In 2014, when Zhou Yongju, whose hair was already half white, came to the tomb of the martyr Shi Qingcai in the edge of the screen in Yunnan, she burst into tears, and could not even say a complete sentence, so she could only lie down in front of the tomb, touch the tombstone, and shout over and over again: "Qingcai, Qingcai..."
It was the voice of an affectionate woman hidden in her heart for 35 years, and in countless dark nights, she read her fiancé's name in her heart over and over again in order to survive so many poor and difficult days, taste the hardships of the world on his behalf, support his father's sick mother's disabled brother's and child's difficult family, and strive to maintain a family for her fiancé in southern Xinjiang, and continue his family's bloodline.
Although she and Shi Qingcai did not go through the marriage formalities, and their official identity was not Shi Qingcai's widow, but could only be regarded as Shi Qingcai's sister-in-law, when Zhou Yongju slowly walked onto the stage, there was a thunderous applause from the stage, and more than 3,500 veterans of the 149th Division of the former 50th Army who had participated in the counterattack against Vietnamese self-defense stood up in unison, and all of them paid a solemn and solemn military salute to this "paramilitary sister-in-law" and thanked her for her dedication and protection over the years.
Zhou Yongju did not read much and did not read any books, but she used her life to fulfill her promise to Shi Qingcai, and used that weak shoulder to take on all the posthumous affairs of the martyrs, and she experienced all the wind and rain, and she never had any regrets.
1, green plum bamboo horse finally empty
Shi Qingcai and Zhou Yongju are from Dazu County, Chongqing, and the two families live very close, in the same production team, and the houses are only one or two hundred meters apart.
The two of them have known each other since childhood, and can be regarded as a green plum bamboo horse, Zhou Yongju has a good feeling for Shi Qingcai, who is simple and loyal, and has the shadow of "Qingcai Brother" in his heart, and when he grows up, he has a deep affection for him.
Of course, Shi Qingcai could see her intentions, but because his father and mother's health was not good, and the family situation was very poor in the production team, Shi Qingcai did not dare to open his mouth and confide in his heart, until Shi Qingcai joined the army for many years and became a squad leader, and the Shi family's parents plucked up the courage to entrust people to the Zhou family to propose relatives.
Shi Qingcai
What surprised the parents of the Zhou family was that they knew that Shi Qingcai's family was surrounded by disciples, and Zhou Yongju still agreed to the marriage in one mouth, and took the initiative to go to the Shi family to help with the housework, considering that Shi Qingcai was practical and capable, and was a rare good boy, the Parents of the Zhou family finally nodded their heads and agreed to the marriage.
In the spring of 1978, when Shi Qingcai returned to his hometown to visit his relatives, he was officially engaged to Zhou Yongju, the sweetness of love made the two young people feel that life was particularly beautiful, and they also had various plans for the future, Shi Qingcai promised Zhou Yongju that he would retire from the army as soon as possible, return to his hometown, and establish his own small family with her.
After returning to the army, Shi Qingcai, who had already served overtime, submitted an application for discharge, at that time, his father was sick and bedridden, his mother was blind, his brother was not yet an adult, the family burden was very heavy, and the leaders of the army were ready to agree to let him go through the discharge procedures.
However, at this time, the situation in southern Xinjiang became more and more tense, and with the assistance of the Soviet Union, Vietnam, which claimed to be the "world's third military power," repeatedly provoked trouble and encroached on the frontiers of the mainland; in order to create a peaceful and stable long-term environment for reform and opening up, our army entered a state of readiness for war, and the 149th Division of the 50th Army, to which Shi Qingcai belonged, was transferred to Yunnan, as a unit of the Western Front Group, on standby at the border.
