Standing outside the bridge tunnel, you couldn’t see clearly, and indeed, it was sowhat dirty and ssy outside, but as you went in another ter or two, you would have found the place had all the necessary furniture.
At that mont, the old man was sitting on a long bench, combing his hair and beard with a comb.
Without thinking much, you moved a small stool from the side to sit next to the centenarian, gazing straight at him.
Looking at him from such close proximity, you realized that his slovenliness was rely your initial perception; from your current angle, you noticed that the old man was not dirty at all.
His face was very clean, and his long hair, silver like cobwebs, was casually tied with a black rubber band picked from a trash can; at the sa ti, he sported a white beard resembling that of a mountain hermit or a master of Chinese classics, equally well-grood and clean, hanging down to his navel.
The impression of untidiness was just a first impression, as he had been wearing dirty clothes, but upon entering the bridge tunnel, the old man had changed into a long robe, transforming in an instant from a street beggar to an elder with the appearance of an immortal.
The bridge tunnel was about seven or eight ters deep, and the old man had arranged a lot of furniture inside. At the very end was a wire bed, with a cloth wardrobe beside it, and beyond the wardrobe was an old wooden square table, on which several thermal flasks and "food" that the old man had just picked up were placed.
After looking around, you turned to the old man and asked, "Sir, oh no, Grandfather, do you not have any family?"
Upon hearing this, the old man’s face showed a carefree smile that you couldn’t understand, "I do have, of course, but what’s the use? It’s more refreshing to be without."
On the way here, you had been observing this centenarian with Sen Luo Eye, and after watching him for a while, you concluded that he was just an ordinary person, certainly unaware of the strange occurrences associated with him.
The reason for coming after him was simply to get to know the old man and learn about his past, hoping to find a cure for Zhao’er in his life story.
"Grandfather, could you tell so of your past stories?"
The old man chuckled, "Of course, it’s rare to have a visitor like you in this old den."
You glanced around and then suddenly stood up, saying to the old man, "Grandfather, please wait a mont, I’ll be right back."
Within minutes, you re-entered the bridge tunnel, and this ti, you were carrying a supermarket’s plastic bag.
Seeing you take out two bottles of white liquor and so snacks from the bag, the old man could not help but laugh, "Kid, you’ve gone to so expense."
"Grandfather, please don’t say that. These things aren’t worth much, besides, you are an elder of my elder, consider it my way of showing respect to you."
"Good, good..."
The old man laughed freely, without the usual shyness. He opened the bottle cap with great agility and, without looking for a glass, he grabbed a bottle of white liquor and gulped it down with two "glug, glug" sounds!
After swallowing two mouthfuls of the fiery liquor, the old man opened up and began to talk.
"My surna is Liang, with the single character ’Kuan’ for my given na. I was born in the fourth year of the Republic of China on the Jiaodong Peninsula. When I was young, my family was relatively well-off, and my ancestors were businessn. I attended a private school for a few years during the Republic of China and learned to recognize a few characters, but later the Japanese invaded, and my parents took my brothers and to the countryside where we lived off a few acres of thin farmland. Since I was the youngest, I had no chance to participate in the resistance against Japan or the Liberation War, but my eldest and third brother died on the battlefield, and my second brother was crippled, ending up returning ho with honors."
"Wow."
Listening to the old man recount the past, for so reason, you always felt as though you were traveling through ti.
You have to understand, this old man has lived for an entire century!
He was born at the most perilous mont for the Huaxia people and has also witnessed the rise and rejuvenation of China!
You found a cup on the wooden table, poured so sorghum wine for the old man, handed it to him, and said with a smile, "Grandfather, from the way you speak, did you also join the military afterwards?"
"Hmm, of course!" The old man drank the wine you offered in one gulp, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, and started chewing them, shells and all.
You hadn’t expected the old man to eat like that, so you imdiately grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and threw them into your mouth, munching away heartily.
"I like you, kid," the old man laughed heartily, "Little one, you don’t know, but this old Han didn’t just join the military to fight, I even fought abroad."
"Abroad?" you thought for a mont, then said imdiately, "The Korean War?"
"That’s right! You catch on quickly, kid. You must have studied a lot, huh?"
You scratched your head and said with a laugh, "Just so aimless reading, you flatter ."
"Back then, it was considered an honor for the whole village if one person joined the army. At that ti, I was married with kids, so I went. The village chief and the leaders of the production team all ca, and my wife also brought our three kids to see off at the entrance of the village..."
At this point, the old man’s eyes were already brimming with tears, probably talking about a sad part of his story.
"Grandfather, you..."
"It’s nothing! It’s all in the past!" The old man waved his hand nonchalantly and began to laugh again, "Little one, you have no idea, do you? Those guys who ca back would always talk about how tough the conditions were over there, but we had a great ti fighting! I was a good shot, not very tall, but I had speed on my side, so I joined the reconnaissance platoon. Back then, we often went out at night to capture prisoners, and those guys from the south were like grandsons; they’d run away after just a few shots. If it weren’t for their planes, we would have pushed them into the sea a long ti ago."
This was the second ti you heard the term "capture prisoners," a jargon only known to those reconnaissance veterans who had really fought in the Korean War.
And at that mont you also realized that "It’s nothing" sounded like local Yuhang dialect, but the old man was from Jiaozhou—how could he speak the local dialect of Yuhang?
Just when you were puzzled, the old man spoke again, "I was relatively older and had so foundation, so I beca a squad leader, leading a few teenagers who hadn’t even grown all their hair yet. That year at Shangganling, the fighting was so satisfying!"
As he spoke, the old man lifted his foot and pointed to his left ankle and thigh, "I took three shots here; the bullets went straight through."
By then, you noticed it had gotten dark outside. When you bought the wine earlier, you also picked up a rechargeable miner’s lamp from the store. Seeing that the bridge was now too dark to see anyone, you took out the miner’s lamp and the whole tunnel instantly lit up.
After the surroundings beca bright, the old man looked at you with a puzzled expression.
"Grandfather, why are you looking at like that?"
"Little one, now that I think about it, you remind of a young lad I used to lead back in the day."
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