In November 1997, Qiu Laohan, an 83-year-old man who lived in Room 101 in the Sanqiaodong community of Jiangbei City, Chongqing, was introduced by people and found an 80-year-old wife, and after mutual understanding, Qiu Laohan was ready to marry this wife.
Locals do not know much about Qiu Laohan's identity, only that he fought devils during the anti-Japanese war, seems to have stayed in Xinjiang after liberation, and has a minimum guarantee given by the state every month to ensure his life.
At the request of his wife, Qiu Laohan was preparing to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a marriage certificate, and on the night before receiving the marriage certificate, Qiu Laohan unexpectedly found that this old companion was actually his wife who had been separated for 63 years because he joined the army.
This old man of Qiu is called Qiu Daming, and the dramatic story of him and his wife begins in 1934.
Qiu Daming
The marriage of the sichuan army soldiers
In that year, the 19-year-old Qiu Daming was a platoon commander of the 20th Army of the Sichuan Army led by the Sichuan warlord Yang Sen, and since October 1933, when Liu Xiang, the "King of Sichuan", was appointed commander-in-chief of the "Bandits" in Sichuan, Qiu Daming participated in the "Six-Way Siege" of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Area where the Fourth Front of the Red Army was located, and as a result, because of the lack of combat, the troops were transferred to Xuanhan County, Sichuan for recuperation.
At that time, Yu Kai, the chief secretary of the army, because he often went to buy pickles, he met the "old lady Yu" of Tashanba Furnace Mountain, and in the process of small talk, Yu Kai accidentally learned that there was an only daughter named Li Defang in the family of old lady Yu, who wanted to find a door-to-door son-in-law, and Yu Kai, who had a good relationship with Qiu Daming, thought that Qiu Daming was still single, so he introduced his good brother Qiu Daming to Old Lady Yu.
Under Yu Kai's introduction, Qiu Daming soon met with Old Lady Yu, because Qiu Daming was tall and tall, and because of his talent, Old Lady Yu admired him very much and invited Qiu Daming to his home to "be a guest".
After Qiu Daming arrived at Mrs. Yu's house, he said to her straight away, "I want to see my sister first." ”
Old Lady Yu looked at him with a slight smile, pointed to the back of the door with her index finger, Qiu Daming looked down at the old lady's finger, only to see a girl with a big braid and a red head rope tied to the end of the braid was secretly looking at herself, the big girl saw Qiu Daming looking at herself, shyly ran to the room, and the red rope trembled with the braid and made a deep impression on Qiu Daming.
Qiu Daming and Li Defang were very satisfied with each other, the marriage was thus settled, although the Li family could not be regarded as a landlord family, but it could also be called a rich peasant family, Mrs. Yu specially paid for three tables of banquets, invited the local security chief's parents and neighbors to come over, and held a lively wedding for Qiu Daming and Li Defang in June 1934.
Republic of China wedding
Because Qiu Daming spent most of his time in the army, he rarely had time to go home to accompany Li Defang, and although the two were married for more than 4 months, they were actually not together for a long time.
After the victory of the anti-"six-way siege" in the Sichuan-Shaanxi revolutionary base area, Qiu Daming's troops received orders to evacuate Xuanhan County, because the troops were pulled out overnight, and Qiu Daming could not even say goodbye to his new wife, so he had to follow the troops and leave.
Qiu Daming never forgot his wife after leaving with the troops, but because the troops could fight with the Red Army at any time, he never went back to see Li Defang, and after the Red Army began the Long March in 1935, Qiu Daming's troops were commended by Chiang Kai-shek for their active pursuit of the Red Army.
Chiang Kai-shek
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1937, Qiu Daming followed his troops out of Sichuan on foot and prepared to fight with the Japanese army.
On September 1, when the troops were mobilizing in Guiyang, Yang Sen, commander of the 20th Army, "fought a civil war in Sichuan in the past few years, sacrificed many lives in order to fight for power and profit, and also brought incalculable losses and suffering to the people." Today, for the sake of the survival of the country and the nation, it is a supreme and glorious task for me to be transferred to Shanghai to resist the aggression of Japanese imperialism, and I hope that our officers and men will work together to kill the enemy, defend the homeland, and benefit future generations." The speech made Qiu Daming remember deeply and strengthened his determination to fight the "Japanese devils" to the death.
Janssen
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Qiu Daming's most unforgettable thing was that he and his comrades touched the "night screw" (Chongqing dialect, which means working and stealing things at night, which refers to sneaking attacks on Japanese troops). Once he led a squad of soldiers to touch a group of Japanese camps, because the Japanese tactics were rigid, and they always liked to walk around with guns when they sentry, rather than lying on the ground with their ears pressed against the sentry like the Sichuan army, so Qiu Daming and others soon discovered the Japanese "sentry" and then quietly went up to the knife, resulting in the guards and rushing into the Japanese camp.