Shi Qing is the military backbone of the company, at this juncture, don't say that the troops can't do without him, he is not willing to leave the troops, the instructor talks to him, let him temporarily do not go through the discharge procedures, as an iron-blooded man, Shi Qingcai thinks that this is a great opportunity for him to go into battle to serve the motherland, he did not hesitate to withdraw the application for discharge, to the fiancée who is looking forward to wearing in his hometown, wrote a letter, saying:
"Yong Ju: This year I can't go, the company has a heavy task, let me bring another year of new comrades." My parents are sick, my family is poor, all rely on you to take care of, you have not yet passed the door, I know your difficulties, waiting for me, just a year. ”
Just one year... What Zhou Yongju couldn't imagine was that a year later, what she was waiting for was Shi Qingcai's martyr certificate.
Zhou Yongju is not highly educated, unable to write a letter, but she is a kind-hearted, willing to think about others for the sake of others, more than half a year after the engagement, she entrusted people to help write three letters, successively sent to Shi Qingcai's troops, told him: she has an iron heart to marry him in this life, let him do a good job in the army, in order to let him have no worries, she has taken the initiative to move into the Shi family, help him take care of his elderly and sick parents, although there is no marriage formalities, no wedding ceremony, but in her heart, She is already the daughter-in-law of the Shi family, and she has assumed the responsibility of filial piety to her parents for him.
Although there was not a single word of love on these three letters, it brought Great comfort to Shi Qingcai and became his spiritual sustenance, and when he was training and leisure, he did not know how many times he had read these three letters, even the letter paper was about to be crushed, in the spring of 1979, when he died in the war against Vietnam, the military uniform pocket still contained these three bloody letters, and he brought Zhou Yongju's deep affection all the way to the kingdom of heaven.
2. Always be the daughter-in-law of the Shi family
In the spring of 1979, before the counterattack against Vietnamese self-defense was about to begin, Zhou Yongju sent a third and final letter to her fiancé, in this short letter, she asked Shi Qingcai to put down everything in the family, lightly packed, heroically killed the enemy, she waited for him in her hometown of Dazu County, and returned triumphantly.
With the encouragement of this letter, Shi Qingcai's morale was indeed high, and he made successive battle achievements after participating in the war.
149th Division
On February 17, 1979, on the border between China and Vietnam, our army fired ten thousand artillery pieces, and the troops on the western front left Yunnan to meet the enemy, forcibly crossed the Red River, conquered LaoJie, Citrus Pond, Sabah and other places, and completely destroyed the Vietnamese army's defense in depth.
Shi Qingcai was a squad leader of the 2nd Battalion of the 446th Regiment of the 149th Division of the 50th Army on the Western Front, and after leaving the country, this team fought very tenaciously, and at the end of February, the 149th Division was ordered to surround and annihilate the 316A Division, one of the six main infantry divisions of Vietnam, together with the 13th Army in the Sabah area, and at 2:25 a.m. on March 1, the 2nd Battalion of the 446th Regiment, as the sharp knife unit of the 149th Division, was suddenly ambushed by the Vietnamese army when it entered the northeast side of the No. 4 Bridge on the Shaba (Ba) Ping (Lu) Highway, and also fought the fiercest battle in Sabah, known as the battle of "tiger's mouth and tooth extraction".
At that time, the enemy arranged hundreds of fire points on the nameless highlands on the northeast side of the No. 4 Bridge and on the four nearby mountain beams, forming a three-sided crossfire from near and far, which could support each other, and the position was lined with open and dark forts, and the defense was very tight, and Sabah County and Huanglian Mountain were the "hard bones" that the French army could not defeat at that time, and the enemy regarded this place as a throat fortress that held the city of Sabah, and held it from a commanding height.
Despite the passive situation, the 2nd Battalion of the 446th Regiment fought tenaciously, and after 9 hours and 35 minutes of fierce fighting, finally captured the nameless heights on the northeast side of the No. 4 Bridge, got rid of the unfavorable situation, and began to turn defeat into victory.
Fierce battle against Sabah
A total of 153 enemy casualties were killed in this battle, and the 2nd Battalion also lost 76 casualties and wounded 120 people, paying a very heavy price, and in the end, the 149th Division and the 13th Army surrounded and completely annihilated the 316A Division of the Vietnamese Army, and after the war, the 2nd Battalion was awarded the collective second class merit.
