Chapter 436: 435
A group of people naturally blended together, and during al tis, the head chef in the cafeteria would always add two more pieces of at to his rice box. If it wasn’t for them, it was uncertain how many more brothers in their own group would have gotten hurt.
The atmosphere in the cafeteria was harmonious. Midway through the al, the platoon leader ca in.
“Attention, everyone!”
All the soldiers imdiately put down their chopsticks and stood up, Ye Tian also stood up and stood at attention.
“Gather at the entrance of the cafeteria to welco the family mbers of our fallen comrade!”
Everyone understood that the family of a fallen comrade had arrived.
In an orderly sequence, everyone walked outside, without any hint of panic, even Little Sichuan, who was usually the loudest, could not hide the sorrow in his eyes. The fallen comrade was a young soldier nad Huzi who had been here for two years, from the old revolutionary base areas of East Mountain in Ying. His grandfather was a soldier, and his father and mother were both soldiers, so naturally, he was destined to be a soldier too.
Being a soldier had beco a destiny for his family.
At the entrance of the cafeteria, everyone gathered together, standing in the usual order, and an aura of solemnity instantly spread among this fierce troop.
Ye Tian stood in the last row, in a small corner, silently watching everything.
The platoon leader, Jiang Dawei, stood in front of the formation and pursed his lips, but ultimately did not express any thoughts, his expression was just more solemn than usual. The soldiers noticed that their platoon leader had, at so point, shaved off his beard.
Soon, the political instructor rushed over from a distance, accompanied by two elderly people with graying hair wrapped in army green coats, probably found by the political instructor at the last mont. Treading on the solid frozen ground, the three walked towards them. The platoon leader Jiang Dawei quickly stepped forward to et them.
“Old man, old woman, I’ve failed you!”
Jiang Dawei imdiately addressed them as ‘father’ and ‘mother,’ which stunned the two elderly people with whitened hair, while Ye Tian and the others imdiately stiffened even more, their already taut bodies tensing further, as if this was the only way to express their inner emotions.
Not far from the soldiers, they could clearly hear the elders speaking.
Huzi’s father, an old man whose hands were covered with rough creases like old tree bark, firmly grasped the hand of the platoon leader. They grasped each other’s hands without saying a word. Ye Tian saw that the expressions on the faces of the surrounding soldiers were not good, but everyone pretended to be tough guys fooling themselves.
Finally, the old man spoke.
“Commander, I’m sorry, Huzi has caused trouble for the nation!”
Upon hearing this, soone in the ranks sniffled quietly.
Soone had definitely cried—no one dared to make sound while in formation, except due to uncontrollable factors like tears that couldn’t be suppressed.
After a mont, Jiang Dawei collected himself and said, “Old man, co and take a look. This is where Huzi lived.”
The two elders, supported by the political instructor and the platoon leader, shakily walked over and then saw the young faces at the entrance of the cafeteria, similar in age to their own child, all innocent yet so strong and resolute.
Everyone was tense. Days ago, the political instructor had already instructed them that when Huzi’s family ca, everyone must be on their best behavior; “We are n, don’t you dare to start sobbing like won.” So, everyone was tense, and Ye Tian noticed that the political instructor, who lectured them, also had a taut expression.
“Children, co, have so dates, big dates from East Mountain, very sweet.”
Huzi’s mother took a handful of dates from the bag she opened and stuffed them into the hands of the nearest soldier, which was Little Sichuan. Huzi’s best friend before his death.
Little Sichuan’s right hand was tightly clasped by the old lady, as if afraid the dates would fall. Little Sichuan couldn’t hold his expression any longer, and his head, previously held high, dipped down. Though silent, his body quivered non-stop, his shoulders continuously shook, clearly unable to keep his composure. Then, one after the other, more soldiers began to struggle with their emotions. No one knew who started it, but sounds began to erge. Normally hot-tempered Jiang Dawei just stared without a word at this mont, not knowing if it was because he couldn’t speak or because Huzi’s parents were there.
The old man cleared his throat to stop his wife from distributing dates, “Children, you all must keep your spirits high, casualties are inevitable in war, and I, I’m just worried Huzi caused everyone trouble. I don’t ask for much, this ti coming here, I learned that the army has helped with Huzi’s cremation. So, I was just thinking, if I could get a bit of Huzi’s ashes, there’s still a place reserved for him in our village’s ancestral tomb.”
His wife took over the conversation, “Children, don’t be afraid, we are all contributing to our country. Huzi was our child, but also a child of the nation, he is honored.”
With these words, Jiang Dawei couldn’t hold back anymore, “Old man, you still have children, we are all your children, him, him, and him, all of us! Even if Huzi is gone, we’ll take care of you! As long as we’re here, we’ll make sure you don’t suffer a single day, you still have so many sons here!”
“We are all your sons!”
Little Sichuan stepped forward and spoke, he had always felt guilty about Huzi’s death because the bullet that pierced Huzi’s lungs had been ant for him when providing cover. Initially, he thought Huzi had tripped when he fell down because the firefight hadn’t escalated yet. It wasn’t until he heard about the enemy sniper that he realized Huzi’s fall in front of him was very likely to…
He dared not tell anyone else.
“You must be Little Sichuan, right? Huzi often talked about you, said you were quick-witted, a sharpshooter, and often helped him.”
The old man’s kindly face made Little Sichuan break down again, the words he had ready choked back down to his stomach.
Seeing the atmosphere becoming unbearably heavy, the political instructor Wu Wenjun shouted, “Alright, alright, the elders have co from far away, who’s that, Gunzi, quickly notify the cooking team to prepare a few more dishes, bring out their best!”
The latter responded with a ‘yes’ and then ran off.
Wu Wenjun continued, “Co on, it’s so cold, no need to stand here, let’s go, into the office, find a warm place to talk.”
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