At that time, there was a company of Japanese troops in the camp of the Japanese army, these Japanese like to sleep in the chase bunk, with guns as pillows, Qiu Daming and others went in, a knife to the head of the Japanese, a knife down can kill two or three Japanese soldiers, just like cutting vegetables and cutting watermelons.
Japanese soldiers
In a few moments, hundreds of Japanese soldiers in a company were hacked to death, and several Japanese soldiers were awakened to the back of the face covered in blood, and Qiu Daming and others who were generally "fierce and evil" were frightened and forgot to resist, and ran away without wearing clothes, at this time, Qiu Daming was undoubtedly a hero.
Qiu Daming retired from the army in 1942 and went to Chengdu to become a "water policeman", and after four years as a public security officer, he was transferred to Lu County, which belongs to the Office of the 7th Administrative Inspector of Sichuan, to serve as the chief of the police station guarding the dock.
Soon after Qiu Daming became the head of the police station, he became acquainted with a female student surnamed Pu of Luxian Middle School, and the two were officially married soon after, although Qiu Daming occasionally remembered His wife Li Defang in Xuanhan County, but he would always comfort himself that the other party had either remarried or died, so he lived with Madam Pu with peace of mind, and there was a son and a daughter between the two.
In July 1949, the Second Field Force of the People's Liberation Army entered Sichuan via Xiangqian, and the Eighteenth Corps and the Seventh Army of the First Field entered Sichuan from Shaanxi, completing the encirclement of the Kuomintang reactionaries in the Chengdu area.
Wang Lingji, chairman of the Kuomintang Sichuan Provincial Government and commander of the Sichuan Provincial Security Force, was not willing to be defeated, and formed the "Sichuan Anti-Communist National Salvation Self-Defense Army" himself, serving as commander-in-chief in an attempt to carry out a dying struggle.
Wang Lingji
Wang Lingji's dying struggle naturally failed, and he himself became a prisoner.
Qiu Daming, on the other hand, was regarded as a "counter-revolutionary" and was hunted down by the public security organs, and absconded under the pseudonym "Qiu Yun" without even returning home, and in the following days, Qiu Daming, dressed as a migrant worker, first participated in the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Railway, and then participated in the construction of the Baocheng Railway.
When Qiu Daming settled down a little, he wrote a letter to his wife in 1954 asking her to bring her children to meet with her, because she did not have an ID card, so residents needed to use a letter of introduction when they went out.
Therefore, Ms. Pu, who did not know that her husband had been listed as a counter-revolutionary and was hunted down by the police, wrote in the introduction letter "Looking for her husband Qiu Daming", and the public security organs attached great importance to this clue.
Because Qiu Daming had fought against the Red Army, and because he joined the reactionary forces after liberation, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and escorted to Xinjiang for military service.
Xinjiang Labor Reform Institute
After 21 years of labor reform in Xinjiang, Qiu Daming was informed that he could go home.
Qiu Daming, who came out of prison, originally thought that his family would soon come to pick him up, but he waited for a full 4 years before waiting for his son, and he gradually had an ominous premonition in his heart.
Qiu Daming followed his son back to Chongqing in 1979, when he was 64 years old, and when he arrived home, he learned that during the years he had been in prison, his wife had remarried twice, and his daughter had recently died of illness.
Although the son has grown up, but because of the separation of more than 20 years and his stranger, the son always blames him for not fulfilling his responsibility to raise himself, and the father and son do not get along well.
The love history of an octogenarian
In August 1997, Li Lazhi, Qiu Daming's daughter, mysteriously found Qiu Daming's house and told him that an 80-year-old woman named Liu Zehua wanted to find an old partner, and li Lazhi, who thought Qiu Daming and the old lady were quite suitable, wanted Qiu Daming and Liu Zehua to go on a "blind date."
As a result, Qiu Daming was unwilling to accept the kindness of his daughter, at that time he felt that he did not have any additional income, fortunately there was a low guarantee of the state to ensure his life, life can be passed, but not too rich, so he did not want to drag the old lady too much, so he insisted on not agreeing.
Until one day, Li Lazhi invited Qiu Daming to his home as a guest, and when Qiu Daming arrived at his daughter's house with a straw hat, he found that there was already an old lady waiting for him there.
Liu Zehua
In this blind date, although Qiu Daming and Mrs. Liu Zehua chatted happily, he was very inferior in his heart, so since that blind date, he had never had any contact with Mrs. Liu Zehua, but what Qiu Daming did not expect was that he did not go to Liu Zehua, but Liu Zehua ran to his home to find him.
