Wang Aifu joined the army at a young age and participated in major battles such as the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and the Vietnam War. After retiring from the army, he transferred to Shanxi as an ordinary prosecutor and worked for decades.
Wang Aifu's only hobby since he was a child is to study antique calligraphy and painting, and he has also practiced a good hand. Since retiring, I have often wandered around the antique market!
One spring in 1996, Wang Aifu spent 3,000 yuan on 84 yellowed pieces of old paper at the antique market! You must know that 3,000 yuan was not a small amount at that time, which was equivalent to Wang Aifu's one-year retirement salary at that time.
Wang Aifu's wife was very angry when she learned that her husband had actually spent 3,000 yuan to buy dozens of old pieces of paper, and asked Wang Aifu what was going on? Facing his wife's inquiry, Wang Aifu only replied, This is very important to me! You're going to help me do it too!
So why did Wang Aifu spend 3,000 yuan to buy these yellowed old papers? What is the importance of these old papers to Wang Aifu?
That spring with the harvest
On a warm spring afternoon in 1996, Wang Aifu rode his battered bicycle to the Taiyuan Antique Market as usual!
The antique market is filled with strange antiques, porcelain copperware, so that Wang Aifu has been dazzled! However, although Wang Aifu loves these things, he also knows that these things are simulations and will not be true, so it is just watching!
After walking around, there was nothing to gain, just when he was bored and ready to go back to the house, there was an old file wrapped in kraft paper on the ground that instantly attracted Wang Aifu's attention!
Wang Aifu quickly bent down, picked up the file bag to look carefully, the file bag has a lot of wear, the corner of the paper hairy, on which the word "top secret" is written.
Wang Aifu carefully opened the file bag, and he found that it was not an ordinary archive, but the "Register of Fallen Soldiers of the Taiyuan Campaign" written during the Liberation War in 1949!
Wang Aifu's tears were already wet at that time, unable to control his inner emotions, he began to carefully go through these files, and found that in addition to the register, there was also a list of the dead soldiers of the People's Liberation Army!
Wang Aifu, who also had the experience of joining the army, knew what this meant, and if the families of the soldiers on these lists did not receive news, they would go to despair in the endless waiting year after year. The parents are still waiting for the child who came home, and the wife is still waiting for the offending husband!
There is no evidence that these warriors died on the battlefield, and those soldiers who threw their heads and blood for the country may bear the stigma after death, and their children and families will be disgraced by this!
At that time, Wang Aifu secretly swore that no matter how difficult or dangerous it was, he would help these martyrs go home!
So Wang Aifu almost did not think about it and asked the stall owner to buy this file, but the antique market at that time was bleak, and it was difficult to wait for a business, and saw Wang Aifu's tearful look, the stall owner actually opened his mouth to ask him for 3,000 yuan! 30 million yuan, this is Wang Aifu's salary for a year! He knew that the stall owner was slaughtering himself, but at that time he couldn't care less about it, so he went home and exchanged all his savings for this precious file.
Against all odds, help the martyrs go home
"I must send these PLA soldiers home!"
In the face of his wife accusing him of spending money indiscriminately and ignoring the words of his family, Wang Aifu only lightly explained a few words, although his wife still could not understand himself, but compared to the 3,000 yuan, it was most important to let the souls of the heroic sacrifices of the PLA soldiers return to their hometown and get the respect they deserved.
Just do it! Wang Aifu began to find a way to sort out the names and information on these lists, and to copy them again to facilitate the discovery of the martyrs' hometowns.
Due to the age is too old, the paper protection is not very fine, some name information is still very clear, but some names are particularly vague, and it is necessary to identify word by word. Coupled with the fact that stick figures had not yet been popularized at that time, Wang Aifu really took a lot of effort to sort them out.
Wang Aifu's wife saw that he was so persistent, every day in addition to eating and sleeping, she hid in her room to sort out personal names and materials, and even did not go to the antique market, and also decided to help him help the martyrs go home.
With the help of his wife, Wang Aifu did more with less, and finally sorted out successfully! But before he could be happy, Wang Aifu was worried again. After the founding of New China, some areas were redesigned and named, and many of the place names on the list, Wang Aifu, were even unheard of, let alone helped these martyrs find their relatives and return to their hometown.
Frustrated, Wang Aifu found his friend Lao Zhang to talk for a long time, hoping that Lao Zhang could give him some advice and help. But don't ask if it's okay, Lao Zhang poured a basin of cold water on Wang Aifu on the spot!