Shi Qingcai, who was only 22 years old, was also one of the 76 martyrs, and in his uniform, the comrades-in-arms found something that made them cry: in addition to the three letters sent by Zhou Yongju, there were 1 cent and 3 cents and a package sheet to send medicine to his father.
Shi Qingcai was buried with other martyrs in the Pingbian Martyrs' Cemetery in Yunnan, his marriage contract with Zhou Yongju has since come to naught, Zhou Yongju, who did not expect to return to her fiancé, was in pain, and cried at home for many days, although she did not register, she had long regarded herself as Shi Qingcai's wife and as a member of the Shi family, zhou Yongju, who loved her fiancé deeply, once wanted to follow Shi Qingcai to the underground, but she could see the crumbling Shi family, see the despair and pain on the faces of Shi Qingcai's parents, she became strong again, and made up her mind to help Shi Qingcai support this family.
Shi Qingcai has sacrificed her life for the country, there is no one to take care of her family, she cannot die, nor can she leave this home, but must do her best to support his home and fulfill the promise she made to him.
For her decision, the relatives and friends of the Zhou family did not support, they advised Zhou Yongju, Shi Qingcai's family is so poor, although he himself is capable, but now he is gone, no matter how much you miss him, he will not come back to you alive, you stay here, it means to bear all the difficulties of the Shi family, to take care of two patients at the same time, Shi Qingcai's brother is also weak, even if he is an adult, he may not be able to pick up the beams, are you endlessly dedicated to this family? You did not go through the marriage formalities with him, neither a wife nor a martyr, a yellow flower girl, who stayed at the Shi family without passing through the door, why bother? Shi Qingcai is gone, and it is a matter of course for you to choose another in-law's family.
Even Shi Qingcai's parents persuaded her to leave, saying:
"Daughter-in-law, you are good to our Shi family, we all know, you can't just take care of us and delay your life!" Just choose another good person to go! We support you, and Shi Qingcai will not blame you under the Nine Springs..."
However, watching Shi Qingcai's parents and brothers struggling on the subsistence line, Zhou Yongju was very unbearable, she knew that Shi Qing was the only pillar of this family, he was gone, this family would soon collapse, the martyrs fought in blood, killing the enemy for the country, and what happened behind him should not be so desolate, but someone should selflessly dedicate himself.
Zhou Yongju insisted on staying.
After that, while pulling Shi Qingcai's underage brother, she also honored the blind Shi Mother, sought medical treatment for Shi Father in many ways, and used a pair of thin shoulders to provoke the whole family for Shi Qingcai under the Nine Springs.
She lived in the Shi family for several years without a name and no share, and was the best and most filial daughter-in-law in the hearts of the Shi family's parents, but because she and Shi Qingcai did not go through the marriage procedures, she was not a real military sister-in-law in the legal sense, although she fulfilled all her obligations, Zhou Yongju never received the treatment of martyrs.
Because of the pain of losing her son, Shi Qingcai's father, who was not in good health, died a few years later, Zhou Yongju ignored the persuasion of relatives and friends, and went through marriage procedures with Shi Qingcai's sick brother, and really became a Member of the Shi family, after which she gave birth to two children according to her mother-in-law's will, one of which is a descendant of Shi Qingcai's continued bloodline, this family is old and small, and her husband's health is also very bad, almost all rely on Zhou Yongju inside and out.
In 1998, her mother-in-law, who had been blind for 20 years, also died of illness, due to the family's thin foundation and many illnesses, the Shi family has not been able to get out of poverty, from the day she was engaged to Shi Qingcai, for 20 years, Zhou Yongju suffered from poverty, but never complained to anyone.
The house leaked and rained, Shi Qingcai's brother and her husband have been in poor health, and shortly after the death of their mother-in-law, her seriously ill husband died of illness because he did not have money to get better treatment.
After that, in order to pull the children, Zhou Yongju left his hometown with his two children and went to work in other places.