When Qiu Daming heard the knock on the door, opened the door and saw Liu Zehua, he was very surprised, but when he put Liu Zehua into his home, looking at the room of the four walls of the family, he involuntarily had an inferiority complex, when Liu Zehua asked him why he did not contact himself for a month, Qiu Daming replied: "I am a low-income eater, worried that I can't afford to raise you." ”
After the two chatted for a while, Qiu Daming left Liu Zehua to eat a meal: a plate of green pepper peeled eggs, half a plate of overnight back pot meat, Liu Zehua did not have any dislike, and ate it with taste.
After eating, Liu Zehua said to Qiu Daming: "I am alone now, no children and no daughters, if you want, we can live together." Young people are husband and wife together, we are both old, let's live together as a companion. ”
Qiu Daming pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement.
In November 1997, Qiu Daming and Liu Zehua invited relatives, friends and neighbors to a meal, which in Qiu Daming's view was equivalent to a wedding ceremony.
However, Liu Zehua refused to agree, saying that he wanted a marriage license, and Qiu Daming did not understand his wife's behavior very well and did not understand.
Obviously, the old man and old lady in their 80s still have a marriage license, Liu Zehua looked at him and said: "It is precisely because we are all over 80 years old, we should get a marriage certificate, otherwise we are not afraid of being laughed at by others." ”
Qiu Daming thought about it and thought it was the right thing to do, so he decided to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau the next day to get a marriage certificate.
That night, the two talked for a long time, chatting and talking about their respective lives, when Qiu Daming asked Liu Zehua where he was from, Liu Zehua replied: "I am from Sichuan Xuanhanta River Dam Furnace Mountain." ”
Qiu Daming thought about it and felt that it was not right, and asked: "I have been to Furnace Village, and the people in the village are all surnamed Li, so why are you surnamed Liu?" ”
Liu Zehua replied: "I used to be surnamed Li, married to a Kuomintang, and when I was in turmoil for ten years, I was afraid of being pulled out of this history, so I changed my surname to Liu. ”
Qiu Daming was silent for a while and asked, "That... What was your original name? ”
Liu Zehua looked at him strangely and said, "It was originally called Li Defang." ”
Qiu Daming asked excitedly, "Is your mother's surname Yu?" ”
Liu Zehua was startled and said, "How do you know?" ”
Qiu Daming shook his head and organized the language for a while before replying, "I also know that your first husband was also named Qiu Daming, who was your son-in-law, and he never went back after he left in 1934, because I... I am your first husband, Qiu Daming. ”
Liu Zehua was indeed not too impressed by the name of her first husband, but the short marriage of that year made her unforgettable.
When she knew that the person in front of her was her former husband, she couldn't help but cry, and after her emotions were stable, she talked about her experience over the years.
Qiu Daming and Liu Zehua
Li Defang
In 1934, Qiu Daming's sudden "disappearance" caused a big blow to Li Defang, but it was not long before she became strong again, firmly believing that Qiu Daming would come back to pick herself up, when relatives and friends at home told her that she was unreliable as a soldier, or to find a local to remarry, Li Defang firmly said: "No, I just want to wait for him, he will definitely come back to pick me up." ”
Li Defang fulfilled her promise and did not remarry until she was in her 30s.
After the founding of New China, Li Defang thought that Qiu Daming was a native of Rongchang County, Chongqing, so he decided to go to Chongqing to look for a husband, and Li Defang helped people wash clothes in Chongqing while inquiring about Qiu Daming's traces.
In 1966, in order to avoid letting others know that he had married a nationalist soldier, Li Defang changed his name to Liu Zehua, and then married a Fuling cook named Kuang Ming, and the two lived by selling porridge on the street.
Liu Zehua did not give birth to him after marrying KuangMing, the two only raised a son and a daughter, because there were two more people in the family, the money from selling porridge was not enough to make up for the family, and later with the help of the local public security, Liu Zehua successfully applied for a business license and opened a commissary.
With the passage of time, Liu Zehua's adopted sons and daughters also got married and had children separately, and Qiu Daming's image became more and more blurred in Liu Zehua's mind, and finally he couldn't even remember his name.
In 1992, her husband Kuang Ming died after a serious illness, and the adopted daughter who was responsible for supporting Liu Zehua became addicted to drugs and spent a lot of the family's property.
Conflicts also gradually broke out between Liu Zehua and his adopted daughter, and in 1996, Liu Zehua said a few words about drugs, and was kicked out of his home by his adopted daughter, and since then he has been wandering around in Chongqing.