He said to Wang Aifu in a serious tone, "You said that you wanted to help these martyrs go home, originally their families did not know that they could still have a thought when they were killed. The parents of those martyrs may be eighty or ninety years old, how can you make them bear it? ”
Wang Aifu, who has always been talkative, was rarely silent, and just when Lao Zhang thought that he was going to give up and prepare to comfort him twice, Wang Aifu suddenly looked up at him with a determined look and said, "I must help them go home!" I understand what you said, but I have been a soldier and know that these martyrs deserve the respect and treatment they deserve! ”
Wang Aifu is a person with firm convictions, as long as he finds things correct, he will persist to the end. He first sent letters to the families of the martyrs on the list, hoping that the surviving families could hear back, but unfortunately all these letters were buried in the sea! In desperation, Wang Aifu could only anxiously wait at the door of the post office every day, but in the end he did not even wait for half a letter.
However, Wang Aifu was not overwhelmed by these setbacks, and he asked his wife to sew a particularly strong and durable canvas bag for himself, and carefully put these materials in the bag.
He himself became an antique calligraphy and painting seller in exchange for the travel expenses to help the martyrs find their relatives. He searched all the way according to the address on the data, the canvas bags were faded and white, and the white hair on Wang Aifu's head also quietly climbed up, but there was still no clue, and Wang Aifu at this time could be said to be a little discouraged.
Fortunately, the kung fu paid off, and an antique dealer was deeply touched after learning of his actions, and he contacted Wang Aifu to give him advice: "Since they are all soldiers who died in the Battle of Taiyuan, you might as well go to the Taiyuan Martyrs Cemetery to see, maybe there are some clues." This sentence woke up Wang Aifu like an empowerment, and he rushed to the Taiyuan Martyrs' Cemetery to look for clues.
Wang Aifu then often hovered around the martyrs' cemetery, almost mixed with the security guards, at first the security guards thought he was a bad person, but after knowing his story, he was greatly moved, and helped Wang Aifu to find and check the list of those soldiers.
The Emperor did not pay off, and Wang Aifu finally successfully helped the first martyr to find his relatives successfully under his unremitting efforts! That is Hao Zaihu from Zhongwan Village, Yunmeng County, Xiaogan City, Hubei Province. Hao Zaihu's family members all wept bitterly after learning the news, and have not returned since Hao Zaihu joined the army in 1940, nor has a death notice been issued.
Rumors spread in the village, some people said that Hao Zaihu would not come back after he became a high official in the army, and some people said that Hao Zaihu was doing business in the big cities and was mixed up, and even more people with sinister intentions actually spread rumors, and Hao Zaihu defected to the enemy and followed the Kuomintang to Taiwan.
Hao Zaihu's family members were overwhelmed, and these rumors were deeply rooted in the hearts of Hao's family. Hao Zaihu's mother washed her face with tears every day, she did not believe that her son would defect to the enemy and could not stop these rumors, and now she finally hoped that the news of Hao Zaihu's heroic sacrifice would completely dissipate the clouds hanging over the heads of Hao's family.
Hao Zaihu's cousin even clutched Wang Aifu's hand and said tearfully, "I know that my eldest brother did not surrender to the enemy, I know it!" This made Wang Aifu's belief in helping the martyrs find their relatives more and more firm.
In the next many years, Wang Aifu harvested a lot! He also managed to help a martyr named Huo Xiaoshan find his family. Before receiving the death notice from her father, Huo Xiaoshan's daughter had always held a grudge against her father. Because my father left his newborn self to go to the front line, there was no news after the liberation of the country, and there were rumors in the village.
Huo Xiaoshan's mother slept in order to find her husband along the way, and finally died on the road because she did not have money to live broadcast, so Huo Xiaoshan's daughter has not recognized her father, she feels that her father hurt her mother and hurt her life.
After receiving the death notice from Wang Aifu's mobile phone, she was silent for a long time and suddenly cried, and the decades-old feud between father and daughter was finally solved, and in the company of Wang Aifu, she finally went to worship her father for the first time.
Although it is difficult to help the martyrs find their relatives, Wang Aifu's idea of helping the martyrs return home has not changed!
With the development of the Internet and the rapid dissemination of information, the news that Wang Aifu helped the martyrs return home spread throughout the country, and many people joined his team while giving him high praise. With the help of the Internet and the media, many martyrs have successfully searched for relatives and returned to their hometowns in recent years.
"I only hope that these martyrs can return to their hometowns and get the respect they deserve!"
Later, when Wang Aifu was interviewed, the reporter asked: "Do you think it is worth it to spend half your life helping these irrelevant people like this?" Have you ever regretted it? ”
Wang Aifu replied in his firm voice, "I have never regretted it!" Helping them find their way home is the greatest pride of my life! ”
From him, we not only see the courage and courage of the soldier, but also see his spirit of selfless dedication! Although in the prosperous world of peace, people will not forget the sacrifices of these martyrs, and the same deeds of Wang Aifu also constantly inspire and awaken us, in this materialistic society, we need a little more dedication and responsibility.