Reunion moments, the backs of those who insist

Source: People's Liberation Army Daily

Guangzhou in February, warm and inviting. On the calendar of Xian Wenjie, a veteran of the armed police, February 25 was marked with a distinct red circle — the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, the last day of this year's Spring Festival. This day is also the day when Xian Wenjie's Spring Festival mission at the Guangzhou Railway Station ended.

In this traditional festival of Chinese family reunion, Xian Wenjie chose to come to the Guangzhou Railway Station on duty, which also meant that he could not be reunited with his family. "If a family is not round, the heart is also at peace when the family is round." He said, "The people are celebrating the festival, and we stand guard."

On the Spring Festival mission at Guangzhou Station, officers and men of the Armed Police always think of a group of photos that occupied the headlines of major media in 2008 .

That year, the freezing rain and snow disaster prevented trains from functioning properly, and a large number of passengers were stranded at Guangzhou Station, with more than 200,000 people at their peak. The crowded crowd extends from the viaduct tens of meters away to the railway station square. At a glance, there was a crowd of black oppressors everywhere.

Therefore, before the Spring Festival came, many officers and men of the troops insisted on staying at Guangzhou Station day and night. Some of them were so tired that they slept directly on the ground, and some even fell asleep standing.

Among them, the picture of 4 officers and soldiers sleeping standing up was captured by a reporter, and then made into a sculpture by the artist Xu Hongfei, named: Nine Days and Nine Nights.

The spring festival in the future will not be as crowded as it was in those years, but at every moment of reunion, it is still indispensable for officers and soldiers to stick to their backs --

The train pulled into the platform, and the people returning home hugged and laughed at the exit, and the olive green was silently guarded in laughter.

In the crowded airport lobby, the screen is constantly updated with entry and exit information, and the olive green sticks to the endless flow of people.

The long-distance buses and cruise ships that came and went carried back a batch of homecoming wanderers, and the olive green cared for their hurried footsteps...

They, with their backs to the camera. In front of them was a rush of people, hurried steps, and a desire for reunion. Looking at their backs, we see the hardships they have paid for the reunion of more people - sweat-soaked clothes, ice and snow piled up on their shoulders, and eyes full of mission.

At the moment of reunion, some of them have to stick until 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, or even until dawn... Whether it was a long night or a blazing sun, they stood up straight. That olive green is for the passengers; that perseverance is for the Spring Festival.

Sticking to it will make the word "home country" carved into the bone.

In the 13 years he persevered, Sin Wenjie spent only a few time with his family. In fact, he did not notice that while guarding the beautiful scenery, he also became a part of this beautiful landscape.

Behind the Spring Festival, there are countless children and soldiers like Xian Wenjie who jointly adhere to the back: the armed police sentry point of guangzhou railway station, the 5592 observation post frozen in ice and snow, and the security warehouse deep in the mountains... It was a row of tall backs, a resolute face. Perhaps, you don't know their names, but over their shoulders, you can see the lights of thousands of families and the reunion of thousands of families.

Every sentinel is ordinary, and like most ordinary people, they have their own families, their own joys and sorrows. But every sentry is great, they exchange "one family is not round" for "ten thousand families reunion", day after day, year after year, their backs are never absent. (Source: People's Liberation Army Daily; Special Correspondent Wang Yukai)