In 1997, when Liu Zehua was spending the night at a fellow villager's home in Sanqiaodong, Jiangbei, he met a zealous female neighbor named Li Lazhi.
In August 1997, when Liu Zehua and Li Lazhi played cards, they talked about their experience over the years, saying that they wanted to find a wife, they were more than 80 years old this year, and there were not many requirements, as long as the other party could give themselves a place to live.
Li Lazhi nodded after listening, indicating that it was wrapped up in himself, and after a few days, Li Lazhi found Liu Zehua and said to her: "I think it is quite appropriate for my father Qiu Daming to follow you, although he is now living on low security, but he is really down-to-earth." ”
Without any hesitation, Liu Zehua expressed his willingness to meet with the other party.
After a few days, Li Lazhi found Liu Zehua and asked her to go to his home to "go on a blind date", Liu Zehua sat at Li Lazhi's house for a while, heard a knock at the door, Li Lazhi gave Liu Zehua a look, and then went to open the door.
Although it is Liu Zehua who took the initiative to find an old wife, but after all, he is also a person of the year of the staff dynasty, Liu Zehua did not have the good sense to look at each other carefully, although the two sides chatted for a while, but Liu Zehua did not remember anything, only remembered that the other party was carrying a very worn, but very clean straw hat is very eye-catching.
A month after Liu Zehua and Qiu Daming were close to each other, Liu Zehua saw that Qiu Daming not only did not come to see him, but also did not contact himself, and he could not help but be a little secretly anxious in his heart, worried about whether the other party did not look at him.
After quietly inquiring to Li Lazhi, he learned that Qiu Daming may be because his family was poor and unwilling to meet with himself, Liu Zehua thought to himself: Since you are embarrassed to see me, then I will take the initiative to find you.
Then Liu Zehua asked Li Lazhi about Qiu Daming's residence, and ran directly to Qiu Daming's home, and when Qiu Daming opened the door for him, he was greeted by a bed made of cardboard and a table propped up with 4 pieces of wood, and the bed cover was also torn.
Qiu Daming was unwilling to take the initiative to talk to him because of his inferiority, so Liu Zehua took the initiative to "pester" him and chat with him, and finally "entangled" back into this legendary marriage.
Happy times
After Qiu Daming learned of his wife's experience over the years, he thought that he had married another wife and had children in 1942, and the original wife had been waiting for him, and he couldn't help but feel more and more guilty, and said to Liu Zehua: "The person I am most sorry for in this life is you, your whole youth has been delayed because of me, and I will use all my remaining time to compensate you." ”
Qiu Daming did what he said, and after marrying Liu Zehua, every day at 7 o'clock he got up on time to prepare breakfast for his wife, because the two old people did not have much teeth left, Qiu Daming would cook some noodles or porridge for his wife to eat every time, and sometimes they would buy some tangyuan to eat after receiving money.
Because of the 63 years of experience that have been scattered, Qiu Daming and Liu Zehua especially cherish the time they have spent together, and in the more than 10 years since their marriage, they have never had a fight.
Qiu Daming's requirements for Liu Zehua are always obedient, the two will often walk in the open space in front of the house after lunch, because Liu Zehua was inconvenient to move when he was a child, Qiu Daming will always play the role of a crutch, carefully supporting his wife to walk the stairs, after a walk, Qiu Daming will help his wife to sit down on a chair in the room, and he himself will go to brush the bowl, the day is plain and warm.
In 2005, Liu Zehua was unfortunately paralyzed due to illness, and his hand was broken when he turned over.
At that time, the elderly had a minimum guarantee given by the state to ensure their livelihood.
But at that time, his own lungs also had problems, he coughed up blood every day, and the two often quarreled for who went to the hospital, no matter who it was, hoping that the other could live for a long time.
After a few years, Liu Zehua unfortunately broke his leg, eating and drinking Lasa in bed, Qiu Daming had to feed his wife medicine every day, help her wipe her back, and work until 3 o'clock at night to sleep.
On October 28, 2009, Liu Zehua, who was unable to speak, pulled Qiu Daming's hand and put it on his face, and it didn't take long to close his eyes forever, and 20 days after Liu Zehua's death, Qiu Daming also walked with her.
An epitaph written by volunteers for Mr. and Mrs. Qiu Daming
The lives of Qiu Daming and Liu Zehua can be said to be full of tragedy, in that era of war and chaos, there were countless couples like Qiu Daming and Liu Zehua, separated because of the war, but how many people can be reunited after 63 years of separation like their husband and wife?
The two old men were now ancient, and they hoped that they would continue to stay together in heaven.