, and he knew that the old couple on the bed were paralyzed, and he didn't want to stimulate them, but he had to say it. Holding back the grief in his heart, he took out a yellow envelope from his pocket, choked up and said when he handed it to Lin Erhu: "Look for yourself!" After saying these five words, Qian Sihai rarely shed tears. More than a dozen fighters who traveled with them also shed tears.

Seeing the tearful soldier in front of him, Lin Erhu at this time already understood, and the two old men lying on the bed also understood. Lin Erhu couldn't help but tremble his hands due to sadness, carefully opened the envelope, and when he read the contents of the letter, Lin Erhu's trembling hands could no longer grasp the letters in his hand, and let them fall to the ground. Over the years, although Lin Erhu has not gone to school, he will teach him to read and write every night after Xiaohu comes home from school, so Lin Erhu knows a lot of words at this time. But now he would rather not know a word, and he can't read it.

Lin Erhu slowly knelt on the ground, holding his head with both hands, and soon there was a cry of pain. The bad premonition that had been surrounding his heart finally came true, and when he saw the content of the letter, Lin Erhu could no longer hold back the sadness in his heart. While crying, Lin Dahu's figure kept flashing in his mind, remembering when he was a child, remembering the deeds of the two from childhood to adulthood, remembering the picture when Lin Dahu was going to be a soldier, and remembering a lot.

The two old men on the bed, who saw those soldiers crying before, could still hold back the sadness in their hearts, because they couldn't believe it, but now they saw Lin Erhu kneeling on the ground and crying bitterly after reading the letter, and the two of them no longer had a trace of luck at this time. For a while, Lin Erhu's home was crying constantly. At this time, many of the villagers who were watching behind also cried.

Lin Erhu saw that the yellow envelope was not a letter at all, but a death notice from the military department.

"I am the highest commander of Lin Dahu's unit, he is an excellent soldier, he has made many military exploits, this time I came here to visit you, and secondly, I brought the military department to raise blood. Lin Erhu is the pride of our Marine Corps, and he was unfortunately killed during the Battle of Taiwan. He fought for China, for the country, for the broad masses of the people, although he sacrificed, but his sacrifice is valuable, the people will remember him, the country will remember him, China will remember him.

Before his death, he was a fourth-level non-commissioned officer, according to the army's blood-raising system, as his family, you can get Lin Dahu's military salary for 100 months before his death, and at the same time, in the next ten years, you can receive the same monthly salary as Lin Dahu's monthly salary, and Lin Dahu's parents can enjoy completely free medical treatment in the future, until a hundred years later. At this time, Qian Sihai's mood eased a lot, and he waited for Lin Erhu and the two old men to ease up before he spoke.

After finishing speaking, he took a briefcase from the hand of a soldier behind him and put it in front of Lin Erhu: "This is a one-time blood-soothing gold of 1,000 yuan, and there are also a few photos of your brother in it." Take care of it, the deceased is gone, you have to cheer up, your parents, and your minor brother need you to take care of them. I believe that your brother is in heaven, and I don't want you to be too sad. ”

Lin Erhu hugged the briefcase tightly in his arms, nodded and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and said, "I know my brother's ideals, he told me when he was a soldier." Today's life is not easy to come by, and we must protect it with our own hands. I have always kept this sentence in my heart, my brother did it, and I will be proud of him for the rest of my life. ”

"Your brother's body has been frozen and will be buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery in a while, and his name will appear on the National Heroes Monument. In the future, like other fallen soldiers, they will accept everyone's admiration and worship. ”

"Can I go see my brother?"

"Yes, but the body is still in Taiwan at this time, your main responsibility now is to take care of your parents, and when you are about to be buried, we will send someone to pick you up."

Lin Erhu didn't answer, just nodded.

The two old men lying on the bed didn't speak, just kept crying, and among the dozen or so soldiers on this trip, there was a military doctor who specially followed. The military doctor is naturally here in case something goes wrong, especially since there are two paralyzed old men here, who are getting the news of their son's death, if there is any accident, it is better to be prepared. The situation was much better than expected, but the military doctor still gave the two old men intravenous drips and hung glucose to prevent excessive crying and excessive loss of water in the body.

Relatives and friends who heard the news also comforted the two old people on the side.

Qian Sihai stayed for an hour, left the military doctor and three soldiers here to help, and left here with the rest of the soldiers. There is another one to go in the afternoon.

Originally, this kind of thing didn't need Qian Sihai to come forward, because there were still many things that he needed to deal with. However, he still squeezed out time, and for several years, he went out to exercise and lived with the soldiers, and the friendship between him and the soldiers was very deep. The duty of the Marine Corps is to conduct landing operations, and this battle of Taiwan, as the first large-scale operation faced by the Marine Corps, although the results were brilliant, the casualties were not small. Hundreds of Marines fell on the beach, and as the commander of this unit, Qian Sihai also tried his best to help the families of these fallen soldiers. When he heard that the military department was going to send a condolence team to comfort the families of the fallen soldiers, he did not hesitate to take over part of the condolence targets.

In the past few days, the condolence group of the military headquarters of the Chinese People's Army has traveled to all corners of the southwest. Situations like Lin Erhu's family are constantly being staged in various places. While bringing bad news, it also brought deep concern for them.

(To be continued)