3, 3500 soldiers salute you
A few years later, when the comrades of the 149th Division made an appointment to come to Dazu County from tiannanhaibei to visit the family of the martyr Shi Qingcai, they were stunned: the house was almost collapsing, the door was opened as soon as it was pushed, and the door was full of broken furniture and cobwebs, and no one had lived there for a long time. They asked the locals about the graves of the martyrs' parents, and wanted to go to replace Shi Qingcai to sacrifice his parents and do their best to love the Son of Man, but when they found the grave of Shi Qingcai's parents, they found that there was neither a tombstone nor a tomb, only a mess of rocks and grass.
The old comrades of the 149th Division stood in front of the tomb for a long time, tearfully agreeing to buy a stone inscription for Shi Qingcai's parents together, and the inscription on the stele was: Shi Qingcai, sacrificed in the counterattack against the Vietnamese self-defense, all the brothers of the 2nd Company of the 446th Regiment of the 149th Division erected a monument for their parents!
They also agreed to retrieve zhou Yongju, the "sister-in-law of the paramilitary", the good woman who supported Shi Qingcai's broken family alone, and pay tribute to her for all the soldiers of the 149th Division.
In 2014, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the launch of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the veterans of the 149th Division met at Pingbian in Yunnan to pay tribute to the martyrs who spilled blood on southern Xinjiang and used their youth to guard the border for the motherland.
Zhou with chrysanthemum
After many contacts, Zhou Yongju was finally found, but because she was only Shi Qingcai's fiancée, she could not be counted as a martyr's family stipulated in the policy, and could not enjoy the martyr's tomb sweeping, transportation, food and accommodation subsidies, and could only come at her own expenses, and the comrades-in-arms helped her to collect enough travel expenses and accommodation expenses, and solemnly invited her to the yunnan pingbian.
Entering the Pingbian Martyrs' Cemetery, Zhou Yongju's tears fell like rain, and she stumbled to Shi Qingcai's tombstone with the support of her comrades-in-arms, looking at the eternally young and handsome face on the monument, and the tears repeatedly blurred her vision.
35 years later, countless days and nights, she still looked forward to seeing Shi Qingcai again, until this moment she believed that her "Qingcai brother" had been buried underground, shed the last drop of blood for the motherland and for her relatives...
After 35 years of hard work and bitter taste, this simple woman could not say a word, and could only kneel in front of the tombstone, reach out and touch the face of Shi Qingcai on the photo, and keep crying and calling: "Qingcai, Qingcai..."
At this moment, the officers and men of the 149th Division standing behind her were already in tears.
In the war 35 years ago, many good boys of about 20 years old stayed in the battlefield of southern Xinjiang forever, towering mountains and gushing red rivers, witnessing their bravery and fearlessness.
Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been difficult to complete, they are well-deserved heroes, giving up the consummation of the small family to defend the integrity of the territory and the dignity of the country, but after they left, how many relatives' hearts were broken, and how many families' happiness was broken... The war was brutal, and without this victory won by the martyrs with their blood, the motherland would not have been able to have the prosperity it has today.
Enter the pingbian martyrs' cemetery to pay tribute to the old comrades of the 149th Division
When the smoke of war recedes, those young warriors should not be forgotten, and these heroic souls should not be disappointed.
In Zhou Yongju's heart, Shi Qing is immortal, it is worth her life to dedicate and repay, she does not care about the name, does not fear hardship, does not worry about poverty, for Shi Qingcai to take care of parents, guard the family, it is because of such a kind and righteous woman, our warriors can not hesitate, without fear, that is, they believe that their women deserve deep love, their families will be guarded by someone!
At the commemorative meeting, people invited this "quasi-military sister-in-law" who was as deep as the sea of affection for the military to the stage, and when Zhou Yongju, who was nearly sixty years old and had gray hair, walked out, more than 3,500 veterans of the 149th Division immediately broke out into warm applause, and invariably stood up and gave her a solemn military salute!
What they admired was that Zhou Yongju used his life to fulfill the promise to his fiancé in the letter and erected a monument to traditional Chinese virtues.
Deep love without words, a promise, a lifetime of practice, this ordinary and not ordinary woman, worthy of the salute of 3500 veterans!